The Fire, Baby, It'll Burn Us Both (Ensemble) PG~13
Title: The Fire, Baby, It’ll Burn Us Both
Author: josiefier
Pairing/Character: Veronica, Duncan, Jake, Keith, Aaron, Celeste, mentions Lilly, Lianne, Lamb, Logan, Lynn, Clarence
Word Count: 4940
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Someone other than Keith saves Veronica. And that’s only the beginning of her night.
Spoilers: 1x22
Disclaimer: Veronica Mars is not owned by me, but by Rob Thomas. I’m simply borrowing these characters for non-profit entertainment.
A/N: This was taken from two prompts from vm_redux. “What if someone other than Keith saved Veronica from Aaron” and “Write a hospital scene revolving around any character(s).” The title comes from Sin City and no I don't own that either.
~~
Veronica had left the party with the tapes and Duncan knew what he had to do. Well, first he had to snap out of his shock at Veronica having told him that they weren’t brother and sister after all, and then he knew he had to get back to the party to try to spot Aaron so he could call and warn Veronica if he left.
When he got back to the main room he could see his father talking with some of his business associates and he would have thought Aaron would be among them, but he wasn’t. The worst part was that he knew he would have to be the one to tell his father about the tapes, that his daughter had been sleeping with his friend and that said friend had killed Lilly.
Correction, Duncan realized, the worst part would be telling him exactly how that had been discovered. That it was thanks to Veronica.
That revelation would have to wait, he decided. First he had to make sure Aaron was still there… If he was.
Five minutes of searching and asking other guests if they had seen Aaron later and still no sign. It was then Duncan called Veronica to warn her.
“Call my dad,” she told him before hanging up her cell and pushing her gas pedal a little harder. The idea that Aaron just might get away was not helping her nerves and while she knew it wouldn’t do her any good to crash her car just now, she knew she had to get to her father sooner rather than later. Because if Aaron had even a clue what was going on there really might not be a later.
Duncan nodded before hanging up himself and finally going over to his own father. He had hoped he would be able to put this off at least a few minutes more but it was clear that wouldn’t happen. If Aaron had left then Jake needed to know all the more. Who had better ability to make the Neptune cops jump with a snap of his fingers than Jake Kane?
“Oh, Duncan, hi,” Jake smiled when he saw him walk up.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked as he glanced to the few people Jake had with him.
“Yeah. Excuse us,” he said to the others as he took Duncan aside. “What do you need?”
“It’s about Aaron Echolls. He killed Lilly.” Duncan hadn’t meant to just blurt it out but in the essence of time he was a little relieved that he had.
Jake could only stare at his son for a moment. He waited for something, to see Duncan’s expression to change, for him to say something else. But Duncan didn’t even blink as he seemed to be waiting for his own reaction. They had talked about this. To his knowledge, Duncan had killed Lilly. How could Aaron have? Why would Aaron have?
“Veronica was here and went into Lilly’s secret hiding place, she said she was looking for something Logan had given her. Anyway, when I found her and confronted her, she had the tapes in her hands and we watched one of them. They were tapes of Aaron and Lilly together, in his guest house. We guess Aaron found out that she had them and killed her so they wouldn’t get out.”
Jake closed his eyes and brought a hand up to his mouth. He hated that it made so much sense and yet still hadn’t occurred to him until now. How hadn’t he seen it? Aaron’s cheating on Lynn with those younger women, Aaron’s interest in Lilly, Lilly’s clear interest in men - especially men closer to his age then hers - and all that time she spent at the Echolls house. He thought it had been because of Logan. Now it made sense. She had been making time for both male Echolls.
“Veronica left a couple minutes ago and I was just looking for Aaron to keep an eye on him for her so she could get those tapes to Mr. Mars or the sheriff, but no one has seen Aaron for a while and as much as I don’t want to think he knows that she knows and followed her…” Duncan went on.
“Where was Veronica headed?” he asked him finally. He may not have liked the girl much in the last year and a half but he knew there would be a decent chance of some kind of forgiveness now if she helped him put away the real murderer of his daughter. Even his issues with Keith would take a backseat to this. But first they had to find Veronica and Aaron.
“To either her place or Mars Investigations.” When he saw his father begin to walk off he called after him, “Where are you going?”
“To find Aaron. You stay here. If he comes back, call me.” He would let the sheriff deal with him after he had gotten a few minutes in himself. He had been Lilly’s father, he knew he was owed at least a round with the bastard. If worse came to worse, he knew he could pay off the sheriff to say Aaron had fallen down a few times en route to the station.
To be honest, Jake wasn’t sure where he was going when he started driving. There was a chance Aaron could have left with a random waitress from the party, it wasn’t like he had never done it before. But he also knew that he wanted to find Veronica. He needed to hear about the tapes from her, even if he couldn’t stomach the thought of seeing what was on them.
But then something caught his attention just a few minutes later when he reached a bend in the dark stretch of road. A wrecked car just in front of a large tree with smoke still billowing out from under the hood. Slowing down to pull over, he recognized it as Veronica’s Le Baron. And then when he climbed out, he realized no one was in the car and the driver side and back passenger side doors were open. The good news should have been that the accident wasn’t so severe that Veronica couldn’t walk away from it. But there was no Veronica, no Keith, no sirens even in the distance and no sign of anything that was making him feel any better about this.
Seeing a house not too far away, Jake started walking. Maybe she had gotten help there, maybe she was waiting for AAA, maybe all of this worry he was suddenly feeling was for nothing. He hoped.
Only by the time he reached it he realized something was very wrong. He couldn’t see Veronica but he could Aaron’s voice and all he could smell was gasoline. Jogging around to the back of the house he could see Aaron and clearly hear the things he was saying. Why he was speaking into a walkie-talkie he couldn’t be sure, but he could see the gas can in Aaron’s other hand as he looked to be dousing the area around a large, rectangular object in gasoline.
And then he heard Aaron say Lilly’s name. And he had mentioned the tapes in the same breath. It was as good as a confession and with that all Jake could see was red. Aaron really had killed Lilly. But then he had to wonder who Aaron was talking to. Himself or was someone else really there? The only thing that stopped him from advancing was the idea there might be a witness. A year and a half ago Keith Mars had accused him of murder, he didn’t want the new sheriff to be able to do the same tonight. He knew he would kill Aaron given the chance now, he wouldn’t even call Clarence in to do it for him, he just wanted to be sure there wouldn’t be any witnesses around for it.
In that following moment he heard Aaron toss away the gas can and say Veronica’s name as he went on about Joan of Arc. It began to dawn on him that Veronica could be in what he had realized was a refrigerator. And if she was then that was what Aaron had poured gasoline all around. With that he knew all he needed to.
“Where are the tapes?!” Aaron demanded into the walkie even as he kicked the refrigerator. “You know, Lilly never told me where the tapes were hidden either. I kinda think there’s cautionary tale in that, Veronica. Something like I’m not going to let a seventeen-year-old piece of ass destroy my life!”
“They’re on the roof!” came Veronica’s terrified cry when Aaron repeatedly kicked the fridge again. Jake heard it and sighed in a bit of relief. She was still alive. His emotions had always been conflicted at best when it came to Veronica, but he had never wanted her dead and now he knew he was about to have to save the girl who had nearly been his daughter. Especially since he hadn’t been able to save his own.
“Seventeen-year-old piece of ass, Aaron?” Jake asked him as he decided then to make his presence known to the man that up until that moment he had considered a friend. “Is that how you refer to my murdered daughter when I’m not around? Is that what you called Lilly before you killed her?”
Aaron momentarily forgot his quest to recover the tapes from the roof as he spun around from the house to see Jake.
“You killed my daughter,” he stated, refusing to acknowledge the tears stinging his eyes. Now wasn’t the time for them. “You killed my daughter!”
From inside the fridge, Veronica continued to pound on what she hoped was the door, hoping it would give way sooner or later. But she could hear the addition of another voice when Jake shouted again. She couldn’t make out his words but she knew his voice. It was almost funny how distinctive it suddenly was to her.
“It wasn’t what you think, Jake. Whatever you think you heard, Veronica -”
“I covered for you when you were cheating on Lynn! And you repaid me by screwing my daughter!” Jake yelled.
“Mr. Kane!” Veronica cried from inside the refrigerator. She realized in that moment her desperation truly knew no bounds.
Her voice was faint from where he was, but Jake still heard her. “I know, Veronica!” he called to her. “I know, you’re safe!”
She would beg to differ but she did feel a little better at realizing Jake wasn’t on Aaron’s side. Granted she knew how much he had loved Lilly so the fact he wasn’t siding with her killer wasn’t a surprise, but the part about him not wanting her dead and actually seemingly protecting her was surprising.
“Are you sure about that, Jake?” Aaron asked him as he took his lighter out of his pocket. He didn’t like it, but if he had to kill Jake as well as Veronica he would do it. They had been friends, but he wouldn’t let Lilly or Veronica ruin his life and right then Jake had more power to do that than anyone, especially if he was trying to verbally console Veronica.
“So you’re going to kill Keith’s daughter like you killed mine?” Jake asked when he saw the glint of silver in Aaron’s hand. “I won’t let you do it.” Not when he had believed Veronica to be his until just days ago, not when he didn’t want even Keith Mars to know the pain he had known for the last year and a half.
Aaron was silent as the flame came to life in his hand just a second before he tossed the lighter into the ring of gas he had poured earlier. “You want her, Jake? Go get her.”
The flames rose fast and he was almost too close to them as it was. By the time he looked back to Aaron he was running off, back towards the road. In his split second of decision he knew he wouldn’t go after Aaron, no matter how much he wanted to. If he did, Veronica would die and he wasn’t ready to lose his Beloved Billionaire title just yet. He also knew he would never forgive himself.
Instantly Veronica could feel the heat surrounding her and tried pounding harder on the walls of the fridge even through her screams and sobs. It couldn’t end like this. It just couldn’t. Not when she had worked so hard to find Lilly’s killer and not when she had scattered the tapes around this place and there had to be someone somewhere who knew where she was. She thought of Jake, but she couldn’t believe he would help her. And even then how did she know Aaron hadn’t done something to him to prevent him from getting to her?
For a moment Jake wondered himself if Aaron hadn’t done just that. There was no way around it, no way around them, he realized. If he was going to save Veronica he would have to literally walk through fire for the girl. Not something he had ever imagined, but he couldn’t let her burn either.
“Mr. Kane!” she cried out, both hopeful and desperate.
“I’m here!” he called back to her. With another deep breath, trying his hardest not to inhale the smoke surrounding them or feel the heat of the flames that were licking at his suit as he made his way towards the refrigerator.
Veronica’s panic was full blown as her fists banged furiously against what she still hoped was the door of the fridge and all Jake could concentrate on was Lilly’s face in his mind. If he could save Veronica Aaron would be going to jail since he hadn’t been able to get the tapes from her. If he could save Veronica there would be one more witness who would know what Aaron had done. It didn’t even matter how far Aaron got tonight, Jake knew the connections he had. One way or another Aaron would be back and he would be made to pay for taking his little girl from him.
All Veronica could see a moment later was the lid seeming to fly off from above her and she scrambled up and out without a second thought. She couldn’t even let herself be surprised by who had saved her, especially not when it looked like it was her turn to save him when they were back on the other side of the flames.
Only when she had blanketed out the parts of his pants and jacket that had even slightly caught fire did Veronica really look at Jake. To be honest she was still pretty surprised that it hadn’t been her father to save her but instead Lilly’s. Still, she should have just been happy that she had been saved, right? She couldn’t muster the strength. Not then.
“Are you okay?” he finally managed to ask her before coughing.
She nodded. “Are you?”
He only coughed again and Veronica knew that as much as part of her didn’t want to leave him she wouldn’t have a choice. She didn’t have her phone and couldn’t think to reach for his assuming he even had it with him. They needed help and with no one else around clearly someone would have to flag down a car. Jake wasn’t in any condition to do it, so that only left her.
“Stay with me, Mr. Kane. I’ll be right back, I swear. Just please, stay here,” she told him before moving to her feet to do exactly what she had ordered herself to do. Granted it didn’t seem like he could go far, she knew Duncan and Lilly got their stubbornness from him.
Of course the sight which greeted her when she reached the road was a shock. Aaron hadn’t gotten far himself and had even managed to get himself hit by a truck. He was still alive, which meant there was still plenty left to prosecute. With that in mind Veronica asked the driver if he had a cell phone. When he said yes she told him that they needed the works. The police, the fire department and most of an all, an ambulance.
In the several minutes that passed she knew she had never been more thankful to hear sirens. Help was really on the way and when they showed up she was even happy to see Lamb. And she didn’t miss Duncan’s or Keith’s expressions of worry and confusion when they saw her walking towards the ambulance Jake had just been loaded into.
“What happened?” Duncan asked her when he reached her first.
“I’ll tell you at the hospital,” she answered as she glanced to her father.
“Veronica!” Keith called as he jogged over. “What happened? Duncan called me and said -”
“Aaron killed Lilly. They were having an affair, he had it on tape, he killed her. If Mr. Kane hadn’t come here when he did -” a choked sob escaped her throat and otherwise silenced her.
“Wait. My dad saved you?” Duncan asked her. He knew he had been hurt, obviously, but he had thought Aaron had done it himself. The idea of him saving Veronica was almost too surreal for him despite the reaction he had had earlier when he first told him about the tapes back at the party.
“Even when he knew what I told you earlier,” she nodded, hoping she wouldn’t have to repeat it with her real father there. “And he heard Aaron mention the tapes, he knows.”
“Yeah, I told him too. That’s why he left the party, he said he was going to find Aaron.”
“Well, he found him,” Veronica nervously chuckled.
Duncan hardly knew what to do. He knew he would have to call his mother and tell her what happened, which was sure to end in even more tension around the breakfast table. His father having saved his once-supposed love child? Oh yeah, Celeste was going to love that.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Keith asked her when Duncan had headed off to follow Jake to the hospital.
She nodded. “Nothing a couple band-aids won’t cure. I just - Can you take me to the hospital? I want to be there for Mr. Kane. He didn’t have to save me, but he did. He could have gone after Aaron, but he didn’t. He could have chosen his revenge over saving the girl he hates, but instead he walked through fire to save me. I don’t know if he did it for Duncan or Lilly or just so there would be one more witness on the stand against Aaron, but -”
Keith only nodded as he curled his arm around Veronica’s shoulders and led her to his car. “It’s okay, Veronica. It’s okay.”
Veronica had hoped things would begin to feel even a little more normal at the hospital, but in addition to having to suffer a doctor looking her over and bandaging her few burns, knowing that Aaron was there too wasn’t helping her nerves. Sure he had uniformed officers posted outside of his room and he had at least ten broken bones, a concussion was sedated and even cuffed to his bed, but that still wasn’t enough to calm her down much.
It didn’t help that it had become quite a reunion in the waiting room. Her, Keith, Duncan and Celeste. Even if she hadn’t said the words, she knew Celeste blamed her for tonight. Duncan had looked like he was still trying to piece together the whole Aaron and Lilly thing, never mind all that had happened in the hours since. And then there was her father who was clearly hating the fact he was having to admit that Jake had saved his little girl. Not because he still hated him, but just because it felt like high school all over again. Only instead of just being the Prom King who had gone on to be a hero to most of Neptune, now he was Veronica’s hero. Even if it had mostly been the hospital staff to use that word, he really had been tonight. Keith knew that was his job, he was supposed to be there when Veronica needed him. He was supposed to be the one to walk through fire and risk his life to save his daughter. Not Jake Kane.
Everyone sat up a little straighter in their chairs when they saw Jake’s doctor come out of his room another hour later. But none were more surprised than Veronica when the doctor said that he was awake and asking for her. She didn’t miss Celeste’s icy stare or Keith’s head dip slightly as if he was blaming himself for tonight yet again. At least she could be thankful Duncan had only just woken up himself and was still processing where he was.
“Veronica,” Celeste stated in that cool tone of hers, “see that you don’t overstay your welcome.”
Veronica only nodded as she rose from her not-getting-any-more-comfortable chair and walked into his room. What she had expected to see she didn’t know. But there Jake was, propped up on the hospital bed and making eye contact with her as she silently made her way to the chair beside his bed. To her he didn’t look much like a man who had walked through fire, but then she was only seeing his upper body and even then not much of it. He had a few bandages wrapped around his arms, sure, and the left side of his face looked a little sunburned, but beyond that she guessed they would both look as good as new in about a month.
“If you’re looking for more ways to make Celeste hate me, I think you’re doing pretty well,” she told him with a soft, nervous laugh when she took the seat.
“Well, if it’s any consolation I’m sure Keith hates me even more now too,” he sighed.
“So why did you ask to see me and not her or Duncan or even the sheriff?”
“I wanted to see that you’re okay,” he told her with his own uncertain smile. “So, are you okay?”
She nodded and held up her wrist. “This and my face seem to be the only souvenirs thankfully. I heard they’re keeping you overnight though.”
Jake nodded. As much as he would have preferred being in his own bed tonight he was relieved for the night off from Celeste given the conversations he knew he would be in for all too soon. “The doctor told me Aaron got hit by a truck after he ran off.”
Veronica nodded. “Yeah he did. For the record though, I hope he heals fast.”
“Why?” He wanted Aaron dead, he couldn’t deny it. Though he had to admit he would rather watch it for himself, to watch Aaron fry.
“If they have to wheel him into the courthouse jurors might be sympathetic towards him. I don’t want that. I want them to see him for the able-bodied monster he was when he killed Lilly.”
Okay, that didn’t sound so bad when Jake thought about it. “How is Keith taking all of this?”
“He’s glad you were there.”
Jake smiled for only a second. “He’s glad someone was there. I doubt he’s glad it was me.”
“You two are going to have to kiss and make up sooner or later. It’s kind of a law now that you’ve rescued me from a fiery doom.”
“It’s a two-way street, Veronica. I think we’ll have to see about it. But for now I’m glad I was there and that I didn’t choose to go after Aaron instead.”
“Um, in case you’re curious, Lamb has the tapes in evidence now. Even he can’t screw up the investigation this time,” she told him, needing a change of subject. This was feeling a little too real again and she wasn’t sure she was ready for her Hallmark moment with Jake. Yes he had saved her and yes she was thankful, she just kind of wanted to be able to leave it at that.
“What made you think I’d killed Lilly? When you took your father’s word, what made you believe it?” Maybe this wasn’t the best time for that question but Jake couldn’t be sure he would get a better chance to ask her.
Veronica felt she had been punched harder then when Aaron had surprised her in that doorway. Only this time she didn’t have the luxury of being knocked unconscious. “My dad seemed to sure and really I thought if you had done it then it had been an accident. Or that maybe you were covering for someone. There just wasn’t enough evidence either way and with everyone turning against my dad, I couldn’t do it too.”
“You’re a good daughter, Veronica.” He still hated that she had been able to think of him as a murderer, especially with as much as he still loved Lilly. But he couldn’t completely fault her for standing by her father. He was her actual father after all.
She didn’t feel like a good daughter, not by a long shot, but she had more tact than to argue with a man lying in a hospital bed. “Celeste didn’t want me to overstay my welcome,” she told him finally, deciding it might be time for her to leave. As it was her night still wouldn’t be over when she got home since she still had her mother to confront.
“You haven’t, but I understand,” he nodded.
She stood, but still couldn’t bring herself to leave just yet. “Thank you, Mr. Kane. For tonight, for, I guess listening to Duncan.”
“I’d do it again,” he smiled.
Okay, that was not a flood of relief she felt. “I guess I’ll see you around.”
“You don’t have to be a stranger, Veronica. I know Celeste would prefer it, but if it hadn’t been for you I wouldn’t know who really killed my daughter. I would have gone on believing the wrong man had done it and Aaron would have gotten away.”
“Goodnight, Mr. Kane,” Veronica told him when she finally headed out of his room. She couldn’t think of what she should say to that. There was a lot she wanted to say, but actually forcing the words from her mouth was a whole other battle. Had Jake forgiven her? It sure sounded like it. Could he ever forgive her father? She guessed they were about to find out.
“Are you ready to head home, sweetheart?” Keith asked her when he saw her coming out of Jake’s room.
“Just a minute,” she nodded before looking to Duncan. When he met her on the far side of the room, she told him, “Thanks for telling your dad about Aaron. And thank you for calling my dad.”
“I almost feel like I should thank you for what you told me earlier.”
She almost laughed. “Yeah, I know the feeling. He’s a good dad, I’m just kind of glad he’s not my dad.”
“My mother shares your sentiment, I’m sure,” Duncan smiled.
Veronica laughed that time. “I’ll see you later,” she told him before moving aside to head off towards Keith.
“Your job at the Java Hut is starting soon, isn’t it?” he asked before she could take another step.
“Yeah,” she answered, wondering how he even knew about that.
“I guess I’ll see there then,” he smiled before waving to Keith and heading back to the row of chairs across from Celeste.
Veronica had to admit she liked the sound of that. Duncan wanting to see her, even Jake telling her not to be a stranger. She didn’t know what had changed tonight but she knew she could get used to it given the chance.
Even as she left the hospital with Keith she knew that chance was presenting itself. If nothing else the idea gave her something to look forward to on her way home where she knew she would have to confront her mother and most likely kick her out of the apartment for essentially robbing her of her college money by leaving rehab when she did. If she had gotten sober that would have been one thing, the loss of her college money would have been worth it. But she hadn’t and she had lied about it and she was still drinking.
The fact she would have to fill her father in on all of that as well didn’t make her feel any more comfortable. But at least tonight she was still there to be able to do what she had to do. The fact she had already thanked the men responsible gave her another reason to smile, even if only briefly.
As Keith pulled into the Sunset Cliffs parking lot, Veronica wasn’t naïve enough to think that the nightmare was over. But she hoped that this would at least be the worst of it for a while. Maybe she could even get a half-decent night’s sleep for once.
That dream lasted all of three hours and twenty-seven minutes until a knock came on her door. She had thought, she had hoped, it was Duncan when she saw the lanky, male frame on her doorstep. Instead it was a bloodied and battered Logan who, like his father, was soon being arrested for suspicion of murder.
Just like that Veronica knew that summer had officially begun in Neptune.
The End
Author: josiefier
Pairing/Character: Veronica, Duncan, Jake, Keith, Aaron, Celeste, mentions Lilly, Lianne, Lamb, Logan, Lynn, Clarence
Word Count: 4940
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Someone other than Keith saves Veronica. And that’s only the beginning of her night.
Spoilers: 1x22
Disclaimer: Veronica Mars is not owned by me, but by Rob Thomas. I’m simply borrowing these characters for non-profit entertainment.
A/N: This was taken from two prompts from vm_redux. “What if someone other than Keith saved Veronica from Aaron” and “Write a hospital scene revolving around any character(s).” The title comes from Sin City and no I don't own that either.
~~
Veronica had left the party with the tapes and Duncan knew what he had to do. Well, first he had to snap out of his shock at Veronica having told him that they weren’t brother and sister after all, and then he knew he had to get back to the party to try to spot Aaron so he could call and warn Veronica if he left.
When he got back to the main room he could see his father talking with some of his business associates and he would have thought Aaron would be among them, but he wasn’t. The worst part was that he knew he would have to be the one to tell his father about the tapes, that his daughter had been sleeping with his friend and that said friend had killed Lilly.
Correction, Duncan realized, the worst part would be telling him exactly how that had been discovered. That it was thanks to Veronica.
That revelation would have to wait, he decided. First he had to make sure Aaron was still there… If he was.
Five minutes of searching and asking other guests if they had seen Aaron later and still no sign. It was then Duncan called Veronica to warn her.
“Call my dad,” she told him before hanging up her cell and pushing her gas pedal a little harder. The idea that Aaron just might get away was not helping her nerves and while she knew it wouldn’t do her any good to crash her car just now, she knew she had to get to her father sooner rather than later. Because if Aaron had even a clue what was going on there really might not be a later.
Duncan nodded before hanging up himself and finally going over to his own father. He had hoped he would be able to put this off at least a few minutes more but it was clear that wouldn’t happen. If Aaron had left then Jake needed to know all the more. Who had better ability to make the Neptune cops jump with a snap of his fingers than Jake Kane?
“Oh, Duncan, hi,” Jake smiled when he saw him walk up.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked as he glanced to the few people Jake had with him.
“Yeah. Excuse us,” he said to the others as he took Duncan aside. “What do you need?”
“It’s about Aaron Echolls. He killed Lilly.” Duncan hadn’t meant to just blurt it out but in the essence of time he was a little relieved that he had.
Jake could only stare at his son for a moment. He waited for something, to see Duncan’s expression to change, for him to say something else. But Duncan didn’t even blink as he seemed to be waiting for his own reaction. They had talked about this. To his knowledge, Duncan had killed Lilly. How could Aaron have? Why would Aaron have?
“Veronica was here and went into Lilly’s secret hiding place, she said she was looking for something Logan had given her. Anyway, when I found her and confronted her, she had the tapes in her hands and we watched one of them. They were tapes of Aaron and Lilly together, in his guest house. We guess Aaron found out that she had them and killed her so they wouldn’t get out.”
Jake closed his eyes and brought a hand up to his mouth. He hated that it made so much sense and yet still hadn’t occurred to him until now. How hadn’t he seen it? Aaron’s cheating on Lynn with those younger women, Aaron’s interest in Lilly, Lilly’s clear interest in men - especially men closer to his age then hers - and all that time she spent at the Echolls house. He thought it had been because of Logan. Now it made sense. She had been making time for both male Echolls.
“Veronica left a couple minutes ago and I was just looking for Aaron to keep an eye on him for her so she could get those tapes to Mr. Mars or the sheriff, but no one has seen Aaron for a while and as much as I don’t want to think he knows that she knows and followed her…” Duncan went on.
“Where was Veronica headed?” he asked him finally. He may not have liked the girl much in the last year and a half but he knew there would be a decent chance of some kind of forgiveness now if she helped him put away the real murderer of his daughter. Even his issues with Keith would take a backseat to this. But first they had to find Veronica and Aaron.
“To either her place or Mars Investigations.” When he saw his father begin to walk off he called after him, “Where are you going?”
“To find Aaron. You stay here. If he comes back, call me.” He would let the sheriff deal with him after he had gotten a few minutes in himself. He had been Lilly’s father, he knew he was owed at least a round with the bastard. If worse came to worse, he knew he could pay off the sheriff to say Aaron had fallen down a few times en route to the station.
To be honest, Jake wasn’t sure where he was going when he started driving. There was a chance Aaron could have left with a random waitress from the party, it wasn’t like he had never done it before. But he also knew that he wanted to find Veronica. He needed to hear about the tapes from her, even if he couldn’t stomach the thought of seeing what was on them.
But then something caught his attention just a few minutes later when he reached a bend in the dark stretch of road. A wrecked car just in front of a large tree with smoke still billowing out from under the hood. Slowing down to pull over, he recognized it as Veronica’s Le Baron. And then when he climbed out, he realized no one was in the car and the driver side and back passenger side doors were open. The good news should have been that the accident wasn’t so severe that Veronica couldn’t walk away from it. But there was no Veronica, no Keith, no sirens even in the distance and no sign of anything that was making him feel any better about this.
Seeing a house not too far away, Jake started walking. Maybe she had gotten help there, maybe she was waiting for AAA, maybe all of this worry he was suddenly feeling was for nothing. He hoped.
Only by the time he reached it he realized something was very wrong. He couldn’t see Veronica but he could Aaron’s voice and all he could smell was gasoline. Jogging around to the back of the house he could see Aaron and clearly hear the things he was saying. Why he was speaking into a walkie-talkie he couldn’t be sure, but he could see the gas can in Aaron’s other hand as he looked to be dousing the area around a large, rectangular object in gasoline.
And then he heard Aaron say Lilly’s name. And he had mentioned the tapes in the same breath. It was as good as a confession and with that all Jake could see was red. Aaron really had killed Lilly. But then he had to wonder who Aaron was talking to. Himself or was someone else really there? The only thing that stopped him from advancing was the idea there might be a witness. A year and a half ago Keith Mars had accused him of murder, he didn’t want the new sheriff to be able to do the same tonight. He knew he would kill Aaron given the chance now, he wouldn’t even call Clarence in to do it for him, he just wanted to be sure there wouldn’t be any witnesses around for it.
In that following moment he heard Aaron toss away the gas can and say Veronica’s name as he went on about Joan of Arc. It began to dawn on him that Veronica could be in what he had realized was a refrigerator. And if she was then that was what Aaron had poured gasoline all around. With that he knew all he needed to.
“Where are the tapes?!” Aaron demanded into the walkie even as he kicked the refrigerator. “You know, Lilly never told me where the tapes were hidden either. I kinda think there’s cautionary tale in that, Veronica. Something like I’m not going to let a seventeen-year-old piece of ass destroy my life!”
“They’re on the roof!” came Veronica’s terrified cry when Aaron repeatedly kicked the fridge again. Jake heard it and sighed in a bit of relief. She was still alive. His emotions had always been conflicted at best when it came to Veronica, but he had never wanted her dead and now he knew he was about to have to save the girl who had nearly been his daughter. Especially since he hadn’t been able to save his own.
“Seventeen-year-old piece of ass, Aaron?” Jake asked him as he decided then to make his presence known to the man that up until that moment he had considered a friend. “Is that how you refer to my murdered daughter when I’m not around? Is that what you called Lilly before you killed her?”
Aaron momentarily forgot his quest to recover the tapes from the roof as he spun around from the house to see Jake.
“You killed my daughter,” he stated, refusing to acknowledge the tears stinging his eyes. Now wasn’t the time for them. “You killed my daughter!”
From inside the fridge, Veronica continued to pound on what she hoped was the door, hoping it would give way sooner or later. But she could hear the addition of another voice when Jake shouted again. She couldn’t make out his words but she knew his voice. It was almost funny how distinctive it suddenly was to her.
“It wasn’t what you think, Jake. Whatever you think you heard, Veronica -”
“I covered for you when you were cheating on Lynn! And you repaid me by screwing my daughter!” Jake yelled.
“Mr. Kane!” Veronica cried from inside the refrigerator. She realized in that moment her desperation truly knew no bounds.
Her voice was faint from where he was, but Jake still heard her. “I know, Veronica!” he called to her. “I know, you’re safe!”
She would beg to differ but she did feel a little better at realizing Jake wasn’t on Aaron’s side. Granted she knew how much he had loved Lilly so the fact he wasn’t siding with her killer wasn’t a surprise, but the part about him not wanting her dead and actually seemingly protecting her was surprising.
“Are you sure about that, Jake?” Aaron asked him as he took his lighter out of his pocket. He didn’t like it, but if he had to kill Jake as well as Veronica he would do it. They had been friends, but he wouldn’t let Lilly or Veronica ruin his life and right then Jake had more power to do that than anyone, especially if he was trying to verbally console Veronica.
“So you’re going to kill Keith’s daughter like you killed mine?” Jake asked when he saw the glint of silver in Aaron’s hand. “I won’t let you do it.” Not when he had believed Veronica to be his until just days ago, not when he didn’t want even Keith Mars to know the pain he had known for the last year and a half.
Aaron was silent as the flame came to life in his hand just a second before he tossed the lighter into the ring of gas he had poured earlier. “You want her, Jake? Go get her.”
The flames rose fast and he was almost too close to them as it was. By the time he looked back to Aaron he was running off, back towards the road. In his split second of decision he knew he wouldn’t go after Aaron, no matter how much he wanted to. If he did, Veronica would die and he wasn’t ready to lose his Beloved Billionaire title just yet. He also knew he would never forgive himself.
Instantly Veronica could feel the heat surrounding her and tried pounding harder on the walls of the fridge even through her screams and sobs. It couldn’t end like this. It just couldn’t. Not when she had worked so hard to find Lilly’s killer and not when she had scattered the tapes around this place and there had to be someone somewhere who knew where she was. She thought of Jake, but she couldn’t believe he would help her. And even then how did she know Aaron hadn’t done something to him to prevent him from getting to her?
For a moment Jake wondered himself if Aaron hadn’t done just that. There was no way around it, no way around them, he realized. If he was going to save Veronica he would have to literally walk through fire for the girl. Not something he had ever imagined, but he couldn’t let her burn either.
“Mr. Kane!” she cried out, both hopeful and desperate.
“I’m here!” he called back to her. With another deep breath, trying his hardest not to inhale the smoke surrounding them or feel the heat of the flames that were licking at his suit as he made his way towards the refrigerator.
Veronica’s panic was full blown as her fists banged furiously against what she still hoped was the door of the fridge and all Jake could concentrate on was Lilly’s face in his mind. If he could save Veronica Aaron would be going to jail since he hadn’t been able to get the tapes from her. If he could save Veronica there would be one more witness who would know what Aaron had done. It didn’t even matter how far Aaron got tonight, Jake knew the connections he had. One way or another Aaron would be back and he would be made to pay for taking his little girl from him.
All Veronica could see a moment later was the lid seeming to fly off from above her and she scrambled up and out without a second thought. She couldn’t even let herself be surprised by who had saved her, especially not when it looked like it was her turn to save him when they were back on the other side of the flames.
Only when she had blanketed out the parts of his pants and jacket that had even slightly caught fire did Veronica really look at Jake. To be honest she was still pretty surprised that it hadn’t been her father to save her but instead Lilly’s. Still, she should have just been happy that she had been saved, right? She couldn’t muster the strength. Not then.
“Are you okay?” he finally managed to ask her before coughing.
She nodded. “Are you?”
He only coughed again and Veronica knew that as much as part of her didn’t want to leave him she wouldn’t have a choice. She didn’t have her phone and couldn’t think to reach for his assuming he even had it with him. They needed help and with no one else around clearly someone would have to flag down a car. Jake wasn’t in any condition to do it, so that only left her.
“Stay with me, Mr. Kane. I’ll be right back, I swear. Just please, stay here,” she told him before moving to her feet to do exactly what she had ordered herself to do. Granted it didn’t seem like he could go far, she knew Duncan and Lilly got their stubbornness from him.
Of course the sight which greeted her when she reached the road was a shock. Aaron hadn’t gotten far himself and had even managed to get himself hit by a truck. He was still alive, which meant there was still plenty left to prosecute. With that in mind Veronica asked the driver if he had a cell phone. When he said yes she told him that they needed the works. The police, the fire department and most of an all, an ambulance.
In the several minutes that passed she knew she had never been more thankful to hear sirens. Help was really on the way and when they showed up she was even happy to see Lamb. And she didn’t miss Duncan’s or Keith’s expressions of worry and confusion when they saw her walking towards the ambulance Jake had just been loaded into.
“What happened?” Duncan asked her when he reached her first.
“I’ll tell you at the hospital,” she answered as she glanced to her father.
“Veronica!” Keith called as he jogged over. “What happened? Duncan called me and said -”
“Aaron killed Lilly. They were having an affair, he had it on tape, he killed her. If Mr. Kane hadn’t come here when he did -” a choked sob escaped her throat and otherwise silenced her.
“Wait. My dad saved you?” Duncan asked her. He knew he had been hurt, obviously, but he had thought Aaron had done it himself. The idea of him saving Veronica was almost too surreal for him despite the reaction he had had earlier when he first told him about the tapes back at the party.
“Even when he knew what I told you earlier,” she nodded, hoping she wouldn’t have to repeat it with her real father there. “And he heard Aaron mention the tapes, he knows.”
“Yeah, I told him too. That’s why he left the party, he said he was going to find Aaron.”
“Well, he found him,” Veronica nervously chuckled.
Duncan hardly knew what to do. He knew he would have to call his mother and tell her what happened, which was sure to end in even more tension around the breakfast table. His father having saved his once-supposed love child? Oh yeah, Celeste was going to love that.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Keith asked her when Duncan had headed off to follow Jake to the hospital.
She nodded. “Nothing a couple band-aids won’t cure. I just - Can you take me to the hospital? I want to be there for Mr. Kane. He didn’t have to save me, but he did. He could have gone after Aaron, but he didn’t. He could have chosen his revenge over saving the girl he hates, but instead he walked through fire to save me. I don’t know if he did it for Duncan or Lilly or just so there would be one more witness on the stand against Aaron, but -”
Keith only nodded as he curled his arm around Veronica’s shoulders and led her to his car. “It’s okay, Veronica. It’s okay.”
Veronica had hoped things would begin to feel even a little more normal at the hospital, but in addition to having to suffer a doctor looking her over and bandaging her few burns, knowing that Aaron was there too wasn’t helping her nerves. Sure he had uniformed officers posted outside of his room and he had at least ten broken bones, a concussion was sedated and even cuffed to his bed, but that still wasn’t enough to calm her down much.
It didn’t help that it had become quite a reunion in the waiting room. Her, Keith, Duncan and Celeste. Even if she hadn’t said the words, she knew Celeste blamed her for tonight. Duncan had looked like he was still trying to piece together the whole Aaron and Lilly thing, never mind all that had happened in the hours since. And then there was her father who was clearly hating the fact he was having to admit that Jake had saved his little girl. Not because he still hated him, but just because it felt like high school all over again. Only instead of just being the Prom King who had gone on to be a hero to most of Neptune, now he was Veronica’s hero. Even if it had mostly been the hospital staff to use that word, he really had been tonight. Keith knew that was his job, he was supposed to be there when Veronica needed him. He was supposed to be the one to walk through fire and risk his life to save his daughter. Not Jake Kane.
Everyone sat up a little straighter in their chairs when they saw Jake’s doctor come out of his room another hour later. But none were more surprised than Veronica when the doctor said that he was awake and asking for her. She didn’t miss Celeste’s icy stare or Keith’s head dip slightly as if he was blaming himself for tonight yet again. At least she could be thankful Duncan had only just woken up himself and was still processing where he was.
“Veronica,” Celeste stated in that cool tone of hers, “see that you don’t overstay your welcome.”
Veronica only nodded as she rose from her not-getting-any-more-comfortable chair and walked into his room. What she had expected to see she didn’t know. But there Jake was, propped up on the hospital bed and making eye contact with her as she silently made her way to the chair beside his bed. To her he didn’t look much like a man who had walked through fire, but then she was only seeing his upper body and even then not much of it. He had a few bandages wrapped around his arms, sure, and the left side of his face looked a little sunburned, but beyond that she guessed they would both look as good as new in about a month.
“If you’re looking for more ways to make Celeste hate me, I think you’re doing pretty well,” she told him with a soft, nervous laugh when she took the seat.
“Well, if it’s any consolation I’m sure Keith hates me even more now too,” he sighed.
“So why did you ask to see me and not her or Duncan or even the sheriff?”
“I wanted to see that you’re okay,” he told her with his own uncertain smile. “So, are you okay?”
She nodded and held up her wrist. “This and my face seem to be the only souvenirs thankfully. I heard they’re keeping you overnight though.”
Jake nodded. As much as he would have preferred being in his own bed tonight he was relieved for the night off from Celeste given the conversations he knew he would be in for all too soon. “The doctor told me Aaron got hit by a truck after he ran off.”
Veronica nodded. “Yeah he did. For the record though, I hope he heals fast.”
“Why?” He wanted Aaron dead, he couldn’t deny it. Though he had to admit he would rather watch it for himself, to watch Aaron fry.
“If they have to wheel him into the courthouse jurors might be sympathetic towards him. I don’t want that. I want them to see him for the able-bodied monster he was when he killed Lilly.”
Okay, that didn’t sound so bad when Jake thought about it. “How is Keith taking all of this?”
“He’s glad you were there.”
Jake smiled for only a second. “He’s glad someone was there. I doubt he’s glad it was me.”
“You two are going to have to kiss and make up sooner or later. It’s kind of a law now that you’ve rescued me from a fiery doom.”
“It’s a two-way street, Veronica. I think we’ll have to see about it. But for now I’m glad I was there and that I didn’t choose to go after Aaron instead.”
“Um, in case you’re curious, Lamb has the tapes in evidence now. Even he can’t screw up the investigation this time,” she told him, needing a change of subject. This was feeling a little too real again and she wasn’t sure she was ready for her Hallmark moment with Jake. Yes he had saved her and yes she was thankful, she just kind of wanted to be able to leave it at that.
“What made you think I’d killed Lilly? When you took your father’s word, what made you believe it?” Maybe this wasn’t the best time for that question but Jake couldn’t be sure he would get a better chance to ask her.
Veronica felt she had been punched harder then when Aaron had surprised her in that doorway. Only this time she didn’t have the luxury of being knocked unconscious. “My dad seemed to sure and really I thought if you had done it then it had been an accident. Or that maybe you were covering for someone. There just wasn’t enough evidence either way and with everyone turning against my dad, I couldn’t do it too.”
“You’re a good daughter, Veronica.” He still hated that she had been able to think of him as a murderer, especially with as much as he still loved Lilly. But he couldn’t completely fault her for standing by her father. He was her actual father after all.
She didn’t feel like a good daughter, not by a long shot, but she had more tact than to argue with a man lying in a hospital bed. “Celeste didn’t want me to overstay my welcome,” she told him finally, deciding it might be time for her to leave. As it was her night still wouldn’t be over when she got home since she still had her mother to confront.
“You haven’t, but I understand,” he nodded.
She stood, but still couldn’t bring herself to leave just yet. “Thank you, Mr. Kane. For tonight, for, I guess listening to Duncan.”
“I’d do it again,” he smiled.
Okay, that was not a flood of relief she felt. “I guess I’ll see you around.”
“You don’t have to be a stranger, Veronica. I know Celeste would prefer it, but if it hadn’t been for you I wouldn’t know who really killed my daughter. I would have gone on believing the wrong man had done it and Aaron would have gotten away.”
“Goodnight, Mr. Kane,” Veronica told him when she finally headed out of his room. She couldn’t think of what she should say to that. There was a lot she wanted to say, but actually forcing the words from her mouth was a whole other battle. Had Jake forgiven her? It sure sounded like it. Could he ever forgive her father? She guessed they were about to find out.
“Are you ready to head home, sweetheart?” Keith asked her when he saw her coming out of Jake’s room.
“Just a minute,” she nodded before looking to Duncan. When he met her on the far side of the room, she told him, “Thanks for telling your dad about Aaron. And thank you for calling my dad.”
“I almost feel like I should thank you for what you told me earlier.”
She almost laughed. “Yeah, I know the feeling. He’s a good dad, I’m just kind of glad he’s not my dad.”
“My mother shares your sentiment, I’m sure,” Duncan smiled.
Veronica laughed that time. “I’ll see you later,” she told him before moving aside to head off towards Keith.
“Your job at the Java Hut is starting soon, isn’t it?” he asked before she could take another step.
“Yeah,” she answered, wondering how he even knew about that.
“I guess I’ll see there then,” he smiled before waving to Keith and heading back to the row of chairs across from Celeste.
Veronica had to admit she liked the sound of that. Duncan wanting to see her, even Jake telling her not to be a stranger. She didn’t know what had changed tonight but she knew she could get used to it given the chance.
Even as she left the hospital with Keith she knew that chance was presenting itself. If nothing else the idea gave her something to look forward to on her way home where she knew she would have to confront her mother and most likely kick her out of the apartment for essentially robbing her of her college money by leaving rehab when she did. If she had gotten sober that would have been one thing, the loss of her college money would have been worth it. But she hadn’t and she had lied about it and she was still drinking.
The fact she would have to fill her father in on all of that as well didn’t make her feel any more comfortable. But at least tonight she was still there to be able to do what she had to do. The fact she had already thanked the men responsible gave her another reason to smile, even if only briefly.
As Keith pulled into the Sunset Cliffs parking lot, Veronica wasn’t naïve enough to think that the nightmare was over. But she hoped that this would at least be the worst of it for a while. Maybe she could even get a half-decent night’s sleep for once.
That dream lasted all of three hours and twenty-seven minutes until a knock came on her door. She had thought, she had hoped, it was Duncan when she saw the lanky, male frame on her doorstep. Instead it was a bloodied and battered Logan who, like his father, was soon being arrested for suspicion of murder.
Just like that Veronica knew that summer had officially begun in Neptune.
The End