A/N: What's up my fellow Marshmallows! How've you all been doing? I know, I know, it's been a while since we've last seen each other and I'm sorry about that. The Veronica muse just hasn't been speaking to me the last few years, but I'm here now, and in an attempt to dig myself out of the worst writer's block hole I've ever fallen into, I thought I'd come back to my first real story and give it a bit of a spruce. It's amazing what you can learn in, what's it been four years? For instance, I figured out how to do that line thingy to separate scenes! I know, I'm a bit slow to catch onto these things. Anyways, that's why I'm here, so if there's any old fans out there interested in taking a trip down memory lane, please enjoy this newly edited and far better formatted version of Fragile Bird. And for anyone new, welcome to the party! Hope you enjoy :)

-Em

Chapter 1

"He killed my father!"

"Give me the gun, Veronica." Logan moved towards her, hand outstretched.

"He killed everyone on the bus! He raped me!" Her hands shook as she tried to control her sobs, still holding the gun level with Cassidy's head.

"You are not a killer, Veronica. Give me the gun." Logan repeated, inching forward. When her arms finally fall, her hands releasing their vice-like grip on the gun, he takes it and gathers her into his arms. Its not until he catches a glimpse of the other boy stepping closer and closer to the roof's edge that he remembers they're not the only ones there.

"Beaver don't!" Logan yelled, pulling away from Veronica to try and reach him.

"My name is Cassidy!"

"Cassidy, don't," Logan repeated, his tone oddly sincere given the situation.

"Why not?" Cassidy asked emptily.

Logan opened his mouth to say something- anything- but nothing came to mind. This boy had raped his girlfriend, he had killed her father. Why shouldn't he die? And then it was too late, and he was gone.

Veronica staggered towards him, and Logan pulled her back into his arms, letting her sob as a lone car alarm echoed through the night, alerting the world to the tragedies that had just taken place.

"Mac!" Veronica froze suddenly, then pulled away from him and rushed to the door leading back inside. Logan followed behind her and talked the guy at the front desk into letting them into Mac and Cassidy's room, where they found her sitting on the floor wrapped in a sheet. Veronica rushed towards her, while Logan stayed back, thanking the employee, and then finding clothes for Mac to put on.

Once she was dressed, Mac called her mother, who came to take her home. The police would come asking what happened soon, but right now all Logan cared about was getting Veronica home. She hadn't stopped crying, although now she was doing so quietly. Logan took her hand and pulled her towards the parking lot, helping her into his car and heading back to her house.

Veronica was silent the whole way there, staring out the window, watching the sky. They would find the wreckage tomorrow, probably. Maybe there would be a body, something for her to bury, but he doubted it, there probably wouldn't even be much of the plane left judging by the explosion. She would have nothing.

"Veronica? Veronica we're here." Logan took her hand and squeezed as they sat in the parking lot, but she didn't move. Sighing, he got out of the car and walked around to her side, opening the door and undoing her seat belt.

"Veronica?" He took both her hands in his and helped her out of the car, wrapping an arm around her waist to keep her from falling.

As they walked, she pulled herself together enough to get her keys out of her bag and open the front door, before sitting down on the couch and curling into a ball. Logan followed her inside, closing the door behind them. He took off his jacket, and helped Veronica out of hers before sitting down beside her and letting her crawl into his lap.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered soothingly as she sobbed into his shirt, because what else could he say? He wasn't going to tell her that everything was going to be okay, her father had just been murdered, and nothing was going to make her feel better. So he settled for just muttering empty reassurances into her hair, just making sure she knew he was there. After a while, she fell asleep laying across his lap. Once he was sure that she was out cold, Logan picked her up and carried her to her room, tucking her into bed before laying down on the couch. All through the night he listened for her, making sure that she was okay. By six in the morning, he was tired of trying to sleep, and decided to get up and make breakfast.

Veronica dreamed about her father. He was doing a puppet show for her and she was laughing and laughing, she couldn't have been more than four years old.

"Do you smell that?" he asked. "Do you know what that is?"

"I smell bacon!"

And then she woke up, and she could still smell bacon.

"Dad!?" She cried, running out of her room into the kitchen.

But it wasn't her dad, it was Logan standing at the stove. Veronica stopped in her tracks, the previous night hitting her like a tidal wave. Immediately, Logan turned off the stove and pulled her into his arms. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Veronica closed her eyes and tried to focus on Logan. He was there, he was in front of her. It was his arms wrapped around her. She was safe.

And then the knocking started. She pulled away from Logan, wiping her eyes.

"I can get that." He offered, but Veronica shook her head, stepping out of his arms and forcing herself to pull it together.

"Veronica." Officer Sacks nodded solemnly when she opened the door, his tone more somber than Logan had ever heard it. "Do you mind if I come in?"

Veronica opened the door wider and stepped out of the way, allowing Sacks through the door. As he entered, he gave Logan a nod of acknowledgement, then faced the small blonde woman once again. "Veronica, I'm sorry to have to tell you that your father died in a plane crash last night."

"I know." She said, leaning back against Logan's chest and blinking rapidly. "I saw."

"What?" Sacks frowned at her, obviously surprised.

Veronica took a deep breath, closed her eyes and told him. "Cassidy Casablancas killed my father, and everybody on the bus. He was trying to get Woody Goodman for molesting him as a child."

Sacks stared at her for a full twenty seconds before asking, "Are you sure?" Veronica nodded, and Logan followed suit.

"Veronica, I'm sorry, but I need you to come down to the station with me. I need you to give a full statement."

"Is that really necessary?" Logan asked, pulling Sacks aside. "Her father just died, I could barely get her out of the car yesterday."

Sacks looked back and saw Veronica sitting on the couch, but it wasn't the Veronica that he knew. The Veronica that he knew was full of fire and sarcasm and life, but this girl wasn't. She sat on the couch, staring at a spot on the floor, not even noticing that he and Logan were talking about her.

"Just let me get her to eat something, and get dressed. I'll bring her down to the station in a couple hours," Logan negotiated.

Sacks stared at his formers boss's daughter for a few more seconds before nodding. Keith had been a good man, a good Sheriff, he would do this for him. "Okay, I can buy you a couple hours."

Logan thanked him and promised they would be in to see him soon before letting Sacks see himself out. It wasn't until the door closed that Veronica zoned back in.

"He wanted me to come to the station," she recalled listlessly.

"We're going to go down there in a couple hours," Logan explained. "First, you need to eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"You need to eat anyways. Even if it's just a piece of toast. But I made you bacon." And for the first time since she had found out, there was the slightest hint of a smile on her face.

"Okay," she nodded and moved to the table, where Logan placed a plate of bacon and eggs. Once they finished eating, Logan convinced her to get in the shower, and gave her some clothes to change into.

When they got to the Sheriff's Department, Lamb tried to separate the two of them, but despite Veronica's melancholy state, she knew that Logan meant safety and support and she wasn't letting go of his hand or going anywhere without him. Lamb even tried to physically remove her, had one of the deputies try to pull her away, that seemed to trigger whatever instincts that had been turned off, because she fought tooth and nail. Screaming and flailing and trying to kill whoever was trying to pull her away from Logan.

And then she started crying and screaming

"Don't touch me! Please! Stop!"

"Let go of her!" Logan pulled the officer away from Veronica, who had let go of her as soon as she started screaming.

"Veronica!" Logan tried to grab her, but she scrambled away from him, trying to get away from all the men that surrounded her. She ran, pushing the hands that tried to grab her away, until she was pinned in a corner and, panicking, sat down on the floor with her knees to her chest, sobbing and muttering.

"Veronica," Logan approached her slowly, kneeling down in front of her. "Veronica it's okay, it's me." He put a hand on her knee and she flinched, trying to back even farther into the corner.

"V, it's me. It's Logan." And it was like a switch in her head flipped, and she heard him. She looked up and threw herself towards him. "It's okay," he told her, "it's okay. I've got you. You're fine. You're safe." She nodded, but held onto him even tighter, as he picked her up off the floor.

"So do you want to try this again?" Logan snarled at the Sheriff. "I'm not going anywhere, she's not leaving my sight, and you're not going to be in this interview."

Lamb's only response to this was to give Sacks a sharp nod, indicating he should go ahead and take their statements.

Once they were settled in an interview room, Sacks set up his tape recorder and pulled out a notebook.

"Whenever you're ready, Veronica. Take your time."

She took a few deep breaths, and then she told him. She told him everything, about how Woody had molested the kids on the team, how Cassidy blew up the bus, and how he blew up the plane.

"He raped me." She admitted quietly, and Logan's hand tightened around hers.

Sacks sighed, and told her how sorry he was- about everything. When she had finished, he packed up the recorder, and left the room.

"Take your time. And I really am sorry about your dad, Veronica. He was a great man."

"Thanks," Veronica muttered. Once he was gone, she leaned over and rested her head on Logan's shoulder. "I want to go home."

"Okay." He kissed her forehead and took her hand, pulling her to the door, but before they could get out of the station, another officer ran up. "Logan Echolls?"

"Ya?" Logan turned around.

"Logan, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but your father was murdered last night." Logan instinctively looked over at Veronica at the word murder, but she didn't even flinch.

"Okay," he nodded, and continued to pull Veronica out the door.

"Logan?" Veronica turned to him as he helped her into his truck. "I'm sorry about your dad."

He smiled at her sadly. "The world is probably better off without him." He kissed her forehead and closed the door behind her.

The rest of the day was mostly Logan checking on Veronica and starting to make plans for Keith's funeral. His own father's funeral was to be dealt with by the lawyers- not that Logan cared. He would have been happy to just dump the body on the side of the road and let the animals have at it, but the rest of the world needed to mourn the murderer who shared their TV screens. Veronica wasn't in any shape to deal with funeral arrangements, and Logan only asked her opinion when completely necessary. After getting some food into her in the early evening, Logan helped Veronica to bed and took up residence on the couch once again. Around 11, however, he woke with a start as she started screaming. Rushing down the hall, Logan threw open her bedroom door and found Veronica thrashing around in a panic.

"No, no, please," she mumbled loudly. "Daddy, please!"

Logan approached her bed, calling her name. "Veronica?"

"Dad! Dad, no!"

"Veronica!" Logan tried again, this time shaking her shoulder.

"No!" she screamed even louder. "No! Please! Don't touch me! Don't hurt me! Stop! Cassidy, stop!"

As her screams got louder, Logan pushed harder.

"Veronica!" he yelled, shaking her shoulders again. At this, she started thrashing around even more, almost injuring herself more than once. Finally, Logan pinned her arms down and straddled her waist, immobilizing her almost completely.

"Veronica! Veronica listen to me, it's Logan!" he yelled, trying to get through her dream, but she kept yelling. "VERONICA!"

Her eyes flew open, and she immediately started struggling against him.

"NO!" she screamed, as Logan let go of her hands and moved to the side of her bed.

"Veronica, Veronica look at me," he ordered softly. "Veronica, it's Logan."

She looked up and saw Logan, finally, and threw herself into his arms, sobbing. "Shh, shh. It's okay. It's okay, I'm right here. I've got you," he whispered, over and over again.

"Logan," she sobbed, unable to get anything else out. "Logan, I- I s-saw him! H-he kill-led my father!"

"Shh, I know. I know. It's OK. He's gone. He's gone now. He can't hurt you anymore."

She nodded, but it wasn't making her feel much better. That boy had still killed her father. He had still raped her. Logan couldn't change that, and he couldn't take that pain away from her, at least not right away, so Veronica continued to cry, until she didn't have any tears left to cry.

"Logan?" she whispered, when she had finally calmed herself down.

"Ya, Ronnie?"

"Don't leave me."

"Never," he promised, kissing the top of her head. "Not in a million years."

Veronica nodded, tucking herself even closer into his side.

"Will you stay with me?" she asked, as he helped her back into bed.

"Of course." Logan smiled, crawling into bed beside her, and letting her use his chest as a pillow.

"I love you, Logan," Veronica mumbled as she fell asleep.

"I love you, too." Logan smiled, kissing the top of her head, and wrapping his arm around her, holding her close.

With his arms around her, she found that her nightmares, while still present, were easier to escape. Logan was there to chase her dreams away and keep her safe, like her father had done when she was a little girl.

The next morning, Veronica woke to find herself still wrapped in Logan's arms. "Good morning," he smiled, brushing her hair out of her face.

"Morning," she gave him a small smile.

"How are you feeling this morning?"

"Better. The nightmares weren't as bad with you here."

"I'm glad. Do you want something to eat? Bacon? Toast? Coffee?"

"Coffee would be good."

"Your wish is my command." He kissed her and rolled out of bed, heading for the kitchen.

Veronica sat up in bed and watched him go. What would she do without him? She'd been alone for less than two days, but without Logan here to take care of her she would have been an even bigger mess than she already was. He had already taken over all the planning for her dad's funeral- they hadn't discovered any remains, so it was going to be an empty plot, but it was something.

Today she was going to deal with things, though, she couldn't leave it all to Logan. The old Veronica was coming back, whether she was ready or not. That thought was enough to get her out of bed, but the more she thought about it, the more stressed and anxious she felt- and Logan saw. That was the problem with him- she couldn't hide anything. He could read every twitch, every sigh, every minute expression.

"What's wrong?" he asked, handing her a cup of coffee.

"I need to do all this stuff. I need to do my dad's-" she stopped, taking a deep breath. It was still hard for her to process. "I need to plan his funeral and deal with the apartment. People are going to start calling- people who I don't want to talk to. I have to look at his will- I have to deal with the business-" she started to breath heavily, panicking.

"Hey, hey!" Logan moved around the counter and took her face in his hands. "Hey, it's OK. Veronica look at me." She looked up and the all too familiar tears were in her eyes again. "You don't have to do it alone. I'm right here. Remember? I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here."

Before Veronica could answer, someone started knocking rapidly at the door, waiting less than thirty seconds before using the emergency key to let themselves in.

"Veronica!" Wallace called, not seeing her standing behind Logan in the hallway. "Veronica Mars!"

Before he could plow Logan over in his search, Veronica stepped out from behind him and tried to put on a brave face.

"Wallace." She tried to smile, but the look he gave her told her not to try. He moved across the room quickly and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm so sorry, V. It was on the news this morning. I came right over as soon as I heard. What do you need?" She shook her head quickly and pulled away from him.

"Hi Wallace," she took a breath, trying to slow him down. Wallace obviously understood, because he looked down at the floor, then back at her, an apologetic smile forming on his face. Maybe he had been a little overbearing there.

"How are you?" he finally asked, figuring one question at a time would probably work better.

"I've been better," Veronica shrugged, trying to play off her usual self, but like Logan, Wallace wasn't buying it.

"Veronica Mars, look who is standing in this room. Do you think that's gonna fly with me?" It seemed that Wallace hadn't really noticed Logan was there yet, but as Veronica's facade fell, the blond moved closer to her. He knew that he didn't need to, he trusted Wallace, but it was an instinct- never leave Veronica when she needs him, no matter how much she might protest.

When she didn't amend her answer, Wallace changed the question.

"What can I do?" Veronica shrugged, and Logan moved a little closer. Wallace noticed him now, and lifted an eyebrow to her. That expression elicited her first honest reaction, which was to send him the most meaningful look he had ever seen. And he translated it incredibly quickly- "I love him, Wallace. I need him." And he knew it was true. No matter how hard she tried to play it off, Veronica was always in a bad place after she and Logan broke up- far worse than when Duncan had left. He trusted that Logan was taking care of her. A basic law of their relationship was that Logan loved Veronica slightly more than she loved him- or at least he said it out loud a lot more often than she did. He wasn't going to be shying away from her in the middle of this- he was going to solidify their relationship for the rest of human existence.

Now that he had some sort of reaction, Wallace tried his question again. "What can I do, V?"

"I don't know." She said quietly, looking down as tears started to form in her eyes again. "I don't know what to do Wallace," she whispered, voice cracking. "Tell me what to do."

When she looked up, Wallace felt his heart break and before Logan could sweep in he pulled Veronica into a hug.

"You just have to be Veronica." He smiled sadly, holding her tight. After a few seconds, she pulled away, backing towards her bedroom.

"Thanks for coming, Wallace." She smiled at him, but it didn't reach her eyes as she excused herself and closed the door, leaving Wallace and Logan alone.

"I'm sorry about your dad, too. It was on the news first," Wallace offered.

Logan shrugged, not overly upset about the loss of the man who used to beat him- the man who tried to kill Veronica, and did kill Lilly. In the grand scheme of things, he was probably even happy.

"I know this isn't the best time for this," Wallace continued, "but I have to get something straight quickly."

Logan knew what was coming, but didn't interrupt.

"Veronica is my best friend," Wallace's tone hardened. "And right now she is nothing like the girl I know, but I know that you've seen her like this before, so I'm gonna let you take care of her and I'm not going to make a big deal about you being back. I can accept that she loves you, and that she needs you. In fact, I probably know that better than you do. But if you hurt her, I swear to God I will murder your sorry white boy ass. Got it?"

Logan smiled, knowing that Wallace was being completely serious. "I will never hurt Veronica. Not again. Not knowingly."

The sincerity in his voice and eyes was all Wallace needed. He was happy putting his trust in Logan.

"Okay. What can I actually do, then? There has to be something."

"Honestly, I can't think of anything. I started working on Keith's funeral arrangements, and I've just been trying to take care of her."

"Okay. But call me for anything. Seriously, man."

Logan nodded and he and Wallace shook hands before Wallace let himself out.

Once he was gone, Logan went to check on Veronica. He found her sitting on the floor in front of her bed, staring at the wall.

"Hey," he sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her from her reverie. "What are you thinking about?"

"What if I don't know how to be Veronica anymore?" She asked, truly afraid that maybe with Keith gone, she had lost too big a part of herself to regain.

"You're always going to be Veronica," Logan assured her. "No matter what."

"But what if I'm not!? What if I can't go back to being the old Veronica?!" She had barely raised her voice, but to Logan, it sounded like an ear piercing shriek.

"You are never not going to be Veronica. You will always be you- you'll always be my Veronica Mars," he insisted. "You know how I know?"

She shook her head, looking at her hands, and Logan reached out and tapped her chin, urging her to look at him. "Because I know you, Veronica. You've been through so much, and you have never changed one bit."

"I changed when Lilly died," she muttered.

"Only if you weren't looking closely. Because the Veronica that I grew up with was still in there. Maybe a little guarded, but you had a right to be."

She didn't look convinced, so he tried a new tactic.

"Veronica, who do you think you are?" He didn't ask it in an accusing way- more like an English teacher might have asked, 'How do you define yourself?'

Veronica shrugged, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

"Well, I think that you are the smartest, most caring person that I know. I think that you have a rapid fire wit, and that if you weren't a little bit snarky sometimes I wouldn't be as attracted to you as I am. I think that you're impulsive and brave and incredibly stupid sometimes, but I love you. I love every single part of you, and even if you're not as happy as you used to be, you will still be Veronica, because there is nothing in the world that could change that."

He knew that she was crying and even though she had been doing that a lot, it unnerved him a bit, as he worried that he had actually said the wrong thing. But then she lifted her head and kissed him.

"I love you, Logan Echolls." Veronica sighed, resting her forehead against his.

"And I love you, Veronica Mars."

Logan would have been happy to continue kissing her tears away, but Veronica had other plans. She quickly pulled herself off the floor and held her hand out to Logan. "I think it's time to try and get the old Veronica back."

As they walked out of the bedroom a knock came at the door. Veronica figured that it would be somebody offering their respects, although she didn't know who- she wasn't exactly Miss Popularity at Neptune. But then she remembered graduation the day before. (Could it really have only been a day?) Maybe she had more friends than she thought. Even with this thought in mind, she did not expect to find Weevil Navarro standing outside.

"Hey, V."