Fic: For the Sake of a Friend, (Logan/Veronica), PG-13, 11/?
Title: For the Sake of a Friend, (Logan/Veronica), PG-13, 11/?
Author: jacedesbff
Pairing/Character: Logan/Veronica, ensemble
Word Count: 2530
Rating: PG-13; adult situations
Summary: AU from the Pilot; “The Wrath of Con”
Spoilers: Familiarity with Season 1 required.
Disclaimer: Rob Thomas owns all.
A/N: A shorter chapter, but an interesting one to write. Hope you enjoy! Thank you a gajillion times to the world’s best beta, Merc4. Xposted. I really appreciate all of the feedback that each of you has left and know that I value it and love to hear your reactions!
Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10
Sunday night found Logan and Veronica together on the couch watching TV. As Lilly Rush interrogated a suspect, Logan had to comment.
“That is one hot detective.”
“You are such a guy,” noted Veronica.
“What? I have a thing for hot blonde crime stoppers.” He leaned forward to look at his girlfriend’s face. “Didn’t we agree that this was the perfect compromise? Cop procedural,” and he pointed to himself. “Emo!chick show,” and he pointed her.
“Uh-huh,” she said with a look. “I think the reasoning was the other way around.” At that, Logan made a defensive noise. She kissed his upturned face and maneuvered herself up off the couch as Cold Case went to commercial. “You totally know that skeezer coach molested those kids. They totally did it. Want a drink?”
“Whiskey sour,” Logan answered with a straight face. “And yes, I agree that the coach is a pervert, but that does not mean that the guys in his swim class killed him. They’re totally the victims,”
“Uh-huh,” laughed Veronica. “Would you like a Coke?” she asked pointedly.
“Not the same,” he sighed back.
With a laugh, Veronica went about getting out a glass, ice and some Skist.
“Oh, yeah. Logan,” she started. Something about her tone of voice made his look up. “Last night on our golf outing, Troy apologized for booking a room at the Four Seasons. Seems my dad found out he had one reserved for Homecoming night. Any idea how my dad found that out?”
She finished pouring her drink, but rather than heading back over to the couch, she leaned against the counter and aimed a penetrating glance at her boyfriend, who did his best to look innocent.
“Your dad’s a detective, Vee. I would think it would be pretty obvious.”
“Yeah, but so am I, remember?”
Logan looked back at the TV. “Show’s back on.”
“So being a detective and all, I ask myself why my dad thought to call a hotel in L.A. I mean, the normal place to start would be the Neptune Grand, the 09er getaway of choice.”
Logan took a good look at Veronica’s face, checking to see how angry she was. What he saw made him relax a fraction-she was amused, not upset.
She continued, “My dad doesn’t have any reason to distrust Troy. Not yet, anyway. He wouldn’t have called the Four Seasons unless someone gave him a heads up.”
Logan affected an innocent air.
“Logan,” Veronica warned.
“I like your dad,” Logan said as he pretended to turn his attention back to the TV where it appeared that a former military cadet was insisting upon his innocence . “He takes very good care of his little girl. Thorough guy.”
“Logan,” her tone held an even stronger warning.
“The guy was talking about how he was going to impress you after the dance,” Logan admitted with a roll of his eyes. “I may have said something to your dad. It wasn’t like I could deck the guy for making the moves on my girlfriend, which is what I wanted to do.” He crossed his arms, never looking away from the television.
Veronica crossed the living room to Logan, where she set her drink down, uncrossed Logan’s arms and resettled them around herself as she lay down with him. They were asleep in the same position when Keith arrived home a few hours later.
Setting his bags down as quietly as possible, Veronica’s father collapsed wearily into a chair and looked at his daughter lying secure in the arms of Logan Echolls. Keith wondered sometimes if he was doing the right thing, letting Veronica and Logan get as close as they were. He knew they were sleeping together, but in the classic dilemma of all parents, there wasn’t much he could do about it. The best thing he could do was to maintain a close relationship with both Veronica and her boyfriend and hope that he therefore know about any difficulties they encountered.
He also felt a lot of guilt for the misery which was his daughter’s life. Logan was one of the few good things that Veronica had and the boy demonstrably adored her. Keith rubbed his face. He hoped that he was doing the right thing by his daughter. While he didn’t want to disturb them, he didn’t want Logan’s parents to worry about him, either. Not that they would, but Keith didn’t want to be responsible for the possibility.
He went over to the sleeping teenagers and gently put his hand on Logan’s shoulder.
“Logan,” he said in a low voice. “Logan, you have to get home.” The young man blinked as he woke up. His first glance was to the girl in his arms.
“I don’t want to wake her up,” Logan murmured as he maneuvered his arms underneath Veronica so that he could lift the tiny pixie.
“I’m surprised that we haven’t already,” remarked Keith as Logan worked to more fully wake up so that he could carry Veronica to her bed. Logan didn’t comment as he hoisted Veronica in his arms and took her the short distance to her room.
The fact was that Veronica was usually a very light sleeper, but the two of them had discovered that when she fell asleep with Logan, nothing woke her up. She slept like the dead. He liked to tease her that it was because she felt safe when he was there. She laughed and said she’d had to learn to sleep that hard in order to survive his snoring. Logan figured his theory was more likely.
Logan wasn’t in a hurry for Keith to know how often he and Veronica fell asleep together, though, so he wisely said nothing as he deposited his girlfriend in bed and tucked her in.
As Logan got his things together he asked Keith how his trip went.
“Oh, you know. Chased down the bad guy, made rent money.”
Logan smiled and headed out the door.
*
The next day Logan took on Duncan’s task of putting together a memorial video for Lilly. As he sat down to go through the videos in the Journalism room, it was like a dark cloud descended over him. He skipped two classes as he began combing through old videos looking for the least nauseating moments. The monotony was only broken when Veronica stopped by, drawn into the room by the sound of Lilly’s childhood laughter.
He looked up when she entered and then turned his attention back to the computer lest anyone see them talking to each other. When he noticed that she was still there, he said, “What part of my ignoring you makes you think you’re welcome?” Even if no one was directly watching them, caustic behavior was expected when in public.
“What are you doing?”
“Assembling the world’s most boring memorial video,” and he detailed the abysmal contents of each available tape.
“It’s Lilly as a long-distance commercial.”
“Memories both misty and water-colored.”
Veronica stood there for a moment, lost in the same memories as the boy pretending to hate her, then she mentally shook herself and returned to class.
Her eleven o’clock phone call with Logan that night reflected their heavy emotions.
“Hey, Veronica.”
“Hey, Logan.”
The phone line filled with the words that neither of them could say.
“I love you, Logan.”
“I love you, too.”
Neither of them hung up, instead listening to each other’s breathing as they fell asleep.
*
The next morning Veronica woke up early and got out the keepsake box that she kept under her bed. As she pulled out what she was looking for, she wondered what their lives would be like if Lilly hadn’t died. Would she and Logan have still gotten together? Logan had been so in love with Lilly-would he have been able to stay away from her? Even after catching her in the act? How would things have progressed differently if Lilly hadn’t died the day after they had walked up on her? Did it matter? Regardless, she had things to do.
Making an almost unheard of trip to Logan’s house in her own car, Veronica took a detour at the Echolls’ house on the way to school.
Knowing that she would be waking him up, she walked into his room. Sure enough, Logan was still tangled in his sheets, his left arm over his eyes, his right arm flung wide. She sat down on the edge of his bed and reached down to kiss him. As his arm moved from his face to come around her shoulders to pull her in tighter, she laughed.
“I thought you were asleep.”
“Please tell me you came over for some wake-up sex,” his lips moved against hers.
“While that’s very tempting, I have a quiz in first period I can’t miss.”
“Come on, Veronica. Pretty please,” he wheedled as he pulled her across himself and rolled on top of her. He started kissing his way down her collarbone and Veronica’s willpower wavered.
“Logan, really,” she said as she bit her lip and unsuccessfully tried to suppress a moan. “I can’t miss this quiz.”
Logan sighed and stopped his attentions to the disappointment of both of them.
“So if this isn’t a booty call, why are you here at…” he looked over at his new alarm clock. “…this insane hour of the morning?”
“I brought you something,”
Logan’s hand slid up her hip. “I’ll bet you did.”
“You’re such a perv,” said Veronica and she pushed herself out from underneath her boyfriend, reaching for her purse.
Logan leaned back against the headboard as Veronica sat up and pulled out a mini video cassette.
“This is for the memorial video.”
“What is it?” Logan examined the tape that Veronica handed to him.
“It’s not a ballet recital,” said Veronica as she leaned back into her boyfriend’s arms.
They lay motionless for a few minutes before Veronica finally sat up. She paused as Logan rested his head between her shoulder blades.
“I prefer it like this,” he said softly.
She pulled Logan’s arms around herself one last time as she leaned into him.
“We won’t have to pretend forever.”
“I have to believe that,” he returned and he headed for the shower as Veronica left for school.
As Logan stood under the hot spray, he thought about Homecoming. He couldn’t bring himself to go. He and Veronica had decided that she needed to go with Troy in an effort to continue Duncan’s inoculation against Veronica’s love life and to maintain the illusion to Wallace that Veronica didn’t already have a boyfriend. Logan was planning on getting completely plastered as he remembered his last truly happy memory with his first love, his best friend, and Old Veronica (as he categorized her in his mind). He also hoped that liquor would dull the knowledge that Veronica would be spending her evening with some other guy.
Would he still be with Veronica if Lilly were alive, he wondered. He tried not to dwell on things like that too often. He and Veronica were together and that’s all that mattered, but at times like this-Homecoming, October 3 right around the corner, he couldn’t help but contemplate. Would Veronica have been able to fall in love with him if Lilly had always been looking over her shoulder? Would she have really chosen him over her best friend? Did it matter?
Logan leaned against the wall of the shower as the questions washed over him like water from the showerhead. He had to get to school. He got out of the shower and moved on with his day.
*
The night before Homecoming, most of the school attended the dedication of the Lilly Kane Memorial fountain. Veronica wandered through the crowd taking pictures, which took her mind off of the hideous line-up of performances and tributes that Celeste had arranged. In Lilly’s honor, Veronica was strongly tempted to rip off her clothes and streak the crowd, but she really wanted to graduate, so she kept her shirt on.
But then Logan’s video was shown and Veronica realized that she didn’t have to streak. Logan had taken care of the Lilly presence for her. She and Logan gave each other a rare meaningful public look when it was over.
Her boyfriend was perfect.
The next night as she got ready for Homecoming, memories of the previous year threatened to overwhelm Veronica, but she fought them off as she straightened out her midnight blue spaghetti-strap dress in the mirror. She could do this.
She made it through the evening without crying or stripping down naked, so she figured that she was doing pretty well. After Troy got her home at a very reasonable hour, she changed and got into the Mazda. She and Logan hadn’t arranged it ahead of time, but she knew exactly where to find him.
Sure enough, when Veronica pulled into the parking lot, there was the screaming yellow SUV. She walked down to the beach and stood in front of Logan, who was sitting in the sand, watching the waves come in and out.
“Nice dress,” he said.
Veronica looked down at her strapless red satin mini-dress.
“You’re the first person to see it.”
She turned around to see Logan’s surprised expression.
“I saved the best for you. I wore a different dress to the dance.” She smiled at him. “I want you know something.” She turned her head back toward the ocean as she continued. The moonlight shone on the water and from Logan’s point of view Veronica appeared to have a silver white aura surrounding her. “I’ve been thinking about something a lot lately and…” she took a deep breath. “If I had to choose-between you and Lilly, you know, if she were still alive, I’d choose you.” She turned back around. “You win, Logan. I can’t live without you. I miss Lilly, but you I can’t live without.”
The light behind her was so bright that when she turned to him, Logan couldn’t immediately see her features. He stood up and took her hands in his.
“It was over between us, you know,” he said as he turned her around so that her face was in the light and he could see her clearly. “Me and Lilly. As soon as I saw her by the pool, it was over. I was never going to go back to her. And I’m not with you because she’s gone. I’m with you because you’re the one I love. Even if Lilly were still alive, you’re the person I want to be with.”
As Logan put his arms around Veronica, he expected her to return suit, but instead of reaching her arms forward, she put her arms behind her back and pulled down her zipper.
At Logan’s questioning look, Veronica slipped off her dress and laughed as she turned around and headed for the water. Logan smiled.
Time to check one off the “I never” list.
From his vantage point in the parking lot, Duncan watched as Logan joined Veronica for a skinny dip in the ocean.
They never knew he was there.
To be continued.
Author: jacedesbff
Pairing/Character: Logan/Veronica, ensemble
Word Count: 2530
Rating: PG-13; adult situations
Summary: AU from the Pilot; “The Wrath of Con”
Spoilers: Familiarity with Season 1 required.
Disclaimer: Rob Thomas owns all.
A/N: A shorter chapter, but an interesting one to write. Hope you enjoy! Thank you a gajillion times to the world’s best beta, Merc4. Xposted. I really appreciate all of the feedback that each of you has left and know that I value it and love to hear your reactions!
Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10
Sunday night found Logan and Veronica together on the couch watching TV. As Lilly Rush interrogated a suspect, Logan had to comment.
“That is one hot detective.”
“You are such a guy,” noted Veronica.
“What? I have a thing for hot blonde crime stoppers.” He leaned forward to look at his girlfriend’s face. “Didn’t we agree that this was the perfect compromise? Cop procedural,” and he pointed to himself. “Emo!chick show,” and he pointed her.
“Uh-huh,” she said with a look. “I think the reasoning was the other way around.” At that, Logan made a defensive noise. She kissed his upturned face and maneuvered herself up off the couch as Cold Case went to commercial. “You totally know that skeezer coach molested those kids. They totally did it. Want a drink?”
“Whiskey sour,” Logan answered with a straight face. “And yes, I agree that the coach is a pervert, but that does not mean that the guys in his swim class killed him. They’re totally the victims,”
“Uh-huh,” laughed Veronica. “Would you like a Coke?” she asked pointedly.
“Not the same,” he sighed back.
With a laugh, Veronica went about getting out a glass, ice and some Skist.
“Oh, yeah. Logan,” she started. Something about her tone of voice made his look up. “Last night on our golf outing, Troy apologized for booking a room at the Four Seasons. Seems my dad found out he had one reserved for Homecoming night. Any idea how my dad found that out?”
She finished pouring her drink, but rather than heading back over to the couch, she leaned against the counter and aimed a penetrating glance at her boyfriend, who did his best to look innocent.
“Your dad’s a detective, Vee. I would think it would be pretty obvious.”
“Yeah, but so am I, remember?”
Logan looked back at the TV. “Show’s back on.”
“So being a detective and all, I ask myself why my dad thought to call a hotel in L.A. I mean, the normal place to start would be the Neptune Grand, the 09er getaway of choice.”
Logan took a good look at Veronica’s face, checking to see how angry she was. What he saw made him relax a fraction-she was amused, not upset.
She continued, “My dad doesn’t have any reason to distrust Troy. Not yet, anyway. He wouldn’t have called the Four Seasons unless someone gave him a heads up.”
Logan affected an innocent air.
“Logan,” Veronica warned.
“I like your dad,” Logan said as he pretended to turn his attention back to the TV where it appeared that a former military cadet was insisting upon his innocence . “He takes very good care of his little girl. Thorough guy.”
“Logan,” her tone held an even stronger warning.
“The guy was talking about how he was going to impress you after the dance,” Logan admitted with a roll of his eyes. “I may have said something to your dad. It wasn’t like I could deck the guy for making the moves on my girlfriend, which is what I wanted to do.” He crossed his arms, never looking away from the television.
Veronica crossed the living room to Logan, where she set her drink down, uncrossed Logan’s arms and resettled them around herself as she lay down with him. They were asleep in the same position when Keith arrived home a few hours later.
Setting his bags down as quietly as possible, Veronica’s father collapsed wearily into a chair and looked at his daughter lying secure in the arms of Logan Echolls. Keith wondered sometimes if he was doing the right thing, letting Veronica and Logan get as close as they were. He knew they were sleeping together, but in the classic dilemma of all parents, there wasn’t much he could do about it. The best thing he could do was to maintain a close relationship with both Veronica and her boyfriend and hope that he therefore know about any difficulties they encountered.
He also felt a lot of guilt for the misery which was his daughter’s life. Logan was one of the few good things that Veronica had and the boy demonstrably adored her. Keith rubbed his face. He hoped that he was doing the right thing by his daughter. While he didn’t want to disturb them, he didn’t want Logan’s parents to worry about him, either. Not that they would, but Keith didn’t want to be responsible for the possibility.
He went over to the sleeping teenagers and gently put his hand on Logan’s shoulder.
“Logan,” he said in a low voice. “Logan, you have to get home.” The young man blinked as he woke up. His first glance was to the girl in his arms.
“I don’t want to wake her up,” Logan murmured as he maneuvered his arms underneath Veronica so that he could lift the tiny pixie.
“I’m surprised that we haven’t already,” remarked Keith as Logan worked to more fully wake up so that he could carry Veronica to her bed. Logan didn’t comment as he hoisted Veronica in his arms and took her the short distance to her room.
The fact was that Veronica was usually a very light sleeper, but the two of them had discovered that when she fell asleep with Logan, nothing woke her up. She slept like the dead. He liked to tease her that it was because she felt safe when he was there. She laughed and said she’d had to learn to sleep that hard in order to survive his snoring. Logan figured his theory was more likely.
Logan wasn’t in a hurry for Keith to know how often he and Veronica fell asleep together, though, so he wisely said nothing as he deposited his girlfriend in bed and tucked her in.
As Logan got his things together he asked Keith how his trip went.
“Oh, you know. Chased down the bad guy, made rent money.”
Logan smiled and headed out the door.
*
The next day Logan took on Duncan’s task of putting together a memorial video for Lilly. As he sat down to go through the videos in the Journalism room, it was like a dark cloud descended over him. He skipped two classes as he began combing through old videos looking for the least nauseating moments. The monotony was only broken when Veronica stopped by, drawn into the room by the sound of Lilly’s childhood laughter.
He looked up when she entered and then turned his attention back to the computer lest anyone see them talking to each other. When he noticed that she was still there, he said, “What part of my ignoring you makes you think you’re welcome?” Even if no one was directly watching them, caustic behavior was expected when in public.
“What are you doing?”
“Assembling the world’s most boring memorial video,” and he detailed the abysmal contents of each available tape.
“It’s Lilly as a long-distance commercial.”
“Memories both misty and water-colored.”
Veronica stood there for a moment, lost in the same memories as the boy pretending to hate her, then she mentally shook herself and returned to class.
Her eleven o’clock phone call with Logan that night reflected their heavy emotions.
“Hey, Veronica.”
“Hey, Logan.”
The phone line filled with the words that neither of them could say.
“I love you, Logan.”
“I love you, too.”
Neither of them hung up, instead listening to each other’s breathing as they fell asleep.
*
The next morning Veronica woke up early and got out the keepsake box that she kept under her bed. As she pulled out what she was looking for, she wondered what their lives would be like if Lilly hadn’t died. Would she and Logan have still gotten together? Logan had been so in love with Lilly-would he have been able to stay away from her? Even after catching her in the act? How would things have progressed differently if Lilly hadn’t died the day after they had walked up on her? Did it matter? Regardless, she had things to do.
Making an almost unheard of trip to Logan’s house in her own car, Veronica took a detour at the Echolls’ house on the way to school.
Knowing that she would be waking him up, she walked into his room. Sure enough, Logan was still tangled in his sheets, his left arm over his eyes, his right arm flung wide. She sat down on the edge of his bed and reached down to kiss him. As his arm moved from his face to come around her shoulders to pull her in tighter, she laughed.
“I thought you were asleep.”
“Please tell me you came over for some wake-up sex,” his lips moved against hers.
“While that’s very tempting, I have a quiz in first period I can’t miss.”
“Come on, Veronica. Pretty please,” he wheedled as he pulled her across himself and rolled on top of her. He started kissing his way down her collarbone and Veronica’s willpower wavered.
“Logan, really,” she said as she bit her lip and unsuccessfully tried to suppress a moan. “I can’t miss this quiz.”
Logan sighed and stopped his attentions to the disappointment of both of them.
“So if this isn’t a booty call, why are you here at…” he looked over at his new alarm clock. “…this insane hour of the morning?”
“I brought you something,”
Logan’s hand slid up her hip. “I’ll bet you did.”
“You’re such a perv,” said Veronica and she pushed herself out from underneath her boyfriend, reaching for her purse.
Logan leaned back against the headboard as Veronica sat up and pulled out a mini video cassette.
“This is for the memorial video.”
“What is it?” Logan examined the tape that Veronica handed to him.
“It’s not a ballet recital,” said Veronica as she leaned back into her boyfriend’s arms.
They lay motionless for a few minutes before Veronica finally sat up. She paused as Logan rested his head between her shoulder blades.
“I prefer it like this,” he said softly.
She pulled Logan’s arms around herself one last time as she leaned into him.
“We won’t have to pretend forever.”
“I have to believe that,” he returned and he headed for the shower as Veronica left for school.
As Logan stood under the hot spray, he thought about Homecoming. He couldn’t bring himself to go. He and Veronica had decided that she needed to go with Troy in an effort to continue Duncan’s inoculation against Veronica’s love life and to maintain the illusion to Wallace that Veronica didn’t already have a boyfriend. Logan was planning on getting completely plastered as he remembered his last truly happy memory with his first love, his best friend, and Old Veronica (as he categorized her in his mind). He also hoped that liquor would dull the knowledge that Veronica would be spending her evening with some other guy.
Would he still be with Veronica if Lilly were alive, he wondered. He tried not to dwell on things like that too often. He and Veronica were together and that’s all that mattered, but at times like this-Homecoming, October 3 right around the corner, he couldn’t help but contemplate. Would Veronica have been able to fall in love with him if Lilly had always been looking over her shoulder? Would she have really chosen him over her best friend? Did it matter?
Logan leaned against the wall of the shower as the questions washed over him like water from the showerhead. He had to get to school. He got out of the shower and moved on with his day.
*
The night before Homecoming, most of the school attended the dedication of the Lilly Kane Memorial fountain. Veronica wandered through the crowd taking pictures, which took her mind off of the hideous line-up of performances and tributes that Celeste had arranged. In Lilly’s honor, Veronica was strongly tempted to rip off her clothes and streak the crowd, but she really wanted to graduate, so she kept her shirt on.
But then Logan’s video was shown and Veronica realized that she didn’t have to streak. Logan had taken care of the Lilly presence for her. She and Logan gave each other a rare meaningful public look when it was over.
Her boyfriend was perfect.
The next night as she got ready for Homecoming, memories of the previous year threatened to overwhelm Veronica, but she fought them off as she straightened out her midnight blue spaghetti-strap dress in the mirror. She could do this.
She made it through the evening without crying or stripping down naked, so she figured that she was doing pretty well. After Troy got her home at a very reasonable hour, she changed and got into the Mazda. She and Logan hadn’t arranged it ahead of time, but she knew exactly where to find him.
Sure enough, when Veronica pulled into the parking lot, there was the screaming yellow SUV. She walked down to the beach and stood in front of Logan, who was sitting in the sand, watching the waves come in and out.
“Nice dress,” he said.
Veronica looked down at her strapless red satin mini-dress.
“You’re the first person to see it.”
She turned around to see Logan’s surprised expression.
“I saved the best for you. I wore a different dress to the dance.” She smiled at him. “I want you know something.” She turned her head back toward the ocean as she continued. The moonlight shone on the water and from Logan’s point of view Veronica appeared to have a silver white aura surrounding her. “I’ve been thinking about something a lot lately and…” she took a deep breath. “If I had to choose-between you and Lilly, you know, if she were still alive, I’d choose you.” She turned back around. “You win, Logan. I can’t live without you. I miss Lilly, but you I can’t live without.”
The light behind her was so bright that when she turned to him, Logan couldn’t immediately see her features. He stood up and took her hands in his.
“It was over between us, you know,” he said as he turned her around so that her face was in the light and he could see her clearly. “Me and Lilly. As soon as I saw her by the pool, it was over. I was never going to go back to her. And I’m not with you because she’s gone. I’m with you because you’re the one I love. Even if Lilly were still alive, you’re the person I want to be with.”
As Logan put his arms around Veronica, he expected her to return suit, but instead of reaching her arms forward, she put her arms behind her back and pulled down her zipper.
At Logan’s questioning look, Veronica slipped off her dress and laughed as she turned around and headed for the water. Logan smiled.
Time to check one off the “I never” list.
From his vantage point in the parking lot, Duncan watched as Logan joined Veronica for a skinny dip in the ocean.
They never knew he was there.
To be continued.