A/N- There are no excuses for my absence….. I lost my inspiration. But I started re-reading a few old fics I hadn't looked at in a while, and it rekindled my passion (pun intended- read on ). I've said it before- this fic WILL be finished, I just have no timeline to give you. I have no idea how long it'll take me, or when the next chapter will be finished, so I won't promise you anything I can't follow through on…. Hope this one's worth the wait though! It's my first try at writing some juicy citrus, so be kind, but con crit is ALWYAS welcome! Enjoy. Sorry for making you wait so long!

ps- sorry if there are any weird formatting issues...for some reason when i upload a doc, it has a problem with italics and spacing. I tried to catch them all, but I may have missed a few. I am human. Forgive me.

Disclaimer: Not mine. (otherwise? Uh... movie. Duh.)

Previously (since it's been a while): Clarence Weidman reached out to Veronica and the feds, saying Jake had information to help them with their case against the Sorokins—in return for clearing Duncan of his kidnapping charges. He says they need his help if they want to catch their window of opportunity. Logan doesn't like Veronica's enthusiasm at the prospect of Duncan coming home, and a big fight ensues. Mac and Veronica hang out at Mac's dorm, and Veronica runs into Dick on her way out (who is on his way to talk to Mac about their kiss) and warns him again not to hurt Mac. He tells her to go fix her own relationship with Logan, and she sets off to do so…

Chapter 12

A Matter of Trust

"Are you understanding how this works, Mr. Kane? You're asking for me to look into and eradicate a federal kidnapping case here. I'm gonna need a little more quid pro quo from you." Booth jabbed his finger on the table in front of Jake.

"I'm telling you you'll get the tape. It'll be enough to—"

"To what? Pile on more circumstantial evidence? You want me to take down one of the biggest crime bosses in the country with an audio file? They've got the best lawyers in the world in their pockets, probably a few judges too, but even a law student could discredit that in a heartbeat. I need faces. Video," he said. His gaze switched between Jake, who was sitting in front of him, and CW, who was lounging against the wall.

Agent Thomas had managed to bring Jake in without incident. Thanks to the fact that Jake never drove anywhere himself, there was nothing out of the ordinary in having a town car arrive at his house to pick him up. Of course this one happened to be driven by an FBI agent.

"I'll see what I can do. The hard drive was severely damaged."

"Now you see, that's how we work together! But unfortunately you know as well as I do that I'm not believing a word that's coming out of your mouth. You know I'm a bit disappointed. I figured you'd be a tougher nut to crack. To sniff out your weakness. You must really love your son." Booth knew Jake could and would read between the lines. If he ever wanted to see his son again, he was going to have to offer up more. "I'll see what I can do isn't going to work for me." Booth's hard eyes pinned Jake's. "I've got a guy in there who's counting on me to bring him out safely, so you're not leaving this room until I get more than 'you'll see what you can do.'"

"I've told you what I want and until I get some assurances-"

"Nothing can be done with Duncan's case until this is over." Booth leaned back and appeared to relax in his chair. He'd keep them here all day to get the information he needed. "Your kid even shows his face around here before this is over, you think Levi won't put two and two together if things fall apart for them? How you're involved? I even start poking around that file, asking questions, what do you think will happen?"

Jake didn't say anything. It was Clarence who broke the silence.

"We may be able to help with that," he spoke up for the first time.

"Help with what?" Booth asked from his slouched position.

"Your little, ah, shall we say, rodent problem."

"My rodent problem." Booth's trained eyes searched, but gave nothing away in return.

Jake turned around and looked at CW, who met his eyes and nodded at him. He sighed and turned back to face Booth.

When he didn't say anything else, Booth snapped and sat up. "Listen, I am well past tolerating your lack of coop-" he started forcefully, but was interrupted.

"I've got someone on the inside too."

Booth raised his eyebrows.

Even with the warning Veronica gave her, Mac still jumped when she heard the knock on her door. She got up from her bed and checked the peephole, hoping and dreading who was on the other side. She'd been thinking all week what she'd say to him if they ever managed to talk about what happened, and was surprised that Dick was actually the one seeking her out.

Her plan was to follow his lead. Part of her worried he'd say something like, "Hey man, sorry for suckin' your face, I was super drunk…" But then again she was equally scared of the opposite.

What did she want? Was it possible she could actually be thinking about having a relationship with Dick? Or whatever one had with Dick….

That was one of the problems right there. With her it would have to be a relationship—she wasn't a friends with benefits kind of girl.

She steeled herself and opened the door.

Dick gave her a big smile. "Hi."

"Hey."

Mac stared at him for a few seconds before opening the door wider. "Come on in."

He stepped inside and looked around.

"You want to sit?" she asked him.

"Nah I'm good…" he said, rocking back on his heels, thumbs in his belt loops. "Sweet pad."

"Uh, yeah. I like it." They lapsed into silence as Mac watched him.

"So you, uh, haven't been around much this week," he said nonchalantly.

To give herself something to do, Mac started pulling books off her bed.

"Uh, I've been busy. With homework."

"Right," he said quietly, watching her as if almost in a trance.

"Look, I like you." Mac's head snapped up to look at him. "As a person. Which is actually… kinda new for me. So I don't want to…you know…like… screw that up?" Or have Ronnie rip my balls off, he added silently.

So he did regret it. That hurt Mac a little more than she was expecting it to.

"And that kiss was—"

"Right, no, I get it," she quickly tried to butt in and salvage her pride. "We were drunk," — well, he was drunk—"there was a moment. It was a mistake, I get it."

"Well I was gonna say it was smokin' hot…" He stared directly at her unblinking, and Mac felt her face flush. "Look I get it was a little weird, cause it's like, you and me, but I thought…" he trailed off. "You think it was a mistake?"

Mac looked down. "I don't know what it was," she said quietly, picking some non-existent lint off her pants.

He watched her, clearly at a loss of what to do. This was a situation Dick Casablancas had never been in before.

"Look I… really like you, Mac," he said again. "Like really like you. But you're my friend and…. You're my friend, right?"

"Um…I think so. Yeah. I am."

"Right. That's cool. I don't have many of those. And I don't want to mess with that."

"You said that already," she said quickly, trying not to feel rejected. What was going on here?

"I know." He made a noise of frustration, rubbing the back of his head. "I know— but… I will screw it up. I know I would. At least now anyway." He sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Okay…," Mac said. This wasn't exactly what she expected him to do. He was telling her he actually valued her friendship? That he appreciated her? That was a welcome surprise. She pretty much knew he felt that way, but it was nice to hear it out loud. And he was also acknowledging his man-whore past. And their past together.

"It's still too—"

"No I get it Dick. Really." And she did. It'd been a little over a year, but maybe that was still too soon for what had happened…? Was there a statute of limitations? For this? She didn't really know…

But maybe they weren't there yet, anyway. Dick still had some things to figure out first. She got that. It was why they were friends to begin with.

"We're cool. Friends, yes?" she continued.

"Absolutely." He slapped his hands on his legs and gave her a big, genuine, and obviously relieved smile. He stood up. "Awesome. Okay. We're good?"

"We're good," she gave him a small smile.

"Good. Wanna go grab a burger or something?"

"Uh, Dick?"

"What?" He stared at her, then remembered and smiled. "Oh right—well we can find a meat-free burger somewhere I guess?"

She laughed at his obvious cluelessness. He probably had no idea how to order them at In and Out. "No, that's fine. I've got some more work to do," she declined, gesturing to the books she'd moved to her desk.

"Oh. Okay. Your loss," He joked, and stood up and went to open the door.

"Hey Mac?"

"Yeah?" She turned back questioning.

"I probably won't stop hitting on you, just so you know…" he said with a smile in his eyes.

"I think I'd be worried if you did."

"Good." he winked at her. "Lunch Monday in the quad?

"Sure."

"'K. See ya around Mac-a-doodle" he said, and closed the door.

Mac could hear him whistling down the hall, and she shook her head.
That was interesting.

Logan watched as the delivery guys set up his mattress in the upstairs bedroom. It was a California King, and a double sleep number thing—or whatever they were called. He liked his mattress soft and pillow-y, and Veronica preferred hers a little firmer (ironically enough, since her last bed was a wave pool).

He realized he'd been stalling on getting his bed. It wasn't a psychological thing that it had taken him so long to pick it out… he was just really bad at making up his mind, and it had to be perfect.

Or that's what he was telling himself, at least. It had nothing to do with the fights he'd heard growing up. The fights that would always come from his parents' bedroom, and ultimately leave them sleeping separately. He remembered the day he came home from school and his mom had completely redone one of the guest rooms. Aaron was off shooting some movie, and they had spent the entire rest of the weekend watching horrible TV and testing out the new mattress. It became their thing when he was little. When Aaron was away they'd have a little sleepover. He had his own room, and later claimed the pool house, but that guest room became his mother's sanctuary. Aaron would come home, and the first night back he'd hear the shattering glass. The yelling, the thump of a shoe or heavy object hitting the wall—one that had probably been aimed at Aaron. He hated that bedroom. Almost as much as his mother did.

But he had to stop comparing him and Veronica to his parents. Their relationship was not abusive. Not physically anyway (at least he was pretty sure she hadn't ever tased him… Was it bad he couldn't remember for sure?). He wasn't his father. And Veronica was most certainly not his mother. Or her mother, for that matter. But things weren't perfect. Maybe he was being a bit naïve expecting that their relationship would be great this time around. Of course he knew there'd be bumps, and this one was quite a big one.

Maybe it had to happen. To make sure they knew things weren't going to be perfect, or the smooth ride they were hoping for. Hopefully this would show them they could handle fighting in a mature way.

Logan was actually proud of himself. When Veronica left the night before, he didn't immediately go off to do something stupid. He didn't go set something on fire. He didn't go to a party to drink himself into oblivion. Not that he had to go to a party to do that—Dick already had their liquor cabinet well stocked. He had wanted to. But he didn't.

He had actually taken the advice Keith had imparted to him during the summer. Logan had rolled his eyes at the time to his suggestion of how to calm his rage, but grabbing his earphones and running along the beach actually kind of worked. Surfing always gave him a sense of calm, so it made sense the exertion would settle him down. It worked so well he spent most of the night and good portion of the next day on the sand. He probably managed to damage his eardrums in the process, but it was nice to have his thoughts drowned out for a while.

After sweating out most of his anger, he was able to play their fight back through his head. And no matter how many times he did it, it still came down to a few simple things. One: he loved Veronica more than he could possibly think about loving another human being. And two: he might have over reacted a smidge to her enthusiasm about Duncan coming home, but he still was uncomfortable with it. He wouldn't lie about those feelings. It wasn't fair to either of them. And he didn't think they were necessarily all unfounded, either.

And yes, maybe he was still mad at Duncan for how he left in the first place, but that was only part of it. Duncan wasn't all shiny and perfect as everyone made him out to be. Veronica knew that better than anyone. Or she should. Now of course he didn't want her to make a list and compare their transgressions, because he honestly wasn't sure who would come out on top. The problem was that from his perspective, Duncan's slate seemed to get wiped clean every time he made a mistake, yet he had to work tooth and nail and his always remained streaked and stained, and covered in dust. How could he compete with that?

He wanted a future with Veronica. As girly as it sounded, his heart ached with how much he wanted it. With how much he loved her. Needed her. He had never factored Duncan into their future. Maybe it was stupid not to, but apparently he had hoped the past was just that. Past. And that included Duncan. It hurt when it seemed like she wasn't on the same page as he was. After their big make-up conversation? If she was lying she had certainly fooled him.

Logan allowed himself about five minutes of wallowing before he got up to run back down the beach. He'd talk to her calmly about it. Bring up his feelings, his insecurities, and hope to God she quelled them. Because trust was a two way street. If she told him she loved him, no matter what her other options were, then he'd believe her. He had to.

Veronica left the dorm after talking to Dick. She really hoped she didn't have to taser his ass. With everything that Mac had been through though, Veronica trusted her to make smart decisions. She wasn't one hundred percent there with Dick though.

Still with her phone out, she decided she'd bite the bullet and call Logan. She had a pretty good idea what she had to say to him, and apologize for, and it probably wouldn't be a good idea to let it sit any longer. She looked down at her watch. It was only 7:30. She'd already missed dinner, but when her dad had texted to find out if she was coming home, she'd told him she might end up staying at Mac's. Which suited her just fine for how she was hoping the rest of her night would go.

She really hated that she was so nervous calling him. She basically held her breath as it rang, waiting to hear his voice. She almost started talking when she realized it was his voicemail. "You've reached Logan with today's inspirational message: 'The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.' -Victor Hugo. You know what to do."

That stopped her in her tracks. Of course, leave it to him to break her down with a single line. Veronica closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Deciding not to leave a message, she kept walking to her car. She might as well just drive over to his house. Dick was obviously not home, so they'd be alone. If he was there, that is. She hoped he was just busy with something and not ignoring her call.

When she pulled through the house gate she saw a truck in the circular drive. She got out and made it to the door, and there were two guys in blue jump suits holding it open talking to someone inside.

She hovered for a split second, before berating herself for her cowardice. She stepped around them and into the foyer.

Logan's eyes met hers, and she read the look in his as hopeful.

"Hey," he said, and she answered back in the same nonchalant but nervous manner. "Hi."

He looked at her a few seconds longer, before turning back to the two boys at the door. He thanked them and gave one of the guys the 'I-think-I'm-so-sly-while-I-slip-you-some-money-' handshake.

Veronica eyed the exchange, and when they left, turned to Logan. "That was generous. I sincerely hope they put on a good show," she joked.

"Gotta help the young ones pay for college somehow."

"And what was it they were delivering?"

"Mattress."

"Oh?"

"Yup. No more air mattress for me," he smiled, but it was still not quite reaching his eyes.

Still standing in the foyer, Veronica couldn't take the awkwardness anymore, and blurted out, "I'm sorry."

He sighed, obviously relieved. "Me too."

"For what?"

"You first."

Veronica took a deep breath. "Can we go…um…?" She pointed into the living room.

Logan held his arm out in an 'after you' kind of gesture, and followed her in.

Veronica took his arm and pushed him gently onto the couch. He raised his eyebrow at her, and Veronica let out an annoyed huff of air. They were both being ridiculous, being all polite and cautious around each other. She came here to talk, so that's what she was going to do.

"You sit. I think I need to stand and…. and pace," Veronica said, and immediately started walking the short length of the coffee table back-and-forth. The same coffee stable she'd spit the water on the day before.

"Okay. Promise me you won't interrupt me until I say all this."

"Do I get a chance for rebuttal?" Veronica smiled inwardly. If he was joking, things were already starting out okay. Hopefully he would take what she said to heart and believe her.

"Three minutes and a conclusion," she joked.

"I suppose I can work with that."

"Good," she didn't acknowledge their attempt to lighten the mood, and dove right in with a deep breath. "Okay, I realize now maybe I didn't go about it the right way when Duncan left. We never really talked about it." She stopped to look at him, to make sure he realized what she was talking about. "I just kind of assumed you knew what happened, and I guess I shouldn't have." She took another big breath, and continued.

"Yes, I loved Duncan. Yes, I helped him get away with baby Lilly. But when they left, when we said goodbye, it was goodbye. We both knew that was it for us. That it would never be like it was before. Honestly, it wasn't really right the whole time we were back together. I just…. Okay…"

Logan watched as she geared up to say something she clearly didn't want to say.

"I realize now I really wasn't over you when I got back with him. I'm not finished," she put up a hand to stop whatever gloating comment he was about to make. "And you did nothing to ease my guilt no matter how much I told myself I did the right thing. I wanted my normal life back, and Duncan was… well, he was my Mr. Normal. And I convinced myself it was okay—until the bus crashed and we found out Meg was pregnant. I'll always be happy to have him in my life, but I could never go back to him. Not like that. I'm sorry I made you feel that way. That I was only with you because I couldn't have him. That was never the case. You'll never be my consolation prize. That's not possible." She paused to look at him, and his chocolate brown eyes stared right back.

"Logan, Duncan is…. He hasn't always done the right thing, or the best thing, and he's had his phases of duchy-ness, but so have you—so have I. He's just... He was one of our best friends. He was one of us." She sat on the coffee table in front of him, and put her hand on his knee, looking him straight in the eye. "But there's one big difference between the two of you. If you were God knows where, half way around the world? I don't think I could handle it. I know I couldn't handle it. I couldn't stand it. I would find you. Hunt you down." She paused, smiled. "I need you. Like I never thought I would need anybody. And it makes me…itchy… sometimes," she smiled sheepishly at him. "It's overwhelming. You know me… I just…really need you to understand this. You know how I get, Iknow how I get, but I'm working on it because I know I need you. It's another one of those self-awareness things I'm trying. I'm acknowledging my attachment to you." She put her hands on his shoulders. "I'm working on seeing my relationship with you as one of my strengths. And I know it sounds corny, but no one gets me like you do, and honestly, I don't think anyone else would put up with me. Not all of me. You take all of me, good and bad. I give you crap and you throw it right back at me—that's one of the reasons why I know we do have a future."

Logan hadn't given her a sign to how he was digesting all of her words.

"Can I say something now?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry too. I may have over reacted a bit, and I'm sorry that this whole Duncan thing makes me insecure. I don't like that feeling. That makes me itchy. But it's the way it is. But I do trust you."

"Good," sigh.

"Answer me something?"

"What?"

"Why did you freak out when Dick made that crack about us getting married?"

"You mean our shotgun wedding?"

He frowned. "You know what I mean. That's what started this whole thing in the first place."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry. And it's not a future with youthat scares me. I told you I wanted us to have a future. I'm just not sure how I want it to go. But I never said you weren't in it. You're in it," she told him. "You are my Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Robert Redford….all those guys."

"James Bond?"

She shook her head with a smile. "Sorry—that one's still mine."

"Fine," he sighed overdramatically. "But you know I'm not gonna do this halfway. I'm an everything kind of guy, Veronica. I don't do half-assed. Not when it comes to you. I'm gonna think about these things. I want them. With you. With all the crap that's happened in our lives, I never thought I could actually have a healthy relationship—not before you. And I never thought I'd want one so bad. I am not my… I'm not Aaron."

"No, you're not. You never could be." Her hands still rested on his shoulders, and she squeezed them.

"I know that." He stood up and took over her pacing. "With as much as crap he spouted about family being so important, he never loved us. He liked Trina's hero-worship of him, sure, but that's about it. And he never even appreciated my mother. Not like she deserved." He closed the distance between them.

"But you, and—now don't start hyperventilating—you and any other family we have will be the best thing in my life, and I will never take it for granted." He added on a lighter note, "You're a lot of work, Mars. It's a good thing I know you're worth it."

She swallowed hard, looking down. "The baby steps weren't just for sex, you know. I know it's frustrating, but a lot of it's for your benefit. If we go slow, I have enough time to calm myself down before things get too heavy."

"Veronica, it's us. We're always heavy."

"I know, you know what I mean."

"I would fly to Vegas and marry you tonight. In a heartbeat. You need to know that. I know that freaks you out, but deal with it. I told you I'd wait and I will. I don't care if we don't get married 'til we're 70. We can go all Brangelina and adopt a bunch of little foreign kids and give them all the crap we never had if you want."

"Which would be what, exactly?" she asked, trying to think of something he couldn't get.

He shrugged like it was obvious, and said without an ounce of embarrassment for being so ridiculously sappy, "Two parents who love them unconditionally."

Well, crap.

What on earth did you say to that? If she was a swooner….

"Okay."

"Okay?" He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Yes, okay."

"So when I, or someone else, joke about us being an old married couple you'll just laugh uncomfortably and I won't have to give you the heimlich?"

"Yes," she said quietly, looking down, but smiling as he moved closer and ran his hands up and down her arms.

"Good." He kissed her forehead, and she looked up at him studying his face, before sighing in relief and contentment. She stood up on her tip-toes and met his mouth in a kiss.

"I love you," she murmured against his lips.

"I know."

She dropped back down, and leaned into him, resting her forehead against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, and when he kissed the top of her head, they both let out a huge sigh of relief.

They each chuckled, and she pulled back to look up at him.

A huge weight had just been lifted.

"Do you realize what just happened? We just had a grown-up fight, and worked it out like a couple of grown-ups."

"Go us," he said with a smile.

"I think we need to celebrate."

"Oh yeah?" he asked, leering at her. "What did you have in mind?" He bonked his forehead against hers, one eyebrow raised.

"Can you spot me fifty bucks?"

He pulled away from her, confused. "What?"

"Actually, you know I think Wallace only bet twenty." She shrugged, walking towards the stairs. "Eh, I don't really care anymore."

When he didn't immediately follow her, she turned around as if to say 'well?'.

"Don't you play with me Mars."

"No? I thought you liked it when I did that. I wonder how firm your new mattress is…" she said this with all the innocence in the world.

In what was almost a growl he charged at her. Veronica laughed and would have yelped if his mouth hadn't immediately clamped on to hers. Logan had basically bowled her over; they were lying on the stairs, Logan's hand behind her head. Veronica laughed into his kiss, before eagerly returning it.

"Are. You. Sure. About. This?" he asked between kisses.

She pulled back and looked at him like he was crazy. "You want me to change my mind?"

"Hell no," he said fervently, and swooped down to capture her lips again.

It wasn't long before the desperation and frantic need set in. He couldn't get close enough to her, or let her go for a single second.

Having serious trouble making it up the stairs together, and neither willing to relinquish the others lips, Logan let out a growl of frustration and finally just yanked her up in his arms to carry her up the remaining stairs. Veronica's legs immediately wrapped around his waist, and she squeaked with surprise as they crashed into the wall. Her shoes fell to the floor. With the support of the wall at her back, Logan was able to brace her against it and tug at her shirt. Veronica lifted her arms, and it was over her head with one swift yank. He buried his head in her chest, kissing his way up her collar bone, his tongue leaving a cool, wet trail behind it. She shivered, and her hands frantically reached down to undo his belt and zipper, pushing his pants down his hips and to the floor.

Logan kicked out of them then wrapped his arms around her back again to spin them towards the bedroom door. Veronica hugged him to her and bit down on his shoulder, trying her best not to completely lose control. She'd rather their first time back together be in a bed rather than up against a wall (as hot as that might be).

While Logan worked on unclasping her bra, Veronica reached down with one hand fumbling for the doorknob. Logan did his best not to fall forward into the room, and made his way towards the bed. He laid her down on the mattress and basically fell on top of her.

Veronica laughed. He stopped and they locked eyes for a brief moment, before both felt the sting of the separation and he reclaimed her lips.

Together they pulled off his shirt, and Veronica's skirt was next to join the pile on the floor. When her tiny hand teasingly brushed across the front of his boxers, Logan let out a hiss. "Jesus Veronica." She pushed them down as far as she could with her hands, then clamped her feet down on either side of his thighs and pushed them the rest of the way off.

"God I've missed you…" He breathed into her neck, and began kissing up towards her ear where he knew she liked.
Veronica groaned, "Oh God you have no idea…" Her hands kneaded his back, and she arched into him when his mouth found her breast and he took a nipple with his teeth. She groaned again and leaned forward to catch his earlobe between her teeth, and it was his turn to moan.

Every nerve was on fire. Every touch tingled and seemed to travel straight down between her legs. God she'd missed this. She hadn't forgotten how amazing he was. How well he knew her body—and she his. Everything was familiar, but had the urgency and passion of something new. If it were at all possible, it meant more to her now.

The only article of clothing still between them was Veronica's underwear. Even stroked through the thin fabric, every light caress nearly sent her over the edge. She whimpered.

Logan missed her noises. She was never very vocal with words, but he loved her indecipherable, unintelligent moans and whimpers.
At her urging, Logan hooked two fingers under either side of the waistband and slowly drew the offending article down her legs. He kissed her ankle, her calf, and pressed his tongue to the inside of her knee, making her squirm. When she felt his warm breath traveling higher, Veronica's eyes snapped down to his. On any other day, she'd let him continue, but Veronica wasn't in the mood to play games.

She grabbed his hair and lightly pulled up. Logan looked up at her, and chuckled when she shook her head and tugged on his hair again. He slid up her body, pressing kisses to her stomach and breasts, meeting her at her lips. When he froze and whispered, "fuck,"
Veronica's eyes snapped open. "What? What's wrong?"

"The condom's in my pants out in the hall." He didn't want to leave her for a second.

Veronica frantically shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I'm on the pill. You're clean right?"

He smiled down at her, brushing a piece of hair away stuck to her now glistening forehead. He loved that she trusted him.

"Yes, I'm clean."

"Then we're good," she smiled at him, and braced herself on her elbows so she could reach up and seize his lips again. Her tongue swirled and battled with his, and she lifted her hips to meet his, showing him she didn't want to wait any longer.

Logan grabbed both of her hands with his and intertwined their fingers near her head. He looked straight into her eyes. She gazed back at him, amazed at the emotion pouring out of him.

"I love you," he told her.

"I know. I love you too," she smiled at him.

Logan bent down to kiss her and swallowed her gasp as he pushed inside her.

He paused for a moment to savor the feel of her. She was hot and tight and beautiful in all the right places. It was glorious. It was perfect.

God she loved him. When he began moving slowly, Veronica nearly shouted out loud from the friction. She opened her eyes again to see him watching her face. She smiled again, but soon decided she'd had enough of this. She used one of her legs to flip him over so she straddled him. She leaned down towards his surprised face, gave him a hard kiss and told him, "We've got all night for slow and steady…"

With a big grin on his face, Logan reached up to circle an arm around her waist. He flipped her over again and she let out another yelp and laugh.

"Yes ma'am!"

"So you've been in Weidman's pocket this whole time. Not the Fitzpatrick's." Keith didn't know if he believed him.

"Well you know, he figured it'd be beneficial to actually have a sheriff on Kane's side this go around," Vinnie replied, smirking.

"And one more susceptible to bribes?"

"Now, now," he said. "Let's not get nasty."

"You know I find this all hard to believe—"

"If they threatened your mother—no, your precious daughter—what would you do?" he countered. "We already know what you'd do, don't we? Isn't that the whole reason I've got your job?" he defended with an eye roll.
Keith said nothing.

"I'll admit Liam may have had me by the cojones at the beginning, but I'm playing on the side of the good guys now. Come on, embrace me!" he said throwing his arms out, then looked around the diner and pulled his arms in. "You're all just one big happy family, right? Fighting crime?" he continued. "We can be one of those TV shows, you know? The dysfunctional but highly successful group of misfits? You'd be the goofy annoying one who's morals always get in the way, Weidman the mysterious cold hearted one, and I'd be the-"

"Rat who'll play for the highest bidder and no one respects?"

"I miss you, you know that Mars? Life is never boring when you're around," he chuckled, letting the jab run off his back. "Speaking of never boring," he continued, "where isthat pesky little daughter of yours?"

Keith sighed. "As much as she'd protest differently, she's still a kid, and I would prefer her staying out of the line of fire as much as possible."

"And I'm sure that will work," he said sarcastically. "She's obviously involved already, and that girl goes looking for trouble." Keith knew he was partly right. But he didn't want to talk about that.

"Well Booth and CW seem to think that you're gonna help us out now. As much as I warn them against it..."

"Oh come on Keith, I may act the slime ball, but I'm not a bad guy," he defended. "I'm no ones right hand man, but they're not suspicious of me. That's more than I can say for your guy. I'm more of like a deaf servant. And if you start buying Danny drinks, he'll treat you like his own personal psychiatrist. Especially since Liam ripped him a new one after he grabbed Veronica."

"And you just relay all your info on the Fitzpatricks to Weidman. And he pays you."

"Not Liam specifically. All my inside knowledge of Neptune. What do I care what he does with the info? There are a lot of shady people around here, and you'd never know it. Actually," he amended with a smile, "I'm sure you do."

Keith definitely did know about the shady underbelly of Neptune. Its members didn't discriminate between the classes, but they all tended to be involved with different things. It was because he knew these things Booth had elected him to meet with Vinnie when Kane and CW had admitted to have him under their thumb.

"And this didn't have anything to do with Kane and Duncan's case initially?"

"What do I care if it did? It might- both Weidman and Kane are like dogs with a bone, you know that. I doubt they'd give up. But the Fitzpatricks just happened to be the biggest thing going on then. Until the Sorokins started poking their heads around. And boy am I lucky that now you and the feds want to know what I know too," he said rubbing his hands together.

"Yeah I'm sure you're counting your lucky stars. Now listen Vinnie, you'll do as agent Levi says. They may trust you more- or should I say distrust you less?- but Levi knows what he's doing."

"I'll do as the big suit says, don't sweat it."

"Forgive me if I worry," Keith said with an eye roll. "Don't change your relationship with him, don't seek him out, don't do anything out of the ordinary. He'll send you a message when he thinks it's safe."

Vinnie just stared at Keith, clearly annoyed with Keith's condescending attitude.

"I don't need your lessons in sleuthing, Mars."

Keith smirked. "You still feel lucky?"

"I do, actually. And so does Weidman I'm sure. They could probably throw both of us in jail if they wanted to. Lucky for us, they don't."

"Oh I'm sure they want to."

"What did I say earlier about embracing? Maybe work on that." He stood up and slapped some money down for his meal.

"I don't think that's enough," Keith said, eyeing the few ones he'd put on the table.

"Well, I bet you can handle it with the little bonus the feds will throw your way. You know, after this is all over," he said with a smirk.
His face lost the smile and said, "If we're still around, that is..."

Keith took a second and watched Vinnie slurp the last of his drink. With the nonchalant air he put on, apparently Vinnie knew the danger he was putting himself in. Now with the Sorokins around, it was more than doubled. Maybe he did care... ? Maybe.

"Now, I gots to get me out of here. Can't be seen with you. They don't follow me now, but they might start. And of course for my reputation in general." he smirked. "See you around Mars."

"Done!"

Veronica closed her laptop and leaned back on the couch. Both her and Mac were over at the Fennell's studying and doing homework.

"Why does this feel weird?" Veronica frowned.

"What?"

"I have no more work to do."

"Uh...I don't know." Wallace looked at her like she was crazy.

"Maybe cause it's not four in the morning and you're not hiding in your car taking pictures of creepy people while also trying to do it?"

"Oh, yeah. Maybe that's it..."

"You miss your mini cases?" Wallace asked.

"What?"

"You know, instead of the whole Italian mob thing you've got goin' on..."

"Russian mob. And an Irish crime family. And I'm slightly disturbed by how nonchalantly I say that..." Veronica shook her head. "And it's not really a conscious decision... I did do a little photo op last week for dad. Nothing big." Veronica shrugged her shoulders. "But yes. Honestly? Yes. I miss my little mini cases. If that were all I was doing—not worrying about Logan getting beat up with a crow bar or getting stashed in a barrel and dropped into the ocean—it would be wonderful. I don't really think I can afford any other distractions though. Although I didn't mind the extra cash flow..." she added as an afterthought.

Mac's eyes got wide. "Are you serious?"

"About which part?"

"All of it?"

"Maybe. I don't know. You saw what they did to Logan last time. It'll be such a relief when we get their sleazy asses in jail, but in the meantime... I worry."

Mac gave her a sympathetic smile. "You know we can still help, right?" Wallace nodded in agreement as Veronica vigorously shook her head no. "My hacking skills are only improving—I can do that from afar," she continued.

"I know guys, thanks." But really, there was no way she was going to get her friends into this if they didn't have to be. "But no way. There are enough agents, and they'd kick me to the curb if they could. But I appreciate it." Veronica smiled at Mac before adding, "You know they did bring a gadget guy from DC—he's been doing all the computer stuff so far. He's only a little older than us I think, and he completely fits the geeky but cute stereotype."

"An FBI gadget guy? Wow...can you get me that job? Then I'd really be your Q."

"Actually, I bet I could get his number for you after this is all over, since you know, you and Dick are just friends." She smirked at her.

Mac had filled Veronica in on her little chat with Dick, and while she was kind of surprised—and impressed with Dick, if she was being honest—she was glad things had settled a bit. But Mac was too fun not to tease.

"Funny."

Wallace scowled. "I'll never understand girls and the whole 'bad boy' attraction. Doesn't make any sense."

"Oh please, you've got the whole suave athlete thing working for you, so don't even startcomplaining about girls liking a 'type.'" Veronica said to him.

"Moi? A type? I don't think so! You're looking at 100% unique indefinable class right here ladies!"

"Is that what Natalie tells you?"

"Shut up."

Mac just laughed at them. "And comparatively? Around here? I wouldn't exactly call Dick a bad boy…"

"How about clueless?" Veronica just rolled her eyes at Wallace. He hadn't really witnessed any of Dick's attitude adjustments, so he was more wary than the rest of them. "You find his cluelessness endearing? Not to mention his upstanding virtuous reputation," he said sarcastically.

"Oh lighten up Wallace. He has his moments, right Mac?" Wallace looked at Veronica in surprise. "And besides. They're just friends so what does it matter?" She teased.

"Would you stop saying that?"

Veronica laughed and closed the rest of her books. "Let's go outside! It's too nice to be in here."

"But dinner's almost ready and why are you so happy?" he quickly turned on her.

"Oh I'm sorry, am I not allowed that emotion?" Veronica asked him, still with a smile. He looked at her scrutinizingly, and the light bulb when off.

"You made up with Logan."

"And if I did? I can't be happy about it?"

"No, I mean you made up with Logan."

Veronica just blinked at him.

Mac laughed, and Wallace's smile grew even wider when she still didn't answer.

"Haha! Yeah baby! You made up! That means I win! Fifty bucks, baby! Come on, cough it up girl!" Wallace was bouncing and clapping excitedly on the cushion, then hopped up to the arm of the couch and shoved her shoulder.

"Get down Wallace. Won what?" Alicia came in from the kitchen.

"Nothing," Veronica said quickly, and glared at Wallace's still smiling face.

"Well dinner's on the table. Mac are you sure you don't want to stay?"

"Oh no, thanks Mrs. Fennell. I have to get back," Mac said, and started packing up her stuff.

"Alright, well we're holding you hostage next time."

"Sounds good," she laughed. "Thanks for the snacks! I'll call you later?" Veronica nodded and smiled at her.

"Okay you two, it's getting cold."

"Where's my dad?" Veronica asked. She pulled out her cell and frowned when it showed no missed calls or messages.

"He's still out. We'll save him a plate."

That didn't smooth the crease in Veronica's forehead. Where was he?

Wallace nudged her again and said quietly, "You owe my fifty bucks."

She just rolled her eyes at him. "I'm holding you to it."

"Okay!" she said exasperated.

"Okay what?" Darrell asked from the table.

"Nothing," Veronica said.

She frowned again eyeing her dad's empty seat.

Thanks again for reading! Drop me a note- even if it's to say how annoying I am for not posting sooner…. Until next time….

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-hera