(Alrighty folks! Here’s the last long awaited (or dreaded for some) chapter. I know a lot of you were upset with the spanking scene with Veronica and her dad, and for that I’m sorry. This fic was written for a specific person in mind, and I aim to please my catered to audience. She’s happy, and so am I. I do hope that the few of you who are still hanging on out there will enjoy the last chapter )

Logan stood when Keith entered. He was taller than the man, and the extra height made him feel a little better about the confrontation. He tried not to grimace at Keith as he walked into the room letting his facial features remain cold and unreadable.

Keith nodded his head in recognition before addressing Logan in all seriousness, "Let's have a talk shall we?" Keith sat on Veronica's bed next to the spot Logan had vacated. Logan watched him sit before following suit and sitting down warily next to Keith. His whole body stood rigid with pent up anxiety.

Keith took in a deep breath as he leaned his elbows down onto his lap bringing his fingertips together to center his thoughts before leveling his eyes on Logan, "I spoke to Veronica earlier today about the stunt you guys pulled last..."

Logan couldn't contain his anger as he cut Keith off, "Spoke? Funny, from what she said, there was a lot more than talking going on." He shook his head in disgust adding, "You told me that you wanted me to protect her; does that mean I should I protect her from you as well?"

Keith frowned. This wasn't going to be an easy conversation, but he knew Veronica needed him to make this right. She loved Logan, and even though he'd had his doubts about the boy, Keith realized that Logan also loved her. He paused long enough to let Logan finish his statement and to give him ample opportunity to voice any other disgruntlements before he went on. Once he was sure Logan had said what he wanted to say, he continued, "Look Logan; I know you don't agree with what I did earlier, but you need to understand that it was something I, as a father, needed to do. I love Veronica, and I never want to see anything bad happen to her. I had to make sure that she would think twice before putting herself in danger like that again."

Logan listened to Keith with a frown of his own before lowering his eyes to look at his hands at the mention of anything bad happening to Veronica. The guilt he had felt earlier had concentrated into the pit of his stomach and began to churn once more. He responded softly, "I don't think you had to go to such an extreme to get her attention."

Keith responded, "You and I both know Veronica is pretty bull-headed. Normally I wouldn't have gone to such lengths, but this isn't the first incident her and I have had this talk about. There has been a series of incidents in the past couple years that have led up to me taking this particular action. Veronica is leaving at the end of the summer to start training with the FBI, and if she doesn't start making safer decisions, she's going to get herself killed. I can't live with that, so I did the only thing I thought would open her eyes and get her to start thinking a little more clearly. I don't expect you to agree with me, but I figured for her sake, I owed you and explanation."

Logan found it hard to see a spanking as anything done out of care verses anger. When Aaron had struck him, it had always been in anger. His mother had drunk herself into a lulled stupor because of his father's vileness, and although not directly related, he had attributed the two as one and the same. Now hearing Keith speak on his fears and why he had spanked Veronica, his previous notion on the matter faltered. He had over reacted. He understood that now.

He found himself faced with the fact that he had not only helped to put Veronica in danger but that Keith must have been scared to death over the whole ordeal. He knew Veronica's dad was a good man and would never purposefully hurt her for anything but what he felt was for her own good. Grief welled up inside Logan making his chest grow tight as he said, "You don't owe me anything Mr. Mars. It's me who owes you something, namely an apology. I didn't have any right interfering with you two's family issues. I guess I just had my own head so twisted up over what happened that I lost sight of the fact that your relationship isn't like the relationship I had with my father."

Keith was happy that Logan was no longer seeing him as the bad guy, but he could tell that Logan was still really bothered by what had happened. He knew Logan was feeling guilty over the fact that Veronica had been punished and he'd been equally to blame as well as the fact that he'd put himself and Veronica in danger. The guilt was eating Logan alive, and Keith knew that the sense of resolve he and Veronica now shared was lost on Logan since he had been excluded.

So, Keith suggested the only thing he thought would make Logan feel better in the long run, "I'm glad you can look beyond your own family history to see that not all spankings are given out of contempt and rage. You've come a long ways since I first met you Logan, and I think you've proved that you are ten times the man your father would or ever could be. That's why you're feeling so badly right now. This may not be my place, but I know you're feeling guilty for the fact that Veronica was punished and you weren't. And as unappealing as the offer may sound, I'm willing to extend the same courtesy to you because Veronica cares about you and so do I. Are you willing to let this all get put behind you?"

Logan just stared at Keith jaw slightly agape stunned by the question. This was completely unexpected and a little hard to believe. Yes, he did feel he needed to be punished, but he never would have thought Keith would have thought he was in need of a spanking as well. He blinked as he thought over the question. It was a now or never moment. Would he let Keith punish him? Could he? If he said no right now, he knew things would never truly be right between them, and if he said yes? Besides the fact that he was sure it would be very unpleasant, he also knew that it would absolve him of some of the guilt he was currently feeling. Logan looked away running a sweaty hand thru his hair before looking back at Keith's patient yet expectant expression. He gulped back the lump that had started to form in his throat and nodded his compliance, "Okay." It was all he trusted himself to say and even that came out soft and slightly broken.

Keith rose off the bed and started to unbuckle his belt as he replied, "Alright then; let's get this over with. Go ahead and drop your drawers, and bend over the bed."

Logan stood feeling altogether light-headed as his nerves mixed with dreading anticipation of what he had just agreed to. His fingers felt numb as he struggled to undo his jeans. Logan paused after he'd unzipped his pants and glanced back at Keith unsure if he still wanted to go through with this. Keith gave him a small nod to encourage him that everything was going to be okay, and Logan begrudgingly turned back to face the bed as he did as he'd been instructed to do. Every second lurched in crystal clear clarity as Logan's flesh made contact with the cool fabric on Veronica's comforter. All he could think was that he was left feeling enormously exposed. Logan sucked in an anxious breath his whole body breaking out in a cold chill as he listened for Keith's next action refusing to look back because he no longer wanted to see Keith's face.

Keith understood how hard this was for Logan to agree to, and he honestly wasn't sure what Logan's reaction would be when he'd proposed the idea. Keith had been surprised himself; it wasn't his idea when he'd started the conversation with Logan, but deep down he knew that Logan needed this just as much as Veronica had. When Logan had gotten himself into place, Keith let the belt fly.

Logan did not even flinch in the slightest. He'd mentally prepared himself for the blow. It had hurt, but he had been used to blocking out physical pain. It wasn't until Keith had delivered three more swats that the protocol changed.

Keith asked Logan, "I want you to tell me why you deserve this Logan?"

Logan had never been expected to answer to his crimes during a whipping, but this punishment was different on a lot of levels. Aaron would make him take off his shirt and would lay the strap across his back, never saying one word throughout. It was just silent rage, and Logan had felt his anger laden within every stroke of his father's belt.

Keith was not angry in the least, he only wore an expression of disappointed sorrow. The look in itself made the discipline hard to deal with let alone the humiliation felt from having his bottom bared to feel the full extent the belt had to offer.

Logan had learned long ago to bury away any emotions he felt to the recesses of his mind which left only his body to feel the pain, but now, with this prodding question, he was jolted back into the present situation. He was forced to think about why he was currently bent over Veronica's bed receiving a spanking of all things. It made him an active part of his punishment, and it made avoidance impossible.

Logan grunted as a fresh lick descended. He knew why he was here, why he deserved this, but knowing it and saying it were two different things. He grimaced uncomfortably knowing he had to say something. The belt scorched his flesh again, but this time with a little bit more of a bite. Logan sucked in a quick breath before sputtering out, "I deserve this because I put Veronica in danger."

Keith brought the belt down again as he responded, "You both put yourselves in danger. You can't take fault for Veronica's actions. What's happening right now is about you, not her."

Logan tensed as another lick came; they came at an even tempo that let Logan discern he had about 3.5 seconds before the next one would fall. The calm that he had previously lulled himself into was now gone as his hands dug into the comforter sheet turning his knuckles white with each new impact. Logan thought about the gun's cold barrel buried in his back, he thought about Veronica's tears when she'd left him at Vinny's, and he thought about Keith coming to bail him out of the trouble he had gotten himself into. He had not only been a part of putting Veronica in danger, he'd also helped put Keith in a position where he could lose his job, and no, it wasn't all his fault, but enough of it was. All these moments collided with the each fresh sting, a constant reminder that he deserved this. A wake up call. And that's exactly what he was getting. It was then that the hot tears formed behind his eyes and began to spill silently down his cheeks.

Keith wasn't finished, but he was glad to see that he'd broken through Logan's shell. Now he wanted to insure that Logan would be alright. Keith spoke as he spanked, "We all make mistakes Logan; what you two did wasn't your brightest moment, but we're all human and entitled to screw up every now and then. Once we're done here, we wipe the slate clean alright? I want you to forgive yourself. Can you do that?"

Logan couldn't hold the escaping sob back as he nodded yes. Once the first sob had made its way out the bottled up tears that he'd held back poured out of him uncontrollably as he buried his head into the comforter praying for Keith to stop.

After another five swats, Keith did stop. Logan remained crying into the comforter unable and unwilling to face Keith. Keith put his belt back on and gave Logan the time he needed to get himself together.

Logan gingerly pulled up his pants with a small hiss. When he'd gotten his pants situated, he wiped away the tears that still cascaded down his face. His cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he looked back at Keith, he didn't know what to say. He wasn't angry with Keith like he'd always been with his father, Logan wasn't really sure how he felt now other than awkward and relieved that the punishment was over.

Keith sensed Logan's dismay as he walked over to him and pulled Logan into a hug. Logan was stiff, but relaxed after a moment and hugged Keith back. When Logan pulled out of the hug, Keith gave him a small smile as he said, "I guess you're really a part of the family now."

Logan shook his head unable to help the smirk that crept across his lips as he said, "If that's what it takes to be a part of the family I'm not sure I want in."

Keith chuckled giving him a pat on the back, "Well, I think it's too late for take backs."

Logan looked back down at the floor embarrassed at the thought of telling Veronica what had went down. As if sensing this Keith added, "I won't say anything to Veronica, if you don't want her to know. You can tell her we just talked, and I'll tell her the same."

Logan brought his eyes back up to meet Keith's as he gave him a small smile and responded, "You do realize who your daughter is right? Besides, I think I'm kind of done with secrets."

Keith nodded in understanding as he gave Logan a big smile responding, "She does take after her old man I guess." He turned to leave adding as he went, "Go ahead and go wash up. I'll go fix you a glass of ice water and give Veronica a call. I'm sure she's climbing the walls by now waiting to talk to you."

Logan's smile grew thinking about seeing Veronica as he headed into the bathroom to wash his face.

Veronica had been awaiting her father's call anxiously and headed back home as soon as his call came in. She was pleasantly surprised as she entered seeing her two favorite men standing in the kitchen chatting and laughing. She smiled brightly walking up and giving her dad a kiss on the cheek before coming up next to Logan and wrapping an arm around his waist squeezing him tightly to bring him closer to her.

Logan responded in kind wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her into a kiss. Keith, feeling the two would want some time to talk, picked up the bills on the kitchen counter he had to take out to the out-going mailbox and stated, "I'm going to take a walk to the corner store, you guys want anything?" Both said no, and Keith stepped out leaving the two alone.

Once her father was gone, Veronica turned a concerned eye on Logan as she asked, "Is everything okay with you two now? Or are you still mad?"

He gave her an imploring sincere look as he responded, "If you're okay; I'm okay."

She gave him another kiss grinning as she asked, "So what did he say to change your mind?"

Logan couldn't help the blush that crept into his cheeks as he said, "Let's just say he put things in perspective."

Veronica raised an eyebrow suspiciously as she teased, "You do realize I'm going to want all the gory details."

Logan rolled his eyes to the ceiling before smirking down at her, "Like I didn't know that was coming. Don't worry; we'll have plenty of time for you to grill me about all that later, for now I was thinking you and I, your bedroom, a little cuddling, and maybe a nap before dinner tonight?"

Veronica beamed as she took hold of his hand and gave him a sultry glance before replying with a smirk, "I think we can manage that."