Logan is back to his regular self Who: Logan, Veronica, Leo What: Logan learns the truth of his death from V Where: V’s/Leo’s house When: right after the mirrorverse plot ends Warnings: violence/murder
Logan owed Mia a lot for getting him safely to the farm. The farm held many people and a few of them seemed to know the other version of him. Told Logan the other him kept to himself mostly, which made sense, especially after Veronica’s death here.
That night he decided to sit outside next to the door. Not for any particular reason. Logan really needed time to not be around people. At a certain point, Logan’s eyes closed and when he woke up he first wondered why the ground felt soft, like a cloud. Then he opened his eyes. Where the hell...and then he noticed one of the paintings on the wall he helped Leo pick out when they shopped.
At least he still wore clothes. Why the hell did he wake up in Leo’s and Veronica’s house? Also, could he slip out undetected? He inched to the door and, when he heard no noise from the other side, eased open the door. Unfortunately, he chose the exact moment for his exit that the other bedroom door opened. Shit.
“Uh. Hi? Not sure why I’m here...in your house.”
***
Veronica hadn’t been sleeping well this whole week between the arrival of another Logan, one who was from an incredibly shitty version of Madison Valley where she’d died and the whole Wes thing. Whatever was responsible for this, she hoped it got fixed soon or that the dome would correct itself. Knowing that the version of the Winchesters in town were semi evil had her on high alert, so as soon as she heard movement, she was opening her door to see what was going on.
And it took her a moment to realize that this Logan was her Logan. Well, not hers, technically, but the one that belonged in this universe. She hoped the other Logan would be okay wherever he was.
Since Leo was still sleeping, she gestured for Logan to follow her downstairs, and immediately headed to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. “Are you okay?” she asked. “I heard that other Madison Valley was horrible.”
*** Again, Logan wondered why he woke up in Veronica’s house and not his apartment. Did the other version of him sleep here? Although, given what he knew of the other him and Veronica, Logan’s staying here didn’t exactly surprise him. He thought perhaps the other him wanted to be nearby and the other him obviously accepted Veronica and Leo. Only from time to time did Veronica’s relationship with Leo bother him. Mostly, he carried on with life as he had all those years back home when he and V didn’t talk.
“Yeah. Thankfully I ran into that werewolf kid, Scott, and Mia in the other version. Mia took me to a farm, where we were safe, more or less.” The smell of coffee excited him in a way coffee hadn’t in the past. “It felt a bit like basic training, but with some dystopian aspects thrown in for good measure.” He hoped the other version of him did okay.
“Waking up here certainly won over waking up on a dilapidated park bench in a fucked up version of our park.”
***
It was easier to focus on setting up the coffee pot and getting out mugs and things than to look at Logan, so Veronica did that as she listened to his story. “I was worried about you,” she admitted. “He told me what happened over there. That I died.” She paused. “He was from several years ahead of you though.” And he’d advised her to be honest with this Logan about the future which she intended to do.
“I’m glad you’re back. And I hope he’s okay too,” she said. She was always going to have a soft spot for any Logan she met.
***
“I didn’t like hearing you died, V. Especially not for the reason you did. I...I know you didn’t die because of the Dean in this world, but I don’t think I can look him in the eye for a while.” Logan picked up on why V died over the course of his time in the other Madison Valley. And, quite honestly, he loathed any version of Dean right now. Probably he needed to reach out to the Dean here and clear the air.
“I hoped to be brought back here. And the other version of me. I hope he’s okay too. He sounded broken, but overall an okay guy.” How far ahead was the other Logan? One thing that Logan realized in the other place, no reason to beat around the bush.
“V. What happened? Something happened. Even if I did something wrong, I want to know. I...I want us to be friends if possible. If nothing else, that should make things less awkward for your boyfriend.” He added some gentle teasing to the last part. He valued his friendship with Leo, but realized it probably felt to Leo like he ended up in the middle sometimes. Except, the middle of what Lgan didn’t know.
***
Of all the weird things that the dome had pulled since Leo had been here, this recent stunt was the worst. Too much psychological damage. Too much trauma. Leo may come off as a member of Mayberry’s finest, but that was far from the truth. He was a good FBI agent. He knew profiling, how to identify behaviors of emotional and mental trauma. Everything he’d seen from or about these people from Post-Apocalypse Madison Valley told him a lot about what life was like there. It was one reason why he had no problem letting Logan stay with him and Veronica. It was weird, but doable weird.
This meant he assumed things were of the new status quo when he came out in a pair of shorts and saw the two. “There’s coffee?” A moment later he picked up on the tension and looked from Veronica to Logan then back. “There’s fresh awkward, I see.”
***
The coffee was just about finished brewing when Leo walked in. Veronica felt a wave of relief wash over her at his presence. He’d agreed long ago that he’d be there when she told Logan about the future and she was glad that he was even though this was going to be an awkward conversation no matter how you looked at it.
“Why don’t you pour us all a cup,” she said. “Logan just asked me what happened in the future between us and I was going to tell him.” She had filled Leo in on her conversation with the other Logan and his advice.
She looked over at Logan. “Leo knows. Up to you if you want him to stay or not. And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry it’s taken me this long to tell you.”
*** Logan thought they all needed coffee first, but couldn’t hold back the escaped snort. “Haven’t you learned by now that I carry awkward with me? Coffee first and of course Leo stays.” This way Veronica could lean on Leo after the horrible thing she needed to say flew out into the world. And maybe, just maybe, Logan needed the buffer as well.
He pondered if Leo knew from witnessing what happened or from V telling him. The way she stated it told him most likely the latter.
Once he doctored his coffee and took a few sips he awkwardly broke the silence with, “Um, I assume you let other me stay here? Thank you.”
***
Leo obediently poured the coffee for them as his sleep fuzzy brain tried to catch up. Tell Logan the truth. But last he knew the Logan that was here knew the truth. Then…
“Oh!” He nodded as reality sunk in. “Not Dystopian Logan. Normal Logan. Ok. I’m caught up now.” I think. And yes, he was staying because he promised Veronica he’d be there when she did this. Leo took a seat at the table as he inhaled some coffee.
***
“Oh, right, yeah, they switched back overnight,” Veronica said, realizing that he’d missed that key detail. “And, yeah, of course we let him stay. I also kept him well fed,” she told Logan.
She took a long sip of her coffee and tried to mentally prepare for this. It wasn’t going to be easy, but she needed to get it out. Considering it had been months since Logan first turned up in Madison Valley, she should have at least given some thought to how she was going to explain things.
“Okay, so, after the reunion,” she finally began. “We got back together. And things were okay. You were gone a lot, but somehow that worked for us.” Which probably should have told them something about how healthy their relationship was. Ah, hindsight. “I moved back to Neptune and started working with my dad.”
So much happened that she had to take a moment and think of where to go next. “We were hired to investigate a bombing of one of the local hotels during spring break,” she said. “It was… a confusing case with a lot of layers.” The details didn’t matter all that much, at least not most of them. “The upshot was that it sparked a copycat bomber. I eventually caught both of them, but there were some near misses.” Which wasn’t uncommon at all.
Veronica closed her eyes for a moment and took another drink of her coffee. “While we were working that case, you came home for a visit and you proposed. I initially said no, but then I changed my mind and accepted. After the near misses, I didn’t want to wait, so we decided to meet at the courthouse and get married.” She swallowed hard, the lump already forming in her throat as she thought about what came next. Her eyes were already wet, so Logan might have an idea where this was going.
“We went back to our place and, a few hours later, you went out to move my car for the street cleaners.” Her words were halting and it was clear that she was struggling. “The copycat bomber had placed a bomb in it. I didn’t… I never thought…” she broke off, her eyes squeezing shut as she let out a choked sob.
*** Someone punched Logan in the stomach. He couldn’t explain that feeling any other way. By the time V got to the end of her story, Logan took a gulp of coffee. “Is...is that why you avoided me? Why I got made to feel like I did something wrong?” He whispered and didn’t break eye contact with his coffee. The last few months he feared that he hurt Veronica so bad by something he did. No, he supposed his feelings didn’t include anger, so much as sorrow. Sorrow over that in no situation did he and V get to be together, but also sorrow over his wasting so much time thinking how to make up with Veronica when...he’d been as much a victim as her. He stood up to make himself another cup of coffee.
“Thank you, both of you, for helping out other me.”
***
Leo sighed quietly. This wasn’t easy for Veronica, nor Logan. Leo felt uncomfortable, but this wasn’t about him so any discomfort he felt was irrelevant. He just wished this hadn’t had to happen. Was it a long time coming? Maybe, but he understood Veronica’s procrastination. He wouldn’t let her be made to feel bad for sitting on this.
“Logan…” Leo would have liked to say this stuff between just the two over them over some hard scotch, but that wasn’t going to happen. “However you felt wasn’t intentional. Regrettable? Yes. Delayed. Absolutely. But she wasn’t trying to divert anything onto you. Veronica Mars has never and will never avoid taking what blame is due her, but even when she makes mistakes there are reasons.” Like when she really wanted to shoot Beaver. Logan had been the one to talk her down that time. Leo had been the one to do that here.
***
Veronica had the decency to look ashamed that she’d made him feel like he did something wrong. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice hoarse and still thick with emotion. “I should have told you sooner. Leo told me to. I just… I couldn’t.” Because it wasn’t just losing Logan that she’d had to deal with, she’d also lost another husband and a son, along with a boyfriend and an adopted daughter, but she wasn’t going to get into that now. One thing at a time.
“There was some other stuff that happened here,” she said, keeping it vague. “And it all culminated in… well, a really bad time for me. If it wasn’t for Leo, I would have become my mother. Or worse.” She knew it didn’t excuse how long it took for this conversation, but she wanted Logan to understand that it wasn’t on him at all. It was all her.
*** Logan looked at his coffee mug a bit longer. “No, I get it. I do. I just…,” he paused and searched for the correct words. “You owed me nothing. And how I felt...that’s on me. But if I disappear and end up back here, maybe tell that version you need time, but it wasn’t anything I did. You know my past. You know more of it than me it seems. Of course I assumed I did something bad. Look at my fucking track record.” Asshole? Check. Bully? Check check. Help to burn down the fucking community pool back in high school? Check again. Of course it didn’t help given who fathered him.
“Whatever else you went through, I’m sorry and I really am glad you had Leo.” So, in different versions both he and Veronica died in cars. Fuck. No way in hell would he purchase a car while he lived. Nope. No thank you.
And, Logan realized, he needed new friends. Of course he liked Leo. But Leo’s loyalty lay with V, as it should.
***
There was never a scenario of this that ended well. There were only gradations of bad. Of all the ones Leo had imagined, this was on the mild end. No one was getting shot. No voices were being raised.
The suggestion Logan made was fair. Leo hoped Veronica would take it at face value. But before Veronica could launch into what else she’d been through, Leo head her off. “Some day when it isn’t going to come across as an excuse you could ask her what she’s been through.”
***
To be perfectly honest, Veronica wasn’t sure how she’d feel telling Logan about Steve and Keith, Bucky and Molly, that whole other life she’d had for a while here. She did appreciate that Leo cut off any questions though and gave him a grateful smile.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “But I really am sorry you thought you did something. I didn’t know how to tell you that you died and it was my fault.” She knew Leo was going to protest that and kicked him under the table in an effort to get him to keep his mouth shut. “So I’m glad you’re here and have a chance to build a life that will make you happy.”
She sighed and finished her coffee. “Well, this was a lot for not even eight am. Leo, you should make us some breakfast.”
*** “I’m always here, V, if you ever do want to tell me. But, I didn’t plan on pressing you for details. Your life here...well it’s only my business if you care to share at some point. But, I obviously will listen to you.” Logan still thought the world of Veronica and couldn’t foresee a future where she didn’t fit into his life in any form.
“My death...something tells me my death was as much your fault as your death in the other MV was my counter self’s. Veronica, the only person we should blame for my death is the person who set the fucking bomb. Who, by the way, somehow still doesn’t take stop spot as least favourite human on Earth.” Aaron held that sport forevermore.
He stated, shyly, “I want to build a life.”
***
“See, I keep telling her that. But does she listen?” Leo got a hint of his usual grin as he rolled his eyes. “Noooo.” She would only believe that Logan’s death wasn’t her fault if the bomber came up and told her to stop taking his thunder.
He was about to make some glib remark about Logan being their third...taking his life in his hands with Veronica...but decided the moment was too serious for that. “This place you can do that, Logan. This place is a chance.”
***
Veronica reached over and rested her hand on top of Logan’s for a moment. “Whatever else happens, you’ve got us as friends,” she said. “And whatever we can do to help you build that life, we will.” It was the least she could do, all things considered.
They could both tell her as many times as they wanted that Logan’s death wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t going to stop her from feeling that way, even though she knew it wasn’t a logical way to feel. Emotions weren’t always logical.
*** Logan briefly placed his other hand on Veronica’s and smiled. “I appreciate it.
The thing about guilt and blame meant they made zero sense. Logan thought Veronica held blame when Lily died. Even though she had nothing to do with her best friend’s death. But, in Logan’s brain, Veronica ratted to Lily about his kissing another girl caused their breakup, ergo Logan wasn’t with Lily when she died.
***
A few quiet moments passed then Leo broke the silence as he got up from the table. “Ok, I don’t know about you two but I think this is a totally bad carb breakfast kind of morning. While I go put on some clothes you guys think of what kind of donuts you want.”
***
“All right, deal,” Veronica said. “And I’ll make a fresh pot of coffee.”
She’d understand if Logan wanted to leave and have some time to himself to process all of this, but she kind of hoped he’d stick around at least for a little while. Now that he knew the truth, she felt like she could actually spend time with him.
*** Logan laughed. “Yes. Yes to all of the carbs.” He’d stay and drink coffee and chat with his friends. “Just, don’t tell my clients about the doughnuts. And anything without filling.”