Crashing Down- Logan/Veronica
Title: Crashing Down
Author:
brin_bailey
Characters/Pairings: Logan/Veronica (mentions of Lilly and Duncan)
Rating: PG
Length: 1,684 words.
Spoilers/Warnings: General S1 and S2 stuff.
Summary: Future fic in which Veronica sets out to find Logan, written for
vmtruechallenge "Where in the World is Veronica Mars" (The country I chose was Costa Rica.) Cross-posted at
veronicamarsfic
Notes: This story veered so far off from where I originally planned, but I'm fairly happy with the results. It's only my second VM fic, so I'd love you forever in exchange for any constructive criticism.
Crashing Down
She figured it would’ve taken longer to find him. That he wouldn’t be sitting, long legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankle, staring at the rolling waves.
But there he was.
His eyes closed briefly and his head slipped forward, his chin dipping down to his chest. He took a deep breath, the air filling his lungs to the point where he thought they just might explode, and exhaled as if he was letting go of everything. Everything bad and good, and everything that was in between and rendered indefinable, just everything.
With a flicker, his eyes opened to find her walking towards him, her feet shuffling softly through the sand. She raised her hand slowly, probably to wave, but then hesitantly lowered it and let it limply fall to her side. Instead she smiled, with only one side of her thin lips turning up.
“Veronica Mars,” Logan breathed.
“Hey,” she offered with a sort of nod.
He gestured for her to sit down beside him and she tilted her head from side to side as if his request required more thought than it was worth. But she lowered herself onto the sandy beach, wiped her palms on the front of her pants and tucked her legs in close to her body.
She smiled again, still with just the one side, like it would be too painful to use her whole mouth, and pushed back the wisps of blonde hair that the light wind had blew into her face. Her hair was shorter than he ever remembered, but maybe he just didn’t remember things too clearly. After all, he had done more than his fair share of things to make himself forget.
They sat in silence, which he didn’t think they’d ever done, and was beginning to realize why.
“So,” he began the light lilt in his voice new, even to him. “You found me, huh?”
“Wasn’t that hard,” Veronica admitted.
There was something different about her. It wasn’t just that she was older, because he was too, and knew that growing up didn’t change you as much as everyone claimed it did. But there was something almost unreachable about her, standoffish and hardened. He wondered when the exact change had taken place and if she would still be the same if he’d stuck around. Maybe it had nothing to do with him at all.
“How’d you do it?” he questioned. “Lean on the right people? Something with spec-ops? Was there microfilm involved?”
“No.”
“Oh,” he said, resigned disappointment pushing through.
“I have different resources now,” she told him with a shrug.
“Out of the spy-game?”
She didn’t answer, just reached into her pocket and pulled out a thin, leather case, tossing it in the sand beside him. He picked it up wordlessly and flipped it open, revealing the glint of a badge. Logan ran his thumb over her embossed name.
“Sheriff Mars reigns again,” he grinned.
“Try again.”
Held on the other side of the case was a small card, with a picture of an unsmiling Veronica and the words FBI written beside it.
“Wow, you went federal. Playing with the big boys now, Ronnie?”
“Something like that,” she agreed.
Logan handed her back the badge, the tips of his rough fingers brushing over the underside of her wrist. She didn’t flinch at his touch, only dropped the case into the pocket of her jacket and focused her eyes forward on the ocean that he’d been so intently looking at before.
“Why here?” Veronica asked, her gaze still held on the water.
“Why Costa Rica?”
She nodded. Veronica knew he was watching her. Knew that he was mentally taking notes of every hitch in her breath, infliction in her voice, the way she held her head, how she moved her hands. And she knew because she wanted to do the same thing, study him and memorize every detail.
“No real reason I guess,” he said. “Nobody knows me here, kind of easy to disappear.”
Veronica turned to look at him and figured that nobody back home would know him either. The pretty boy son of the world’s most famous actor-turned-murderer, had long since gone, replaced by someone who was capable of being soft and hard at the same time. Logan had become a walking contradiction with a child-like, carefree grin and cool, lifeless eyes.
“It’s nice here,” Logan continued, not oblivious to Veronica’s probing stare. He waited a beat before adding, “I speak enough Spanish to get by and the surfing’s pretty good, kind of like home.”
“Do you ever think about going back?”
“Isn’t that why you’re here?” he asked. “To take me back?”
“I’m not going to force you to do anything Logan,” she shook her head. “You wanted to leave and you left.”
“Then why are you here Veronica?”
She started to speak, but the only thing that left her mouth was a sigh. Logan nodded, as if her not saying anything spoke volumes.
She tried again, “I don’t know why I’m here.”
“Well, you must have some reason,” he said. “Or else I’m figuring you wouldn’t have tried looking in the first place.”
“Maybe I miss you,” she shrugged, but her shoulders were so small and slumped she might as well not have.
They fell into silence again and it was really starting to make Logan feel uncomfortable. He wasn’t sure he liked who they’d become and who they couldn’t be together. Of course if he had a choice, he wasn’t sure which version of themselves he’d pick anyway. He barely remembered who they were before Lilly had died and he knew that her death had shaped them all into sharp angles that just didn’t fit anymore. It was like they were a broken jig-saw puzzle, with missing pieces and notches that didn’t match.
“They found Duncan,” Veronica said softly, turning her head to avoid seeing his reaction.
“Yeah,” his voice took on the same soft tone as hers. “I know, saw it on the news.”
“I guess I figured that it was just us now,” she told him. “And you weren’t even there.”
“What happened to the kid?”
“The Mannings have custody of her right now, but Jake and Celeste are fighting it.”
“They won’t win.”
“I know,” Veronica admitted with a sort of sad nod.
“So, you came because of Duncan?” Logan asked.
“No.”
And while they were miles from where they had started, Logan was fairly certain that they were back at the beginning. Sitting on a beach, talking about everything and nothing. Duncan was still between them and he probably always would be. It was different, but exactly the same.
“It is just us now, isn’t it?” Logan murmured.
“Yeah,” she responded.
It was strange because things had never really been like they were before Lilly had died. And it always seemed as if they were struggling alone, just to make it through life, or not at all. It had never been just the two of them, never just him or her and Duncan, not since Lilly.
“I don’t think I can go back Veronica,” he shook his head. “Not to where we used to be. Not to Neptune.”
“I’m not going to twist your arm,” she said indifferently, not bothering to argue. “Just thought I’d give you the option.”
Veronica hadn’t enjoyed fighting with Logan in years. The game got old and tired, she got sick of it and so did he. He left shortly after the last time they fought. He vaguely remembered smashing a vase to the floor and her simply walking away, without so much as a frown on her face, whispering that it was his mess now and not hers.
He had to admit that he thought she might come for him sooner, but like some overused cliché, the days turned into months, and then years, and then he began to forget that he ever loved Veronica Mars. Or that he fell in love with Lilly Kane before her.
The still quiet air surrounded them and Veronica glanced over at Logan’s contemplative face, his brows drawn together and his lips pressed in a firm line. And as different as the situation might have been, how different he was now, Veronica knew that he wasn’t coming with her.
There was something here that let him forget who he used to be and all the pain that had been so present in their lives. And although she’d be the first one to tell him that forgetting was probably the last thing that he needed, she understood why he’d want to. Hell, she wanted to, too.
“I guess that’s it then,” she said, the indifferent air she held just minutes before, faltering.
Veronica stood, brushing the sand from her pants, and gave him a tight grin. When he wanted to remember, when even forgetting became too hard, he’d come back. At least, she thought, that he might. He didn’t stand with her, just returned her grin and let his eyes wander to the ocean again.
As she began to walk a way, what had become a familiar sight to Logan over the years, his hand lightly grabbed for hers. She stopped suddenly, her feet stuck in the sand, but she didn’t turn around, just slipped her own hand a little further into his. It still fit, which surprised them both, because if they’d changed half as much as they thought they did, somehow, by some rationale, it shouldn’t have fit at all.
Logan let his fingers gently curl over Veronica’s, his thumb passing over the back of her hand like it used to before. Then he loosened his grip, his fingers trying to slip from hers, but she held firm for a moment more. Just one small squeeze before she let go.
“Yeah, that’s it,” he agreed.
And she figured it shouldn’t have been that easy to leave him. Sitting on the beach, his long legs still crossed at the ankle, his eyes still focused on the waves that crashed evenly on the shore.
But it was.
Author:
brin_bailey
Characters/Pairings: Logan/Veronica (mentions of Lilly and Duncan)
Rating: PG
Length: 1,684 words.
Spoilers/Warnings: General S1 and S2 stuff.
Summary: Future fic in which Veronica sets out to find Logan, written for
vmtruechallenge "Where in the World is Veronica Mars" (The country I chose was Costa Rica.) Cross-posted at
veronicamarsfic
Notes: This story veered so far off from where I originally planned, but I'm fairly happy with the results. It's only my second VM fic, so I'd love you forever in exchange for any constructive criticism.
Crashing Down
She figured it would’ve taken longer to find him. That he wouldn’t be sitting, long legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankle, staring at the rolling waves.
But there he was.
His eyes closed briefly and his head slipped forward, his chin dipping down to his chest. He took a deep breath, the air filling his lungs to the point where he thought they just might explode, and exhaled as if he was letting go of everything. Everything bad and good, and everything that was in between and rendered indefinable, just everything.
With a flicker, his eyes opened to find her walking towards him, her feet shuffling softly through the sand. She raised her hand slowly, probably to wave, but then hesitantly lowered it and let it limply fall to her side. Instead she smiled, with only one side of her thin lips turning up.
“Veronica Mars,” Logan breathed.
“Hey,” she offered with a sort of nod.
He gestured for her to sit down beside him and she tilted her head from side to side as if his request required more thought than it was worth. But she lowered herself onto the sandy beach, wiped her palms on the front of her pants and tucked her legs in close to her body.
She smiled again, still with just the one side, like it would be too painful to use her whole mouth, and pushed back the wisps of blonde hair that the light wind had blew into her face. Her hair was shorter than he ever remembered, but maybe he just didn’t remember things too clearly. After all, he had done more than his fair share of things to make himself forget.
They sat in silence, which he didn’t think they’d ever done, and was beginning to realize why.
“So,” he began the light lilt in his voice new, even to him. “You found me, huh?”
“Wasn’t that hard,” Veronica admitted.
There was something different about her. It wasn’t just that she was older, because he was too, and knew that growing up didn’t change you as much as everyone claimed it did. But there was something almost unreachable about her, standoffish and hardened. He wondered when the exact change had taken place and if she would still be the same if he’d stuck around. Maybe it had nothing to do with him at all.
“How’d you do it?” he questioned. “Lean on the right people? Something with spec-ops? Was there microfilm involved?”
“No.”
“Oh,” he said, resigned disappointment pushing through.
“I have different resources now,” she told him with a shrug.
“Out of the spy-game?”
She didn’t answer, just reached into her pocket and pulled out a thin, leather case, tossing it in the sand beside him. He picked it up wordlessly and flipped it open, revealing the glint of a badge. Logan ran his thumb over her embossed name.
“Sheriff Mars reigns again,” he grinned.
“Try again.”
Held on the other side of the case was a small card, with a picture of an unsmiling Veronica and the words FBI written beside it.
“Wow, you went federal. Playing with the big boys now, Ronnie?”
“Something like that,” she agreed.
Logan handed her back the badge, the tips of his rough fingers brushing over the underside of her wrist. She didn’t flinch at his touch, only dropped the case into the pocket of her jacket and focused her eyes forward on the ocean that he’d been so intently looking at before.
“Why here?” Veronica asked, her gaze still held on the water.
“Why Costa Rica?”
She nodded. Veronica knew he was watching her. Knew that he was mentally taking notes of every hitch in her breath, infliction in her voice, the way she held her head, how she moved her hands. And she knew because she wanted to do the same thing, study him and memorize every detail.
“No real reason I guess,” he said. “Nobody knows me here, kind of easy to disappear.”
Veronica turned to look at him and figured that nobody back home would know him either. The pretty boy son of the world’s most famous actor-turned-murderer, had long since gone, replaced by someone who was capable of being soft and hard at the same time. Logan had become a walking contradiction with a child-like, carefree grin and cool, lifeless eyes.
“It’s nice here,” Logan continued, not oblivious to Veronica’s probing stare. He waited a beat before adding, “I speak enough Spanish to get by and the surfing’s pretty good, kind of like home.”
“Do you ever think about going back?”
“Isn’t that why you’re here?” he asked. “To take me back?”
“I’m not going to force you to do anything Logan,” she shook her head. “You wanted to leave and you left.”
“Then why are you here Veronica?”
She started to speak, but the only thing that left her mouth was a sigh. Logan nodded, as if her not saying anything spoke volumes.
She tried again, “I don’t know why I’m here.”
“Well, you must have some reason,” he said. “Or else I’m figuring you wouldn’t have tried looking in the first place.”
“Maybe I miss you,” she shrugged, but her shoulders were so small and slumped she might as well not have.
They fell into silence again and it was really starting to make Logan feel uncomfortable. He wasn’t sure he liked who they’d become and who they couldn’t be together. Of course if he had a choice, he wasn’t sure which version of themselves he’d pick anyway. He barely remembered who they were before Lilly had died and he knew that her death had shaped them all into sharp angles that just didn’t fit anymore. It was like they were a broken jig-saw puzzle, with missing pieces and notches that didn’t match.
“They found Duncan,” Veronica said softly, turning her head to avoid seeing his reaction.
“Yeah,” his voice took on the same soft tone as hers. “I know, saw it on the news.”
“I guess I figured that it was just us now,” she told him. “And you weren’t even there.”
“What happened to the kid?”
“The Mannings have custody of her right now, but Jake and Celeste are fighting it.”
“They won’t win.”
“I know,” Veronica admitted with a sort of sad nod.
“So, you came because of Duncan?” Logan asked.
“No.”
And while they were miles from where they had started, Logan was fairly certain that they were back at the beginning. Sitting on a beach, talking about everything and nothing. Duncan was still between them and he probably always would be. It was different, but exactly the same.
“It is just us now, isn’t it?” Logan murmured.
“Yeah,” she responded.
It was strange because things had never really been like they were before Lilly had died. And it always seemed as if they were struggling alone, just to make it through life, or not at all. It had never been just the two of them, never just him or her and Duncan, not since Lilly.
“I don’t think I can go back Veronica,” he shook his head. “Not to where we used to be. Not to Neptune.”
“I’m not going to twist your arm,” she said indifferently, not bothering to argue. “Just thought I’d give you the option.”
Veronica hadn’t enjoyed fighting with Logan in years. The game got old and tired, she got sick of it and so did he. He left shortly after the last time they fought. He vaguely remembered smashing a vase to the floor and her simply walking away, without so much as a frown on her face, whispering that it was his mess now and not hers.
He had to admit that he thought she might come for him sooner, but like some overused cliché, the days turned into months, and then years, and then he began to forget that he ever loved Veronica Mars. Or that he fell in love with Lilly Kane before her.
The still quiet air surrounded them and Veronica glanced over at Logan’s contemplative face, his brows drawn together and his lips pressed in a firm line. And as different as the situation might have been, how different he was now, Veronica knew that he wasn’t coming with her.
There was something here that let him forget who he used to be and all the pain that had been so present in their lives. And although she’d be the first one to tell him that forgetting was probably the last thing that he needed, she understood why he’d want to. Hell, she wanted to, too.
“I guess that’s it then,” she said, the indifferent air she held just minutes before, faltering.
Veronica stood, brushing the sand from her pants, and gave him a tight grin. When he wanted to remember, when even forgetting became too hard, he’d come back. At least, she thought, that he might. He didn’t stand with her, just returned her grin and let his eyes wander to the ocean again.
As she began to walk a way, what had become a familiar sight to Logan over the years, his hand lightly grabbed for hers. She stopped suddenly, her feet stuck in the sand, but she didn’t turn around, just slipped her own hand a little further into his. It still fit, which surprised them both, because if they’d changed half as much as they thought they did, somehow, by some rationale, it shouldn’t have fit at all.
Logan let his fingers gently curl over Veronica’s, his thumb passing over the back of her hand like it used to before. Then he loosened his grip, his fingers trying to slip from hers, but she held firm for a moment more. Just one small squeeze before she let go.
“Yeah, that’s it,” he agreed.
And she figured it shouldn’t have been that easy to leave him. Sitting on the beach, his long legs still crossed at the ankle, his eyes still focused on the waves that crashed evenly on the shore.
But it was.