"A Dangerous Jump"

"I want some Ding-Dings!" Justin whined, following Joey through the aisles. "Get Ding-Dings!"

"First of all," Joey replied, a withering look on his face, "they're called Ding-Dongs, not Ding-Dings. Second, you have money, so get 'em yourself."

"I didn't bring my money with me," Justin continued to whine. "I left my wallet on the bus. Please, Joey?"

"Okay," he muttered good naturedly, "get 'em. We have to walk back to the bus before it leaves us."

"Like it would leave us," Justin smirked, glancing out of the store's door and towards the bus. They had temporarily stopped in some hick town in Nebraska for snacks and to stretch their legs, and so far no one had recognized them yet. It might have had something to do with the fact that the town was made up mostly of people over sixty, but no one acknowledged the fact. Definitely not the guys, who where happy that they could walk around like normal people for once.

"Did you get some sodas and stuff, too?" JC asked, walking up beside them. In his arms were also a variety of snacks, in addition to a stuffed teddy bear.

"What the hell are you doing with that thing?" Justin frowned, staring at Tammy's stuffed animal. "I told you to stop carrying that thing around everywhere. You look like a little kid."

"I can't help it," JC shrugged, rubbing his cheek against the bear's smooth fur. "It's so soft. Just like a woman. Have you ever slept with this thing? Oh man, is it comfortable."

Joey looked up long enough to say, "I'm gonna pretend like I didn't hear that, okay? Let's go." Looking at Justin, whose hands were conveniently empty, he ordered, "Help me carry this stuff." He promptly dropped two of the large sacks of food in his arms.

"And," JC added, "since you claim I look like a little kid, you can carry the bear while I get the rest of the bags." With that, he wedged the bear between Justin's arm and walked out, leaving him trying to hold the bear while trying to precariously balance the sacks.

"Hey guys!" he called, hurrying to catch up with them. "Wait up!"

"Why?" Joey called over his shoulder with a laugh. "The bus won't leave us."

Justin still hurried to catch up with them, but as he did so, he stumbled a bit over the railroad tracks that he had to cross in order to get to the bus. "Man," he said, pulling his shoelace out of the cracks, "those guys are so dead when I get back on the bus." After getting on the bus, he plopped the sacks on the tables with a loud groan and walked to the back lounge, where everyone was laughing at him. "Ha ha," he scowled. "That wasn’t funny. I could have died from overwork."

"Not the Justin Timberlake," Tammy teased. "You're supposed to be invincible." Still laughing, she turned to JC and looked at him expectantly. "Okay, Chasez," she said, "where's my bear?"

"I gave it to Justin," JC pointed at him. "He said I looked like a kid in a candy store."

"We were in a candy store," Joey pointed out.

"Whatever," Tammy rolled her eyes. "That doesn't matter. Give me my bear, Timberlick."

Justin tried to remember where he sat the bear down on the bus, or even if he did. "Umm…" he murmured, trying to think. Suddenly, his mind went back to the railroad tracks, where he stumbled. "Oh no," he said, a haunted look crossing his face.

"What?" Tammy said, her smile faltering.

"I dropped it," Justin whispered, the realization coming to him. "On the train track."

"Ha ha, Justin," JC said, not believing him. "The joke's over, now give her the bear."

"I can't give her something I don't have, JC!" Justin snapped. He looked at Tammy saying, "I'm really sorry, T. I'll go get it."

"I can't believe you dropped it," JC rolled his eyes.

"Can it," Justin retorted, the annoyance clear in his voice. "It's your fault the bear fell. If you hadn't just carried the stupid thing, I would have never dropped it. You knew I had to carry two of the heaviest bags, yet you still gave me the bear to carry."

"If you hadn't been making fun of me having it," JC glared at him, "I never would have made you carry it. Besides, if it was so much of a burden, why didn't you just give it back? I swear, you can be so mindless sometimes."

Justin's retort was cut off by the bus being shifted into motion. "Holy shit!" he exclaimed, looking out the window, "we're moving!"

"Your powers of observation are mind blowing," JC rolled his eyes. Looking at Tammy he said, "Look T, I'm really sorry. If you want, I can buy you a new bear."

"That's okay," she sighed, sitting back and closing her eyes wearily. "My dad bought me that bear."

Justin just stood there, feeling like total crap. "I can still get it, Tam," he offered. "It'd only take me a couple of minutes to run back and get it. Or, I can tell James to go back."

"No," Tammy shook her head, "we're on a tight schedule. Besides," she continued, looking him in the eye, "I don’t want to sever any ties to my friends because of material possessions." Justin looked away, realizing that she was making a reference to what happened with her necklace.

Still, as he stood in the doorway watching her face, he couldn't help but think of all the pain losing her necklace had caused her, and how happy she had been to get it back. That time had been his fault, just like this one was, and he didn't want to cause her anymore pain do to his carelessness. That bear was given to her by her father, who was now dead. He couldn't just buy her a new one, he had to get the old one. "I gotta go to the bathroom," he said abruptly, walking away.

Tammy and the others continued to chat idly until she happened to look out the window. "Why are we stopped?" she remarked.

Lance shrugged. "I'll go ask James."

"I'll go with you," Tammy offered, suddenly getting the same feeling of dread she got the night Justin had been at the docks retrieving her necklace.

A quick chat with James had confirmed Tammy's nagging suspicion: Justin had gone back to get her bear. "It's only a ten minute walk," James shrugged, "and we're not that far behind schedule, so I let him go."

"Why didn't you just drive back?" Lance asked, genuinely confused.

"Justin asked me not to," James answered. "I don't think he wanted Ms. Matthews to know that he was goin' back. He was scared she'd stop him."

Suddenly, another fear came to Tammy as she remembered vaguely the conversation she and Lance had held with one of the townspeople. "Lance," she asked, her voice wavering, "what time is it?"

"Two-forty eight," Lance answered, looking at his watch. "Why?"

"Holy shit!" Tammy screamed, jumping off the bus. "The next train comes at two-fifty!"

"Oh no," Lance groaned. "Can you see Justin? He's so far away."

"Yeah," Tammy said, using her advanced sense of sight, "he's at the track now… but, he's not moving. He has the bear, but he looks like he's struggling with something. Oh no," she whispered, her face paling.

"What?" Lance asked. When she didn’t answer him, he said louder, "What is it, Tammy?"

"He's stuck on the track," she said in a dead tone, the realization crossing her face. "His shoelace is caught and he can't get it out." She happened to glance to the west and saw a big cloud of smoke in the air. "The train's coming!" she yelled, starting to tremble.

"We have to help him!" Lance cried.

"I can get him," Tammy said determinedly, breaking into a run. As she increased her speed, she wondered if she could get there in time if she didn't use her super speed. Seriously debating whether or not to use her speed, Tammy decided to go ahead once she calculated the times and velocities she was working with. A minute and a half to get Justin, a ten minute walk, and a train going sixty miles per hour called for light speed. She steadily increased her speed, jumping into hyper mode, and still watching as Justin now noticed the train coming and started to pull harder. His actions were counter-productive though, for the more he pulled, the tighter he made the shoe on his foot, getting him more stuck than he was before.

From Lance's point of view, all he saw was a blur, like a comet, flying towards the tracks. From Tammy's point of view, though, everything was moving super slow, as she was running at such a frantic speed. She could barely feel her feet touching the concrete, she was moving so fast. Still, no matter how slow everything was for her, the train was still approaching Justin faster than she thought. "I'm not gonna make it," she thought to herself. "What if I stumble? What if I fall? I'm gonna be just in time to see one of my best friends get splattered in front of my face." Suddenly, she remembered her desperation that night at the dock when she couldn't save Justin, so he had to save himself. "Never again," she vowed, increasing her speed even more.

Still, as she approached the tracks, she knew that her save would require drastic measures. She was six feet from the track, and the train was four short yards away from Justin. Tammy's senses were in full action, for she could hear the train's high-pitched whistle in her ear, could feel the heat from the train, smell the smoke of the burning fuel, and see the look of terror on Justin's face. "I'll save you, J," she promised, "even if it means that I have to expose all my powers."

Six feet… five feet… four feet… three feet… The train: four yards… three yards… two… and still approaching rapidly. Tammy realized that she wouldn't have time to take Justin's foot out of his shoe, and if she tried to push him out the way, he'd still lose a foot. "And that might affect his dancing a little too much," she scowled. So once she was close enough to get her hands on him, she had no choice but to do the one thing she hadn't wanted to do. With the train less than four inches away from them, she yanked Justin into a fourth density jump with her, materializing seconds later on the other side of the track.

Lance, who had been joined by all the others, including the security guards, nearly fainted. "Oh God," he moaned, feeling nauseous. "It hit them, I saw it. They're gone."

"Did it?" JC asked, still squinting at the passing train. "I can't see anything! All I saw was a bright flash of light."

"It looked like it hit," one of the security guards said, shaking his head sadly.

Joey started to cry as JC leaned wearily against the bus, his head down. "This is all my fault," he muttered over and over, feeling tears rise. "Why did I give him that stupid bear?"

"No, it's my fault," James said. "I should have just driven the bus back to the track, regardless of his objections."

"If anyone's to blame," one of the security guards said, "it's us. We were supposed to protect him, that's what we're paid to do. Instead, we let him put himself in a dangerous situation. We never should have let him get off the bus."

"It hit 'em," Lance continued to moan, sinking to the ground. "They're gone. Dead… God, this can't be happening."

"Wait!" Chris pointed as the train finished passing. "They're right there! On the other side of the track! T got to him!" He and the others started to cheer as Tammy rose to her feet, then waved to them to let them know that they were alright.

"Let's get down there," James said, jumping on the bus and starting it as everyone piled on. He quickly pulled a U-turn and sped back towards the track.

Tammy meanwhile, was slapping Justin lightly, who had passed out. "J?" she called. "Are you okay?" After his eyes fluttered open, she relaxed somewhat. "Are you alright?" she asked again. The only response she got was a blank stare from him. "J?" she called again.

Justin continued to look at her as if there was nothing inside of him. Tammy chalked it up to be him being in shock. He had after all, almost died for the second time. Pulling him to his feet, she wrapped an arm around his waist and led him to the waiting bus.

The guards got off and fawned over him, asking if he was okay, and slapping him on the back happily. After they had gotten him on the bus and he still failed to register any of his surroundings, JC asked, "Is he okay?" Justin's blank stare was starting to creep him out.

"I guess," Tammy shrugged. "I think he's just in shock. It was pretty close down there."

"Yeah," Lance nodded, "you were flying. You looked like you had reached the speed of light."

"More like the speed of sound," she thought. Outloud she said with a shrug, "Whatever. I'm just glad he's alright. Atleast," she continued, staring into his vacant eyes, "I think he's alright."

"Do you think we should take him to a hospital to be checked out?" one of the security guards asked.

"We could call Johnny and see," the other guard offered.

"Well," JC shrugged, "we're supposed to meet up with the tour manager in Omaha, so we should just call her and let her know the deal."

"Yeah," Lance added as the security guard picked up the phone and started dialing, "tell her to meet us at a hospital in Omaha."

An hour later, 'NSync's infamous tour manager was storming through the door of the emergency room as Justin was in with the doctor being checked out. Enraged, she immediately went for Tammy, who was lounged wearily in the corner.

"What the hell did you do to him?" the tour manager screamed.

Tammy glanced at her, then looked away, not bothering to respond. That enraged the woman even more and she continued to rant, "That's why I didn't want you on tour with them. Everything was going fine until you came along."

"Relax, Melinda," JC said, pulling her away from Tammy, who now had a scowl on her face. Another second of getting screamed at, and JC knew that Tammy would have gone off on her. "Tammy saved Justin's life. You should be thanking her."

"She's probably the one that got him in that mess," Melinda glared at Tammy.

Rising to her feet, Tammy locked eyes with the woman, refusing to look away until the woman flinched noticeably. Much to Melinda's surprise though, Tammy agreed with her. "You're right," she shrugged, still tired, "Justin wouldn't have been in that situation if I wasn't here. It's all my fault, and I apologize."

"Tammy," Joey said, walking up and putting his arm around her, "you don't have to apologize. You did nothing wrong."

"Yeah," Lance chimed in, "as a matter of fact, if it wasn't for you, Justin would be dead right now."

"Besides," JC nodded his agreement, "I was the one who made him carry the bear. I shouldn't have been such a jerk about it."

"It doesn't matter," Melinda sneered, still smarting from Tammy's earlier glare, "if she wasn't here, there'd never have been a bear to carry."

As Tammy opened her mouth to respond, the doctor led Justin out of the room. "His vital signs are normal," he stated. "Blood pressure is normal, heart rate steady… he's fine."

Everyone nodded and cheered quietly as they embraced Justin. After hugging him, Melinda cooed, "Are you okay, Justin? I was worried sick." Upon getting nothing but a blank stare from him, she glared at the doctor, saying, "What the hell is wrong with him?"

"Shock," the man shrugged in response. "Give him a few hours to come out of it and he should be alright."

"We don't have a couple of hours!" Melinda screamed, shocking everyone… except Justin, who just stood there, not paying attention to anything. She continued to rant, "He has to be on stage in four hours! Will he be out of it then?"

"There's no telling," the doctor sighed. "He suffered a huge shock today. I'm surprised he still isn't passed out. All I can say is, give him the time he needs. Don't rush to get him onstage, because if you do, there may be long lasting mental effects."

"You mean," Chris asked, "he'll go crazy?"

"I'm surprised he isn't crazy now," the doctor chuckled bitterly. "Had that been me, I'd have died of fright."

"Thanks, Doc," Chris said, grabbing Justin's elbow lightly and leading him towards the exit. The minute they walked outside, they were blasted with the bright flashes of cameras and reporters shoving mics in their faces.

"Damn," Lance muttered, ignoring the media to talk to Chris, "all it took was an hour and all of America knows about this."

Chris, who was still leading a zombie-like Justin by the arm, nodded his head in agreement. "Ten to one says Kurt Loder is gonna say something about it on MTV."

Back inside the hospital, Tammy stood at the door, looking out glumly. "Problem?" JC asked, coming up beside her.

"Look at all of 'em," she jerked her head at all the reporters. "They're everywhere. I so don't feel like being bothered, J."

"I know you don't," he sighed. "But here are some words of advice: Walk swiftly and keep your head down. It'll all be over in a minute." Holding out his hand to her he continued, "I'm right here, remember? I'm right here waiting for you."

Hand in hand, the two ran out of the building and stormed past the media, their heads down the entire time. Tammy paused long enough to stick up her middle finger at a cameraman that was all in her face. Still ignoring all the cries and yells for a statement, the two hurried towards the bus, which was parked right at the curb.

"Just block it out," JC said to her, referring to the loudness of the people. "Keep moving and don't look at a camera."

Once they were on the bus, Tammy collapsed onto the couch wearily. "That was so tiring. Now I see why everyone wants to stay out of the tabloids."

"Exactly," Lance said, flipping on the TV.

"What'd I tell ya?" Chris raised his eyebrows at Lance as they watched Kurt Loder appear on the screen.

Joey shushed him as Kurt droned, "Today many fans of the pop-boy band 'NSync wept as news of front man and youngest member Justin Timberlake's near death experience hit air waves. Timberlake, who was nearly hit by an oncoming train after his shoelace got stuck in the tracks, was miraculously saved by writer/actress Tammy Matthews, who is on tour with 'NSync now in preparation of a movie about them. It has been reported to us that Justin is okay now, yet because of the incident, tonight's concert in Omaha will be cancelled. The cancellation of other tour dates is still undecided until the full extent of damage possibly done is determined. For news on this incident, Eminem, Britney Spears and more, tune to MTV.com. This is MTV News at ten to the hour, every hour."

"Oh, gag me," JC scowled. "Notice how MTV always has to embellish everything? I wonder how many times they've played this today."

"Thousands," Lance rolled his eyes. "Ten to the hour, my ass. They're probably playin' this every fifteen minutes."

"Yeah," Tammy agreed, "MTV hasn't had a story this big since the Notorious B.I.G. died." That said, she got up and excused herself, walking back towards Justin's bunk, where he still lay motionless.

"Justin?" she whispered softly, disappointed when she didn't get so much as a glance from him. "Are you okay?"

Justin continued to stare at the top of the bunk, seemingly in his own world. As Tammy glanced into his eyes, she couldn't help but notice how blank and empty his eyes looked. "I know you were scared," she continued, kneeling next to his bunk. "I was, too. I was afraid that I wouldn't get to you in time… that I would let you down. You're very special to me, you know." As Justin failed to give her any indication that he heard her, let alone was listening to her, Tammy softly patted his cheek. "I can sing to you if you want," she offered. "I have this favorite song of my mom's… she used to play the record all the time. It's called 'Little Girls', but in your case, I'll change the words a bit." With that, she started to sing softly, "Come on and hold me tight… don't turn off the light. Just let your words embrace me like a father's loving arms. Protect me from the night… it will be alright. 'Cause tonight, you're just my little boy…"

She probably sang the song a good fifty times without stopping, because the next thing she knew, Chris was tapping her on the shoulder telling her to come on. "We're at the hotel we're staying at for tonight," he said.

The two backed up and watched as the security guards hoisted Justin to his feet and helped him off of the bus. "He was lucky," Chris commented as he and Tammy walked behind them.

"Maybe," she muttered, a slight scowl coming onto her face. "It's too early to say."

"What do you mean?" Chris asked, the confusion clear in his eyes. "There's no 'maybe' about it. He was lucky that you got to him when you did."

"But what about his condition now?" she continued to scowl. "He's like a fuckin' zombie or somethin'."

"Atleast he's alive," he argued as the two rose on the elevator. "I mean, it's just shock. Even the doctor said he'll be fine."

"I dunno," Tammy said quietly with a shake of her head. "The doctor doesn't know the type of stuff I know." Like the after-effects of a fourth density jump on a regular person, she thought to herself.