Chapter Text
“I cannot believe you are going on another Challenge,” Millie sighed as she slathered on more sunscreen and settled in the comfortable chaise by Logan and Veronica’s pool.
Millie’s new boyfriend Carlos was keeping Logan company as he grilled some burgers and talked surfboards. In addition to a graduate degree, Millie had found herself a California hottie at UCLA. The couple were going to house sit and enjoy the beach while Logan and Veronica were away.
“It’s been two years and if we are going to do this baby thing,” Veronica rolled her eyes but couldn’t hide the smile on her face, “it might be our last chance.”
“But you can go anywhere and stay in actual nice places, why sleep in tents and fly coach,” she wrinkled her nose.
“We’ve done that, you know, Paris for our honeymoon and those 3 weeks in Australia last year for our anniversary, but this is a chance to see a bunch of places and you know me, I like the challenge part.”
“I remember,” Millie nodded as she sipped the sangria Veronica had made, “also, I need the recipe for this.”
“It’s in the binder in the kitchen. It’s the page with red wine stains all over it,” Veronica grinned.
“I am sure Mark will be thrilled to have you guys back, he emails every now and then and tells me horror stories of teams, no names of course. I think he wants me to feel better about all my scenes with Chuck.”
“You were young,” Veronica shrugged.
“It was only 2 years ago, and I am only 3 years younger than you,” she noted.
“You had never left the US, never been with anyone other than Chuck, never BEEN with Chuck,” Veronica bobbed her eyebrows, “you were young. You are the one that should be doing this again, with your new hot boyfriend and your worldly persona.”
“I am spoiled by the upgrades you guys keep throwing my way, thanks for that bump to Thailand by the way,” she toasted Veronica.
“Way too long a flight to suffer in coach,” Veronica grinned.
“Says the woman signing up for nearly a month of coach.”
“Food is ready!” Logan called and the women slipped on cover-ups and joined the guys in the pool house.
Logan ferried potato salad and cut watermelon from the mini fridge and refreshed everyone’s drinks. Veronica ignored the stares at the quantity of ketchup she used on her burger and Logan passed the potato salad along with only a teaspoon’s worth on his plate.
“Carlos, you are officially my dad’s favorite person for driving us to Santa Monica. We could just take an Uber, but he insists on someone seeing us off.”
“And he seems fine with that person being you,” Logan grinned and bit into his burger.
“It is the least I can do for letting us stay here, this is like a vacation for us from the tiny LA apartment life. And your dad is welcome any time to come swim or whatever, he has my number,” Carlos smiled warmly, and Veronica sighed at how happy she was Millie found this nice guy.
“If the forecast holds, he might take you up on that,” Veronica bit into the watermelon and it dripped down her chin and Logan chuckled reaching out to wipe it off.
While their last race started at Dodger Stadium, this one was kicking off at the Santa Monica Pier. It had less of a pull for Keith and Carlos was happy to drive them as he knew the area well.
“I’m going to come and surprise Mark,” Millie said.
“Awesome, he won’t believe his eyes,” Veronica smiled warmly.
The young woman Veronica had met on their first Challenge was now a chic sophisticated world traveler.
When everyone was done eating, Veronica showed them all out to the firepit with their drinks. She quickly cleaned up the simple meal and joined them with stuff to make S’mores.
“We did one challenge where we had to dig through a pile of manure for a clue,” Millie remembered, as they shared stories of the Challenge for Carlos.
“Logan thought it would be a great idea to stand behind me and I could do the bottom of the pile while he reached over me for the higher spots,” Veronica went on giving her husband a dirty look, “all he achieved was pushing me closer to the giant pile of cow crap.”
“You got to hide your face in my chest, and I got the clue,” he pointed out and presented her with a perfectly toasted marshmallow.
“You still married him,” Carlos noted.
“I did, mmmmm,” Veronica moaned as she bit into the S’more.
“Can you imagine inventing something as perfect as the S’more?” Millie asked as she created her perfect bite.
“I invented waffle ice cream sundaes when I was little,” Veronica countered
“Pretty sure the Belgians have been doing that for a while,” Logan laughed.
“Where do you think you are going?” Millie was starting to get a little jealous that she wasn’t going on the trip.
“No idea, Mark would give us nothing. I thought for sure after winning our last Challenge we would get some clue, but he is tight-lipped,” Veronica took the next marshmallow from Logan.
“Do you eat them or just toast them?” Carlos laughed.
“Sometimes she gives me a bite,” Logan replied.
“Wanna bite?” Veronica asked with her mouth full of 75% of the new S’more.
“I’m good,” her husband winked, and she swallowed a little harder than normal.
A full day on the beach and by the pool with their friends, sun and good food and good booze and the promise of 3 weeks alone with her husband had Veronica in an incredibly happy place.
“I’ll share the next one.”
“Is that my cue to get toasting?” he leaned over and kissed a speck of chocolate from her mouth.
After saying goodnight to Millie and Carlos and retreating to their bedroom at the other end of the house, Veronica tossed a few more pairs of underwear in her pack.
“Do we have everything?” Veronica asked and Logan twirled her into his arms and kissed her deeply, the warm chocolate marshmallow taste still on her tongue.
“We have time for that in the morning,” Logan managed between kisses. “now I want to have sex in our big comfy bed one last time for a few weeks.
“We had some great sex on the last Challenge,” she remembered fondly.
“I know, but watching you eat those S’mores really turned me on,” Logan admitted and picked her up and tossed her on the bed, her laugh quickly deepened to a moan when his hands slipped up under her cover up and teased her.
“I could get behind this plan,” she arched her back.
“It is easier if you are in front,” he winked as he pulled his tee shirt off.
She wrinkled her nose at his quip but reached up to pull him down on top of her anyway.
***555***
Keith arrived the next morning to say good-bye and collect Pony.
“We don’t mind keeping her,” Millie said in case Keith was worried.
“I know, Millie, and I appreciate that, but without Veronica at work I will be lonely,” he batted his eyes at his daughter.
“Replaced by my own dog,” Veronica huffed.
“Wait until we have that kid, he won’t remember our names,” Logan stage whispered.
“Watch it, Landon,” Keith teased and shook his son-in-law’s hand.
“Don’t spoil the dog, she is mean to us when we get her back,” Veronica hugged her dad and then leaned down to hug the dog.
“Well, I do feed her better than I fed you,” Keith mused.
“I’ll email when I can,” Veronica smiled at her dad, “and if you want to come and take a swim text Carlos and give him a heads up, don’t just show up with your snorkel and life preserver.”
“Do I ever show up unannounced?”
“Not after that time you caught Logan cooking naked in the old apartment,” Veronica laughed.
“I saw nothing,” Keith shuddered.
“That counter was just the right height,” Logan held his hand up right above his waist.
“Be safe and have fun,” Keith kissed Veronica’s cheek and collected Pony and her stuff and headed out as Logan began stowing their Challenge packs in the back of Carlos’s SUV.
It was a gorgeous day and the ride to Santa Monica was easy and passed with good conversation. Global Challenge had set up a small parking area not too far from the pier, but Carlos found a public spot.
“I thought we could have lunch and go on the Ferris wheel,” he smiled at Millie and she leaned over the gearshift to kiss him.
“Remember when we were young and in love?” Veronica sighed and leaned against Logan.
“Which time?” he kissed the top of her head and felt her body shake with laughter.
“Hope this spot isn’t too far a walk,” Carlos said as Logan hefted the packs.
“This is nothing, we will lug these packs many miles over the next few weeks,” Logan slid his sunglasses on.
“And that’s just the airports,” Millie smirked, and he punched her in the shoulder.
Veronica loved the relationship Logan and Millie had; it was a sibling relationship they both sorely needed.
A young woman with a clipboard approached, “Welcome to Global Challenge, checking in?”
“Yes, Veronica and Logan Echolls,” Veronica said and that was a change from the last race when they were still single.
“Got you right here, welcome back!” the girl noticed they were return Challengers.
“Thanks,” Logan smiled.
“Your friends are welcome to hang out, we will be getting started in about 30 minutes. Here are your lanyards, you need these and your passports of course to get ticketed for all your flights.”
“Thanks,” Logan smiled and wrapped the lanyards around his wrist.
The foursome found a nice bench in the sun and waited until Veronica saw Mark approaching.
“Well, three of these four are trouble,” he said with a grin.
“Hey, Mark, you are stuck with us 2 for 3 weeks,” Veronica stood and gave the man a hug.
“And I am just the surprise guest, here to say hello,” Millie stood, her previously long hair cut into a sleek bob, held back with sunglasses. Her skin was tanned from a couple years in California and her whole posture was taller and prouder.
“Millie, you look great, California suits you,” he gave her a hug.
“This is Carlos, my boyfriend. Carlos, Mark Lewis, he runs this circus.”
The two men shook hands and chatted for a bit while Millie said good-bye to Logan and Veronica.
“Get a good spot so you can run to the cars. Kick ass,” she kissed Logan’s cheek and hugged Veronica.
“We will,” Veronica promised. Carlos said his good-byes to the couple while Millie chatted with Mark and Logan and Veronica left them to get that good position with a straight run to the Challenge marked cars.
***555***
The sun was hot overhead and Logan donned a Navy baseball hat, offering Veronica his foldable sunhat.
“I’m OK,” she smiled and curled into his side.
While they waited for Mark to give them the go sign for their first clue, Logan and Veronica scoped out their travelling companions.
A lot of male/female pairings around their age in the 11 or so teams they saw milling about. A team of two middle aged women, an older man and younger woman that they both hoped were a father/daughter pair, an older woman/younger woman pair that was a mother daughter based on the family resemblance, a male/female couple Keith’s age and a younger female pair.
“Are they twins?” Veronica whispered and nodded toward the younger two women who were both young, thin and blonde.
“Think so,” Logan kissed the top of her hot head.
“Everyone looks nice,” she smiled into his chest.
“You are mellow today,” Logan said, suspicion lacing his words.
“I’m just happy,” she said with a shrug and turned her face up for a kiss.
“I see Logan and Veronica are picking up where they left off,” Mark came to the front of the crowd and Veronica glared at him.
“Welcome everyone to Global Challenge, I hope you are ready for an exciting few weeks. My name is Mark, and I will be with you all along the journey. In each of our locations we will have staff and local support and your safety is our top priority. We have 3 returning pairs on this challenge, two of them got engaged on their last challenge, the aforementioned Logan and Veronica,” Mark pointed, and the pair waived with a grin.
“Bob and Joyce,” Mark pointed to the pair around Keith’s age,” also got engaged on the challenge. And Linda and Karen met on a challenge 5 years ago when they each travelled with their husbands, they left their husbands at home this time.”
Linda and Karen, the middle-aged female pair raised their fists in triumph of ditching their men and everyone cheered.
“In just a few minutes, I will give you the go ahead to run down the pier to your luggage there at the end,” Mark pointed to their bags all lined up, “on top of the bags you brought with you today is your first route marker with your first destination. Also included is a small amount of cash for this leg. The cash will be needed for any expenses other than plane tickets and your meal at the pit stop at the end of the leg. Cash can be conserved, but you will be responsible for exchanging it in each country. Your flights are prepaid, and some legs will have multiple flight choices with limited number of seats on each flight, so getting to the airport early is an advantage. Your pit stop will be the end of the leg, some of the stops are hotels, some are more…rustic. All will have hot running water, hot meals and plenty of spacer to relax and recharge.”
Logan could feel Veronica’s body tense as she rose on her toes, ready to run.
“This is a challenge, you will receive points for each leg based on your finish spot, and the winner will receive a prize, but more than that, these next weeks should be about the journey. About pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, about discovering new lands and sharing it with your partner and the other teams. It should be an adventure you never forget.”
Someone in the back whooped and everyone laughed.
“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Mark smiled, “on your mark, get set, go see the world!” he threw down his arm and all 12 teams took off down the boardwalk towards the world.
Without the weight of their packs, Veronica and Logan made good time down the pier and Veronica tore into the clue.
“Make your way to the “Hand in the Sand” in Uruguay,” she read as Logan took their bags and headed for the marked cars.
“Oooo, we didn’t go to South America last time,” he said as he closed the trunk and hopped behind the wheel of the car.
“Already exciting,” Veronica smiled as she pulled her seatbelt across her body as Logan backed out of the space, setting a course for LAX.
Veronica reviewed the flight options, “This might be a trick, one leaves earlier than the other, but the layovers might be different. Divide and conquer?”
“Which airlines?” Logan asked as he made a turn.
“American and United.”
“Too far apart, we will have to sweet talk the agent. Which one leaves first?”
“American.”
“United it is then; odds are it is a trap for leg one.”
“Totally agree,” Veronica stowed the clue in her crossbody bag and sat back and let Logan drive.
When they got to the United counter, they saw no other teams around and the counter had a young blonde woman working.
“All you, big guy,” she patted his shoulder.
“That is presumptive of heteronormative paradigms,” he teased.
“I’m willing to play the odds,” she winked and stayed with their bags.
Logan approached the counter with his slow “aww shucks” smile and the woman perked up at his approach.
“Well, hello,” she smiled, and he knew he was in.
“I was hoping you could help me. I’m with the Global Challenge group,” he flashed his lanyard, “and I was wondering if you could cross check the other flight option we have. We really want to fly with you guys,” he smiled again.
“I’m really not supposed to,” she frowned, and Logan just waited, “but I can tell you, you will not regret flying United,” she winked.
Logan wasn’t sure if her promise really had anything to do with the Challenge or his chances with a certain gate agent, but he took her at her word and took tickets on that flight.
“For you and your sister?” she asked with a smirk, but there was no missing his wedding ring.
“Wife,” he blushed at being caught, “Veronica,” and handed over both their passports and lanyards.
The tickets were printed, and the woman wished them pleasant travels. The pair had time to cross check the American flight and they were good, the layover on that flight was twice as long as theirs, so even though it left 30 minutes later their flight landed almost an hour earlier.
“Good job, Echolls,” Veronica high fived him.
“This makes flirting a little harder,” he waggled his wedding ring at her.
“Exactly why I put a ring on it,” she grinned and slipped into a newsstand for water.
There was only room for 4 teams on the better flight and Logan and Veronica met 6 of their compatriots: Linda and Karen the older ladies who had left their husbands at home; Jim and Marsha the (thankfully) father and daughter and Colin and Christy, who were dating.
“I’m Logan and this is Veronica,” Logan introduced as everyone went around and said hello, they had 40 minutes until their first flight boarded.
“So, you guys did this once before?” Colin asked Karen, Linda, Logan and Veronica.
“Yeah, it was five years ago for us, we were a little bit younger,” Karen cringed.
“We’ll rock it,” Linda encouraged her.
“And you guys got engaged?” Christy, Colin’s girlfriend smiled wide, like she was hoping for a similar ending.
“Yep, she proposed on a train platform in India and I bought her a ring at a seaside shop in Australia,” Logan said with a sweet smile. Veronica flashed the Australian opal ring with her thin wedding band.
“That is so romantic,” Christy sighed, and Veronica thought she saw Colin roll his eyes, he kind of looked like Piz.
“So, what brings you back?” Jim, the dad of the father/daughter team asked.
“We had a great time and our jobs worked out to give us a large enough break to do it again,” Logan shrugged.
“And we are planning on having a baby and well, once that happens it will be a good long time before we can be alone for 3 weeks,” Veronica shared, and Logan looked at her.
They had been discussing the baby thing, pretty seriously, but it was very unlike his wife to share with people she just met. He gave her a slightly raised eyebrow and she just shrugged.
“If I say it, it is real,” she said quietly, and he kissed her temple.
“What do you do for work?” Jim ignored the intimate moment.
“I am a private investigator, and this guy is in the Navy,” Veronica answered.
“Oh no,” Marsha, the daughter sighed.
“Semper Fortis, Son. What’s your rank?”
“Lieutenant Commander,” Logan smiled, “You a Navy man?”
“Retired, Commander Evans,” he nodded, and Logan saluted.
“This will be fun,” Marsha looked past the two men and sighed.
“Usually, it is my job that raises eyebrows,” Veronica laughed and invited Marsha over to sit with her while the two Navy guys talked in the crazy shorthand Veronica barely understood.
“It’s cool that you are on this trip with your dad, I work with mine, but I could never spend 3 weeks straight with him,” Veronica offered Marsha some almonds from her bag.
“We haven’t always been close, he was away a lot when I was a kid and then he and my mom got divorced,” Marsha admitted, “but he’s my dad and he is really a good guy. I hope we have a good time.”
“Have you travelled a lot?”
“Yeah, actually I travel a lot for my job, I do IT for a travel company and they have offices all over, so travel and strange food and stuff are pretty normal for me.”
“And your dad is military? You’ll be fine,” Veronica promised as she polished off the small bag of almonds.
Finally, the United Gate agent announced the boarding of their flight.
“You ready, babe?” Logan reached down a hand and pulled Veronica to her feet.
“To travel the world with you? Absolutely,” she leaned up on her toes and kissed him before shouldering her bag and shuffling into the herd of people waiting to get on the plane.
TBC…