Disclaimer- Gilmore Girls and the characters associated with the show are not mine.

Chapter Ten: Your Boy's In Trouble

Lying in the pool of blood, I knew the wound was bad. He'd driven the knife in deep, twisted and pulled up, only stopping when he hit my ribs. If someone didn't come soon, I could bleed out. Laughing in the face of danger seemed inappropriate this time, plus it hurt like a son of a bitch. "No reckoning made, but sent to my account With all my imperfections on my head." Quoting Shakespeare was probably out of place too. Yeah. I was in serious trouble. I shouldn't have ditched Ray's crew. Getting away from my future as a criminal didn't seem important now, not when I might not have a life ahead anyway. Plus, this was going to piss off Liz.

Rory woke to a light touch on her cheek.

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Mary, you look like hell," Tristan said, sitting on the side of her bed. Rory gave him a hug.

"How long have you been waiting to say that?" she asked. Tristan laughed.

"A long time, a very long time. Thought I'd get to use it in Mexico, but you were so angry you were cute. Come on sleepy head. Time to get up. If I can be here this early in the morning, you can get your ass out of bed. Paris went home, but I have her detailed notes, which she emailed me to read while I waited for my plane to board. Damn, but the woman is anal. She even laid out how I should run my search. And I have to admit, she has good instincts. I've already called Matt and Chris, got their take on things, and I had the investigator Richard hired email me his file too," Tristan said as Rory climbed out of bed and gathered clothes.

"Was there anything in there," Rory asked.

"Nah, but I already have a file on Jess. I looked into him after our last heart to heart, went to see him too. Pushed a few buttons. It was fun," Tristan replied with a grin. Rory gave him a half smile.

"I'd forgotten about you visiting Jess. Mom mentioned it after she overheard a conversation between him and Luke. I never talked to him about it. I should have. I'm going to go shower, talk to mom. I'll be out in a bit," Rory said. Tristan watched her go, Paris was right, Rory looked like hell. Tristan's crew had already done a sweep for bugs here and was headed to the inn next, so he sat down with Lorelai, and confirmed the information Paris had given him.

Miss Patty watched with interest as Rory walked through the town for the first time since Jess left. She was subdued, and had lost weight, but she was chatting with the blond man and Lorelai on their way to Lane's. Deciding she needed a better vantage point than the sidewalk, Patty called on one of her friends till the trio left.

Ambling out of the house, Patty joined them on the street, trying to ignore Rory's discomfort.

"And who might your handsome friend be?" she asked, giving him her best come hither look.

"Tristan DuGray, ma'am. We've met before. Rory and I used your studio as a practice place for our ill fated Romeo and Juliet production."

"Oh yes, I remember you now. You had Dean in an absolute tizzy," Miss Patty cooed as they continued their walk to the dinner. "If I remember correctly, you didn't end up playing Romeo. You left suddenly, I believe. What ever have you been doing which keeps you in such wonderful form?"

"We'd love to chat Patty, but Tristan is here on business," Lorelai interrupted as they reached the diner.

"And what do you do?" Miss Patty said, letting her voice go smoky.

"I'm a problem solver," Tristan replied, holding the diner door open for the ladies, and enjoying Patty's wide eyed reaction. She began fanning herself.

"Really? How… enticing," she replied, giving him a saucy look.

"Rory!" Luke said, "It's good to see you, I mean, it's good to see you here," he finished, adjusting his hat.

"Hey Luke, can you take a break, we need to talk to you upstairs," Lorelai asked, leading Rory up the steps. Lorelai hadn't said anything to Luke about their thoughts, Jess was something they didn't discuss. The couple times they had talked about him since the banishment, it was obvious it hurt Luke. She worried what his reaction might be to this new development.

Being back in the diner was proving more difficult than Rory expected. Walking through the town had been fine, no one gawked or whispered. She probably could have gone out weeks ago without everyone making a fuss. The apartment though, this is where it happened. Where she found out she had lost him. When she stopped inside the apartment door, Lorelai looked worried.

"I'm okay. Just fill Luke in, and get what you need. I'm listening," Rory said, leaning against the jam as she watched Tristan walk around with some sort of wand like bug finding device. When the old apartment was declared clean, Lorelai began talking and Luke was stunned, then terrified. He kept picturing the gun being held to Lorelai, or Rory's head. Tristan watched Luke's reaction with interest.

"Even if it's true, it means he had a reason, and what if looking into this ruins everything? I don't even know you. How do I know you aren't part of the problem? We need to drop this," Luke said, pacing back and forth across the apartment.

"Luke, Tristan is the man who led the team to save me in Mexico. And I have to know why Jess left. I can't not know." Rory said.

"Even if it gets you hurt? Or your mom? Or Jess? Is knowing worth the risk? If he left to keep you safe? Jess would say no. You know he would say no," Luke said. Tristan interrupted.

"Lorelai, take Mary home, I'll finish here," he said, meeting Luke's eyes. Once the door to the apartment closed, Tristan continued.

"I met Jess once, to find out if he loved Rory. I researched him to see if he was worthy of her. Your boy's in trouble and I know more about his past than you do. I know who's looking for him, and based on my sources, I think I know why. I may be able to help; at the very least I can give Rory answers without her attracting attention, which we both want to avoid. I also know you have information, I can see it in your eyes." Luke thought about it. This is the guy who called Rory Mary. Who had helped her in the past. Looked out for her. Saved her in Mexico. On the phone, Jess said he might trust this guy, maybe. Well, Luke was going to do it. He was going to trust him. Rory was adamant she needed answers, and Jess had to be hurting too. Maybe this guy could help.

"Yeah, he called me, once," Luke said as he began filling Tristan in on the call and the visit from Ray.

"Did you ever question Miss Patty?" Tristan asked.

"Yeah, she said Jess pointed the guy out to her, and told her to sit with him on Friday. Said if he was in town again to let me know. That was it, but Jess had to be there, because she walked in, sat down and the phone rang," Luke added.

"No, Jess was long gone. I think I need to talk to Patty," Tristan sighed.

"I'm sorry," Luke said, smirking. Wishing he hadn't peaked her interest with the problem solver comment, Tristan went downstairs.