Chapter 1: Logan Gets Assigned Protection

Logan awakens to searing pain in his left shoulder. He opens his eyes and looks around the room. He sees the pole and IV hanging and realizes he is in the hospital. He looks at his shoulder and sees the dressing. He tries to sit up and moans. An older thin nurse in light blue scrubs comes over and gently tells Logan to lie back down. While she is taking his blood pressure and temperature, she tells Logan her name is Cynthia and he is in the hospital. He focuses on her and asks, "What happened to me?"

Grimacing a little she tells him, "You were involved in a shooting. Luckily the bullet only grazed your shoulder." She tucks him back in and adds, "Did you want a drink of water?" After he nods, she holds a straw to Logan's lips and waits while he takes a sip of water. Continuing her assessment she questions, "Are you having much pain?

The door opens and Logan looks over and sees a security guard holding the door for a blonde woman who Logan will never forget. She is wearing a light pink dress that hugs her figure emphasizing her tiny waist and hips. Almost skipping over to his bed, she looks down at him and exclaims, "Logan, I was so worried. The plane ride seemed to take forever." Logan looks up at her in surprise wondering if he is having a morphine induced dream. Veronica, seeing he is going to start questioning her, leans down and gently kisses him. After a few seconds she breaks the kiss and pushes her face into his neck hugging him. She whispers, "Logan, just go along with this. I'll explain later." Pulling back she tells him a little tearfully, "When I heard you had been shot.." She looks at his shoulder and cries, "Oh my god! Look at your shoulder."

Still in shock, Logan looks at her and is surprised by her tears. He looks in her eyes and sees the twinkle. She is acting and teasing him with her over the top worried girlfriend performance. Acting is more Logan's area of expertise. He softens his eyes and looks up at Veronica. He says huskily, "I'm fine baby." He reaches up with his good hand and brushes the hair back from her face. Veronica's eyes widen at his touch. Logan sees her eyes narrow. Game on.

She smiles at Logan and puts her cheek in his hand and gently nuzzles his hand. Taking his hand in hers she turns to the nurse who is watching their encounter and asks, "How is my husband?"

The nurse looks at Veronica in shock. Logan Echolls is well known. She had not read he got married. Quickly recovering, she answers, "His vital signs are fine. The doctor will be back to see you both shortly." Leaving the room after ensuring he has his call bell, the nurse gently shuts the door.

Before Logan can start asking questions, the room door opens and a middle aged man wearing a blue suit comes into the room. He is wearing a FBI badge. He walks over to where Veronica is sitting beside Logan and tells her, "The area is secure."

Veronica nods and turns back to Logan. Her light blue eyes have lost their softness and she asks, "Logan, what do you remember about the shooting?"

"I was walking from the editing room to my trailer. A woman stepped out from in between mine and the assistant director's trailer. She pulled out a small black gun and pointed it at me. She was yelling something about how I had to die for how I treated her and then Joe yelled for her to stop. She turned and shot at Joe." Logan looks at Veronica and his voice cracks a little as he tells her, "I remember the bullet hitting Joe in the chest and him falling to the ground. I looked up at the woman and she was turning the gun towards me. I rushed her and I heard a loud noise and felt the pain in my shoulder." Swallowing a little as he thinks about what happened he shakes his head and finishes, "I must have passed out then or something."

Answering his obvious next question she quietly tells him, "It looks like she ran off, probably when she heard people coming." Logan nods his understanding. Tilting her head a little as she thinks, Veronica asks, "Can you describe the woman for me?"

Closing his eyes in concentration, he starts, "Shoulder length brunette hair with bangs, brown eyes, about 5 feet 6 inches tall, slender, maybe one hundred and twenty pounds. Fair complexion." He pauses taking a deep breath and letting it out,

"Good Logan. Do you remember what she was wearing?" she asks.

Logan shakes his head and answers, "I didn't have that much time to look but I think a dark grey jacket and jeans but I'm not sure."

Thinking about what she has heard, Veronica continues her questioning, "Did you recognize her?"

Immediately shaking his head, he answers, "No, I didn't know her."

Veronica rephrases what she wants to know, "What about if she was wearing a wig?"

Logan thinks for a few seconds and questions, "You mean that maybe she was a blonde and wearing a wig to cover it?"

Veronica nods. Logan closes his eyes for a few seconds and he tries to think about what she is asking, "No I think her eyebrows and lashes were dark." Veronica smiles pleased at Logan's recollection of the events. As a director, he has developed a good eye for details. Logan interrupts her thoughts and asks, "How is Joe?"

Veronica pauses and Logan grabs her arm and asks in a more demanding tone, "Ronnie?"

Sighing, she tells him, "He is in surgery right now."

Logan sees the reluctance on Veronica's face and says firmly, "Tell me."

Shaking her head a little she admits, "It doesn't look good right now."

Logan relaxes his arm off hers and closes his eyes. He will likely have nightmares about seeing the agent who has been guarding him shot in the chest. Upset he orders, "Leave me alone."

Veronica talks to the agent who came in the room. Logan hears the words sketch artist and later and safe house. Eyes firmly closed, he listens as the door of the room opens and closes and then there is blessed silence. He takes a deep breath and lets it out. A few seconds later he hears a chair move and opens his eyes. He focuses on Veronica who is sitting in a chair beside his bed looking at her lap top. Annoyed, he repeats, "I said I wanted to be alone."

Veronica looks up from her computer and it is clear that she is completely unaffected by his anger. She tells him, "I didn't think you meant me." Logan looks at her in exasperation. She adds in an overly saccarine voice, "After all I am your wife." When Logan frowns at her, she adds imitating Elmer Fudd, "I will be very, very quiet."

Logan looks at her in shock. It figures she would remember how much he had liked those cartoons when he was younger. Realizing that the tiny blonde has no intentions of leaving, Logan decides to find out what her plans are. "Why are you pretending to be my wife?"

Veronica's face hardens. She says a little angrily, "Your stalker moved up to attempted murder and attacking a former federal agent. She is now most definitely on our radar."

Logan sees the determination on Veronica's face and he snarks, "I wasn't important but now she's shot Joe, it is important."

Deeply annoyed, Veronica looks at Logan and rebukes him. "It was always important. You had Joe and his company on the case."

Logan looks taken aback. No one talks to him like that anymore. Not now he is a successful producer, director in Hollywood. It figures Veronica would have no trouble putting him in his place. He says, "I'm sorry. I am just upset that this woman threatened my crew, me and now she's hurt the guy I hired to protect me." Pausing he adds, "I guess I never thought of this woman attacking someone instead of me."

Her ire dissipates at his words. She can see he is really upset that Joe was shot. Gentling her words she tells him, "Logan you are going to help us catch this woman."

Logan looks over at Veronica and notices the changes in her. She is gone from being hot to really beautiful. Her body is more toned and muscular. He imagines that it is from her workouts to be an agent. Her hair is long and pulled up into a twist on the back of her head. He face is perfectly made up. She has a much more confident air about her. She has the necklace Lilly gave her around her neck and the diamond is nestled in her cleavage.

Veronica looks down at her lap top and then up at him. "I have some questions to ask you about your routine, friends and coworkers and then I want to run the sketch routine and see if we can get a picture of your stalker."

Logan looks at her and asks, "When am I getting out of here? I have to be on set tomorrow."

"Your assistant will run things in the early morning, but you and I will be there just before lunch," she reassures him.

Logan looks at Veronica and says firmly, "That is not good enough." He can't believe that he is being told what to do. He has a lot of obligations. It is a busy part of the filming.

A little dismissively Veronica tells him, "It really is for the best."

"I never asked for you to be involved. I will hire more security, I don't need you," he tells her.

Veronica's eyes flash with anger. She says in a controlled voice, "Really Logan. How has that security team worked out? You are shot and Joe might die. His wife and child may have to do without him. Maybe next time she will get you, your assistant, a guard in the building or maybe one of the stars of the show. Who is an acceptable loss Logan? Who can die so you can get back to working on your precious picture?"

Logan's face tightens. He says, "You are fired Veronica."

She stands and gets next to his bed. She hisses very quietly, "I don't work for you Logan. Now I suggest you shut up and follow my instructions to the letter or you may find that your permits to work outside in Philadelphia and New York just might be revoked. You need local cooperation of the police department in a few scenes and you need federal cooperation for the scene by the docks." Logan looks at Veronica in total shock. For her part, Veronica looks at Logan with contempt. She says, "I thought you got over your omniscient phase in high school Logan. You are a producer/director and apparently good at it. That's great. I get that a lot of money is involved and you are under a lot of time constraints. Your life and the people around you are in danger. You need to be a lot more cooperative. I understand from Joe's partner that you went off schedule and weren't where you were supposed to be."

Logan looks at Veronica and his eyes narrow angrily. "What are you saying Agent Mars?" he almost sneers.

"Nice look Logan. Very high school" she retorts and then adds, "I am saying that you cannot change your routine without letting the security personnel know. It leaves cracks in the security that your stalker can get in."

Logan says dangerously, "Are you saying it was my fault that Joe was shot?"

Frowning as she thinks about what happened, "We don't know how she got in yet. Any judgment would be premature. I am saying that you were off schedule and we need to determine if your stalker set that up or it was client caused or security caused."

Logan looks a little taken a back as he thinks about the possibilities. Slowly he asks as he thinks, "You think my stalker could have set up the problems I've been having on the set?"

Explaining the direction of her thoughts, Veronica points out, "By all accounts, you have been having a lot more problems on this picture than others you have worked on. What has changed?"

Logan thinks for few seconds and says contemplatively, "Well there are more action and outdoor shots in this movie but I've dealt with that before." Veronica watches quietly as Logan thinks for a few minutes. Finally he says, "Veronica, how did she get on set? It is a closed set. How did she know I would be in the editing trailer at that time? Only someone who knows how pictures work would know I would have to go there before the next shot."

Veronica smiles at Logan and exclaims; "Now we are getting somewhere." She pulls her chair closer to the bed and sits down. She picks up her computer and says, "Let's get down to work Logan." Both are now energized and determined.

Leaning back, Veronica taps a few keys and with satisfaction tells him, "You have been very helpful! We made a lot of progress tonight." Veronica shuts down the computer. She groans slightly and stretches her arms above her head, "It was a long flight here and I am ready for bed." She looks over at Logan and says, "Now about our marriage."

More relaxed now that they are working together, Logan teases, "Are we happily married?"

Veronica smirks and answers, "You are totally satisfied."

"Of course," he returns smartly, "What about you?"

Laughing she tells him, "Well that goes without saying as I am married to one of the sexiest men of this year."

Logan laughs and says, "You haven't changed much Ronnie."

Sobering she tells him, "You have no idea." She gets up and sits on the edge of his bed. She looks at her watch and shares, "In the next half hour, we will be escorting you out of here. We cancelled your hotel suite and rebooked you in a rented condo in a building with state of the art security."

"I normally stay near the crew," he tells her.

Nodding, she meets his gaze and says, "I know but you are too exposed in a hotel. There are too many factors to consider." Putting her hand on his gently, she adds, "If you are protected at night and to and from the set, I will be able to focus more on finding your stalker." Logan twists his hand to take hers and then listens as Veronica tells him the new security precautions. She says, "As your wife, I can't be with you all the time as it would look suspicious. I am going to visit you on the set and stay in your trailer a lot but I will stay out of your way."

Logan asks her how she is going to explain that they are married and the press had no idea. Veronica bites her lip a little, "I was chosen because of our past history together. The press will have no trouble believing we could be together since we dated before. The press release will simply say that I have been overseas working in Venezuela. You had to come back to the States to shoot the film and I was going to join you when I finished my current project. Your shooting has brought me home earlier to be by your side."

"What kind of work are we going to say you do?" he asks.

Veronica looks at her phone when it buzzes and tells him, "I am a photojournalist Logan. I got my degree from NYU."

Logan looks at Veronica in surprise, "I thought you went to the academy?"

Veronica looks up and answers, "I did Logan. They sent me to NYU. I work for the FBI. I do a lot of assessment type work for the FBI. They send me on assignment and I go as a photojournalist. I write the story and sell it to whatever magazine or newspaper and I also get the information the FBI needs."

"So you actually have a real photojournalism career," he nods and then asks, "Is that what we are going to say you were doing while we were apart?"

Veronica points out, "It is better to stick with the truth. Anyone can look me up and see the articles I have written as I travel."

Thinking, Logan agrees, "That could work. I travel a lot. We could have met up and hooked up." Veronica tells Logan that since he got back from France last month, he hasn't really been seeing anyone so they are going to have been married one month. Understanding the time line he admits, "I have been really busy in preproduction."

She explains how their marriage license was issued in France and they were married quietly when he stayed in Paris. It turns out Veronica had been there doing a shoot on the improvements to the Effle Tower. Logan asks, "How am I going to explain to my friends that I didn't tell them I got married."

"Hopefully, it won't be for long," she explains as she reaches down to get her purse. "I will tell mine it was a spur of the moment decision and I kept it quiet until such time we could be together more."

Logan nods and says, "That will actually work. I have been so busy that I haven't seen or talked to my friends much." There is a pause as Logan thinks about their marriage cover. He suggests, "Why don't you pretend to be doing a story about me? That would give you free reign on the set."

Wrinkling her nose as she thinks about his suggestion, she finally tells him, "It is not my usual type of story but it would make sense that you would allow me to do the story. You are known to be pretty camera shy."

Logan smirks and says, "It's odd that I would marry paparazzi."

Veronica pretends to be offended and answers smartly, "I am not a paparazzi."