Luke felt a numbing coldness on the back of his neck and lower scalp. And a wetness. He moaned, aching all over. Where was he? He definitely wasn't in his bed, his pillow didn't feel like a weighty cinderblock under his head. He sat up, feeling a rush of dizziness overcome him, and opened his heavy eyes.

He was behind the counter of the diner. Was I drinking, or some- Then it hit him. Jess. Hit. Jess hit him with something…and he was knocked out. Great. That meant Jess got out.

He gripped the edge of the counter to pull himself up and gingerly touched the back of his neck. It was soaked with blood, most of it old and drying but a little bit of it fresh. He swore and ran to the bathroom.

He used a handmirror to look into the vanity mirror behind him and examined his cut. Thankfully, it appeared small and the bloodloss looked worse than it was. It was on his lower neck and he applied some rubbing alcohol and a bandage and grabbed his phone.

Luke punched in Lorelai's number, and when she didn't answer, Max's. He picked up on the first ring.

"Hello?" his voice was urgent.

"Hey, Max, did you bust Lisa out yet?"

There was a long, tense pause. "Luke, right?"

"Yes…"

"We couldn't…couldn't get her. It's a long story, but….Jackson shot Lorelai. She's okay now but has to stay in overnight because of bloodloss and all. And…."

There was more bad news? "What, Max?"

"I don't…."

"Damn it, Max, tell me! What could be worse than that my friend is being held hostage by a sadist and my fiancée almost died? What is there to know?"

"Well, Luke, lets see: your only responsibility obviously escaped and, oh, guess what? Rory's missing."

Luke swallowed hard, an icy lump forming in his throat. His charge. Rory was kidnapped and it was his fault. "Listen, I-Jess-he-"

"Listen, Luke, we don't have time for excuses now. Just get over here. We're at Dover Memorial and Lorelai needs you."

"Are you going back out for Lisa after that?"

"No, I already told you we're not getting her back," Max's voice sounded hollow and although Luke was angry with him for being so uncouth he felt guilty. Max had, in a manner of speaking, just lost his fiancée, not that Luke knew the whole story behind it all. "But we are going to try and figure out what to do about the Rory situation."

"Ok. See you in a few." Hours, that is. Luke grabbed a roadmap, his phone, and some cash and was off.

Xx Xx Xx Xx Xx Xx Xx Xx Xx Xx Xx Xx Xx Xx Xx Xx Xx Xx Xx Xx Xx Xx Xx Xx

Rory was numb with cold and an indescribable feeling of grief as Jess finished. Her tears were frosty on her cheeks, and her pleas had been deaf to his ears the whole time.

She was physically unharmed, for the most part, despite a thin, bleeding cut on her neck from when Jess had accidentally jerked the knife, and obviously of what she'd just been put through. But her mind was whirring and her body aching.

Jess let her redress in silence and then moved to lift her. She cringed and moved away from him and he smirked. "You can't walk, Rory."

She didn't answer. She wished she could fight back with something witty and sarcastic but words were dead to her at the moment. She was beyond feeling. I should have fought back. I didn't do anything. I'm so weak.

She let him lift her and drop her in the car and they drove back to the cabin in silence. Rory glanced at herself in the rearview mirror for a brief second, but her image caused fresh tears to form and she quickly looked away. Her hair was messy and had some dried blood on it from cuts on her scalp that had formed when she had fallen. There were leaves and pieces of bark all over her, not to mention pitch and dirt. Blood dotted various parts of her body, and her eyes were watery and bloodshot. She doubted Lisa would recognize her.

Lisa. The one bright spot. Her only friend. She could help her, if she was still alive.

Jess carried her back inside where Jackson was on his laptop in the living room and Lisa was not in sight. Rory sucked in her breath and winced as Jess set her down on the couch. I hate you.

Jackson eyed Rory whimsically with one eyebrow raised, and then his expression darkened.

"Where were you guys?" he asked thinly. Rory pressed her head against the couch fabric.

Jess smirked. Rory felt ill. "In the woods."

Maybe it was her imagination, but Rory thought Jackson really looked mad. "Doing what?"

Jess arrogantly sauntered over to Jackson and whispered in his ear. Rory cringed. Jackson nodded and his lips pressed together in one thin line. Jess backed away and smugly eyed Rory. Jackson also looked at her. Rory felt like she was being examined.

"I see. Rory, did you have fun, out in the woods?"

Rory swallowed hard a lump in her throat and frowned at Jackson, opening her mouth to speak. Nothing came. Talk. TALK. Wait, why does he want to know? Is he…does he take interest in knowing exactly what Jess does? Does it matter? Just say it. "I-what-"

"Answer the question."

"N-no."

"Okay, then. That was all I needed to know." With that, Jackson swiveled around, raised his fist, and, without warning, punched Jess directly in the face. Rory gasped as Jackson wiped his bloodied hand (who's blood?) on a paper towel and turned to Rory.

"Rory, sweetheart, if you would be so kind as to join Lisa in your bedroom. Jess and I have some talking to do."

"I-I can't walk, my ankle-"

"Oh." Jackson walked over and lifted her into his arms. She did not hold onto him but teetered uncomfortably as he brought her into Lisa's room and dropped her on her bed. She debated mentally over whether to say 'thanks' or not, but decided against it. He turned on the lights and the halogen filled the room.

"Ado," Jackson nodded to her as he left the room, shutting the door. She heard the lock click behind him.

Rory turned on the bed and looked at Lisa, who was just waking up, blinking from the bright light invading her eyes. Lisa looked as if she wanted to sit up, but couldn't because of the handcuffs attaching her to the bedpost. So she just lay on one side, arms underneath her, incredibly bruised and a little bloody. She looked a mess and was wet all over.

"Rory?" Lisa croaked, squinting and trying to get her bearings. Her eyes widened as her brain grasped the state the college girl was in. "Oh Jesus, Rory, what happened to you?"
Rory didn't say anything.

"So they caught you," Lisa muttered sadly, shaking her head. "Oh, God, I'm so sorry. Looks like you put up a hell of a fight, though."

Rory dazedly shook her head.

Lisa frowned. "Are you going to talk?"
Rory bit her lip. She needed to talk. Talking would help. As she opened her mouth to speak, tears flooded into her eyes. "I-I-Jess-"

She didn't finish, and Lisa stared at her with confusion for a minute, but something snapped in Lisa's eyes and it was obvious that she understood without words what had happened.

"Oh my God," Lisa muttered, her eyes glistening as well. "Oh, Rory. I'm so sorry."

Rory nodded, wiping a dirty hand across her wet face.

"Come here, the least I can do is hug you."

Rory shook her head. "I broke my ankle."

"He broke your ankle, too?"

"No. I broke it. Running."

"Bastard could've set it at least," Lisa growled. "What's going on out there?" Rory knew that they both could hear the muted thumps and shouts coming from the living room. Most of the yells were Jackson's, however.

"I don't know. Jackson…well, Jess told him what he'd done and Jackson asked me…asked me if I…" Rory felt like throwing up and pressed a hand over her mouth for a moment to quell the bile. Lisa did not press her; she seemed to get the picture. When the coast seemed clear, Rory spoke again. "If I had had fun. Obviously I said no, and then he said, 'I see', and turned around and hit Jess. Then, as Jess was lying on the ground, he told me to come in here with you."

"But you-"

"He had to carry me."

"Ugh, I'm sorry," Lisa groaned. "So obviously Jackson is angry that Jess did that to you. Wonder why. After all, he almost-" she froze. "Oh, my. He's not that kind of man."

"Excuse me?"

Lisa recounted her painful story of the near drowning/miscellaneous abuse that Jackson had inflicted upon her for helping Rory. Rory felt guilt bubbling in her throat. "But then, when he had me completely at his mercy, he left me here. Said 'he was tired, and not that kind of man.' I wasn't entirely sure what he had meant, but now I get it. He doesn't believe in that kind of force, you know? Must think its below him or something…" Lisa snorted. "Not that much is."

"Yeah," Rory nodded slowly. Then she darkened. "Not Jess, apparently."

Lisa stared intently yet grimly into the other girl's eyes. "Rory, I know that this won't help much, but please, listen to me. I've been in your shoes. It's happened to me, you know that. But don't, please, don't give up the will to live. I had for a while. I stopped my life because of what happened in that parking lot. Don't do that. I know how hard it is."

Rory looked away. "I'll try. Lisa, he hurt me. I didn't even try-"

"You did try."

"You weren't there."

"I know that, but I also know how your mind is going to be working around this time. It wasn't your fault, for Christ's sake, you couldn't even move with your ankle all screwed up. And he probably had some sort of a weapon or something too, am I right?"

Rory hated to admit it. "You are."

"See? Don't blame yourself. Please. You're going to get away from here one day. I promise you that."

Rory was almost sure it was an empty promise. But Lisa had never once gone back on her word, so she trusted that. And she trusted that she would get better over time.