"Hooga Shocka, Hooga Hooga Hooga Hooga Shocka... I can't stop this feeling...deep inside of me...girl you just don't realize what you do to me..."

Logan was awakened from a particularly hot and humid version of that aforementioned jungle fantasy by the Blue Swede version of Hooked on a Feeling. It was the ring tone assigned to Rory's dorm room on his cell phone, an obnoxious situation that had started out as a joke one night when she had managed to get a hold of his cell phone and with a wicked smile that conjured images of evil pixies at play had taken rather nefarious delight in programming her number in with that particularly off the wall tune. Already it had become so ingrained a sound that it brought a smile to his face just to hear it...attached as it was to thoughts of her. Pavlov would have been proud.

He came up from the steamy depths of sleep with only a small protest and stretched to reach the phone that he had discarded on the table next to the bed without having to change position. He was awake but he wasn't all that ready to be up and about quite yet, he was rather hoping to slip back in to that tropical paradise in his mind. He flipped open the phone and all but purred into the phone in a sleep-laced voice "Hey sweet thing, couldn't survive another minute without talking to me huh?"

It didn't occur to him until the words had left his mouth that it was odd that she would be calling from her dorm given that only hours earlier she had been talking about staying with her mom until tomorrow.

The laughing voice on the other end had him sitting up in bed with a start "I always suspected that you had a thing for me. I hate to break it to you Logan, but I don't bat for the boy boy team... I'm strictly a ladies man. Hope you can go one living after this crushing blow."

Logan took the phone away from his ear and glanced down at the caller id sure enough it read Ace. He was suddenly feeling very alert, that slightly slurred voice like a bucket of ice water in the face "Finn? What the hell are you doing calling me from Rory's room?"

Finn's voice went sly and teasing, "You mean besides peeking in her underwear drawer? I've got to say my friend you might be on to something with this whole girl next-door thing. Who knew cute sweet little Woodward would be into leopard print satin..." he whistled into the phone "And red silk...yowza! I gotta get me one of these good girls they are going to be the hot new accessory for the season. A top hat, a humidor and one of those fine specimens and I'm golden. You always were a trendsetter mate."

"Finn." Logan's tone was edging towards menacing. "If you have any interest in self preservation you will remove your hand from my girlfriend's lingerie drawer immediately before I have to chop it off with a very dull ax."

Finn pondered a selection of inappropriate responses and went with wrongly accused innocence "I see how it is, one minute I'm a sweet thing and now that I've rejected your advances you are lashing out at me in misguided retaliation. I thought we had something special a friendship that could survive the trials of life but apparently Rory is our Yoko. So much for Hakuna Matata it appears our threesome is down to two."

"The threesome is down to you idiot. Colin is long gone under Stephanie's spell and I for one would rather stick with plausible deniability when it comes to my association with you."

"How right you are, I'm all alone, I am forced to hold down the bachelor fort all by my lonesome... I am a singer without a band, a man alone against the cold cold world. Batman without Robin, The Lone Ranger without Tonto. Ren without Stimpy...horror of horrors...I'm Gin without Tonic...what does that make me?" his voice had gone mournful.

"A Martini." Logan's voice was as dry as any drink by that name.

There was a pause, as Finn seemed to be considering this "Good point, one of my favorite of the tini family which reminds me, I think I'm in need of a little liquid refreshment right now." Logan heard cupboard doors opening and shutting as Finn muttered to himself "Wonder where they keep the hooch in this joint...what kind of luxury suite doesn't have a minibar?" There was a pause as if Finn had only just remembered that he was holding a phone to his ear "So...did you call me for a reason Huntzberger?"

Logan felt his teeth clenching and thought it was a close thing that he didn't outright scream "Finn...you called me, from Rory's room I might add which you still have not explained."

Finn seemed to be processing this information and his tone came back a little amazed "What do you know. I think you're right. Care to refresh my memory as to the direction of the conversation? I think I missed the turn and got onto a tangent somehow or other."

"Are you still drunk?" Logan's tone had turned accusing.

"That is possibly the most ridiculous question I've heard in a long time. Who do you think you're talking to, Betty Ford? Of course I'm drunk...it's the only decent way to see ten a.m. without going stark raving mad." Finn's voice was happy go lucky and unmistakably slurred this time.

"Too late...I think you hit stark and raving about a decade ago. Now listen carefully Finn I am going to repeat this one more time nicely and then I'm going to come over there and wring your neck if you don't just spit out a straight answer." Logan was beginning to really fear the reason for this call.

"Geez, you're testy when your Ace isn't around to pilot the plane."

Logan cut into the remark getting right to the point "Did you break in to Rory's room?"

The tone was all outraged affront "Of course not, I never break in to rooms when I can use a perfectly good key and waltz right in the front door. I'm not really the cat burglar type, that's more your style."

"How did you get a key?" he sort of hated to know the answer but asked it anyway.

"My new elf consort happened to have one, quite a stroke of luck actually."

Logan rolled his eyes despite his lack of an audience; apparently another notch had been made on Finn's rather lengthy tally of conquests. At this point one couldn't really even call it a bed post since it was more like a hundred foot tall totem pole probably with carvings of the gods in what ever alternate universe Finn existed in. "Okay, so now the million dollar question. I'll use small words so you are sure to understand. What are you doing there now?"

Finn's voice turned a little sulky "You know I have half a mind not to show it to you now that you are being such a party pooper."

Logan almost didn't dare to ask the next question "Show me what exactly?"

"My masterpiece..." Logan heard a female voice in the background and then Finn amended his statement "Right love, sorry, OUR masterpiece."

Logan closed his eyes and was quite certain that he was going to rue the moment that he answered the phone this morning "Could you be more specific about the nature of this...masterpiece?"

"It's the brilliant, breathtaking, a picture is worth a thousand words kind. The elf thinks might very well be the next Rembrandt." His voice held cheerful pride and Logan shivered in apprehension. "I think it's some of my best work. Nothing like a little revenge served cold to inspire my muse."

"Tell me this does not involve paint. Finn what did you do?" playing in his mind was a steady progression of past Finn transgressions that made him shudder just to recall and he had the feeling that Rory wasn't going to be all that pleased when she heard about this latest caper and it's location in the place she called home.

"Words would never do my art justice. You'll just have to see it for yourself. There is a price for admittance though, my brilliance cannot be viewed for free, bring coffee or booze...or both for that matter. Ta ta for now old chum." There was a click and Logan stared at the phone for a long moment before he lowered his forehead to his hands. There were days that he really regretted that meeting in the sand box when he was six and this was one of those Sliding Doors moments that was shaping up to be just such an instance. He sighed and dragged himself out of bed preparing to face the music and find out just what sort of mischief his nefarious friend had gotten himself into this time.

The elf was the one who opened the door and she smiled in a happy go lucky manner that had him suspecting that she was still under the influence of either copious quantities of alcohol or Finn's particular brand of screwball genius. Either way it didn't bode well for the sanctity of Rory's suite. He stepped into the room and surveyed the scene, so far everything in the common room looked fairly normal or at least as close as he could tell based on his previous recollections. The furniture was still in it's original place, nothing was dyed fluorescent orange or covered in shag carpet which had been a particularly gruesome result of Finn's self proclaimed Austin Powers phase.

He heard a rather bawdy rendition of "Oh What a Night" coming from one of the bedrooms and initially assumed it was from Rory's room. He reversed his footsteps with something akin to dread when he realized that it was in fact coming from the bedroom that he knew to Paris. He cringed as he pushed the door open to reveal the artiste himself in front of what was indeed a masterpiece. He closed his eyes in submission to the horror of the moment and to blot out the glaring oddity on the far wall then opened them again with a little sigh.

There was nothing to do but gape at it for a good minute while he regained the power of speech. It sort of deserved a good gaping anyway. Finally he snapped his jaw shut with an audible snap that finally got the infamous artist's attention. "Jesus Finn couldn't you just go on an acid trip like every other normal misunderstood artist?"

Finn who appeared to be mostly painted purple spun with a merry step and waved an expansive hand at his "art". "What do you think of my humble work dear friend?"

"I think that someday when they are doing the A & E version of your life story this will be the moment that they sadly recount as THE moment that led to your demise. Something tells me that when Paris gets a hold of you there will be hell to pay and yours will be the soul she wants it stripped from. I'm not sure that much will be left but I promise you a lovely funeral with what remains after her hell hounds are finished with you. Its the least I can do as a friend."

Finn waved an eloquent hand "Oh posh...the formidable Miss Gellar may seem the love child of Hitler and Marie Antoinette with all the 'off with their heads' and 'extermination of the masses' stuff but at heart she's a girl and no girl has ever managed to stay angry with Finn Morrison once the charm is on, it's a physiologic impossibility. Give me ten minutes and I'll have her eating right out of my hand. You've got nothing to worry about."

"You mean eating off your hand right? You are claiming that you are going to be able to charm the woman who probably gave Lorena Bobbitt her inspiration out of noticing that you painted her as a giant fire breathing Barney on her bedroom wall?" Logan's tone was completely incredulous.

"Precisely... you doubt me?" Finn looked shocked at this betrayal.

"I doubt you will live to see the end of this day." Logan was a little concerned that Finn truly had jumped off the deep end this time.

"Doubt is such a negative emotion. I prefer to err on the side of optimism."

"Okay...I'll be sure to have that put on your tombstone. Right next to the disclaimer that says lost due to calamitous stupidity...moral of the story don't let Finn's out without supervision." He looked up at the painting again and shook his head this time Finn had even topped his own record for reckless inanity. "If Paris goes to trial for your murder I think I'll be forced to be a witness for the defense."

"Traitor." Finn turned and stuck his nose in the air and marched towards the door somehow managing an exceedingly haughty exit despite the fact that was walking a far form straight line.

Logan called after him "Hey I'm not taking the fall for this one...loyalty only goes so far." He pulled out his cell phone and weighed his options before he resolutely dialed and then waited with bated breath as the phone rang.

Rory was awakened by the ringing of her cell phone on the night table next to the bed. Eyes still closed she flung an arm in the direction of the table but hit only air. It took a few seconds of squinted eye reconnaissance for her to recall that she wasn't in her bed in her dorm room, she was at home, in Stars Hollow and in her mom's bed where she had fallen asleep last night after Lorelai had cried herself to sleep in misery over the situation with Luke. The entire night came back to her in a rush of images and garbled emotions and then a drowsy half memory surfaced of her mom looking drawn but resolved sometime earlier this morning.

She sat bolt upright and grabbed the phone quickly worried that it was her mom who appeared to still be missing from the household. She flipped it open as she pushed the tangled hair from her face "Hello."

She was more than a little surprised at the voice that replied "So, how much do you love me?"

Definitely not the question that she had been prepared for "I...um...Logan?"

There was a laugh on the other end of the phone while she tried to get her brain revved up to speed and she kicked her self for the completely idiotic answer.

"It was a figure of speech Ace, no need to panic." She could hear the teasing lilt in his tone.

She regrouped "I wasn't panicked, I just didn't expect it to be you."

"Oh, so now I'm just one in the line of besotted suitors?" He was smiling to himself as she fumbled and he was certain that his call must have woken her from a dead sleep.

"No...No, I thought you were my mom."

"Oh, even better, now I'm your mother, not the most flattering thing you've ever called me although I do think it's a sight better than Beelzebub."

"I think you earned that one fair and square if I remember correctly. Did you just call to torment me Jerry?"

"Jerry? As in Seinfeld, king of comedy?" he was a little perplexed at that one.

"As in mouse...tormentor of the beleaguered Tom." Her tone implied that she was pleased that she had stumped him.

"Enough with the flattery Ace, first your mother and now a rodent, my ego will be uncontrollable."

She rolled her eyes out of habit and could all but picture the smirk that was probably gracing his lips "Did you call me for a reason?"

"You mean other than to wish you a good morning?"

"That's sweet." Her tone had him feeling a little guilty.

He looked at the wall in front of him again and cringed a little before going with honesty as the best policy "I'd like to say it's altruistic and completely without ulterior motives but actually I'm hoping to rack up some brownie points that will counteract my friendship with Finn."

Rory raised an eyebrow even though she knew he couldn't see it and her tone went a little suspicious "What exactly did he do that requires this payment? Something worse than singing Little Shop of Horrors at my grandparent's wedding?"

He considered best how to tell the story of Finn's latest misadventure "Do you want the good news first or the bad news?"

"There is bad news?"

He wasn't certain how that part might play out "Uh...maybe...depends on your definitions I guess."

"I'm not liking the sound of this." Now her tone definitely implied dire consequences if he didn't spill the details.

"I can't keep up with that speedy intellect of yours." He joked mostly to stall the inevitable a he considered the beast.

"Okay tell me the bad news." She sounded a bit like she was preparing for sentencing.

"A glass half empty kind of gal huh?"

"Just spill Huntzberger so I can decide if I have to go into hiding or transfer to Harvard." She was getting a tad worried at this stalling...how bad could it really be?

"Okay bad news first, Finn turned the elf." He was sticking to the short and sweet version of events.

"Turned her into what?"

"A artist." That was the simplest definition after all.

"Okay you're going to have to give me a few more hints...an adjective maybe, an adverb even."

He sighed; apparently she wasn't going to let him get away with the simplest version of events. "Maybe I should start from the beginning."

"A very good place to start." Her tone was dry and implacable.

"I woke up this morning to a call from you. Only it wasn't really you it was Finn...in your room...with the elf."

"So you are calling to tell me that they snuck into my room? What is it with you people and breaking in to people's rooms?" Rory was sounding a bit on the irritated side.

"Uh well actually they didn't break in, Paris gave Alice a key in case she wasn't here when we got back." That part at least was not blame that lay at his feet.

"Oh. So what are you calling me about then and what does it have to do with art?" Rory was completely perplexed by this point and a little worried; it wasn't like Logan to be so cryptic.

Logan sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face as he took a gulp from the coffee cup in his hand. "Well, it seems that besides their love affair with Broadway Finn and the elf share a certain passion for the medium of paint."

"Finn paints?" Rory's tone was surprised.

"A regular Picasso... " Logan pondered as he looked at Finn's latest masterpiece. "Actually scratch that, I'm thinking the bastard child of Salvador Dali and Hanna Barbera would be a better description."

Her tone was a bit admiring, it never ceased to amaze her the strange talents that hid in the shell of the womanizing party animal named Finn "That Finn is a regular wunderkind."

"He's a phenomenon that's for sure, whether a marvel or a freak of nature ... well, the jury's still out on that one." His tone was sarcastic.

Rory was still confused, obviously without the visual to put together the pieces of this strange tale "Okay...I'm still not seeing how this is bad news. I have the feeling I'm missing the bigger picture here."

Logan chuckled slightly "Oh don't worry Ace, you'll get to see the big picture soon enough."

"Cut the cute talking in code and give it to me straight Huntzberger. I haven't had coffee yet and I'm getting irritable." She was feeling a bit on the waspish side with all the less than clear remarks.

"My summarization of the situation is that at some point after our return last night fueled most likely by great quantities of alcohol and a nasty little devil called revenge, Finn had a brainstorm. Now I've personally witnessed a few Finn brainstorms and I'm not talking about a little squall with a brief spell of rain, I'm talking class five storm, put up the barricades and nail your windows shut kind of natural disaster. They should have an entire warning system just for Finn and his brainstorms. The regrettable circumstances were compounded when this brainstorm hit and somehow or another Finn was able to locate painting supplies and a give the elf a worthy demonstration of his professed skill."

Rory pondered still not completely understanding the situation "Okay, so he painted her a picture? That seems sort of sweet."

"Uh, not a picture so much as a wall... Finn enjoys a large canvas for his art." Logan sounded a bit reluctant to provide this information.

"A wall..." she parroted trying to make sense of what Logan seemed to be withholding, then an inkling of suspicion crept into her brain "Whose wall?"

There was a cough and a mumbled reply that she couldn't make out "What? I can't understand you?"

"Yours... well actually Paris' to be exact." This time he spit it out in a rush.

There was a second of dead silence over the phone line and that a statement that came out half a question and begged him to correct her "He painted Paris' wall?" her tone was still in the realm of the disbelieving praying that this was some sort of practical joke.

" Yes." The tone was of cringing.

Rory covered her face "Oh my god...what did he paint? No...wait, I don't think I want to know."

Logan's voice sounded slightly relieved "Probably for the best. Don't worry; I'll take care of it. I know some very good maintenance men at Yale...believe it or not this isn't the first time that Finn has taken to the brush."

Rory groaned but then figured she had better know how bad the holocaust was going to be "No, I should know...just tell me, do it quick, it'll hurt less that way."

Logan took in the glory that was Finn's art. It was painted on the far wall and was sure not to be missed even by an eighty-five year-old woman with cataracts. It was eight feet tall, appeared to be of the bastard child of a fire breathing dragon, a Cyclops and a cartoon dinosaur and was bright purple with one horn in the center of its head. On closer exploration it became obvious that it was being slain by a rather glorified sword wielding likeness of Finn complete with a feather topped hat a la Robin Hood Men in Tights. It was sort of breathtaking and what it lacked in artistic brilliance it certainly made up for in sheer ludicrous stupidity. It was also pretty much a signed death warrant with Finn's name on it.

"I'm not sure I can even describe it adequately. It has one eye and one horn and it's purple and has wings...I think it's supposed to be a dragon or a dinosaur or..." he cocked his head as he considered

Rory interjected with an almost helpless laugh "A flying purple people eater."

"What?" Logan hadn't quite caught on.

Now Rory was laughing so hard she could hardly talk "Finn made Paris a one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater...you know, like the song."

Logan's eyes widened as it clicked.

Rory took a breath in an attempt to stop laughing "Okay...this shouldn't be funny. I'm certain it won't be funny when I have to sleep on your couch because Paris has burned down the room with Finn in it... but somehow right now this is one of the more hilarious things I've heard...ever. A huge flying purple people eater painted on a wall... that's a first for me even after living with Lorelai Gilmore for the first twenty some odd years of my life."

"So you're not angry?" Logan's voice spoke of overt shock.

Rory sobered after a last chuckle "Oh I'm furious and if Paris doesn't eviscerate Finn before I get back I might just have to do a little tarring and feathering myself but unless you handed him the key and the paint brush which I'm assuming you were smart enough not to do it's not your fault... I've come to realize that Finn is a force of nature, not even the almighty Logan Huntzberger can control a force of nature."

Logan gave a loud sigh of relief and then a little chuckle "I feel as if I've just been spared the hangman's noose."

"Don't breath easy just yet, it'll still cost you." Her voice was teasing.

"I promise lots of coffee and mental anguish." Logan was smiling now.

"That's a good start...plus I really think you should get a hold of a crack team of those maintenance men of yours and try to cover up that thing before Paris gets back. Paris is probably at Doyle's or at the Daily News and if I were you I'd find a way to stall her because if she finds Finn before you fix this you'll be painting over blood stains as well."

Logan pondered "I've got it, I'll send Alice over there to take them out to breakfast or lunch or something."

Rory's tone was approving "See now there is the evil mastermind Logan that I know. Oh, and one more thing. Once it's painted I would make yourself scarce if I were you. Paris isn't known for being merciful and she's very big on condemnation of accomplices."

"I'll go buy my sunglasses and a wig post haste." He was back to teasing.

"Work on the walk too, that swagger of yours is sort of unmistakable."

His tone was insulted "Swagger? I do not swagger. I walk with confidence."

"Okay Tony Manero what ever you say. Just try to stay alive until I get back." The tone was droll.

"I'm going to ignore the impugning of what many of my female admirers have called my 'sexy strut' and move on to kinder subjects." He gave a little mock huff.

"By the way...what was the good news?" Rory questioned.

"Paris may never speak to you again."

There was a considering pause "There is that. Maybe this will turn out to be a win-win situation after all. Make sure that paint job is a good one and I may just let you forget this moment sometime in the next decade."

Logan smiled and imagined the teasing light that was no doubt shining in her eyes "Speaking of which...are you coming back sometime in the next decade or am I all alone in my running from justice?"

"I'm not sure we were speaking of which but probably tomorrow. I figured I'd hang out with my mom today, you know do the whole Gilmore girl wallow ritual thing. It's not nearly as therapeutic with only one person. It's nice to know that you miss me though...that gets you a few bonus points and you need all you can get right now."

"What's not to miss... colorful insults, defamation of my character, threats of torture..." he paused with a laugh but then sobered thinking of her earlier words and unfinished business "You know Ace, you're always welcome to join me in my secret hide out even if yours isn't reduced to ashes."

"Oh really? Is it sort of like the Bat cave?"

"The Bat cave with an espresso machine. I bet we can even come up with a better place for you to crash than the couch. You know I do have this newfangled thing called a bed." His voice had gone a little sexy and suggestive.

"Is that a proposition Huntzberger?" she knew what it was but enjoyed this little banter they had going

"It's an offer Ace." There was no doubt as to the meaning of that sentence.

There was a short pause and her voice was a little breathy when she replied, "Well maybe I'll take you up on it. See you tomorrow Logan."

Logan looked at the phone for a second with a huge grin on his face and then turned to slap Finn on the shoulder "You know Finley you might just be good luck after all."

The grey stone facade was as cold and looming as it had seemed in her childhood, somehow to this day though she had lived and grown in this house she had never truly called it home.

In childhood she had imagined herself the sleeping beauty trapped in the tower waiting for her Prince Charming to rescue her. Then life had intervened and she had figured out that the only person who was going to rescue her from anything was herself. Even then it had been about escape, about leaving behind this world of wealth and privilege and expectations that had always seemed to her like the bars of a prison. She loved her parents in her own way but she had resigned herself to never seeing life through their eyes, to the knowledge that they would never see it through hers. It still stung a little that Rory fit here so well. That she fit with them so well. It was something that a tiny part of her had always yearned for, to just once have them accept her, love her, be proud of her for who she was rather than what they wanted her to be. It hadn't happened, and now she wasn't certain it ever could. For a while there had been peace in the land, a truce of sorts, there had been parlays on both sides, overtures of mutual acceptance, attempts at bridge building. They hadn't quite had friendship but there had been something close. This had shattered whatever fragile link there had been. This was a crossroads she was at in her own life and in her relationship with the people who were her parents. She wished she knew if what she was doing was right, but it was the only way she knew to protect what was hers, her life and the people that she loved.

She took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders and readied for a show down. The door swung open to reveal another nameless face in the endless string of maids that the misfortune to be in the employ of Emily Gilmore. This one was small and blonde and looked more than a little terrified... must be new, Lorelai wondered idly if she would make it through the day. "Hi, I'm Lorelai. I'm wondering if Mr. Gilmore is in?"

The maid's voice was even timorous of that mousy quality that didn't bode well for her longevity in the household. "Yes Miss, Mr. Gilmore is in his study, would you like me to take your coat?"

Lorelai pondered for an instant but then decided on a quick get away plan "No, thank you, I won't be staying long...best to keep it in case I need to abort the mission quickly. If I come running through yelling Mayday, Mayday don't panic."

She tried for a friendly smile and a little laugh but only a nervous twitter met it so she subsided "I'll just show myself in. Thank you." She brushed past the young woman and made a beeline for her father's study, if memory served he should be in the midst of his Sunday morning routine perusing the newspaper and drinking coffee and hopefully her mother would not yet be back from her afternoon tea at the Ladies club.

She managed to make it to the study door with no Emily sightings and knocked lightly. She waited a moment before hearing a commanding male voice "You may enter."

She opened the door and slipped inside taking in the scene that she remembered so clearly from her youth, the big mahogany desk, the rich smell of leather and books and the slightly woody aroma of cigars and her father ensconced in the middle of this kingdom of his as much a part of the decor as the paintings and the silver candlesticks. She had always secretly loved this room, and used to sneak in here when she was a very young and could barely lift the heavy tomes. She would gaze at all those words dreaming about the day that she could discuss the worlds they described with her father, the man who she adored. Of course that had been before things had gone so terribly wrong between them, before she had disappointed him and he dismissed her as less than worthy of his attention.

"Miriam would you bring me another of coffee please. I believe this is shaping up to be a two cup morning." he spoke absently with his eyes still riveted to the words in the paper open before him.

The words snapped Lorelai out of her reminiscence and back to the present, to a man with whom she had a strained, monosyllabic relationship at best and she almost regretted the impulse that had brought her here. She was within a heartbeat of turning around and walking back the way she came when his eyes raised towards hers and registered shock. "Lorelai?"

Obviously she had been the last person that he had expected to see darken his door today or probably any day for that matter. There was a pause and then he set his paper down his brow furrowing as he took in her appearance, she looked exhausted, pale and was dressed in something drab that was far from her usual flamboyant style. He wasn't sure what to say so he fell back on old habits "Your mother is still at her tea but you are welcome to wait if you came to talk to her."

She took a step further into the room and closed the door with great care before facing him again "Actually dad, I came to see you."

"Oh." There wasn't much else to say. He could hardly tell her that he was relieved that she was here, that he had stayed awake late into the night comforting her mother and hoping against hope that this most recent schism wouldn't be the last time that he saw his only daughter. It was against his nature to let these things play over his features or fall from his lips, it wasn't the way things were done in his world. "Well, sit down then."

"Thank you." She was uncharacteristically succinct and took a seat without further comment.

They sat there for a moment staring at one another across the expanse of dark gleaming wood and Richard thought of how much his daughter had grown, how distant and cool this woman who sat across from him was and it saddened him that they had drifted so far, but he was at a loss for how to bring them all back. He cleared his throat at last and clasped his hands together on the desk in front of him "So, Lorelai, what can I do for you? I assume you are here about the mess last night."

She shouldn't have been surprised at the clipped, business like tone but it still stung a little. For a moment she was that little girl who had disappointed her father and wanted to cry, just wanted to run to him and have him hug her and tell her that everything would be okay, that he still loved her but that was a relationship that existed only in the figments of her imagination. "Yes, dad, I am."

"Well I really don't think it is appropriate for you to be discussing this with me, this is between you and your mother."

She held her tongue for the two seconds it took for her to control the nasty remark that sat waiting on it's tip, it would do nothing but worsen the situation to spill her anger in this venue. "No dad, that's where you are wrong. Even though you try to be impartial and I believe you had nothing to do with mom's actions, this affects you as well and I'm here to offer an olive branch, to ask for a reprieve."

"I'm not sure I understand, you want my forgiveness?"

"Not forgiveness no." She paused trying to put her thoughts into the correct words "Silent support I guess."

"You want me to support you against your mother?" now his tone was edging towards disbelieving anger.

Lorelai's eyes widened as she realized that he had misinterpreted her words, she hated this, hated the stilted communication between them that made every word become some twisted weapon they used against one another. This was important though so she pushed onward wishing that she could pace, could move, work out her frustration as she spoke but she sat rock still in the chair and only her twitching heel gave away her irritation "No, dad, I'm sorry, I'm not being clear, this isn't about me."

He watched as she tightly clasped the purse in her lap. "Explain please."

"This is about Rory."

"Rory?"

"Yes, I can't pretend that what happened didn't happen, that's not the way I am built and my continued presence at Friday night dinners would only make them hellish for all of us but Rory loves you and she loves mom and she loves this idea of us being a family as impossible as it might be. I don't' want her to lose that connection to you just because mom and I had a falling out and I don't want you and mom to gang up on her about me not being here on Friday nights. You can help her, you can make sure she still feels welcome."

There was a little tightening in the region of his heart, something Lorelai probably never knew he had when those words fell from her lips in a flurry. His daughter was walking away again, that's what this was really about, they would be cut from her life as ruthlessly as they had been so many years ago when they had pushed her one step too far. Only this time she was here to plead for her own daughter, the one good thing that tied them to one another irrevocably as much as she might wish otherwise. There was no real way for him to fix this other than to hope that time somehow wore down the stubborn pride of two of the women that he loved most in this life and in the meantime he could protect the third of those women from as much harm as possible.

His tone was a bit harsher than intended in an attempt to cover inexplicable emotions "Rory is always welcome here and that won't change because of a tiff between you and your mother. I will make sure that won't change. You have my word on that."

She searched his eyes for a moment before she stood and her tone was formal "Thank you dad. I appreciate it and I won't forget this. Now I'll let you get back to your paper. I'm sorry to disturb you. I'll just see myself out."

She had her hand on the door when his voice stopped her "You never need to doubt that I'll take care of her Lorelai. Rory is important to your grandmother and to me."

She smiled slightly "Yeah, I know dad." Then she was slipping out and the door was closing behind her.

"And so are you Lorelai." His words fell into an empty room as he looked at the closed door. He only hoped that the tenuous structure they had built here could some day be a bridge.

Overall she would say although it would rank as one of her more productive days it still fell far short of the mark for one of the best. It felt good to have taken some action, to have set a torch to a few bridges and erected scaffolding for a few others but that niggling voice in the back of her head reminded her that she really hadn't solved the big looming problem. The one that was standing like an angry heckler in the corner of her nice happy, full of affirmations Stuart Smalley world.

That voice had her idling the jeep at the curb and looking in the window of Luke's. Watching as he poured coffee, buttered toast, heated muffins while he remained ignorant of her observation. It was the voice reminding her that this forward progress would be all for naught if she didn't find a way to convince that surly, opinionated, gruff, heart of gold diner man to give her a second chance.

She might claim to feel strong and self-sufficient but deep down she knew she was a liar. She felt alone and unhappy and it was magnified by the fact that the one man that she could always talk to about being alone and unhappy was the one man that she couldn't talk to because he was the reason that she was alone and unhappy. He was the one that she had always run to with the good, the bad and the ugly and now he was off limits until she figured out how to fix things between them. She dared not even think about what would happen to her if this were truly the end, if this thing was unfixable and she had used up the last of her get out of jail free cards. She couldn't imagine life without Luke more importantly she didn't want to imagine it. That was the thought that had her heart racing and her eyes locking on his face just as his eyes came up to met hers through the window. She pulled away and headed for home worn out and ready for a good mindless wallowing session.

Lorelai burst through the door to find Rory in the middle of the living room floor surrounded by piles of DVDs. Rory leapt up as soon as she came into view and came towards her with a worried look in her eyes "Are you okay, I was worried about you when you were gone so long. Where did you go, you didn't have another fight with Luke did you?"

Rory was patting her on the back and Lorelai almost laughed at the worried harangue "Hey, relax, I'm fine. I just had some things I needed to do, you know people to see, places to go and no I did not have another fight with Luke, you would be proud of me, I managed to stay away from him the whole day, had a few good gun battles with some other folks but Luke is safe and sound in his diner."

Rory narrowed her eyes "Okay, so where did you go and who are these people you had to see?"

Lorelai slung an arm over her daughters shoulder "I've had a long day and if you want to play Geraldo I definitely need some junk food, woman can not live on coffee alone."

Rory gave her a shocked look "Since when?"

"Since I passed ravenous half an hour ago and considered eating Pad Thai from Al's as a reasonable solution."

"Oh...that does call for emergency intervention."

"Pop tarts and pickles to the rescue."

Rory made a face "You know that probably sounds really disgusting to the untrained ear."

Lorelai shook her head sadly "Most people have no idea the wonders they are missing, right up there with peanut butter and fluff sandwiches with potato chips."

"Sweet and nutty with just the right amount of crunch. A truly perfect combination that could only be created in some freakish lab experiment gone wrong or in the Gilmore kitchen." Rory smiled as she opened the package of pop tarts.

They were through the first box when Rory looked over at Lorelai "So...you want to talk?"

"Not yet... give it time, misery is like a fine wine, it gets mellower with age. I'm thinking right now I need a few hours of mellowing at the least." Lorelai took a contemplative bite of dill pickle.

Rory jumped up exuberantly "Good. I was sort of hoping you would say that because I have a back up plan." She pulled out four stacks of DVDs and neatly arranged them on the coffee table.

Lorelai shook her head in understanding "You haven't been color coding the movies by genre again have you? Last time you did that it took me three days and a metal detector to figure out where you had put the Top Gun DVD."

Rory cocked her head to one side "What was the metal detector for?"

"Well I was also looking for my aviator sun glasses which happened to be in the Top Gun box, of course." Lorelai's tone was very matter of fact.

"Why were your sunglasses in a DVD box?"

"One can not watch Top Gun with out aviator sunglasses, what would Maverick say?"

Rory rolled her eyes "Heaven knows."

"I know." Lorelai pointed at her and pretended that the remote was a microphone "You've lost that loving feeling, oh oh, that loving feeling."

"Glad you're feeling better already."

"It's the pop tarts and pickles...magical combination, I bet if they studied them for science they could prove that the elevate some sort of euphoria producing brain chemicals... it's like drugs but better because they had fake strawberry filling." She looked down at the stacks of DVDs "Okay Felix care to tell me about this system of yours?"

Rory smiled "Well...I figured we might need a bit of entertainment, good mocking material, good sobbing material so I picked a few selections for different categories and you can choose what you want to watch." She started with the pile to the left "So here we have the classic love isn't always enough genre; Gone With the Wind, The Way We Were, Casablanca, etc."

"So basically the ones that leave you with your heart on the floor and big red puffy eyes that say I'm a pathetic sap and I don't care who knows it." Lorelai interjected with a nod.

"Exactly." Rory moved to the next stack "Then we've got the hopeful love conquers all classics Sleepless in Seattle, Philadelphia Story, When Harry Met Sally, Some Like It Hot."

"Sure, because any movie whose main female character is named Sugar Kane deserves to be lauded."

Rory continued, "Right, so there's also Roman Holiday, Pretty Woman, Taming of the Shrew...you get the drift."

"I'm not the Shrew am I?"

"Only in the best possible sense." She pointed to the next stack "Next we have the comedy classics that make you forget all about your worldly troubles and laugh until your side cramps and coffee comes out of your nose, we have The Court Jester..."

"Right...the pellet with the poison is in the vessel with the pestle...words to live by."

"Strictly Ballroom, Blazing Saddles, Airplane, A Night at the Opera, Willy Wonka and the Odd Couple." She moved to the last stack "Lastly we have the movies that bring perspective."

"Perspective?"

"Good Morning, Vietnam, The Color Purple, you know the whole I may feel like my heart has been flayed from my chest but at least I don't have it as bad as those Jews in Schindler's List."

"So basically your average war, natural disaster or horrific accident movie. I've no doubt my life definitely looks better after reliving slavery, the reign of the Camer Rouge or the explosion of the Hindenburg. I've taught you well young Sky walker." She observed the stacks in front of her again "So basically I've got a film smorgasbord to choose from; the glass half empty group, the glass half full group, the chuck the glass and drink straight from the bottle group and the you're lucky you have a glass at all group. It's like group therapy with Freud, Sally Jesse and Roger Ebert all in one."

"Exactly what I was going for, a buffet of cinematic greatness." Rory plopped down on the couch looking pleased with her self.

Lorelai pondered the options with great seriousness "Okay...I say we mix it up, you know laugh, cry, mock, rinse and repeat kind of drill."

Rory smiled encouragingly "By the time we're finished your serotonin receptors won't know what direction is up."

Lorelai put a finger in the air to signify her strong agreement "Right you are...who needs Prozac when you've got Billy Wilder and Robin Williams and Mel Brooks dressed as an Indian Chief?" Lorelai plopped her feet on the coffee table and grabbed the first DVD on the pile handing it over to Rory "I think I picked a terrible day to stop sniffing glue..."

Rory laughed and grabbed the movie "Airplane! A classic. Definitely a good place to start our tour of the human psyche."

It was a good old fashioned Gilmore girl movie fest, they laughed, they cried, they threw M & Ms at the snotty rich girl who got dumped down the rotten egg slot in the Chocolate Factory, they screamed at Hubble when he left and took turns re-enacting the couch scene from An Affair to Remember. All in all it was a satisfyingly indulgent trip to self-pity Ville.

It was somewhere past late and heading full steam towards early when Lorelai finally switched off the movie and sat there in the suddenly darkened room staring down at the remote for a few seconds.

Rory who had been half dozing next to her came awake fully and stretched a little. "Ready for another one?"

Lorelai pursed her lips and considered but then shook her head slowly "Nah, I think I've burned out even my bottomless endurance for living vicariously."

There was a moment of silence. Rory cocked her head and looked at her mom who appeared to have something on her mind but decided not to push, she would tell her when she was ready. It was only a few moments before Lorelai blurted out her confession.

"I went to see Christopher." She glanced up sideways at Rory as if waiting for a reaction and then quickly back down at her hands. "I thought we needed to talk."

Rory was careful to contain her own reaction not wanting to pass judgment just yet. "So did you? Talk I mean?'

"Yeah." Silence fell as Lorelai fiddled with the buttons on the remote and finally Rory ventured a follow up question.

"What did you talk about?"

"I told him that I was in love with Luke."

Rory silently breathed a sigh of relief "Good, that's good."

"Is it?" Lorelai was looking at her searchingly now and Rory was a little surprised.

"Yeah. It is good. There was a long time that I used to want you and dad to get back together but then I finally realized that maybe you were better having your own lives. I know you love dad but you are so happy with Luke and that makes me happy too."

Lorelai smiled at her daughter "I'm sorry kid."

Rory was startled at this "Why?"

Lorelai looked at her sort of sadly "I should have done this years ago. It's been hard on you all these years to have this hope in the back of your mind that your dad and I would get back together that someday we could really be a family. I held on to that a long time after I knew the truth, that between us it just wasn't meant to happen. I guess I was just afraid to let go of that pretty dream I had of us as a family. I was afraid I would never find anything to replace it."

Rory reached out and stroked a hand down her mom's hair "It's okay mom, I know a little bit about trying to recapture the past. Nostalgia and fear can make you do stupid stuff sometimes."

There was a little laugh form Lorelai "That is gospel truth you speak my friend." She looked into those limpid blue eyes that trusted her, believed in her and wondered if she deserved that even now. "Thanks kid, for putting up with all of my screwed up relationships, for being so understanding, for picking up the pieces after your crazy mom. I'm lucky to have a great friend like you."

Rory shrugged now and grabbed her mom's hand "Hey, that's what best friends and family are for. We're lucky to have each other."

Lorelai felt herself getting close to that precipice of tearing up brought on by too much pent up emotion and tried to head it off swiping surreptitiously at a tear that had gathered in the corner of her eye "So... enough about me...lets talk about you, I want to know all about you and big Mac... things are going well?"

Rory laughed a little at her mom's transparent subject change but went along with it. "Yeah...I think so."

Rory didn't know it but her eyes had taken on that dreamy spellbound look that new love managed to cast on even the most hard boiled of characters. Lorelai saw it and smiled. "So, I take it from the rather unceremoniously interrupted interlude last night that things are getting... serious...intimate?"

Rory blushed crimson and she avoided eye contact "Uh... not yet, but maybe...I don't know."

Lorelai stopped her with a pitying look "This isn't an inquisition I promise. I just want you to be happy Hun. From what I can see Logan makes you happy."

"Yeah, he does." That answer was simple and it came easily. He did make her happy in a giddy floating kind of way that had her wishing for the absence of gravity for the foreseeable future.

Lorelai watched this flush of contentment sweep her daughter's features and felt a little pang; her little girl was growing up right before her eyes "You love him." It was a statement more than a question as Lorelai put a hand to her daughter's warm cheek.

Rory's eyes flew up to hers and were wide as saucers "I don't...I don't know, maybe, I'm not sure. I haven't decided yet." Those words fell into some place in her mind that seemed to click and a beautiful picture began to unfold in her mind. A dreamy sort of landscape that had her thinking about possibilities.

Lorelai chuckled a little "It's not a test kid. You'll figure it out when you are ready. I've learned that one the hard way... love isn't something you can dissect and study under a microscope. It doesn't follow the rules like the rest of the universe. Sometimes it just is even if you aren't ready for it to be or think it's not right. Sometimes your heart really is smarter than all those whirring neurons put together. Only advice I can give just don't wait too long to see what's in your heart. Sometimes if you hide from it for too long then by the time you see it it's too late." Her voice was a little sad as she considered her own lack of sight.

Rory looked at her with slightly dazed eyes as she thought about that. Thought about all the jumble of emotions that she had felt in the past weeks. She wasn't sure what the destination of love actually looked like but she had a feeling that she was well on her way towards it. Suddenly she wished that she could see Logan, could look into those warm chocolate eyes and pick up where they had left off before everything else had disintegrated around them. That had been one of those pinnacle moments of complete delirious euphoria and she wanted more than anything to see what came next.

After a long moment she looked back at Lorelai and saw the small knowing smile that curved her lips. Lorelai squeezed her hand "Go see him Hun."

Rory was surprised at this instruction "But what about you?"

"Mommy is a big girl, I can use the remote and the phone to order pizza all by myself, I did it for years before you figured out what the numbers were."

Rory wasn't quite done with procrastinating...it was one thing to dream about waking Logan up in the middle of the night to seduce him it was an entirely other thing to actually contemplate doing exactly that. "It's one thirty in the morning.'

"And your point would be?" Lorelai could see logical Rory trying to weasel her way out of this one.

"It's one thirty in the morning."

"Some of the best spontaneous moments in history have happened in the dregs of the night."

"Shouldn't I just get some sleep and see him tomorrow rested and refreshed?"

Lorelai gave her a skeptical look "Because if you go to bed now you are going to sleep like a baby without a care on your mind?"

"Well no..." Rory sighed she had her there.

"Exactly... don't doubt your heart babe...sometimes it's right." Lorelai gave her a little pat on the shoulder.

Rory's voice went a little edgy with worry "I'm not very good at spontaneity though, it usually goes badly."

"You just need more practice."

Rory hesitated thinking this was the perfect set up for some sort of disaster. She worried her teeth over her bottom lip but finally gave in. Her mom was right, she wasn't going to sleep a wink until she saw Logan again and if she wasn't going to miss out on all those precious hours of REM that time might as well be put to good use. "Okay...I'm going to do it."

Her voice still sounded a bit less than confident but Lorelai bounced up and down on the couch and clapped her hands together. "It's like a real life version of Faust working his magic on Marguerite."

Rory rolled her eyes at her silly mother "If I'm Faust does that make you Mephistopheles?"

Lorelai frowned in contemplation "Hmmm...good point, hadn't thought of that, okay lets go with the tried and true... you're Rachel to his Ross, Lady to his Tramp...you get the point."

"Just help me get my things okay."

Fifteen minutes later they were standing by the door surrounded by various bags. Lorelai glanced down at the duffel and the other assorted piles of stuff. "You sure you got everything? I mean I think the kitchen sink might fit in this bag if you really squished the other stuff."

Rory glared "Look Auntie Shrew I like to be prepared okay. There is nothing wrong a well planned spontaneous act."

"Except for the fact that it is an oxymoron. Don't over think, just relax and do what comes naturally."

"Okay." She leaned in and kissed her mom on the cheek. "Are you sure this is okay with you... me leaving?"

Lorelai hugged her and then backed away with a wave of the hand "Yeah...go...you're no use to me like this anyway."

Rory grinned "Thanks Mom. Wish me luck."

"May the force be with you my child." She was halfway out the door when Lorelai's voice stopped her "Oh, wait. You almost forgot the candles."

Rory took them from her hand and brandished them "Right, candles. Check."

"Forget the list and go get him kid."

Lorelai smiled as the door closed behind her daughter. She remembered what that young and heady love felt like and she only hoped that Rory got to enjoy the ride for as long as possible.