Disclaimer: I do not own anything

A/N: This is a TRIGGER WARNING - there is some workplace violence in this chapter - I just want to warn everyone before they read. As always, I appreciate the reviews, likes, follows, faves, encouragement.

July 19, 2027

"Logan you swore you would be home?" Rory was muttering under her breath to ensure that her kids didn't hear her. Charlotte was was reading in the living room and Logan was crawling around the kitchen, opening every drawer he could and emptying the contents while Rory tried to decide what to make for dinner. "Where are you?"

"Ace, I'm sorry," he sighed, he was at his office in Manhattan. He was supposed to have left two hours earlier to make it home for dinner, but there was an emergency, or that is what his VP of operations told him. He wasn't completely sure what about the situation couldn't be resolved over the phone on his way home, or the next morning, but alas, the news never slept, and neither did the CEO of HPG. "I will make it up to you, I know you are pissed. You have every right to be pissed."

Rory rolled her eyes, "oh, thanks. Glad you give me permission to be pissed."

"Rory, you know that isn't what I meant," Logan told her, his voice taking a stronger tone as he spoke. "What are the kids doing?"

"Charlotte is reading and your son," Rory found herself shaking her head as she watched the 16 month old boy toddle around the kitchen, "is destroying my kitchen."

"Not with the flour container again, right?" Logan asked softly, hoping to defuse the situation.

"Not with the flour," Rory laughed at the memory of the weekend prior when Logan and Logan had decided to make pancakes and the younger of the two ended up covered in flour. "I'm still mad."

"I will make it up to you, I promise. Tell the kids I love them, and I'm very sorry."

"Someone better be dead!" Rory retorted, she was kidding, of course.

"Actually," Logan paused, he saw the e-mail flitting across the screen and he could see movement outside of his office, the board was being assembled.

Shooting at Scranton PA newsroom - unknown casualties. More to come, this story is developing…

"Oh god, Logan, what happened?" Rory exhaled, "I'm sorry."

"I'm just getting it now, Ace." Logan told her, "There was a shooting, one of our papers," he shook his head and ran his hand through his hair, "I might not be home tonight." he admitted.

Rory understood, she felt awful, awful that she had been mad when there were real problems in the world, real things going on. It was a luxury, wasn't it? To be able to work from the home, take occasional meetings but work her entire schedule around her children. Logan was stretched thin, sure, Rory was exhausted but that was the nature of having a 16 month old. Logan spent two hours a day if not more going back and forth from Manhattan be helicopter, his job was high stress, and when he got home, he never showed it. He was never gone for more than one week a month unless his family was with him. He had executives who made sure that when he went home, he got to be at home unless the building was on fire. He hadn't missed a ballet recital or a soccer game, not a school play or a Christmas concert for as long as he had been back in their lives. "Stay in the city," she told him, referring to the apartment that his Mom and Dad had owned and they would occasionally use.

"No, I want to see you," Logan told her honestly, "when this stuff goes…wrong, I just…I want to smell your hair."

"You are a dork," Rory laughed. "Stay in the city," she repeated, "promise?"

"I promise."

"Don't forget to eat," she added, knowing that when Logan was stressed out he had a tendency to neglect himself and his own needs. He mumbled something to confirm he was fed and they hung up the phone. Rory looked at her watch, it was a few minutes after five, and if she got the kids in the car in the next twenty minutes, she could probably get into Manhattan in less than three hours, which would mean she could get to the apartment just in time to put Logan to bed, and Charlotte could hang out for a while before going to bed herself, and Rory would wait up for Logan.

"Char, honey," Rory called from the kitchen as she scooped up her little blonde haired boy, "we have to pack a bag for the night."

"Where are we going?" Charlotte asked, she was annoyed, which was to be expected of a girl her age.

"Dad is going to be stuck in Manhattan for a few days, so we are going to stay there." Rory explained as she started walking to the stairs, "Just take what you need to keep up with your school work and fun stuff, we have clothes there." Suddenly Rory was grateful that Shira insisted on them leaving some items there, just in case is what the Huntzberger matriarch always said.

"I'm supposed to see Abby tomorrow," Charlotte grumbled as she followed her mother up the stairs.

"Charlotte," Rory stopped and looked seriously at her daughter while adjusting Logan on her hip, "Dad needs us. He is having a really bad day, and when things are really bad, you spend time with your family."

"Then why didn't he come home?"

Rory rolled her eyes as Charlotte went into her room, she could hear grumbling and muttering and Rory chose to ignore it, instead walking into the nursery and packing some basics for Logan. He had some things there, but he was lacking in diapers and sleepers so she would bring them with her. Placing Logan in his crib, Rory pulled her phone back out and dialled a familiar number. "Hi Colin, I need you."

"I've been waiting years to hear you say that Gilmore," Colin paused and smiled, "or I guess it is Huntzberger, has been for a while…you'll always be Gilmore to me."

"Of course," Rory laughed, "the helicopter is in New York with Logan, and we need to get to him…is yours available?" It wasn't lost on Rory, the absurdity of her being able to call a friend and ask to borrow the chopper.

"Dad has it in Hartford," Colin explained, "Steph and I, the boys, we're all in Manhattan. What is happening?"

"I don't really know," Rory admitted, "if I drive to it now, it can take us?"

"I'll call the pilot and it will be ready. Should we come?"

Rory smiled, she hated those guys some days. The Life and Death Brigade crew…all of the stupid stunts, the near misses, the scares, but they were her family and she would always be thankful because whenever she needed them, they were there. "I'll text you when I get to the apartment, but maybe keep your nanny on speed dial." Colin agreed and hung up the phone, Rory exhaled and grabbed the diaper bag before pulling Logan back out of his crib, "Charlotte, come on." she shouted as she made her way to the foyer, slipping her shoes on her feet, she could hear her almost pre-teen daughter traipsing behind her and smiled, Charlotte may be annoyed, but she was a daddy's girl through and through, so at the thought that Logan might need her, she was more than happy to go.

xxx

The flight was uneventful, as was the ride to the apartment. Rory had called Shira to advise her of the plan to spend some time in Manhattan to help ease the burden on Logan. Of course, Shira thought it was a great idea, she had increasingly believed that the family should move to Manhattan to cut down on Logan's commute. Moments like this, Rory wasn't completely sure she was wrong. As the black SUV pulled up outside their building, Rory helped Charlotte out of the car and unbuckled Logan from his carseat, holding the boy on her hip, two duffel bags around her body and she extended her other hand to her daughter to walk into the building. They exchanged a quick hello with the doorman and followed the marble floor to the elevator which would take them to the penthouse. Rory swiped the pass that would grant them entrance to the penthouse and slipped it back in her pocket, relieved, she put Logan down on the floor to stand and held his hand as they rode in silence. "Are you hungry?" she asked her daughter.

Charlotte nodded her head, they had grabbed a snack on the way out of the house but she certainly hadn't had a meal, "is there food here?"

"There is some coming, and Nana said there is some food in the freezer and the pantry, just nothing fresh."

"Dad is the one who cooks fresh food," Charlotte countered with a grin.

"Well you will just have to suffer through frozen pizza or macaroni," Rory smiled as the three stepped off the elevator, directly into the penthouse unit. "I will have you know, I kept you alive by myself for four years."

"Uncle Jess was around then," Charlotte countered quickly. She had stopped calling Jess Dah when she was about six, but she still had an amazing bond with the man. She would visit him on weekends and they would go on their camping trip. Jess had married Kelsey and they had two kids of their own, he had the happy ending and the family that he deserved, but he was still very much a part of the Huntzberger family.

"Mac-a-noo-noo!" Logan grinned up at his mother.

"What do you think, Char?"

"Macaroni," she nodded her head in agreement.

"I'm going to make it and then Daddy should be home just after I put your brother to sleep," Rory explained. She had received a few texts from Logan. Updates. A shooting at one of their papers in Scranton. Two people were killed, a third if you included the shooter, four employees were injured, and two police officers were injured and in stable but critical condition, and his newsroom was essentially destroyed. He had explained that he had a press conference to give at 8pm and then he would be heading to the apartment. She hadn't told him that they were going, she thought maybe he would enjoy the surprise, which seemed childish given the enormity of what was going on. "White macaroni ok?"

"Sure," Charlotte shrugged as she sat on the floor to play with her brother while Rory cooked. The water had just boiled and Rory put in the noodles as she heard the door begin to open and the sound of his dress shoes on the marble floor filled the apartment. "Daddy!" Charlotte squealed and ran towards her father, her younger brother coming slowly behind her.

"Kiddo, you're here?" Logan hugged Charlotte tightly and bent to pick up his son. "Man, am I glad to see you three."

"Thought you had a press conference?" Rory emerged from the kitchen and watched the embrace.

"Decided to pre-record it half an hour early, figured it couldn't get much worse in that amount of time." Logan closed the gap between them and hugged her while balancing the younger Logan on his hip. "What are you doing here?"

"You sounded a little bit sad," Rory smiled, "so I thought maybe you could use a friendly face."

"Well you were right," Logan told her, "so why don't you go finish cooking what smells like…macaroni…and I will hang out with the monster and Charlotte."

"Thank you," Rory smiled as she returned to making dinner. The pasta was nearly done and thankfully, Shira had thought to call and order grocery essentials when Rory had explained the situation. "I'll have to call your Mom and say thank you for getting the food."

"She is happy to help," Logan shouted back from the living room where the kids were playing and he was watching himself on ABC News.

"Red or white?"

"Scotch, neat."

"That bad?" Rory asked as she entered the room a moment later with two glasses of scotch and four carefully balanced bowls of macaroni.

"I have a call with each family tomorrow," he admitted sadly, "I don't even know what to say. I don't know what went wrong…the guy, he had recently retired and he just went nuts."

"They don't know why?" Rory kept her voice low as she and Logan both sipped their scotch.

He shook his head and exhaled, cringing as Logan picked up some of the macaroni and attempted to put it in his mouth with his hand. "No thank you buddy," he smiled to the little boy who didn't seem bothered and instead put the noodles in his own mouth. "Sounds like he was just having trouble adjusting and came in and freaked out. One of the guys, he had been with the company since my Grandfather was in charge. He could've retired years ago but stuck around because he enjoyed the job. He enjoyed it, and now he is dead because of one of my employees. Another, she just got engaged a few months ago, twenty one years old working an internship. An internship at my paper Rory. You worked an internship for us at the same age," he paused, tossing back the rest of his drink. "I just…I'm not prepared for this. This is so incredibly beyond the scope of anything I was ever prepared for. My Dad didn't leave me a note on how to handle these things. Sexual harassment, sure, I was ready for almost anything except this."

"Take a breath," Rory took his hand and placed it on her chest, the kids still playing, seemingly oblivious to their father breaking down a few feet away. "This is not your fault. You did not do this, you did not create the vacuum, the guy must've been troubled."

"So he gunned down some people at work?" Logan huffed, "I'm sorry…we should…why don't we talk about this after bedtime. I don't want the kids to hear this." Rory nodded her head in agreement and they all focused their attention back on the kids. Logan watched for a few minutes before he got up and prepared milk for his son, and declared that he would put the infant to bed. Rory took his cellphone from him so that he could have some uninterrupted time, it had been buzzing and he had been responding to emails since he returned home. She was glad that he had even made it out of the office, so she would deal with him being distracted in the meantime.

"When Dad comes out you are going to your room," Rory told Charlotte.

"Why? I don't have school tomorrow if we're here."

"No, but you are spending the day with Auntie Steph, she wanted to take you shopping, and Dad and I need to talk. Colin, Steph, Robert and Finn are coming over…Dad just needs to unwind."

"I saw him talking on the news," Charlotte admitted softly, "did someone want to hurt Daddy? Why would someone do that?"

Rory sighed, she knew that they should have turned the television off, but it was part of the trade off of him coming home. "They weren't trying to hurt Dad," Rory assured her first, "this man…he was very angry, and sad…and he made a very wrong choice. He hurt a lot of people, including this family. Some of our employees were killed," she told her honestly, "and that makes me very sad, Daddy too." Rory paused once more, trying to gauge how much more she should say. "But do not worry about Daddy, he is safe," and has security, she thought to herself.

"Why was he angry?"

"I don't know."

"You always say that we have to think hard before I do things when I'm angry."

Rory nodded, she felt bad smiling, but she was relieved that Charlotte seemed to be accepting her answers, "yes, that is right. When you are mad, you can do things and say things that are too much…so you always need to think before you act."

"I'll go to my room now," Charlotte stood up and hugged her mother. "Can you ask Dad to come say goodnight?"

Rory nodded her head and held her daughter close for just another second, "of course. You can read for a while."

xxx

"I assume you called the boys?" Logan collapsed onto the couch beside Rory, she nodded and handed him another scotch. "Thank you," he pressed his lips against her temple. "For coming, for this…everything."

"Don't self destruct," Rory warned him, "this is not your fault."

"How many times are you going to say that?"

"Until you get it through that pretty little head of yours," Rory winked and snuggled against him. "I have to be honest with you though, I'm not sure that the boys know what to expect for tonight."

"I just want to sit here," Logan admitted, he leaned his head back over the back of the couch and stared at the ceilings. "I left Hartford this morning and my world was different."

"It is normal that this is shaking you up Logan," Rory assured him.

"When Dad came home after 9/11, it was like he went in one day and the world was one way, and then by his morning coffee the world had changed and he was a whole new man. This isn't the same, I know that…nowhere near, but…god, I hope it doesn't get worse than this."

There wasn't much Rory could say and so she just sat with him. Head against his shoulder, his left arm around her shoulders and his right clutching the drink. "Do you want me to tell them not to come?" she asked, referring to their friends.

"No, I think they might be what I need tonight…not quite as much as I needed to see you and the kids…"