watching_you | OOM: Lakeside

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OOM: Lakeside

Veronica pushes ahead, and leads the way out onto the bar's sloping back lawn. Above, the sky's a dark purple shading to black - below, colours are becoming irrelevant as night vision slowly takes over.

The grass crunches beneath Veronica's sneakers as she makes for the lake, doing her best to keep her pace from quickening, to keep Logan from becoming suspicious of her true intentions. To this end she fixes her eyes on some spot on the distant shore, as though perhaps she's watching the trees for the sign of some nighttime predator, or simply preparing for the long wait until sunrise. With luck this gives her the appearance of being serious, but distracted, an appropriate air for someone who's about to have a Serious Relationship Discussion with her just-recently-ex-boyfriend.

Her bag swings back and forth and slaps her lightly in the side with each step, making her acutely aware of the added weight.

When they reach the lake - a slightly secluded area of it, far enough from the lights of the bar - Veronica stops, and waits for a moment before turning to face Logan, noting somewhere in the back of her distracted mind how different the lake air smells from the ocean she's used to.

Finally, she clears her throat. "So."

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"So," he echoes. "What's up?

He's guarded, of course. It's Veronica. He can never really be sure what she's after, what she's up to.

Logan both loves and hates her for that. It's complicated.

"Nothing," she says, too fast. Then, "Just wanted to talk. Catch up. See how you're... doing."

"Um. I'm...fine, I guess. Keeping busy with school and stuff."

Missing hanging out with you, he thinks, but doesn't say.

"How's it feel to be the daughter of the sheriff again?"

"Good. Weird. Chock full of déjà vu. I'll walk home and see the uniform and I almost expect to see mom or -" Veronica realizes she's talking too much, and looks away. "- Or something. But yeah, it's good."

"Yeah, I bet," Logan says, cursing himself for not knowing the right thing to say or do. This is all too weird, really.

"I'm glad he's got the job back, though. I know he missed it."

"Yeah, he did." She almost smiles, almost. "And now I've got an office all to myself. Nice and professional."

Pause.

"This isn't really what I brought you out here to talk about, though."

"You're such a grown-up, Mars," he teases, and for a moment he thinks that maybe, just maybe things will work out OK, that they won't totally suck forever.

That last sentence, though, kills that illusion.

"Oh?"

She nods. "I wanted to talk about... about you and me."

Another beat, and she takes a breath, inhaling deep and sharp: when she exhales, her words are somehow far more measured and confident.

"About us, and about you and Parker."

"Oh-kay," he says, still wary. "Um. Parker and I - we're just hanging out, mostly."

And making out, sometimes. But it's not serious, really, and he likes that.

"Yeah?" It's light. "I guess I can accept that. At least as a 'for now' statement."

He gives her a little smile that's a strange twist of humor and pain. "Yeah? That's generous of you, Mars."

Pause.

"Ah, thanks."

"I would say 'you're welcome', but that would be misleading."

Her voice is smooth now, and confident, devoid of all the hesitation and uncertainty. Subtly she shifts her weight, moves one hand into her bag.

"The fact is I'm not exactly happy about the whole thing."

And...now he's confused again.

"Um. You broke up with me, Veronica," he points out. It's not so much tactful, but it is true.

"Yeah, I did. Because we take a break for - what? A week? Two? - and you sleep with Madison Sinclair. And now we're apart and already you're 'hanging out' with Parker."

She shakes her head, glaring. "I'm like a bookmark in your life. Just something to hold your place in between more interesting relationships."

Logan looks wounded, and sad. "Veronica - you're the fucking love of my life. I was a mess, when we broke up. I'm still a mess. Parker's...Parker, and she's great, but she's not you."

Possibly her not being Veronica is a good thing, because he's pretty sure his 'epic' relationship with Veronica is actually bad for both of them, but it doesn't make it less true.

"Shut up, shut - up -"

She takes a step backwards, away from him.

"I don't need to hear this, I can't - I'm not going to listen to your bullshit anymore, Logan, I'm not going to deal with it. I'm going to move on."

She swings her arm around.

The gun glints silver in the low light, as she levels it at him.

Logan goes very, very still.

Oh, shit he thinks.

"Veronica," he says softly. "No. Not like this."

She very nearly smiles again.

"No, you see, I've planned it, I've got it all figured out. Remember that paper? Plan the perfect murder? I got an A-plus."

Her hand is steady, and doesn't shake in the slightest. "But this will be even better. Because it doesn't matter that it's going to be messy, or that there'll be fingerprints, or that my motive is completely obvious. Because the door's open now, Logan, and I can go home, go back to Neptune, back to my dad, and never look back. Nobody there will be able to link me to it, and nobody here will be able to catch me. I finally wash my hands of you, and move on."

"You don't have to do this," he says in a very low voice. "You - you can just put the gun down, walk away. Go home. We go our separate ways."

He's not quite pleading, not quite reasoning. His line of thought lies somewhere between the two.

"Please." With that, the pleading takes the upper hand, and it's clear this is killing him.

"No. I'm not going to deal with you anymore," Veronica tells him, voice even.

"We had our moments. But it's over."

Safety's off.

"Goodbye, Logan."

Her finger tightens.

Logan's eyes dart right, then left as he looks for cover. There's none. Veronica's planned this well, it seems.

Still, he's ready to move when he hears the shot. He doesn't know if she's a good shot or not, but he can't imagine that she wouldn't be.

A distant bellow from the direction of the bar.

"VERONICA! STOP!"

It originates from Indy, who's running across the meadow with Rachel and Behrooz. They're still some way off, and the situation was looking dire. Shouting seemed like the only way to stall a calamity in the short term.

The thing is - at this range, everyone's a good shot.

Logan almost finds this out the hard way, as Veronica sights him down the gun barrel, keeping an eye on his movements, his shifting weight - until the shout. It's far-off, but enough that Veronica glances up, distracted, and curses.

"No. No, this wasn't part of the plan, they weren't supposed to figure it out yet --"

Her arm wavers slightly, her aim drifting off somewhere to the right.

The thing about plans, well, as many had witnessed, they rarely went accordingly. Even brilliant minds often gave themselves away somehow...

...or the good guys cheated. Cheating was good.

And though humans could only run so fast, flame could travel faster, licking up through the grass and into the trees around Logan and Veronica, lighting the dark landscape as bright as any noontime sun.

Yeah. Cheating.

Behrooz's head is still pounding - the shouting, and the abrupt flashes of light don't help this. But he still knows who's out there the moment they'd stepped out of the Bar.

And it's a sinking feeling, not surprise, like he -

(I don't want to talk about him)

- should have known. His headache is, at least, at the back of his mind now. He doesn't shout, but just mumbles, "God, Veronica..."

It's as bright as day around them, now, and Veronica's growling in frustration as she watches the figures approach across the lawn. There's no place to escape to, now, nowhere to slip away. But this is Veronica, who after all of this still remains true to herself in some respects: she has no intention of running.

Instead she turns back toward Logan, her gun arm steadying again. "Fine," she snaps at him. "We'll do it your way. I have enough bullets for all of you."

Logan's expression is still shocked. He still can't believe this is real, can't believe he's not going to wake up from this bizarre dreamworld and find Veronica herself again, his life back the way it was.

His lips thin, though, at that last comment, and it seems the shock may have worn off a bit.

"No," he says grimly. "It's not my way."

And with that, he leaps at her, sideways, hoping he's got surprise on his side, hoping that he's moved fast enough so she can't shoot.

The surprise works: rushed, she fires wild, and the only harm it does is scaring a few birds into the air. And then he's caught her wrist, and -

"No --"

- it's all falling apart so quickly. This was such a good plan. She'd sorted out every detail. She'd even figured, in her mind, the specific expressions she'd use when her father eventually told her that Logan was missing and when was the last time she'd seen him? But now it's all wrong: she's losing control of the situation, and Logan is doing his best to wrestle the gun from her.

She jerks away, twisting her wrists hard, managing to get away for a second, and then --

BANG.

The second shot is wild too, at least as far as Logan is concerned.

It's less so from Indy's perspective though.

As he charges onwards with his two companions, the large caliber bullet slams into his left thigh, knocking him off-stride and causing him to nose-dive into the ground.

"Ungh!"

The BANG stings in Behrooz's mind, but that's all.

He almost falters at Indy's fall - the glance back telling him that the injury didn't have to be fatal here. And that standing still likely wasn't a good idea, at that moment.

So he continues forward, movements abruptly steady as he approaches the two of them. There's no warning before grabbing her other arm and pulling it harshly away.

Of all the weaponry in the realities, guns were the ones she truly hated. She rarely said as much, after all, her brother was addicted to the damn things...but she hated them. Her reaction was instinctive, clawed from her childhood...

...she screamed. A harsh, predatory sound that echoed through the flame like great eagles gone mad. And she pushed at the attacker, wrenching Veronica away from the men, the gun, from the very ground itself in telekinetic fury. She didn't care where the woman landed, as long as she didn't die. Indy, the only person in the group she gave a damn about, was down...

...and so flame, human shaped and power carved, knelt beside her fallen friend, concentrating on the wound.

splash

Logan stands, shakily, and looks at where Veronica was, then at the lake.

But he can't leave, not yet. As much as he wants to leave, to get as far away from Veronica as possible, to try and forget this happened, that she hated him this much, he can't go without knowing she's all right.

He doesn't dive in after her, though, like he might have otherwise.

The impact of Rachel's telekinetic attack is something like being slapped with a giant hand everywhere at once. It knocks the breath from Veronica's lungs and sends her flying - away from Logan and Behrooz - for what feels like a very long time, until she comes crashing down in the lake.

She's surrounded with pressure and cold. Her elbow scrapes something, which must be the bottom, but when she flails out she can't gain purchase, her fingers running loosely through pebbles and sand.

Instinctively she inhales, and it burns.

She opens her eyes, ignoring the stinging of the silt that she's churned up, and she can see the surface, hanging above her like black molten glass. It's not too far away, not quite out of reach, if she fights for it now.

The thing with Veronica's face kicks.

But nothing happens.

Again she struggles, trying to force against the tide, but her arms remain limp. The last bubbles of air are escaping through her nose and mouth. All she can hear is a sound like clanging, like distant thunder: deep, slow vibrations spreading through the water.

And a voice, quiet, in the back of her mind, with an extra hint of Mars to it.

You've hurt too many people.

Her eyes widen in shock.

I'm taking you down with me.

It doesn't take too much longer before something twists, in the dark, and fades. Veronica is left staring upwards towards the fractured canopy where air meets lake. If she looks just right, she can see a splash of yellow.

Waterlilies.

Back on dry land, a groaning Indy has managed to flip himself over and drag himself up onto his elbows. During the process, he determined that all bones were intact. Now, on examination of the wound, he notes a steady flow of blood soaking his pants, but thankfully not arterial gouts. It's not the first time he's been shot, and in this case Rachel's flame is absorbing the worst of the pain. It still hurts like crazy though, and his strained expression reflects that.

"Enjoy your swim," he mutters. "That's what you get for shooting me."

Since he was eating dirt at the time, he didn't see how Veronica ended up in the water. He heard Rachel's blood curdling scream though, and the splash. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened, and he's not sympathetic in the slightest. From his distance and inferior elevation, it's not clear that she hasn't resurfaced yet.

Behrooz doesn't head toward the lake immediately - when Veronica is wrenched from his hands, he glances at Rachel, but almost immediately grabs up the gun where Veronica had dropped it. Finally.

But he looks up when she hits the water, following Logan to the edge of the lake, trying to find where Veronica surfaces.

She doesn't.

And time stretches out, and Behrooz's head is pounding again, as if to make him more aware of the passing seconds. "She's - not -"

There could be diving in after her - but they can't see her, his senses would be muddled underwater, and if she - if the woman could -

He turns back to Rachel. "You have to get her out."

Rachel lifted her gaze to Behrooz's, something far from human smoldering in the emerald depths "She is not dead" she stated calmly, though she neglected to add the word yet.

A gesture and there was a light glowing under the surface of the lake, light to show where Veronica lay. "Fish her out."

Logan, with no hesitation now, kicks off his shoes and pulls his shirt over his head as he runs to the lake.

He might not be able to save her, but he's got to try. No matter what she tried to do, she doesn't deserve to die like this.

He swims toward the light, reaching for Veronica.

It's peaceful.

Then movement, hands. An agitation of the currents, and they shift, flowing like all the joyous tears of a lifetime collected. She's leaving --

It's still quiet, quiet, quiet.

And then

air!

God, she's tiny.

It's almost, but not quite all, that Logan can think as he pulls her to the surface, hoping she's still with him.

The other thought: She's so still.

He thought he heard a gasp, but he was just coming out of the water. It might have just been his imagination.

Without checking her breathing, he paddles to the shallows, lays her on the shore.

Behrooz is feels dimly glad once Logan's dived in – dimly because it's become hard for him to think straight at all, to keep his hands still, and he doesn't watch Logan swim up for her, not looking up at all until he can hear them – smell both of them approaching the shore.

His hands are still when he takes a couple steps forward, but he blinks a couple times, and his thoughts must be something like Logan's, as he can't seem to raise the gun toward her, for when (there's just no if) she wakes – it just stays, readily, at his side.

It's as though the first breath is through her pores or something equally incongruous, because she doesn't react right away, not really. But then she jerks like a jump-started car, a breathing Veronica taking the lead over a drowned one, and she vomits water onto the shore.

Her eyes are wild when she looks up, and takes in Logan and Behrooz, muttering, "Sorry - I'm sorry -" But in the end they are less important then Rachel, whom Veronica spots third.

She's on her feet far sooner than anyone who's ingested that much lake has any right to be, and running over. She's shouting before she even comes close.

"I need you to kill her!" Indy's there, hurt - she shot him herself - but she can't think about that right now. "I need you to burn her out or whatever it is that you do. She's still in here, she's just... quiet, for a bit, but when she wakes up I won't be able to stop her and she's going to hurt someone else!"

She drops to her knees, by Rachel's side. Desperate, "Please!"

Rachel listened, yes, she didn't turn to the girl or allow the desperation to distract her. Indy was hurt, and she was taking care of that first. The injury to her friend made her less inclined to kindness, to forgiveness...

When she turned, there was far more than flame in her gaze, there was sheer Power and Void, space without boundary or limits, and while she did not know curses or magic, there was not a Mind in existence she could not find, should she choose to look. And look she did, with the all the controlled force of a super nova siphoned through a pin-hole, burning clean, pure, and achingly sweet along synapses as she routed out a target.

An enemy.

It was not a kind kill, nor a painless one, but she left peace and healing in her wake.

For the first time in a very long time, Veronica Mars feels her mind fill with peace and quiet.

It's glorious.

She can tell that Rachel's not pleased with Veronica, to say the least, but she still mutters an embarrassed "Thank you."

Indy certainly doesn't look as bad as he could, all things considered, which is a relief. Nevertheless, she winces just to look at him. "I'm sorry, I tried to stop her but I..." She trails off. "I'm sorry."

She turns back to Rachel. "I think, for everyone's sake, I should be put in the cells."

Indy's face is colorless and weary. Nevertheless, he shows Veronica a hint of a smile. There's relief in it, that the tormenting evil has been dispatched. And forgiveness.

"I'm sorry too, Vee. I should've figured you weren't actually in control a long time ago."

"Don't worry about this little nick," he goes on, nodding at the wound that he's staunching with the help of a fiery tourniquet. "I've had much worse."

"Accidents happen. Plus, it wasn't really you."

There were things that Rachel could forgive, yes. This was not among them...because the mind had been old and not always in control. It had been present a long time.

That is a fact Rachel would have to think on.

"Yes, for now" she agreed with Veronica. Behrooz had been assaulted in bar, the weapon had been stolen in Bar...

And the cells would also give Veronica herself a quiet space to recover in.

Veronica glances toward Behrooz and Logan, but doesn't meet their eyes, instead staring at the pebbles between them.

Despite his intentions, Indy's words are not reassuring in the least. There is too much that Veronica finds herself unsure of, uneasy about. Some time in the cells - for reassurance if nothing else - will do some good.

Some time passes.

They make their way inside.

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OOM: Lakeside

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