this world is only gonna break your heart

[neptune_sleuth]

Her world was spinning apart in her hands. Oh, it could always get worse. If anyone knew that, it was Veronica Mars. But that didn't keep it from being pretty damn bad.

She had thought it bad enough when she took a bet that she had known she shouldn't have (but when you gamble like that, you deal with the consequences), and she had thought it

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[jim_halpert]

Jim had been wandering about with little to do, so he opted to hang out in the rec room for a while until Pam was off work. He was happy to see Veronica at first, but he immediately felt a twinge of concern when he saw her expression.

He headed over, looking down at her. He cleared his throat, trying not to sound worried. "Hey there, Happy. Mind some company?"

[neptune_sleuth]

She blinked up, tugging the earbuds gently out. "Seat's all yours, Dopey." Veronica faked a sweet smile, but it really was good to see Jim, so she patted the couch beside her.

[jim_halpert]

He rolled his eyes, but his smile remained good-humored. He settled into the seat, leaning back against the arm of the couch.

"You seem like a bright ray of sunshine today," he quipped, raising a brow. "Something wrong?"

[neptune_sleuth]

"Wait, am I not a bright ray of sunshine always?" Veronica stared at him, mock-offended.

Something wrong? "Everything's a little wrong," she admitted. "I've seen myself on TV. I never really did want those fifteen minutes."

[jim_halpert]

"Oh, of course," he nodded. "Just moreso than usual, I mean."

He sobered a little at what she said. Of course. If the island went after him, it was no surprise it went after Veronica too. He would have gladly seen even more episodes of his show - with the same depressing images - if it had meant she wouldn't have shared the same fate.

"Yeah, Pam and I saw our show too. Footage from the future. Not exactly a fun time," he admitted, then added, with a heavy amount of bitterness in his voice, "I'm glad to know the island is still finding creative ways to mess with us."

[neptune_sleuth]

"I'm losing my touch if I can't outwit an island," she said bitterly, and hugged her knees to herself. "I saw my future, too, and, apparently, I'm just as much a fool there as I was here."

It hurt, and harder than she wanted it to, to know that. It helped, too, in a way. One more excuse. I can always say, Well, we were written that way.

[jim_halpert]

"I have a feeling no one can outwit its kind of cruelty," he said, shaking his head. He watched her for a moment, somewhat tempted to hug her or do something comforting because she seemed so sad. He knew her well enough to know that'd just be awkward.

"You're not a fool," he insisted after a moment. "I don't care what you saw. Stuff always happens for a reason."

[neptune_sleuth]

"Yeah, ratings," Veronica muttered. I guess I figured that I wouldn't make the mistakes here that I would there. After all, here I'm not being manipulated for UPN. I should have known I was wrong - after all, I'm still me. "I guess I was just losing my edge at home, too, then."

[jim_halpert]

He frowned thoughtfully, leaning against the cushions a bit more.

"Guess something bad happened in it, huh?" he asked quietly, scratching the back of his neck. Way to state the obvious. "In the end, if it's in the future it doesn't matter. Didn't happen to you."

[neptune_sleuth]

"It kind of did," Veronica admitted, then rolled her eyes. "And it didn't keep it from sucking to see." She sighed, knowing she had a choice: she could shut up or she could keep talking. What she actually wanted to do was go somewhere and scream, but she chose the other route.

"The short version? Logan either needs to learn a new line, or he'd been thinking about our being epic for longer than I thought." Mouth tightening, she waved a dismissive hand. "Nevermind. Sorry."

[jim_halpert]

Jim winced. So it was that kind of bad. At least Jim could somewhat understand the sentiment.

"Don't worry about it," he said with a weak grin. "You listen to me bitch all the time, Mars. I have to repay the favor one day, huh?"

His tone showed he was kidding. He would listen to her even if she hadn't helped him out before.

[neptune_sleuth]

"I don't want to bitch," she sighed. "I want - not to care." This was as honest as Veronica Mars got, and she scared herself when she started telling the truth about things like this. It was too tangled up inside her to make sense to anyone else anyway.

[jim_halpert]

Jim nodded quietly, understanding.

"Well, you know I'm always here if you need me," he replied with a small shrug. "Or I'd be up to doing anything that might take your mind off it."

[neptune_sleuth]

"I know," she said softly, looking to the ground. And then Veronica turned wide, innocent eyes to Jim and said, mock-hopeful, "Could we maybe just kill him?" But her smile after was rueful.

[jim_halpert]

Jim snorted loudly, shaking his head.

"Sorry, but murder is frowned upon even here," he replied. "And I don't think Pam would approve of me breaking the law that badly. I know, I know, I'm whipped, you don't have to tell me."

[neptune_sleuth]

Veronica groaned and pouted at him. "No fair!" she sighed. "Pam never lets me kill anyone."

And the funny thing was, she didn't want him dead. And the part that hurt was, she would have cried to see him go, and hated herself for crying.