Anthology, Part V, Chapter 3
V. Head First
Summary: Logan and Dick together again. It's like things never changed.
Categories: Veronica, Logan, Dick, Other Character
Genre: Angst, Drama, General, Mystery, Romance
Rating: PG
Characters: Dick Casablancas, Logan Echolls
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. (Some characters are mine, but most belong to Rob Thomas/CW. They do seem to enjoy running around inside my head though!)
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Chapter 3 - Seems Like Old Times
“Dude, how could you not tell me Veronica had a daughter?” Finally alone with his old friend, Logan was able to ask him the question that had been plaguing him since he had met the teen the day before.
“What? You’re not going to dig up that old obsession again are you?” Dick shook his head disgustedly. “Come on, I thought we’d moved on. I mean, we’re both free agents again…” Dick’s thought process stumbled as he remembered that Logan’s bachelor status wasn’t a result of divorce, which was how Dick’s own two marriages had ended, but due to a tragic accident.
Logan decided to take pity on Dick and ignore the faux paux. It’s not like Parker’s death was something he wanted to talk about anyway. “I’m not obsessing, I’m just asking. So, who’s the father? Is Veronica married?” He concentrated on sounding casual, refusing to think about how important the answer to that last question was to him.
Dick groaned. Resigning himself to the fact that they were not moving on from this subject until Logan was satisfied, he helped himself to a fresh beer and made himself comfortable on the couch. Of course, he didn’t really have any of the answers. “I don’t know who the father is. Ronnie’s all closed-lipped about that. I don’t know if anyone knows, not even her father.”
“Keith doesn’t know?” That bit of information had Logan worried. He was well aware of the kind of things Veronica kept from her father, and they were all kinds of no good. “How about Wallace?”
“I couldn’t say. The gym teacher and I don’t exactly pal around.” Dick was getting tired of the third degree about people and events that had little to no importance in his life. “Why don’t you ask him?”
Logan made a mental note to do just that the first chance he got. Provided Wallace would talk to him. He wasn’t sure if they were actually on speaking terms. “So she’s not married?”
“Dude, you haven’t seen her in more than fifteen years and your still as whipped as ever,” Dick lamented, but whatever he saw in Logan’s expression persuaded him to answer the question. “I don’t know if she was married before, but she’s been solo ever since she came back to Neptune. That was, I dunno… twelve years ago? I think her and Casey have some sort of arrangement, though, if you know what I mean.” Dick leered suggestively.
“Casey Gant?!” The force of Logan’s outburst surprised them both, and drew their sons out from Rick’s bedroom.
“What’s up, Pops?” The look on Rick’s face said he was hoping for some chaotic entertainment. Behind him, Steven said nothing, his face blank.
“Nothing big, boys,” Dick assured them, causing his son’s face to fall with disappointment. “I was just catching Logan up on the local dirt. Why don’t you take Steve down to the beach and check out the surf?”
“He doesn’t surf.”
Dick’s over-exaggerated look of incredulity at his son’s confession earned a shrug from Steven, and an eye-roll from Logan.
“In his defense,” Logan offered, “there is no surf in Colorado.”
“Dude! You’re loaded! You can’t take a trip to the beach every now and then?”
“Mom preferred skiing at Aspen.” Steven’s quiet statement succeeded in ending Dick’s tirade. The total lack of emotion in his son’s voice caused Logan’s heart to ache. He didn’t know how to help Steven cope with his mother’s death. Hell, he was having a hard enough time dealing with it himself. He remembered his own mother’s death, and how there had been no one for him to turn to when Lynn had jumped off that bridge. But that wasn’t exactly true. There had been one person. This brought his thoughts full circle.
As the boys headed off to the beach, Logan resumed his interrogation. “So, what’s this about Casey Gant?”
Dick sighed heavily. “Are you sure you really want to hear all this?” At Logan’s stare, he continued reluctantly. “All I know is that Casey and Ronnie hooked up about the time she moved back to Neptune. They were pretty hot and heavy, too. Talk about whipped, Gant was even shopping around for rings at one point. Then things cooled off, but I don’t know why. There were rumors of another guy, but I’ve never seen her with anyone else. I think they still have some sort of casual thing going on. You know, ‘friends with benefits.’ And that’s all I got.” Dick leaned back in his seat and took a swig of beer, studying his friend for a reaction.
A brief image of Veronica and Casey naked and entwined flashed through Logan’s mind but he thrust it aside; it wasn’t something he really wanted to dwell on right now, or ever for that matter. “So, she already had the kid when she moved back to Neptune?”
Relieved that his news hadn’t provoked Logan into another outburst, Dick let the tension ease out of his shoulders before he answered. “Angel? Yeah. Ronnie and the rugrat moved in with her father for awhile. She started up with the P.I. thing again, and after about a year she got her own place.”
“Where?”
“Just let me get out my address book,“ Dick made a move to get up then sat back down sending Logan a disgusted look, “I don’t know. Veronica Mars and I don’t really run in the same social circle, you know.”
Ignoring his friend’s sarcasm Logan moved on to his next question. Trying to keep the jealousy out of his voice as he asked, “What about Piz?”
“Who?” Dick looked genuinely puzzled for a minute, then grinned as he remembered. “Oh, you mean Veronica’s co-star! That was one sweet video!” Noticing Logan’s dark expression, Dick wiped the smile off his face and answered the question. “Yeah, I think he helped her move back, but I never saw him after that.”
When Logan didn’t immediately fire another question at him, Dick decided to make an escape and headed off to the bathroom. Logon finished off his lukewarm beer, and resting his head back against the chair he pondered the information he had gleaned from his friend.
Piz appeared to be out of the picture. Unfortunately Casey Gant seemed to be part of it. Logan frowned. He had never really thought of Piz as competition; he and Veronica just weren’t a good match. But Gant, well he had a streak of bad boy in him and, as Logan well knew, Veronica seemed to have a thing for bad boys. But there didn’t appear to be anything serious going on between them if Dick could be believed.
(But why do you care? You haven’t seen her in sixteen years! You think you can just sweep back into her life and pick up where you left off? Do you think she’ll welcome you back with open arms? Has she ever? Do you even want to go there again?)
The voice of reason knocked Logan upside the head. Of course he didn’t expect to fit right back into Veronica’s life, but he couldn’t help thinking about her. He hadn’t stopped thinking about her for the past sixteen years. What she was doing. Who she was seeing. Sometimes, when he was feeling especially masochistic, he imagined what life would have been like if only Parker had never come to him that night, if there had been no pregnancy, if he hadn’t done the mature thing for the first time in his life. Would they have lasted this time? Would they be married with kids of their own?
But that was all fantasy and speculation. He had no business dreaming about illusory children when he had a real son, with real problems. That’s where his priorities should be; with Steven, not with Veronica Mars. Logan knew it was true. Unfortunately he also knew he was not going to be able to stop thinking about her. He needed to see her, to talk to her. To touch her. To…
(And here I thought I’d overcome all my addictions. Veronica Mars, my drug of choice.)
“So,” Dick came back into the room, rescuing Logan from his thoughts, “wanna go out tomorrow night?”
Logan frowned slightly. It was fun catching up with Dick, but there were other things he wanted to do now that he was back in Neptune. And though he would never admit it to anyone, number one on his “to do” list was reacquainting himself with a certain petite P.I. “I don’t know,” he hedged, “I should probably spend some time with Steven…”
“No way, man!” Dick interrupted, “There’s gonna be this huge party tomorrow that I know Rick will want to take Steven to, you know, to introduce him to everyone. No way your son’s gonna wanna miss that. It’s on the beach, and you know what that means - babes in bikinis.” Dick gave a little head nod of approval, a dreamy look on his face. “Man, I wouldn’t mind going myself. The Dickmeisters still got it.” His face fell as he added, “But they’re all jailbait, and it’s best to stay away from temptation.”
Unsure of the right response, Logan settled on a slight nod, his teeth clamped down on his lip to prevent a snarky comment from escaping.
“Besides, the girlfriend wouldn’t like it,” Dick continued. “I wanted to introduce her to you tomorrow. C’mon, you have to go!” His smile was devilish as he added, “You are gonna shit when you see who it is!”
Well now his curiosity was piqued, and it seemed likely Steven would be otherwise engaged. “Yeah, sure,” Logan relented, causing Dick to slap him approvingly on the back as he handed him another beer.
Besides, he had survived sixteen years without Veronica. He could wait a little longer.
to be continued
Summary: Logan and Dick together again. It's like things never changed.
Categories: Veronica, Logan, Dick, Other Character
Genre: Angst, Drama, General, Mystery, Romance
Rating: PG
Characters: Dick Casablancas, Logan Echolls
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. (Some characters are mine, but most belong to Rob Thomas/CW. They do seem to enjoy running around inside my head though!)
____________________________________
Chapter 3 - Seems Like Old Times
“Dude, how could you not tell me Veronica had a daughter?” Finally alone with his old friend, Logan was able to ask him the question that had been plaguing him since he had met the teen the day before.
“What? You’re not going to dig up that old obsession again are you?” Dick shook his head disgustedly. “Come on, I thought we’d moved on. I mean, we’re both free agents again…” Dick’s thought process stumbled as he remembered that Logan’s bachelor status wasn’t a result of divorce, which was how Dick’s own two marriages had ended, but due to a tragic accident.
Logan decided to take pity on Dick and ignore the faux paux. It’s not like Parker’s death was something he wanted to talk about anyway. “I’m not obsessing, I’m just asking. So, who’s the father? Is Veronica married?” He concentrated on sounding casual, refusing to think about how important the answer to that last question was to him.
Dick groaned. Resigning himself to the fact that they were not moving on from this subject until Logan was satisfied, he helped himself to a fresh beer and made himself comfortable on the couch. Of course, he didn’t really have any of the answers. “I don’t know who the father is. Ronnie’s all closed-lipped about that. I don’t know if anyone knows, not even her father.”
“Keith doesn’t know?” That bit of information had Logan worried. He was well aware of the kind of things Veronica kept from her father, and they were all kinds of no good. “How about Wallace?”
“I couldn’t say. The gym teacher and I don’t exactly pal around.” Dick was getting tired of the third degree about people and events that had little to no importance in his life. “Why don’t you ask him?”
Logan made a mental note to do just that the first chance he got. Provided Wallace would talk to him. He wasn’t sure if they were actually on speaking terms. “So she’s not married?”
“Dude, you haven’t seen her in more than fifteen years and your still as whipped as ever,” Dick lamented, but whatever he saw in Logan’s expression persuaded him to answer the question. “I don’t know if she was married before, but she’s been solo ever since she came back to Neptune. That was, I dunno… twelve years ago? I think her and Casey have some sort of arrangement, though, if you know what I mean.” Dick leered suggestively.
“Casey Gant?!” The force of Logan’s outburst surprised them both, and drew their sons out from Rick’s bedroom.
“What’s up, Pops?” The look on Rick’s face said he was hoping for some chaotic entertainment. Behind him, Steven said nothing, his face blank.
“Nothing big, boys,” Dick assured them, causing his son’s face to fall with disappointment. “I was just catching Logan up on the local dirt. Why don’t you take Steve down to the beach and check out the surf?”
“He doesn’t surf.”
Dick’s over-exaggerated look of incredulity at his son’s confession earned a shrug from Steven, and an eye-roll from Logan.
“In his defense,” Logan offered, “there is no surf in Colorado.”
“Dude! You’re loaded! You can’t take a trip to the beach every now and then?”
“Mom preferred skiing at Aspen.” Steven’s quiet statement succeeded in ending Dick’s tirade. The total lack of emotion in his son’s voice caused Logan’s heart to ache. He didn’t know how to help Steven cope with his mother’s death. Hell, he was having a hard enough time dealing with it himself. He remembered his own mother’s death, and how there had been no one for him to turn to when Lynn had jumped off that bridge. But that wasn’t exactly true. There had been one person. This brought his thoughts full circle.
As the boys headed off to the beach, Logan resumed his interrogation. “So, what’s this about Casey Gant?”
Dick sighed heavily. “Are you sure you really want to hear all this?” At Logan’s stare, he continued reluctantly. “All I know is that Casey and Ronnie hooked up about the time she moved back to Neptune. They were pretty hot and heavy, too. Talk about whipped, Gant was even shopping around for rings at one point. Then things cooled off, but I don’t know why. There were rumors of another guy, but I’ve never seen her with anyone else. I think they still have some sort of casual thing going on. You know, ‘friends with benefits.’ And that’s all I got.” Dick leaned back in his seat and took a swig of beer, studying his friend for a reaction.
A brief image of Veronica and Casey naked and entwined flashed through Logan’s mind but he thrust it aside; it wasn’t something he really wanted to dwell on right now, or ever for that matter. “So, she already had the kid when she moved back to Neptune?”
Relieved that his news hadn’t provoked Logan into another outburst, Dick let the tension ease out of his shoulders before he answered. “Angel? Yeah. Ronnie and the rugrat moved in with her father for awhile. She started up with the P.I. thing again, and after about a year she got her own place.”
“Where?”
“Just let me get out my address book,“ Dick made a move to get up then sat back down sending Logan a disgusted look, “I don’t know. Veronica Mars and I don’t really run in the same social circle, you know.”
Ignoring his friend’s sarcasm Logan moved on to his next question. Trying to keep the jealousy out of his voice as he asked, “What about Piz?”
“Who?” Dick looked genuinely puzzled for a minute, then grinned as he remembered. “Oh, you mean Veronica’s co-star! That was one sweet video!” Noticing Logan’s dark expression, Dick wiped the smile off his face and answered the question. “Yeah, I think he helped her move back, but I never saw him after that.”
When Logan didn’t immediately fire another question at him, Dick decided to make an escape and headed off to the bathroom. Logon finished off his lukewarm beer, and resting his head back against the chair he pondered the information he had gleaned from his friend.
Piz appeared to be out of the picture. Unfortunately Casey Gant seemed to be part of it. Logan frowned. He had never really thought of Piz as competition; he and Veronica just weren’t a good match. But Gant, well he had a streak of bad boy in him and, as Logan well knew, Veronica seemed to have a thing for bad boys. But there didn’t appear to be anything serious going on between them if Dick could be believed.
(But why do you care? You haven’t seen her in sixteen years! You think you can just sweep back into her life and pick up where you left off? Do you think she’ll welcome you back with open arms? Has she ever? Do you even want to go there again?)
The voice of reason knocked Logan upside the head. Of course he didn’t expect to fit right back into Veronica’s life, but he couldn’t help thinking about her. He hadn’t stopped thinking about her for the past sixteen years. What she was doing. Who she was seeing. Sometimes, when he was feeling especially masochistic, he imagined what life would have been like if only Parker had never come to him that night, if there had been no pregnancy, if he hadn’t done the mature thing for the first time in his life. Would they have lasted this time? Would they be married with kids of their own?
But that was all fantasy and speculation. He had no business dreaming about illusory children when he had a real son, with real problems. That’s where his priorities should be; with Steven, not with Veronica Mars. Logan knew it was true. Unfortunately he also knew he was not going to be able to stop thinking about her. He needed to see her, to talk to her. To touch her. To…
(And here I thought I’d overcome all my addictions. Veronica Mars, my drug of choice.)
“So,” Dick came back into the room, rescuing Logan from his thoughts, “wanna go out tomorrow night?”
Logan frowned slightly. It was fun catching up with Dick, but there were other things he wanted to do now that he was back in Neptune. And though he would never admit it to anyone, number one on his “to do” list was reacquainting himself with a certain petite P.I. “I don’t know,” he hedged, “I should probably spend some time with Steven…”
“No way, man!” Dick interrupted, “There’s gonna be this huge party tomorrow that I know Rick will want to take Steven to, you know, to introduce him to everyone. No way your son’s gonna wanna miss that. It’s on the beach, and you know what that means - babes in bikinis.” Dick gave a little head nod of approval, a dreamy look on his face. “Man, I wouldn’t mind going myself. The Dickmeisters still got it.” His face fell as he added, “But they’re all jailbait, and it’s best to stay away from temptation.”
Unsure of the right response, Logan settled on a slight nod, his teeth clamped down on his lip to prevent a snarky comment from escaping.
“Besides, the girlfriend wouldn’t like it,” Dick continued. “I wanted to introduce her to you tomorrow. C’mon, you have to go!” His smile was devilish as he added, “You are gonna shit when you see who it is!”
Well now his curiosity was piqued, and it seemed likely Steven would be otherwise engaged. “Yeah, sure,” Logan relented, causing Dick to slap him approvingly on the back as he handed him another beer.
Besides, he had survived sixteen years without Veronica. He could wait a little longer.
to be continued