A/N: A new story. I hope all Gilmore Girls fans reading this enjoys. I'm not writing Gilmore centric here, mainly because I'm trying to explore characters the show didn't explore too well. so, not too much Stars Hallow, Lorelai, Luke, Emily or Richard. They only make cameo appearances. This is mostly Rory and Logan centric.

Warnings! Minor language and Character Death will appear in this story.


Logan Huntzberger stood at the corner window in his new office with his arms crossed as he surveyed the view. Hartford was home, but San Francisco was a bustling metropolis with so much to offer. The beach was miles away, not just down the street, and everyone here wore suits and ties, not causal or even beach attire. Not that it was entirely appropriate for the weather, but that was only part of it. It was the base attitude of the region. West coast was work hard and and play harder. On the East Coast, it was work hard and retreat to strategize until the next day. Work here was like a war zone, and the five years away from it only brought home how difficult this life as the heir to the empire was going to be.

To all accounts that spread of his relocation, he should be happy but he found himself feeling nothing for the first time in his life and that was something that always scared him. For a minute he thought he really would turn into his father before his thoughts turned to the temporary residence he had taken up until he could find something more permanent and the numerous boxes and bags he had brought with him from California. Colin and Finn were supposed to meet him for dinner and drinks before they started work on some of the boxes. Logan hadn't seen Colin or Finn in a long time and they had some catching up to do. But even the anticipation of the evening was being held off while he surveyed the new office, a hallway down from his father's. The close proximity to Mitchum Huntzberger was enough to set anyone on edge, more so for his son who hadn't spoken to him for three years.

The whole office whispered about nepotism and thought Logan didn't hear it, but he did. He knew that everyone expected him to be just like his father and it was a point Logan vowed to disprove. His father and he were like night and day and anyone who knew either of them would know it. Logan didn't even want this job but like so many other things in his life, this was forced upon him. When HPG bought the company Logan was working for, his father had decided to promote Logan to COO. Which meant more responsibility and even though Logan knew that it was actually nepotism that landed him the gig, he also knew that he deserved it. He had joined a small promising company and became instrumental in tripling its size just by his own expertise as heir to the Huntzberger legacy. Now it seemed that his predestined role would be closing in on him, according to his father, in the next five to ten years.

Taking a deep breath, Logan ran a hand through his hair and turned away from the window to his neat, new desk. There were some things that would have to go from it and then to the box of stuff he had brought in this morning to make this office more of his own. But first, he needed some coffee. Walking out of the office, he ignored the newly appointed secretary, Gail, and walked straight to the break room to grab his own coffee and spotted a few of HPG's finest employees milled about and talking gossip. All stopped talking and froze when they saw him. Walking straight to the coffee pot, he grabbed a cup from the sink and poured himself some fresh coffee. "Oh don't stop on the account of me," he said pleasantly as he inhaled the fresh aroma and smiled, memories hitting him. He then proceeded to fix the coffee to his liking. Two spoonfuls of sugar and one small one of creamer. He turned to give them all a pleasant smile. "I'm just the Boss's son, no where near as threatening," he said and gave them a nod before walking back to his office. He set the cup down on the desk before digging into the box, his eyes glancing at the shiny gold nameplate, a gift from his father upon the promotion. After all, an important business man needs one of those.

The first thing he took out of the box was a wooden plaque with the words "There is only one success-to be able to spend your life in your own way" on it. It was a gift from Rory when he first went to London, and he had kept it with him the whole time, hung up in whatever office he occupied. He glanced around and found the perfect spot, and made a note. As he thought about it, he noted just how much he hated this office. The former COO, Bill Hardy, had horrible taste. Logan rounded the desk and looked up maintenance. If he was going to work within this office then he was going to be comfortable doing so. A little paint job and some new office furniture would do the trick nicely. Maybe some plants here and there to spruce things up too. As he thought about the spruce up, a framed picture caught his eye and he picked it up. The happy couple staring back at him was like a slap to the face. Sitting down, he tried to think of what he would say when they ran into each other. Not seeing Rory Gilmore in California was easy. Here in Hartford? Impossible.


"Oh, another good one!" Rory called as two blinking children climbed down the stairs in their new school uniforms. The boy rubbing at his eyes furiously with one hand and yanking at the tie that was around his neck, having not yet figured out how to undo it.

"Wow, you sure you have enough pictures?"

"Oh hush!" Rory chided her mother who stood behind her and took another one of her children after they reached the bottom of the stairs and grabbed their backpacks. "Remember all the ones you have of me?" she asked as she sighed happily. "Their first day of school, this is going to be heavily documented," she gushed as she looked through the pictures. "Ah, I have really outdone myself, every one of these is a keeper," and then she took another.

"Here we go, one peanut butter and banana on white with a helping of fries and one turkey and Cheddar on white, also with a helping of fries and two nutter bars each," Luke announced as he handed a bagged lunch to each child.

"Thank you Grampa Luke!" both children chorused. Both of Rory's kids had started calling Luke Grampa when they were three and hadn't stopped and they each called Christopher G-Pa and Richard and Emily were Grams and Gramps. Lorelai had taught the twins to call her Gemma Lorelai the day they started talking, claiming that it sounded better than Grandma since she felt that she was too young to be called Grandma.

"Okay, do you have everything? Do we have to run a checklist?" Rory asked as she set the camera down and squatted down in front of the twins to check to see if everything was there in the backpacks. "Pencils, colored and none colored, check, check. Pencil sharpeners, check. Erasers, check. Crayons, check. Paper, construction and lined, check, check. Glue sticks, check. She stood up. "Everything is there. Are you two ready?" she asked all too eagerly. Both twins nodded in response. Rory held her hands together as she took this moment in. "Oh the first day of the start of your academic careers," she gushed.

"You know, if you don't stop gushing and get into that car, you're going to make them late on their first day," Lorelai pointed out.

A look of horror crossed Rory's face as she considered this and looked at her watch. "Oh my gosh!" she cried, realizing the time and hurriedly ushered the twins towards the door and to the waiting car.


Lunch at the club wasn't something that Logan had been anticipating when Honor had called to schedule but here he was, sitting in the dining room of said club, filled with Hartford's elite. Out of the corner of his eye he spied Emily Gilmore with some of her DAR friends and he kept his back turned to her in case she spotted him. This was the one place he knew he would run into the Gilmores and that was something he wasn't ready for. He swallowed another mouthful of the scotch he had ordered and signaled to the waiter as he waited for Honor to arrive.

As another glass of scotch was set down in front of him and he grabbed it, he froze upon seeing her walk in. The one that got away. She had cut her hair and lightened it since he last saw her. And there were definite curls. She was dressed in a gray pencil skirt, a mint-ish blouse that was belted, a grayish jacket to match the skirt and Mary Jane heels that he remembered so well. He watched her as she looked around the room, tucking her hair behind her ear as she did so. Then she spotted her subject and shouldered her purse making a bee line towards Emily Gilmore. She didn't see him or gave no indication that she did, if she did. Logan continued to watch her as she sat down with her grandmother and the DAR ladies. Was she still in the DAR? Did she have lunch here with them regularly? Swallowing his scotch, Logan continued to ponder the enigma of his ex-girlfriend's daily social schedule when he was interrupted.

"Who ever knew that making phone calls could be so exhausting!"

Logan turned his attention away from the Gilmore women and to his sister who was pulling out a cigarette and searching for her lighter. "You know that's why Mom has cancer, right?" he asked.

Honor looked at him and the glass of scotch in his hand. "And what you're doing causes addiction and liver problems," she pointed out.

"Point taken," Logan said as he set his glass back down and signaled to the waiter, his eyes falling back to Rory and seeing her laugh at something. His gaze lingered before he forced himself to turn back to Honor who had found her lighter and was now puffing of her cigarette. "How's Mom? I haven't gotten a chance to see her yet." he asked.

"No different than she has been for the past year. She refuses to see people and has cut herself off socially. She even moved into a different wing from Dad," Honor told him. She took another drag before continuing. "The chemo seems to be taking a toll on her. I told her you were back, leaving out the tiny detail of Dad forcing your hand, and she wants to see you and it seems important enough."

"I promise to see her as soon as possible," Logan told her as a waiter walked towards them.

"That's what you've been saying for the past year, Logan," Honor pointed out, leaning over the table towards him, holding her cigarette out as she did so.

"I'm sorry, Miss.."

"It's Mrs. Preston," Honor corrected the man.

"Mrs. Preston," the waiter corrected. "I'm sorry, but we don't allow smoking inside," he informed her.

"For all the money my father puts into this place I think I have to right to smoke inside," Honor told him.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Preston, but there are rules..."

Honor looked at the man shrewdly. "Do you know who my father is?" she demanded and didn't even wait for a response. "My father is Mitchum Huntzberger," she deadpanned and tilted her chin. "That's right, he's the reason you have a job and won't have a job if you continue to pester me about rules."

"Honor.." Logan started.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Preston, but the rules are that no one is allowed to smoke inside; the second hand smoke bothers the other members," the waiter stammered.

"You're sorry..." Honor almost laughed.

"Honor, calm down," Logan quietly snapped. He looked at the stammering waiter. "I apologize for my sister's rudeness, she will adhere to the rules of the club," he told the man, seeing the sweat starting to beat at his forehead and took away Honor's cigarette, snubbing it out and handed it to the waiter. "Kindly dispose of this," he requested.

"Thank you sir," the waiter said, relieved.

"And bring me one of those fabulous peach teas," Logan said as the waiter moved to do as he was asked. He turned back to his sister. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he quietly snapped. "Making a scene like that in public. Mom and Dad would be horrified at the spectacle you just made."

Recovering from her embarrassing display of stress, Honor looked at him. "Since when did you care about whether Mom and Dad would be horrified. You used to revel in it," she retorted.

"Yeah, when I was still in school. I grew up, Honor," Logan told her.

Honor shook her head as she studied him and the way his eyes kept flickering at the DAR table with the Emily and Rory Gilmore. "I'm sorry, but it seems to me that you haven't changed much," she said. "You're still purposely avoiding going over to Mom and Dad's even though you've been home for weeks now and correct me if I'm wrong but you're eyeing Rory Gilmore like no tomorrow," she pointed out.

"I'm not eyeing Rory!" Logan hissed, making a point not to let his eyes linger over towards her and instead picked up the menu.

"She moved on, Logan," Honor told him. "She's happy."

"Yeah, probably with someone else," He grunted.

"No," Honor said with a hitch in her voice that usually said something, as she picked up her glass of wine that Logan had ordered for her. "She's single, by choice," she finished.

"Ah, but she moved on," Logan replied noncommittally.

"She made a good life for herself and is quite happy at the way things are," Honor told him.

"Without me," Logan pointed out, looking Honor in the eye.

Honor sipped her wine. "Yes, Logan, without you," she agreed in a tone that clearly said something that she wanted to, but couldn't, say. "Need any help unpacking?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Colin and Finn are coming over tonight," Logan answered her.

"Dad will be happy," Honor quipped.

"Colin and Finn are not that bad," Logan said in defense, leaning back and hold his hands up, giving her his signature 'I don't know what you're talking about' look.

"Dad always referred to them as 'the dope heads responsible for you getting into trouble'," Honor reminded him.

"According to Dad, I'm just a puppet following the strings," Logan reminded her.

Honor sipped her wine. "He doesn't think that at all," she chided him.

"I have it on good authority that he does," Logan told her seriously.

"Oh yeah? Who?" Honor challenged.

Logan didn't say anything but his gaze traveled back to where Rory was sitting.

"Leave her alone, Logan," Honor told him strictly.

"I'm not doing anything," Logan protested.

"Rory is my friend, Logan. I was there when you left. We all were. Just leave well enough alone," Honor told him with a frown.

Logan looked at her. "Or what?" he challenged.

"You'll only open up old wounds. Just forget about it," Honor told him softly.

Logan frowned. There was something that Honor wasn't telling him and that made him more determined to find out. "Fine," he ground out and looked around. "Where the hell is my iced tea?" he demanded.

-


When Logan stepped off the elevator to the main office level of HPG, the assistant, Teri, was waiting for him, a stack of folders in her hand and wearing her signature bluetooth headset. "The paperwork for your promotion to COO is still waiting for your signature, Mr. Huntzberger," she said.

Logan cringed at the title. "Have Ted send it to my office and I'll look it over," Logan told her as he made his way through the office, Teri walking at his side.

She shifted through the stack in her arms. "Also, there is a list of candidates who applied for the internship waiting for your approval," she told him.

"I haven't gotten around to that yet but it's on my to do list," Logan told her.

Teri nodded and pulled out a sheet of paper. "The Stamford Eagle Gazette sent you this memo," she told him, handing the paper copy over.

Logan took it and scanned it. "What is TWL?" he asked.

"I think you might have to call to find out," Teri told him. "I didn't think to ask," she apologized.

"It's alright, I'll call them when I reach my office," Logan told her.

"Your father has been waiting for the status reports for two hours," Teri informed him.

Logan looked at her. "Where is Sheila? I thought she was supposed to take care of that," he asked.

Teri looked at him and hesitated for a moment. "Her babysitter quit on her this morning and she couldn't come in," she informed him.

Logan stared at her. "Isn't there a daycare downstairs?" he asked.

"Not since the budget cuts last year," Teri informed him.

Logan frowned. "That doesn't make any sense," he said.

"Bill Hardy approved the move himself," Teri told him.

"Bill Hardy no longer works for HPG. Pull those budget cuts for me and I'll look over them and see what I can do about setting up a new daycare downstairs. Tell Sheila not to worry about her job. If she can't make it in, she can work at home through email and conference. If she has any problems tell her to call me and I'll take care of it personally. In no way is her pay to be affected," Logan instructed. "HPG is a family company, she shouldn't have to be penalized for our negligence to provide an adequate daycare system."

Teri nodded. "'I'll let her know," she told them as they reached his office.

"And Teri," Logan started.

"Yes, Mr. Huntzberger?" Teri asked.

"Don't ever address me as Mr. Huntzberger. We already have one of those in this office. Call me Logan. In fact, send a memo out," he instructed.

"Of course," Teri nodded, this time with a smile.

Logan nodded. "Now go see about the list I gave you," he told her before entering his office and sitting down at the desk, laying the memo down and picking up the phone, dialing out and the number for the Stamford Eagle Gazette. He drummed his fingers on the desk before someone picked up and he was surprised by the voice on the other end.

"Stamford Eagle Gazzette, Rory Gilmore speaking."

Logan froze up for a minute. Years of not hearing her voice brought up too much emotion for him.

"Hello?"

Realizing that he would have to speak sooner or later hit him and he finally spoke. "Ace?" He swore that he heard her curse. "Did you just use profanity in the workplace?" he asked trying to keep himself from laughing.

"What do you want, Logan?" he heard her hiss into the phone somewhat quietly.

Logan smiled to himself. "Hello back to you, Ace," he teased.

"I'm going to hang up the phone if..."

"If what?" Logan asked with a smile as he leaned back in his seat, falling back into the old and comfortable routine.

"Goodbye, Logan," he heard her say firmly.

"A memo was sent to my office and I had a question about the content," Logan told her seriously, sitting up.

"I didn't send you a memo."

"Then who did?" Logan asked as he looked at the memo in his hand. "All I have is a number," he told her.

"And it lead you to my desk?" he heard the skepticism in her voice which made him frown.

"I didn't know it was your desk," he told her pointedly.

"I'll tell you what. I'll ask around to see who sent the memo and have them call you."

"Whats wrong with you just answering my question now?" Logan demanded.

"Goodbye, Logan."

"Rory!" Logan snapped but was met with a dial tone. "Women," he cursed and dialed the number again.

"Stamford..."

"Do not hang up on me!" dial tone again.

Again he dialed the number.

"Stamford..."

"You can't avoid me, Ace!" dial tone again. "Goddammit!" he seethed. He buzzed his secretary. "Gail, dial the Stamford Eagle Gazette for me and when you get through patch me through," he ordered.

"The Stamford Eagle Gazette is on the phone," Gail informed him.

"Thank you," Logan said and picked up the phone. "Now you just see here, you cannot hang up on me, I'm your boss!"

"I'm sorry!"

The trembling voice on the other end did not belong to Rory but obviously to a male intern. "Who is this?" he demanded.

"Mark Taylor, I'm interning at the Stamford for the summer."

So he was correct. "Put Rory Gilmore on the line," Logan calmly instructed.

"Yes?"

"Don't you think this a little childish?" Logan ranted as he heard Rory's voice. He swore when he heard the dial tone once again.

"Personal call?"

Logan jumped slightly at the sound of his father voice and rubbed his temples. "Women," he grunted.

"Ah, completely irrational creatures," Mitchum stated.

"Multiply that for a Gilmore," Logan said as he turned away from the memo and faced his father. "Did you know Bill Hardy cut the daycare?" he asked.

"Did he?" Mitchum asked.

Logan wasn't surprised at the surprise on his father's face. Mitchum Huntzberger was never one to notice small details. "Apparently. I'm looking into it," Logan told him as the appropriate file was sent to his computer. "And here are all the budget cuts approved by Hardy," he said, pulling the file up.

"Let me take a look," Mitchum said as he pulled up a seat and went over the skewed file. "I don't remember approving that," he stated frowning.

"Why was he let go?" Logan asked, looking at his father pointedly.

"There were some things about his practices that didn't match up," Mitchum told him.

Logan glanced at the file. "By the looks of this, we have a complicated web to unravel," he said and turned back to the phone. "I know a few people who can help with this in a much speedier fashion. Let me give them a call," he told him.

"You do that, now what is this problem you were having with the Stamford paper?" Mitchum asked.

"I was trying to decipher that memo but someone kept hanging up on me," Logan told him, tapping his forefinger on the offending piece of paper.

"Ah, well, that makes sense," Mitchum said and took the memo. "I'll take care of it." and with that he stood up and left. Logan didn't even blink when he did.

Picking up the phone, Logan dialed a familiar number. "Hello, Lanny? Logan Huntzberger, I have a little problem that I believe you can help me with..."