TITLE: 184 Days Later...

PARING: Logan and Veronica

RATING: M; due to language, some violence, and…other mature situations…

TIME: *post movie, SPOILERS ahead.

DISCLOSURE: I do not own anything! Mr. Rob Thomas owns everything. And thank GOD he does!

NOTES: I honestly have 3 chapter mapped out. I'm not sure if I will continue after that.

~*VM*~

She closed the door behind her, immediately turning on the alarm once she was safely inside.

Her dad had insisted that she spend the night over at his house, but a mixture of pride and bravery made her decline his offer. Not to mention that Logan's house, which had become a home to her in the last six months, gave her comfort. She felt secure here.

Things were going from bad to worse here in Neptune. People were getting mugged in broad daylight. Three killings took place just last weekend; all people contained different MoS. The local MC was divided into three crews now; Weevil was back in power, but controlled only a small group of bikers. The other two crews were creating mayhem. Churches were being victimized as well. Rabbis, priests, all form of clergymen were performing criminal behaviors. There were a few doctors and nurses who had gone missing. And to top it off, the Sheriff's office still had yet to fire Lamb. Veronica honestly felt as if she was living in Sodom and Gomorrah. The violence was escalating and instead of finding answers, she and her dad were only asking more questions.

People were fleeing the city, and the others who didn't couldn't. They couldn't afford it. And then there were others, such as Veronica, her father, Wallace, and Weevil, who were taking a stand.

But things were now turning ugly for them, too. Wallace had come close to losing his job, Weevil had received another gunshot wound, her father was one of the mugged victims, and she was sure someone was following her. Who it was, she was not so sure. She had made the mistake of mentioning this to Wallace, who in turn told her father. It took a lot of convincing for her father to let her out of the office tonight.

She walked over to the table in the living room and set down her keys. She turned over to the calendar she had posted up months ago. It contained a lot of days being marked off. The date from three days ago was circled.

It had been 180 days that day, but there was still no Logan.

She had gotten an email from him a week ago letting her know that they were going to be holding him back another two weeks. He wasn't able to write down all of the details, but the mission they were in was still not complete.

She tried her best not to pout as she made her way over to the bedroom. It felt like an eternity since she had last seen her Navy Lieutenant boyfriend. She kept herself busy so she wouldn't miss him too much, but the moment she left work and came home, she couldn't avoid it.

It was a bitter sweet feeling every night and morning she was here. He was in every corner, every inch of the house, which reminded her that this was all she could have. But it also made her heart flutter at the thought that everything surrounding her was in a sense him.

Everything in Logan's house was nicely organized and spotless. Logan certainly had never been messy or dirty, but this grown-up Navy Lieutenant version of him was an orderly man.

It had first intimated her when she started sleeping over. She was afraid to move or touch anything. However, after a couple of months, she began to get used to it and felt the place to have a homey feel to it. It wasn't too long before she started moving in more of her clothes into the place. Logan had told her before he left that she could stay there as long as she wanted. He said that it would be nice if she even stayed there permanently while he was gone—she could house sit.

At first, that's what she told herself she was doing, house sitting. But well into the fourth month, she stopped considered her father's house her home. Logan's place now felt that way. Most of her clothes were here. And some of her NY things she had moved in. The rest of her possessions, she had either sold or kept in storage.

She had sold her bed; Logan's felt much nicer. She sold two of her dressers since Logan's walk-in closet had enough room for her things. Her kitchen table she also let go of; Logan's mahogany masterpiece was too perfect in the dining room.

She internally groaned as she thought more about her absent boyfriend.

Once she got into the bedroom, she changed into her favorite nightwear, which was one of his Navy t-shirts. He had a ton of those—eight to be precise. She would wear one of those every now and again up until the shirt no longer smelled like him. Right now, she was wearing the very last one. The others were washed and smelled nothing like him. No matter how much of his cologne she would spray on it.

She hoped the t-shirt's smell would last another two weeks; otherwise, she wasn't sure how she would be able to sleep at night.

For the remainder of the night she watched the news as she looked through some of the work she had brought home. She did as much as she could, still not able to make any sense of what was in front of her. Once she looked over to the clock on the wall and noticed it was 2AM already, she decided it was time to go to bed.

She went over to check the alarm and after she made sure it was was in fact on, she headed to the bed.

The last thought she had in head before she fell asleep was knowing she only needed to wait 13 days.

FOUR HOURS LATER

*~LE~*

The sky possessed shades of blue, orange, and purple. It was mid July in Southern California and that meant the sun was rising.

As families lined up to meet and greet their loved ones who had been gone for duty for more than 6 months, Logan made his way past them. He caught a glimpse of a loving couple embracing in a tight hug. Her legs were around his and he kissed her senseless.

Logan craved that, but for several reasons, this kind of welcome would not be received in front of all these people.

It wasn't hard finding Dick. He was standing right next to the most lavish and bright car in the line of cars. Once Dick noticed him, he gave him a mock-salute. "Welcome back home, Lt."

Logan smiled at his best friend went to the back of the car to place his luggage. "Hey, man."

"Safe flight?" asked Dick as he went around to his door.

"I came on a ship," Logan informed him. He climbed into his seat.

"Well, was it a nice…float?"

Logan cracked a smile at his friend's stupidity. "Yeah."

"So, tell me again why that blonde stalker of yours isn't picking you up, instead?" Dick asked as he checked his rearview mirror to make sure he was able to pull out of the loading zone.

Logan, with uniform and all, took a grab of his hat and set it down on his knee. "I wasn't sure if I was going to be bombarded by paparazzi. If they were going to be here, I didn't want to put her in the middle of that. Plus, I'm planning on surprising her."

As Dick pulled onto the road, he turned to his best friend and rolled his eyes. "You've turned into such a marshmallow, dude."

Logan decided to change the subject. "Any new chaos erupting in town?"

When Logan left, things were bad. He hoped that after Veronica leaked the video to the media of Sheriff Dan Lamb confessing he was a corrupt son-of-a-bitch things would settle down. However, from the few emails and letters he received from Veronica, his hopes didn't look good.

"It wouldn't be Neptune if everything was calm," Dick answered.

Logan let out a sigh. "And how involved has Nancy Drew been in this chaos?" He didn't want to know the answer, yet he always wanted to know everything about her.

Dick snickered. "You know Ronnie. She loves getting herself into messes. She's gotten herself arrested a few of times by Sheriff Lamb. Of course she's wiggled herself away from any of those arrests landing in her personal file."

"Of course." Logan couldn't help but feel pride in knowing his little bobcat could get herself out of almost any situation. However, that didn't stop him from thinking she should stop putting herself in dangerous situations.

For a few moments there was silence. Logan thought the worst and Dick sensed it.

"Don't worry, man. With Ron and Hermione at her side, our little Harry is safe from harm," Dick assured his friend.

The comment didn't make Logan feel less at ease. He knew Wallace and Mac were great allies to Veronica and cared for her deeply. They would do all they could to keep her safe. But Logan felt it wasn't enough to guarantee Veronica's physical safety.

Dick must have sensed his worry. "I've seen her roaming around with Weevil, too."

That put Logan a littleat ease. Weevil Navarro certainly had a dark side that Wallace and Mac lacked. The ex-thug would cross over to that dark side if it meant keeping Veronica safe. Earlier in the year during their high school reunion, Weevil was quick to jump into that fight and put a few of those guys out. Although it would never be admitted out loud, Weevil and Veronica were friends. Not the kind to hang out together and braid each other's hair, but the kind that would fight for the other when things got ugly.

Logan certainly liked the idea of Weevil looking after Veronica. He'd been on the opposing end of the vato's right hook several times in his youth. It hurt like hell.

"So, straight to your house or you wanna grab some grub first?" asked Dick.

Logan shook his head. "Over to Neil's first. I have something to pick up."

Dick frowned, confused. "Neil Carter? What do you have over his house?"

"A present," Logan said simply.

His friend just drove.

AN: Please, leave your reviews. :D

And much thanks for giving the story a chance.