AN: OK so I PROMISE that I'm going to write the next chapter of Skip a Beat next. I know I've been remiss when I get reviews for this story telling me to update that one. I have a mid term tomorrow so I have to study for the rest of tonight but I'm gonna write tomorrow and hopefully I'll have it up before the end of the day though I make no garuntees.

We're going back in time, this chapter and the next few will take place the day before the the prologue.


Rory Gilmore-Hayden sat on the bed in her dorm room, books spread out in front of her, a pencil stuck through her messy bun, chewing on the cap of her highlighter. It was early on a Friday afternoon and her classes for the week had ended. She had a lot of work to do for her classes next week and she was trying to get ahead since she had a sneaking suspicion that she wouldn't have much time this weekend...

In Omnia Paratus

Your Journey Begins

-LDB

That was the note that had been taped to her window, two days before. To most people it would have made absolutely no sense, even if they'd taken Latin and knew that In Omnia Paratus meant "ready for anything," but Rory had friends who were not very good at keeping secrets from her. The LDB, Life and Death Brigade, was a secret society at Yale that her friends belonged to and she knew it wouldn't be long before she was welcomed to the fold. She had no idea when they would come for her or where they were taking her but she was determined to get her work done before it happened.

Apparently determination wasn't enough as Logan burst through her door at that very moment. "OK, let's go," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her up off the bed.

"Go where, Logan?" she asked, throwing her free hand up in frustration. She hated not knowing what was going to happen.

"You got the note, didn't you?" he replied.

"Yes, but..."

"Well then, I'm sure you figured it out. You're a smart girl, Ace. Where's your stuff?"

"What stuff?" she asked him with annoyance in her voice.

"Don't tell me you're not ready," he chided.

"Ready for what?" she tried again, still hoping to weasel some information out of him.

"Ready for anything," he said, with a roll of his eyes. "Seriously, Ace. I think all that studying you do is starting to fry your brain. It's like one of those "Just Say No" commercials with the eggs. 'This is your brain; this is your brain on studying.' You need a break. Now I figured you wouldn't take your orders seriously so I came early to help you out." He looked at his watch. "It's now...1:53. You have 7 minutes to pack." He walked to her closet and pulled out a Louis Vuitton travel bag. "I'll help you." He began grabbing things from her closet and throwing them in a bag. "Are you just going to stand there?" he asked.

She sighed and bent down to start folding the things he had thrown into the bag in a heap. She looked up and saw that he was walking towards her dresser. "Logan," she scolded as she noticed him opening one of her drawers. "Don't go in there."

"Well unless you're planning on going commando all weekend you're going to need underwear," he replied matter-of-factly, as though it were perfectly OK for him to be digging through her underwear drawer.

"That doesn't mean you need to see it. Stop that right now," she commanded.

"It's no big deal, Ace."

"It's icky. It's you. You're not supposed to see my underwear. No one's supposed to see my underwear," she argued.

He turned around, something lacy dangling from his finger. "Even this?" he asked with a mischievous gleam in his eye.

"Logan!"

"I'm sorry, Ace but who in the hell did you buy this for, because I'm going to need to know who's ass to kick."

"Oh stop it, you're not going to kick anyone's ass. Now give that here!" she yelled, grasping for the lingerie which he held just out of her reach.

"Not until you tell me who it's for," he threatened, raising the article of clothing just above their heads.

"It's not for anyone. It was for..." she trailed off at the thought of Dean.

"He saw you in this?" Logan asked incredulously. He had always hated Dean, he wasn't good enough for Rory. No guy was good enough for Rory and personally, he liked to think that she would grow old surrounded by friends and loved ones who could make her laugh and smile, but that she would never know the touch of a man. Still, if she had to have sex there were a million guys out there that would have been better for her than Dean.

"He never got the chance," she whispered. She felt tears springing up behind her eyes and she sat back down on her bed, trying to regain her composure. It had been over a month and it felt like she wasn't getting any better, it still hurt so much. He had been her first, her only and she had loved him. He had claimed to love her too, he said that it was completely over with Lindsay, that he didn't love her anymore, that he had never loved her like he loved Rory, but as soon as Lindsay had offered to take him back he had dropped Rory like last weeks edition of Star Magazine; something entertaining and good to pass the time with but not to be taken seriously.

Logan placed the lingerie back down in the drawer. He felt horrible. They always joked around about sex but it was never serious. The idea of Rory and sex in a serious capacity was definitely out of his comfort zone; she was his best friend, practically like a little sister to him, ever since that summer they had both spent with their families at the Vineyard when he was 11. But somehow this conversation had turned serious and she looked like she was about to burst out in tears. "I'm sorry," he said, squatting down in front of her and brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "I was just joking around, I shouldn't have pushed it."

"It's not your fault," she choked out. "I should be over it by now. I don't know why I let it get to me like this."

"Because you loved him. God only knows why..." he said the last part jokingly, with a slight smirk on his face. She chuckled a little in response. "That's my girl." He lifted her chin up a little to make her look at him. "You OK now?" he asked.

She shook her head, "It's just...I shouldn't be upset, I brought this on myself. I mean god, who does that? Who sleeps with a married man? And then to get upset because he went back to his wife? I'm horrible. I'm a horrible, horrible person."

Logan sighed. He hated seeing her like this. She had always been so strong and independent. She had always been the one to be there for him. When he was 12 and had to have his tonsils out and his parents couldn't be bothered to cut their vacation short, she had been the one to bring him ice cream in the hospital everyday. And when he was 15 and his grandmother died and everyone else was too busy talking business at the wake to actually mourn, she had just sat there with him and comforted him. She had always been the one to fix him and now she was the broken one. She hid it well most of the time and he suspected that he was the only one she let see her breakdown like this. He hated that that asshole could hurt her so much with his lies and utter disregard for her feelings. "You are not horrible. You made a mistake, no one's immune to making mistakes, Ace. He's the one who really messed up; for lying to you, for making you believe, and mostly- for letting you go. He's an idiot, Rory. Don't let him get to you like this."

"I know, I'll get better, really I will. It just hurts sometimes." She smiled at him slightly, wiping the tears from her eyes.

With that gesture he knew she was done with the conversation for now so he decided to move on. "Well you just don't worry your pretty little head about it," he ordered her, "because you're going to have the time of your life this weekend and you're going to forget all about that lying, cheating bastard."

"Thanks," she responded with another smile, slightly bigger than the last.

"That's what friends are for," he said with a smirk before standing up and pulling her off the bed once more. "Now get changed. There won't be time before the festivities start. First part is casual and wear comfortable shoes, you're going to be doing a lot of walking."

"Walking? Logan, you know I don't do walking. Well, I mean I walk, but only the bare minimum. Anything more counts as exercise, and that's against the Gilmore-Hayden rule book."

"You've got five minutes, Ace," he told her as he walked out of the room, ignoring her protests. "After that I'm coming in here and dragging you out by your hair, fully clothed or not." He slammed the bedroom door behind him, leaving her to get ready for a weekend she should never forget but would probably not remember come Monday.

-------------------------------------------------------

Rory walked out of her room a few minutes later dressed in jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt with a Yale zip-up hoodie and a pair of sneakers. She carried the Louis Vuitton bag Logan had packed her things in, along with another plain duffel bag she had filled completely with shoes.

"Alright unidentified location, here we come. Get ready for a whole lot of mischief and more likely than not, a full frontal from Finn."

Logan just smirked and shook his head. "You forgetting something, Ace?"

She looked around at her things trying to decide if she had everything. "I don't think so."

"Let me give you a hint. It's black, made of silk, came with your letter..."

"You're not serious?" she asked him.

"Of course I am. It's the rules."

"But I know who everyone is already. Besides, since when are you a follow-the-rules kind of guy?"

"Since the rules make you look silly and provide me with an excellent source of entertainment. Now go put your blindfold on, all the other initiates have to wear them too."

She groaned frustratedly, but obeyed, running back into her room to grab the blindfold. "I hate you Huntzberger," she declared as she walked back into the common room. She turned her back to him as she placed the blindfold over her eyes and handed him the ends to tie.

"OK, I got your bags. Let's get this show on the road," he told her, leading her out of the dorm. They got outside and he guided her to the car, opening the door and letting her in.

She slid in and let herself adjust to her new surroundings. "Is this the limo, Logan?"

"Great, she's giving away our identities to the other initiates," she heard a familiar voice grumble.

"Hi Colin," she greeted him.

"Stop it, you're not supposed to know who we are."

"Well then, it probably would have been a good idea to send me in a car with members of the brigade that I don't see and hear on a daily basis."

"Can you just pretend to be frightened and confused, Love? It'll make Colin shut up," another voice suggested.

"Finn?" she asked curiously, "It can't be, the sun's still out and you're not complaining...Oh wait," she had a sudden epiphony. "We're initiating Rosemary too, aren't we."

"Hi Ror," the voice of her red headed friend called out.

"Hey Rose. I guess this means Juliette is here too. Hi Julez,"

"Hi Rory." Rory laughed at the knowledge that these were the other initiates that Colin was trying to hide their identities from. Rosemary and Juliette were a part of the extended group but they were definitely close enough to recognize the voices of the Brigade members in the car.

"Are you this stealthy around all of your initiates or are we just special?" Rory addressed the boys.

"We're stealthy enough to know not to put the other initiates in the same car as you three and your big mouths," Logan informed them.

"Is Steph here? I haven't heard her voice yet," Rory asked, ignoring Logan's jab.

"She went to the location ahead of us to get stuff set up," Colin responded.

"She went where?" Juliette asked.

"If that was an attempt to find out our location it was pretty pathetic, love." Finn responded.

"But Finny," Rory heard Rosemary coo, "I'm just dying to know where you're taking us."

Rory could practically see the dirty looks that Logan and Colin were sending Finn's way, even though she was blindfolded. "Well...I...it's..." Finn stumbled. "Ow! What the bloody hell was that for?" he suddenly cried out.

"It was to get you to shut your stinking trap," Colin told him angrily.

"It's our own fault. We should know not to let Finn be around Rosemary. Do we have an extra blindfold? Maybe we can use it to gag him," Logan suggested.

"Hey mate!" Finn protested.

"So boys," Rory interjected. "How many laws are you going to make us break tonight?"

"Don't worry, Ace. We won't let you go to jail," Logan assured her.

"They've taken all the fun out of I-night," Finn pouted.

"We did not take all the fun out of it," Colin countered. "We can still have fun without breaking any laws. You don't want to get in trouble for hazing do you?"

"So wait, let me get this straight..." Rory began. "You're not making us break any laws because it's against the law to make us break the law?"

"Exactly," Colin confirmed.

"That logic is not logical," Rory shook her head.

"Well Hayden, would you rather us smuggle you into a strip club and make you jump on stage for an amateur performance? I'm sure it can be arranged."

Rory rolled her eyes at Colin but quickly realized that the gesture was lost behind the blindfold. "So what you're saying is there are strip clubs at this 'location'."

"Ooh, that narrows it down. We're not going to be in the woods or something. Ooh are we going to New York? That'd be fun." Julez piped in.

"Damn it McCrae," Logan slapped Colin upside the head. "Good going."

"You boys are so easy," Rosemary told them.

"I haven't heard the girls complain about that yet," Finn retorted.

The rest of the ride into the city was filled with pleasant banter. The girls constantly bugged the boys about their blindfolds, they knew everyone in the car and now they knew where they were going, so there was no need for them anymore, but the boys refused to let them uncover their eyes. Rory just figured they were being sore losers about the fact that the girls had tricked them into giving away information on their destination but she didn't push it; they had fragile egos despite their cocky facades.

The car finally pulled to a stop and the girls were led out of the car. "You can remove your blindfolds now," Colin informed them in a business-like tone. Rory untied the silk cloth covering her eyes to find herself standing in front of Central Park by Tavern on the Green. She, Rosemary, Juliette, and seven other slightly familiar faces whom she assumed were the other inititates stood in a circle around Colin. Logan and Finn were gone.

"Hello, I'm Phil Keoghan..." Colin began in a droll voice.

"No you're not, you're Colin McCrae," Rory spoke to him as though he were a small child. The other initiates that didn't know her close relationship with some of the senior members of the Brigade looked on in horror, sure that Colin wouldn't stand for such insolence.

"Shoosh Hayden. Let me do this ridiculous monologue so we can get started," was the only reprecussion. Rory just rolled her eyes and Colin continued, reluctantly getting back into character. "As I was saying, I'm Phil Keoghan and I'll be your host this evening. You're about to set out on a journey across New York City. You will have to complete various tasks along the way. Will you have the right combination of brains, brawn and teamwork to win The Amazing Race?"...


Thanks for all the reviews for last chapter and keep 'em coming :)