South Attic: 2:45 - way NFB

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

At 2:45, Beka returned to the Attic, made coffee and settled in at her desk with her laptop open to her files on Veronica to wait for Logan.



[ooc: this post is primarily for psycho_jackass and that thread is NFB and locked to him. Others are free to come after, and unless otherwise noted, any threads other than that one are fine for broadcast.]

Comments

[fh_jackass]

Logan stopped by after Journalism class and knocked on the door.

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

Beka went to the door, released the wards, and opened it to find Logan standing outside. "Hey." She inclined her head to the interior of the Attics. "C'mon in. We can talk in my room."

[fh_jackass]

Logan followed her to her room. "You know, people see me up here, they're going to assume things my girlfriend's not going to like."

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

Beka smiled, wry. "Perils of my reputation. We'll keep it short enough that they'll have to assume it was innocent. Or one of us is a really bad lay."

[fh_jackass]

"I should be safe, then." Logan said. He leaned against the wall and stuck his hands in his pockets. "You want to talk about Angelus, I assume?"

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

"Riiight." But she grinned. "I could almost like you. We can talk about Angelus, yes. But I wanted to talk about Veronica."

[fh_jackass]

"What about her?" Logan asked.

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

"She put her nose in where it didn't belong," Beka replied. "She's going to get hurt."

[fh_jackass]

Logan folded his arms across his chest. "Oh, really?" he asked, with a small smile.

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

Beka nodded, as though his manner told her something she'd wanted to know. "Maybe you haven't noticed. Subtle's not my style. Neither are threats. If I wanted a piece of Veronica, I'd have taken it already. But others? Not so direct. Also, not so forgiving."

[fh_jackass]

Logan's smile didn't fade. "Who?"

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

Folding her arms over her chest, Beka studied him. "Nothing concrete. Just a feeling." She shrugged and laid out the first card. "I'd prefer to keep it that way."

[fh_jackass]

"Who's this 'feeling' about?" Logan asked. "Don't play games, Beka. Not with Veronica's life."

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

Beka gave him a level look. "Angelus isn't gone for good. Maybe you forgave her for accusing you. He won't and you know it."

[fh_jackass]

Logan blinked. "You think Angelus is going to hurt her?"

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

"I said it was a feeling, Logan. It's not a stretch to think Angelus and his - my, your - friends won't take kindly to Veronica being involved."

Beka shrugged. "Me? Not happy. Really not happy. But I owe her one. And I think I can make it superfluous to go after her."

[fh_jackass]

Logan propped a foot back against the wall and looked down at his hands. "Do you think he did it?" he asked.

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

Beka leaned against her desk and reached for the pack of cigarettes lying there. "Smoke?" she asked Logan, tapping one out for herself.

"No. I don't."

[fh_jackass]

Logan ignored the cigarettes and looked Beka in the eyes. "Then why would he want to hurt Veronica?"

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

Beka lit the cigarette and met his gaze. "You know what he is. And you know him as well as I do. How about you answer that?"

[fh_jackass]

"You think he killed her," Logan said. It isn't a question.

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

"No, Logan. I don't. Everything I know about him says this isn't his style, and I haven't been shy about my research." She took a long drag off the cigarette, exhaled, and shook her head. "He's an artist. A master. This? Stupid. Angelus is many things, but stupid isn't one of them."

[fh_jackass]

"In my experience," here he laughed, "and unfortunately, I do have experience in this area, the person who actually tries to kill Veronica is the guilty party. So either you're lying about Angelus, or you know it's someone else who's going after Veronica. Either way, I'm not amused. Tell me the truth. Who is after Veronica?"

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

She took a drag off her cigarette, then looked at him again and let him see the honest fear and pain in her eyes. "Truth? I'm worried about Bel. He's my best friend. He has a nasty temper. I want Veronica out of the equation so he doesn't have a reason to exercise it against her. I don't want him to do anything he'll regret later. And that's it. That's all."

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

Continued here (http://www.livejournal.com/community/fandomhighdorms/269864.html?thread=10005288#t10005288)

[fh_jackass]

Logan looked at her for a long moment, then finally said, "What do you mean by 'out of the equation'?"

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

"Discredit her. Make her look like a laughingstock. Either that or get her to go home til this is done."

[fh_jackass]

Logan nodded slowly. "I'm going to talk to her tonight. Find out what 'evidence' they supposedly have. I'll see if she can leave town for a little while."

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

"Enough people have gotten hurt. I don't want to see anyone else get caught up in this." She studied him a long moment. "You pressed me pretty hard on Angelus. You think he did it?"

[fh_jackass]

Logan shook his head.

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

Beka didn't believe him. "So you think he's being framed?"

[fh_jackass]

"If I thought a 'friend' of mine had killed a 14-year-old girl, I wouldn't waste my time protecting him," Logan said coldly.

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

Beka bit back her anger at the implied accusation. "Good to know."

[fh_jackass]

"Catch you around," he said with a wink, and left the attic.