FIC: The Year of Living Dangerously, Part II (Veronica/Logan, Ensemble) (29/?) (WIP) (NC-17)

[vanessagalore]

Previous chapters: 1-3 | 4-7 | 8-10 | 11-13 | 14-17 | 18-20 | 21-24 | 25-27




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VERONICA MARS
10:00PM SHO ch: 340 60min 2009 TV-MA
Standard Deviation
Mac and Wallace enlist Dick's help again to
locate Logan; Veronica and Weevil find out
Logan's new name and transportation; news
about Gory Sorokin; Logan takes a step.
Veronica: Kristen Bell. Mac: Tina Majorino.
Wallace: Percy Daggs III. Dick: Ryan
Hansen. Eli: Francis Capra. Keith: Enrico
Colantoni. Volunteer: Debra Jo Rupp.
Logan: Jason Dohring.
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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: "STANDARD DEVIATION"

Fri. 2/6/09: Hearst College Food Court, Neptune, CA

"Yo yo, what up, Big Mac?" Wallace sits down with Mac in the Food Court.

"Great game against TCU last night; you really posterized that mother. The 'dunk of doom'!" Mac puts up her hand for a high-five, and Wallace obliges.

"Have you seen Veronica today?" Wallace asks.

Mac replies, "She went to L.A. with Weevil. I think she's tracking Logan again."

"What?"

"She told me that she figured out it's not Logan in the video. She thinks he's still in the U.S., and she's trying to trace his movements after Hannah's funeral."

"No way," Wallace says. He pulls his laptop out of his bag, and they watch the Madeira video again. "It looks like him, but I guess...it never shows his face close up." He hits the play button again, and pauses the video at one point. "Damn, he went to a lot of trouble to keep Veronica from finding him. Is she pissed?"

"You know, I think she's just thinking about finding him."

"Doesn't sound like Veronica. She's all about the getting even, not so much about forgiveness."

Mac shrugs. "She loves him. And he wasn't just running from Veronica you know. They still run that 'Tinseltown Diaries' show over and over again. That reporter Carrie keeps leaving messages on my voicemail, trying to get me to give an interview."

All of a sudden there's a commotion on the other side of the Food Court. They look over and see Dick arguing with a girl. She throws a milkshake on him, and Mac chuckles. Wallace glances at her and says, "Richard Casablancas, making friends and influencing people the world over."

"Yeah, Dick's got a talent for pissing girls off."

Dick sees them and comes over. Wallace offers him a napkin, and Dick tries to clean himself off as he sits down with them.

"What'd you do this time?" Mac says.

"I just told her she would look great with implants. I don't understand why she went all freakin' bitchzilla on me," Dick says aggrievedly. "It was a compliment."

"You haven't heard from Logan by any chance?" Mac asks curiously.

"What? You mean since he went to Madeira?" Dick says absentmindedly. "Shit, there's milkshake in my hair." He works his fingers through his hair disgustedly.

"Yeah. Has he sent you any postcards? Called?"

"No, but it looks like he's been pretty busy, if you know what I mean," Dick replies.

Wallace says, "What if we told you that Veronica thinks it's not Logan in the video?"

Dick stares at him. "Dude, what the hell are you talking about?"

Mac says, "Do you really think he would blow off Veronica like that? After everything they've been through?"

Wallace cues up the video again and shows it to Dick. Dick watches closely, then looks at Wallace and then Mac. "It's possible. It looks like him, but you never see him up close. Damn! He kutcher'd us. That's the shirt Veronica gave him for Christmas."

"So where would he be if he's not there? Any ideas?" Mac asks. "Come on, Dick, think. Work those last few brain cells."

Dick screws up his face comically in an attempt to concentrate. Wallace rolls his eyes at Mac. Finally, Dick says, "I don't know. He hardly talked to me that week before he left. He was really jacked up."

"Can you ask around? See what Enbom thinks. Maybe the other Pi Sigs would have some ideas where he might go," Mac says.

Dick nods his agreement, saying, "Anything for you, candypants!"

~ • ~

Fri. 2/6/09: East Los Angeles, CA

It takes several hours, but Veronica and Weevil finally find a man who, for a fee, admits that he made a new driver's license for Logan in the name of William Matthews.

"What's with the name?" Weevil asks.

"I don't know. I think he was trying to be very ordinary. I'm sort of impressed by how well he managed to disappear, but at the same time, it makes me sad that he felt he had to do this to get away from me," Veronica replies morosely.

"Come on, you know he's not thinking right now. He's just upset. Listen, you know I'm not even friends with him, and I was upset about the way the press treated him," Weevil says soothingly.

"But he should have felt he could turn to me for comfort and support."

"So maybe when you find him, you tell him that until he starts to believe it."

"When did you get so smart about relationships?"

"I'm not. Weevil standard policy is to love 'em and leave 'em begging for more." Weevil points to the used car lot across the street. "What do you think? I bet he bought a car. Even with the new hair..."

"...He wouldn't have risked public transportation. I agree," Veronica concurs.

"Why don't you wait here? Let me talk to them; they're not going to trust a gringa. Gimme the picture and some grease money."

Eli hurries over to 'Miguel's Pre-Owned Vehicles' while Veronica pretends to window-shop for discount jeans and knockoff shoes. She thinks, Maybe I should be leaving him alone. Maybe he's not running away from his problems, just running away from me. He hasn't tried to contact me. She sees a dress that vaguely reminds her of one that Logan bought for her, and she aches with the longing to see him again.

Weevil finds her a few minutes later. "Turns out this cholo Miguel knows my uncle Angel. Logan bought a Civic, about ten years old with a lot of miles. Sounds like a real piece of shit. And Miguel hooked up the paperwork for him, fake insurance papers and registration." He hands her a slip of paper with the information. "You okay?"

"Just...wondering if maybe I should leave him alone, let him be."

"Listen, Logan knew what he was getting when he started seeing you. He knew you're not some girly-girl that sits back and lets the world kick sand in her face. Some part of him is waiting for you to show up and ask him to come home," Eli comments.

Veronica looks at him.

"The Mars family is tough, and he knows that. Just look at your dad, that graveyard stunt."

"What? What graveyard stunt?" she asks curiously.

Weevil realizes his error. "Nothing. No big deal. Just something I helped your dad with. I thought you knew about it."

"Tell me. TELL ME. Something's going on with him, and he won't let me in,'' Veronica cries, grabbing Weevil's jacket.

"Can't keep your hands off me, huh?" Weevil says, trying to distract her.

"Don't change the subject. Tell me! What. Did. You. Do." she says, poking her finger on his chest with each word.

"Ow." He grabs her finger to stop the poking.

She continues to scowl at him.

"If you do end up in the FBI, all the criminals are just going to turn themselves in for fear you'll find them and look at them," he says shielding his eyes from her glare.

"Please," she begs him.

"Not the head tilt! What'd I tell you about that?" he teases.

"Eli...come on, I'll owe you a big favor. Anything you want. A get out of jail free card."

He hesitates, then tells her, "Your dad and I dug up a body in St. Mary's Cemetery. We were pretending to be from the coroner's office. He took something from the body. He didn't let me see it. We put the body back and got the hell out of there. Coño, I don't think I'm going to be able to go in a graveyard again after that smell."

"What was the name on the grave? Was it Matt Dannon?"

"I don't know, I didn't look. I didn't want to know. That's those pendejos, the Fitzpatricks, at St. Mary's."

"Yeah, I know." She thinks, This must be the corpse that Dad was looking for with the ground penetrating radar. Vinnie, you piece of shit! What did you get my dad into? Aloud, she says, "Did he say why you were doing this?"

Weevil hesitates, then says, "He said we were doing it to help you. I wouldn't have agreed to do it just for some case." He throws his arm over her shoulder. "Veronica, you should leave it alone. Come on, let's get going. I want to get back to Neptune."

"Can we make one more stop? I want to talk to Logan's shrink, see if she has any idea where he is," Veronica says.

"All right, as long as I don't have to talk to her. I hate fucking headshrinkers," he replies.

~ • ~

Fri. 2/6/09: Mars Investigations, Neptune, CA

Keith checks his email at the office and finds a new message from Cliff.

"That guy you asked me to check up on, Gorya Sorokin, was paroled today. He served 90 days on a weapons charge. He tried to purchase an illegal firearm from an undercover ATF agent."

Keith runs a search on Sorokin and discovers that he's the youngest child of the capo of a large Russian crime syndicate based in Brighton Beach, New York, with affiliates in Miami and Las Vegas. The capo, Vladimir 'Vlad' Sorokin, is serving twenty years on a murder rap. Keith wonders if the Sorokins are connected to the Chicago mobsters Sergei and Yevgeni Sukarenko that he helped put away several years before; he sends an email to a contact in the FBI asking about the Sorokins and any connections to the Sukarenkos.

~ • ~

Fri. 2/6/09: Somewhere in the United States

Logan hesitates outside a building on the outskirts of town. I haven't really talked to anybody except Dr. Friedman for over a week. He reads the sign again.

"Good Samaritan Rescue Mission. All are welcome here. Meals served at 11am and 5pm. Volunteers needed."

He finally screws up his courage and enters the building. At the front desk, he waits for a woman to notice him. She looks up and smiles. "How can I help you?"

"I'm...um...I'm interesting in volunteering. Maybe in the kitchen," he answers.

"Oh that's wonderful." She hands him a clipboard with a form. "Can you fill this out?"

He panics a little, but decides to just try to get through this. Let's just see what I have to fill out. He peruses the form. Name, address, phone number, a waiver of liability; okay, I can fudge all that. He starts to read the rules for volunteers.

1. Report any suspicious activity or any threatening words or gestures.
2. Do not give rides or money to a client. Do not take pictures of the clients without their permission.
3. Keep your scheduled appointment for volunteering. Call 555-2927 if you will not be able to keep your appointment.
4. Kitchen volunteers must wear a hairnet or a baseball cap at all times. You will be provided with an apron. Dress comfortably and be prepared to work for a minimum of one hour.

Logan remembers the bullshit volunteering he did with his father junior year. That was all for the paparazzi. This time...this time I'm hoping the paps don't find me. And I'm really hoping Friedman's right, that this'll make me feel better.

"Everything okay?" the lady asks. "Do you have any questions?"

"Yep. Where's my apron?" he replies, handing the form back to her.

"Oh, God bless you. I just need to make a copy of your ID," she adds.

Logan nervously hands it over. She comments, "It's just for the files. More paperwork for me everyday!!"

He smiles at her, hoping that's true. He knows his ID won't stand a lot of scrutiny, but from the appearance of this place, volunteers are desperately needed, and he's hoping it will slide by.

"Here's your ID. Okay, let's take you back and get you started!" the lady says.

Chapter Thirty

Comments

[poniesforall.livejournal.com]

I love your choice of Debra Jo Rupp. I have never seen her in anything but a perky role.

[vanessagalore.livejournal.com]

We love our typecasting here at Galore Productions.

[aly88.livejournal.com]

I have to agree with poniesforall about your choice of Debra Jo Rupp. I can so see her playing that roll.

Wonderful chapter. Now I'm really worried about Keith. I mean, Vinnie-and-the-Fitzpatricks-dead-body saga and now the Russian mob? Dude, seriously, do you enjoy tormenting the man?

[vanessagalore.livejournal.com]

Everything happens for a reason, so they say.