Missing The Bus

A long time before Jess was sent to live with Luke in S2/3, him and his mother moved in with Luke for a few months when Jess was 10, as she had just divorced yet another husband and wasn't coping. In this 'lil fic, Jess and Rory end up missing the bus together, causing Lorelai and Luke a lot of panic, and inadvertently landing the kids in New York. Rory/Lorelai, Rory/Jess, Lorelai/Luke.

Note: 7th Heaven fans may recognise the similarities to an old Ruthie/Peter storyline :)

I don't own Gilmore Girls, or anything even remotely valuable. I don't even own this computer.

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They had driven for over an hour, and at a pretty impressive speed at that. But now, barely a mile from their destination, they weren't moving at all.

Lorelai gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles, muttering something about traffic jams and rush hour, and government conspiracies.

'Lorlelai, it's okay. Calm down. We'll be there soon. The Zoo isn't going anywhere.'

'No, but the kids might.' She replied quietly

Luke readjusted his cap in a nervous manner.

'Yeah but... if someone takes them they ain't gonna get far in this traffic neither.'

Lorelai looked at him, bile rising in her throat.

'Okay, I was thinking like, they might start walking. You think someone would take them? from a Zoo?'

Suddenly every bad TV movie she had ever seen came flooding back.

'Oh God.'

Suddenly she was unbuckling her safety belt and groping for the door handle.

'Lorelai! We're in the middle of the road.'

'No sicko is taking my kid. We'll get there faster if we walk.'

'We can't just leave the car in the middle of the road!'

Lorelai continued to get out of the car.

'Lorelai! Get back in the car. You can't just jump out in the middle of the highway.'

Lorelai slammed the door behind her and leant back in through the open window.

'My baby girl is out there somewhere. I don't care if you think I'm overreacting and I don't care if you think I'm being unreasonable. She's my everything, and I'm damned if I'm going to sit here for the next half hour when she's sitting there, probably scared to death, waiting for her Mommy.'

Luke unbuckled his own seatbelt and slid over to the drivers seat.

'You start walking. I'll stay with the car and meet you down there.' He directed gruffly.

She nodded, and began to walk away from the car.

'Lorelai.'

She turned back towards him.

'I... I care about Jess, you know. I just...I don't want you to think I'm... you know... completely heartless.'

Lorelai nodded, and gave him a half smile.

'I know.'

She turned, and headed between the stationary cars towards the grass verge.

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'Jess! I'd like to keep my arm, thanks.'

He relinquished his grip on her arm, but didn't reduce his speed as they headed out of the bus terminal and into the street.

Rory shivered as the chilly New York evening hit her. She felt like an ant compared to the miles of mountainous skyscrapers that surrounded her in every direction. The smell of old garbage and car fumes buried itself in her nose, but there was something else too. As frightened and helpless as she felt, she couldn't help feeling a certain sense of being a part of something bigger than her. This was certainly no Stars Hollow, and the smell of endless possibilities was everywhere. This was the city of dreams, where many of her favorite stories were set. She certainly hadn't expected her first visit to be quite like this. A part of her felt uncannily safe in this city, but the rest of her was screaming for her Mommy. And although for a couple of seconds she was taken over by the magic, the 10 year old inside her eventually won.

'Jess, I don't think this is a good idea. It's getting dark. And we're in New York.'

Finally, Jess spoke.

'Ay ay, captain obvious.' He muttered, then bit his lip. 'It's okay Rory, I know where we're going.'

'Oh, come on, Jess. You're 10. If this is going to be another one of your 'Oh, we'll just catch the bus' idea's, I'm stopping right here.' No way. Sorry, wrong number, I won't.' This is New York, Jess. Grown men get mugged and murdered. I know you think you're indestructible, but I have news for you. You're not. And I'm not about...'

'Geez, Rory will you shut up for one second? For your information, I know exactly where we are going.'

She was desperate now.

'Jess, stop, please. I'm scared Jess, I'm really scared.'

He opened his mouth ready to speak, but was interrupted by a shout from Rory.

'Look!' She pointed through the throngs of people milling around them, hailing cabs and yapping on their cellphones.

'A policeman!'

Suddenly she was running towards the man, straddling his bike at the end of the block. Then Jess was running too, just to keep sight of her, but before she was even halfway down the sidewalk the policemen had gunned the bike into gear and had roared off into the distance, taking her last hope with him.

She sat down, right on the pavement, and began to cry. She cried because she was cold, and it was getting dark, she cried because she was lost, but mostly she cried because she knew her mom would definitely have noticed she was gone by now, and had most probably gone to the zoo. But Rory wasn't there, she was here, in a stupid city with a stupid kid who had no idea what he was doing. If only she had stayed at the zoo, she would be safely with her mom right this moment, far away from smelly cities and know-it-all boys.

Jess stood in front of her.

'We're almost there, Rory, please. You just have to trust me.'

'Trust you!' She was almost hysterical now. 'Are you insane! You're the one who got us into this mess in the first place! We wouldn't even be stuck here if it wasn't for you.'

A hurt look flashed across his face, but she only saw it for a second.

'My dad. He lives... about 2 blocks from here. If we run, we can easily get there before dark.'

She blinked back tears in disbelief.

'What?'

'I haven't seen him in a year or so, but last I heard he was still living in the same crummy apartment.'

Rory wiped her tears away with the back of her hand and sniffed.

'What... what if he's not?'

'Then we'll knock on doors in the building till someone lets us use a phone or something.'

She bit back the urge to ask why they hadn't just done that in the first place. Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly.

'Okay. Lets go.'

Jess took her hand, and the pair set off at a run.

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The first thing Lorelai did when she got to the Zoo was check the parking lot. No cars, no kids, nothing. So then she had made her way towards the entrance gates.

They were locked.

Lorelai resisted the urge to be sick. She rattled the gates half heartedly, but knew it was no use, The Zoo was closed, and the kids weren't there. Her baby was somewhere out in the big wide world, and she had no idea if she was safe... or even alive.

The last thought brought Lorelai to her knees, and she sank into the grass, crying noiselessly. It occurred to her that during the whole ordeal, since the phone call, she had been in an overly emotional state of panic. It was almost as if she had known that she wasn't going to find her daughter here, that this time she wasn't going to drive up and find her kid waiting patiently as if she had merely been waiting after school.

She looked up as she heard the engine of her Jeep approach the gates. It cut off and Luke got out. He sized up the empty parking lot and Lorelai's tearstained face.

'Dammit' He slammed the bonnet of the car with his fist.

She slowly rose to her feet and walked towards him.

'They're gone, Luke. They're gone.'

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So, will Jess' dad still be there? And will Lorelai and Luke track down their children?