Title: Five Minutes: A History of Disappearance

Author: leezh

Beta Reader: karathephantom (thank you for the beta!)

Chapter Summary: Never would she imagine the devil himself popping up between the toppings of her hotdog…

Disclaimer: I'm waiting here for ASP to call the police on me 'coz I'm kidnapping her characters. evil laughs

Notes: Future fic, sets several years after season 7. The first installment of the 'Countdown' series. Written for fivebyfiction challenge at Livejournal.

COUNTDOWN

Because they're just meant to be…

"Five Minutes: A History of Disappearance"

Honestly, all she was doing was buying – or rather, attempting to buy - her lunch in the middle of downtown New York one completely innocent afternoon, when it all happened.

Well, she probably should have known. There were some people who were extremely good at the art of appearing and disappearing in a blink of an eye, and he was clearly one of the experts.

The old expert.

But never would she imagine the devil himself popping up between the toppings of her hotdog.

Rory Gilmore was watching Joe (the hotdog guy) applying some mayonnaise over her hotdog when a figure emerged on the corner of her eyes, approaching the stand. She gave it no further attention as she saw the glimpse of a certain bottle in the vendor's hands.

"Whoa, wait, Joe, I don't want some chili today, just-"

"Rory?"

She remembered that voice too well.

Rory just needed to turn her head slightly to her side to confirm the identity of the voice's owner.

"Jess?"

"What are you-" they both asked at the same time, before falling into silence, knowing exactly how the most standard question would go.

It was he who recovered quicker.

"Got stuff," he said.

It was a simple answer, one that was too short with no real explanation. It was the typical Danes' family trait that applied to the guys, who were monosyllabic at best.

Rory wondered whether there was anything in him that was changed. So far, there was nothing she could see. His fashion style wasn't that drastically matured since she last saw him in Philadelphia, as he still sported the t-shirt-with-suit look, only instead of jeans he had dark fabric pants on. He still got some bangs over his face, there was no goatee visible, and much to her delight, he hadn't lost his intense gaze.

But Jess never ceased to amaze her.

"Liz got another baby," he continued. "She and T.J. were here when it happened."

However, some things are still too hard to change, after all, because those two quick lines turned out to be the extent of his new elaborating behavior.

He eyed her, next, in silence, from top to bottom, and she wondered whether her skirt was too short or too corporate. Usually she went with laid back as she did much traveling, but in a short period of time when she stayed domestic, she just wanted to give out a sophisticated look and hence picked the skirt and blazer.

She was nervous about her hair too, which she had grown back to the high school length, but then she wondered why Rory Gilmore cared about Jess Mariano's opinion so much.

"You look – well," he commented. "Now senior online correspondent, huh?"

"Yeah," she agreed, and then they took another pause.

"I finally got your second book." It was her turn to break the silence. "It's amazing, Jess."

He shrugged. "Helps pay the bills."

Rory smiled. Definitely not much of a change.

"Miss Gilmore?"

Both Rory and Jess turned to look at Joe the hotdog guy.

"Your hotdogs?" Joe helpfully reminded her, his hands full. "One with everything but chili, and one just with ketchup?"

"Yes, thanks, Joe." She gave him the money, taking the hotdogs from him. She could feel Jess' stare on her, burning her face, and suddenly a crazy question popped up in her mind.

Does he possibly wonder whether the hotdog is for Lo-

"I heard he ran off with a supermodel," he said quietly, didn't use any name, but both of them knew exactly whom he was talking about.

"The amount of pressure became too much," she replied, amazed that she could defend the man who said that he would commit his entire life for her in marriage but later eloped to Italy after a suspected one night stand. "He needed the freedom."

But Rory had to admit that Logan was just a history.

Unfortunately, it was also a history that she had said that she loved Logan a few years back. And by the indications, Jess remembered that particular bit of history as well, where she once chose Logan over him, because she noticed that his lunch was forgotten in an instant.

"Well, it's nice meeting you," he said, though the way he said it, he could as well mean the other way around. "Goodbye, Rory."

Okay, she got a goodbye now.

But-

"Jess?"

He turned, his expression was indescribable.

"Do you have a number I can contact you with? Let me just rush over to Susie-" she referred one of the hotdogs in her hands to a blond girl, sitting on a bench who was waving back at her, smiling. "- and give her our lunch so I can jot it down."

Both of them said nothing of some sort, but she could feel the mood lifted up in all of the sudden as she ended up copying his number, address, and even email address, to which he did likewise.

By the time Jess excused himself to hurry to the hospital, Rory felt that this time, their parting left no hurricane as it used to. She thought it was nice of them to find each other again, when all she was doing was attempting to buy her lunch in the middle of downtown Manhattan one completely innocent afternoon.

Yes, Rory mused, making her way to Susie, smiling as she did so, it is definitely nice.

To be continued…