Fic: Veronica Mars; R
Title: Behind the Curtain (aka. Five Things Veronica Didn't See in 'Not Pictured')
Fandom: Veronica Mars
Rating: R
Pairing/Characters: Ensemble, Veronica/Logan, Jake/Lianne.
Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars, nor do I get any profit from this. Oh, and I don't own the wizard of Oz, either, which the title comes from.
Warnings: Character death, adultery, AU (from Veronica's dream sequence at the beginning of 2x22), angst, child abuse, references to past paedophilia, dark
Spoilers: Anything up to and including 2x22 is fair game
AN: My first foray into the VM fandom, and I write disturbing fic... It's set in Veronica's dream world, so she's not exactly herself. Many, many thanks to inthevast for being an awesome beta.
Graduation was over, and Veronica’s parents had taken enough pictures to fill an entire shoebox before Lilly had kidnapped her and hauled her back over to the door. She shrugged off her gown and removed her cap as they dodged the families that were slowly spilling out of the auditorium.
“Come on, Veronica,” Lilly cajoled, “you just graduated. It’s time to let your hair down.” Her friend leant close and smiled. “I thought Logan would be good for you - bring a little spice into your life.”
Veronica shook her head and smiled, Lilly was still the same Lilly she had always been.
“I have to go and see my parents. Then I’ll go to the party, if they haven’t got anything planned.” Lilly rolled her eyes at Veronica’s carefully chosen words.
“You know what they’ll have planned, Veronica. Please don’t tell me you’re about to blow off an awesome party for dinner with the ‘rents?” She fake-yawned her response. “Bo-o-ring. Even Celeste isn’t forcing Duncan to do that. Not today anyway. Tomorrow I’ll have to dress up all proper and talk politely about what a wonderful president he’ll make some day.” She huffed in irritation. “It’s going to be so dull, I’ll have to find some way to spice it up a bit.” A wicked glint came into her eye as she leaned forward secretively. “Bet I can seduce our waiter… or waitress, wouldn’t Celeste just be scandalised?” Veronica looked a little shocked herself and revised her opinion: if anything, college had made Lilly more Lilly-like than ever. “Come on! Where’s your sense of adventure, Veronica Mars? You never do anything spontaneous. Live a little.
“Like this thing tonight, it’s time for you to party. You must make an appearance. Tell your parents they can take you out to celebrate tomorrow. Tonight, Veronica Mars, you are going to enjoy yourself.” Her friend’s grin was infectious and Veronica found herself smiling more broadly. She had missed this over the last year. “Admittedly, it’s only a high school party, but still: music, men and Malibu, what more could a girl ask for?” She waited expectantly.
“Okay, I’ll come,” Veronica caved, as they had both known she would. “But I still have to tell my parents.” Lilly crossed her arms over her chest, looking unimpressed.
“If I just run off without telling them you know our plans for the summer are over,” Veronica pleaded.
“Fine - just tell them quickly, okay. I want to get out of here,” the older girl said as she glanced around dismissively at the Neptune high buildings. “Just being here for a little while makes me glad I got out.” She shuddered and grinned before shooing Veronica away. “Remember to leave out the Malibu part or your Dad will never let you come.” Veronica swallowed her retort that she was not stupid, she knew better than to tell her father about the alcohol, and she probably wouldn’t mention the men either.
Her parents were standing to one side, talking in whispers to each other, hushed but firm. Her father caught sight of her first and broke into a huge smile, holding his arms open. She hugged him fiercely.
“My little girl, graduating from high school,” he said, ruffling her hair. “It doesn’t seem any time at all since I was putting on puppet shows for you in the back garden.”
“Dad,” she looked around to check that none of her friends was quite close enough to hear. The only person within earshot was the guy who had her gown earlier - Wallace… Fennel? She smiled at him, trying to convey her embarrassment at her father’s reminiscing, but he turned away with a brief fake smile and resumed talking to his own family.
“Look, sweetie,” her Dad went on, all serious again and she glanced up, alarmed. “Your mother and I were going to take you out for dinner, but something’s come up at the office.” Veronica glanced over at her mother, who smiled tightly before looking over her head. “So we’re going to have to reschedule, is that okay?” She nodded before cocking her head to one side. It looked like everything was turning out perfectly.
“If we’re not going out then…” she broke off for a second as her Dad looked at her questioningly. “There’s this graduation party at the Neptune Grand and everyone’s going.” Her father did not look impressed, so she added the puppy dog eyes, just for good measure.
“Please, Dad?” She pleaded.
“Who is ‘everyone’?” he asked suspiciously.
“Lilly and Logan and Duncan and everybody,” she said.
“Honey, I’m not sure that that’s…” he began, but her mother cut him off.
“Let her go, Keith, it’s her graduation.” She leant over and hugged her daughter as well, kissing Veronica’s cheek. He looked between the pair of them for a second, exasperated, before capitulating.
“How can I say no to both of you?” he asked helplessly. “Alright, you can go, but remember: no alcohol -“
“-no drugs, no sex, yes sir!” Logan quipped from behind her and she winced. He slipped his arms around her waist his chin brushing the side of her head and she smiled in spite of herself. “Don’t worry, Sheriff. I’ll take good care of her.”
Keith did not look particularly reassured.
“You go to the party and you come straight back, no getting a hotel room - I’ll know. No unscheduled trips to the beach, no road trips, no…”
“Dad, I get it!” Veronica protested.
“And back by midnight.” Veronica gaped in disbelief.
“Two.”
“Twelve-thirty and that is my final offer.”
“One.” Veronica countered.
“Deal.” They shook and Logan shook his head at the strange relationship his girlfriend had with her father. “Not one minute late mind you. Got that Logan?”
“Yessir,” but before he could say anything further to change her father’s mind Veronica dragged him away with a cheerful wave at her parents, pulling him back to Duncan’s car, Lilly and freedom.
The Kane siblings were already there when they returned and she and Logan climbed into the backseat.
“So what happens if I don’t get you back by one?” He asked with a laugh, kissing the corner of her mouth. “Will Duncan turn back into a white mouse and the car into a pumpkin?” She shoved him away playfully as Duncan glared in the rear-view mirror and reminded his best friend that he was not a rodent.
Logan smirked at him before turning his attention back to Veronica. “What? I need to know these things if you’re going to disappear and leave me with only a glass slipper.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said as he slipped an arm back around her shoulders.
“I’m not. I’d just like to know about any possible fairy godmothering going on.” He smoothed her hair away from her face and smiled at her. “’Cause if there is you know I’d search every household in Neptune for you, right?”
“You two are too hideously sweet,” Lilly groaned from the passenger seat, and Duncan murmured his agreement. “Honestly, I can feel my teeth rotting from here.” Logan flipped her off as Veronica leant against his shoulder and smiled peacefully.
The sun was brilliant in the sky, her best friend was laughing, her boyfriend was kissing the top of her head and his arm was warm around her shoulders and she was fairly certain that there was nowhere better in the world to be than Neptune.
*
Keith had left an hour ago and the house was empty without her family. She envied her daughter the blissful happiness of young love and contentment and she raised her (third) glass of wine to that sentiment before draining it. Knowing that the wine was not what she needed, she decided to start on something a little stronger.
Two glasses of gin later, she was fishing her phone out of her purse. She knew the number she dialled off by heart.
This was a bad idea, a terrible idea. She had sworn she was done with him. She belonged here with her beautiful daughter and her loving husband, who would be destroyed if they found out what was going through her mind right now. She poured herself another gin as her thumb hovered over the call button. At the last second, she hit the cancel button and the number she had dialed disappeared from the screen. The digits she had pressed remained in her mind though, she had a feeling that even alcohol would not stop her from remembering them.
She downed the next glass and stared at the ceiling.
Alone again.
She lifted the bottle, tilted, poured, set it down; lifted the glass, tilted, drank. Lift, tilt, pour, lift, tilt, drink; repeat ad nauseam.
*
“Hello Eli.” Liam Fitzpatrick said with a smirk as he pulled his bike up to the curb. Liam was not alone, his lackeys hanging off him like so much white trash garbage.
Apparently, they did not like it when he got ‘rid’ of one of their drug dealers. He looked at the assorted weaponry they were holding. Apparently, they did not like it at all.
He had not graduated today; flunked with flying colors. His grandmother had stared at him with disappointed eyes and he had to get out of there. It looked as though he should have stayed away a bit longer.
“Hello, mick,” he said because if he was going to get beaten he was going to do it with a little class. You did not get to be the leader of a motorbike gang without knowing something about winding up scumbags like Liam Fitzpatrick.
“I think you should be polite to me, Navarro, ‘cause from where I’m standing it looks like we have you at a bit of a disadvantage.” Weevil looked round and saw that he was surrounded. They would be able to drag him from his bike before he could even gun the engine. He knew how this was going to play, but there was no way he was just going to roll over.
“What? Your little friends can’t come out to play?” Liam asked, but Weevil did not answer, just looked away from the thug, as though bored. “That’s a pity, because we wanted to teach them a little lesson too.” There was the sound of metal hitting someone’s palm behind him, but he ignored it. “And we don’t want to have to go over it again, so we’re going to have to get it right first time. And you know what?”
“What? You’ve finally learned to find your ass with both hands?” he asked, because going down swinging was the only way this scene was going to play out. “Coz I can already do that… although if you want to tell me how you manage to get your head that far up your ass I’m more than willing to listen, ‘cause that’s kind of impressive.”
“You’re a funny guy, Weevil.” Liam said with a fake laugh that quickly died, “but no… What I was going to say was that you get the honor of being our example.”
He managed to get a couple of wild hits in before they pinned him down. Liam’s jaw would be purple for a week, and he thought he just might have broken another guys ribs. But numbers were everything in this game and sheer numbers overwhelmed him. He never was that good at math.
It went on for what felt like some time, with them all punching and kicking, but he tightened his jaw and refused to yell out. His body went comfortably numb, almost. Then one blow of a crowbar to his head and everything went black.
He lay on the floor, bloody, torn skin and splintered bones, as Liam Fitzpatrick straightened up, smoothing one hand through his hair before pulling out a gun. Coolly, he aimed and squeezed the trigger. Eli Navarro never woke up.
*
The Camelot motel: the go to place in Neptune for drug dealers and adulterers. No one blinked an eye as a car pulled up and a well-tailored man, who could not have looked more out of place wearing a sign that said ‘09er’ strapped to his back, stepped out and headed up the steps.
In the car on the other side of the lot, a camera clicked.
Vinnie Van Lowe smirked to himself as he watched Jake Kane ascend the stairs and knock on a door. If he could just get the money shot then this would be one big payday. Celeste Kane would pay big bucks for that.
He hissed in agitation as the woman stayed out of sight. He would have to wait until they came out again, or bug the guy next time. Some mistresses were just so inconsiderate to the little guy: here he was, sitting out in his quite uncomfortable car, with nothing for company except a few interesting magazines and the bimbo didn’t even have the decency to stick her head out the door. At least bugging would put the expenses up, he thought idly as he reached for his coffee, not taking his eyes off the door.
*
As the door shut behind him, Jake Kane set aside his guilt for the day and smiled tenderly at his high school sweetheart.
“Lianne,” he murmured, but then their lips met and he decided that thinking was not the most important thing at the moment, and it was probably best not to mention that she tasted like cheap gin and desperation.
*
The party was in full swing downstairs, high school graduates getting quickly, noisily and illegally drunk in one of the Neptune Grand’s function rooms. Up here on the roof the noise had faded to nothing but the rumble of traffic and the rush of wind past his ears.
No doubt his brother was busy chatting up some girl or other. No one would notice that he was not there hanging around. No one would think to ask “Where’s Cassidy?” or even “Where’s Beaver?” He was a nonentity, only allowed in the clubhouse because of his family.
His brother’s graduation, fun for all the family, not least because they were all amazed that he had graduated. He had sat patiently on the hard seat, giving the required smattering of applause for all those who had managed to make it through, those who had not flunked out, or dropped out, or ended up in jail - or dead.
There was no feeling quite like watching your lame-brained, asshole big brother shaking the hand of the guy who had molested you. His daughter was in this class, that was how they’d managed to get him on stage. His daughter, Gia - the most vapid airhead to ever grace the halls of Neptune High.
Revenge was something he had learned over time. It was something you got good at through practice and there had been plenty of that leading up to this moment. The thing that most people did not take into account, was the consequences. You had to do something that would last forever, something that would haunt them every day until they were driven insane by it. That was revenge, anything else was just petty children’s games. He was above that. They all thought he was so quiet, and pathetic and young. If one of them had an idea of what was going on in his mind... He laughed to himself. But they never would. He was too clever for all of them.
He had plans.
The door to the roof swung open and he smiled. The bait had been laid and now taken.
“Beaver?” He was surprised she even knew that much.
“My name is Cassidy,” he corrected, though it did not seem to matter how many times he said it, they never listened. No one ever listened, that was why his plan could not fail. He had gone too far now to back down, and no one would know until it was too late. He shook his head with a small smile. He had done so much to cover it up, to keep it hidden, things he had not wanted to do, not really, but they had been necessary. It was all necessary.
The gun was heavy in his hand as he stood there, warm wind blowing in his face. He watched as she looked around her, blinking stupidly in confusion, before looking back at him. There was no presentiment of danger in her eyes as she opened her mouth to speak.
“Oh… someone said there was a party up here.”
She couldn’t feel it in the air: the tightening of atmosphere around them. Soon it would be all over: another atrocity to add to his list. He hoped that this would be the last one.
Marcos and Peter had been easy to dispatch. One small bomb, one quick phone call and bang, boom, it was all sorted. Only it had not been. Because they had brought it all up again and there he was, Call me Woody, grinning like an idiot and fucking Mayor of Neptune. They had been right about one thing, he had realised after he had sent them careening into the churning Pacific, Woody needed to be punished.
“This doesn’t look like a party, though,” Gia said with uncertainty. It was almost comical that she had not realized yet, and he chuckled to himself under his breath. He raised the gun into her line of sight.
“Walk over there, Gia,” he gestured with the barrel but she froze and her mouth opened wide in horror. “Scream and I shoot. Keep your hands where I can see them.” She complied, like a good girl, not even trying to argue. She was just another sheep, like all the rest of them.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked. She probably thought he wanted her body or something, he thought scornfully. She had no idea in that empty head of hers what this was about. Her voice shook as she continued, “I’ve never done anything to you.”
“Maybe not,” he allowed, not that it really mattered, necessary casualties were all par for the course, “but you know someone who did.” He considered for a second, debating with himself whether to tell her. He had always thought the villains were fools when they monologued to their victims, but he sort of got it now. She was going to die anyway she deserved to know what it was all for: it was not her fault.
“Did you ever wonder why Daddy came back late from little league practise all those times?” he spat at her, but she just looked confused. “Ever wonder why he was always more interested in those little boys than in his precious daughter?” She shook her head, whether in answer to him or in disbelief at her current situation it did not really matter.
“What are you talking about?” she asked, tears streaming down her face. She looked so ridiculous; he couldn’t help but bark out a laugh.
“No one ever told you Daddy likely little boys?” he asked, deliberately incredulous as he chuckled.
“Shut up!” she cried out, a moment of courage in a sea of cowardice, not enough to save her though.
“Gia… I’m the one with the gun, so I’ll be the one doing the talking,” he explained to her as though she were a little girl. He slipped his phone out of his pocket, cradling it in his palm. “You just listen, because I’m going to tell you just what Daddy does.
“He likes to touch little boys, young boys who trust him. He makes them stay behind after practice for some one on one sessions, he takes them out for ice cream, tries to be their friend.” He hissed the last word with a venom that made her jump back. “Then, when they’re grateful that someone - anyone - might like them, then comes the quid pro quo.” He smiled bitterly, but his eyes were blank and dead. “So Daddy’s going to learn just what it feels like to be destroyed from the inside out, Gia.” He looked out towards the 09 sector of town.
“I called your mother earlier, I told her you needed to be picked up. She said she’d be right along.” He paused to shoot another look at her face, which was still confused, like she couldn’t quite understand how this was related. “I wonder where she is right now… bet it’s somewhere close.” He raised the cell phone until she looked at it. “Why don’t we find out, hey?” He pressed send.
They both saw the fireball as the car blew up less than a block from the hotel. Gia crumpled to her knees, shaking with fear and sobs.
“Pity she didn’t drive a little faster, huh, she might have made it.” He chuckled to himself, his mouth a cruel twist of a smile. “Get up.” She did not move. “Get up.” She just continued to sob noisily. Crying… didn’t she know yet that crying never helped, it never made anything better, just worse? “GET UP.” He had hoped that this would be easy: girl commits suicide after watching her mother die tragically, but it looked like she was not going to cooperate.
He swallowed as she buried her face in her hands and levelled the gun at her head. He squeezed the trigger.
With the fatal impact of the bullet, she flopped backwards, lifeless. He supposed he should thank his father for teaching him how to shoot, but all he could feel was rage. He should have felt better, but there was nothing there but emptiness. It had not worked.
He knew what he had to do now. There was only one way this was going to end. Making him hurt was not going to be enough, he had to make him pay.
*
“What time do you call this?” The words were out of his father’s mouth before he had even closed the front door. He should have known better than to try to sneak in, it never worked.
Trina, now Trina could make it inside, upstairs and into bed without anyone so much as twitching an eyebrow, and her boyfriends always made it out the window, down the trellis, and across the garden before anyone knew they were there. However, it seemed like his father had a sixth ‘Logan’ sense which could tell when his son was doing anything wrong, bad or slightly irritating.
“I call it about half past one, which I think is the time agreed upon by most of the western United States. Of course, if you call it differently, I will bow to your superior knowledge.” He grinned his devil-may-care, knock-me-down-and-I-will-rise-again-ten-times-stronger grin and wished that he had gone back to the party after dropping Veronica off (ten minutes late, because they had got… distracted in the car). “Come on, Dad, we both know this isn’t about the time. What did I do this time? Step on the wrong carpet? Forget to give you an important message, or maybe I just looked at you wrong.”
“Did you scratch the paint on the Corvette?” Ah, so that was it, the beloved car, dearest member of the family. He had been wondering when this was going to come back to bite him on the ass.
“No,” he answered honestly. That particular incident had been all Lilly’s fault. She had blazed back into town a few days ago gathered the four of them together and declared in that way which only Lilly could pull off, that going for a spin in his Dad’s Corvette was a great idea. So she did.
“Really? Because I don’t remember it being there the last time I drove it.” The look that followed was all he needed to turn around and head for the closet and his Dad’s delightful collection of designer, genuine leather belts.
He wondered which he should choose today - wide black leather that left bruises that really brought out his eyes, or thin suede that cut right in if his Dad got the wrist flick right. His hands hovered over the newest one, not broken in yet - guaranteed to break the skin every time, before grabbing one that made a really satisfying smack noise when it hit skin with enough velocity. He gritted his teeth in expectation.
The beating was swift, barely worth the extra cocky smirk he had put on when he had come back out; maybe the old man was getting soft in his old age. He got a blow round the ear for good measure and sent off to bed with a sour growl. He made a mental note that the next time Aaron was out of town working on this crap movie or that shit movie he was going to take that Corvette out and fucking total it.
He lay in bed, flat on his front with the covers down where they would not get stuck in his drying blood. He knew from experience that he would not be able to sleep for hours and he could not move without pain.
His phone buzzed as he lay there and it took him a minute to reach out and grab it, checking the caller ID - Veronica. He answered with a slow smile.
“I’m grounded,” she told him, and he felt a wave of guilt that he was glad he would not have to think up as many excuses for his stiffness and inability to go swimming or surfing or any of those other things. He did not want her to know about this.
“For being ten minutes late?” he asked, with a laugh, twisting onto his side and hissing as one of the welts brushed against fabric.
“Are you alright?” she sounded concerned, but sleepy.
“Yeah, I’m good,” he lied with practiced ease. “You sound dead on your feet… you should probably get some sleep.” On cue he heard her yawn.
“Right…Goodnight, Logan. Love you.” His smile grew.
“Goodnight, Veronica. Love you too.”
She hung up and he sighed half throwing his phone back onto his bedside table. He flopped over onto his stomach, wincing and closing his eyes, trying to will himself to an unattainable sleep.
*
Veronica Mars rolled over and fell asleep almost immediately. She slept peacefully, and all around her, in the darkness, through the lies, pain and secrets, Neptune breathed.
-
Fandom: Veronica Mars
Rating: R
Pairing/Characters: Ensemble, Veronica/Logan, Jake/Lianne.
Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars, nor do I get any profit from this. Oh, and I don't own the wizard of Oz, either, which the title comes from.
Warnings: Character death, adultery, AU (from Veronica's dream sequence at the beginning of 2x22), angst, child abuse, references to past paedophilia, dark
Spoilers: Anything up to and including 2x22 is fair game
AN: My first foray into the VM fandom, and I write disturbing fic... It's set in Veronica's dream world, so she's not exactly herself. Many, many thanks to inthevast for being an awesome beta.
Graduation was over, and Veronica’s parents had taken enough pictures to fill an entire shoebox before Lilly had kidnapped her and hauled her back over to the door. She shrugged off her gown and removed her cap as they dodged the families that were slowly spilling out of the auditorium.
“Come on, Veronica,” Lilly cajoled, “you just graduated. It’s time to let your hair down.” Her friend leant close and smiled. “I thought Logan would be good for you - bring a little spice into your life.”
Veronica shook her head and smiled, Lilly was still the same Lilly she had always been.
“I have to go and see my parents. Then I’ll go to the party, if they haven’t got anything planned.” Lilly rolled her eyes at Veronica’s carefully chosen words.
“You know what they’ll have planned, Veronica. Please don’t tell me you’re about to blow off an awesome party for dinner with the ‘rents?” She fake-yawned her response. “Bo-o-ring. Even Celeste isn’t forcing Duncan to do that. Not today anyway. Tomorrow I’ll have to dress up all proper and talk politely about what a wonderful president he’ll make some day.” She huffed in irritation. “It’s going to be so dull, I’ll have to find some way to spice it up a bit.” A wicked glint came into her eye as she leaned forward secretively. “Bet I can seduce our waiter… or waitress, wouldn’t Celeste just be scandalised?” Veronica looked a little shocked herself and revised her opinion: if anything, college had made Lilly more Lilly-like than ever. “Come on! Where’s your sense of adventure, Veronica Mars? You never do anything spontaneous. Live a little.
“Like this thing tonight, it’s time for you to party. You must make an appearance. Tell your parents they can take you out to celebrate tomorrow. Tonight, Veronica Mars, you are going to enjoy yourself.” Her friend’s grin was infectious and Veronica found herself smiling more broadly. She had missed this over the last year. “Admittedly, it’s only a high school party, but still: music, men and Malibu, what more could a girl ask for?” She waited expectantly.
“Okay, I’ll come,” Veronica caved, as they had both known she would. “But I still have to tell my parents.” Lilly crossed her arms over her chest, looking unimpressed.
“If I just run off without telling them you know our plans for the summer are over,” Veronica pleaded.
“Fine - just tell them quickly, okay. I want to get out of here,” the older girl said as she glanced around dismissively at the Neptune high buildings. “Just being here for a little while makes me glad I got out.” She shuddered and grinned before shooing Veronica away. “Remember to leave out the Malibu part or your Dad will never let you come.” Veronica swallowed her retort that she was not stupid, she knew better than to tell her father about the alcohol, and she probably wouldn’t mention the men either.
Her parents were standing to one side, talking in whispers to each other, hushed but firm. Her father caught sight of her first and broke into a huge smile, holding his arms open. She hugged him fiercely.
“My little girl, graduating from high school,” he said, ruffling her hair. “It doesn’t seem any time at all since I was putting on puppet shows for you in the back garden.”
“Dad,” she looked around to check that none of her friends was quite close enough to hear. The only person within earshot was the guy who had her gown earlier - Wallace… Fennel? She smiled at him, trying to convey her embarrassment at her father’s reminiscing, but he turned away with a brief fake smile and resumed talking to his own family.
“Look, sweetie,” her Dad went on, all serious again and she glanced up, alarmed. “Your mother and I were going to take you out for dinner, but something’s come up at the office.” Veronica glanced over at her mother, who smiled tightly before looking over her head. “So we’re going to have to reschedule, is that okay?” She nodded before cocking her head to one side. It looked like everything was turning out perfectly.
“If we’re not going out then…” she broke off for a second as her Dad looked at her questioningly. “There’s this graduation party at the Neptune Grand and everyone’s going.” Her father did not look impressed, so she added the puppy dog eyes, just for good measure.
“Please, Dad?” She pleaded.
“Who is ‘everyone’?” he asked suspiciously.
“Lilly and Logan and Duncan and everybody,” she said.
“Honey, I’m not sure that that’s…” he began, but her mother cut him off.
“Let her go, Keith, it’s her graduation.” She leant over and hugged her daughter as well, kissing Veronica’s cheek. He looked between the pair of them for a second, exasperated, before capitulating.
“How can I say no to both of you?” he asked helplessly. “Alright, you can go, but remember: no alcohol -“
“-no drugs, no sex, yes sir!” Logan quipped from behind her and she winced. He slipped his arms around her waist his chin brushing the side of her head and she smiled in spite of herself. “Don’t worry, Sheriff. I’ll take good care of her.”
Keith did not look particularly reassured.
“You go to the party and you come straight back, no getting a hotel room - I’ll know. No unscheduled trips to the beach, no road trips, no…”
“Dad, I get it!” Veronica protested.
“And back by midnight.” Veronica gaped in disbelief.
“Two.”
“Twelve-thirty and that is my final offer.”
“One.” Veronica countered.
“Deal.” They shook and Logan shook his head at the strange relationship his girlfriend had with her father. “Not one minute late mind you. Got that Logan?”
“Yessir,” but before he could say anything further to change her father’s mind Veronica dragged him away with a cheerful wave at her parents, pulling him back to Duncan’s car, Lilly and freedom.
The Kane siblings were already there when they returned and she and Logan climbed into the backseat.
“So what happens if I don’t get you back by one?” He asked with a laugh, kissing the corner of her mouth. “Will Duncan turn back into a white mouse and the car into a pumpkin?” She shoved him away playfully as Duncan glared in the rear-view mirror and reminded his best friend that he was not a rodent.
Logan smirked at him before turning his attention back to Veronica. “What? I need to know these things if you’re going to disappear and leave me with only a glass slipper.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said as he slipped an arm back around her shoulders.
“I’m not. I’d just like to know about any possible fairy godmothering going on.” He smoothed her hair away from her face and smiled at her. “’Cause if there is you know I’d search every household in Neptune for you, right?”
“You two are too hideously sweet,” Lilly groaned from the passenger seat, and Duncan murmured his agreement. “Honestly, I can feel my teeth rotting from here.” Logan flipped her off as Veronica leant against his shoulder and smiled peacefully.
The sun was brilliant in the sky, her best friend was laughing, her boyfriend was kissing the top of her head and his arm was warm around her shoulders and she was fairly certain that there was nowhere better in the world to be than Neptune.
*
Keith had left an hour ago and the house was empty without her family. She envied her daughter the blissful happiness of young love and contentment and she raised her (third) glass of wine to that sentiment before draining it. Knowing that the wine was not what she needed, she decided to start on something a little stronger.
Two glasses of gin later, she was fishing her phone out of her purse. She knew the number she dialled off by heart.
This was a bad idea, a terrible idea. She had sworn she was done with him. She belonged here with her beautiful daughter and her loving husband, who would be destroyed if they found out what was going through her mind right now. She poured herself another gin as her thumb hovered over the call button. At the last second, she hit the cancel button and the number she had dialed disappeared from the screen. The digits she had pressed remained in her mind though, she had a feeling that even alcohol would not stop her from remembering them.
She downed the next glass and stared at the ceiling.
Alone again.
She lifted the bottle, tilted, poured, set it down; lifted the glass, tilted, drank. Lift, tilt, pour, lift, tilt, drink; repeat ad nauseam.
*
“Hello Eli.” Liam Fitzpatrick said with a smirk as he pulled his bike up to the curb. Liam was not alone, his lackeys hanging off him like so much white trash garbage.
Apparently, they did not like it when he got ‘rid’ of one of their drug dealers. He looked at the assorted weaponry they were holding. Apparently, they did not like it at all.
He had not graduated today; flunked with flying colors. His grandmother had stared at him with disappointed eyes and he had to get out of there. It looked as though he should have stayed away a bit longer.
“Hello, mick,” he said because if he was going to get beaten he was going to do it with a little class. You did not get to be the leader of a motorbike gang without knowing something about winding up scumbags like Liam Fitzpatrick.
“I think you should be polite to me, Navarro, ‘cause from where I’m standing it looks like we have you at a bit of a disadvantage.” Weevil looked round and saw that he was surrounded. They would be able to drag him from his bike before he could even gun the engine. He knew how this was going to play, but there was no way he was just going to roll over.
“What? Your little friends can’t come out to play?” Liam asked, but Weevil did not answer, just looked away from the thug, as though bored. “That’s a pity, because we wanted to teach them a little lesson too.” There was the sound of metal hitting someone’s palm behind him, but he ignored it. “And we don’t want to have to go over it again, so we’re going to have to get it right first time. And you know what?”
“What? You’ve finally learned to find your ass with both hands?” he asked, because going down swinging was the only way this scene was going to play out. “Coz I can already do that… although if you want to tell me how you manage to get your head that far up your ass I’m more than willing to listen, ‘cause that’s kind of impressive.”
“You’re a funny guy, Weevil.” Liam said with a fake laugh that quickly died, “but no… What I was going to say was that you get the honor of being our example.”
He managed to get a couple of wild hits in before they pinned him down. Liam’s jaw would be purple for a week, and he thought he just might have broken another guys ribs. But numbers were everything in this game and sheer numbers overwhelmed him. He never was that good at math.
It went on for what felt like some time, with them all punching and kicking, but he tightened his jaw and refused to yell out. His body went comfortably numb, almost. Then one blow of a crowbar to his head and everything went black.
He lay on the floor, bloody, torn skin and splintered bones, as Liam Fitzpatrick straightened up, smoothing one hand through his hair before pulling out a gun. Coolly, he aimed and squeezed the trigger. Eli Navarro never woke up.
*
The Camelot motel: the go to place in Neptune for drug dealers and adulterers. No one blinked an eye as a car pulled up and a well-tailored man, who could not have looked more out of place wearing a sign that said ‘09er’ strapped to his back, stepped out and headed up the steps.
In the car on the other side of the lot, a camera clicked.
Vinnie Van Lowe smirked to himself as he watched Jake Kane ascend the stairs and knock on a door. If he could just get the money shot then this would be one big payday. Celeste Kane would pay big bucks for that.
He hissed in agitation as the woman stayed out of sight. He would have to wait until they came out again, or bug the guy next time. Some mistresses were just so inconsiderate to the little guy: here he was, sitting out in his quite uncomfortable car, with nothing for company except a few interesting magazines and the bimbo didn’t even have the decency to stick her head out the door. At least bugging would put the expenses up, he thought idly as he reached for his coffee, not taking his eyes off the door.
*
As the door shut behind him, Jake Kane set aside his guilt for the day and smiled tenderly at his high school sweetheart.
“Lianne,” he murmured, but then their lips met and he decided that thinking was not the most important thing at the moment, and it was probably best not to mention that she tasted like cheap gin and desperation.
*
The party was in full swing downstairs, high school graduates getting quickly, noisily and illegally drunk in one of the Neptune Grand’s function rooms. Up here on the roof the noise had faded to nothing but the rumble of traffic and the rush of wind past his ears.
No doubt his brother was busy chatting up some girl or other. No one would notice that he was not there hanging around. No one would think to ask “Where’s Cassidy?” or even “Where’s Beaver?” He was a nonentity, only allowed in the clubhouse because of his family.
His brother’s graduation, fun for all the family, not least because they were all amazed that he had graduated. He had sat patiently on the hard seat, giving the required smattering of applause for all those who had managed to make it through, those who had not flunked out, or dropped out, or ended up in jail - or dead.
There was no feeling quite like watching your lame-brained, asshole big brother shaking the hand of the guy who had molested you. His daughter was in this class, that was how they’d managed to get him on stage. His daughter, Gia - the most vapid airhead to ever grace the halls of Neptune High.
Revenge was something he had learned over time. It was something you got good at through practice and there had been plenty of that leading up to this moment. The thing that most people did not take into account, was the consequences. You had to do something that would last forever, something that would haunt them every day until they were driven insane by it. That was revenge, anything else was just petty children’s games. He was above that. They all thought he was so quiet, and pathetic and young. If one of them had an idea of what was going on in his mind... He laughed to himself. But they never would. He was too clever for all of them.
He had plans.
The door to the roof swung open and he smiled. The bait had been laid and now taken.
“Beaver?” He was surprised she even knew that much.
“My name is Cassidy,” he corrected, though it did not seem to matter how many times he said it, they never listened. No one ever listened, that was why his plan could not fail. He had gone too far now to back down, and no one would know until it was too late. He shook his head with a small smile. He had done so much to cover it up, to keep it hidden, things he had not wanted to do, not really, but they had been necessary. It was all necessary.
The gun was heavy in his hand as he stood there, warm wind blowing in his face. He watched as she looked around her, blinking stupidly in confusion, before looking back at him. There was no presentiment of danger in her eyes as she opened her mouth to speak.
“Oh… someone said there was a party up here.”
She couldn’t feel it in the air: the tightening of atmosphere around them. Soon it would be all over: another atrocity to add to his list. He hoped that this would be the last one.
Marcos and Peter had been easy to dispatch. One small bomb, one quick phone call and bang, boom, it was all sorted. Only it had not been. Because they had brought it all up again and there he was, Call me Woody, grinning like an idiot and fucking Mayor of Neptune. They had been right about one thing, he had realised after he had sent them careening into the churning Pacific, Woody needed to be punished.
“This doesn’t look like a party, though,” Gia said with uncertainty. It was almost comical that she had not realized yet, and he chuckled to himself under his breath. He raised the gun into her line of sight.
“Walk over there, Gia,” he gestured with the barrel but she froze and her mouth opened wide in horror. “Scream and I shoot. Keep your hands where I can see them.” She complied, like a good girl, not even trying to argue. She was just another sheep, like all the rest of them.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked. She probably thought he wanted her body or something, he thought scornfully. She had no idea in that empty head of hers what this was about. Her voice shook as she continued, “I’ve never done anything to you.”
“Maybe not,” he allowed, not that it really mattered, necessary casualties were all par for the course, “but you know someone who did.” He considered for a second, debating with himself whether to tell her. He had always thought the villains were fools when they monologued to their victims, but he sort of got it now. She was going to die anyway she deserved to know what it was all for: it was not her fault.
“Did you ever wonder why Daddy came back late from little league practise all those times?” he spat at her, but she just looked confused. “Ever wonder why he was always more interested in those little boys than in his precious daughter?” She shook her head, whether in answer to him or in disbelief at her current situation it did not really matter.
“What are you talking about?” she asked, tears streaming down her face. She looked so ridiculous; he couldn’t help but bark out a laugh.
“No one ever told you Daddy likely little boys?” he asked, deliberately incredulous as he chuckled.
“Shut up!” she cried out, a moment of courage in a sea of cowardice, not enough to save her though.
“Gia… I’m the one with the gun, so I’ll be the one doing the talking,” he explained to her as though she were a little girl. He slipped his phone out of his pocket, cradling it in his palm. “You just listen, because I’m going to tell you just what Daddy does.
“He likes to touch little boys, young boys who trust him. He makes them stay behind after practice for some one on one sessions, he takes them out for ice cream, tries to be their friend.” He hissed the last word with a venom that made her jump back. “Then, when they’re grateful that someone - anyone - might like them, then comes the quid pro quo.” He smiled bitterly, but his eyes were blank and dead. “So Daddy’s going to learn just what it feels like to be destroyed from the inside out, Gia.” He looked out towards the 09 sector of town.
“I called your mother earlier, I told her you needed to be picked up. She said she’d be right along.” He paused to shoot another look at her face, which was still confused, like she couldn’t quite understand how this was related. “I wonder where she is right now… bet it’s somewhere close.” He raised the cell phone until she looked at it. “Why don’t we find out, hey?” He pressed send.
They both saw the fireball as the car blew up less than a block from the hotel. Gia crumpled to her knees, shaking with fear and sobs.
“Pity she didn’t drive a little faster, huh, she might have made it.” He chuckled to himself, his mouth a cruel twist of a smile. “Get up.” She did not move. “Get up.” She just continued to sob noisily. Crying… didn’t she know yet that crying never helped, it never made anything better, just worse? “GET UP.” He had hoped that this would be easy: girl commits suicide after watching her mother die tragically, but it looked like she was not going to cooperate.
He swallowed as she buried her face in her hands and levelled the gun at her head. He squeezed the trigger.
With the fatal impact of the bullet, she flopped backwards, lifeless. He supposed he should thank his father for teaching him how to shoot, but all he could feel was rage. He should have felt better, but there was nothing there but emptiness. It had not worked.
He knew what he had to do now. There was only one way this was going to end. Making him hurt was not going to be enough, he had to make him pay.
*
“What time do you call this?” The words were out of his father’s mouth before he had even closed the front door. He should have known better than to try to sneak in, it never worked.
Trina, now Trina could make it inside, upstairs and into bed without anyone so much as twitching an eyebrow, and her boyfriends always made it out the window, down the trellis, and across the garden before anyone knew they were there. However, it seemed like his father had a sixth ‘Logan’ sense which could tell when his son was doing anything wrong, bad or slightly irritating.
“I call it about half past one, which I think is the time agreed upon by most of the western United States. Of course, if you call it differently, I will bow to your superior knowledge.” He grinned his devil-may-care, knock-me-down-and-I-will-rise-again-ten-times-stronger grin and wished that he had gone back to the party after dropping Veronica off (ten minutes late, because they had got… distracted in the car). “Come on, Dad, we both know this isn’t about the time. What did I do this time? Step on the wrong carpet? Forget to give you an important message, or maybe I just looked at you wrong.”
“Did you scratch the paint on the Corvette?” Ah, so that was it, the beloved car, dearest member of the family. He had been wondering when this was going to come back to bite him on the ass.
“No,” he answered honestly. That particular incident had been all Lilly’s fault. She had blazed back into town a few days ago gathered the four of them together and declared in that way which only Lilly could pull off, that going for a spin in his Dad’s Corvette was a great idea. So she did.
“Really? Because I don’t remember it being there the last time I drove it.” The look that followed was all he needed to turn around and head for the closet and his Dad’s delightful collection of designer, genuine leather belts.
He wondered which he should choose today - wide black leather that left bruises that really brought out his eyes, or thin suede that cut right in if his Dad got the wrist flick right. His hands hovered over the newest one, not broken in yet - guaranteed to break the skin every time, before grabbing one that made a really satisfying smack noise when it hit skin with enough velocity. He gritted his teeth in expectation.
The beating was swift, barely worth the extra cocky smirk he had put on when he had come back out; maybe the old man was getting soft in his old age. He got a blow round the ear for good measure and sent off to bed with a sour growl. He made a mental note that the next time Aaron was out of town working on this crap movie or that shit movie he was going to take that Corvette out and fucking total it.
He lay in bed, flat on his front with the covers down where they would not get stuck in his drying blood. He knew from experience that he would not be able to sleep for hours and he could not move without pain.
His phone buzzed as he lay there and it took him a minute to reach out and grab it, checking the caller ID - Veronica. He answered with a slow smile.
“I’m grounded,” she told him, and he felt a wave of guilt that he was glad he would not have to think up as many excuses for his stiffness and inability to go swimming or surfing or any of those other things. He did not want her to know about this.
“For being ten minutes late?” he asked, with a laugh, twisting onto his side and hissing as one of the welts brushed against fabric.
“Are you alright?” she sounded concerned, but sleepy.
“Yeah, I’m good,” he lied with practiced ease. “You sound dead on your feet… you should probably get some sleep.” On cue he heard her yawn.
“Right…Goodnight, Logan. Love you.” His smile grew.
“Goodnight, Veronica. Love you too.”
She hung up and he sighed half throwing his phone back onto his bedside table. He flopped over onto his stomach, wincing and closing his eyes, trying to will himself to an unattainable sleep.
*
Veronica Mars rolled over and fell asleep almost immediately. She slept peacefully, and all around her, in the darkness, through the lies, pain and secrets, Neptune breathed.
-