Fic: How She Cares (Logan/Veronica) PG-13
Title: How She Cares
Author: Angela
Pairing/Character: Logan, Veronica
Word Count: 1,990
Rating: PG-13. Nothing scandalous here.
Summary: another post-finale fic
Spoilers: mild seasons 1&2, major 2.22
Warnings: don't read this if you haven't seen the finale
When the hotel manager first approaches Logan the night Cassidy dies, and says, “I’m sorry, but your father was murdered tonight,” Logan assumes he is talking to Veronica. He is halfway through dismissing the guy, when he notices the confusion in his eyes and the fact that he is looking at Logan.
“Do you mean…Neptune’s very own sweetheart, Aaron Echolls?” he asks, incredulously, and Veronica’s head snaps up. The manager nods and Logan snorts. Right. Father. Aaron. Because…right.
He wants to grin widely at Veronica and say, “It’s okay, baby. My father’s dead, too. We match!” They should get matching tattoos, and this…this is just not funny. He wants to sit on the floor and just laugh and laugh and laugh. This tells him just how far from sanity he actually is right now, and how much he is actually not absorbing anything else tonight.
He quells the urge and turns back to the blonde at his side. “I’m taking you to the hospital, Veronica. It’s not up for argument.”
“Don’t go soft on me, Logan,” Veronica says tersely, her eyes focused on the Mac, who is being led into her parent’s car to be taken to the hospital as well. “I taser people all the time, its not exactly lethal.”
Logan rolls his eyes. Only Veronica could snark at him at a time like this, especially when she is gripping his hand so tightly he’s lost all circulation in his fingers. She is a mass of contradictions, as usual. Just minutes ago, she had run away from him to find Mac without so much as a backwards glance at him, and then upon reaching the hotel room door, turned to find his eyes, waiting helplessly until he nodded at her before she opened the door. She refuses to acknowledge that she needs him, but she shows him in these little ways just how important he is to her right now.
~~~
An African-American man that Logan recognizes as one of the Kane employees, Clarence something, walks silently through the hotel lobby. As he passes Veronica, he stares straight into her eyes and then tips two fingers to his forehead, in a sort of solute.
Veronica gasps in realization. “Duncan,” she breathes out softly, staring at Clarence’s retreating back.
Logan’s blood runs cold as he hears the familiar word. He stiffens and steps away from Veronica quickly, and somebody better tell him what the fuck is going on because he’s this close to punching a wall.
Veronica looks up at the loss of bodily contact, reaching out immediately to grasp his shirt, clinging to him desperately. He’s not used to her being so needy, but his body responds automatically to her, his hand reaching out to stroke her back lightly. He can’t leave her now, even if she does confess her undying love for Duncan. “No, no I meant…Duncan sends his hello from sunny ol’ Mexico. His drink of choice? A shot of Aaron Echolls, with a little toothpick umbrella stuck through his forehead.”
“Oh.” Logan says, allowing her to step back into his arms, burying his head in her hair as he lets this new piece of information sink in. “Oh.” He wonders why he will accept anything she says, without needing to know her reasoning.
He realizes that he really should go to Dick right now, but there is no way he is leaving Veronica alone again, ever.
~~~
The doctor who checks Veronica out tells her that aside from a little bruising, she will be fine. Logan thinks he should have shown the doctor his own throbbing wrist, the one that Cassidy had slammed into the ground, but it didn’t occur to him at the time, because he was too busy worrying about Veronica. She hasn’t said anything since they left for the hospital, and her stony silence is scaring him.
It isn’t until he sees fucking Lamb scurrying towards them that he realizes just how emotionally devastated she’s feeling.
Lamb opens his mouth first, “Veronica, about Keith…Goodman’s plane went down but Keith-”
Veronica cuts him off, letting out shriek that seems to come from a place deep inside her. Logan flinches at the sound.
“Don’t you dare say his name, you bastard.” she growls coldly.
“Veronica, if you would just -” But Veronica will not listen. She slaps Lamb across the face, in a move that even Logan doesn’t see coming.
“What, Lamb? If I would just grow a BACKBONE? Is that what you were gonna say!” She is clawing and scratching and hissing, as Lamb stands in front of her, stunned. “I’ll kill you! I told you I was raped and if you’d just pulled your head out of your ass long enough to find out who did it-”
“I don’t have to listen to this!” Lamb says, a little ruffled. “Arrest Veronica for assaulting law enforcement.”
Veronica freezes as Deputy Sachs steps towards her sheepishly. Logan is spurred into action and steps forward, but before he can intervene, Veronica has turned towards him. “Logan, don’t let them take me.” She says, panicked.
“I won’t, Ronnie.” Logan promises, shocked at the bleakness in her eyes. He has never, ever seen her so out of control, even when they heard the news about Lilly. He understands. Keith is her world.
“Logan, don’t leave me alone,” she begins repeating, under her breath, and he almost can’t quite believe that she is his strong, tough action figure ex-girlfriend as she tries frantically to lift his shirt. His Veronica would never break down in front of him.
“Veronica what-” Her movements are more frantic now as she grapples with the hem of his t-shirt, lifting it halfway up his chest and then trying to hide underneath it, trying, it seems, to crawl his way inside his chest. His throat catches painfully as Lamb and Sachs and various other members of the hospital staff watch in shock. She’s falling apart in front of him, and he doesn’t know what to do.
Veronica has rescued him too many times to count. She has comforted him and cradled him and whispered sweet nothings in his ear. She has taken care of him as if holding him tightly enough could put all his pieces togather again, and now it is time for him to be strong as she breaks.
He grasps her wrists in one hand, pulling them behind her, and then locks his arms around her tightly, whispering words of comfort to her as she slowly stops fighting him and starts crying in earnest. They sink down to the floor, right in the middle of the hospital hallway, him holding her shaking body the way she had done in that hotel lobby when he realized his mother wasn’t ever coming home again.
~~~
By the time he gets her to her apartment, Veronica has calmed down a bit. Her arms are wrapped around her stomach and among the other sobs and whimpering noises, he catches the word that breaks his heart every time he hears it. “Daddy.”
He might be fucking little orphan Annie, and maybe nobody has ever loved him enough to stay, but he realizes that finding out you were raped and having your only reliable parent taken from you all in one night might even be more damage than he has experienced in one night.
He carries her inside and places her gently on her feet. She stands in the middle of her own living room, looking around like she’s never seen the place before. Even in her grief, she’s practically unreadable.
But he’s gotten pretty damn good at reading her over the past two years. He may not be school smart, but he is a fucking expert at what makes Veronica Mars tick. Courtesy, mostly, of all the cruel things he has ever said to her. Veronica thrives on control. She can’t be forced to accept comfort, or to accept him, or she’ll run screaming. You have to show her you’ll be there for her, but you have to let her decide in what way and in what capacity.
So he sits down on the couch. “Make yourself at home,” she snarks, finally.
He just stares at her calmly.
“Is this too far out of Kendall’s area code? Or will she slum it for tonight?” she asks. “In this neighborhood, I’m sure you can find some hooker to replace her. Right, Logan, isn’t that how us poor people make a living?”
Logan just stares. “I’m not leaving,” he answers quietly.
Veronica storms into her room, the force of her rage carrying her. Seconds later, she is walking hastily back towards him. Lightning quick she has deposited herself across his lap, her legs straddling his hips. Her fingers dig harshly into his shoulders and she buries her face in his neck. Her next words are muffled. “This isn’t because I need you, you know,” she says.
If he didn’t almost believe it, Logan would argue. Instead, he says, “I know,” and starts stroking her back and hair soothingly anyways.
~~~
They settle down slowly, until there heavy breathing is the only thing left in the room.
Logan attempts to break the silence. “So Beav- ah Cass- uh - god, how did I not see it? I’ve been hanging out with…uh - Dick’s brother - since I was eight years old.”
Veronica’s eyes soften and she places a gentle kiss on his neck.
“The same way he didn’t see that your father was beating you,” she whispers softly. “But you didn’t go out and murder anyone. And you didn’t let me become a killer.”
He feels like he should make some argument on Beaver’s behalf, but all he sees now when he closes his eyes is Beaver touching Veronica. Him slowly lifting her white dress, smoothing back her blonde hair, hesitating in that boyish way when he reaches her underwear, scratching the back of his head. Logan wants to bring Beaver back to life so he can kill him again…but maybe hug the broken little boy in him first.
“Logan?” Veronica breathes quietly, tracing tiny patterns on his t-shirt. “I just realized that I trust you.”
Logan shakes his head at her in disbelief, even as he feels his insides start to tremble. “What are you talking about, baby?” he murmurs, pushing their foreheads togather.
“Logan, I - I’m really fucked up, from everything that’s happened. So many people in my life have betrayed me that it feels like second nature to me.”
“It’s understandable, Veronica. I’m sorry I -”
“No, let me finish. I’m paranoid. Everyone I saw tonight- Dick, your father, the concierge in the hotel lobby - I kept thinking they were somehow involved, accomplices but…I knew you would come through for me. And - when I saw you on the roof and you told me not to shoot, for a split second, I thought - is he involved in this, too? But, right away…I knew, that you couldn’t be. I trust you, Logan.”
He understood. Last year, her accusal of him had broken them apart and put him up on the Coronado Bridge. This year, it was different. She would never again see him as a murderer. Somehow, in this entire fucked up year, he had done something right.
For the first time all night, he allows himself to smile lightly. There will be no heartfelt declarations of love or gratitude, here, from this girl, but he doesn’t need them. Veronica has shown him, in her own fucked-up, dysfunctional way, just how much he means to her.
He kisses her forehead softly. “Whatever you need, baby. I’ll be here, I promise.” And anyways, he’s good enough with the sentimental sap for the both of them.
Love it? Hate it? Want to gouge my eyes out with a fork? Don't forget to review :)
Author: Angela
Pairing/Character: Logan, Veronica
Word Count: 1,990
Rating: PG-13. Nothing scandalous here.
Summary: another post-finale fic
Spoilers: mild seasons 1&2, major 2.22
Warnings: don't read this if you haven't seen the finale
When the hotel manager first approaches Logan the night Cassidy dies, and says, “I’m sorry, but your father was murdered tonight,” Logan assumes he is talking to Veronica. He is halfway through dismissing the guy, when he notices the confusion in his eyes and the fact that he is looking at Logan.
“Do you mean…Neptune’s very own sweetheart, Aaron Echolls?” he asks, incredulously, and Veronica’s head snaps up. The manager nods and Logan snorts. Right. Father. Aaron. Because…right.
He wants to grin widely at Veronica and say, “It’s okay, baby. My father’s dead, too. We match!” They should get matching tattoos, and this…this is just not funny. He wants to sit on the floor and just laugh and laugh and laugh. This tells him just how far from sanity he actually is right now, and how much he is actually not absorbing anything else tonight.
He quells the urge and turns back to the blonde at his side. “I’m taking you to the hospital, Veronica. It’s not up for argument.”
“Don’t go soft on me, Logan,” Veronica says tersely, her eyes focused on the Mac, who is being led into her parent’s car to be taken to the hospital as well. “I taser people all the time, its not exactly lethal.”
Logan rolls his eyes. Only Veronica could snark at him at a time like this, especially when she is gripping his hand so tightly he’s lost all circulation in his fingers. She is a mass of contradictions, as usual. Just minutes ago, she had run away from him to find Mac without so much as a backwards glance at him, and then upon reaching the hotel room door, turned to find his eyes, waiting helplessly until he nodded at her before she opened the door. She refuses to acknowledge that she needs him, but she shows him in these little ways just how important he is to her right now.
~~~
An African-American man that Logan recognizes as one of the Kane employees, Clarence something, walks silently through the hotel lobby. As he passes Veronica, he stares straight into her eyes and then tips two fingers to his forehead, in a sort of solute.
Veronica gasps in realization. “Duncan,” she breathes out softly, staring at Clarence’s retreating back.
Logan’s blood runs cold as he hears the familiar word. He stiffens and steps away from Veronica quickly, and somebody better tell him what the fuck is going on because he’s this close to punching a wall.
Veronica looks up at the loss of bodily contact, reaching out immediately to grasp his shirt, clinging to him desperately. He’s not used to her being so needy, but his body responds automatically to her, his hand reaching out to stroke her back lightly. He can’t leave her now, even if she does confess her undying love for Duncan. “No, no I meant…Duncan sends his hello from sunny ol’ Mexico. His drink of choice? A shot of Aaron Echolls, with a little toothpick umbrella stuck through his forehead.”
“Oh.” Logan says, allowing her to step back into his arms, burying his head in her hair as he lets this new piece of information sink in. “Oh.” He wonders why he will accept anything she says, without needing to know her reasoning.
He realizes that he really should go to Dick right now, but there is no way he is leaving Veronica alone again, ever.
~~~
The doctor who checks Veronica out tells her that aside from a little bruising, she will be fine. Logan thinks he should have shown the doctor his own throbbing wrist, the one that Cassidy had slammed into the ground, but it didn’t occur to him at the time, because he was too busy worrying about Veronica. She hasn’t said anything since they left for the hospital, and her stony silence is scaring him.
It isn’t until he sees fucking Lamb scurrying towards them that he realizes just how emotionally devastated she’s feeling.
Lamb opens his mouth first, “Veronica, about Keith…Goodman’s plane went down but Keith-”
Veronica cuts him off, letting out shriek that seems to come from a place deep inside her. Logan flinches at the sound.
“Don’t you dare say his name, you bastard.” she growls coldly.
“Veronica, if you would just -” But Veronica will not listen. She slaps Lamb across the face, in a move that even Logan doesn’t see coming.
“What, Lamb? If I would just grow a BACKBONE? Is that what you were gonna say!” She is clawing and scratching and hissing, as Lamb stands in front of her, stunned. “I’ll kill you! I told you I was raped and if you’d just pulled your head out of your ass long enough to find out who did it-”
“I don’t have to listen to this!” Lamb says, a little ruffled. “Arrest Veronica for assaulting law enforcement.”
Veronica freezes as Deputy Sachs steps towards her sheepishly. Logan is spurred into action and steps forward, but before he can intervene, Veronica has turned towards him. “Logan, don’t let them take me.” She says, panicked.
“I won’t, Ronnie.” Logan promises, shocked at the bleakness in her eyes. He has never, ever seen her so out of control, even when they heard the news about Lilly. He understands. Keith is her world.
“Logan, don’t leave me alone,” she begins repeating, under her breath, and he almost can’t quite believe that she is his strong, tough action figure ex-girlfriend as she tries frantically to lift his shirt. His Veronica would never break down in front of him.
“Veronica what-” Her movements are more frantic now as she grapples with the hem of his t-shirt, lifting it halfway up his chest and then trying to hide underneath it, trying, it seems, to crawl his way inside his chest. His throat catches painfully as Lamb and Sachs and various other members of the hospital staff watch in shock. She’s falling apart in front of him, and he doesn’t know what to do.
Veronica has rescued him too many times to count. She has comforted him and cradled him and whispered sweet nothings in his ear. She has taken care of him as if holding him tightly enough could put all his pieces togather again, and now it is time for him to be strong as she breaks.
He grasps her wrists in one hand, pulling them behind her, and then locks his arms around her tightly, whispering words of comfort to her as she slowly stops fighting him and starts crying in earnest. They sink down to the floor, right in the middle of the hospital hallway, him holding her shaking body the way she had done in that hotel lobby when he realized his mother wasn’t ever coming home again.
~~~
By the time he gets her to her apartment, Veronica has calmed down a bit. Her arms are wrapped around her stomach and among the other sobs and whimpering noises, he catches the word that breaks his heart every time he hears it. “Daddy.”
He might be fucking little orphan Annie, and maybe nobody has ever loved him enough to stay, but he realizes that finding out you were raped and having your only reliable parent taken from you all in one night might even be more damage than he has experienced in one night.
He carries her inside and places her gently on her feet. She stands in the middle of her own living room, looking around like she’s never seen the place before. Even in her grief, she’s practically unreadable.
But he’s gotten pretty damn good at reading her over the past two years. He may not be school smart, but he is a fucking expert at what makes Veronica Mars tick. Courtesy, mostly, of all the cruel things he has ever said to her. Veronica thrives on control. She can’t be forced to accept comfort, or to accept him, or she’ll run screaming. You have to show her you’ll be there for her, but you have to let her decide in what way and in what capacity.
So he sits down on the couch. “Make yourself at home,” she snarks, finally.
He just stares at her calmly.
“Is this too far out of Kendall’s area code? Or will she slum it for tonight?” she asks. “In this neighborhood, I’m sure you can find some hooker to replace her. Right, Logan, isn’t that how us poor people make a living?”
Logan just stares. “I’m not leaving,” he answers quietly.
Veronica storms into her room, the force of her rage carrying her. Seconds later, she is walking hastily back towards him. Lightning quick she has deposited herself across his lap, her legs straddling his hips. Her fingers dig harshly into his shoulders and she buries her face in his neck. Her next words are muffled. “This isn’t because I need you, you know,” she says.
If he didn’t almost believe it, Logan would argue. Instead, he says, “I know,” and starts stroking her back and hair soothingly anyways.
~~~
They settle down slowly, until there heavy breathing is the only thing left in the room.
Logan attempts to break the silence. “So Beav- ah Cass- uh - god, how did I not see it? I’ve been hanging out with…uh - Dick’s brother - since I was eight years old.”
Veronica’s eyes soften and she places a gentle kiss on his neck.
“The same way he didn’t see that your father was beating you,” she whispers softly. “But you didn’t go out and murder anyone. And you didn’t let me become a killer.”
He feels like he should make some argument on Beaver’s behalf, but all he sees now when he closes his eyes is Beaver touching Veronica. Him slowly lifting her white dress, smoothing back her blonde hair, hesitating in that boyish way when he reaches her underwear, scratching the back of his head. Logan wants to bring Beaver back to life so he can kill him again…but maybe hug the broken little boy in him first.
“Logan?” Veronica breathes quietly, tracing tiny patterns on his t-shirt. “I just realized that I trust you.”
Logan shakes his head at her in disbelief, even as he feels his insides start to tremble. “What are you talking about, baby?” he murmurs, pushing their foreheads togather.
“Logan, I - I’m really fucked up, from everything that’s happened. So many people in my life have betrayed me that it feels like second nature to me.”
“It’s understandable, Veronica. I’m sorry I -”
“No, let me finish. I’m paranoid. Everyone I saw tonight- Dick, your father, the concierge in the hotel lobby - I kept thinking they were somehow involved, accomplices but…I knew you would come through for me. And - when I saw you on the roof and you told me not to shoot, for a split second, I thought - is he involved in this, too? But, right away…I knew, that you couldn’t be. I trust you, Logan.”
He understood. Last year, her accusal of him had broken them apart and put him up on the Coronado Bridge. This year, it was different. She would never again see him as a murderer. Somehow, in this entire fucked up year, he had done something right.
For the first time all night, he allows himself to smile lightly. There will be no heartfelt declarations of love or gratitude, here, from this girl, but he doesn’t need them. Veronica has shown him, in her own fucked-up, dysfunctional way, just how much he means to her.
He kisses her forehead softly. “Whatever you need, baby. I’ll be here, I promise.” And anyways, he’s good enough with the sentimental sap for the both of them.
Love it? Hate it? Want to gouge my eyes out with a fork? Don't forget to review :)