CHAPTER 1

Veronica took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her thoughts were buzzing around in her head frantically. She wasn't sure what she was going to do; what she should do. She let the air out of her lungs in a whoosh as she firmed her resolve.

She was standing in a hallway in the prison where Aaron Echoll's was being held. The faded paint on the walls around her had a faint musky aroma that made her stomach roll. Two doors, guarded by large COs with side arms, were just ahead of her. The guards were posted there to escort visitors to the little booth where they could talk to an inmate.

She was last in a fast dwindling line to go through those doors.

"I will do this" she muttered to her self, straightening her shoulders and opening her eyes. The guards were getting to her now. She took a second to tidy up her hair a bit before walking calmly through the doors.

Aaron was excited.

For the first time in two weeks he had a visitor that wasn't his lawyer; His very expensive lawyer. Aaron frowned as he thought of the slick little man that handled his appeal.

The prick came by every week spewing lies about how he was going to get Aaron out soon. Aaron had a suspicion that the greedy son of a bitch only came to rack up more billable hours. It was a long drive from Neptune.

But it wasn't him today. That was what he was thinking when he was brought to his appointed booth and sat down by the CO. It was the reason that he had a big smile on his face when he saw Veronica.

The smile didn't fade even though the small blond on the other side of the thick Plexiglas didn't respond to it.

"Veronica" he said with welcoming warmth in his voice. "Thank you for coming"

Aaron's smile was like a slap in the face. He had been in prison for a month since his sentencing…and he was smiling.

Veronica's face froze in shock as she saw his handsome face warm in welcome. She had expected anger and insults, not smiles and…welcome.

"Cat bit your tongue?" Aaron asked with a chuckle. His laughter galvanized her and she shook her head in rejection.

"No Echoll's. The cat didn't bite my tongue" she answered coldly, wiping the smile off his face. His eyes became cold and calculating as he looked her up and down.

"What do you want, Veronica?" he asked, his voice caressing her name in a way that made her want to vomit. He had abandoned all pretence of friendliness. "Not that I'm not enjoying the visit. Has anyone ever told you that you look very sexy in black?" he continued in a whisper with a smirk on his face.

Veronica held back the urge to cover herself under his piercing gaze. He made her feel like she was naked and not covered completely in a black matronly dress.

"I wish I could say the same about you in orange" Veronica responded coolly, looking pointedly at the jumpsuit he was wearing.

Aaron snarled at her and his hand jerked in reflex to grab at her. The handcuffs stopped him and returned his control. He took a deep breath, his fists clenching for a second before he relaxed them. He didn't want to give the COs a reason to dislike him.

"What do you want?" he bit out at her in an angry hiss. He was starting to think that it was a mistake allowing this visit.

"I wanted to see you here" Veronica answered bluntly, meeting his eyes.

They stared at each other for a minute, neither saying anything. Aaron knew that if it wasn't for Veronica, he would be free. But he also knew that she would never forget about him; never get over what he had done to her.

He smiled at her.

"I'm not the only one in prison Veronica" he said softly. He signalled to the guards and stood as they approached. He turned to her for one last time. "I prefer my jail to yours"

He didn't look back as the guards took him from the room. He didn't need to. He had already seen the look on her face. That was enough.

Veronica sat for a minute after Aaron had left. She couldn't seem to get up. She wanted to, but she couldn't.

She was in her own prison.

The thought was imprinted on her brain. It burned and festered there until she felt like screaming.

She barely noticed when she was escorted from the room and led outside to where her car was parked. She went through the motions without really registering them. When she finally reached her car she could only stand by her door, doing nothing.

He's right. I am trapped.

The thought came with a shudder and a sob broke through. Tears started pouring down her face as she wept. Her legs gave out and she fell to her knees on the pavement, holding her self and crying so hard that her head began to ache.

Logan was sitting next to Duncan in his X-terra. They were parked outside Veronica's house waiting for her to get there. They had been waiting for a half an hour. Logan hadn't commented on her absence yet, but he was going to.

"You sure she was supposed to be here?" Logan asked casually, not meeting Duncan's eyes. He flicked a piece of lint off of his jeans and shifted in his red t-shirt. God this was awkward!

Duncan's eyes flitted over to Logan and returned to the road where he was watching for Veronica. "Yeah" was all he said.

Logan sighed and nestled back into his seat, his eyes closing. They had been friends again for a few weeks now, but it was still tense when the subject was Veronica. He and Veronica had been tiptoeing around each other, so as not to piss Duncan off. Or at least he had been tiptoeing around. It seemed like Veronica had never really gotten back in the groove of insulting him.

He had burned her, but she had taken it.

He frowned at the thought. Before they had dated she had given as good as she got, but now she just avoided him or ignored him. He didn't like it.

Just then, he heard her car pull into the parking lot. His eyes popped open as the car parked next to them. He would to talk to her soon; when Duncan wasn't there.

He would make sure that she wouldn't be able to ignore him.