InsaneJournal

Who: Logan and Veronica
What: Logan arrives
Where: WHAM offices
When: Fri. afternoon
Warnings: mentions of violence and death
Status:


Logan could not fucking believe it. Could. Not. Believe. It. He, Veronica, Wallace, and Mac were at their damn high school reunion. And what do they do? Fucking show the sex tape of him and Veronica. And he saw red. Absolutely lost his shit and hit the first couple guys he saw. At one point he knew Dick, Wallace, and even Piz were in the fray. That Weevil joined surprised him not at all.

As Logan swung to hit yet another 09er, he was suddenly not connecting with some rich boy’s jaw but a wall. A wall in a place he didn’t recognize. Well, it definitely had a hole that was not there previously. He looked around wildly, still in full fight mode, adrenaline coursing through his body.

He took a couple deep breaths and looked around. He saw Veronica and said, “It looks like your office has gone through some redecorating, not just with my fist.” What else could he say? He literally didn’t know where the fuck he was, but it sure wasn’t their old high school or her dad’s office.
****

It wasn’t often that Veronica was in the office on a Saturday afternoon. She’d taken some time off during the week for the move into her and Leo’s house though, so she was catching up on some paperwork when she heard some kind of commotion in the outer office and went to see what was going on.

The last thing she expected to see was Logan. In fact, she was certain that she was losing her mind. Or that the dome was fucking with her. Whatever was going on, this wasn’t real and she needed to stop her heart from racing. Was this some kind of mental break because she’d taken the step of moving in with Leo?

“No,” she said, her voice a harsh whisper. “No. No. You’re not real. This isn’t happening.”

***

Logan knew he and Veronica had their ups and downs, but this seemed a bit extreme. “Geeze Veronica. It’s not like I told you to ‘annoy like the wind.’” He’d said harsher things to her, and meant them at the time, but he thought they’d gotten past that.

He looked at one of his oldest friends, and the only ex-girlfriend who really meant anything to him. “You look different.” What else could he say? This was not the Veronica helping to clear him of Carrie’s death. She looked older. And like she was carrying even more of the world’s weight on her shoulders.

“Really, V. What the hell?”

***

Veronica felt like she couldn’t breathe. Was this a panic attack? It kind of felt like one. Her head was spinning and she leaned against the desk behind her, hoping it would keep her from falling over. “Fuck,” she said, more to herself than anything. Why was this happening now? She’d been doing so well lately, the past few months had actually been good for a change. She even had a conversation with Steve without completely losing it. Now her mind - or the dome - decided to conjure up Logan?

“I don’t… I don’t know if this is my imagination or if the dome is playing tricks, but you’re not real,” she said again.

Maybe she should call someone. Leo. Sherlock. Jessica. Chloe had a new friend in town who was a shrink. Maybe that was what she needed.

***
Logan lost all his joking manner and, although everything in him told him to go to her, she was with Piz. He said quietly, “Should I call Piz? I don’t have his number, but I can call Wallace?” As he pulled out his phone, though, it apparently didn’t work.

This time, though, his voice full of concern, “Veronica. Really, breathe. Deep breaths. What do you need? I don’t know what you mean by a dome, but I’m real.”

***

It took a moment for the weight of his words to sink in. Should I call Piz? She hadn’t thought about Piz in… a really long time. Their relationship had been convenient, but she’d never really been in love with him. Not the way she’d been with Logan. Or Steve. Or now Leo. Why would something her brain conjured up mention an ex from years ago?

Veronica stared at him. Really looked at him and realized that he looked different from how she remembered. He was still Navy buff, but there was anger radiating off of him. The type of anger that she’d thought he mostly worked through during the past few years since they got back together after the reunion. After she’d ended things with Piz.

Oh god. The thought that he was real slammed into her like a truck. Could the dome be this cruel? She looked at the wall and realized that he must have punched it and that was the initial commotion she’d heard. Okay. Shit. She needed to say something. “No, no, uh… neither of them are here,” she said. “Weird question, but… what was happening right before you punched that wall?”

***
At least she asked a question besides her continued staring as though he was a ghost. “I was in a fight after our sex tape got broadcast at the reunion. I literally went to punch some guy that was on Wallace.”

He still felt all this anger. V was just trying to help him and live her life. Hell, that video? It wasn’t supposed to exist.

“You were helping me solve who killed Carrie Bishop.” He looked around the office again and said, “Sorry about the wall. What is this about a dome?”

***

The reunion. Carrie’s death. God, that all felt like a lifetime ago. And yet it explained a lot. Veronica still felt shaky, still wasn’t emotionally prepared to deal with this, but she clearly didn’t have a choice, so she was going to have to get through this.

She really wanted a drink.

“Let’s grab coffee and I’ll explain,” she said, pushing away from the desk and walking over to the kitchen area. Luckily, she’d made a full pot when she came in since she wasn’t sure how long she’d be here or if anyone else would end up popping by. Her hands were still trembling a little when she pulled two mugs out of the cabinet and lifted the carafe to fill them both.

***
Logan could tell his being here was throwing off Veronica. And he didn’t know why, but it made him feel off-centre. But, with Veronica? You shouldn’t push her to answer a question.

Once the coffee was poured, he took a sip. Good enough to drink black. He’d joke like his soul, but he was afraid anything he said might completely break V.

“I’m sorry. For whatever I did that made you react like this, V.” He hoped that helped. Because with how his life went? He’d probably done something that made him deserve this reaction. But, his confusion had grown as the anger left his body.

***

The absolute last thing Veronica wanted to do was explain her reaction to his presence. Especially when she should be the one apologizing to him. “No, I’m sorry,” she said. “This place likes to mess with us. I’ve been here for seven years and it still catches me off guard sometimes.” At some point she would have to tell him, she knew that. It wouldn’t be fair to keep something that big from him for however long he was here. But it could wait.

“So this is Madison Valley,” she explained after taking a sip of coffee. “It’s a small town in Indiana, on the Ohio River, right across from Kentucky. Almost eight years ago, a magical dome ensconced the town and, since that day, people have randomly been pulled in from all sorts of different places. And times.”

Veronica knew she probably sounded insane. Especially after the way she’d reacted to his arrival.

***

Logan didn’t answer right away. He took another long sip of coffee, instead. He could tell Veronica wasn’t saying something, given how well they knew each other. She’d tell him, eventually. She usually did.

“So, what you’re telling me, is that I can walk in any direction and I eventually hit a dome wall?” Yeah, his eyebrow was raised, but it didn’t sound as insane as she thought. Mostly because he got pulled here while in the midst of a fight. And with that his anger started to rise again. He took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry Wallace isn’t here with you.” Logan meant that sincerely. He knew what it was like to not have your best friend around. And Veronica? Wallace was like her brother. He even grew to be okay with Logan. He’d like to think they’d eventually become friends.

He purposefully didn’t mention Piz. Piz wasn’t a bad guy, but Logan didn’t think he was a good fit for Veronica. Hell, Duncan was a better option and nobody had seen him in over a decade.

“Is there anyone else here from home?” He took another sip of coffee, and realizing he’d drunk it all, filled up his mug halfway.

***

“Eventually, yes,” Veronica said. “It’s a decent sized city though, with a lot of amenities.” Not quite at the level he was accustomed to, at least not in his youth, but most anything you wanted, you could find in Madison Valley.

There was still a small part of her wondering if this was some delusion or dome trick, even though she was pretty sure by now it wasn’t. It was just much, much harder than when she’d had the teenage version of him running around town. “Leo’s here,” she said. “Mac was a long time ago.” And she knew that she should mention he’d been here, even though it had been years, because there may be people who would recognize him.

***
“Hey, as long as they have a pizza place and somewhere for me to live, I’m not going to complain.” He briefly wondered how it would be only having Veronica and Leo from back home. Although, he felt kind of glad Dick wasn’t here. There’s no way that could end well, especially if he couldn’t surf.

“The guy who worked under Lamb?” That was the only Leo he could pinpoint. He knew back home that Leo and Veronica dated briefly. That ended when she started dating Logan. But, he thought Leo was an okay guy.

“I’m sorry I missed Mac. She’s always an enjoyable person to know.” Mac was brilliant, and a loyal friend to Veronica, which mattered the most to Logan.

***

Veronica nodded. “Yeah, he’s FBI now. Well, back home he was FBI. He works here.” She gestured around at the room they were in. “Mac and I started this agency years ago with two other friends we met here, Wes and Angel. Wes returned a few months ago, but Angel and Mac have been gone for a while.”

At least talking about work was a safe subject. Well, safer.

“Local law enforcement won’t hire those of us who get pulled here, so I’ve got a few cops working here. And a few other PI types.” And whatever Shawn was, but she wasn’t about to try explaining him. “Oh, and Sherlock Holmes.”

***
That got a look and laugh from Logan. “The real Sherlock Holmes?” He sobered up hearing that Mac was no longer here.

“Why won’t the local law enforcement let you work here? Especially if Leo is FBI now.” Man, what else had he missed if Leo made FBI. Not that it surprised Logan. Leo was good at his job. Hell, Logan owed Leo for those tapes of Lily and his dad. Yeah, it had wrecked the case, but at the end? His dad was dead. And rightly so.

“Well, you obviously made a solid choice opening up this place. Did Wes come back to work here after he returned? Logan didn’t recognize the person’s name, but he could make conversation if nothing else.

***

Seeing him laugh made Veronica’s hesitant smile falter just a little. They’d had plenty of good times, but she also knew that their relationship had been less than perfect. In fact, in some ways, it had been downright toxic. She carried a tremendous amount of guilt over his death though and seeing him here and happy was equal parts relieving and painful. “Yes, the real Sherlock Holmes,” she said. “Well. He’s more modern than the books. But he’s the brilliant detective who works with Dr. Watson and everything. Unfortunately, Watson isn’t here.”

She nodded at his question about Wes. “Yeah, Wes is probably one of my closest friends here these days,” she said. “He’s a good guy. You’ll have to meet him.”

***
“I’m happy to meet anyone.” He almost added, who is important to you, but he knew better.

If someone asked to explain his relationship with Veronica, he would say that it was the best of times and the worst of times. He had never loved anyone the way he loved Veronica. But, he knew their relationship hadn’t been the most healthy. Sort of like his relationship with Carrie after the first year, but that one didn’t have as much of the baggage he and V did.

“I can’t believe the real Sherlock is here. Like, wow! Mind? Blown.” Logan didn’t get surprised by a lot of things, but this whole situation was blowing his mind.

“This is really weird for you, isn’t it?”

***

It didn’t surprise Veronica that Logan was able to sense how uneasy she was. He’d always been better at reading her than she cared to admit. “Yeah,” she admitted. “The reunion was a few years ago for me.” Left unsaid was that a lot had changed in those years. More than she was willing to share at the moment.

“There’s an apartment building,” she said. “It’s not terrible. Someone will be along soon with a packet for you. Keys, a debit card with a thousand bucks, and a phone. Enough to get you started.”

She knew it wouldn’t quite be a life of luxury, but after going through basic training and traveling with the Navy, Veronica knew that he’d be able to handle it.

***

“I can see how that might be weird then.” Logan didn’t press. He took another sip of coffee and, lo, a woman walked into the office. She repeated what Veronica had said, handed him things, and filled in any other blanks.

Once she left, Logan turned to Veronica. “Do you want to point me in the direction of the apartments? He suddenly felt awkward, a feeling he generally disliked, but especially hated around Veronica. It usually meant he’d done something wrong. And, because of that, he wanted to escape. Logan thought Veronica probably agreed with how he currently felt.

“Did you solve what happened to Carrie?” He couldn’t help it, that part he really wanted to know.

***

“Yeah, I did,” Veronica said. Of course she did. He shouldn’t doubt that she would have done whatever she could to get him off the hook for a murder he didn’t commit. “Do you want to know what happened?”

She would only give him the details if he asked.

***
“I shouldn’t ask if you did. Obviously you did. Yeah, I actually do. Surprising, but I want to know who the hell would kill her.” Logan knew it wasn’t him. And he felt pretty certain it wasn’t Sean, as much as he disliked the guy.

God, he hoped it wasn’t something to do with her drugs. That would be terrible.

***

Veronica had a feeling he wouldn’t be too surprised when he found out the truth. “So, it turned out that it was connected to Susan’s disappearance,” she explained. “She OD’d on the boat that night. Dick was passed out and didn’t know any of this, for the record.” She didn’t want him to think that his best friend had betrayed him in any way by hiding the truth.

“Anyway, Gia, Luke, and Carrie panicked and threw her body overboard. Cobb took pictures and started blackmailing all of them.” She paused, giving him a moment to digest all that before she continued. “The guilt was getting to Carrie and she wanted to confess. Cobb didn’t want that to happen, so he killed her to keep her quiet and blackmailed Gia to help him frame you.”

And talking about Gia reminded her of something else that she figured was important to mention. “That reminds me. There are people here who may look like people you know but they aren’t. Jessica Jones, who works with me, looks like Gia. And there’s a girl, Jo, who looks exactly like Meg Manning.” At least there wasn’t currently anyone in town with Troy’s face. There’d been a few of those over the years.

***

That sounded about right. Right before he got dragged here, Veronica had been telling him her new theory. And she thought it had to do with Susan’s death.

“I’m glad to know Dick didn’t have anything to do with it. I didn’t think he would. He’s an asshole, but not the murdering type.” Dick had faced his own demons when Beaver died.

“That isn’t weird at all,” Logan commented, with a slight grin. “So what you’re saying is if I meet Jessica Jones, I shouldn’t point at her and yell ‘Murderer!’ about Carrie?” Yeah, Logan hadn’t lost his sarcastic edge, but it might be the only thing keeping him sane at the moment. Also, seeing people who looked like people from home sounded weird. Especially someone who looked like Meg, a girl who’d been dead for over a decade.

***

Considering what Veronica knew of Jessica’s past, she didn’t actually think it would phase her if someone pointed at her and called her a murderer. Still, it was a good idea not to jump to conclusions when you met someone new just in case. “That’s probably a good idea,” she agreed. “Especially since she and Sherlock have something going on.” She still didn’t know all the details of that nor did she want to ask. It was more fun to gossip and speculate with Leo.

Which was probably another thing she should tell Logan. “Also, Leo and I are together,” she said. “We just bought a house.”

***
Logan definitely didn’t want to jump to conclusions, given how often it happened to him. Accused of murdering not one, but two girlfriends was not his favourite thing in the world. Logan raised an eye at that. “Sherlock having a thing with anyone is more than a little surprising.”

And with Veronica’s announcement, Logan felt like he’d been punched in the gut. Of course she and Leo were together. And they’d bought a house. Whatever happened in their future, he and V weren’t together, as much as he wished they were. He’d need a lot of time to process that, but he needed to look like his usual self, because obviously this was uncomfortable for V as well.

“I guess congratulations are in order, then.” Logan managed a smile, because he wanted to be happy for Veronica. He’d always wanted her to be happy, and she must be if they bought a house.

In his head, though, he couldn’t help hoping there was a decent place to get a drink. He could use one. Or a lot of aspirin for the headache increasing in his skull. What he really wanted was some surfing with Dick. But if he was in Indiana, he doubted an ocean was available to him.

***

“Thanks,” Veronica said, trying not to wince at the flash of hurt she saw in his eyes at her news. Part of her wanted to tell him everything, wanted to tell him about the absolute hell she’d gone through last year and how she’d nearly turned into her mother, would have if it hadn’t been for Leo pulling her back from the abyss. This wasn’t the right time for that conversation though. “Give me a minute and I can take you over to the apartments,” she said. “There’s also a network where you can introduce yourself and meet other people who have been pulled her against their will.”

She had a feeling he’d be looking for the nearest bar and didn’t blame him.

***
Logan knew Veronica had other things to tell him and she would eventually. And, it wasn’t like he’d been here, so of course she’d find someone. And, as far as people from back home went, he didn’t mind Leo. Not like he thought she’d announce a relationship with Dick or something.

“Sounds good to me. I’ll definitely introduce myself on the network. One more thing. I don’t have a face twin do I?” Logan didn’t especially want to run into another him.

***

The question made her laugh. “No, you don’t,” Veronica said. She considered mentioning Eleanor at that point and then decided against it. Her face twin would enjoy hijinks. Besides, she was rapidly reaching the limits of her ability to deal with standing here and talking to her dead husband.

“Let me go shut down my computer and then we can get out of here,” she said.

***
{{wrap!}}