A/N: First of all I'd like to apologize to mairay for not giving her the credit she deserved for her wonderful suggestion after chapter 6. I've used it in my last chapter. So mairay; thank you very very much. You're great!

Second of all I'd like to apologize to all of you for updating this late. I know, I'm horrible. I do, however, have a good explanation; my mom is moving and I had to help, I'm still helping. So between school and helping my mom I hardly have time to sleep. But, this is no excuse so I'm REALLY sorry! Forgive me. I hope this chapter makes up for my long absence.

As Always… I own nothing related to the Gilmore Girls whatsoever.

R&R is greatly appreciated.

To all those who read my fic.. I love you guys!

Chapter 8: Good Hunting

"Lorelai Leigh Gilmore the third! What is HE doing on our couch!" Paris exclaimed in disgust while pointing at Logan.

"Huh? What? Paris? Doyle! Why are you yelling?" Rory asked confused. She tried to understand what was going on but sleep was still clouding her mind.

"I think she doesn't want me on your couch, Ace." Logan answered as he started to sit up straight.

"You're damn right I don't want you here. Now get out! I can't sleep while knowing you're on the couch on the other side of my bedroom wall."

Rory finally comprehended what was going on and looked at Paris.

"You expect me to sleep with the knowledge that Doyle, my editor, sleeps only a few feet away from me. Don't you? Well," Rory added as she got up and took Logan with her "than you'll just have to accept the fact that my boyfriend is sleeping here too."

Right before she entered her room he turned to Paris. "And about that whole couch thing. We'll try not to fall asleep on it again; we'll just go to my room when we get tired. Okay?"

"Thank you." Paris answered rather sarcastically and pulled Doyle into her bedroom.

"Ooh, beware of the wrath of Paris." Logan shivered.

"Don't worry honey, I'll protect you." Rory cooed. "Now please get undressed so we can go back to sleep."

"Yes ma'am."

Logan stripped down to his boxers and crawled in the bed next to Rory. He wrapped his arm around her and whispered a soft "Good night" in her ear before falling asleep again. Rory didn't respond; she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

When Rory opened her eyes the next morning she saw a huge bouquet of red and white roses in front of her window. She smiled, thinking they came from Logan, but at that moment she felt him stir behind her. She stepped out of her bed and walked to the roses. There was an envelope attached to the only yellow rose in the bouquet. Inside the envelope was a letter that said;

Good morning loves,

We, and by 'we' I naturally mean the LDB, have taken it upon

ourselves to arrange a little surprise for you two lovebirds.

Now, of course, in true LDB style, you will have to work

for this surprise. Fortunately we have the upcoming three days

off because of al the professors meetings. The first task is in this envelope.

There is some coffee on the dresser and we've also brought you some

chocolate éclairs. Yes, Rory, we are aware of your weird

eating habits, but we'll discuss those some other time.

Happy hunting loves.

Yours truly,

The LDB.

Rory got a second piece of paper out of the envelope, it was light yellow and burned around the edges to make it look old. It contained an old poem of Edgar Allen Poe.

A VALENTINE


by Edgar Allan Poe
(1846)


For her this rhyme is penned, whose luminous eyes,
Brightly expressive as the twins of Leda,
Shall find her own sweet name, that nestling lies
Upon the page, enwrapped from every reader.
Search narrowly the lines!- they hold a treasure
Divine- a talisman- an amulet
That must be worn at heart. Search well the measure-
The words- the syllables! Do not forget
The trivialest point, or you may lose your labor
And yet there is in this no Gordian knot
Which one might not undo without a sabre,
If one could merely comprehend the plot.
Enwritten upon the leaf where now are peering
Eyes scintillating soul, there lie perdus
Three eloquent words oft uttered in the hearing
Of poets, by poets- as the name is a poet's, too,
Its letters, although naturally lying
Like the knight Pinto- Mendez Ferdinando-
Still form a synonym for Truth- Cease trying!
You will not read the riddle, though you do the best you can do.

To translate the address, read the first letter of the first line in connection with the second letter of the second line, the third letter of the third line, the fourth of the fourth, and so on to the end. The name will thus appear.

Logan startled Rory by putting his arms around her waist. He kissed her neck and murmured a soft "Good morning" before looking at the bouquet and letter. Without saying a word he walked over to the dresser and got them both a cup of coffee. As he handed Rory her cup he said; "With compliments from the LDB, I assume?"

"Yes" Rory answered "why aren't you surprised?"

"Because it was to be expected. The LDB always comes up with something for new couples. So, what is our first task?"

"To solve 'A Valentine' from Edgar Allen Poe. But I already know the answer; I have his complete works."

"Wait, answer to what?"

"The riddle, you know; the name of the sender of the poem."

"Oh right, I think I've read it at Andover, it had something to do with a sergeant, right?"

"Yes, the answer is Frances Sargent Osgood. But what is the next step?"

"Well, it obviously has something to do with this name. Why don't you go take a shower while I think about it and after you're done I'll grab a quick shower."

"Don't you need some clean clothes?"

"Yes, they've also thought about that, see?" Logan answered while pointing at a bag next to the dresser."

"Oh, okay. Just give me fifteen minutes, okay?"

"Take all the time you need, Ace."

While Rory was in the shower Logan read the letters from his friends. He knew how they thought, but he had no idea what the next step was. Normally they didn't work with ancient poems and things like that. They probably threw it in the mix for Rory, with her being a bookworm and all. Finding the solution to this one would definitely be up to her. Logan didn't mind, he was actually thrilled that his friend took her interests into consideration and he looked forward to seeing her 'in action'.

When Rory got out of the shower she was still thinking about the task at hand. She was near the solution, she just couldn't reach it. She let out a frustrating sigh as she walked into her room. She absent-mindedly told Logan he could use the shower and sat down behind her laptop. She googled the name Frances Sargent Osgood but nothing useful came up. Then she thought of something else… "Aha!"

As soon as Logan walked out of the bathroom and looked at Rory he knew she found the solution.

"Spill, Ace."

"We have to go to the astrophysics building."

"And why is that?" Logan trusted her judgment, but he knew she was dying to tell him the details.

"Well, after some thinking I googled the initials fso. FSO means, among other things, 'Free Space Optics'. I won't go into boring details, but it has something to do with communication between telescopes. Well, at Yale you can find telescopes at the astrolab, so I think we can find our next task there. You agree?"

"Of course I do. Let's go then."

"Right behind you, handsome."

"Astrodon, astrodon, here T-Rex. The chickens just flew the nest and are heading towards the cosmos. How are the preps coming? Over."

"Finn, you moron, nothing you just said makes any sense. What is with the dino names?"

"Copy."

"Copy what, Finn." Colin asked annoyed, he hated the whole walkie talkie thing. He wanted to use their cell phones, but Finn had insisted on doing it his way.

"I copy that you are annoyed, Colin. I just want to make it more secret ops- like. And I happen to like dinosaurs. Over."

"Whatever, the preparations are right on schedule. Just make sure they don't spot you."

"Copy."

"Oh, and Finn…?"

"Yes?"

"CHIKENS DON'T FLY!"

"Copy that, astrodon. T-Rex out."

"Logan, this place is huge, how do we know which room is the right one?"

At that moment Logan spotted a bright yellow star on one of the doors. He smirked and pointed to the door. Rory squealed with excitement. She knew it was very uncharacteristic for her, but she had never done anything like this and she was really enjoying herself. She liked not knowing what was coming; it was fun and exciting.

The star on the door read; 'Reach for the stars.'

When they got in Rory was in awe about the big amount of telescopes in the room. The ceiling was made of glass and could be opened. There were telescopes in different sizes and shapes. There also was a sweet scent in the room, but she just couldn't place it. She turned to look at Logan and saw he was staring at her.

"What?" she said a bit uncomfortable.

"You're beautiful." Logan replied as he walked up to her.

"Thank you." Rory whispered.

Logan loved the blush on her cheeks. She was completely unaware of her beauty, which was a good thing in his eyes. Arrogance wouldn't look good on her. He leaned down to kiss her. He knew he would never get used to the effect her kisses had on him. The intensity and intimacy caught him by surprise every time.

Rory broke the kiss first and smiled at him.

"Ready to search for our next clue?"

"Yes ma'am."

"I think this one contains several pointers."

"And why is that, Ace?"

"Because of this strategically places pen and paper. They wouldn't have put it here if they didn't think we would need to write things down."

"Very clever, but how do you know they've put it in here. A student could have forgotten it last Friday."

"True, but I bet not every student has stationary with a LDB letter-head."

Logan smiled and acknowledged that she was right.

"Well then, Ace. Let's go look for clues. Where do you want to start?"

"Ehm, on the blackboard?" she said as she opened it.

There was a message from the LDB on it; 'Did you really think we would make things this easy?'

They both laughed and started searching trough the entire classroom. After ten minutes of looking under the chairs and examining each piece of paper, Logan decided to look trough one of the telescopes. He was getting bored. When he looked trough the one right next to him he saw it was directed at one of the colleges. Better yet, it was directed at one of the numbers that indicated which rooms were in that hall. It showed the number 8. He looked through the next telescope and that one was also pointed at a college, the same college. Only this one showed number 19. He told Rory about his discovery and they both looked trough each telescope and wrote down all the numbers. Once they were done they put together their pieces of paper and wrote all the numbers in sequential order.

"Let's see," Logan began "we have two 8's, a 15, two 19's, two 29's, a 67 and an 82. Any idea what this could mean? Rory?"

But Rory wasn't really listening. The numbers looked somehow familiar to her. She had the feeling her mom would be able to help her, but she wanted to give it a try herself, first.

Logan also looked at the numbers, but had absolutely no idea.

"Look, Ace. We really have to think like them, nothing is too far fetched. The more illogical, the better. After we found the right sequence of these numbers, we're still not there."

"Wow, ever thought about being a motivational speaker? That is some pep talk. Any idea what we could be looking for?"

"I didn't mean to bring you down, sorry. And I have no clue. But there is one thing I do know, this is engineered on base of your interests. So let's just go over your hobbies. You like reading, studying, hanging out with your family and friends and me of course."

"Of course, but I have other interests you know? Like movies for instants."

"Any idea how these numbers can relate to one of the afore mentioned interests?"

"No, but you know what stands out when you look at these numbers? The double 19. what if we are looking for dates?"

"Well, we can give it a try. Let's write down the possibilities."

"Okay, well, the months must be August, the rest of the numbers can't indicate a month. You agree?"

"I agree."

"Okay, this is what I have…

August 15, 1929, 1967, 1982

August 29, 1915, 1929, 1967, 1982."

"Still doesn't ring a bell, Ace."

"Wait, August 29, 1915 and August 29, 1982. If those are the dates of birth and death, the person would have been 67 years old. Right?"

"Right, but we still don't know who it is."

"Of course we do; it's Ingrid Bergman. You know, of 'Anastasia', 'Joan of Arc', 'Casablanca' and many more classics."

"Okay, but are you sure this is what they mean?"

"Remember the sign on the door? Well, the stars in the sky aren't the only stars we know. I'm sure this is what they mean. But what now?"

"I don't know. Can you point out some facts about her?"

"Let's see. She was borne in Sweden. She died of cancer. She was married three times. To Petter Lindstrom, Roberto Rossellini and Lars Schm… Wait a second, Rossellini… the perfume scent in here… Isabella Rossellini, her daughter. I think we need to go to a perfume store."

"But which one?"

"The most obvious one; Perfume Plus."

"Great job, Ace."

Rory blushed and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

"Lead the way, Sherlock." Logan smirked.

"What happened to 'Ace'?"

"Nothing, but for the duration of this little 'clue- hunt' of ours 'Sherlock' seems more appropriate."

Rory smiled at him. "Sherlock it is."

"Pachycephalosaurus, pachycephalosaurus, here scipionyx. The dodo's are still on the right track. Over." Finn stage whispered as soon as Logan and Rory left the building.

"Pakyse..what! Finn, if you insist on using code-names, please stick with one per person and PLEASE make sure we can all pronounce them."

"Copy. Aren't you forgetting something, astrodon? Over."

"Right. Copy. Keep me posted, okay? Over."

"Copy. T-Rex out."

"Oh no, it's closed!" Rory cried out when she saw the sign on the door of the perfume store that said that they were closed for renovation. "I guess I was wrong after all."

"Maybe not." Logan said as he pointed at the costume store next to Perfume Plus.

"Maybe we're exactly where they want us to be." When he saw the skeptical look on Rory's face he added; "Far fetched, remember? And we're going to need clothes for the party, right? Besides, it never hurts to try."

Rory conceded and took his hand in hers. "You're right."

The bell above the door rang when they walked in.

There were costumes everywhere; some off them were still sealed and laid on the floor, there were even costumes hanging from the ceiling. Logan assumed that there were dressing rooms in the back, but he couldn't look that far. The first task at hand would be finding the desk clerk.

"Think there's a desk in this jungle of costumes, Sherlock?"

"I have absolutely no idea, Watson. I forgot my bloody magnifying glass." she said in her best british accent.

"Well, let's just follow our noses then." Logan said as he started walking to the right side of the store. After about twenty steps they reached a death end.

"You're turn, Sherlock."

"Watson, good man, let's take a left here and see if we can find the back of this establishment. I bet that that is where we'll find our objective."

"You take the lead then."

It didn't take them long to find what they were looking for, the desk, and desk clerk of course, were right next to the dressing rooms. They both found this very odd, but didn't mention it.

"Hi, I'm Logan Hun.."

"Huntzberger." the clerk finished for him. "And then you must be Rory Gilmore, right?"

"Right."

Rory looked at Logan. "Well, at least we know we're in the right place. Good thinking."

"Thank you very much."

"Anyway," the clerk intervened "my name is Jonathan and I was asked to give you some clothes. They're already paid for; you just have to put them on. Logan, your suit is behind curtain number one. Rory, yours is behind curtain number three. If you need any help, just let me know."

"We'll be fine, thank you very much." Logan told the guy before stepping into the small space to get dressed.

"Astrodon! Houston we have a problem. They're already getting dressed. Over."

"Copy. They're better than we thought and way ahead on schedule. We have to delay them. Over."

"Copy, astrodon. I have an idea! T-Rex out."

Rory stepped out from behind the curtain and looked at herself in the mirror. She hadn't noticed Logan, who was standing by the desk.

She was wearing an old fashioned 19th century dress made of soft pink satin, the skirt had three layers; the longest one was made of white satin and had white lace on the bottom. The second layer was also white satin but had pink lace on the bottom. The third layer was placed diagonal upon the second and was soft pink. There was a bow on her back, right above her butt. Her behind seemed bigger because of the under slip she was wearing; Rory felt like somebody was going to hop on any moment and screen 'Yi-Hah!'. The top of the dress was off- shoulders and was detailed with the same white satin that was used for her skirt. The shoes that came with the dress were the same color pink as her dress. The ensemble was completed with a modest gold necklace and matching earrings. She didn't have a real purse but a wrist bag. She loved the dress and felt like she was Scarlet O'Hara. Minus the ignorance, of course.

Logan had been admiring her the entire time she had been watching herself. She looked breath taking. Her hair was up in an elegant twist and complimented her graceful neck.

"Wow, Rory, you look absolutely amazing."

Rory turned around and smiled at him. He looked quite stunning himself. He was wearing black trousers with a white shirt. On top of that was a black tail coat, a white bow tie and black vest. His shoes were also black but the gloves he was wearing were white.

"Thank you, Logan. You look very handsome yourself. Like a real gentleman."

"Yes, it's amazing what a costume can do for you." he smirked.

Logan offered Rory his arm and they were ready to go.

"Just one moment, please." Jonathan said as they started to walk towards the door. "I was asked to give you this." He gave them a receipt for their clothes and walked back to his desk.

Once they were outside Rory took the receipt from Logan and studied it. They knew their next clue had to be on it.

After a couple of minutes Rory gave the receipt back to Logan, she had no idea.

Logan read it thoroughly and smiled. He knew where they had to go. He also knew there was no way Rory could have figured it out. He and Finn had used the 'receipt-clue' once before in their freshman year.

Rory looked at his smile knowingly. "So Watson, what is our next destination?"

"The CCSU library."

"Really? And how did you figure this one out?"

"Because Finn and I have used it before. Want to know the clue?"

"Of course I do." Rory smiled.

"Okay, see the capitals in the product description?" he pointed out the letters 'C C S U'.

"CCSU, right. Central Connecticut State University. But what part points out the library?"

"Well, this is the part I already knew. See the amount?"

" 39,428.138 that can't be right. Right?"

"Right. You have to see it as a direction to a book. The sequence is 1, 1, 1, 2, and 3. So it's floor 3, bookcase 9, shelve 4, book 28 and page 138."

"Wow, very clever. So, on to CCSU it is. Lead the way my best man."

"Astrodon, here T-Rex. Our targets are on their way again. Looks like the male-person remembered the 'receipt- clue'. Over."

"Copy that, T-rex. Let me know when they leave the university so I can activate the decoy. Over."

"Copy. Have to hurry before I loose them. T-Rex out."

Rory looked over at Logan, who was driving again. Rory's dress didn't allow her to drive, it was too big.

"Think Finn will keep following us all day?"

"Yes I do. I think Colin made him keep tabs on us so he can report our progress."

"Poor Finn, he must be bored out of his brains."

"Want to relieve him from his duty?"

"You want to ditch him?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Impress me."

"Don't I do that every second we spend together?"

"No, not really, but now is your chance."

"Ouch! That hurts, Ace."

"You'll get over it. Now, let's get rid of that Finn on our tail."

Logan wasn't really sure what to do. He wanted to impress Rory, but he didn't know how to lose Finn. Just as he was about to admit it to Rory he saw a truck on the second lane in front of him. He saw a maneuver in a movie once that involved a truck on the middle lane. He knew it would be tricky, but he also knew he could do it without putting them in danger. He accelerated and drove up to the left side of the truck. When he saw Finn accelerating too he quickly got in front of it. As soon as there was enough space between the truck and them he moved to the right lane and decelerated enough to take the upcoming exit. They where almost off the exit when they saw Finn's car popping up in front of the truck, they could both imagine the look on his face.

Neither of them could stop laughing.

"Astrodon, here T-Rex. I eh…. Lost eh…. I lost them on the freeway. Over."

"You WHAT!"

"I lost them; they must have been on to me because Logan made some very slick moves before going off the exit. Now what? Over."

"I'll think of something, don't worry about it. Just come over here so you can help us finish the preparations. Over."

"Copy Astrodon. See you in a few. T-Rex out."

It took Rory and Logan several minutes to stop laughing. When they finally did they both had tear stains on their cheeks and laughing cramps.

"Very nicely done, Logan. I am more than impressed." Rory complimented Logan.

"Why thank you, Ace. You're too kind."

They were approaching the university and Rory was starting to get nervous. She had to go to a library in the middle of the campus dressed like a 19th century lady from the Midwest. She never liked to be the centre of the attention and she still didn't. She turned to Logan.

"Is public humiliation part of this particular tradition?"

"No, it's just a bonus."

"Oh. So, what do you think they'll do now that we lost our stalker?"

"Colin will think of something."

"Like what? Something like getting us a new tail or something more radical like a big scaled amb…"

She was interrupted by the ringing of her phone. Before answering she saw it was her mother.

"Hey mom, what's u…."

"Rory! Rory!"

"Mom, what's wrong!"

"Rory, you have to get over here right away."

A/N: Sorry for the mini-cliff, my sweetheart () thought it would be a good idea. I promise some major fluff in the next chapter.

I got the poem from: bau2.uibk.ac.at/sg/poe/poe.html

The dino names come from: can find Rory's costume on: come.to/costumebazaar and the description of Logan's costume on: I don't know what the Costume Bazaar looks like from the inside, so I made that part up. I also made up the location.

You can find CCSU on: will never stop loving R&R!