1Christopher was generally a calm, level-headed man. In his business, one had to be. There were three things that made him panic, however: anything bad happening to his baby Georgia, his daughter Rory, and her mother, Lorelai.

The last subject was tense. He'd impregnated her when she was sixteen and had cared for her since, sometimes more than in a friendly way. He loved her still, and even though it had been hard to admit it to himself (hell, he'd gotten married and had a child-a marriage that had seemed perfect until his fashionable wife flitted off to Paris) it was true.

So, when he got the call that Lorelai was badly injured and Rory kidnapped, he nearly had an aneurysm. He'd of course heard the harrowing account of their first encounter with Jackson Rippner and had urged Rory to take all sorts of precautions involving Jess. So when he discovered that the hellish pair had broken out of jail, he was beyond angry. And now this, well, he was livid/worried beyond belief.

Lorelai had timidly asked him to come to Stars Hollow, where she and a slew of others planned to powwow and figure out what to do. It was midafternoon on August 5th, a day after Lorelai's injury, as he pulled up in front of Luke's Diner.

He hung up his phone. Chris had made the quick decision to call Richard and Emily, Lorelai's parents, and tell them what had happened. They were angry that Lorelai hadn't called and also on their way over.

Chris pulled his denim jacket tighter over his broad shoulders, wondering why it was so damn cold in early August. He hopped up the steps, ignoring the closed sign, and entered the establishment.

What a group of characters had gathered! There was the very pregnant Sookie and her very upset husband Jack, the very crippled Lorelai, an extremely pissed Luke with a bandage on his neck, an older man and younger woman that Chris didn't recognize, Rory's best friend Lane Kim and her boyfriend Zach, Rory's three roommates, the Dragonfly's concierge Michel Girard, and then, most puzzling, Lorelai's ex-fiancee Max Medena. He nearly laughed.

"Hey," he greeted and everyone quieted, nodding grimly at him. Luke ignored him, for which Chris couldn't blame him, as Chris had yelled at him the last time they'd met.

Luke took advantage of the silence and stood in the center of the room. Chris took a safe seat next to Sookie.

"Okay," Luke said. "We all know why we're here. We need to save Rory, and, if possible, Lisa."

"Not 'if possible'," Max snapped. "She's not the last goal. She's my first one and we will save her."

Chris frowned. "Who's Lisa?"

One of the people he didn't know scowled. "My daughter. Who are you?"

Chris cringed as Lorelai answered for him in a soft, sad voice. "Rory's dad, Joe. Its okay."

"What the rough plan is is to split up into two large search parties, with an additional group here. That'll mostly consist of the physically unable to be in the search party. We'll also leave a few of the ablebodied behind, just in case, for some weird and extremely stupid reason, Jess and Rippner come back here."

Everybody nodded, and Luke continued. "So, whoever wants to go o ut, go on the left side of the room, whoever stays, go to the right."

They dispersed and within seconds were divided. Two people were on the right side, Lorelai and Sookie, who looked reluctant to be there anyway. Luke sighed. "We need more than that, guys."

Emily and Richard burst into the room in their usual Hey-I'm-rich-and-better-than-you manner.

"Lorelai!" Emily screeched, red curls bouncing. "How dare you not inform me of this! My own granddaughter! I ought-"

"Mom," Lorelai sighed quietly. "Please. We're trying to figure this out." Shockingly, Emily conceded, and Luke asked if they wanted to be involved. Emily opted for Lorelai's side, probably for the advantage of being able to further harangue her, and Richard chose the much larger left side.

"Alright," Luke rubbed his hands together. "This is hard. You all definitely want to go?" He counted. There were twelve on the search party side, Luke included. Luke said he wanted at least five more to stay with his fiancee.

"Any volunteers?"

Chris shrugged and stepped forward. "I can, I guess, I mean I'd-"

"No," Luke snapped, with a look that could freeze hell. "You're not staying with Lorelai." Chris shot him a dirty look and stepped back into the throng.

Jack timidly stepped forward. "I'm going to tell you the truth, Luke. I've seen enough of that repulsive man to last me a lifetime."

Luke nodded. "I know, Jacks-Jack, and I'm sorry, but we could really use you."

Jack sighed and stepped back into the mass.

Luke muttered to himself. "I hate to do this, but I'm going to have to cut a few of you loose." He reminded Chris of a baseball coach. Chris hated baseball.

They ended up with Rory's roommate Tana, as well as Paris and Cynthia remaining with Lorelai, Sookie, and Emily. The two search parties were led by Max and Luke. Max's party consisted of Lane, Zach, Joe, and Janice. Luke's group held Chris, Michel, and Richard. Chris groaned inwardly. Great. Three other people, two of whom happened to hate him.

They split into two cars, after adamantly assuring the left behind that they would call with anything and leave their phones on. Chris's group took Lorelai's Jeep, and the others took Janice's Camarro. They planned to travel together to the cabin in New Jersey, and split up from there, one group going North and the other South.

They'd find Lisa and Rory, or they'd die. But, Chris thought, with the team they had, how could they lose?