FIC: The Year of Living Dangerously, Part II (Veronica/Logan, Ensemble) (36/?) (WIP) (NC-17)

[vanessagalore]

Previous chapters: 1-3 | 4-7 | 8-10 | 11-13
14-17 | 18-20 | 21-24 | 25-27 | 28-31 | 32-35

Previously on The Year of Living Dangerously Part II [Spoilers for chapters 1-35]


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VERONICA MARS
10:00PM SHO ch: 340 60min 2009 TV-MA
The Texas Two-Step
Veronica tracks down Logan.
Veronica: Kristen Bell. Logan: Jason Dohring.
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CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: "THE TEXAS TWO-STEP"

Two weeks later...

VERONICA

I'm scared. I'm scared Logan won't come back with me. I'm scared whatever it is that he has to work out for himself means that he's leaving me forever. And...I really need him. My BFF Wallace is helping his new girlfriend with the murder of her brother. Mac is in witness protection, apparently the target of a ruthless Mafia vendetta. And my dad...well, he's been charged with arson. He won't say a word about it to anybody, not to me, not to the sheriff, not even to Cliff. The preliminary hearing is on Friday, and I think he plans to plead guilty. One thing I know is Dad won't last long in general population where he'll be the target for retribution by all the criminals he's put away. Dammit, Logan, I need you! I can't do this alone. And...I need you for my plan to get the charges dismissed. You have to come back with me!!

~ • ~

Tues. 2/24/09 evening: South Padre Island, Texas

When Veronica enters the bar, she sees him right away. He is seated at the bar with his back to her. The bail bondsman she hired to track Logan here in South Padre Island told her that Logan had lost weight, but she is appalled when she sees him. His clothes hang off his body, and his newly dark-brown hair is long and uneven. After rushing to get here, Veronica has a moment of panic and hesitation, and she takes a seat at a table near the door where she can observe Logan. He sits by himself and talks to no one. A girl sidles up to him and starts a conversation, but he waves her off, and the girl walks away disappointed.

"Friend of yours?" A voice startles Veronica out of her reverie. She looks up at a female bartender who adds, "Can I get you a drink?"

"Coke, please. Do you know the man seated at the end of the bar?" Veronica nods toward Logan.

"Can't say I know him...he doesn't talk to anybody. He kind of looks familiar, but I can't place the face. He comes in here every night around this time, for a couple weeks now. Always orders a double scotch, and then he just stares at it for an hour. I've never seen him drink it."

Veronica looks at the bartender in shock. She has been preparing herself to be understanding, supportive, whatever, about Logan's relapsed alcoholism. "He just stares at it?"

"I've seen him raise it to his nose, just breathe in the smell of it, and sigh. Pretty weird. The guy doesn't talk. And no action with the ladies. What a waste. I'd go home with him in a second." The bartender shrugs and leaves to get Veronica's soda.

~ • ~

Tues. 2/24/09 evening: South Padre Island, Texas

Logan knows she's in the bar the moment she walks in the door. He doesn't need to turn around to know that Veronica is there. He's not sure how he knows: perhaps he hears the distinctive rhythm of her breathing that he's memorized in their nights together, or maybe he recognizes the unique scent of her. But the moment that he's been dreading and expecting is finally here; the only question is how will she play it.

He lifts the scotch glass to his nose and inhales deeply. Just the scent of the alcohol sends a rush to every nerve ending. Every cell in his body is tingling, expecting the sweet tendrils of alcohol to come bearing their delicious pain and oblivion. Logan sits here every night to assess his courage and resolve; he stares down his demons and grimly celebrates each victory, adding to the running count of one hundred and eighteen days sober. The man behind the bar is an experienced bartender who knows enough to leave him alone. The few patrons who try to engage Logan in conversation take one look at his expression and move away quickly.

The bartender taps Logan's arm and says quietly, "She's here, Logan." He nods toward Veronica's table.

Logan looks up in surprise. "You know my...."

"For a while now. It's nobody's business but yours. But the woman they show on the TV with you is here in the bar."

"I know. I had a feeling the moment she came in the bar."

"She looks scared. Uh-oh. She's coming over."

Logan closes his eyes, then opens them and says, "Thanks for everything. Thanks for not saying anything."

"Never had a customer who tipped a fifty for a shot before," he replies wryly. "Good luck with her." The bartender steps away and moves to the other end of the bar.

Veronica sits down on the stool next to Logan.

He continues to stare straight ahead and says, "So how mad are you?"

"I just want you to come home. But I'm not going to drag you back. I've known you were here for two weeks."

He turns to her in surprise.

Veronica reaches for his hand on the bar. She brings his hand to her mouth and kisses it gently. "I figured out where you were, and I had someone tail you to see if you were okay. He said you kept to yourself but seemed to be fine. He said you walked on the beach for hours and volunteered every night at a local soup kitchen, then hung out here for a while in the evenings." She presses the back of his hand against her face, hoping, remembering.

He tugs his hand away and, motioning to the full glass in front of him, replies, "I'm not drinking you know."

"I know." She fingers his unfamiliarly dark and long hair and gently teases, "A mullet, Logan? Really, this is taking the concept of disguise a little too far."

He smiles despite himself. "Not a mullet. Way to cut a guy, Veronica." Logan scratches his cheek and looks at her. "What about the beard?"

"Looks very dangerous. Tall, dark and handsome."

"Why are you here now, Veronica? Are you okay? Are the reporters leaving you alone now?" he asks.

"For a while now, yes....Logan, please come back to California. You don't have to be with me if you don't want to."

He stares at her in shock. "Veronica, I saw Duncan's press conference. Aren't you with him again?"

Now it's Veronica turn to look shocked. "Of course not. I love you, Logan. But..." she stumbles on the words, "if you don't want to be with me anymore, it's...okay."

"Veronica, it's not that I don't want to be with you–"

She continues intensely, "But I need your help. We need your help. Dad's been arrested. And Logan...I'm quite convinced Hannah wasn't murdered by the Saturday Night Slasher."

~ • ~

Tues. 2/24/09 evening: South Padre Island, Texas

"Let's get out of here. I want you to know what's going on with your dad and what you found out about Hannah." Logan suggests.

When Logan stands up, he grabs his cane, but Veronica is surprised to note that he barely uses it for support. Seeing her stare, he says simply, "I've had a lot of time to work on my physical therapy. It's been good for me; it feels like something positive I can do to make my life better." Something I can actually control.

They leave the bar, and Logan leads Veronica to the beach. They walk down the sand just above the waterline. Veronica walks on the opposite side of Logan's cane, hoping he'll take her hand, but he doesn't; he stares straight ahead and sets a medium pace.

"What's going on with your dad?" Logan asks after they have walked past another couple strolling on the beach.

"He's been arrested on a charge of arson." Logan turns to her in surprise, and she continues, "He's been very secretive the last month or so. I think he was helping Vinnie Van Lowe with his defense. You remember, I told you I thought Vinnie was forcing Dad to help him by threatening to reveal my involvement in the Manning kidnapping."

Logan nods that he understands.

She continues, "Wallace and I have compared notes. It's something to do with a man named Matt Dannon, who disappeared twenty-five years ago after robbing a liquor store where he was working. I don't know the real story about Dannon, but I know Dad bought a gun and dug up a grave in St. Mary's cemetery. And Mac said she wrote a program for him to hack into a Bluetooth-connected keyboard."

"How does that fit in with the arson?" Logan asks.

"It's something to do with the Fitzpatricks. The building Dad is supposed to have burned down is on a property that is owned by shell corporations controlled by Liam Fitzpatrick. He set fire to a shed that was storing a car. Everything in the shed was incinerated in the fire."

"How do they know your dad did it?"

"He dropped something; it's a device to detect bugs and other electronic surveillance devices. Mars Investigations is the only purchaser of the device in the county. It's the only evidence against him. It was crushed by a vehicle during the investigation, so there's no usable fingerprints on it, but it's an unusual device that would only be used by security guards or police."

"Or private detectives," Logan adds. "I don't understand why you think I can help with this. Do you need money for an attorney or bail? If that's what you need, you know I'd be happy to help."

"No, actually...I was thinking about the story you wrote about the accused murderer paying the deputy to conceal evidence," she replies.

Logan stops short. "You mean–"

"Yes. I want to blackmail Leo into destroying the evidence against Dad. You and I know that the only reason to steal all the copies of the Lilly Kane videotapes was to prevent them from being used in your father's murder trial."

Logan nods, thinking. "And I'm the only person that knows for sure that I got the tapes from Leo. Your dad kept that purposely vague; he said that Leo was only negligent about the safety of the evidence room."

"Dad always liked Leo. Hell, I always liked Leo. I don't want to do this, but I don't see any other way to get the charges dismissed."

Chapter Thirty-Seven