The atmosphere felt loaded, stifling. But Rory had slipped into a curious calm. She was only aware of the little universe enclosing the three of them, Logan—situated somewhere on the periphery, Jess—standing right in front of her, and she. Her right hand still rested against the smooth skin of Jess's cheek as she lowered the other down to cover his hand, to cover the gun. Briefly, Rory saw confusion flit across Jess's face once their fingers touched over the steel. But gently, she moved forward, her mouth nearly touching his when she whispered, "It's okay now. It's over…" She looked at his lips, only then noticing his somewhat forced breathing before her gaze traveled farther up, to his eyes, and she tightened her grip around his hand, around the weapon. "Jess…"

He blinked once, twice, his confusion visibly deepening. "But…,"his sentence fell short of being completed as he wiped an arm across his forehead in a subconscious movement which gave away his agitation.

"You can let go now," Rory told him, meaning the gun.

"Careful, Rory! Look at him, he's obviously—"

"I got this, Logan." Closing her eyes briefly, she channeled all her remaining calm into what she was about to do. Then she opened them to Jess's piercing, feverish stare.

-o0o-

When Lorelai saw Luke slump down on a seat right next to her, she felt like a schoolgirl for one odd moment. Waiting to be sentenced to detention, her partner in crime right by her side. That her mother, her newly arrived father, as well as a gray-haired man she took to be "Sterling" were all currently engaged in some rather one-sided conversation with that poor old police officer only made the impression feel more real.

But the moment passed, and still Lorelai was sitting, and waiting, and trying to keep a growing sense of panic in check. Looking up to the Gorilla, she discovered traces of sympathy in the woman's scowl and managed a short-lived half-hearted smile.

"Your daughter is going to be okay."

A short laughing sound escaped her at the female officer's unexpected stab at empathy.

"I wish I had your conviction."

"Ma'am, I know what you think of Officer Hanlon, but he's one of the best policemen New York has. He'll find your daughter and bring her back unharmed."

Lorelai heard Luke snort beside her. "And how exactly is he going to accomplish that? In here? "

"Sir."

"No," Lorelai chimed in. "He's right. If he's that good, why isn't he out there, searching for her, searching for Jess?"

"Ma'am—"

"Why is it that all he seems to be doing is standing there and telling us nothing? I'm her mother!"

"Lorelai…"

"Ms. Gilmore, of course you and Rory's father—"

"Oh my God, Christopher! Luke, I—Christopher doesn't even know, yet! He…" She looked frantic, her wide eyes burning with tears. She hadn't noticed she was crying until she felt Luke's hand on her back. But finally that simple touch was enough to make her come apart at the seams. "It's okay, Lorelai," her fiancé soothed with a gruff voice, "Your mother already called him.—He's on his way."

"How could I forget to call her father, Luke, how—," she sobbed, unable to continue speaking. Luke moved to wrap her shaking body in his strong embrace and shot a killing glance at the officer.

"Fantastic," he growled, "You made her cry. You have no idea what it means to make a Gilmore cry, Lady, do you?—Lorelai, come now. Lore-Lor—," sighing, Luke eventually gave up. Even when they were crying instead of talking it was hard to get a word in sideways with those Gilmore girls. With his Gilmore girl in particular…

"I'm sorry, Mr. Danes," the Gorilla quietly yet firmly admitted. Bending down a little, she dared place a hand on Lorelai's arm. But Lorelai didn't turn to face her. "Ms. Gilmore… Officer Hanlon, he is one of the best; maybe even the best.—The reason he is not out there, Ms. Gilmore—Lorelai? He is the one planning and coordinating the entire search; he is the one who knows where to go looking for your daughter." With a nod to Luke she added, "For your nephew. Trust me, you wouldn't want anyone else on the case."

"What makes you so sure of that?"

"I know what Officer Hanlon is capable of, Mr. Danes. I had the honor to work with him right after 9/11. You wouldn't believe how much heart that man put into detecting even the tiniest traces of the lives lost that day.—Now imagine him searching for Rory and Jess—imagine him searching for someone he can still save…"

Her tear-streaked cheek leaving an imprint on her fiancé's checkered flannel shirt, Lorelai eventually did look up again at hearing that.

Someone he can still save...

-o0o-

Jess felt the curious sensation of coldness seeping into his palm just as warmth seemed to permeate into it from above where he felt Rory's skin touch his. Frowning, he ordered his mind to cooperate, but his thoughts were sluggish at best and the pain flaring up in his side didn't exactly help speeding up the process either. He had killed a man.

He. Had killed. A man. Suddenly, he felt himself start shaking, his fingers growing slack around the gun's steely form. Before he could drop the cursed object, though, Rory had swiftly extricated it from his grasp.

"Are you okay?" he muttered, worry tainting his features. He lifted his arms to cup her face, gently ran his fingers through her hair. She felt so real. And yet this had to be a dream. Some nightmare he was stuck in…

"Rory, watch out!" Logan cautioned from where he stood in the kitchen's doorway, far away enough as not be deemed a threat to either Rory or Jess. Rory ignored him, though. She only had eyes for Jess. Wrapping a hand around his waist, she tried to steady him.

"Why don't we sit down, huh? Jess? Come on."

"Rory…"

"You look awful. And I can't carry you if you decide to pass out on me, okay?" she stated soberly, which earned her a laugh. "No?" he queried as she glared at him. Quickly, he turned serious again, though, just as his body made the decision for him and he felt his knees grow weak. "Okay, maybe… just for a little while…" Rory tried to slow his downward movement. Strangely Jess let her and stared up at her all the while. Suddenly he noticed the young Huntzberger tower over them, but his mind refused to feel threatened. Logan was an okay kid after all, even though it would have made matters easier if he weren't.

It would have made so many things easier.

"Oh God, Jess, look at you. How the hell did you manage to sneak out of the hospital in this state?"

"A journalist's stealth?" He grinned. Blinking against the light coming in from the hallway, he tried to make out the expression on Logan's face, but couldn't see much.

"Jess."

"You tell me, Rory. You're the journalist, aren't you?"

He flinched as a new wave of pain shot through his body when he tried to sit up straighter. Rory shushed him, placing two warm hands on his chest. "Stay put, Jess."

"Rory—"

"Don't argue with me."

"Ro—"

"Jess. Can't you not mess everything up? For once?"

"Girl," he eventually hissed out, annoyance getting the better of him. How could she still be so stubborn, so pigheaded, so… typically a Gilmore?

"Guys. We better leave. Rory, let me…" Suddenly, Jess saw Logan bending down, felt the guy's hands grab his arms in a tight grasp. "Come on, Jess. Help me a little here, okay?" A new wave of dizziness washed over him, enveloped his senses as he found himself being hoisted up off the ground and coming to lean against Logan's slightly taller frame.

"Dude, take your hands off of me," he warned, but the blonde merely scowled at him.

"Seriously, man?"

"Logan, I don't think he should be moved—"

"Rory, that man nearly killed you. You. Don't you think my dearest parents sent more than one man if this whole secret affair bothered them enough to want to get rid of any witnesses to begin with? This guy sure as hell did not work all by himself. And if he knew where to be looking for us—"

"Okay, okay, okay. I got it. Let's go then. Just…"

"What?" Logan stared at her intently, Jess growing heavy against him as both guys watched her fidgeting nervously. Eventually, with one last glance over her shoulder at her dead attacker, she whispered, "Just you mind his injury." She indicated Jess with a covert flick of her wrist, not daring to look Logan in the eyes—or Jess, either.

"Yeah," was all Logan managed. One sober affirmative before he slowly walked out of the kitchen, dragging Luke's nephew with him, one arm around the kid's waist, the other around his shoulders. "Come on. Let's get you out of here.—Mind telling me where you stashed that piece of info on my real parents, though?" The question sounded so casual, so matter-of-fact that it took Jess a moment to understand what Logan was trying to get at. Once realization set in, though, Jess was quick to say, "You sure you wanna know?"

"Am I sure? Hell, I'm not sure of anything—or anyone these days, okay? So…"

"Dude, chill. I wasn't trying to…," Jess stopped mid-sentence, not sure what he had wanted to say. He felt his arm get tired of holding onto Logan, felt his body give in to the pain. But he knew he had to fight it, knew he had to fight to stay conscious, for he couldn't possibly leave Rory stuck in this mess, now could he? This mess… Everything was so utterly and completely screwed. He was so screwed.

And Logan…

"Jess? Hey…" Her gentle voice wavered into his conscience from very far off. It took all of his strength to make his reluctant eyelids comply and allow him to stare at her. She smiled. Or did she?

"Rory."

"Ssh, Jess."

"Isn't it funny?" he slurred, unaware of the fact that he was merely remaining in a somewhat upright position because Logan was carrying all his weight. He lifted one tired arm to smooth the deep line of worry etched onto the pretty Gilmore's forehead. His thumb had barely touched her brow when her hand came to enclose his wrist. "Oh Jess."

"Come on, man, you're heavy. Let's get going before more of my parents' friends show up here." Logan shot Rory a glance and indicated the apartment with a nod of his head. "Anything we should take with us? Aside from you?"

"Aw, that penchant for humor's running in the family after all, I guess," Jess murmured, a chuckle dying on his lips before it had had a chance to develop into any serious sign of amusement. "At least there's that then, huh, Log'? Some family resemblance, some…"

Screw being a journalist, he couldn't help thinking; for the truth sucked more times than not. At least with fiction you could bend things until you liked the outcome… Just as in fiction it was always the bad boy getting the good girl; and God, if Jess wasn't a sucker for overused clichés… (Hadn't he known he was screwed right from the start?) "You know how I found out about all this? You real parents?"

He missed the urgency in Rory's sudden warning to "shush" as he suddenly found himself being shoved into a closet. Logan's eyes bored into his, and Rory—Rory pressed her body against his. Once the door closed behind them, Jess heard her gasp. Then someone shouted. Shouted their names.

And when he felt his eyes close once more, when he felt Rory on his one side, and Logan on the other, he couldn't help but wonder whether maybe this time he wouldn't be able to open his eyes again to the beautiful reality of Rory's face bent over his, her nose brushing against his, and her lips…

… too bad…