Chapter One – Karma Police

Her head was in her hands. Her shirt was ripped and smeared with blood, and her face was wet with tears. But she bit her lip angrily and refused to let herself cry any more than she already had. Too many tears had already been spilled that evening. Finn was pacing nervously in front of her, his hands jerking through his hair.

There's nothing like a car wreck to sober you up.

A man in scrubs and a clipboard walked briskly to Rory and Finn from down a hall, and stopped in front of her chair, glancing at his clipboard. He paused and looked first at Rory, then at Finn.

"It appears that Mr. Huntzburger has sustained a minor concussion. We're going to keep him here for the night under observation, but he's fully conscious." He pointed down the hall he had come from. "Third door on the left."

As soon as they left the bar, she knew she shouldn't have gotten in the car. She had even been considering calling a cab, but even after four beers, Logan still had that amazing power to talk her into anything. And so he had talked her right into that car, with Finn and Colin and himself. All of them had had way too much to drink and were fully aware of the fact.

"Relax," he had said when she had started to protest. "We're ten minutes away."

"I've never got pulled over once when I've been drunk," Colin added. "And I've driven with way more to drink than this."

"If Colin can speak, he can drive," Finn slurred from the backseat, propped up against the side door.

The alcohol in her system helped her to ignore the voice of her own common sense, and she got into the car.

"As least put your seatbelts on," she said, pouncing on Finn, strapping him in, and buckling her own seatbelt. Logan got into the passenger seat. Colin fumbled with his seatbelt and was having a difficult time guiding the metal part into the buckle. He cursed under his breath and gave up, starting the car.

Colin drove exceptionally well for a person at his level of intoxication. Nevertheless, at Logan's insistence, they stayed to on back roads for as long as they could. Logan said they would be less likely to get pulled over, because cops rarely drove down the roads themselves. They would have made it back to the campus safely if it hadn't been for the squirrel that dashed across the road in front of the car. Colin swerved seconds after the creature was already off the road, and the car smashed into a tree. Logan's head hit this side window before his airbag activated, and Colin's only engaged once he had followed the glass windshield that popped out of the frame and landed headfirst in a bush. Finn hadn't moved because of the seatbelt, and Rory only felt minor whiplash. Finn was groaning and Logan was silent. Rory heard no noise from the bushes.

She undid her seatbelt and climbed out of the car, stumbling towards the bushes. The windshield was in one piece with circular cracks spanning outwards originating from where Colin's head had hit. When she saw the blood, she was overcome with nausea. She turned and vomited beside the car. She wiped her mouth and walked uncertainly to the bush where Colin had landed; horrified that he would be unconscious or worse. But the bushes rustled, and an arm emerged, and Rory helped pull him to flat ground. He was holding his other arm gingerly, and it was bent at an odd angle.

"I have to go," He said, as soon as he was able to stand. He swayed and fell over.

"We all do. I have a cell phone. I'll call an ambulance."

"That's not what I mean. I have to leave, get out of here, and you can't tell them I was here, because I'll get busted. We'll all get busted and that won't be good."

Rory looked at him, not understanding. "You're hurt, your arm is broken."

"It's nothing, not compared to what will happen if they know I crashed because I was drinking, so I'll go and you make something up."

"I can't let you go!" She cried. He was trying to pull himself to his feet. Blood was tricking down his temple from the top of his head and his hands and arms were cut up and bleeding from his plunge into the bush.

"Go call an ambulance, see if the others are okay. I'll be fine." He was on his feet again, fumbling as he walked further into the forest.

Rory had been so momentarily focused on Colin that she had forgotten about the others.

"Finn, are you alright?" She called, approaching the car again.

"Yeah," he croaked, still not having moved from his position in the backseat.

"Logan?" No response. She opened the door and shook him. "Logan!"

He rolled his head groggily. She breathed a sigh of relief. But she knew he had banged his head, and she'd seen her fair share of concussion movies. She waited until he until he had opened his eyes, then held three fingers in front of his face.

"How many?"

His brow furrowed as he tried to focus on her hand. Then his eyes widened and he looked around frantically.

"I'm going to call an ambulance," she whispered, scared.

"Where's Colin?" Finn said, struggling to free himself from his seatbelt.

"He left. Didn't want to be here when the police show up." She left Logan and went to the backseat. She fumbled through her purse until her fingers wrapped around her cell phone. She dialled 911. There was no reception.

"Dammit!" She cried. "Finn, keep an eye on Logan."

Rory started to walk back to the road they had driven on. It was dark, and after five minutes of standing there, no headlights approached. She could see lights of cars driving on an intersecting road, about a five-minute walk. She started down the road, crying, thinking of how she should have insisted they didn't drive. Logan was hurt, and Colin was roaming the woods with a broken arm. The night had been too long. She hadn't even wanted to come out to that bar with them. She was tired, she had a splitting headache, her clothes were ripped and bloody, and she just wanted to go to sleep.

"Hey, hey! Please! Someone!" She was at the road, she was frantically waving her arms, and no cars were pulling over.

After another five minutes, a police car pulled over beside her.

"Need some help there, miss?" Then he shone his pocket flashlight on her and saw the blood.

She was suddenly crying again. "We… there was an accident," She choked out.

"An accident? Where?"

Rory raised a hand and pointed a shaky finger down the road she walked up.

"Is anyone hurt?"

"Yes, the thr-" she stopped herself. "Two other people in the car."

"Why don't you sit down in the car here, miss, and can I get your name?"

"Rory. Rory Gilmore."

Rory and Finn stood hesitantly in the hallway, just outside the door to Logan's room. Finn motioned for Rory to enter first, always the gentleman. Her feet were rooted to the ground and she couldn't budge.

"It's hard for me too," he whispered, "but we have to go in."

Rory nodded. Neither of them moved.

Finn finally sighed and plunged into the room, with a grim look on his face that would be better suited to a man about to confront a homicidal maniac.

"Hey, Finn," She heard Logan's feeble voice from inside the room, and shuffled two steps farther from the door.

"You look good," Finn stammered.

"You sure? It's pretty ugly under the bandage. I'm sure it'll scare all the chicks away."

From what she could hear from the hall, Rory could tell that Logan was in good spirits. Finn seemed to gather that as well, and changed his tone.

"Nah, it's a battle wound. Chicks find that hot."

There was a brief silence. Rory took that as her cue to enter the room.

Logan didn't look as bad as she had imagined, although three hours in the police station and three more hours in the waiting room alone with Finn and her imagination had prepared her for the worst. A white bandage was wrapped around his head, but a few strands of blond hair poked through. There was a small red patch on the right side of his head, which was a great contrast to the white; blood had begun to seep through the gauze, and he needed it to be changed soon.

"Ace," he said, his face brightening when he saw her. He tried to sit up, but winced at the pain and eased himself back onto the bed. Worry clouded Rory's face. He shook his head and announced that he was fine.

She swallowed. "Does it… hurt?"

"Nah, not at all," he said, shaking his head lightly. "Though that could be all the drugs they have me on."

Finn chuckled and walked over to the window. "Have the coppers been round to you yet?"

"Yeah, but my lawyer's not here yet so I'm not obligated by law to answer anything," Logan grinned. "Why, what did you tell them?"

Rory looked gravely at Finn. "We didn't have the most convincing story."

"Them coppers aren't the brightest breed, they'll buy it." He stretched and sat on the heater the under the window.

In a room that didn't fit the stereotype of a typical interrogation room, Rory felt nonetheless exposed. It wasn't a dark room lit solely by a swinging overhead lamp, but a cold, bright and angular room that seemed to be lit from all sides. Rory dared not look at the mirrored wall; she had seen enough cop shows to know there were probably detectives sneering at her from behind it, watching her every move. She had been sitting alone for twenty minutes, and her levels of apprehension and impatience were rising.

Finally, the door opened and two cops came in. One was tall and had a friendly face, and the other was short, stocky and had a grim look of determination in his eyes. They sat in the two chairs at the opposite side of the table as Rory.

The tall cop introduced himself as Eddie Fischer, and he had a soothing quality to his voice that had an equally calming effect on Rory. He introduced his partner as Lieutenant Hoffritz.

"So, Rory," Fischer began. "Have you notified your family yet?"

She shook her head. "My mom's on a business trip, and I don't want to worry her until she gets back." This was partially true; Rory didn't want Lorelai to cut her trip short because her daughter had made a stupid mistake. Then again, Lorelai would be angry when she came back and found out that her daughter hadn't informed her right away. She hadn't phoned her grandparents because they would scowl in disappointment at her, and she didn't want to disappoint them. She also didn't want to seem like she was using them just for their connections and attorneys.

Rory figured she didn't need a lawyer, as long as she stayed relatively close to the truth.

Hoffritz cleared his throat, clearly wishing to get past the chit chat and get down to work. He glanced at a piece of paper that was in front of him on the table.

"Miss Gilmore. I'd like you to tell me what exactly happened tonight."

His voice was gruff but not entirely cruel, just commanding of authority. Rory felt a surge of adrenaline as she realized that she was about to lie to police. She was not a liar. But she had to tell the story with a slight distortion, lest she condemn herself and everyone else in the car to a far worse fate.

She took a deep breath and began to recall the events of the night, telling the cops exactly how things happened. She didn't exactly lie; she just avoided talking about Colin. She didn't mention that he'd had anything to drink. She told them about the squirrel, the crash, and how Colin went through the windshield because he wasn't wearing his seatbelt.

She paused and thought about how exactly she was going to say the next part. She had been going through what she would say in her head when she had been alone in the room, but the interrogation hadn't been going as she had planned.

"I felt dizzy. I didn't move for a bit. Finn was moving and talking and alright, and Logan wasn't moving, and he didn't respond when I called to him. I heard Colin moving around in the bushes. I figured he was fine, so I didn't move right away. When I got out of the car, I didn't know how long it'd been, I went over to the bush and he wasn't there. I called his name but he didn't answer. So I ran to the road to get help."

She slid against the back of her chair and raised her eyes to meet the cops'. They were both staring intently at her, and she was surprised to find that neither of them looked sceptical.

Next came the dreaded question. "Did Colin have anything to drink?"

Her heart pounded and she thought that they would hear it for sure. But she kept a relatively expressionless face and tired her best to keep the croak out of her voice.

"No. He was the designated driver."

"Did you get Captain Crunch and the Jolly Green Giant too?" Finn had started pacing the hospital room. It seemed to be a nervous habit.

"Hoffritz and Fischer. Yeah," She said.

"Any word on Colin?" Logan asked from the bed.

"No, I haven't heard from him since… then." Rory began to fidget with a band-aid on her finger. "I think I need some coffee."

"Go for it, Ace. If anyone can sniff out a coffee machine in this hellhole, it's you."

Rory gladly left his side. Although Logan was in a chipper mood, the tension was still thick in the room. Rory blamed herself for Logan's being in the hospital in the first place. She should have insisted they not get into the car. She should have stopped them.

As she stumbled down the hospital hall, tears erupted for her eyes again. Colin was missing and it was her fault. She should have forced them to take a cab. She should have at least put on his seatbelt for him.

She tripped over a pile of black clothes that was sticking out into the hall.

"Watch it!" the pile of clothes mumbled. Except it moved, and Rory saw through her teary eyes that was not a pile of clothes but in fact a person. The person sat up and rubbed his eyes. He stared at Rory in a stupor.

She wiped her eyes and looked back at the person. She gasped.

Dirt, razor stubble and years of drug use could not hide the fact that the person she was staring at was Jess Mariano.