Hi all. This is my second story, and since I was unsure about the uploading process of my last one, I missed a few steps. This time I will disclaim. Any recognisable characters are not mine. New characters are.

Please note that this story is set a little in the future. Lets say, its about mid-2011.

Also, parts of this story is not new, I've seen the basic idea done before, but this is my version and is hopefully pretty unique. If I have stolen any ideas, I truly apologise, but rest assured I'm not into plagiarism. Please feel free to leave any comments or advise - we're all here to improve! Enjoy :)

1. The Morning After

They were awoken early one morning in mid-summer by the shrill cry of a toddler. Lorelai rolled over and glared at the baby monitor on her nightstand, blaming it for her interrupted sleep before the cries of her daughter registered. Grumbling, she moved to roll out of bed before Luke grasped her arm to keep her in bed.

"I'll go," he whispered in her ear, "It's only an hour before my alarm anyway."

Nodding her consent without a second thought, Lorelai snuggled back into her pillows preparing for the sleep she'll return to once Luke had calmed their screaming baby. She waited minutes but the screaming continued. Instead of calming down, Kaley's screams became more and more intense. Sighing, Lorelai climbed out of bed and made her way to the nursery.

Walking down the hallway in their house, the one they bought once Lorelai discovered she was pregnant with Will, she heard Luke talking to their baby daughter. "Come on, Baby Girl," Luke muttered as he rocked a red-faced, tear stained, Kaley in his arms, "Tell me what's wrong. Tell me where it hurts."

Lorelai approached them and placed her hand on Kaley's forehead as Luke turned her in his arms towards the door. "Something's wrong," he told her, "She won't calm down."

"I noticed," Lorelai murmured, "Something was bound to be, all this screaming and she's been sleeping through the night for almost a year now. Come here, Baby," she cooed as she reached for Kaley and pulled her into her arms, "Everything's going to be just fine." Kaley continued to scream. Lorelai brushed a hand over Kaley's forehead and through her dark curls before informing Luke, "She's warm and stuffy, but that could just be from all the crying."

"We'll calm her down and take her to the paediatrician when it opens." Luke told her with a worried frown.

"Okay, Mister Worried Daddy," Lorelai teasingly agreed with a smile, "I doubt it's anything worse than the sniffles though. She'll be fine."

"I'd still like to be sure."

"I know, hon, but remember, we're not being over-bearing over-protective parents, right?"

"And if it was a skinned knee, I'd gladly put a band-aid on it and kiss it better, but when it's something like this and I can't see where it hurts..." he trailed off.

"Okay," she said, turning her attention to her baby girl, "Shh, everything's just fine," she assured her. She was determined to be overly calm about this, knowing that Luke would worry enough for the both of them. Knowing she was being silly, she consciously ignored that gnawing feeling in her gut.

-XooooX-

She had been rushing around all day. It turned out that Kaley just had a cold, but she was grumbly and over-tired and Lorelai didn't manage to put her down until late afternoon. She had a number of chores she'd been putting off that needed to get done, and had plans to for an up-coming wedding she needed to work on. Luke had been busy at work all day, there rarely being less than three or so people in the diner during the summer. Will had yet to be picked up from his summer day camp, and Lorelai did not have enough hands or time.

She'd just managed to get a moment to pour over her notes when she was interrupted by a jingle from the front door bell. Grumbling, Lorelai spared her work a lingering look before she gave up and headed through to the front door. She slowly made her way there, collecting the discarded toys residing in the path on her way.

"I'm coming!" Lorelai called as the visitor began to knock at the front door.

A military soldier, tall and broad, stood on Lorelai's doorstep. He stood rigid with his cap in his hands, and asked politely, "Are you Lorelai Danes?"

Lorelai stood dumbstruck for a moment, not sure where she was, lost for a moment somewhere in time. "Uh, yeah," she answered finally with a weak smile, "That's me." All reasons for his presence on her doorstep were conveniently ignored.

"I'm Private Kenny Watson, Ma'am, I'm not sure if Rory told you about me at all, but I was stationed in the platoon she's reporting with in Israel."

He paused to take a breath, and Lorelai interjected, "Oh, right. Yes, I believe she's mentioned you a couple of times. You came home recently?"

"Uh yes, I was sent home to comment on the humanitarian issues that Rory has been writing about. What she's been writing about has become a high priority in recent weeks, and there's been major disruption."

"Uh, yeah, I've heard that it's getting more violent..." Lorelai prodded him when he failed to continue, "Kenny, uh, Private Watson? Did you, uh, want to come in?"

He looked around at the large yard and the neighbouring houses in the distance for a moment before nodding and following Lorelai into the house. Taking a seat on a chair across from her on the couch, he cleared his throat and tried to remember the speech he'd put together in his head. "Um... look, I um, I spoke to Colonel Spinnard late last night, the big boss of the operations in the area we're stationed in, and he asked me to come here and talk to you. To tell you that there was an uprising last night. The Israeli Government was unprepared... we were unprepared and..." as he spoke, Lorelai felt her heart stop beating. She held her breath, afraid of what the Private was saying. He continued, "There was an attack. Some of the people in the platoon came out, but they were unable to go back in after those who didn't... Rory and the other journalists didn't walk out. There's no real way of knowing, but in our experience, we have no hope for them. There was so much fighting, and bombing... I'm so sorry." he finished lamely.

Time stood still. She did not breath. Her heart did not beat. The hands on the clock did not move. The sun did not shine. The wind did not blow. The earth did not rotate.

Lorelai stared straight in front of her, unable to even begin to process what Private Watson had said. No thought crossed her mind. Watson began to mutter something about leaving that went completely ignored by Lorelai. It was not until he was heading out that she was struck back to reality by the door slamming behind Luke as he entered.

"Lorelai!" he called just before he caught sight of an unknown man standing in his foyer.

Private Watson introduced himself to Luke but did not like the idea of explaining again what he had come to tell Lorelai. He was saved by Luke turning his attention to a strucken Lorelai hovering in the doorway. "Lorelai?" he asked as all the breath left him; just seeing her like that... And an army officer in the house...

"I'm so sorry," Watson said once again, "I... Rory was so amazing. Unique. I-" he shook his head, unable to go on, and instead excused himself and left the house as quickly as he could.

Understanding dawned on Luke. He felt as dumbstruck as his wife looked, and it took him too many moments before he enveloped her in his arms, both of them pressing their eyes closed tightly as if praying it all to be undone. He held her tightly, needing to hold her and tell her he was there, but also to feel her hold him. She barely grasped him, almost oblivious to where she was or what was going on. The lighter she held him, the tighter he held her, as if he was afraid she'd just float away.

-XooooX-

The figure huddled on the earthen floor in the corner of the dark room was small and petite. She woke up disoriented and unaware of her surroundings. Stretching, she noted all the pains shooting up her body, injured muscles, her body covered in bruises and what she believed was probably a few broken ribs. There was a rank smell in the room, and as she let her eyes adust to the dark, she realised there was not much to see in the small radius her eyes could manage. She saw some dark figures in the room with her, but could not discern their shape or recognise whether they were human or not.

She shifted slightly, then groaned in pain when the movements disturbed her injured limbs. People in the room heard her move, and someone asked, "Mary?" before the another corrected him, "Her name's Rory, son. Rory? Are you okay?"