Chapter Notes

WARNING: This is the last chapter before things get dark. Really dark. As a reader of FanFic, I know that sometimes I am in the mood for dark, angst ridden stories, and sometimes I am all about fluffy fun. This is not going to be fluffy from here on out. So feel free to bail...I won't be offended.

Veronica sensed something in Logan she hadn't seen in a while: fear. The entire car ride home was silent. Logan couldn't bring himself to tell Veronica what Duncan said, and Veronica couldn't bring herself to ask what had happened.

As soon as the elevator opened into the loft, Logan made a beeline for the bed. Veronica watched from the entry way to see what he would do. Still in his gym shorts and a muscle shirt, she thought he would shower and change from the beach. Instead, he lay on the ground next to their bed and shimmied partially under the frame. He emerged with one suitcase, then the next, and proceeded to launch both on their bed with a thud, then work to unzip them.

Veronica started moving closer to him. As she approached, he turned and pointed at the suitcase next to him at the foot of the bed. "Start packing. We're leaving Neptune." He said and moved to their armour, throwing the doors open to begin gathering clothes.

"Logan." She said calmly. "What happened with Duncan?"

Logan stopped and looked at her, his eyes wild with adrenaline. "He's crazy. We have to leave before he does something to us, or I do something to him."

Veronica kept her cool, in stark contrast to her husband. She walked closer and stepped between him and his suitcase. Placing her hands on his chest, she felt his heart racing. "What did he say?"

Logan's leg twitched like he wanted to run from her. He couldn't make eye contact as he glanced hurridly around the loft. All he could think about what he could shove in his car before they drove away forever. "I can't." He whispered. "We have to go. Just please believe me when I say it's what's best for us all." He tried to move around her but she dodged and caught him with her arms, wrapping them around him and pressing herself against his body. They stayed like this for a moment before she spoke again.
"Please. We need to talk about this before we do anything. Not knowing what happened is scaring me more than knowing. Logan...tell me what happened." Veronica murmured against his chest. By now her heart was matching his, beat for beat.

Logan closed his eyes and let out a breath to try and calm himself. "He killed my dad. He's the one who ordered him killed; not Jake." He said, his emotions starting to bubble to the surface. "I know that Aaron killed Lilly and I know that he was an abusive son-of-a-bitch but still...Duncan killed my dad."

Veronica was in shock. Never in a million years did she think that Duncan could have been the one who killed Aaron. "How do you know?" She stammered.

"He told me. He out and out told me as a warning to stay out of his way." Logan wrapped his arms around Veronica tightly, bracing himself against the thought of being separated from her.

She didn't want to know the answer, but she asked it anyway. "Stay out of his way for what?" She prodded.

"For you." Logan choked out the words. "He told me he was going to get you back. The only thing that was stopping him is the fact that you are pregnant wit our baby."

Veronica felt her knees buckle a bit and Logan caught her in his arms. He gently lowered the both of them to the ground and folded her up in his lap, trying to tuck her as close to him as possible. "Oh my god." She gasped and began to cry. Terror ripped through her like a knife. The idea that Duncan would be, could be, so obsessed with her that he would hurt Logan or their baby just to get to her made her feel weak.

Logan began rocking her gently. "That's why we have to go. We have to leave and never come back. All these years, he's been obsessing about you and now you are in his range and he thinks he has a chance." He kissed her on the top of the head. "And I have no idea how to stop him. Other than kill him and go to prison for the rest of my life."

Veronica was silent, her tears subsiding in shock. For the first time in a long time, she had no idea what to do. She began stroking her belly as she thought. Logan must have felt her movement between them and he reached his hand around to put it on the side of her stomach. "Why did he say he wouldn't do anything while I was pregnant?" She questioned.

Logan buried his head in her hair. His thoughts made him sick to his stomach. "I don't know. The most I could come up with is he wants you to carry HIS child, not mine. He mentioned that if it wasn't for me, you and him and Lilly would be a 'family'. I don't think our child factored into his twisted plan."

Veronica closed her eyes and pushed down the feeling that she wanted to throw up. "So basically his plan is: get you out of the picture, kidnap me, rape me, force me to carry his child, and we all live happily ever after?"

She felt him squeeze her tightly against him. "I'm sure, in his head, it's much more romantic, but yes, that's probably it."

Her body let out an involuntary shiver. Duncan had finally gone over the edge. They just needed to make sure he didn't take them with him. She pulled back her head and looked at her husband. There was a sadness to him that she hadn't seen since his mother died. "I will admit your idea to run away does have merit, however, now that he can travel again, he can probably find us. And then we would be sitting ducks, wherever we are."

Logan nodded. Once again, his wife was right. "So you have a plan?"

Veronica scrunched up her face. "No. Not yet. But he said himself, he's not planning on doing anything until after this baby is born, so that gives us time." Logan loosened his grip on her and she slipped off his lap to face him. "We need to gather the troops. The more people in our circle that know, and can help, will keep us safer. I'll call my dad. We'll get him, Alicia, Wallace, Mac and Sandy over to his place tonight. Strictly covert operations...over pizza."

Logan's breathing eased a bit at the idea of bringing in help. "Then what?"

Veronica's eyes lit up as the thought came to her. "Then, we work to expose Duncan for the monster he is, and ship him out of our lives, once and for all."

Veronica and Logan pulled up to Keith and Alicia's home after everyone else had arrived. The events of the morning had taken a toll on Veronica, and she spent the better part of the afternoon taking a very long nap. Logan was too keyed up to sleep, and so he spent his time contacting everyone to get them together, gathering some background on Duncan's activities in Australia, and working on the elements to help put together a broader plan of action. When Veronica awoke suddenly from a bad dream, he climbed into bed with her as comfort, and lay quietly, with her wrapped in his arms, when she fell back to sleep for another hour. He spent his time next to her running through the long list of things they had been through together and enjoying the stillness of their bodies next to each other. When she finally woke, they had to hustle to get ready to go and found themselves unusually late for Sunday dinner.

When they entered the house, there was a warm applause from their family. The pizza Logan had ordered arrived before them and Veronica made a small stack of her comfort food on a plate before dropping herself in a large chair in the living room. Mama Alicia began buzzing around the couple, making sure they were well fed and hydrated before any "serious" talk started.

When a gentle hum of familiar conversation began to subside, Keith stood and addressed the group. "Logan gave me a bit of a heads up about why we are all here tonight. For the sake of security, I want to ask that everyone turn off their cell phones and deposit them, along with any purses, in the spare room."

Wallace frowned. "So not just a family dinner then?" He said and stood up to take his cell out of his back pocket.

Keith shook his head. "Afraid not, Son. But once we are done, Logan will fill us all in."

Wallace nodded at his step-father as he passed by to drop off his cell. Mac and Sandy both retrieved their purses and turned off their cells, then Mac went and deposited both in the room. Veronica turned off hers and handed it to Logan along with her purse, and he dropped the lot in the room. As added precaution, he threw a blanket over the pile of electronics just before shutting the door to the bedroom and joining the group. Surveying the room, he walked over to Veronica's chair and leaned on the thick arm.

"First, let me say thank you to everyone for coming. I know the covert tactics are a bit over the top, but we can't be too careful right now. Second, what I am about to ask you for help with is pretty big, so if at any point you don't think you want a part of it, you can leave, no problem, no hard feelings." Began Logan. He felt Veronica reach out and take one of his hands as they waited for a response.

Alicia was the first to speak. "We are all family here, Logan. You both have our support in anyway we can help."

Logan smiled slightly at Alicia. "Thank you, Alicia. But this may get ugly and I want everyone to be prepared."

"What is it son? What's wrong?" Prodded Keith.

Logan too a deep breath and began his explanation. "Duncan is back. And he is obsessed with Veronica. He's shown up twice – once at work and today at the beach – and sent her flowers. It made her really uncomfortable and when I confronted him, he basically told me that his end game was to be with her, with me out of the picture."

Wallace scowled. "He's talking out of his ass. He can't come between you two."

Logan shook his head. "No. This is different. He said that the only reason he didn't act already is because Veronica is pregnant. He has this sick fantasy of him and Lilly and Veronica being a 'family'; and me and our baby don't factor in to it."

Keith stood, clearly agitated by the information, and walked behind the furniture, pacing. "Did he threaten you or Veronica or the baby with physical violence?" He asked.

Logan finally exhaled and gathered himself for the emotional tsunami. "Yes; he threatened me. He basically said I had better watch out, if I didn't want to end up with a bullet in my head, like Aaron."

Sandy emitted a deep gasp and grabbed Mac's hand. Mac's mouth dropped open and she stammered. "He's the one who killed Aaron?"

Logan nodded and looked down at Veronica. She was watching him with deep, sad eyes. "Yes. It was probably a contract killing, but he called the shots. He told me as much. And the fact that he actually told me that he had my father killed tells me he thinks he can operate with impunity."

Logan looked up to see Keith pacing faster, a sure sigh he was thinking. Alicia looked up to her husband and back to Logan. "But why is he so obsessed with Veronica? He has a child and a life now. Why does he need to bother the both of you?"

This time it was Veronica who spoke. "He says that I am 'his' because I was with him before I was ever with Logan. He thinks if it wasn't for Logan, I would have run off to Australia with him all those years ago."

Wallace made a sputtering sound. "Is he insane? He has spent the past 15 years thinking you were 'his'? Because you dated for a while in high school?"

Veronica lowered her head and closed her eyes. Digging her fingers into Logan's palm, she steadied herself for her next words. She never looked up as she spoke. "No. He feels I am 'his' because he had sex with me first. He raped me while I was unconscious at a party in high school."

The air dropped out of the room at Veronica's revelation. When she lifted her head and opened her eyes everyone was frozen in their spots. She turned to her father who had stopped behind Alicia's chair. He was holding on to the back of it, with his head down, trying to regain his composure. She looked back at Logan for support. He reached out and ran his palm over her head, then bent and kissed her crown lovingly.

Keith looked up to witness the tenderness between the two and finally spoke. "So our plan tonight is how we are going to kill him?" He said, trying to keep control. Alicia rose and walked around to her husband, gently putting her hands on his. She felt his body shaking as he tried to stay calm, in light of what was being revealed.

All eyes turned to Logan. "No. As much as I would like to, that is not the plan." He surveyed the crowd. "The plan is to keep him under 24 hour surveillance. With his father and mother dead, there is no one but Clarence Weidmen to hold him in check. When he told me he killed my dad, he actually looked proud of himself. This is not a man that is playing with a full deck anymore."

Another silence fell as everyone processed Logan's words. Mac broke the silence in a quiet voice. 'Veronica, is this what you think is best too?"

Veronica looked up at Logan and then to Mac. "It's the only way. Either that, or we leave Neptune and never look back." She turned to her father and step-mother. "But that would mean our baby wouldn't know it's wonderful grandparents." She turned to Wallace. "Or its cool uncle." She turned to Mac and Sandy. "Or its awesome aunties." Tears began to chock her as she spoke. "I don't want Duncan to take away my home. He's taken away enough from me. I'm not letting him take my husband and child." As she finished speaking, tears began to fall freely.

Keith moved from his spot and rushed to kneel in front of his daughter. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and began rocking her back and forth. "I'm sorry I didn't know. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you from him. But I will protect you now. You and Logan and the baby will be safe...I promise." He said, tears springing to his eyes as well.

Veronica let go of Logan's hand and wrapped her arms around her father. "Please. Just promise me you won't do anything foolish. If something happened to you because of him..." She couldn't entertain the idea of anything happening to her dad.

Keith pulled back and kissed her on the forehead affectionately. She was still his baby, even if she was in her thirties and having her own baby. "I promise. Nothing stupid." He looked up at Logan with a knowing glance, silently telling him not to do anything stupid either.

Wiping the tears from his face, Keith rose and stepped in front of the group. He clapped his hands together. "Right then. If we are doing this, I'm the lead from here on in. Everything that happens, happens from here so Duncan is unable to track us. He will be watching the loft and Mars Investigations. And family coming and going from here won't attract attention." He stopped and looked at his wife. She nodded her support and he continued. "First thing we need is to know his itinerary for the next few days so we can plan to sneak in and bug his house." He turned to Veronica and Logan. "No talking about this at home until we do a sweep for bugs in your loft and office." Keith turned and pointed at the Mac. "Mac, I need you to hack into Duncan's and Clarence Weidmen's schedules and tell me if there are any times they are out together. When we get a day they are gone, we will hack into the system and set off the fire alarm. I have an old friend who owes me many favours, working for the Neptune fire department. Wallace, you will be our trusty fire fighter who will go room to room planting bugs. When everything is set, we will monitor him on an 18 hour rotation from here. Veronica and Logan will be left off the rotation as not to arouse suspicion of their whereabouts for long periods of time." Keith stopped talking to see everyone staring at him with their mouth open. "What?" He asked.

Logan gave a little laugh. "I'm sorry, but that was amazing." He said. "You just pulled an entire plan out of your...head." He remarked.

Keith shook his finger at his son-in-law. "I was a deputy, then a Sherriff, then a private investigator, and now a crime writer. I can come up with a plan for every occasion. It's instinctual."

Mac put her fingers together and stretched them in front of her to crack her knuckles. "Well, let's hammer out some more details tonight and then get started. I can begin hacking as soon as I get home so nothing is traced back to Mars Investigations."

Keith smiled and pointed at her. "Now that's the initiative we need!" He said and smiled.

Alicia went into full mom mode. "Logan, Veronica, I'll make up the guest room so our can stay here tonight. It may be a late night and you need your rest, Veronica." She looked over at her husband lovingly. "And I will make some coffee for you, Keith. Just to keep those wits about you." She said with a wink.

The living room became abuzz with conversation as Keith outlined things in more depth. Veronica sat quietly and looked around, slightly overwhelmed by all the support. She looked down at her round tummy and rubbed it gently. "This is your family, sweetheart. We are so lucky to have them."

Around midnight, Logan and Veronica found themselves laying together on the queen sized bed in the guest room. Alicia lent Veronica a billowing nightgown to sleep in, and Logan lay on top of the covers in his boxer-briefs. They were both staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep.

"Can we just hide here for a few years?" Said Veronica suddenly. "It's safe. It's cosy. And Alicia will feed us and help us look after a newborn."

Logan smiled. "Perfect plan. We'll tell them tomorrow. Duncan would never suspect two grown adults, moving back in with their parents. It's brilliant!"

Veronica giggled hysterically at the thought of them living with her family, like some bad '90's sitcom. "God, I need a good laugh. I feel like all the happiness in the world has drained out of me."

Logan rolled towards her. "I'd tickle you but I don't want you to barf on me." He teased.

She rolled towards him. "Maybe it's all the pizza dough or maybe it's the timing, but I haven't been nauseous in almost a day."

He brushed a hair from her forehead gently. "Good. Hopefully this is the end of the morning sickness and you are entering the second...and best...trimester."

Veronica frowned. "Why is it the best?"

Logan wiggled his eyebrows at her. "The pregnancy book says that lots of women get VERY horny in their fourth month of pregnancy. I'm hoping you are going to be one of those women."

She wiggled her eyebrows back at him. "Maybe I am..." She said and reached over for a long, passionate kiss from him.

Logan pulled her closer, pressing his body against hers. She could feel his hard cock through his shorts and she responded by throwing one of her legs around his waist. Suddenly, he pulled back. "Wait!" He whispered. "We're right next to your dad's room!"

She gave him a sinful grin. "Then you have to be very quiet. No screaming my name." She said and went in for a deeper kiss while she reached between them to cup his balls through the fabric covering them.

A small moan of mutual pleasure filled the room. Then another. And then a louder one. Veronica pulled out of the kiss for a moment. The groan happened again. The couple looked at each other in horror and then looked at the wall that separated their room from her parents. Finally, they heard a knocking sound and some quieter moaning until finally the wall emitted a tiny shriek. "Oh my god, Keith! Yes!"

Veronica threw her leg off of Logan, horror on her face. Logan grabbed the pillow from behind his head and covered his face with it, muffling the sound of his hysterical laughter. Veronica looked at her husband and started to guffaw, holding her hand over her mouth. When she couldn't contain it any more, she dove under his pillow to join him.

Logan shifted so he was facing her again and kissed the tip of her nose. 'Still feel like fooling around?" He asked gleefully.

Her eyes danced as she smiled back at him under the pillow fort. "Nope!"

He laughed and threw the pillow off of them. "Didn't think so." He responded and pulled her into a giant bear hug. "Good to know, that your parents are still frisky...you know...at their age."

Veronica gave her husband a small kiss. "Don't worry, Sexy; I will still be frisky for you when we are old, too."

Logan reciprocated her kiss. "Ditto." He said and they happily fell asleep, wrapped together for the night.