Chapter Eight

Above all else, Keith Mars had always been a very good cop.

And although in that moment, he wanted to do nothing but beat Logan Echolls to a bloody pulp, his cop's instinct made him pause. Keith had heard his fair share of false confessions over the years and there was something about this that set off the same alarms.

Keith glanced at his daughter and his heart broke. Through all the horrors she had suffered over the last two years, Keith had never seen Veronica so defeated. She was white and frozen and the father in him suddenly knew that Logan didn't matter right now. With a steeliness that belied the cauldron of seething emotions within, Keith turned back to Logan.

"Get out of here. Now."

What was the matter with these people? Keith should have been punching his lights out at the very least. Veronica should be…oh god, Veronica! Logan needed the punishment, was desperate for it.

"Veronica-"

"Logan! Do not speak. Leave. Before I hurt you."

Logan nodded and opened the door. He glanced back at Veronica but she was adrift in some private hell of her own. He knew how that was. He opened the door and stepped out.

"And Logan? I will be seeing you. Soon."

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For someone who had downed three, Logan was almost clear-headed as he stared down at his last roofie. If he gave it to Veronica, would that stop the bitch bugging Duncan? He closed his eyes, trying to remember what the guy had said; one for lovin', two for buzzin' and three for fuzzin'. The guy was such a fucking moron.

He shook his head. Think! Okay, he didn't want her being loving, I mean, that was the whole point, wasn't it? He was so tired of watching her watching Duncan with moony eyes and trembling lips. Oh, he'd noticed the lips. Once, a long time ago, before she turned traitor, he used to think about those lips, to wonder how they'd taste. Then Lilly's lips would wipe all thought away.

Then again, it would put her out and then he wouldn't have to worry about her at all.

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Keith closed the door to Veronica's room softly. She had cried herself to a troubled sleep, having told him everything – Shelly Pomroy's party, Lamb, how Logan used to treat her and where they were now. This last seemed to give Veronica the most grief. For Veronica's sake, Keith had kept his reactions in check but now they bubbled to the surface and in a blaze of passion, Keith Mars put his fist through the wall.

Cursing his stupidity for disturbing his daughter, Keith looked in on her, but she was quiet. He went to the bathroom and ran water over his busted hand. Once the hand was numb, he turned off the taps and leaned against the sink. It was then that he sobbed for his daughter's brutal loss of innocence.

He collected himself, checked on Veronica one last time and left the apartment. He had things to do.

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Trying to decide what to do with the roofie was his last memory. The ones he'd taken had finally done what was promised and Logan had no idea what happened next. Had he slipped the roofie into Veronica's drink? Had he watched her pass out? Had he carried her to some dark corner? Had he-

He was capable of it, he knew that. When he hated her, taking her would have been just another humiliation to inflict.

For the first time, Logan truly understood the monster he had become. Whether he did it or not didn't matter. That he could have, would have - that mattered. That made him scum and he deserved to be flushed away.

Logan pulled up outside his house and sat for a moment, his dark eyes staring unseeing into the night. He was responsible. He took the roofies to the party and he probably did the rest. He would have done the rest. Now, it was time to wait for Keith and, maybe, sweet oblivion.

Logan finally moved and stepped out of his car. He never knew what hit him but he got the oblivion he craved.

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Veronica lay motionless in her bed. She had deceived her father into thinking she was asleep but she did not sleep. She was lost in a maelstrom of emotions. Every time she found one strong enough to hold onto – hate, pain, vengeance, sorrow – she was swept away again by the memory of Logan's touch. And that she could even retain that memory, treasure it, disgusted her beyond reason. He drugged her and raped her. There could be no coming back from that for either of them.

For an age, she repeated it to herself, like a mantra. Finally, it stuck.

Veronica levered herself out of her bed and dressed.

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When Logan came to, he found himself propped against the wheel of the SUV. He rubbed his jaw and looked up. Staring down on him with blazing eyes was Duncan Kane.

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"What was that for?"

"You damn well know."

"Yeah, I suppose I do."

"What were you thinking? What was she thinking?"

Logan and Duncan had moved to the pool house and both held glasses of scotch. Duncan was pacing liked a caged animal as Logan sagged in his armchair.

"What do you mean what was she-. Duncan, what are you talking about?"

"You and Veronica, at the Banks."

Logan could not stop himself. He burst into laughter, a harsh, unforgiving laughter that turned nearly hysterical as if the rollercoaster he had been riding the last few days had soared off its tracks. Duncan's anger was maintained but for a moment, giving way to concern and then fear for his friend.

"Logan. Logan!"

Duncan grabbed Logan by the arms and shook him. Logan's laughter stopped but his tears didn't. Duncan was confused but he could not ignore the pain. He enfolded his best friend in his arms and let him cry.

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What would Dad do first? Veronica paused before turning on the ignition. Would he go after Logan or would he go after Lamb. She couldn't be sure of anything but for one thing. She had to stop her father doing anything that would separate them. That she could not bear.

The LeBaron leapt into life.

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Keith parked outside the building and stared at the entrance.

"You need to do this. For her."

He got out of the car and walked in.

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Duncan took a deep breath.

"I knew."

"What?"

"I knew you put roofies in my drink. I poured it down the sink."

"What!"

"Come on, Logan! You were so fucking obvious about it. And I could hear you and Dick arguing. I'm not an idiot."

Logan grinned at that and nodded his head.

"No. That honour belongs to me."

"No arguments here."

Logan dropped his head. Duncan was still reeling from the story Logan had told and particularly from the news that Veronica had been raped that night. He had to fight off the waves of nausea that threatened to overwhelm him. Now he understood why Logan was in the state he was in. Now, with something akin to intense pain, he also knew that Logan Echolls had fallen for Veronica Mars. Hard. That was easy to comprehend. He'd been there. Maybe he still was.

"I don't know what I did. After I saw her. I think it was me, Duncan."

"Dude! It wasn't you!"

"How can you know that? You were…"

"No. I wasn't. I didn't want to be there, remember. I wasn't drinking and I side-stepped your happy pills. Veronica arrived, you wandered over with another drink, smirking ear to ear and then passed out. I took you home, man."

At the gasp from the door, they turned and stared into the wild and wide eyes of Veronica Mars.

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Keith left the Rape Crisis Centre with a file full of leaflets and information and the advice of the counsellor firmly embedded in his brain. He hadn't needed to be told that she was the most important thing in all of this and that whatever he did, he had to think of her.

He was convinced that what he intended to do now was for her and not out of his own need for vengeance. He started the car.

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Duncan drove. Veronica and Logan both stared straight ahead, refusing to look at each other. The silence screamed and was unbroken as he pulled up outside the Sheriff's Department.

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"Where is he?"

"Mr Mars. What can I-"

"Where's the Sheriff, Leo. I need to have a word with him."

"I think he's in his office. Are you all right?"

"No."

Keith marched past the front counter. As he put his hand on the door to Lamb's office, the door jerked open and Lamb stepped out.

"What's going on out here?"

Keith Mars laid a punch on him that sent him flying back into his office.

"Dad!"

Keith spun round and saw Veronica, Logan and Duncan staring at him. Veronica and Duncan were shocked but Logan and Leo both looked…satisfied somehow. Lamb pulled himself to his feet.

"You'll pay for that!"

"What? Your clumsiness?"

"My what! You stupid fool, you assaulted me, in front of witnesses. I'll have you for this!"

"Oh really? Hey, guys, is that what you saw?"

Logan responded quickly. "I thought he tripped over his own feet. Drinking on duty, Sheriff?"

"That's what I saw too," Duncan added.

Veronica just allowed herself a hard smile. Lamb turned to his deputy.

"Sorry, Sheriff. I was dealing with these people and didn't see a thing."

Lamb was livid but defeated and knew it.

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It took about four hours before they left the Sheriff's Department. They'd given Lamb and Leo all they could about Veronica's rape. Logan freely admitted his possession of drugs, adding his source and how he had given some to Dick Casablancas. They'd had to call Trina in for that because of the possibility of charges. She'd wandered in and out again, disinterested in the whole affair. Between the three of them, they were able to say who was at the party. And they had Lamb's promise, for what it was worth, that he would do his job.

They all knew that it was unlikely, after over a year that anything would come of it. Keith privately determined to investigate it himself but for now, for Veronica, it wasn't the time to mention it.

On the steps outside, Duncan and Keith split off towards their cars. Veronica paused. Logan was ahead of her, about to follow Duncan. He felt rather than saw her hesitation and turned to look at her for the first time since she arrived at the pool house.

"I am so sorry. I was stupid and hateful and…I won't ever be able to forgive myself."

Veronica sighed but said nothing. Logan dropped his head and turned. He had gone down three steps before she spoke.

"What if I forgive you?"

The end.