The Reigning Huntzberger

A/N: Thank you so much for all your reviews! They were great and I was completely overwhelmed! I don't think I've ever gotten that many reviews before for a single chapter, never mind the first one! Please keep them coming and feel free to mention anything you'd like to see happen or moments that you particularly liked and would like to see more of and I will see what I can do. Thank you so much for all the lovely things you said and I hope you like this chapter as much as you did the last!

Chapter 2: Dead Fathers and Vegetables.

Logan drove up to the Huntzberger mansion, still in disbelief over what his father had said to Rory. He knew he should have known better, that he should have seen something like this coming but he hadn't. He guessed that he had just thought that maybe things would be different this time around, because Rory was different, he had no idea why or how anyone could say so much as "boo" to her. Logan knocked on the door, rolling his eyes once again at the stupid formalities that rich people insisted upon like knocking and waiting to be let in to your own family home. Not that he considered this place his home. There was nothing warm or welcoming about it. It was cold and filled with the airs and graces his parents had imposed on it. He nodded politely to the maid who let him in, "Mr. Huntzberger, nice to see you this evening, may I take your coat?"

"No thank you Martha, I won't be staying for long. Is my father around?" he asked, his hands in his trouser pockets.

"Yes, your parents returned from Miss Honor's engagement party about fifteen minutes ago," said the maid. "I believe he is in his study. Shall I alert them to your presence?"

"No, I'll just go find him myself," said Logan, heading for the stairs. "Thank you Martha."

"You're welcome Sir," said the maid before going back to dusting.

Logan walked the familiar path to Mitchum's study; this walk had never been a pleasant trip for him. The Huntzberger study was were his father liked to have all his serious chats with his son, about how Logan needed to grow up, stop messing around, ditch his loser friends, stop getting arrested and stop sinking boats. Needless to say Logan had learnt to pay no attention to anything that was said to him in this study. However now, standing outside the familiar mahogany door with an equally familiar sense of dread, Logan fully grasped the seriousness of the Huntzberger study. Taking a deep breath he gently knocked on the door and entered when he heard his father tell him to come in.

"Logan! Well this is a surprise!" said Mitchum, when he looked up from the papers in front of him. "I must have missed you tonight, what happened?"

"I went, I saw, I mingled then I left," said Logan, standing awkwardly at his father's desk. "I met up with Rory then went to the Gilmore's for dinner."

"Oh how is Emily?" asked Mitchum. "It's such a shame she couldn't come to the engagement party, Richard was out of town and she had already planned to have guests."

"She's fine," said Logan, starting to pace as he got bored with his father's small talk. "I notice you didn't bother to ask how Rory is doing."

Mitchum's smile faded and he shifted about in his seat uncomfortably. "Logan, sit down," he suggested, gesturing to the chair facing him.

"I'd rather not if it's quite all right," said Logan. "Why dad? Why did you do it?"

Mitchum sighed, "Logan you know how seriously I take my work. I expect the people who are around me to work as hard as I do and for that to happen they need to be the best. Now if Rory was aspiring to be an assistant then I would definitely want her to be working for me but as a journalist she just wouldn't cut it."

"An assistant?" asked Logan. "Please tell me you did not say that to her."

"I'm afraid I did," admitted Mitchum. "I know you care for the girl, which is why I took no pleasure in telling her what I did but she needed to hear it before she wasted any more of her time pursuing a career that she wasn't cut out for."

"Bullshit!" spat Logan, angrily.

"Watch your language young man," Mitchum warned him.

"No!" said Logan. "You can hide behind your desk and spout out all your crap about doing this for her own good but we both know that's not why you did it. You probably thought 'Hey, haven't crushed anyone lately, how about Rory Gilmore? Yes she'll do nicely, she's sweet enough to take it, I'll get to flex my power and of course there's the added bonus of getting to screw with my son a little more.'"

"Logan, that is enough!" said Mitchum sternly, sick of his son's outburst. "I have nothing against Rory as your girlfriend but I did not want your relationship to compromise my position. She didn't want me too either and I respected that about her so when she became my intern I decided to treat her like any other intern. I told her exactly what I would have to any one who had performed like she had."

"What? You don't think ambition, talent, drive are the qualities of a good reporter?" asked Logan.

"She lacked assertiveness, a willingness to jump in, she lacked fire, moxie."

"You are blind!" said Logan. "Rory is polite, yes, but your shouldn't be fooled by that. She has no bother jumping into the line of fire or digging to get her story. I mean how old is the Life and Death Brigade? In all those years no one, including all the Yale Daily News reporters that went on to be world famous journalists, was ever able to produce a decent story on the Brigade until she came along. She cornered me and told me she knew I was in the LDB, that she knew the names of others that were in it. She had found out loads of facts about us that no one else had ever managed to and told me that unless I gave her the inside scoop she was going to stalk me until she found out more! How can you possibly say she lacks moxie?"

"So a girl wanted to follow you about all day, Logan from what I hear that is not out of the ordinary," said Mitchum, rapidly losing patience with his son. "And you young Brigaders are getting more reckless these days."

"That is not the point," fumed Logan, exasperated with his father.

"Then what is the point?"

"The point is that you are a bully, a jackass, a tyrant and I should have told you this years ago," said Logan.

"Are you quite done?" asked Mitchum.

"No! You're also an arrogant, pig headed, vindictive, ruthless, despotical. . . cruel. . . egotistical. . . butt faced miscreant!" exclaimed Logan, looking slightly sheepish as that last part came out, but recovering quickly and maintaining his angry glare with his father's eyes.

"I have heard enough!" said Mitchum, boiling over with rage. "Listen up Logan because I am through with your amateur dramatics. I know you don't approve of the way I conduct business but I am your father and you will treat me with respect. Journalism is a hard business Logan and you and Miss Gilmore should get used to it or neither of you are going to make it.

I was going to save this speech for the other end of the summer Logan but I think maybe you need to hear it now. I will not be tolerating any more of your antics. This will be the year you graduate Logan. No more month long parties, no more disappearing for a few weeks and turning up off the coast of Hawaii with yet another leggy blonde, no more taking a year out so you can sink a yacht. You are going to start going to meetings, getting you face known about the office, learning about the business and prepare to become part of the Huntzberger newspaper empire."

Logan looked at his father and made a decision. "You know what dad? You can shove your precious empire up your ass. I don't need this crap. I'm sick of you dictating how my life should be and is going to be. I want you out of my life. We're through."

Before Mitchum could say anything Logan turned on his heels and stormed out of the study, slamming the door behind him.

When he made it back to his dorm, Logan threw his jacket aside and loosened his tie as he poured himself a drink. He considered calling Rory but decided against it as it was getting late and she was probably in the middle of a good girly chat with Lorelai. Logan smiled at the thought of this. He liked Lorelai, admired her even. From all the stories Rory had told him, Logan had always thought of Lorelai as a bit of an inspiration to him. After all she had grown up in a similar environment to him and they had both fought against the rules imposed on them. They both resented their parents but the difference was when Lorelai had messed up she'd had the courage to stand up to them and strike out on her own. Logan had never been able to do that, until now at least. Finishing his drink, he headed for bed.

Logan had just started to drift off when he got the call from Honor telling him that their father was being rushed to hospital for a suspected heart attack.

Logan did not know what to do. For a long time he just sat there, in shock, letting the words sink in. Then he sprung into action, and raced to his car, speeding to the hospital, his mind completely blank. Rushing inside, he didn't bother to park his car. He slammed his hands on the front desk when no one there could tell him anything other than what room his father was in. He pressed the button to call for the elevator to take him to the fourth floor and after what seemed like hours when it never arrived he made a dash for the stairs. Looking around him he took a left and headed for where the surly woman at the front desk and directed him to.

When he got there, the first thing he saw was Josh cradling a crying Honor on the seats outside what Logan assumed was Mitchum's room. Josh looked up and shook his head sympathetically when he saw Logan and it was at that moment that Logan knew he was too late.

When Honor realised he was there she got up and walked over to him, seeking solace in her brother's arms but still in shock, Logan could not seem to return the embrace as fully as he should have. Things seemed to be happening in slow motion to Logan as he returned his sister to her fiancé and headed into the room where his father's body was. His mother was sitting on the chair beside Mitchum's bed, sobbing as she desperately clung to her dead husband's hand. " Logan!" she cried, throwing herself at her son, wrapping her arms around him. "He's gone, he's really gone."

She continued weeping as Logan led her back to her chair and sat down beside her, taking her hand in his, but Logan did not cry. He couldn't. For as he sat there looking at his father's lifeless body and the reality of the situation began to sink in, Logan felt no sadness, no grief - only guilt.

………………………………...

As Rory entered the hospital, she slipped on the gold ring she had lifted on her way out of the house and headed for the front desk. "Hello could you tell me which room Mitchum Huntzberger is in?" she asked politely.

"Are you family?" asked the receptionist.

"Yes, I'm his daughter in law," said Rory, who had been told by Josh what to say to make sure she got in. Once Mitchum had passed away the hospital had been instructed to be very careful about who they let in in case any of the press tried to get in and gave them only a restricted number of names of people to let through.

The woman raised a sceptical eyebrow, "Name?"

"Rory Gilmore-Huntzberger."

The woman tapped on her computer for a moment, "Yes OK. He's on the fourth floor, turn left, third room down."

"Thank you," said Rory, heading for the elevator. She followed the directions the receptionist had gave her and saw Josh with his arm around a pale Honor, who was sipping water from a plastic cup. "Rory!" said Honor, going to her brother's girlfriend and hugging her.

"I'm so sorry Honor," said Rory.

"Thank you," said Honor, pulling back. "And thank you for coming, I'm really worried about Logan. He hasn't said a word since he arrived. He's just sat in there with a blank expression on his face, like he is in some kind of trance."

"Should I go in?" asked Rory, unsure of what to do.

"Yes, by all means, I think he really needs you right now," said Honor.

"OK," said Rory, heading for the room where she found Logan staring into space as his mother, who was sitting beside him slept. "Oh Logan, I'm so sorry," she said, taking a few steps into the room.

"Ace, what are you doing here?" asked Logan hoarsely, as he stood up and hugged her.

"Josh rang, told me what had happened and I came straight here," Rory explained.

"Thank you," he croaked, as he squeezed her tight, closing his eyes, not wanting to let her go. When he eventually did, he pulled up another seat for her so she could sit beside him. He wrapped an arm around her, trying to keep her as close as he could as her head rested on his chest and his head on top of hers.

She did not say anything and he did not need her to, just her being there, next to him was a great comfort. He listened as her breathing evened out at around six and even broke a small smile when she stirred and woke up around eight.

"How long was I out?" she whispered, noticing Shira was no longer in the room.

"About two hours," said Logan.

"Sorry," said Rory, feeling bad for falling asleep.

"Don't worry about it Ace."

"Did you get any sleep?" she asked, frowning when he shook his head.

"I'm fine, Ace. It's a good thing you woke up, the funeral home will be here to pick up the body any minute now, mom is already back at the house trying to make arrangements."

"Is there anything I can help with?" asked Rory.

"You are helping just by being here."

………………………………

Rory gently opened the door to the Huntzberger study and found Logan slumped in the chair behind the desk. "Hey, people have been asking about you," said Rory softly.

In had been a difficult couple of days and she was very worried for Logan who had to bury his father the next day. Once Mitchum's body had been lifted by the funeral home, Rory had went with Logan back to the Huntzberger house were everyone had started making the funeral arrangements.

Logan had not said very much and Rory was worried about him, his eyes had lost their sparkle and his face was more than not blank. She knew that this was a natural reaction, after all his father and just died but he hadn't ate, slept or cried in over two days, during which time she had rarely left his side but she was beginning to think it would be better if he was showing some real emotion other than the blank face which she knew was just Logan's way of trying to keep it together, Rory did not want to push him though and knew he would grieve when he was ready.

In the meantime, Rory was desperate to do anything she could to help him or the rest of the family. At Logan's request she had even went to the scheduled press conference with him to give details about Mitchum's passing and the funeral to the press.

"So what's new?" he mumbled. Over the last few days, anytime he had tried to escape for a little time alone with his own thoughts, someone would be sent looking for him to see where he was.

"Honor sent me to find out if you had ate anything yet," said Rory.

"Do me a favour and tell her you saw me eat a sandwich or something," said Logan.

"She's just worried about you, we all are."

He leaned back and sighed. "Mom asked me to give the eulogy at the funeral tomorrow and I have nothing. I mean you know more about the man than I do yet I have to give a tribute to him. What am I supposed to say? 'Mitchum Huntzberger. Lousy father. Cheating Husband. Good Businessman. Hated Peas.'"

"I can help you if you want." Rory offered. "I still remember some of that stuff I Googled on him."

"Really? That would be great, I mean the only other thing my mom asked me to do was sort out the caterers for the wake and I already messed that up."

"Logan..." started Rory nervously. "What food is being served at the wake?"

"Pigs in blankets and an extra large vat of pea soup," said Logan sheepishly. "When they asked I kind of froze up."

"Where's the number and I will ring them back," said Rory, with a small, sympathetic smile.

Logan looked up at her and pulled her into his lap. "You are truly amazing do you know that?"

"It's been mentioned," Rory admitted as she rested her head on top of his.

"Ugh I don't know how you are putting up with me at the minute, I'm such a mess right now," said Logan, a wrinkle in his brow.

"Logan you shouldn't be hard on yourself, it's completely understandable, you just lost a parent," said Rory. "I can't even imagine what you are going through."

"You are the only thing keeping me together at the moment Ace," said Logan with a sigh. "I don't know how I would get through all of this without you."

"And you won't have to," she assured him.

"Can you stay the night?" Logan asked, after a few moments of comfortable silence in each other's arms.

"Of course," said Rory. "I'll call my mom and have her drop by with a change of clothes in the morning."

"Thank you," said Logan, giving her a quick peck on the lips as she stood up.

"More than welcome," said Rory. "Now where's the caterer's number?"

………………………………

It was around 3am that Rory finally managed to convince Logan to go to bed. Half an hour later he was still wide awake and Rory had resolved not to sleep until she was sure that Logan had drifted off. They were lying on the bed in the dark, in silence, facing each other, their legs entangled under the covers and their fingers intertwined.

"I came over here after you went home with your mom you know," said Logan abruptly. Rory's eyes immediately went to his and saw the pain in them, "I went to his study and I yelled at him." Stroking his arm, Rory looked at him sympathetically as he continued to speak. "I called him a bunch of horrible names, told him to shove his dynasty that he had worked so hard to create up his ass because we were through and then I left." Logan's bottom lip began to tremble as he spoke, pain dripping from every word and Rory felt helpless to do anything other than listen as the distraught young man in front of her poured his heart out. "'We're through,' were the last words I ever said to my father, my father who only ever wanted the best for me and what did I do? I threw it all away."

"Logan come on, please don't do this to yourself," whispered Rory, as a few tears began to roll down her cheeks, her heart aching for him.

"It's all my fault. I mean he always said that I would be the death of him but I never thought. . . " Logan trailed off as he started to choke up.

"Logan this is not your fault," said Rory softly, but emphatically, as she shuffled as close to Logan as she could.

"I'm a horrible son, he deserved better. For Christ's sake, he might not have been there all the time but the man still raised me and the most personal detail I know about him is his taste in vegetables? How messed up is that! I didn't respect him like I should have and then I gave him a heart attack that killed him." Unable to keep the emotions that had been brewing inside him for over 48 hours at bay for any longer, Logan finally gave in and cried for his father.

"Oh Logan," said Rory quietly, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him into her embrace, making gentle, comforting noises as Logan stopped being Logan H. Huntzberger, son and heir of the late newspaper mogul Mitchum Huntzberger, keeping it together for his family and became a son grieving the loss of his father as he cried himself to sleep.

A/N: So, kind of a glum chapter but hopefully the next one will be picking things up a bit. By the way don't get used to such prompt updates, I just feel strangely inspired for this story at the moment and with all the reviews I kind of felt complelled to. Plus I hate the time as I am off school on a four day weekend for St. Patrick's day break. (It's one of the perks of being Irish!) Please keep reviewing! You guys rock!