140Disclaimer: I own nothing. Gilmore Girls and it's characters belong to the Palladino's. The song that inspired this fic belongs to the Backstreet Boys, especially Nick Carter as he wrote the lyrics.
AN: I originally planned this as a one-shot, but upon first posting it, I received a lot of feedback wanting it to continue so that is what I will do. If you read it before you'll notice it's different. I'm not as fond of this without the lyrics breaking up the thoughts of Rory and Tristan, but it came to my attention that having the lyrics was a copyright issue so I decided to removed them. I instead am breaking up their different thoughts by putting Tristan's in italics. Anyway, so this is a fic that has been in my head for awhile now. I know it goes against everything the Gilmore Girls believe, but I am a Backstreet Boys fan, have been for 20+ years. And their song "Soldier" from their album, "In A World Like This," is one of my favorites. Whenever I listen to that song I think of Rory and Tristan if they met years later after Rory graduated from Yale and became an overseas correspondent and Tristan joined the military. Feel free to listen to the song as you read this first chapter.
I Will Always Be Your Soldier
In the three years since graduating from Yale and watching Logan walk away, Rory Gilmore had tried to move on. She didn't miss Logan as much as she missed what they had and wanted it again. She just hadn't been lucky enough to find that right person. So, she filled her time with work and meaningless nights spent out with coworkers and friends of friends that never went past the third date. She had built herself a successful career, first writing for the Obama campaign and his inauguration when he was elected before taking a job writing for The Washington Post; her twice a week column eventually turning into the job she had always wanted.
It had been nearly ten years since he last saw her, but not even ten minutes since he last thought about her. As much as he tried to forget her, tried to forget the way the blue in her eyes shined brighter if she was in a good mood or darker if she was upset about something; the way she would tug her hair behind her ear as he watched her from his seat behind her; and even more how silky and soft her lips felt against his that one time she let him kiss her, but he couldn't. There always seemed to be something that reminded him of her: a song on the radio, the color of the sky as it cleared after a rainstorm, or even just few words someone mumbled in passing.
It was those words that brought her to his mind today. He tended to ignore the names. He didn't want to read about or know anything of the people they were tasked to save. Not knowing made it easier if they couldn't bring everyone home safe, but he couldn't ignore the name that came out of his Captain's mouth as he read off a list names of the captives, the one tearing through him like a knife to the heart.
"Mary!"
As she sat there on the hard, cold floor among her fellow journalists in the one room building that had been their, she didn't really want to call it home, but had been their residence for the last two weeks, Rory couldn't help but think and wonder if she made the right choices with her life. Many times since her college graduation as she saw her friends happy with their boyfriends, husbands, and families she wondered if she had made the right choice, but as she sat there in the dirty room, her clothes torn, her stomach empty she wondered even more. Had she said yes to Logan would she be in this situation right now? Would she have become the journalist she had always dreamed of being? It had been so long since she felt any semblance of the love and happiness she felt when she was with Logan and now as she sat there fearing for her life, she feared she may never feel it again.
If anyone found out he had a personal connection to one of the captive journalists they were attempting to free, Tristan knew he would be in trouble, but he didn't care. He would gladly accept any punishment, demotion, or whatever his Captain saw fit to give him, just to have the chance to hold his "Mary" in his arms one more time.
As they reached the house where the journalists were being held they quickly split up into the groups the Captain arranged before they left; one team tasked to take out the guards surrounding the building, one watching for snipers, and the last to enter the building and bring the journalists out. Tristan was in the last group.
"DuGrey, Adams, stick close to me," the Captain told them as they breached the door, unsure of what they would find on the other side.
"Oh dear God," Adams said as they entered the room.
"Check them all," the Captain instructed as he knelt down next to one of the immobile bodies that lay in room, checking for a pulse and finding none.
Hearing the sounds of gunshots outside the door, Rory laid down and covered herself with the thin scrap of blanket that she been given. Part of her hoped this was the end, that when whoever was outside breached the door it would all be over and she would no longer be in pain or afraid of each passing day. As she laid there listening to the gunshots she realized the gunfire was the first sound she had heard in days. When she was first thrown into this room she heard sounds all the time or rather she heard voices. She realized in that moment that she stopped hearing the voices of her fellow journalists days before. She was the only one left.
Tristan feared the worst as they checked one body after the other and neither of them finding a pulse. They were all gone, but so far none of them were his "Mary." Where was she?
"Did you guys see that?" the Captain asked, pointing to a spot in the corner where he thought he saw movement beneath a small blanket, "Careful DuGrey."
"Yes, sir," Tristan told him as he approached the blanket covered person, gingerly pulling the cover away from the person's head, "Mary!"
It took a lot of begging and even more apologizing for keeping his history with Rory to himself before his Captain agreed to let Tristan stay with her in the base hospital until she woke up. From the looks of things she had been alone in that room for days when they found her. Her fellow journalists had long ago succumbed to starvation, dehydration and a couple died from strokes or heart attacks due to the stress of being held captive. Yet, somehow, Rory survived. Sure she was severely dehydrated, thinner than Tristan remembered her being, and she was covered in bruises, but she was alive.
And if your heart is getting colder you know I will always be your soldier
He was shaken from his thoughts by Rory's scream as she woke for the first time since they found her.
"Mary, Mary, calm down," he told her, laying his hand gently on her arm to calm her down as she thrashed around in the bed, "You're safe. You're safe."
"Tristan?" she questioned as she opened her eyes, the blue dimmer than Tristan remembered, but beginning to shine brighter as she took in her surroundings and calmed at the the sight of the familiar face in front of her, "It wasn't a dream. I heard your voice when I was in that room. You called me Mary. You, you saved me."
Sitting on the edge of her bed, he took her hand in his, running his thumb over the back, he said, "I'll always save you, my Mary."
So, Reviews? Thoughts? More to come soon!