Chapter 19
October 30th, 2004 – Rory's Apartment
All the shades in the room were pulled back when Francine Hayden unlocked her granddaughter's apartment door. The only source of light was the one turned on above the stove. She kicked off her heels, sat her purse on the kitchen counter, and slowly crept into the living room.
The couch had been pushed up against the love seat and Rory's mattress lay in the middle area. From her count, six young adults were scattered haphazardly around the living room. She gently pulled open the shade. It was a little after noon and Francine needed to have a serious conversation with her granddaughter. She smiled softly when she noticed Rory was laying in-between Logan and Finn on her mattress. While she had her doubts about the Huntzberger heir, he had impressed her with his handling of the situation at the hospital. She mused internally that maybe they'd finally managed to breed a decent one after all.
Francine was a rather short woman, so she maneuvered her way to sit on the mattress with ease and softly stroked her granddaughter's hair until she started to wake.
Rory groggily woke and sat up slightly in the bed, turning her head back to see who was waking her, "Grandmère?"
The red head smiled, "Yes dear. Can you get up so we can talk?"
Rory just nodded and started to ease slowly down the mattress. Her body was sore but was starting to repair itself.
Logan woke with a jerk, "Ace, babe, you okay? You need some help?" His voice was a hushed whisper to avoid waking anyone.
She glanced back and spoke in a muted tone, "I got it."
He looked to see the older woman still sitting on the mattress, a smirk on her face, "Good afternoon Logan."
"Good afternoon Mrs. Hayden." He had the good sense to look sheepish, dressed in nothing but his boxers and a white shirt. "Any updates?"
She nodded her head, motioning him to follow her and Rory into the kitchen. Logan saw Rory stretching to reach the new pack of coffee grinds and skidded over while still jumping into his jeans, "I got it. Just sit down." He put a hand on her shoulder, and she eased out of his way, sitting down at the counter.
"I talked with Sean. He went to the police station and talked with Detective Samuels. They've processed the evidence and gotten no hits on DNA in local or national databases. The security cameras at the hotel were no help. Apparently, the animal knew where they were and avoided them." She took a deep breath and glanced to see Rory picking at her nail-beds anxiously. She laid a hand on top of her granddaughter's, "They're going to start interviewing more people soon dear. They want to talk to your parents, your friends, the security downstairs, teachers…" She trailed off and squeezed tightly, "I don't know how much longer we can keep a lid on this if we move ahead with the investigation."
Rory sat silently and stared blankly at the counter top. Her coloring was pale, she chewed her lip, and her brow was furrowed in thought. Logan poured three mugs of coffee, gently placing one in front of Rory.
"Ace?" She looked up at him and he instantly read her. "You don't have to do anything you're not ready for, but maybe talking about what's holding you back might help?"
She just shook her head and gazed back into her mug.
This was Francine's first-time seeing Rory in person since the day she was released from the hospital. Realization was dawning on her quickly, "Logan, I have a few things I need to bring up from the car. Will you help me?"
His gaze moved from Rory's downturned face to her grandmother, "Of course."
"We'll be right back sweetheart." Francine kissed the side of granddaughter's face, quickly slipped into her heels, and walked outside with Logan.
They walked silently to the elevator.
As soon as the doors closed, Francine turned to Logan, "How long has she been like that?"
He looked resigned, "Since the day we came home from the hospital. She's on autopilot. She barely functions, getting her to say more than a few words is impossible. I don't know what to do."
Francine's face turned grim, "She won't like it, but I know what I have to do."
"I wonder what your mother is up to now? Think she's hired someone to jump out of the closet and scare us?" Lorelai giggled and sipped on her sidecar.
"I doubt she'd have called us over and said it was urgent we be over at her house on Halloween to play a practical joke, Lor. You know how Mom hates Halloween." Christopher leaned back on the old Victorian style couch. They'd been waiting in the sitting room for twenty minutes when the doorbell rang again. He heard Jennifer's voice and in walked the Gilmores.
"Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?" Lorelai stood up, Christopher right behind her.
"Francine called and said it was a family emergency. Are you pregnant again Lorelai?" Emily sternly glanced at her daughter.
"Jeez Mom! No! I'm also not sixteen anymore, so it wouldn't be an emergency." Lorelai rolled her eyes.
Christopher, however, was starting to get an uneasy feeling in his chest. If the Gilmores were here for a family emergency, that had to mean one thing…
"Oh good, you're all here." Francine walked in with a middle-aged, dark-haired man in a white-long sleeve and blue dress pants. "Does everyone remember Sean McCrae? He's an attorney with McCrae and Sons."
Christopher suddenly felt his lunch in his throat, but stood to shake the man's hand, "Hey Sean, good to see you again." The man gave him a sympathetic smile and the walls started to close in. "What are you doing here? Mom said it was a family emergency apparently." He shot his mother a sideways glance, but she wouldn't meet his eyes.
"I better let her explain first." He sat down one of the mauve wing-back chairs and started opening his briefcase.
Francine pulled the doors to the sitting room and sat down to face her company.
"Before I start, I want everyone to promise they will give both Sean and I their undivided attention without interruption and also that you agree that we will not leave today until we get a plan of action that everyone is satisfied with?" Everyone nodded along. Francine always could command a room.
With that, Francine began the long-winded tale of Teddy: the stalking, the letters, the picture fiasco (edited for sensitive ears), the heart, and the attack. While she didn't imagine it was easy for anyone to hear, she was proud that no one had stormed out, but they were on box 2 of tissues.
"Now…I know that's copious amount of information to absorb. However, we first need to realize our girl didn't want to come to us because she was ashamed of what was happening. Now is not the time to do things that will embarrass her, shame her, or make her feel anything other than immense love from this group of people. Straub thought it best if Sean handled the case as he's the best assault advocate lawyer we know and to keep it out of the Hayden office."
She glanced over at Sean, "Right. First, I want you to know that this case will be one of my top priorities. I've got a great working relationship with local authorities and I'm confident we're going to find the bastard that did this and help bring him to justice. Detective Samuels is the lead on the case and she's sharp. She'll be here in a few hours to meet with Rory again. We'll work with her to schedule interviews with each of you. I'll be present for those in some capacity, but feel free to bring your own legal representation…"
Christopher's mind raced as he thought of facing his daughter in a few hours. He had failed over and over again as a father and felt like this was another mark in the failure column.
Lorelai's face had returned to it's normal shade of pale, instead of the pink splotchy mess it had resembled the past few hours as she cried. Christopher walked up and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, "How you doing hon?"
She nodded, "I should had said something Chris. I should have made her get security or taken self-defense classes or something. I was there when she told me about the letters, when one got delivered to the house."
He stiffened, "You knew?"
"The early stages. She told me about the texts, and I was there when the weird letter got delivered. I told her if she was being threatened to go to the police. She quit mentioning it, so I thought it must have stopped."
His stomach had perpetually felt like someone was punching him and it seemed it wasn't going to stop anytime soon. Why hadn't he built a relationship where his daughter could come to him? It was his own making of course.
He decided it was time for action, "We need to hire a private investigator. We need our own person doing research and not just rely on the local police. I have a couple guys we use for the firm from time to time. I'm going to go talk with Mom and then give one a call." He kissed Lorelai's cheek and gave her shoulders a squeeze.
As Chris was rounded the corner in search of his mother, the front door opened and in walked Rory, Finn, and Logan. Chris' face paled and he quickly ducked into the sitting room where Francine was talking quietly with Sean and Richard. Emily had excused herself to lie down in one of the guest rooms shortly after Sean started discussing depositions.
"Mom. She's here."
She nodded tersely, "Alright, well let me catch her. Richard, can you go wake Emily? Chris, will you go grab Lorelai?" She paused to look at her son's face and placed a palm to his cheek, "We've got to be a family, Christopher. Be strong so she can be weak."
Francine had warned Jennifer to stall the three young people, so they were currently listening to her latest tale about her kids in the school play.
"Francine! There you are!" Finn happily pulled the shorter woman in for a hug.
"Hello Finnegan. Good to see you again sweetheart. Logan, Rory." She hugged each. She grabbed her granddaughter by the hand. "Boys, will you wait for us in the sitting room? I need to have a private word with my granddaughter."
The two exchanged a worried glance, but slowly followed Jennifer into the sitting room. The housekeeper closed the door behind them.
"Alright kiddo. You're about to be mad at me."
Rory's face soured and she gave her a questioning glance.
"You know I love you more than anything, but I'm worried. I was so worried that I talked with your grandfather and he suggested we get the whole family together with Sean. They are all ready to be here for whatever you need."
The young brunette's face went through a wide range of emotions before she turned and made a mad dash for the kitchen. Francine wasn't as fast, so she walked in to find Rory retching the contents of her stomach into the sink. Francine pulled her hair off her neck until she finished. She rinsed her mouth out with water and sat on a bar stool, letting her head rest on the cool counter.
Francine poured Rory a cup of coffee and handed it to her. She held the mug with both hands, trying to transfer some of it's warmth into her body.
"Grandmère?"
"Yes dear?"
"I can't go in there."
She glanced over to take in her granddaughter's pale face, shaking hands, and quivering lip.
"Why?"
"I…they…" She stopped and shook her head. "They know. How am I supposed to face that?"
"We'll face it together, sweetie." She stood and held out her hand.
"Grandmère, I can't. I just…can't. I can't! I can't!" She was yelling as she finished with a slam of her fists and big heaving sobs shook her petite frame.
It was if a lightbulb flipped whenever Rory slapped the counter. She slowly raised her fists and slapped them down. She repeated the motion harder and harder until she was beating the metal counter, the thudding sounds echoing harshly around the room. Francine's body stood paralyzed, helpless to fix the situation.
The noise had drawn the attention of others in the house and suddenly Christopher was pulling his daughter up, her hands now pounding into his chest. When he held her tighter, she started to scream, "I can't! I can't! I can't!"
Lorelai slowly eased up and wrapped her arms around Rory's to stall her motions, "Yes, you can."
Her pounding continued, so Richard came over and placed an arm around the group, "Rory, we love you and know you can do anything."
Richard's deep voice jarred Francine, so she walked over and placed a hand on Rory's cheek, "Yes, you can sweetie. We're all here. We love you so much. This isn't your fault."
Rory's hands stilled and she glanced to see all the faces in the room: her dad's concerned, Richard's red eyed, Finn's heartbroken, Francine's sad, but determined, Emily's scared, Logan's tortured. The faces of heartbreak and love and real emotion all for her. No malice, no judgement.
She wrapped her arms around her dad and squeezed tightly, "Love you."
"Finn, I swear to all that is holy, if you do not put those scissors down…." Rosemary's voice wafted up the stairs. After an intense afternoon at the Hayden residence, including a second interview with Detective Samuels, Rory was happy to have all her friends over for some pizza, candy, and lame movies. It was Halloween after all.
However, the interview left unpleasant memories in the forefront of her mind, so she'd quietly told her friends she'd be down after a shower. The emotions she'd been pushing down farther and farther had finally made their way to the surface today. Just a few minutes alone to process was all she needed. The pain was unbearable and no matter how long of a shower she took, the disgust was tangible.
She absently wiped at the foggy mirror and toweled at her hair. The cuts on her face were healing nicely thanks to daily ointment treatments courtesy of Stephanie. She opened the bathroom door to let some of the fog out, but also to hear the noise of her friends. The noise helped distract her, but also eased the pain. The love from that group was indescribable. She just didn't know how they could still love her now? With everything they had to do for her? The feeling of guilt creeped in again; maybe they'd just be better off if she wasn't here anymore?
"Rory! Food's ready!" Colin's voice called up the stairs.
She chirped back, her thoughts disturbed now, "Coming!"
She flicked the light off and walked out of her bathroom, about to turn off the overhead light when she noticed something black hanging off the side. Squinting in curiosity, her hand pulled at the mystery item to find a small optical piece attached to a wire. Her heart rate sped up as she pulled more and more wire, with a final yank, a receiver box.
"Guys? Can you come here?"
Finn bounded up the stairs, "Whatcha got there, Love?"
He grabbed the item from her, now shaking hands, as the others gathered around him.
"I think it's a spy camera."
AN: Now we know how Teddy knew his name. Thanks for all the feedback on the last few chapters. It felt important for us to get the family up to speed.
The good news is that, while the angst isn't gone, we're going to mix some happy with some angst after this chapter. Reviews are encouraged.