Logan couldn't even believe his luck. He got all the answers he needed from Mr. Pearson, and if there was any doubt, the names on her approved visitors list confirmed it. She was a Gilmore and not just any Gilmore, she was Rory Gilmore, the MIA journalist every reporter on the east coast was trying to find, him included. She was the reason his father had sent him to San Francisco. He had an interview with her former boss from the campaign trail. The interview was pretty much a bust, but he did give him the name of a male friend that seemed to be more than a friend. Logan already had contact numbers and was going to call this evening, now he didn't need to. All the answers he needed were right across the hall from him. Oh, he couldn't wait to rub it into his father.

Across the hall, Rory had just finished putting the last of her books into the cases. She knew Paris was waiting as patiently as Paris could wait. She found solace in putting her books in order and it gave her the strength she needed to get through the next conversation.

Rory walked into her room where Paris and Lorelai were putting clothes away. "Hey, you two up for a break? I know you have both been waiting for me to be ready and I think I am."

Lorelai smiled "We are ready when you are. Let's go out to the kitchen, I found a really fancy coffee machine earlier when I was in the pantry. Let's see if we can figure it out."

They all started toward the kitchen. "This apartment really does have everything." Rory said. "It does, those Huntzberger's have managed to think of everything." Lorelai chimed in.

"Huntzberger's, what do you mean Huntzberger's?" Rory questioned. "Well, the guy that owns the building is a Huntzberger and his sister helped decorate it." Lorelai said very matter of fact.

"Are you kidding me? The owner introduced himself as Logan earlier. Are you telling me Logan Huntzberger owns this building? Rory was shocked.

"Do you know him?" Lorelai was confused.

"Know him? Well, not on a personal level. Know of him? He has a reputation like no other. He was two years ahead of us at Yale, was on the paper. Casanova pretty boy, life handed to him on a silver platter and he pretty much spat on it. Chose to drink and party rather than apply himself to anything serious. Last I read, he took a job at the NY Times just to piss daddy off. I never heard anything after I went overseas."

Paris made an unusual sound, half snort half chuckle. "Well Rory, you missed a few things while you were gone. His job at the Times lasted less than 3 months when he took a trip with his bozo friends and sunk his families yacht off of Fiji. He was gone over a month. Of course, Daddy Mitch bailed him out and now he's working for HPG." Paris made her sound again causing confused looks from Rory and Lorelai. "I may have also had a few choice words with him earlier when I couldn't get in the building."

"Oh God, Paris. What did you say?"

"I may have told him to crawl back under whatever bimbo he just crawled off of."

This made Lorelai laugh. Rory was a little panicked.

"Well, from the way he looked earlier, he probably deserved that comment Paris. But, why in the world would Dad put me in a building owned by a reporter likely full of other reporters?"

"I can answer that. He was trying to inspire you again. He knows you have followed Mitchum Huntzberger since you were at Chilton and he really wanted to see you write again. He thought having you in the heart of all things newspapery, your spark would come back."

Rory walked toward the sink to get some water. "Oh" is all she managed to say.

"Rory, we all know you will write again. You are dealing with a lot right now. One day at a time, that's all you can do. We are here for you, no matter how long it takes." Lorelai walked over to stand with her by the sink.

"That's the thing mom, I don't have a clue how long this will take and it's driving me insane. I meet with Dr. Anderson twice a week and we go over everything over and over and I can't remember what happened."

"What do you mean you don't remember."

Rory's eyes were starting to fill with tears and she was struggling for the words. "Exactly that, mom. I don't remember what is causing me to be this way. Whatever traumatic thing that put me in this state, I am blocking from my memory. I don't want to leave the house or go anywhere because I am terrified I will remember. And, I'm even more terrified that I won't. That I will be this shell of a person for the rest of my life."

Rory was crying now; she couldn't help it. She hadn't been able to share anything with her family yet. Paris and Lorelai felt helpless. But, things were starting to make a little more sense. Lorelai wanted so bad to hug her but as she walked towards her, Rory turned around and walked down into the living room. Lorelai's heart broke just a little more. Paris sensing the family struggle, went to Rory. They stared out the wall of windows. The New York skyline sure was beautiful all lit up. After a couple of minutes, Paris softened her tone and finally spoke.

"Rory, what do you remember?"

Rory just stood there for a minute and then sighed. "I remember things were getting bad in Turkey, we knew things were in a very unstable state. My boss even offered to pull us from the story… send us home for a while until things calmed down." Rory was going to continue but Paris cut in.

"Who is us?"

"Oh, Liam joined his uncle's magazine when I was assigned to Turkey. I'm quite certain it was just to keep tabs on me. At first it really upset me, but I really did miss being around people so it was nice to have a friend there. I know I didn't say anything about Liam, I'm not sure why. I guess maybe I felt like I was letting myself down, not being able to do it on my own."

Lorelai had moved toward the living room. She was able to hear the conversation, but kept a comfortable distance from the pair.

"Liam… this is hot sex guy from the campaign trail, right?"

Rory's cheeks flushed. "Yes, Paris. That would be him."

"Interesting, we'll get back to him shortly. So, Liam joined you in Turkey, things were intense but you both decided to push on. Such eager journalists you are. Ok, so then what?"

"The last thing I remember was walking with Liam in the alley between two buildings. There was such a crowd forming and we couldn't make our way in. We thought we could get around the crowd and come in on the other side. Liam wanted us to leave, and I pushed him to go along with my plan." Rory was pacing back and forth struggling to breath and now she was starting to hyperventilate.

"Rory, you need to sit, put your head between your legs and take slow deep breaths." Paris' soft tone disappeared and she was back to dictator Paris. Rory did as she was told but was still struggling. "Rory, focus on your breathing, deep slow breaths, like this." Paris was demonstrating a breathing technique and Rory was able to mimic her. After about ten minutes, Paris was able to get Rory calmed down and her breathing was returning to normal.

Paris wasted no time picking up where she left off. "Rory, what caused you to start hyperventilating?"

Lorelai had made her way to the couch during Rory's panic attack. She had been completely quiet during the episode, letting Paris take control. But, she was done being quiet. "Paris, I think Rory has had enough for today, let's watch a movie and call it a night."

"No, Lorelai. If Rory wants the attacks to stop happening, she needs to be able to pinpoint what is causing them. So again, Rory, what caused you to hyperventilate?"

"I don't know Paris. It's just this overwhelming feeling of fear. It takes over my body and causes these attacks. I don't remember anything after the alley. I don't remember being in the hospital or leaving the hospital for that matter. The first thing I remember is being with a nurse, one from Grandpa's security team. She was talking about mom, she kept repeating something over and over. I don't remember what it was, but I knew I could trust her."

"Oy with the poodles, that was the phrase she was saying, Oy with the poodles."

"Oh my god, mom. That's it. That is what she said to me. Did you tell her that?" Rory was so excited remembering this small piece of information.

"It was the security team's idea. Your grandpa called and said they needed something to say to you that you would know could only come from me. I was so freaked out that day, it was the only thing I could think of on the spot like that."

"I remember. It worked. I knew I was coming home to you." As happy as that moment was, Rory's smile quickly faded.

"But, that is all I remember, those few minutes. I don't really even remember the airplane ride home, pieces come in and out, but everything is disconnected. It's a feeling I can't even describe, and when I add the fear I feel when thinking about the alley, the panic attacks follow almost immediately."

"Well, Rory, Dr. Anderson really is doing what he can. I'm no psychology major, but I do know it's up to you and only you on how quickly you will remember things. However, I know one thing that will kick start the process, you need to talk to Liam."

"I know, Paris. Dr. Anderson has been telling me that for several weeks."

"What is the problem, Gilmore. Rip the damn Band-Aid off."

"It's harder than it sounds, believe me."

"I don't believe you. You're letting fear get in the way. It's quite simple, you either want answers or you don't. And, I would bet you are scared of the answers he's going to tell you. How many times has he tried calling you since you've been home?"

"A lot."

"And let me guess, you haven't so much as responded to a text let alone actually answer a call?"

Rory didn't respond and by doing so indirectly gave Paris her answer.

"Exactly. Fear, that is it. So, you can preach to me all you want about not wanting to feel this way, but you are the one sitting on a lifeline and you are choosing not to use it. Seems to me you are quite comfortable feeling exactly as you are." Paris was relentless, she wasn't holding anything back.

The tears started again and Rory walked back to the kitchen for more water. Lorelai gave Paris a death glare and mouthed the word "Enough." Paris knew she took things a little far but also knew she gave Rory some things to think about. She decided to back off.

"Okay, that is enough conversation for today. How about a movie Gilmore?"

Rory offered a small smile, knowing the movie invitation was Paris' way of backing down. She wasn't sure how many more rounds she could handle. She was very glad to be done. "A movie sounds good, I'll make some popcorn."

The three of them watched the movie mostly in silence. The traditional Gilmore mocking was almost non-existent. Their minds were all elsewhere and nobody felt like talking anymore. They called it a night. Lorelai took the guest room and Paris took the couch.

The following morning, Paris had to get going early since she didn't plan for a sleepover. She still had to drive back to Boston and had hours of homework to get through before Monday. She never brought up any of the prior evening's conversation. Rory promised to take her calls and would keep her updated with any changes.

Shortly after Paris left, Christopher came back. He went over Rory's upcoming appointments for the week with Dr. Anderson. He brought more groceries for her and made sure she understood the online grocery delivery process. He and Lorelai promised they would be there on the drop of a dime if she needed them. They made plans to come back the following Saturday. And like that, Rory found herself alone for the first time in months. She went to the study and found one of her favorite books and went back to her bed to read.

Logan was just coming back from his meeting with his father. While he intended to go there and spill all he knew, at the last minute he decided not to. He told his dad that he found out where Rory Gilmore was and that she was in fact in New York. He told him he needed a bit more time and he would have an interview soon. Surprisingly, Mitchum didn't push him on his sources and let him go with it. Now, he needed to figure out how to get Ms. Rory/Rhetta to open up to him.

He kept an eye on the security footage throughout the rest of the weekend, she never left her apartment except to the lobby for her take-out. For only one person, the girl ordered an awful lot of food. The doormen all took a liking to her and it wasn't long before they were on a first name basis and bringing the food up to her door. With this new change, she literally never left the apartment. This was going to be harder than he thought.

It was Wednesday night and Logan still didn't have a plan. Finn has been staying with him for the last week. Wednesday night had become a ritual for the old college group, they went to a pup just a block from Logan's building and played poker and stayed out way too late. As usual, their table quickly filled with beautiful women, but Logan was too distracted to engage them.

"Hey guys, I'm going to call it a night. I have a meeting in the morning with the boss."

"The dark lord… all the more reason to drink, man." Collin was able to join this time and he wanted the same experience that Logan and Finn had last week.

"I know, but since I still don't know how my dad knew when I got home last week, I need to not repeat that. I promise a night of complete debauchery soon. Or, stick with Finn tonight, he'll find it."

"That's right, mate! Stick with me!"

"Finn, can you please not trash my kitchen when you get home. I'll never keep a cleaning crew in the building if they have to clean up after you every day."

"Yeah, yeah. Be gone, you…. killing my buzz."

Logan rolled his eyes at his friend and walked out. He needed to come up with a plan soon to get some time with Rhetta and convince her to open up to him and tell him the truth. He had the notorious Huntzberger charm, but she didn't seem like the type to fall for it. He awoke the next morning and Finn hadn't come home yet. He was curious what kind of night they had. Knowing he wasn't going to answer his phone yet, he decided he would come back at lunch for the full story.

Finn stumbled in about two hours after Logan left for work. He was just about to fall asleep when all he could hear was a beeping sound. At first he thought he was hearing things, but it wasn't going away.

"Bloody hell, what is that noise!" He wandered out to the kitchen thinking he left the stove on… again. When he got to the kitchen he realized the noise wasn't coming from Logan's apartment, but across the hall. He opened the door in only his boxers and could smell something burning. He wandered down the hall to the other door and knocked. Nobody answered.

"Good god, make it stop. I beg of you." Still nobody answered. Not quite being sober yet, it took him a minute to realize someone may be hurt. He tried the door and fortunately it was unlocked. He went inside and yelled and nobody was there. There was a grease fire on the stove. He quickly put a cover over it to smother it and looked around for anyone. The smell was unbearable and the noise even worse. He climbed on a kitchen chair and pulled the battery from the smoke detector.

Once it was quiet, he could hear the faint sound of someone crying. He stepped around the kitchen and there was a woman sitting on the floor with her hands covering her ears rocking herself. She was almost in a trance. He walked towards her.

"Hey love, we need to get you out of here. You can't breathe in here."

He startled her… she looked at him and her eyes went wide. Here was a very tall man standing in front of her in his underwear.

He tried again, this time more forceful. "Come on love, you need to get out of here." He grabbed her arm to help her up. "I know this is very strange, it's strange for me… and I'm exotic. But, you have to get out of here before you pass out."

Rory stood up and managed to find words. "There's a fire."

"Yes, love. I took care of the fire. Now, we have to go."

"Where did you come from?"

"Across the hall."

"You are not Logan."

"No, I am not. But I stay with him often. Now, can we play twenty questions later, I'm starting to get dizzy."

"Where will we go? I'm not dressed."

"We will go to Logan's"

"I'm not dressed!"

"Then we will match. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly dressed either. Now, I'll get you some clothes. Let's go now. Stubborn woman."

Rory walked across the hall with Finn. Rory noted how similar her apartment was to Logan's. His was definitely bigger, but a very similar layout.

"You need a shower."

"I'm not taking a shower here with a stranger!"

"Good lord, I just want some sleep. My sexual needs were met this morning, I don't need a shower with you. However, I'm quite certain it would be an experience of a lifetime for you." Finn raised an eyebrow and gave her a pointed look.

"Is that so?"

"It is. Now, I'll get you some clothes." He walked into Logan's room and took some sweats and a t-shirt. "Here, these are Logan's, but they will fit you better. Now shower."

"What about the apartment? I can't just leave it like that."

"Lucky for you, I just happen to have the cleaning crew on speed dial. I'll give them a call. They will need at least 3-4 hours before you can go back."

"It sounds like you have experience in this situation."

"Well, aren't you misses smarty pants. It was a one time thing and it was an accident. Now, for the twentieth time, please shower and I will call the cleaning company then I'm going to take a shower in Logan's bathroom."

Rory came out of the bathroom in Logan's sweats and a T-shirt. Finn was already on the couch with pillows and blankets. "Here, we can watch movies or something until you can go back to your place."

For being a total stranger, there was something about Finn that made him very trustworthy. Rory wasn't anxious around him.

"Now, I would love to chit chat about how you became in the predicament I found you in and I will ask you about it later, but Finn hasn't slept yet and he's really tired."

"Oh yes, your extracurricular activities you mentioned earlier."

"Extracurricular activities, huh…. Oh, sex. Yes. It was a long night out with friends followed by a beautiful woman's companionship for the evening into the morning. It was lovely. Now, sleep?"

"I take it you are Finn? Do you always speak of yourself in third person?"

"You sure ask a lot of questions, are you a reporter? You remind me of Logan, always with the questions. Yes, I'm Finn. Finnegan Ducideous Morgan to your rescue, madam. Now, I beg of you, please let me sleep. Help yourself to the fridge. Netflix remote is here. Logan's DVD collection is in that cabinet, go crazy. I brought you some pillows and blankets too."

"Ok, I'll lay off the questions. Thanks, Finn. I really appreciate everything you did for me."

"Yes, yes. I'm great. I do know this already. Nighty night princess." And in five minutes, Finn was out.

Rory got up to find something to drink, her voice was scratchy from the smoke. She settle in with a movie and quickly fell asleep.

Logan got off the elevator and could smell the smoke.

"God dammit, Finn. I swear you are worse than a child."

He walked in the door of his mostly clean apartment to find Finn sleeping on the couch with a woman. Logan was instantly irritated as Finn was currently banned from bringing women back to his apartment after an incident with a woman ended up with a full on stalker for both of them.

As he got closer, he realized the woman was none other than his new neighbor and she was wearing his clothes?

"What in the hell happened here?" He was very confused. He didn't mean to be so loud once he realized he woke her.

"Oh, hi Logan. I'm sorry, this must look really bad. Finn borrowed me your clothes and let me watch movies, I must have fallen asleep. I'll go." She was very uncomfortable being in Logan's apartment with Logan. Finn didn't bother her, but Logan made her nervous.

"Rhetta, it's fine. What happened with the smoke? Everything ok?" Logan could tell he was making her nervous.

"Oh, I should probably back up. There was a small grease fire and Finn came to my rescue. He brought me here, had me shower, and gave me some of your clothes. I'll be sure to wash and return them right away. I'm sorry to be such a bother."

"It's no problem. You are welcome to stay as long as you need." Logan really hoped she hadn't been in his study, he was quite certain he left the file he had on her wide open on his desk. "I just came home to grab a couple of things. Please, go back to sleep. Were you able to get a hold of the cleaning crew?"

"Yes, Finn called for me."

"Oh, I'm sure he did. He does enjoy a daily phone call with them. Please, help yourself to whatever. I'll be sure your apartment is back to new as soon as possible."

"Thanks, Logan. I really appreciate it. I know this must be weird."

"Oh, no, this is quite normal. Every day with Finn is an adventure. I never know what I'm walking into."

"He is an original, isn't he?"

"That he is. I need to get back. Maybe I'll see you later?"

"Hopefully I'll be out of your hair before you are home."

Logan smiled and headed to his study. He grabbed his file and slipped out the door. He really hoped she would still be there when he got home. He wanted an opportunity to build her trust. This was the opening he was looking for all week.

Author's Note: Hey guys, this is the longest chapter so far, over 4k words! The best is yet to come. Thanks for sticking with me so far.