The Homecoming: A Veronica Mars PSL

The Kane case was hardly enough to be called a case. It was a dead end as far as Veronica could tell, and the hard part would be extracting herself from the situation. But as long as the FBI thought she was on an important case that only she could work, they would never pull her from Neptune. And it seemed like both a good and bad time to be in Neptune. Bad if you wanted to stay alive, but good if you wanted to solve crime. And it was never too hard to see which side Veronica fell more easily in step with - she had to solve things.

Logan had gone back to San Diego (more obediently than she'd thought to expect from him), but Veronica had been good with e-mails and phone calls. It wasn't enough for her, so she knew it wasn't enough for Logan. But he was on his best behavior, with no clue that Veronica wasn't doing the same. It wasn't that she was cheating on Logan - or Duncan - not that either were technically 'real' relationships... it was that she was poking her nose into the things that weren't her business. She just needed them to be. Caitlyn's Ford death had bothered her. Mark Garon's death had bothered her. She'd made it her business to look into who he was. The name was familiar because he'd been a senior at Neptune High when she'd been a freshmen. But she'd never had a class with him. No, the reason she knew him was because he'd been a rich, popular, 09'er. While looking over an old yearbook, she couldn't believe how young she used to look. Not to mention Mac and Dick and Logan and Duncan and Lilly. The black and white photos showed signs of acne, shirts pulled down to show more cleavage than parents would allow, and forced smiles. She almost missed it. Almost. But not enough.

The yearbook showed that Mark Garon had been in FBLA. The FBLA picture from that year had such scrawny boys, with their smug smirks and...Logan Echolls standing right there next to Mark, tall as ever. Did it mean anything that Logan might have known him? Marks arm was around Logan like an older brother, but there were tons of people that you knew in High School that you never remembered. It could easily be the case here. Logan had been disturbed by the mention of Mark's murder, but said he didn't know him. And with Caitlyn's murder... well. Logan had definitely known her. But they hadn't talked in years, or so she would suspect. Logan had never cared about her all that much. But the connection was weird.

And when there was a third murder in Neptune, there was no way Veronica could stay away. She was left wondering: why had Hannah Griffith been murdered?

She kind of laughed when he admitted he couldn't sincerely apologize about being in the way of Piz. Figures. But would she want it any other way? Wasn't it just a necessary step of college and life to date other people? Not that swallowing Parker and Logan as an item had gone down easily.

Veronica wanted to tell Logan that he should talk to her instead of trying to figure her out from far away. Truthfully, he might get more honesty out of her via tricks than actual confrontation.

"Hey - I told you that I'd stay. You don't have to thank me for it. Expect it. I promise to deliver."

---

The following week passed by quickly. Logan was in the hospital only for a couple additional days (full of bad food and equally bad tv), and then he was discharged and stayed back at the Grand. There were worse places to recover, she figured. At least he could easily order room service and not have to do his own cleaning or anything. Veronica came by with Duncan to check up on him (a little awkward) periodically. When they brought Lilly it was considerably less weird. And it was nice to see Logan laugh and smile, interacting with the little girl. If Duncan sensed that anything had changed between Veronica and Logan, he didn't ever mention it to her. To be honest, Veronica wasn't even sure what had changed. They were being civil to each other. Trying to remember what she'd agree to do, she couldn't even remember.

Veronica had discussed with Logan that he would go back home today. He was finally ready for travel, and Veronica suspected his vacation had gone on too long. Nothing bad had happened, but she didn't want to give anyone the chance to attack him again.

Caitlyn's death had been ruled a suicide, and Veronica didn't invest her resources into trying to figure that entire thing out. It was obviously something else, but with everything quiet she didn't want to make waves (for once). She stayed out of it, which was exactly what the Bureau had asked her to do. They were pretty much done with her being in Neptune, but she was stalling. Spending time with her Dad was nice.

Duncan was doing a family thing the day Logan was supposed to drive back home. So Veronica was there, alone, to see him off. She'd arrived at his room to see that he'd actually packed all his crap up - like an actual grownup. "I thought you invited me over so that I could scold you and then do all of your packing for you," she remarked as she walked through the living room looking for forgotten socks.

Keith had woken up particularly early, feeling uneasy by Veronica's rotating door for Logan Echolls. She was dating Duncan Kane, which was a concern of his - and enough of a concern for her dating life. He didn't need this. And if he, as a father didn't need this for her, he knew that she didn't need these kinds of complications either. The one thing he'd always love was Veronica, and the one thing he knew about his daughter was that she never knew when to say when. Thought she was invincible, untouchable - thought she could take on everything. But he knew better.

Rising to his feet he wrapped an old robe around himself and shuffled out his bedroom door and to the main area of the apartment. The first thing he noticed was an empty couch. All made up with sheets and a blanket - but no Logan. Logan wasn't in the kitchen, or the bathroom. There was only one place, the logical place...

Marching to Veronica's bedroom, he shoved the door open so roughly that it hit against the wall and made one of her tiny lamps topple off a table. It took only one look to see Veronica - looking as peaceful as ever, nestled against a shirtless man. Logan. He was sure that Veronica had...had relations, but he didn't like to think of that at all. And certainly not in his house. Certainly not cheating on her boyfriend.

"Veronica!" he roared. He hardly waited for either of them to register what was going on. "This is not happening. Do you know how dumb you are?" Pointing a large finger at Logan, giving him a direct look, he said, "I'm done with you. I invite you here and you took advantage of that fact. Taking advantage of my daughter." Every time it looked like Logan might try to talk, to defend himself, Keith moved forward and talked over him. "No! I don't want to hear anything from you but your footsteps as you leave my apartment in less than two minutes. GO!"

Veronica had woken with a start, and had been starring at her Dad. She felt...so, so damn guilty. But he didn't understand. "Dad, nothing happened! Why don't you just calm down and -"

"Veronica, you're not talking right now. I'm too angry with you."

She pulled the covers down and stood up - forgetting she wasn't wearing anything but a T-shirt and underwear. Her Dad cringed and only grew angrier. "I can't believe you'd do this. You're dating Duncan, say you're in it for real. Say you care. That poor boy thinks the world of you. And Logan's supposed to be his friend." A snort. "Some friends. Geez, Veronica - I'm so damn dissapointed in you. I don't want to think this of you. I can't respect every choice you make, you know that. And I certainly cannot respect this one."

It'd been a week and a half since the Duncan Kane's homecoming party and the memory of that night was still fresh in Logan's mind. The good and the bad, didn't matter, he'd spent countless hours recalling what exactly had transpired. Most of said thoughts revolved around Veronica Mars which didn't come as any surprise...pining over her seemed to be his favorite hobby lately.

Things hadn't changed that much, to be honest. Outside of exchanging texts there hadn't been much more contact between them than in the previous months. Should that be discouraging? Maybe so but he liked to think of it was her trying to sort things out. He'd convinced himself not to get his hopes up or press too hard. They had a history of crashing and burning; why should he assume that she'd ever want to go back to that?

That was why he had made it a point not to go out and see her. It wasn't that he didn't want to, he was itching to cross paths with Veronica again, but what was the point if he just ended up scaring her off? Not that he always followed his own device. He'd spent plenty of restless nights in bed trying to come to terms with his conflicting emotions.

Dick had called a few times wanting to go out and get trashed; an offer Logan had surprisingly turned down each time. But staying in the hotel was starting to make him stir crazy. He could just go home, would have been the logical choice, but he wasn't ready to follow through with it.

Coffee sounded good. And it was that random thought that had led him out of the Neptune Grand and across town to Java the Hut a café that held quite a few memories. Pushing past the doors he stepped inside and his senses were immediately overloaded with the strong aroma that you'd expect to find in such a place.

He'd been getting ready move forward and place his order when he noticed Veronica sitting at one of the tables. A small smile crept across his lips. Fate? Maybe so, and he was prone to taking advantage of opportunities when they presented themselves.

Walking over he grabbed the chair across from her and took a seat, leaning back on it's back legs slightly. “I'm getting a vague feeling of déjà vu, imagine that.” He hadn't been expecting to see her but this was just the excuse he needed.

Neptune, California had hosted many parties, but possibly none was so widely gossiped about beforehand than the one Veronica was supposed to attend tonight. Not a girl who thrived on gossip, she wasn't eager to make her entrance. But this was a party for Duncan and his daughter, Lilly. There was no way she'd ever refuse the invitation. She'd considered making the party optional, seeing Duncan later. But she knew he wanted her there.

Gut instinct was a nice thing to have. However, this had nothing to do with her gut. She'd already talked with Duncan, briefly. He told her he wanted her there.

Aside from knowing that Duncan would appreciate her presence, Veronica was damnably curious about some of the other people invited. The guest list that Mrs. Kane had drawn up looked like an '09er reunion party. Party goers who had RSVP'd included Madison Sinclair, Dick Casablancas, and Casey Gant. Meg's sister, Lizzy, would be there. So would Mrs. Manning. They were the entire reason this party was happening. For that, they were to be constantly thanked and appreciated.

It was only when Mr. Manning had passed, that Mrs. Manning and Lizzy had talked about how much they missed having any connection of deceased Meg around. Meg's daughter, who they only knew as Faith, had been lost to them ever since the father, Duncan Kane, had taken the baby. Duncan hadn't been being cruel. Meg had asked for this, in so many words, before her death. The Mannings were strange parents, and they wanted to send the baby away to a horrible place. Duncan had sacrificed his normal life to go on the lamb, for his daughter.

It had absolutely broken Veronica's heart when Duncan left. But she'd never had a question about whether what he was doing was right. She'd also never had a question about whether or not she'd ever see or talk to Duncan again. It just wasn't possible. She'd written it off, and compartmentalized all of her feelings about her first love.

When Mrs. Manning had put out a search for Duncan, Keith Mars had taken the job very seriously. Veronica never knew what he was doing, until the week before Duncan was found. It had been one of those emotional tornadoes, and at the time she'd been angry with her Dad for trying to compromise the safety of Duncan and Lilly. At least, that was the reason she cited for justification. Deep down, there was more to the anxious feelings.

She'd talked with Duncan on the phone twice since he'd been back. The phone calls had left her impatient and tense. They were both overly civil to each other, which made it all feel absurd. She asked about Lilly. She asked about Duncan's parents. She asked about The Mannings. He noticeably didn't ask about Mr. Mars. He noticeably didn't ask about Logan. He noticeably didn't ask about...anyone.

This led Veronica to wonder how much Duncan was dreading this 'homecoming' party affair. All she knew was that Duncan had sounded earnest when he said "I can't wait to see you, Veronica." Ditching the party wasn't an option for this particular non '09er. With an unnatural smile on her face, she made a silent entrance into the Kane's new Neptune house. The party had already filled up with faces (many of which were probably Botoxed) of chattering people. A waitstaff in clean black-and-white attire was loitering around with silver trays of salmon puffs. Bouquets of lillies stood regally in vases. All as expected. "Alright, bring on the surprises," Veronica muttered to herself.