Running After Kansas by Oregano

Luke Danes had always been a protective man; from his diner, his clothes, his baseball cap (which had finally broken down from overuse--although, he had become too attached to the thing to replace it now), but especially of the people he cared about. Jess was once part of this list, but as his expectations for him crashed, so did his trust. So off the list he went, and unceremoniously into his Crap Book, along with Taylor Doose and maybe half of his stupid relatives.

However, there seemed to be a pair of ladies that was doomed to be forever etched onto the said list--embossed, engraved, laminated and finalised. The Gilmore girls, and all those somehow connected to them, to some extent, were forever going to be under Luke's watchdog supervision (much to the elder Gilmore's annoyance).

So it would only be natural for Luke to keep Jess away from her. The boy had caused so much mayhem in the past, and he was just eighteen back then. Any more damage Jess Mariano, at the ripe age of forty, might instill upon Stars Hollow could very well have the little town taken off American maps altogether.

Chalk it up towards a fatherly gesture, but given the present circumstances, the old man felt that now was a very particular time to give Rory Gilmore some breathing room.

*

Nicholai Stratt, a young boy of seventeen, was one of the next-generation-after-the-likes-of-Jess-and-Rory kids. Having been living in Hartford and staying in Stars Hollow on breaks for the past seventeen years, he was pretty much dubbed as an honorary town member, so it wasn't a difficult transition when his family decided to move to the town permanently.

He knew about old man Taylor Doose, the almost-100 year old senile, whose annoying habits could challenge those of Tony Shaloub's Monk. He knew about Miss Patty, the woman who would probably outlive all mankind yet still have her sex drive be as raging as ever. He lived near Babette and Morey Dell, two ridiculously scary neighbours whose gnomes seemed to multiply each summer he came to visit.

So when Luke Danes started yelling about his diner closing, he had been heartbroken. He had been one of the people in the crowd that stood outside the establishment each day, waiting patiently for Mr. Danes to come down from his apartment and open the Diner--and not just so he could step out with a bat in hand, ready to hit those who couldn't get the fact that he was closed through their thick heads. Luke Danes was somewhat of a role model to Nicholai, and he looked to the man much like a grandfather.

And then, one day, this stranger in a red Mustang came up out of nowhere and charged into the diner without so much as a word to the crowd he had passed through. He only gave them a slightly weird look and then ventured inside.

Suddenly, Luke's Diner was revived, the giant, "Go Away, You Freaks!" sign in Luke's handwriting taken down. The stranger in the red Mustang was like a Messiah to the people, saving them all from going to Al's Pancake World to die a horrible death (since Al had become legally blind and couldn't tell paprika from a bag of nails). And he owed it all to this magical stranger.

Imagine Nicholai's sheer joy when a modest sign that read, "Help Wanted" was posted up inside the diner's window a few days later. He raced to the counter, his chest heaving, and eyes bright with excitement at the prospect of both meeting the Messiah and actually helping him spread the Word (which was, "Luke's is open again, baby!").

However, Messiah was a little bit preoccupied talking to Luke, who was sitting at one of the tables near the back, right beside the entrance to the counter. He was holding a newspaper and glaring at Messiah.

"Do you honestly think you can last the whole day on that chair, just watching me work?"

"It's for the protection of my property, Buddy."

"Hey, correction, my property now, Luke. Go and take a walk or something."

"I am staying here as a paying customer, and I will leave when I want to."

"Then will you at least stop staring at me? I feel weird."

"Like you're Elijah Wood with prosthetic legs and I'm that giant eyeball on the mountain acting like a lighthouse tower? You bet your ass I'm that giant, fiery eyeball acting like a lighthouse tower! Do something to piss me off, and I'll seriously jump you."

"Didn't the humans set up a diversion and get the eyeball to look away?" It was a small retort from the side, coming from little Nicholai Stratt at the mention of the old movie. He had previously seen it on one of the random movie channels a few months ago, with his mom.

The old man gave him a rather alarmed look, "Nicholai! What the hell are you doing here?"

Nicholai tossed him something between a smirk and a weird look, "Uh, I saw the sign outside, and I thought I'd apply. I need the money and I've got nothing to do during the summer anyhow."

Luke jumped in his seat and crumpled the newspaper on his lap as he craned his neck to look at the small piece of paper by the entrance. He couldn't understand what made him so agitated, but he quickly whipped his head towards Messiah, "Jess, why is that sign up there?"

"I needed help, Your Highness."

Luke stood from his seat and yanked Jess into the storage room, after offering the lame excuse of "having to check something in the back" to Nicholai. As soon as the two of them were out of earshot, Luke started to talk. "Look, Jess, I know that we aren't the best of pals, and I don't think we ever will be, given my sheer hatred for you and your audacious way of speaking to me, but I want you to grant me this one small favour."

"I'm not sure. I'm quite hurt at where this is all going."

"Don't hire Nicholai Stratt."

Jess screwed his mouth and ventured a peek at the boy outside, patiently waiting for the two men to come out, "Why not? He seems like a good kid."

"Just..." Luke made this helpless gesture with his hands, as he usually did when he ran out of things to say. However, the urgency in the old man's voice hit something within Jess. It was beyond him why Luke was so jumpy, but he decided to give this one thing to him. The idea of blackmail ran across his mind for a second, but he shook it off with a chuckle. They were both too old for that game.

*

So there it was, all in the span of four days, Luke's Diner had been closed forever, reopened under new management, and a boy's hope to work for a great man was crushed. God, Jess could certainly cook things up fast.

But that wasn't even close to the end. The day went on, and people came and went (with Luke still harassing Jess from the table where his ass-print would probably hold until the next millennium bash). The knocker of the whole thing came during a lull. Luke had borrowed a book from Jess, as his newspaper was now dilapidated from over-reading and over-folding and Jess was simply refilling the sugar. The small jingling of the bell above the door made both men look up, up towards the face that made Luke turn white, and Jess furrow his brow.

"Luke, why didn't you give Nicholai the job? The poor kid's so bummed."

In a way, Nicholai Stratt turned out to be the Tin Man that Jess wasn't supposed to have turned away, because in the doorway stood a familiar figure that somehow reminded Jess of everything he had previously tried to forget.

"Lorelai?"

Author's Note:

Thanks to Becka, jumbocoffeemorning and Arianna for beta-ing!