Power Of Love

By: Lara Bruner

Amanda walked quickly down the street, clutching the small duffel bag close to her chest. She tried not to look suspicious, but the way she held the bag as if it was giving her the air she breathed made people look at her strangely. She walked faster as she approached the crumbling down apartment building. Just as she was about to open the door, a hand grabbed her shoulder. She whirled around, her blue eyes meeting those of a police officer.

"Hey!" She shouted, wriggling to get out of his grasp. "Let me go! You have no right to grab me out here on the street!"

"I have every right, Missy. First of all, let me take this off your hands." He grabbed the duffel and tossed it to his partner, who stood a few feet behind him. The other man quickly pawed through it.

"Yep. This is it, Joe. Hundred dollar bills, wrapped in groups of one hundred."

The first officer smiled down at Amanda. "Off we go, little lady."

Ari waited until she saw the well-dressed woman turn the corner from the jewelry store. She knew that the woman would stand at the corner and wait for her driver to pick her up. She also knew that a businessman late for an important luncheon would soon walk in her direction, accidentally bumping into the woman. Ari waited until the right moment, then slowly strolled by the woman, walking behind her just as the businessman collided with her.

"Oh, dear me!" The woman gasped, her packages flying into the air. The businessman growled an apology, but kept going.

"Here, let me help you," Ari said sweetly, bending down to pick up a few packages.

"Thank you, young lady," the woman said gratefully, not noticing that Ari had placed a few of the smaller boxes under her jacket.

"Here you are. Have a nice day." Ari stood, turned, and briskly walked away. The woman began to stack her boxes again.

"Wait! Stop! Thief!" The woman shouted. A security officer ran out of the jewelry store, and the woman quickly pointed at Ari, who broke into a run. The large security officer quickly overtook her, and grabbed her. She kicked and yelled, but he began to carry her back to the store.

"Aw, come on. Are you sure this is the newest shirt you have in stock?" Kelley asked the man behind the counter at the sporting goods store. "I mean, I don’t want yesterday’s design. I want the newest one."

"I’m telling ya, it’s the newest we got!" The man insisted, totally charmed.

"Well, the price certainly seems to prove that," she mumbled, looking at the price tag on the sleeve. Seventy-five dollars! She thought to herself. She looked the man straight in the eye, and her green eyes seemed to glow. "How about you let me take this with me to try it out. Consider it a gift."

"Why don’t you just take it along to try it out? Consider it a gift," the man said. She smiled a beautiful smile.

"Thank you very much," she said, turning to leave. In her haste, she had neglected to have him remove the security tag, and as she reached the doorway, the alarm jangled. She sighed, waiting for the inevitable feeling of a hand on her shoulder.

Shae took a deep breath before sliding herself down the rope along the side of the building. When she reached the sixth floor windows, she closed her eyes and concentrated. The window slowly slid open, and she let herself inside. She lightly hopped to the floor, and headed straight for the living room. She opened desk drawers, ruffling through papers. "Aha!" She said triumphantly, finding the checkbook she knew would be hidden there. Most people were dumb enough to leave it somewhere that obvious. She returned to the bedroom, and noticed a jewelry case on the dresser. Curiosity getting the best of her, she wandered over to open it. A pair of gorgeous opal earrings and an opal pendant glistened against the black velvet. She sighed. Opals were her weakness. She quickly pocketed the earrings, leaving the necklace. She was so intent in zipping them into her jacket pocket that she never heard the front door open, or the footsteps of the owner of the apartment. Strong arms encircled her as a voice yelled,

"Honey, call the police. It seems we have a cat burglar here."

Lara lurked in the shadows of the nightclub, unable to get up the nerve to move out onto the dance floor. She didn’t have the clothes or attitude, she felt. She just liked to watch. One man kept drawing her attention. He was with some hussy of a girlfriend, but he looked friendly enough. She yawned. It had been a long day. She had spent the morning and afternoon walking out through the homeless communities by the river, and had only returned to her own shack-type dwelling later in the afternoon.

She noticed that the man and his girlfriend were leaving, and she decided to follow them out, just out of curiosity.

She remained yards behind them, keeping them in her sight. The female was drunk, and often lost her balance. They rounded a corner.

"Gimme your wallet, asshole!" A voice shouted. A man pulled a gun on the couple. The woman screamed, leaning against a building for support. Her boyfriend tried to reason with the man, and in response the attacker shot once…twice. The man collapsed, and the attacker took one look at him and ran.

Lara slowly walked up as the girlfriend crouched down.

"Oh my god…Nate…wake up…don’t die…" she sobbed drunkenly. "Help! Someone help!" She shrieked. Lara crouched down on the other side. The bullets had entered his left side, dangerously close to the heart. She placed her hand on his chest, ignoring the blood that oozed between her fingers. Pain shot through her arm and chest, almost knocking her over, but she remained where she was. The man suddenly gasped for air, and his eyes fluttered open. Lara slowly removed her hand, and he sat up carefully. Though his shirt was stained with blood, no wound was revealed when he unbuttoned his shirt. The woman stared at her.

"Who the hell are you?" She whispered.

"Nobody," Lara murmured, turning to run away. She ran smack into a policeman.

"Oh, you again," he said, sighing. "Come on…down to the station…again."

"You can’t keep me in here!" Kelley yelled, grabbing the bars of the cell and shaking them. "I’ve done nothing wrong!" She screeched.

"SURE you haven’t!" A voice yelled back. "That’s why you were walking out of a store with a shirt you never paid for."

"It was a gift," she said sullenly, returning to her previous seat on a cold cement bench in the holding cell.

"Opals…always opals…they get me every time," Shae was mumbling to herself, mentally hitting her head against a brick wall. If she wouldn’t have stopped for the opals, she would have been home free.

Amanda stood in one of the back corners of the cell, formulating a plan. When the guard came to take one of the girls out, she would clear herself, and slip out behind them. That’s what she called it when she made herself invisible: "clearing herself". It had worked when she had taken the money from the bank that morning. Unfortunately, she hadn’t eaten yet, and she hadn’t had the strength to stay clear long enough to get away.

"So…" Kelley said, looking around. "What did you all do to get in here?"

"Robbed a bank," Amanda said, her blue eyes meeting Kelley’s green ones.

"Helped a lady pick up her things, and made the load a little lighter," Ari replied.

"Broke into an apartment," Shae said, shrugging, as if it were an everyday occurrence.

"And you…how ‘bout you?" Kelley yelled in Lara’s direction, her nose wrinkling in distaste at Lara’s dirty clothing and tangled hair. She was standing by the window, trying to glimpse a wisp of puffy cloud in the clear blue sky. Lara refused to answer, closing her eyes. She didn’t belong here with these…these…thieves. She belonged out there…in the sunshine.

"Are you sure about this, lady?" The officer at the front desk said. "You’re willing to post bail for ALL five of them?"

"I’m positive," the woman with the long dark hair said mysteriously. "I’m also willing to cover all legal fees if some would arise, but I’m sure that nothing like that will occur, am I correct?"

The officer cleared his throat. "Um…I’m sure that won’t be necessary, ma’am. I’ll talk with the victims…er…persons involved myself."

The woman smiled gratefully. "I could tell as soon as I walked in the door that you were someone to be counted on, Officer. Could you take me to them now?"

"Of course."

He grabbed his keys and headed towards the holding cell, followed closely by the woman and her two bodyguards. "Hey, girlies, someone’s here to visit ya," the officer announced, swinging the door open. "Call me when you wanna leave," he told the woman.

Amanda saw her chance. She closed her eyes, letting her mind grow blank. It’s not going to work, so don’t even try it, she heard a voice inside her head say. Her eyes flew open and she stared at the strange woman in the doorway. The woman merely raised an eyebrow.

"Girls, I’m here to release you," the woman said, her eyes floating from one person to another. "You’re coming home with me."

"What makes you think we want to come with you?" Shae said boldly.

"What are your alternatives? If you don’t come with me, you’ll rot here until your trial, and then you’ll be sent to prison for breaking and entering, among other things."

"How did you…?" Shae said in amazement.

"I know why each of you is here. I also know how special each of you are." The woman took a step into the room. "You each feel like you are very different from everyone else…like no one understands…you feel like freaks, am I correct?" For the first time, Lara looked away from the window. She nodded slowly, her mouth dropping open. "Good. Then let’s go."

Everyone else’s mouths dropped open, for the last sentence had not been spoken aloud, but they had all heard her. They mutely followed her, wondering what in the world was happening, and just who this woman was.

The young women followed their mysterious benefactor out of the jail. She led them to a black stretch limo. A handsome well-built man in a dark suit held the door open.

As they piled in and took seats on the two seats in the back, Lara asked, "Wasn’t that…no…it couldn’t be." Everyone stared, for it was the first time she had spoken.

"Andruw Jones? Yes…it was," the woman said, pouring them each a soda from the bar that was hidden under one of the seats.

"Of the Atlanta Braves?" Lara whispered. The woman nodded pleasantly.

"Okay, lady, I don’t know who you are, but I think you have some explaining to do," Kelley said finally.

"My name is Kayla. I am interesting in starting a new…business, and you girls are exactly the people I need to carry out my plans. The reason I know how special you all are is because I am special in many of the same ways." Kayla looked from one girl to the other. "Amanda here can make herself invisible."

"How cool," Shae remarked. Amanda frowned and stared out the window.

"Ariana can see the future."

Kelley’s mouth dropped open. "It’s not always as good as it sounds," Ari told her. "A lot of times I don’t like what I see."

"Shae has telekinesis. She can move things with her mind," Kayla continued.

"Wow," Amanda said, looking at Shae. "That could get interesting."

"Kelley can control people’s minds."

"Which sometimes is very lucrative," Kelley added.

"I possess, in a smaller quantity, all of these powers," Kayla told them. "I need someone who has more power than I, and that is why I’ve searched you all out."

"Hey, what about her," Ari said, pointing at Lara, who was slouched in a corner of the seat. Kayla smiled gently.

"Ah, yes. She has one of the more rare powers…and the one I do not have. She has the power to heal people." The other girls’ mouths dropped open as one. Kayla looked at them all for a long moment, practically forcing them to look back at her. "There are many things about your powers that you have yet to learn. For example, if someone has the same power as you, your power will not work on them." She turned to Amanda. "If you were to try to become invisible, I couldn’t stop you, but I could see you." Amanda nodded in understanding. "I want to help train you for a secret objective of mine. I will get you new clothes, give you new identities, and feed and house you until the time is right."

"Just what IS this secret objective?" Shae asked suspiciously.

"I need you to help me obtain the most treasured pieces of art, jewelry, and collectibles in the world."

"What do you mean, we’re finished?" Howie stared open mouthed at Kevin.

"That’s what I heard him say, bro. He said that he was no longer representing us, and we were on our own."

The other Backstreet Boys froze in whatever they were doing. Nick, who had been fastening his jeans, let them drop to the floor, not even noticing when his legs became covered in goosebumps. AJ sat down hard on a chair.

"You mean we’re now stuck without a manager?"

"Yeah." Kevin sat down as well. He had overheard their manager talking on the phone, telling someone that he no longer wanted to represent the Backstreet Boys. "He said that the "boy group" phenomenon was dead and gone, and he wanted no part of it. He is now trying to think of some way to tell us."

"Well, at least we can go back to normal lives now," Brian said, trying to find a silver lining in their cloud of disaster.

"I don’t want a normal life!" Nick snapped at his best friend. "I like the life I have now!"

"Maybe we could manage ourselves," Howie said slowly. "I mean, we all know pretty much about the business. We could do our own bookings, arrange our own interviews."

"Howie, we don’t even know where to call to get a limo to pick us up," AJ pointed out. "And I couldn’t even tell you what my bank account number is."

Nick sighed in despair. "We’re screwed. The Backstreet Boys are finished."

"Come on, guys. Let’s get dressed and go back to the hotel before he comes in here. We’ll figure out something, so when he comes to break the bad news, we’ll be able to shock the hell out of him," Kevin said. The others quickly got ready and snuck out to their waiting limo.

"You know where to go," Brian told the driver.

"Yes, sir," the chauffeur said, turning in the totally opposite direction of the hotel.

"Hey! Where the hell are you going?" Howie yelled.

"A slight detour, sir," the chauffeur remarked, hitting the autolock button. The guys all yelled as the doors automatically locked. The chauffeur closed the glass between the front and the back of the limo. The Backstreet Boys were trapped!

"Dude, I don’t know who the hell you are, but let us the fuck out of here now!" AJ screamed, smacking his hands against the glass that separated them from the driver.

"AJ, stop it! He can’t hear you anyway!" Brian grabbed AJ and threw him back into his seat.

"I don’t believe this!" Howie gasped.

"So much for my normal life," Brian murmured, sinking back against the seat.

"Everybody just relax. We’ll see where we’re going, and maybe we can get away then," Kevin said calmly.

"Okay, Dad," AJ snapped, glaring out the window.

"Guys, don’t fight, please," Howie pleaded. "It won’t do any good."

The driver took them out of the city, in a direction none of them had gone before, not that they knew the area all that well. They drove out into the country, for hours. Soon, even AJ was dozing, with his face pressed against the chilly window. As the sun began to break the horizon, the limo pulled up in front of what would be called a castle in Europe, but what they would each later describe as the biggest mansion they had ever seen.

The guys began to stir as the driver came around and opened the back driver’s side door. AJ tumbled to the ground. He jumped up in an instant, fixing his sunglasses, giving the driver an evil look. "Just watch it, okay?"

The driver said nothing, but began to walk towards the door. "I’d advise you to follow me. There is no escape out here, so don’t try."

The guys stumbled towards the huge building, staring at the countryside surrounding them, and then finally looking up at the building itself. They slowly walked through the tall doorway. The door slammed behind them, causing them all to jump.

"I don’t like this…at all!" Nick hissed through clenched teeth.

"You’re such a baby," Howie told him. Nick slapped the back of Howie’s head.

"Knock it off!" Kevin yelled in a whisper.

They were led to a large dining room. In the center of the room was a dining table long enough to serve ten people on each side with a chair at each end. On a sideboard at the windows sat steaming plates of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, pastries, and pancakes. Pitchers of four different kinds of juice and two pots of coffee waited behind the platters. The table was sat for five at one end.

"Please serve yourselves. He will be in shortly." The chauffeur left the room, locking the door behind him.

"Who?" Brian yelled, but received no reply.

"You think this stuff is okay?" AJ asked, as his stomach began to loudly request breakfast.

"I don’t see why they’d go to all this trouble to poison us," Nick pointed out.

"This is better than any of the stuff we get on tour!" Howie said, digging into the platter of eggs. "Let’s chow!"

The guys quickly filled their plates and sat at the table. They ate hungrily, not even speaking as they stuffed their faces.

"Yo, AJ, wanna leave some for the rest of us?" Kevin said as AJ poured himself glasses of orange, grape, apple, and cranberry juice.

"I’m THIRSTY, okay?" AJ retorted, carefully carrying the glasses back to the table. He had just set them down as the door unlocked. Five pair of eyes swung towards the huge double doors.

"Gentlemen! I’m so glad you could make it. I hope the breakfast was satisfactory." A handsome young man in a black Armani suit made his way to the table and sat a few chairs down from Brian.

"Um…great…thanks…" Howie said politely. The others glared at him. "What?" He asked.

"You are wondering why I’ve brought you here. I’m sorry it all had to be such a mystery, but I knew I could never convince you otherwise." The man reached over and took one of AJ’s glasses of juice. AJ opened his mouth to protest, then thought better of it. "I know you are having…managerial problems. I feel the time is ripe to ask for your assistance."

"How did you know…" Kevin began.

"What do you think made him decide not to work with you?" The man said simply.

"Who the hell are you?" Brian snapped.

"I work for the government. And don’t ask which agency. We’re more…freelance." He took a few swallows of the juice. "We’re looking for special recruits to train for some very top secret operatives." He stood. "Let’s go into the study, shall we? It’s a bit more comfortable in there."

They moved a few doors down the hall to a large room. The walls were covered in books from floor to ceiling, and a large fireplace blazed with warmth. As the others took seats, Nick wandered over to one of the bookcases. "Art Treasures of the Modern World…Nature’s Finest Jewels…The History of Sculpture…" he read.

"You’ll find books on anything collectible that is of value," the man told them. "Stamps, clocks, figurines, books, jewels…you name it."

"Speaking of names, what’s yours?" Howie demanded.

"Just call me Jones," the young man said. Howie looked at him closely. He looked VERY familiar.

"Okay…Jones…so what’s your little plan got to do with us?" Brian asked.

"There have been many museums and private collections that have, of late, been noticing a few things missing. Not just here in the United States, but all over the world. We believe we know who has been doing this. Her name is Kayla, and she is probably the only person in the world who knows more about culturally important artifacts and items than I do." Jones poked at the fire. "She MUST be stopped."

"So, like Bri said, what the fuck does this have to do with US?" AJ yelled.

"Mr. McLean, please." Jones looked as if he was beginning to lose patience with the very impatient AJ. "We need a group of people who are able to travel all over the world at a moment’s notice, who will have no problem getting into the parties and homes where these items will be on display. We need someone to watch, to see if Kayla appears, and to apprehend her if at all possible."

The guys gaped at him. "But…but…we’re so well known…no one would ever expect us to be at a museum or some ritzy party," Howie stammered.

"Not now…but after I’m finished training you…you will not even recognize yourselves."

A few months later

"Again, Shae!" Kayla barked as the other four girls fell panting to the floor. "You’ve got to get this right!"

"Kayla, this is ridiculous! Why do I need to know how to tumble? I’ll just move their asses out of my way!" Shae retorted.

"Shae, sit your ass down, now!" Kayla yelled, in a tone none of them had heard her use before. Shae sat where she stood. Kayla glared at the girls in turn. "You MUST be in good physical condition as well as mentally. Like I said, if anyone you run into has the same power as you do, even just in small amounts, you will NOT be able to use it against them!" She turned to Shae. "You have to learn basic gymnastics and martial arts to get out of a situation that may be beyond your control," she said a bit more gently.

"Okay," Shae grumbled, standing up again.

A few hours later, the girls were walking up the steps to their bedroom suites.

"I am so tired, I could sleep for days," Ari exclaimed. Kelley nodded in affirmation.

"Actually, I’m beginning to feel pretty good," Amanda said. "My body finally is getting used to all this."

"I’m just ready for an assignment. I wanna get out there!" Shae said.

"Well, my hamstrings and calf muscles wanna get in a hot tub. I’ll catch you guys at dinner," Ari said, disappearing into her room.

Lara went into her room across the hall as the other girls continued down the hall, talking loudly. She took two steps in the door before turning around. She slowly walked across the hall, hesitated, then softly knocked on Ariana’s door.

"Yeah? Who is it?" Ari yelled. She threw the door open. "Oh, it’s you. What’s up?"

"I thought…I was…I could…" Lara stammered, suddenly shy. She was quite nervous around the other girls, very in awe of what they could all do.

"What?" Ari snapped.

"I could help you. With your muscles," Lara finally said. Ari just looked at her.

"Um…sure…what the hell. Come in."

Lara walked into Ari’s bedroom. The entire suite was decorated in shades of purple, just as Lara’s was in all dark blues. "Why don’t you lay down on the bed."

Ari stretched out on her stomach. "This is so weird," she remarked.

Lara closed her eyes, placing one hand on Ari’s thigh and the other on her calf. After a few moments, Ari felt the tenseness in her legs slowly disappear, as if she had never overworked the muscles. Lara soon moved to the other leg, and after a moment, she told Ari to sit up.

"Wow! That is fantastic! I feel as if I could run a marathon!" She smiled at Lara. "Thanks a lot!"

"You’re welcome," Lara said quietly, beginning to walk to the door.

"Um, do you wanna stay and talk for a while? I mean, my bath can wait now."

"Thanks, but I need my own shower. See you at dinner."

Ari watched Lara closely as she walked to the door, sure that the other girl was limping.

Ari waited outside her door after she was showered and changed. She grabbed the other girls as they exited their rooms. She pulled them all back into her room.

"What’s your problem?" Shae asked, angrily adjusting her blouse where Ari had yanked on her arm.

"What do you guys think of Lara?" She asked.

"She’s nice enough, I guess," Amanda said.

"I haven’t really thought about it," Shae replied.

"I like her well enough," Kelley added.

"You won’t believe what happened!" Ari said. She told them how Lara had seemed to pull the pain right out of her legs. "And then, as she walked away, she was limping!"

"So? I was wiped by today, too," Kelley pointed out.

"But she WASN’T limping earlier. I walked up the stairs behind her. She was walking fine." The others looked at Ari blankly. "Guys, when she heals people, she FEELS part of the pain."

"Oh, how awful!" Kelley gasped.

"My pain was mild. But what if one of us would get seriously hurt. Like broke an arm, or something even worse? That might practically kill her."

"We need to talk to Kayla," Amanda decided.

Kayla looked from one girl to the other across the dinner table, noticing their silence. Lara was usually quiet, but even Shae wasn’t saying much, just toying with her food, using her mind to push the peas around on her plate.

"What is it?" Kayla asked finally. "What is bothering you?"

Lara looked up in amazement. "Nothing!" She said quickly.

"Well…" Amanda began.

"Lara helped heal the muscles in my legs today," Ari announced suddenly. Lara blushed a deep red and concentrated on her mashed potatoes. Ari’s green eyes seemed to stare right through her. "When you heal, you take on some of the pain, don’t you?" Lara opened her mouth, then closed it, glancing quickly at Kayla.

"I told you not to use it like that anymore," Kayla said softly. "You need to train more…to learn to focus."

"I know," Lara whispered. "I just…"

"You were showing off," Kayla finished for her. Lara flushed again, then grew angry.

"Well, THEY always get to use their gifts! ‘Shae, move that stack of books over there.’ ‘Amanda, I want you to start there and finish here without me seeing you’. ‘Ari, what’s going to be in the mail today’? ‘Kelley, go down to the laundromat and convince the man to let you take someone else’s laundry’. They are ALWAYS getting to show what they are able to do, and I never get a chance!" Lara ended up shouting. The other girls stared at her.

"Wow, you CAN talk!" Shae said finally. Kelley hid a smile.

"Lara, what Ariana has realized is true. Your special talent takes a lot out of you. You can’t waste your energy on simple tasks as these. I’ve given you all those books and things to study. I need you to be my librarian as well as my medic. Trust me," Kayla said. Lara slowly nodded.

"I didn’t mean to get you into trouble," Ari said to Lara. "I was worried."

"It’s okay," Lara said, smiling at her.

"Okay. Now that that’s out in the open, we need to discuss this weekend. You get your first true test of working as a team."

"Okay, Jones, this is getting really old. How many times to we need to run around the house, carry bundles of wood, and pull pieces of equipment before you decide we’re ready?" AJ complained over dinner.

"He’s right, Jonesy. I am SO ready to get out there and kick some law-breaker’s ass!" Nick added, vigorously cutting into his pork chops.

"Do NOT call me Jonesy, Nickolas," Jones said sternly.

"Okay, JONES, when are we getting out there?" Nick replied.

"We’ve done all the exercises, read all the books, watched all the videos, listened to all your lectures," Howie pointed out.

"How’d you learn all this, anyway? This doesn’t seem to be your calling," Kevin observed, watching Jones closely.

"I was involved in another line of work, yes. Something happened to me that forced me to change my occupation. That something involved someone doing something illegal, and I offered my services to the government in any capacity I could be helpful."

"Oh," Kevin said, at a loss for words.

"You will get your chance, gentlemen, this weekend. You’re going to Europe. To a party. A very LARGE party, exhibiting a line of rare jewelry and precious stones. Kayla is sure to be there. You’re not to capture her…just find her, and trail her."

"This is awesome!" Kelley said, plopping onto a seat on Kayla’s private jet.

"I could get used to this!" Lara fell into a seat across the aisle, her arms full of books and papers. Since the incident at the dinner table, she had become a lot more vocal and comfortable around the other girls.

"Um, I have a question. Exactly what do you tell people you do? I mean, like how do you explain the house, the jet, the cars?" Amanda asked Kayla.

"I just tell anyone who’s nosy enough to ask that I have a large inheritance," Kayla replied, walking towards the cockpit to give last minute instructions to the pilot.

"Okay. She wants you all to read these, and learn everything by heart. This information has to be destroyed by the time we get there." Lara handed each girl a manila folder with their name on it.

"Exactly where is there?" Ari asked.

"Um, Italy, I think," Lara replied, flipping through some of her notes. "Yeah, Italy. We’re going to an exhibition at a museum in Rome."

"ITALY!" Shae shrieked. "That is awesome!" The other girls smiled at her enthusiasm.

"Whoa. Wait a minute. You mean…we have to actually ANSWER to these names?" Kelley gasped, flipping through the folder Lara had given her.

"Why?" Amanda quickly opened her folder and shuffled through the paperwork. "Oh, my god," she mumbled.

Ari peeked over Amanda’s shoulder and began to laugh. "That’s definitely original."

"You girls will be posing as sisters, sisters with very original parents. The reason you are even INVITED to this function is that your parents have large holdings in the jewelry business, and that explains your names." Kayla returned to the cabin and buckled her seatbelt.

"I will NEVER be able to answer to Emerald without laughing," Kelley told her. She turned to Amanda. "What’s yours?"

"Topaz," Amanda grumbled, sinking back into her seat.

"Amethyst," Ari answered before Kelley could ask. She looked at Lara.

"Sapphire. But actually, I don’t mind. Midnight blue is my favorite color."

"How ‘bout you?" Kelley asked Shae.

"Opal. I don’t mind, either. That’s my favorite stone."

"I do NOT believe this," Kelley grumbled again.

"Look, Kel, just shut up and learn this stuff, okay? We have to be able to recite family history and all kinds of other shit like we’ve lived it all our lives! No one can know we’re not who we say we are," Lara told her. The other girls stared at the sudden burst of force, then quickly began to read their information.

"Jonesy! Excellent!" Nick said as he climbed aboard the small private jet.

"Nickolas…" Jones said, his eyes darkening.

"Jones, Jones, I’m sorry," Nick said quickly.

"This kicks ass!" AJ said, removing his sunglasses as they followed Nick.

"Whatever you did before, it definitely was good money," Kevin observed as he sank back into a plush seat. Howie went to the small bar and began to pour himself a drink.

"Later, Howie," Jones told him. Howie sighed and replaced the decanter. "We have a lot to go over here." He pulled a file three inches thick from his briefcase and set it on a small table near the aisle. "This is everything you need to know about Kayla."

"Okay, girls, this is where you are out on your own," Kayla said as the jet began its descent into Rome. "I cannot be seen with you at all, in any circumstances. If there is some kind of emergency, Lara knows how to get a hold of me." She gave a slip of paper to each girl. "This is the name of the hotel, in case you would get separated. You’ll each have your own suite, on the same floor. All of your wardrobes and other items will be in the room waiting for you. I’ll see you back here at the airport in three days."

"Ah, Roma. I LOVE this city!" AJ exclaimed, staring out the windows eagerly.

"But this time it’s different, AJ. We’ll be seeing a side of the city that we have never experienced before," Kevin pointed out.

"This is so weird. No fans," Nick said, sounding almost disappointed.

"I know! Isn’t it awesome!" Brian replied. "We can walk out of an airplane like normal people." He was almost bouncing up and down in his seat.

"Okay, gentlemen, this is where I must leave you. If Kayla gets even a suspicion that I am anywhere in this country, she’ll flee at a moment’s notice," Jones told them. "Now, remember. We’re not here to capture, just to gather information."

"This sounds more and more like a bad war movie with every passing moment," Howie grumbled. Jones glared at him.

"Mr. Dorough, I assure you this is quite serious, and quite real. This woman is responsible for the theft of more than fifty million dollars’ worth of jewelry, art, sculpture, and other priceless artifacts."

Howie opened his mouth, then closed it. "Sorry," he finally mumbled.

"Apology accepted." Jones looked from one young man to another, and barely cracked a smile. "Good luck."

"Ari, will you quit gawking? We are supposed to be world travelers!" Amanda snapped in a whisper as the taxi took them to the hotel.

"I can’t help it! This city is just beautiful! All the beautiful art and buildings," Ari gushed, leaning across Shae to stare out the other window. Amanda sighed, rolling her eyes.

The taxi soon pulled up in front of the hotel. The girls piled out, and a doorman hustled over to help the driver unload their bags.

"Nice," Kelley murmured, looking over her sunglasses at the extravagant hotel before them.

"Very nice," Shae added, looking over HER sunglasses at the attractive doorman unloading their bags. "I don’t suppose you could talk him into visiting my room later." Kelley gave her a light elbow in the ribs.

Lara thanked the driver in fluent Italian and tipped him with some of the money Kayla had given her. The girls stared at her as the cab drove away. "What?" She asked shyly.

"Um, where was I when you were learning Italian?" Amanda asked. Lara blushed.

"Oh, uh, that. Well, that’s another teeny gift I have: learning languages. I’ve always been pretty good at it."

"I guess," Amanda replied as they entered the hotel.

The girls were all on the tenth floor of the hotel, and their five suites took up the whole floor. As were their suites back at the mansion, all the rooms were done in specific colors: Amanda’s was done in golds and amber, Ari’s in purple, Kelley’s in green, Lara’s in blue, and Shae’s in silvers and whites.

"I’m sure glad I like blue," Lara said to herself, throwing her carry-on bag down on the bed. She walked over to the giant closet and opened the door. She gasped at what she found. The closet was filled with very expensive designer outfits, along with two evening gowns for the two nights of the exhibition. She sat down weakly on the edge of the bed, just staring at the closet. When Kayla had found her, she had been spending her days along the river with the homeless, healing their simple aches and pains. She had never thought in a million years that she would soon be sitting in a four star hotel in Rome, staring at a closet of clothing that added up to around ten thousand dollars, at least.

"Well, I see it’s still the same. Penthouse suites in expensive hotels," AJ remarked as the taxi let them off in front of the hotel.

"Well, AJ, I have a feeling things are gonna be a little different this time around," Brian told him as they went inside.

"I don’t believe this!" Nick grumbled as they checked in. "We STILL have to share rooms!"

"The Backstreet Boys did that, Nicky, so why shouldn’t we?" Howie asked.

"You gotta problem sharing with me?" Brian said, playfully glaring at his best friend.

"Nah, I don’t guess so," Nick replied.

Howie was lucky enough to get the single room. Kevin groaned at the thought of sharing a room with the incredibly messy AJ. The guys went to their rooms.

AJ flopped onto the bed and started flipping channels. Kevin checked out the bathroom, then opened the closet door to begin putting his clothing away. "Uh, AJ? Come here, please."

"What?" AJ snapped, exasperated. He walked over to Kevin and stopped short. "Are those Armani?" He whispered.

"Yeah, among other things."

Each of the suits and articles of clothing were marked with either AJ or Kevin’s names. The guys were obviously used to nice, expensive clothing, but they had never purchased clothing as classy as what was in the closet.

"Sweet!" AJ exclaimed, pulling out a navy suit.

"That’s MINE, thank you very much!" Kevin swiped it out of AJ’s hands.

"Yo, guys, did you see…" Nick came hurrying in, followed by Brian and Howie. "Guess so."

"And the sizes are exactly right. Do you remember him asking?" Brian asked the guys. They all shook their heads. "Me either."

"This guy is whacked," AJ said. "But he has great taste."

"Definitely," Nick agreed.

"How about we go down to the gym and work out for a while before we need to start getting ready," Kevin suggested.

"Sounds good," Howie agreed.

"Nah, I’m more into the pool," AJ replied.

"I’m with AJ," Brian said. Nick nodded, totally not in the mood to work out.

"Okay. The limos will be downstairs at seven, so you guys BETTER be ready," Kevin told them. AJ rolled his eyes.

The girls soon congregated in Shae’s room, chattering excitedly about their new clothes.

"Wow, Kayla must be making a KILLING at this kind of stuff to afford all these clothes and cars and hotel rooms," Kelley said, pawing through Shae’s wardrobe. "Oh, wow, can I borrow this?"

"No," Shae said, smiling evilly. "We can only wear what’s in our own closet."

"Grr," Kelley said, but she put the dress back.

"Let’s go swimming," Lara suggested.

"Cool! I forgot about the indoor pool. It’s on the top floor," Amanda informed everyone.

"That sounds like a great idea. I totally need to relax before tonight. I’m all nerves right now," Ari said. She suddenly stared off into space.

"What? What is it? What do you see?" Shae asked quickly. They had all come to learn exactly when Ariana was seeing something that was to happen.

"I don’t know. It’s not any specific thing…it’s more like a feeling. Something is going to happen tonight that will change our lives forever."

"Sure. We’re gonna walk out of this country about a few bazillion dollars richer," Amanda told her. "Relax. Let’s go swim."

Ari returned to her room to change, but couldn’t help but feel that this premonition had nothing to do with money. Something was going to happen that night that would affect them all.

The girls chattered loudly in the elevator as they rode up to the top floor where the gym and pool were. They walked out into the pool area and stopped short. The pool was huge, going down to 15 feet at the deepest end. Three hot tubs were located near the shallow end, and two of the walls were completely glass, allowing everyone a spectacular view no matter where they sat.

"Okay, let’s just live here," Ari whispered.

"Last one in is a rotten egg!" Shae yelled, throwing her bag and towel to the ground and diving into the deep end of the pool.

"I haven’t heard that in ages," Kelley said, laughing as she put her own bag on a deck chair.

The other girls quickly dove in as Lara picked up Shae’s bag and put it on a deck chair near Kelley’s things. She was very nervous about the suit that Kayla had chosen for her, though it was in excellent taste of course. It was not quite a two-piece. Of course, it was midnight blue, and the top looked as if someone had taken a t-shirt and cut off the sleeves. The entire midsection, from right below her breasts to right below her bellybutton was completely sheer. She was totally covered, but still felt as if she was wearing a French-cut bikini. She sighed and sat down, totally unwilling to remove her cover-up.

"Girl, get your ass in this pool right now!" Kelley shouted, threatening to splash her.

"Nah, I think I'll just sit for a minute, and enjoy the view," Lara told her.

"You can see the view later! Get in the pool!" Amanda chimed in, cupping some water in her hands and tossing it in Lara’s direction.

"Man, this place is deserted," Brian commented as he, AJ, and Nick walked down the hall from the elevator to the pool area.

"Well, I guess rich snotty people don’t swim," AJ said. "Or if they do, they are very quiet about it."

"Well, Bri, you wanted "normal". I guess swimming alone is as normal as we can get," Nick told him. They heard voices as they got closer to the pool area. AJ peered in the door.

"Girls!" He said happily. Nick shoved him out of the way.

"How many?" Brian asked.

"Five," Nick told him.

"I’m surprised you can count that high," AJ grumbled, moving past Nick to open the door.

"Okay! Okay! Since I’m practically soaked already!" Lara stood, glaring at Amanda.

"Come on, it’s not like you look like a hussy, like Ari here," Amanda said, waving her hand at Ariana, who wore a gold bikini.

"I do NOT look like a hussy!" Ari retorted, splashing Amanda in the face. Ari, Shae, and Amanda wore two-piece suits while Kelley’s was an emerald green one-piece with a sheer stripe that ran from shoulder to hip.

"Come on, get in," Kelley coaxed. "I promise, no one will even notice your suit."

The words were barely out of her mouth when three young men walked in the door. Lara quickly sat back down, and the other girls froze for a split second. Ari and Amanda quickly looked the men over, then resumed their water battle.

The three guys set down their towels on deck chairs not far from Lara. Suddenly shy, she decided that now was the time to go sit in a Jacuzzi. The guys’ butts were hardly on their deck chairs before she was up and walking over to a hot tub.

"See? You scared her away!" Nick told AJ.

"Hardly. The sight of your baby fat was more than she could handle," AJ hissed.

"Would you two CHILDREN knock it off, please? We came up here to swim and relax." Brian stood and pulled off his t-shirt. He began walking to the diving board.

"Well, hello," Amanda murmured to herself. "Ari, stop!" She said as Ari shoved one more blast of water in her face. Ari followed Amanda’s gaze.

"Nice…very nice. Maybe you could become invisible and swim over to pull his trunks down," Ari suggested. Amanda blushed furiously.

"Very funny." The man on the diving board caught her eye, and winked before doing a flip in the air and landing in the water with a loud splash.

Ari let her eyes wander over to his two friends. One was blond with the face of a little boy. The other friend was wearing sunglasses, even though they were in a sun-protected room. His arms were covered in tattoos, and his body was small but strong. She mentally wiped the drool from her chin and smiled to herself.

Lara sank into the hot water with a sigh of contentment. This was truly the life she was born to live. The steam seemed to wash away any kind of problem or worry. She closed her eyes and allowed her head to rest on the side.

"I think I wanna soak for a while," Nick said, doing a double take as he glanced at the Jacuzzis. "My back is kinda sore."

"I think you wanna soak in that brunette over there and make something else sore," AJ teased.

"Shut up," Nick snapped before walking over to the Jacuzzi. He stood by the center one, where a young lady was laying back with her eyes closed. He hesitated. "Um…do you mind if I join you?"

Lara’s eyes flew open, and she looked into another pair of eyes as blue as her own. "Um…no…though there ARE two other hot tubs."

"Yeah, well, um, this one has the best view," Nick stammered. She smiled, and his heart seemed to jump. "Do you mind?"

"No, I don’t." She moved across the tub so he wouldn’t have to walk around.

"Look." Shae nudged Kelley and subtly pointed in Lara’s direction. Kelley smiled.

"Guess she’s not too worried about that suit now."

The third man did a perfect dive into the pool and surfaced near the other four girls, who were standing in a wide circle.

"Good afternoon, ladies. My name is Alex, but everyone calls me AJ." He smiled at each girl in turn, letting his eyes linger on Ari. She shivered.

Amanda’s mouth dropped open. "You’re AJ McLean, aren’t you? Oh my God. That makes HIM Nick Carter, and HIM…" she stared at Brian, who was doing laps near the far side of the pool. "Oh my God."

"No, that’s Brian. Sometimes he THINKS he’s God, but it’s far from true, believe me," AJ told her. "Yes, that’s who we are, and thank you very much for not screaming and throwing a fit." He glanced back at Ari again. "You have the advantage, I’m afraid. Could you tell me your names?"

"Ar…" Ariana stopped when Amanda kicked her leg. "I mean, Amethyst."

"I’m Topaz, and this is Emerald and Opal. Sapphire is over there in the hot tub with Nick," Amanda said, gritting her teeth at the name she was supposed to have.

"Very original names," AJ remarked. "Very pretty."

"Yes, our parents were original," Shae said.

"Sisters! Well, what a beautiful family," AJ said, causing Ari to blush furiously.

"AJ, can’t you chill your hormones for five minutes?" Brian swam over, and Amanda felt her legs begin to shake. He turned his blue eyes on her and smiled. "Not that I blame you."

AJ introduced everyone around, and Brian also made a remark about their names. "So…uh…where are Kevin and Howie?" Kelley asked, trying to seem nonchalant.

"Working out," AJ said, making a face. "I’m sorry, but I can think of two hundred and twelve other ways to relax."

"Actually, I was just taking a quick plunge here before going to work out. Working out is a GREAT way to relieve stress," Shae said, pulling herself out of the pool.

"You should always have someone spot you while you work out. I’ll come along," Kelley said, quickly following her.

"You know, that was about the least subtle thing I have ever done in my life," Shae mumbled as she quickly toweled off.

"I know, but come on! Howie and Kevin are in the little gym down the hall, sweat running down their finely toned…"

"Okay, okay. Subtle can go to hell."

They called good-byes over their shoulders and hurried out of the pool area.

"My name is Nick," Nick finally said to the pretty girl who sat across from him with her eyes closed. The beautiful eyes opened again.

"My name is Sapphire," Lara said, remembering at the last minute.

"Wow, what a gorgeous name. It totally fits you," Nick said, surprising himself by blushing. Lara blushed even darker than he had.

"Thank you. I…" she paused and turned her head to the side. "Did you say your name is Nick? As in Nick Carter?"

"Um…yeah…" For once, Nick wished for Brian’s idea of a "normal" life. "And that’s AJ and Brian over there."

"It’s great to meet you. I love your music," Lara said shyly. Nick smiled his beautiful smile, and she felt as if her body had melted into the water.

"Okay, we are totally dripping wet and totally NOT dressed for working out," Kelley whispered to Shae as they made their way down the hall.

"Who cares? We belong down here just like anyone else. We felt like taking a break and checking out the gym," Shae told her. They reached the door to the gym and gasped in dismay.

"Did you bring YOUR passkey?" Kelley asked Shae. Shae shook her head.

"No sweat." Shae closed her eyes, her brow furrowed with concentration. They heard a click and saw the green light go on.

"EXCELLENT," Kelley said, giving Shae a squeeze. They tiptoed into the gym and looked around in disappointment. The room was empty. "DAMN!" Kelley said furiously.

"Wait. Look." Shae pointed to a door that said "sauna". Kelley looked at her.

"If they’re in there, they’re wearing…"

"Nothing but a towel," Shae finished. They looked down at their own beach towels. At the same moment they headed for the changing room.

"So, are you guys on tour or something?" Lara asked Nick.

"Um, uh, no, not really," Nick said, his mind racing to remember the little scenario Jones had ordered them to memorize. "We, ah, we’re just relaxing for a while, getting a vacation before we work on our next album."

"I see." She closed her eyes again. She jumped as his foot brushed hers.

"What about you? Why are the five of you here in Italy? You’re obviously not Italian," he said, kicking himself for the stupid things that seemed to be flowing out of his mouth.

"Well, actually, we were raised in Europe, though our parents WERE American," Lara told him, carefully reciting her story.

"Were? Did they…" Nick groped for a polite way to say it.

"Yes, they passed away a few years ago. Topaz and Opal are actually our cousins, but our parents adopted them ten years ago," she told him, explaining why Amanda, Shae, and Ariana were all the same age. "Emerald has kind of become a mom to us all, since she’s the oldest."

Nick looked over at AJ and Brian, who were deep in conversation with Ari and Amanda. "Well, it looks like Bone and Bri are smitten," he observed. Lara laughed and he smiled his gorgeous smile at her. "Not that I can blame them. Your family is full of beautiful women."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Shae whispered to Kelley as she wrapped her towel around her tightly.

"Yes! When are we gonna have this kind of a chance again?" Kelley boldly walked over to the sauna door and slowly pulled it open. She poked her head in. Her eyes found Howie and she smiled. "Is there room for two more in here?"

"Of course," he said, smiling and sliding down the bench. Kevin was stretched out across from him, laying flat on his back. Shae swallowed deeply. "Yo, Kev, sit up. We have company."

Kevin slowly sat up, and it took everything Shae had not to try to peek under his towel. She could have very easily just moved it aside with her mind, but decided to play it straight. "There’s lots of room over here," Kevin said, smiling at her. She nervously smiled back.

"I’m Emerald. This is Opal," Kelley said to Howie.

"I’m Howie and this is Kevin," he told her. The girls smiled. "Oh, I guess you know that already."

"So, are you guys on tour over here or something?" Shae finally found her tongue.

"Um, no, just laying low for a while. We just wanted somewhere to relax and have a good time, and what better place than Europe?" Kevin said.

"Are you girls here on your own?" Howie asked, praying that there weren’t boyfriends, or, heaven forbid, husbands travelling with them. Something about Kelley’s smile entranced him.

"No, our sisters are here with us. They’re in the pool with Nick, AJ, and Brian," Shae told him.

"Perfect," Howie said under his breath.

They chatted for a while, until the heat became unbearable. Kelley clutched her towel a bit tighter. "Would you guys mind if we moved this conversation out to the pool? I’m beginning to realize what a Thanksgiving turkey feels like while it’s being roasted." Kevin laughed.

"Great idea. We’ll meet you there."

Ari stopped talking to AJ in midsentence and turned to Amanda. "Shae and Kelley…I mean, Opal and Emerald are coming," she murmured. "They’re bringing Howie and Kevin." Amanda let out a low squeal. AJ began to say something, then stopped as the other four people walked into pool area. He stared at Ari.

"How did you know that?"

"Oh, uh, women’s intuition, I guess," she said, smiling brightly. She hadn’t thought he had heard her.

Introductions were made all around, except for Nick and Lara, who were still in deep conversation at the Jacuzzi. Kevin walked over. "Ya know, it’s not good to sit in hot water for a long time."

Nick glared at Kevin, angry at the interruption. "Hello, Kevin. This is Sapphire."

"Pleased to meet you," the older man said, smiling down at Lara. She was lost in his green eyes.

"Um…hi," she said softly.

"He’s right though. We should get out." Nick climbed out of the hot tub and reached out his hand to help Lara. As she stepped out, she slipped, and practically fell into his arms.

"S-sorry," she said, totally unwilling to pull away.

"No problem," he replied, totally unwilling to let her go. Kevin rolled his eyes as the two drew apart.

"What time is it, Kev?" AJ yelled as people started to get out of the pool to dry off.

"Four. Why?"

"Let’s get something to eat. I’m STARVING." AJ turned to Ariana. "Would you like to go get some dinner?"

Ariana didn’t know what to say. The fairy tale had to end sometime, she knew that. There was no way they could become involved with the Backstreet Boys. It would put them into the limelight, and she knew that would infuriate Kayla. "Um…uh…"

"Yes, would you?" Nick turned to Lara, his blue eyes lighting up at the idea.

"I’m pretty hungry myself," Brian said, his powerful smile making Amanda fell like Jell-O all over.

"I don’t know guys…we have to be downstairs at seven," Kevin said in a warning tone.

"Kevin, we’re not talking about a twenty-five course meal, here. We’ll be ready in PLENTY of time. We can just go to the café downstairs," AJ pointed out. Kevin sighed.

"Okay." He turned to Shae. "Can you guys be downstairs in like thirty minutes?"

The girls were silent in the elevator up to their suites. They just looked at each other, or at the walls of the elevator.

"If Kayla finds out about this, she’s gonna flip," Lara said finally.

"Why does she even have to know? We’ll be here for three days. We leave here with the jewelry and never see them again. End of story," Kelley told her, though it was obvious that it wasn’t how she really felt.

"But I don’t want to never see them again," Lara replied softly.

"Me either," Amanda said.

"You talked to Brian for all of five minutes. What difference does it make to you?" Ari said. Amanda glared at her.

"I was nervous. At least I wasn’t hanging all over him. You were practically inside AJ’s bathing suit!"

"Guys, stop it!" Shae shouted. "Let’s just have a nice dinner with them, okay? We’ll make up some excuse as to why we can’t hang out later, and then maybe we can see them tomorrow during the day again. We’ll deal with this as it comes. For all we know they’ll have totally forgotten about us by tomorrow."

"And did you see her eyes? Man, they were BLUE. Bluer than mine. Bluer than Brian’s. Just a gorgeous blue…and then with the darkness of her hair…" Nick sighed. AJ rolled his eyes.

"Bro, you’ve got it BAD."

"It seems to me that you were monopolizing Amethyst. I hardly got a word in edgewise with her," Brian said to AJ, who blushed slightly.

"Well, you had Topaz to talk to. She WAS kinda cute."

"Yeah," Brian said, gazing off into space.

"Guys, you all gotta chill. We can’t let these girls divert our attention from what needs to be done," Kevin reminded them.

"Kevin, it’s DINNER. It’s not like they’re trying to get top secret information out of us or something," Howie said. "Let’s just have a good time. We’ll come up with some reason not to see them tonight, and then we’ll get ready for this evening."

The girls flew into their rooms, trying to look as good as possible in the short amount of time they had available. Shae and Lara were ready first, and paced back and forth in the hallway.

"Do you think Kevin would notice if the buttons of his shirt just suddenly started to come undone at the dinner table?" Shae asked her. "I mean, like if all of a sudden there was his gorgeous chest…bare for everyone to see."

Lara burst out laughing. "I think maybe SOMEONE would notice, and definitely him. Not that I personally would mind. He is so handsome." She smiled to herself. "But not like Nick. He’s just so…so…sweet…and charming."

"He’s seven years younger than you," Shae observed.

"So? That doesn’t mean anything. And besides, that’s about how much older Kevin is than you." Lara leaned against the wall and slowly slid down to sit on the floor, her mind full of blonde hair and blue eyes. Shae went to pound on Ari’s door, then Amanda’s, then Kelley’s.

"TODAY, guys!"

Ari was the next to appear. "Sorry. I changed shirts three times."

"I got you beat. I changed my hair four times," Amanda said, joining them. Kelley ran out into the hallway.

"Let’s go. It’s already been thirty-five minutes."

"Women are ALWAYS late," Howie remarked, glancing at his watch as the group stood outside of the café.

"Does anyone know Italian? We could at least go in and get a table," Brian said. The other guys shook their heads. Nick, who was sitting on a bench, suddenly stood, with a goofy smile on his face.

"There they are."

"Sorry. Emerald took forever and…" Amanda began, smiling at Brian.

"Fuck you. I believe you were in that hallway only a split second before I was," Kelley retorted, winking at Howie.

The group went into the café, and were greeted by a maitre ‘d. Lara asked for a table that sat 10, and he told her it would be one moment.

"You speak Italian?" AJ asked, very impressed.

"One of Sapphire’s many talents," Ari said jealously. AJ threw an arm around her shoulder.

"I’m sure you have many talents of your own."

Shae quickly turned a laugh into a cough as the maitre ‘d led them to their table. AJ, Ari, Amanda, Brian, and Shae sat on one side, while Nick, Lara, Kelley, and Howie sat on the other side, with Kevin across from Shae. Everyone looked down at their menus, then looked up at Lara. She laughed, and began to quickly translate.

"But I just want plain old pasta," Nick whined, causing her to laugh harder. When the waiter came back, she gave their orders, motioning to Nick and talking about his the longest.

"She was probably telling them to go open a can of Chef Boyardee for you," AJ told Nick, who promptly flipped him off.

The group chatted, but soon the couples were only speaking with each other.

"So, why are you guys REALLY here?" Kevin asked Shae.

"Uh, what do you mean?" She said nervously, as Lara caught her eye. Lara had heard what Kevin had asked.

"I just can’t imagine that you would pick Rome, of all places. I mean, only one of you speaks the language, and…"

"Well, NONE of you speak the language, and here YOU are," Lara retorted, blushing at how rude she sounded. Kevin turned to look at her, then smiled at her.

"True." He turned back to Shae. "I just want to know more about you, that’s all."

"There’s not much to know, really. We’re sisters…well, actually, Topaz and I are cousins, but we were adopted by the parents of Sapphire, Emerald, and Amethyst." She took a quick drink of her water.

"Uh, what did you order for me?" Nick asked Lara. She smiled at him.

"Don’t you trust me?" She teased. He gazed into her eyes, totally serious.

"I feel as if I could trust you with my life." He reached over and took her hand and held it under the table. Lara felt as if she was going to burst with happiness.

"I wonder what your sister ordered for us to drink. I could use something strong right about now," AJ was saying to Ariana.

"Bottles of red wine," she said without thinking.

"I thought you couldn’t understand Italian," he said, looking confused.

"Um, I can’t. I just…uh…we ALWAYS have wine with our meals."

"And then, what I’d really like to do is write. Maybe for myself, maybe for us, maybe for someone else to sing. I’m not sure. I just know it’s what I want to do," Brian told Amanda. She reached out impulsively and covered his hand with hers.

"I think you should. Your songs are so beautiful, and you have such talent."

He blushed, then smiled. "Well, I know I’ll be writing more soon, with such inspiration."

"So, what are you doing tomorrow?" Howie asked Kelley. She shrugged.

"I’m not too sure. We’ll only be in Rome for a couple of days."

"I was going to ask if you wanted to go sightseeing with me, but I guess that would be kind of boring, since you’ve traveled all over the world."

"Well, so have you," she pointed out. "And I would love to go sightseeing with you."

His gorgeous smile lit up his face. "That would be great! I mean, you could show me around!"

"Well…to be honest…we never really got to do much of the sightseeing stuff. You’ve probably seen more of Europe than I have," she replied truthfully.

"Good. Then we’ll get to explore together."

The waiter arrived with bottles of red wine, and AJ turned to look at Ari. "Good call."

"Like I said, it’s the usual thing for us," she replied.

The group struggled through their meal, trying desperately to remember their stories and keep them straight. It was almost a relief when the meal was over. The men insisted on paying the check.

"I KNOW you have money, but I just really want to do this," Kevin told Shae as he handed the waiter his credit card. "Please?"

"Far be it from me to say no to a man willing to pay for dinner," she said, making him smile.

They stood and wandered out of the café and back into the lobby. Both groups were a little surprised that the other hadn’t asked about their plans for the evening, but neither group wanted to push it. They broke off into couples and started back towards the elevators.

Nick held Lara back. "Do you really have to go now?"

"Yes. I…we…we have dinner plans."

"And you just ate dinner with us?" He looked apologetic. "Sorry."

"It’s okay. We’ll pick at our food, and everyone will be amazed at how ladylike we are."

He laughed, then inched closer until she found herself in his arms. "Would you mind if I kissed you? I mean, I know we hardly know each other and…"

"Shh." She placed a finger on his lips, then replaced it with her own lips.

"I’m sorry I can’t see you tonight. We have other plans," Howie told Kelley.

"It’s okay. We’re busy, too."

"How early is too early to call you?" He asked, lightly tracing his finger down her cheek.

"Anytime after ten is fine," she said breathlessly.

"I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. Would you like to have breakfast with me?" Brian looked deep into Amanda’s eyes.

"I’d love it," she replied, unable to think about anything but his blue eyes.

"And then we could spend the morning and afternoon together?"

"Definitely," she said, kicking herself for sounding like such an idiot.

"Are you always this agreeable?" He teased, leaning closer.

"Maybe," she barely had time to say before he kissed her.

"We could get up in the wee hours tomorrow…go swimming or something," AJ was saying to Ari. He stood behind her as they looked out of the windows of the lobby, and his arms snaked around her waist.

"We could go for a walk," she mumbled, feeling his warm breath on his neck.

"I was just going to suggest that!" He said, nibbling on her ear.

I know, she thought to herself, but said nothing.

"So, I guess we’ll see you around," Kevin said to Shae. She stared at him. She KNEW he was interested. She could feel it. They stood in front of the elevator, waiting for it to arrive at the lobby. She decided that it couldn’t hurt to make Kevin wait, so she used her mind to push every button in the elevator, so it would stop at every floor before the lobby.

"It was really nice to meet you," she said simply, unable to hide the hurt in her voice. Everyone else was holding hands or kissing goodbye. AJ practically had his tongue in Ariana’s ear, and Kevin was giving her the totally cold shoulder.

"Look, Opal, I…we…"

"I know…you have someone at home, right?" She said, looking away.

"No, that’s not it. It’s just, we’re really busy right now and…"

"You’re on VACATION," she interrupted. "Look, Kev, don’t bother to explain okay? I know when I’m being brushed off. Thanks for dinner."

"Dammit, Opal!" He grabbed her arm as she turned to go. "I’m sorry, okay? I just have a lot on my mind." His grip softened, and his green eyes smiled at her. "Can I call you tomorrow morning?"

She smiled. "Sure."

The elevator door opened and he stepped inside. Just as the doors closed, she focused on his shirt. The buttons flew open, and a flash of muscled chest was revealed.

"Shae! I can’t believe you did that!" Amanda shrieked as the girls rode up in the elevator.

"I couldn’t resist. I mean there’s Kevin Richardson, alone in the elevator, and his chest was just yelling for me to bare it. It’s not my fault!" Shae said, giggling. Lara and Kelley didn’t smile.

"That was really stupid, Shae. What a dead giveaway," Kelley told her. Shae rolled her eyes and made a face.

"Oh puhleeze. How in the world would he connect all the buttons on his shirt coming unbuttoned with ME?"

"That’s not the point," Lara added. "We can’t take any chances."

"You two need to lighten up," Ari said. "Shae’s right. There’s no way Kevin would connect that to Shae, or any of us, for that matter. Besides, I didn’t notice you worrying about taking chances when Nick had his hands on your ass," she said to Lara. The other girl frowned.

"Well, at least I wasn’t letting AJ McLean investigate my tonsils in detail!" Lara retorted.

"Guys…enough…we really need to start to concentrate," Amanda said. Lara and Ari kept quiet, but continued to glower at each other the rest of the way up.

"And then the buttons just flew open! It was the weirdest thing!" Kevin said to AJ as they walked to their room.

"That IS weird." AJ unlocked the door. "I’m in the room first…I get the shower first…"

Kevin sighed and flopped onto the bed, picking up the remote control. He began to prepare himself for a cold shower, since AJ was well known for using all the hot water.

"Hey, Frack, wanna flip a coin to see who showers first?" Brian said to Nick as they entered their room. "We don’t have a lot of time. The limo will be here really soon." Nick didn’t answer. He just sat on the edge of the bed, staring into space. He could still smell her shampoo…feel her lips against his… "Yo, Nick! Earth to Nicky-Boy…" Brian called, waving his hand in front of Nick’s face.

"Oh…yeah…go ahead. Shower first." He wanted to stretch out on the bed and think about Sapphire. Suddenly, all the money Jones was paying them to find Kayla paled in comparison to dark brown hair and blue eyes.

"Emerald…Emerald Dorough…" Howie said out loud as he undressed and got ready to jump in the shower. He laughed at himself and shook his head. He sounded like a teenage girl, writing her name with the name of the boy she had a crush on.

He stepped into the shower and let the hot water run over him. He closed his eyes, picturing Emerald in the skimpy towel she had worn in the sauna. He then pictured Kevin and Opal vanishing into thin air…as Emerald moved over to sit next to him. They were no longer in a sauna…they were…on a canopied bed…no towels…just Emerald and himself…totally naked…

He groaned and turned the faucet to COLD.

Ari knew she had to get ready for the event that evening, but suddenly she felt so ill she had to sit down. She knew she wasn’t physically sick. It was the premonition that continued to haunt her. Something bad had happened, and she was afraid it had to do with the Backstreet Boys. Something about them was affecting her future, as well as the futures of Lara, Amanda, Kelley, and Shae. She knew that the other girls were planning on meeting the guys the next day, just as she was planning on hooking up with AJ. She also knew that it was a big mistake. They shouldn’t see them again. She just couldn’t bring herself to tell them that…or to tell herself.

The Backstreet Boys were very quiet as they piled into their limo at 7:30. They were all doing everything they could to get the girls out of their minds.

"If we screw this up, Jonesy’s gonna have our asses," Nick said after about ten minutes of silence.

"We just won’t screw it up then!" The usually gentle Brian snapped. The other guys stared at him. "I mean, they’re just girls. We’ve met a thousand girls, and we’ll probably meet a thousand more. It’s not like they’re special or anything." His voice was confident but his eyes were miserable.

"Right…a dime a dozen," Howie added weakly.

"Nothing we can’t handle," AJ added, but he refused to stop staring out the window.

"It seems to me that the more we try to forget them, the more they’re distracting us," Kevin pointed out. "Let’s just talk about this Kayla chick. She has nothing to do with the girls, and it will get our minds where they’re supposed to be."

Ariana was the first one ready and in the hallway. She wore a purple floor-length cocktail gown with straps that crossed in an X as they encircled her neck. The cleavage dipped low enough to draw the attention but not low enough to be offensive. She paced back and forth in front of Amanda’s door, knowing that she would be the next out. About ten minutes later, Amanda’s door opened, with no sign of Amanda. Ari peered in as the door closed, but didn’t see anyone.

"Gotcha!" A voice behind her said. Ari whirled around to see Amanda leaning against the far wall. She wore a golden bronze knee-length dress that seemed to shimmer as she moved. The short sleeves were a chiffon-like material, and the fabric whispered when she walked.

"God, Amanda, don’t DO that, okay? It creeps me out!" Ariana said as Amanda smirked mischievously.

"Who’s next?" Amanda said.

"Um…Kelley and Shae at almost the same time. Lara’s gonna be last, surprisingly."

Kelley floated out into the hall, whirling around so her short skirt whipped up slightly. "Don’t you love these clothes?" She gushed, her hands running along the satin skirt of her dark green outfit. "I could SO get used to this."

"Tell me about it," Shae replied, looking down at her own dress. The material was a satiny silver-white, and seemed to change color every time she took a step.

Amanda tapped her foot. "Where the hell IS she? Of all of us, I thought she woulda been first. She doesn’t seem to give a shit about how she looks."

"Amanda! That’s rude!" Shae snapped.

"It’s true! Remember the first night we saw her? She was a mess!"

"She was living and working among the homeless, Amanda. Do you think they really cared what she looked like?" Shae replied. Amanda said nothing as Lara’s door opened.

Lara stepped out, wearing a floor length midnight blue dress with a slit up to the hip. The midriff was completely bare, covered by the lightest smoke-blue netting. Her hair was piled up with a few ringlets hanging down by her ears. All of the girls had sex appeal, that was undeniable, but Lara surprised them all.

"You look like a Bond Girl," Ari said finally. Lara burst out laughing.

"I clean up pretty well, don’t I?" Lara said, sticking her tongue out at Amanda. "I heard the whole thing, but I forgive you."

"Boy, I wish Nick could see you now! He’d be panting," Shae said without thinking. Lara quickly sobered.

"Yeah…me too."

They went downstairs to wait for the limo that Kelley had called earlier.

Shae began to get nervous. "Do you really think we can do this? I mean, we’ve practiced but this is the real thing."

"Shae, this is no sweat. We’ve gone through it a hundred times. Tonight we keep an eye out for security and alarms and things." Kelley turned to Ari. "See anything?"

"Um…no." Ariana concentrated. "I DO see that security tomorrow night will be a lot more relaxed than tonight. They figure that if everything goes well tonight, they don’t have to worry about tomorrow."

They climbed into the limo. "I have a question," Lara said to Ari. "If you can see the future, why don’t you see if we’re successful?"

"It’s weird, really. I mean, I can see some of the future, like, I knew that lady was gonna get run into by that businessman. But it kinda works with what Kel can do. She can force someone to do something, but I can kinda read their thoughts." She smiled. "I don’t quite understand it myself."

"I’m so jealous." Lara sighed. "You guys can do all kinds of stuff, and I’m no help at all."

"Don’t say that," Shae told her. "You never know what might happen tonight. I could sprain my ankle in these fucking high heels and need you to fix it." The others laughed.

"Amanda, do you have the camera?" Lara asked.

"Right here," Amanda replied, pinning a small brooch onto her dress.

"Is anyone else bored, or is it just me?" AJ murmured to Howie and Kevin as they stood along a wall in the museum.

"Come on, AJ. These are priceless pieces of art and jewelry," Kevin said, motioning to a small brass figurine. The figurine was a chameleon, and the lines of the skin were lined with rubies, sapphires, and other precious gems.

"But this is BORING. All these stuffed shirts," AJ whined.

"Look, let’s split up. We have to scope the place out…not only to see if Kayla’s here, but to see if there are any loopholes in security that could help her," Howie suggested.

"Good idea. Any idea where Frick and Frack are?" Kevin asked.

Nick stared morosely at a case of pendants and pins. The pendants were all sapphire and silver, and he could not help but think of the woman he had met earlier. She had told him that silver was her favorite type of jewelry, and when he looked down at the beautiful heart-shaped pendant with a smaller heart made of sapphire on top of the silver heart, he missed her so badly he felt pain. He sighed and reached for a glass of champagne from a tray a nearby waiter carried. He took one sip, then downed the rest of the glass. The waiter turned to walk away, but Nick snapped his fingers to call him back. He replaced the empty glass on the tray, then took two more.

Brian slowly paced around the room, smiling and talking to a few people. His quick eyes studied the placement of guards, as well as the obvious alarms and signals. He knew that there had to be more alarms in more subtle places, but they would search those out later. He noticed a commotion at the doorway and looked in that direction. Five people had just entered the room. One of them wore a dress of a color that could only be described as topaz. Brian smiled to himself. He had Topaz on the mind, both the stone (he had seen many), and the woman he had met that day. He was so overcome by topazes that he could have sworn that the woman wearing the dress was…

Nick glanced at the door nonchalantly, noticing the group of beautiful women walking in. They were laughing and joking with the men who were taking wraps and jackets at the door. One of the women removed her dark blue jacket and handed it to a handsome man, laughing up into his eyes. Nick recognized her and promptly dropped one of the glasses of champagne.

"Yes, I am a Backstreet Boy," Howie sighed, making himself smile at the little old lady who was speaking to him. "We just decided to…yes, I’d love to give my autograph for your granddaughter." He looked around the room as the woman dug in her purse for a pen. His eyes moved to the doorway, and he froze. Was that… "Excuse me, please," he said politely, almost running the woman over as he headed for AJ.

"Nothing but champagne. I’m beginning to hate the good life," AJ mumbled as he headed for Kevin. Forget this scoping out shit…he wanted a good stiff drink. Someone stumbled into him. "Hey, why don’t you…Howie? What the hell…"

"Look…over there…at the door," Howie said breathlessly.

"What, D? It’s just a bunch of women and…oh my God…" AJ interrupted himself. "What the hell…?"

AJ, Howie, Nick, and Brian all made a beeline for Kevin, who was talking to one of the museum curators.

"Kev, we need to talk to you," Brian whispered.

"Excuse me," Kevin said to the curator. "I’m BUSY!" Kevin hissed.

"Kev, NOW!" AJ said, glaring at him.

"It’s been great talking to you," Kevin said to the curator, who smiled and slightly bowed. "What the fuck is your problem, guys?" Kevin snapped when they were in a corner.

"It’s her! I mean it’s them!" Nick said excitedly.

"Who?" Kevin asked irritably.

"The GIRLS, Kev…you know…Opal and her sisters?" Howie asked. Kevin looked at the door and swallowed deeply.

"Oh, shit."

"You’re fucking right, oh shit! What the hell are we gonna tell them? Why in the world would the Backstreet Boys be at a priceless jewelry exhibit? Get us out of this one, Old Man!" AJ said as the waiter passed by with a full tray of champagne glasses. "Hold on there, buddy," he said, flagging the waiter down. Each Backstreet Boy grabbed a glass, and downed it immediately.

"Oh my God," Shae murmured, looking around at the cases of jewelry and art. "How much do you think this room is worth?"

"About a kazillion dollars, and that’s not counting all the big names in here," Lara replied. "That guy there is a stockbroker from Japan, and that lady there is twenty-fifth in line for the British throne, and that guy there is…" she gasped and paled.

"Who? Your old boyfriend?" Amanda teased.

"N-no…Nick Carter," Lara stammered, freezing in her tracks.

"No it’s not…that’s…" Amanda froze as well. "Nick…with Brian."

"And Howie and Kevin," Kelley gasped.

"And AJ," Ari said, unable to keep from smiling.

"Ari!" Kelley snapped. "You’re not supposed to be happy about it! How the hell are we gonna check things out with them around?"

"We’ll find a way." She turned to Lara. "You’re creative…think of something!"

"I…I can’t," Lara babbled. "I…"

"Guys, let’s pull ourselves together!" Shae whispered furiously. "We gotta do this. We’re professionals now, remember?" She gave Lara a shove. "Now go over to Nicky and work that dress, girlfriend!"

Lara took a deep breath and then pasted her best smile on her face. She loved this dress, knew she looked good in it, and felt as if while she was wearing something this good, she could do ANYTHING, even face the Backstreet Boys and lie through her teeth.

As she sashayed her way towards him, Nick swallowed deep. His mouth was suddenly dry. The dress accentuated the curves of her hips and breasts, while barely seeming to cover more than her bathing suit did earlier, even though the dress reached her shoes.

"Hello, guys. What a shock…I mean surprise…meeting you here," she said, though her eyes never left Nick’s face. "Hi, Nick."

"Hi, Sapphire…um…wow…you look…" he stammered and stuttered. The other guys couldn’t help but smile.

Lara flushed slightly. "Really? Thank you."

"Hello, Topaz," Brian said almost shyly, his blue eyes flicking over her from head to toe. "You look gorgeous. Almost as beautiful as all the jewelry around us."

Amanda rolled her eyes. "Brian Littrell, that is the worst line I have ever heard." She smiled. "But thank you."

He took her hand. "Let me show you some of this stuff. It’s incredible!"

"Um, would you like a glass of champagne?" Howie asked Kelley, his eyes lingering on her long legs.

"I could sure use one," Kelley said. He stared at her. "I mean, it’s such a surprise seeing you here and all."

"What are YOU doing here?" Kevin asked Shae rudely. She wanted to slap him.

"WE often come to these things," she said, putting her nose in the air ever so slightly. "What are the BACKSTREET BOYS doing at something like this?"

"We’re looking for something to invest in, and someone gave us a tip that this would be something we might be interested in, not that it’s any of your business," he snapped, finishing his champagne. He looked at her for a long moment. "You…ah…you look ravishing in that dress," he told her. She blushed and was speechless for a moment.

"You don’t look too bad yourself," she replied. He wore a black Armani suit with a collarless shirt underneath.

"Yeah…well…" he began, then stopped. "Would you like to walk out onto the balcony?"

Shae knew that her place was in that room, checking out the security. Suddenly, she didn’t care. "I’d love to."

AJ couldn’t take his eyes off of Amethyst. She was stunning. His eyes kept dipping down into the slight valley of cleavage that the dress revealed. "It’s really good to see you," he said to her, his dark eyes finally meeting her green ones. "I didn’t expect to see you until tomorrow."

"I know. It was a great surprise," she replied, unable to believe that she hadn’t seen something like this coming. Maybe it was what she had experienced when she had returned to her room after dinner. "Should we walk around?"

"Nah…this place is boring as hell. Let’s take a walk." He grabbed her hand and began to lead her out.

"AJ, wait! I can’t…I mean…it’s chilly out…I need my wrap!"

"Where we’re going you will definitely be kept warm."

"AJ, where are we going?" Ari asked as he pulled her along towards the front doors of the museum.

"You’ll see," he said over his shoulder. He led her down the sidewalk, then began to weave through the long lines of parked limousines, Rolls Royces, and Mercedes. "A-ha." He opened the door of an exceptionally new and long stretch limo. "After you."

Kevin led Shae out onto the balcony. The night air was chilly, and she shivered. Without hesitating, Kevin took off his suit jacket and handed it to her. "Thanks," she said softly.

They stood for a long while in silence, watching night fall over Rome. Without turning to look at her, Kevin said, "I’m sorry I’ve been such an asshole."

Shae blinked in surprise. "That’s okay."

"No, it isn’t, Opal. I have no reason to treat you as rudely as I have today. It’s just…I’m under a lot of stress lately. It’s kinda my unofficial job to keep these guys and line, and sometimes I wonder why I always get stuck with it."

"Probably because you’re the oldest, and the most responsible," Shae told him. "Kinda like what Emerald and Sapphire have to go through with the three of us."

Kevin smiled. "I can imagine you are hard to handle."

"Oh, you don’t know the half of it," she said slyly, winking as she drank the rest of her champagne.

"This one is my favorite," Howie told Kelley, showing her the smallest case in the room. "There is just something about it." It was a small figurine in the shape of a cat. The eyes were almost perfect green emeralds, and the body was pure gold. "It’s based on Egyptian legends. You know how they worshipped cats and all."

"How’d you learn all this?" Kelley asked in amazement.

"Um…uh…just like on TV and stuff. Gotta love the Discovery Channel," he said weakly, kicking himself for giving too much away.

Kelley was loving every minute of being with Howie, but she knew that she had to start checking stuff out. She stood directly in front of Howie, so that he couldn’t help but meet her gaze. "Howie, I’m REALLY thirsty, but I’d really rather have something like water, not champagne. Do you think you could find me a glass of water?"

"Um…sure…of course," he said, mesmerized. "Don’t go anywhere."

"This is more than a limo…it’s practically a moving hotel room!" Ari exclaimed as she climbed into the limo. The inside was huge, and packed with a stereo, VCR, TV, and computer. "You guys don’t travel light."

"Yeah, well, we’re on the go so much…" AJ replied, throwing his arm around her shoulders. "I could show you everything about this limo…or I could show you something else…" he winked suggestively. Ari moved so her legs were draped over his lap, and she was face to face with him.

"Just what did you have in mind?"

"I’m really glad we ran into you tonight," Brian was saying to Amanda as they stood in a corner pretending to be interested in a case of diamond earrings. "But why didn’t you just tell us what you were doing tonight?"

"Well, we didn’t want you to be jealous that you weren’t invited to something like this," Amanda said quickly, thinking on her feet. "Kind of stupid, huh?"

"Well, WE thought you’d think it was weird for people like us to be coming to things like this," Brian told her, thinking on HIS feet. "Guess we just need to be honest with each other, right?"

"Yeah," Amanda replied faintly, taking notice of the security camera up in the corner. "Honest with each other."

"This stuff is really amazing," Lara was saying to Nick as they strolled around, glancing at cases and figurines. It took everything he had not to put his arm around her, or hold her hand. He kept staring at her in that dress, not even looking at the priceless pieces around them.

"I know…amazing," he said softly. She looked at him and blushed a furious red. A case caught his eye. "Come over here. I want you to see this. I thought of you as soon as I saw it." He took her hand and led her to the case he had been looking at earlier. Her mouth dropped open.

"Holy shit!" She said, then blushed slightly. "Well, if THAT wasn’t unladylike, I don’t know what is," she said. He smiled.

"I know you’re a lady, you don’t have to worry about that." He looked into the case. "If you could have any one of those, which would it be?"

"That one," she said, pointing to the heart he had looked at earlier.

"I thought so. As soon as I saw it I knew it would be your choice." Lara gazed up into his eyes, forgetting everyone and everything else. Nick cleared his throat. "Let’s get out of here for a while…find someplace quiet." He took her hand again and led her to a door marked "No Entry". They glanced around, then slipped out of the exhibit area.

AJ’s lips moved down from Ariana’s ears to her collarbone. One of his hands was sliding up under her skirt, working its way up her thigh. She gasped and moaned, her head rolling back to give him freer access to her throat. He bit down at the point where her shoulder met her neck, and she felt as if she was going to melt into the carseat.

"Oh…God…Amethyst…you taste so good," he groaned as his hand found the waistband of her nylons. With a great tug, he ripped them, tearing them from her body as best he could.

"AJ!" She gasped in semi-shock. "What if I wanted those?"

"You’re rich…buy new ones," he mumbled against her neck as one of his fingers snaked into her underwear. Her back arched as his fingers found her wetness. He brought his hand up, and she watched as he slowly sucked on his fingers. "Mmm…very good."

Kevin took Shae’s champagne glass and set it on the cement wall in front of them. He took her in his arms, and gently caressed her cheek with his thumb. "Can I get you to forgive me for acting like such an ass?"
"I’m sure you can do SOMETHING," she murmured as his lips met hers. For some reason, during the kiss, her eyes fluttered open, and she saw a light on in an office on the floor above them. Security, maybe? She NEEDED to get up there.

As soon as the kiss broke, Kevin reached for his own champagne glass. Silently begging him to forgive her, she made the glass turn so the champagne spilled on his shirt.

"Dammit!" He swore, looking down in dismay. "What a klutz!"

"It’s okay. It could have happened to anyone," she told him. "Why don’t you run to the restroom and try to clean it up. I’ll wait for you here."

AJ slid down off the seat and onto the floor in front of Ari. He slid her underwear off and threw it down beside her on the seat. He took her legs and put one on each of his shoulders. He began to kiss his way up her legs…behind her knees…up her inner thighs… Just as he got close enough to see how wet she was for him, he heard a beep. He turned his head and groaned.

Behind him was the computer. The computer had flipped on, a sure sign that Jones was sending them an email. The problem was, Jones also had a camera installed in the computer, and he could see into the limo whenever the computer was on. This was NOT a good thing.

"Uh, we’d better go," AJ said suddenly, handing Ari her underwear.

"AJ, what the fuck’s going on?" She said angrily as she pulled the underwear on. "What’s that noise?"

"Uh…we have the Internet hooked up in here. Ya know, so our families can get a hold of us."

"Yeah, so? It’s not like they can see us!"

"But, what if it’s my mom? I mean, even the thought of that is creepy." He looked at her sorrowfully. "I’m sorry, Amethyst."

Ari sighed, straightening her dress. "It’s okay. I understand." They got out of the limo just as the computer monitor came to life.

"This place is creepy at night," Lara whispered as she and Nick wandered the corridors of the museum.

"I know. Thank goodness it’s only an art museum. I mean, what if it was a Natural History museum. There’d be like dinosaurs and stuff around every corner, waiting to scare the shit out of us."

Lara laughed, and the sound echoed down the hallway. "Don’t worry. I’ll protect you."

They turned a corner and entered a room filled with Impressionist paintings. There were dim security lights glowing in the room, which gave just enough light to see the paintings.

"These are my favorite," Lara whispered, almost as if she were in a church. Nick took off his coat and sat it on the floor for her to sit on. She plopped down on the floor and stared up at the painting worshipfully. "How beautiful."

"Yes," Nick remarked, gently caressing the back of her neck. She shivered. "Cold?"

"N-no," she stammered, looking at him. He used that hand to gently force her head towards his, and he kissed her with a sudden passion. She moaned as his tongue tangled with his. He leaned her back until they were stretched out on the ground. His hand stroked her stomach where the netting barely covered it. He soon slid his hand up to gently stroke her breast. When she did nothing to stop him, he allowed his thumb to rub over her nipple. She gasped, and he drew his hand back.

"I’m sorry. Maybe it’s too fast. It’s just you…in that dress…I haven’t been able to take my mind off of you and what’s underneath this all," he stammered.

"It’s okay…I’m not mad or anything." She took his hand and put it back where it had been. "It just felt so good."

He groaned and began to kiss her again, with so much intensity that it soon seemed as if they needed each other to live. Before Lara knew it, her fingers were unbuttoning his dress shirt, and she was pressing her lips to his throat and upper chest. He moaned as her mouth slid down to one of his nipples.

"M-maybe we should stop," he panted. She drew back, rejection in her blue eyes.

"I-I’m sorry…I…"

"No, it’s not like that." He caressed her face. "It’s just if we don’t stop now, I won’t want to stop at all."

Lara sat up and reached for the zipper at the back of her dress. She stood and slowly slid the dress down, until she stood only in her blue lingerie, garter belt, and stockings. "Who said you should stop?"

Shae found the closest stairwell, and tiptoed up to the next floor. She found her way down the hall to an office where light was beaming from under the door. Security, a sign outside the door read. She smiled in satisfaction. She knocked on the door. A beefy security guard opened it. She gave him her best smile, wishing she were Kelley at that moment. "Hello, Officer. I’m a bit lost."

By the time Howie returned with Kelley’s water, she had scoped out every case in the place, and had memorized the different lock systems on the different cases. She smiled at him. "You are the best," she told him.

"Sorry it took so long, but you wouldn’t believe what I had to go through for a simple drink of water!"

"I didn’t mind waiting…I assure you."

"So…what do you wanna do tomorrow?" Brian asked Amanda.

Lock you up in my hotel suite and tear all your clothes off, she thought to herself. Clear myself and watch you take a shower, she amended. "Um, whatever you want, as long as we get to spend some time together," she said out loud.

"Are you coming to this thing again tomorrow?" He asked. She hesitated.

"I’m not sure yet."

"I hope so," he said, moving closer to whisper in her ear. "Then it doesn’t matter what we’re doing all day, because we can get ready together."

Amanda whimpered softly.

Nick was sucking on Lara’s ear as his fingers pumped in and out of her. "Oh…god…Nicky…please…" she gasped, arching up against him. "Don’t stop…Nick…" He covered her mouth with his own to keep her from screaming as he felt her contract around his fingers. In an instant he was laying over her, teasing her opening with his hard cock.

"I don’t know how long I’m gonna be able to hold out," he warned her. "I want you so bad, Sapphire."

Lara saddened for a moment, wishing more than anything she could hear him call her by her real name. "It’s okay, Nick. Just go ahead. I want you inside of me."

With a groan, he thrust inside of her. She was tight from her recent orgasm, and he knew he had been correct when he had told her it wouldn’t take him long. He took her hands and pinned them above her head, his fingers intertwined with hers. "Oh…god…Sapphire…" he gasped, his face buried in her neck as he pushed into her. "You feel so good…God…" he groaned one last time as he came inside of her.

He lay over her, panting as he tried to calm himself down. Tears streamed down Lara’s cheeks as she buried her face in his blond hair. He looked up at her and quickly moved off of her. "What? What is it? Baby, what did I do? I’m so sorry…this was too soon, wasn’t it?" He asked quickly.

"N-No, Nick, that’s not it at all." She sat up, covering herself with his shirt. "What’s gonna happen now, Nick? You may be used to one night stands but I’m…"

"No!" He all but shouted. "That is NOT what this is! You are NOT a fucking one night stand, do you hear me?" He took her face in his hands and held it firmly. "You are nothing like that. I have not been able to get you out of my mind since I met you today. Everything we have to do, all we have to accomplish, and I could only think about you."

He pulled her to his chest as she began to sob. "I know the feeling," she whispered.

"And what does that one do?" Shae asked, pointing to another panel of buttons.

"Well, these operate the alarms on the individual cases. Each case has a number, which corresponds with the different switches on the panel," the security guard told her. He was obviously enthralled, and she had been talking with him for almost fifteen minutes. She decided that Kevin had probably thought she had deserted him, and she had gathered more than enough information. She placed a hand on the main panel of dials and knobs, and stared at the seven monitors in front of her. She closed her eyes briefly, and every monitor went black. "Holy shit!" The man yelled, jumping to his feet. He began to hysterically flip switches and throw levers.

"I’d better leave you alone. Thanks so much for the interesting conversation, Tom," Shae said, slipping out the door as quickly as she had entered.

A security guard suddenly grabbed his walkie-talkie from his belt and began to jabber into it. Amanda looked over. "Would you excuse me a second, Brian?"

"Um, sure. I kinda need to…ah…use the facilities, anyway," he replied, smiling bashfully.

Amanda ducked into a dark corner as Brian headed for the restrooms. She closed her eyes, and made her mind a blank. If anyone would have been looking at her, they would have noticed her image seem to shimmer slightly, then suddenly vanish. She snuck up behind the security guard.

"Tom…calm down…what the hell are you talking about…the monitors are ALL down?"

"Yeah, Jimmy, I don’t make this shit up! Get everyone the fuck out of here before we all catch hell!"

"Okay…I’ll get the guys to start rounding people up." Jimmy shut off his walkie-talkie and hurried over to two other security guards.

Amanda made her way over to where Kelley was deep in conversation with Howie. "Time to fly," she whispered in Kelley’s ear. Kelley recognized her voice, but still jumped. She turned to Howie as Amanda moved on to find Lara, Shae, and Ariana.

"Howie, I really need to leave now. You’ll call me tomorrow, right?" Kelley asked him, her eyes once again gazing into his.

"Of course. What time should I call?"

"Anytime after…oh…ten or so," she replied, moving to kiss his cheek. He grabbed her suddenly and gave her a deep passionate kiss, not even caring who saw them.

Lara and Nick made their way back into the exhibit, trying to return unnoticed. They stopped directly inside the doors, amazed at all the commotion. Lara looked across the room and saw Shae sneaking in from another door. Shae caught Lara’s eye and ever so slightly nodded towards the door.

"Nick..I…I…I have to go," Lara said, unable to think of any way to exit gracefully. "I’ll call you tomorrow, I promise!" She took off into the crowd.

"Sapphire…wait!" Nick called out, but she was soon swallowed into the throng.

Ari stopped walking as she and AJ returned to the museum. "AJ…wait. Don’t go in there," she warned.

"What is this? Your woman’s intuition again?" AJ grumbled, totally pissed off at Jones and the world in general.

"I just think that…" They heard the low rumble of the crowd as they spilled out of the museum.

"What the fuck…?" AJ said, looking for his friends. Ari took the opportunity to slip away.

Amanda brought herself back just as Brian returned from the bathroom. The exhibit was almost empty. "What’s going on?" Brian asked, amazed.

"I don’t know…the security guards just started herding people out. I have to find my sisters." She looked deep into Brian’s blue eyes, and madly wished that things were different. "I’ll…uh…talk to you later, Bri."

"Topaz, wait!" He grabbed her hand. He caressed her face, his eyes full of concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I’m fine!" She smiled brightly.

"You’d tell me if something was wrong, wouldn’t you? I mean, I know we barely know each other but I feel as if…as if I’ve known you for years. I want you to always feel that you can tell me the truth about anything."

"Oh, Brian," she whispered. "You’re wonderful." She leaned her face towards his and gave him a long kiss before hurrying to the door.

The girls all arrived at their limousine at the same time. They had told the driver to purposefully park at a small side road used for deliveries, so they could escape if need be. No one spoke until they were well on their way back to the hotel.

"We can’t talk at the hotel," Shae said finally. "You know the guys will be calling to check on us. I don’t know about you guys, but I kinda took off on Kevin."

"Howie didn’t know what hit him," Kelley admitted.

"AJ was too shocked at the sudden exodus of people to notice I was gone," Ari said, still a bit pissy about the night’s earlier events.

"I ran away from Nick," Lara said softly, as tears began to stream down her face once again.

"Lara, honey, what is it?" Amanda asked, taking Lara’s hand. Lara shook her head.

"Nothing. Nothing I can’t handle." She took a deep breath. "Shae is right. We gotta find somewhere quiet to talk about this."

"There has to be some kind of all night café or something that we could go to. Let’s run up and change quick and then go find someplace," Ari suggested. "Nothing fancy. Just jump into some sweats and let’s roll."

The guys sat in their limo, which was not moving in the long stream of traffic.

"She disappeared. Fucking disappeared," AJ complained as he moodily stared out the window.

"Tell me about it," Kevin growled.

Nick said nothing, just looked down at his hands. He felt Sapphire’s skin against his hands…and he knew if he would bring his hands to his face, he would smell her, too. He tried to fight the urge, but soon brought his hands up to his face as if to cradle his head in them. He immediately smelled the scent of her, and truly buried his face in his hands then, trying not to show how upset he was.

"Um…I hate to say this, but did ANYONE even TRY to look for Kayla?" Howie asked. Everyone looked guilty.

"Well, I tried to find someone who looked like the description of her, and I didn’t see anyone," Brian said.

"And I tried to keep an eye on the cases, to see if anyone kept eyeing them, and I didn’t notice anyone," AJ added. Kevin snorted.

"Quit the bullshit. None of us even noticed anything else but Opal, Sapphire, Emerald, Topaz, and Amethyst." He looked from one guy to another. "We can’t do this tomorrow, guys. We have to keep an eye out tomorrow night, or Jones will have our balls for breakfast."

The girls hurried into their rooms to change into more comfortable clothes. They met down in the lobby and walked to a café down the street from their hotel. They chose a table in a dark corner, and ordered strong coffee and tea.

"Okay, I was up in the security booth, and found out that all the cases are locked by a set of switches and buttons on an electronic panel. If we want those alarms turned off, one of us will have to get up there somehow," Shae told everyone.

"Did you see all those security cameras? This is gonna be a lot harder than it looks," Kelley said.

The girls chatted for a few hours, drawing diagrams and drinking endless cups of coffee. After about three hours, Ari started to yawn.

"Guys, it’s almost four am. Can we go to bed now? I could do this plan in my sleep," she whined.

"Yeah. Brian’s gonna be calling for me early, and…" Amanda began.

"No way. You can’t see him tomorrow," Kelley ordered.

"What?" Ari and Amanda said at the same time.

"I’m not gonna see Howie, either. They’re too distracting. We have to…"

"Fuck that!" Ari snapped. "I was THIS close to getting some from AJ McLean tonight, and tomorrow I DAMN well plan on finishing what we started!"

"I don’t care if we see them or not," Lara said quietly. Ari froze in mid yell.

"But Nick was all over you! Don’t you…"

"No," she said quietly but firmly. "I don’t care what you guys do but I’m planning on staying in my suite all day tomorrow, studying the plans of the museum."

"I don’t think Kevin will WANT to talk to me, after I ditched him, so I’ll probably stick around the hotel, too," Shae added.

"Well, fuck y’all! I’m hooking up with AJ!" Ari exclaimed, jumping up from her chair. She began to walk away.

"I’m with Ari!" Amanda announced, standing as well.

Kelley sighed and stood. "We’d better get back."

"Are you really going to ignore Howie’s call?" Shae asked Kelley as the remaining three girls started back to the hotel.

"Sure. No sweat."

Kelley tossed and turned. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Howie’s smiling face. That beautiful smile…those gorgeous chocolate brown eyes. She sighed and rolled over yet again, thumping her pillow for the umpteenth time. She sighed again loudly and sat up, turning on the lamp beside her bed.

She flipped through the channels on the TV, realizing that five am in Italy was not the time to be watching television. There weren’t even any good infomercials on. She looked at the clock, growling at herself. This wasn’t good. They had too much to do today, and she needed all the sleep she could get. The sun was just starting to rise, she noted as she glanced out the window. Maybe she could go for a walk or something, then come back and nap for a few hours. She hopped out of bed and pulled on a pair of shorts and an Atlanta Braves sweatshirt, as well as an old baseball cap. She wrote a note and taped it to Shae’s door, then headed for the stairs, deciding to skip the elevators.

Howie shut off the television in disgust. Didn’t they get HBO…or the Discovery Channel, even? He sighed, cursing Italy and Europe in general. He knew he wasn’t upset about TV…it was Emerald. She had just disappeared the night before, and when he had returned the hotel, he had taken the chance on calling her. No answer. He wanted to talk to her some more…to find out all about her. He groaned, lying back onto his pillow. He wanted to kiss her again, to touch her face, to slowly undress her and…

"Okay, this is NOT going to get me anywhere," he said out loud. He jumped out of bed and changed into jeans and a sweatshirt. He needed to go think.

Kelley walked briskly along the sidewalk in front of the hotel. She saw a line of trees a few blocks down and thought it might be a park. The streets were just beginning to bustle, and she enjoyed watching the different shopkeepers start setting up their stalls and carts.

Sure enough, there was a large park about six blocks from the hotel. She found a bench in front of a pond, and watched the groundskeepers sweeping and hosing down the pavement.

"It’s not fair!" Howie mentally grumbled as he walked out of the hotel. "The last thing I need is a woman interfering in my life!" He kicked at a large stone on the sidewalk. "We HAVE to get this thing done, or Jones will kill us. But she’s just so…so…" a goofy smile appeared on his face as he thought of Emerald’s eyes…her smile…her laugh…

He noticed a small park ahead and headed for it. Peace and quiet. That’s what he needed. Anything to get his mind off of…

He glanced at the figure on the park bench, then did a double take. There was Emerald, asleep on the bench. He rushed over.

"Emerald! Oh my God! Are you okay?" He shook her awake, fearing the worst.

"Yes, yes I’m fine! Get the fuck off of me!" She shouted, jumping to her feet. She stared and her mouth dropped open. "Howie? What the hell are you doing here?"

"What are YOU doing here? Did you sleep here all night or something? I thought you were dead!" He said angrily, embarrassed by the way he overreacted.

Kelley burst out laughing. "No…I just got here. I couldn’t sleep and decided to take a walk. I guess I was more tired than I thought, and I just dozed off." She grew serious. "It was nice of you to worry, though, after how I treated you last night. I’m sorry. Everything just got so weird, with all the people running around, and I wanted to find my sisters."

They sat on the bench, and Howie unconsciously threw an arm around Kelley’s shoulders. She snuggled close to him as if it were the most familiar thing in the world.

"It’s okay. I thought maybe I suddenly repulsed you or something, and you wanted to get away," he said softly. Once again, her mouth dropped open.

"Repulsed me? Oh, Howie, baby…I assure you…that is the LAST thing you do to me," she said, trying to keep from staring into his dark eyes. She failed, and found herself entranced.

"Would you like to go get some breakfast?" He said, his eyes never leaving hers.

"I’d love to, except I don’t know what would be open this early," she replied.

"Well, I think the Room Service at our hotel delivers twenty-four hours…and I know enough Italian to order eggs and toast," he suggested shyly. She stood, and he followed.

"That sounds great. Let’s go."

"No, don’t LEAVE!" Nick shouted, sitting up in bed. Brian stretched and blinked his eyes sleepily.

"Frack…wake up…it’s a dream," he said drowsily from the other bed. "The fourth one you’ve had in the last three hours."

"Really? Oh, man…I’m sorry." Nick rubbed his eyes and groaned. "I didn’t sleep very well."

"Obviously. You kept dreaming about Sapphire, calling out to her and begging her not to go. I think you may have even been crying one time." Brian sat up as well, then snuggled back under the covers. "Brrrr."

"REALLY?" Nick said, amazed. He fell back against the pillows.

"What happened last night, Nick?" Brian asked softly. "Did you guys fight?"

"No…not at all. It was just the opposite." Nick’s blue eyes gazed off into space as he remembered the feeling of Sapphire’s skin under his hands. "I don’t know WHAT the hell happened." He looked back at Brian, deciding to change the subject. "What’s up with you and Topaz?"

"I guess I’m seeing her today. I thought we would do the sightseeing thing." Brian smiled. "She’s pretty something, isn’t she? She’s gorgeous, and fun, and smart, and…"

"Not your average fan," Nick completed for him. "Totally normal."

"Brian…I think we should take this relationship a bit farther," Amanda was saying into the bathroom mirror at around seven-thirty. "No…that’s not it." She struck a different pose. "Brian…I want you. I know you want me. Let’s just take care of this right here, right now." She sighed and groaned. "Nope." She tried one more time. "Littrell, take your clothes off and get into bed…NOW!" She smiled and laughed. "Perfect."

She returned to the bedroom and stared at the phone, wondering if Brian was up yet. She knew he was rooming with Nick, and thought maybe HE might still be asleep. That led her to wonder about Lara. She and Nick had disappeared for a while, and then after that she had been miserable. She shrugged and decided to call anyway.

The phone rang about one and a half times before a male voice said, "Sapphire?"

"No, sorry, Nick. It’s Topaz."

"Oh, hey," he said, disappointment evident in his voice. "Here’s Bri."

"Hello?" Brian said happily.

"Hi, Brian, it’s Topaz."

"Hi!" He said, even more happily. "What are you doing up?"
"I couldn’t sleep. I missed you too much," she said.

"I missed you too, but Nick woke me up with one of his nightmares." Brian’s voice was suddenly muffled.

"Brian? Hello?"

"Sorry. Nick hit me with a pillow." Brian put down the phone to yell at Nick, then quickly apologized again.

"So, what’s up for today?" Amanda asked.

"Let’s do breakfast, then walk around town all day. I want to see you as soon as possible."

"Okay…lemme get showered and pick out something to wear."

"Don’t waste a lot of time on that…you’re beautiful no matter what," Brian told her.

Amanda blushed, thankful he couldn’t see her red face. They agreed to meet in an hour.

"Yo…Kev…you up?" AJ shook Kevin at around nine o’clock.

"Wha…what, AJ? What’s wrong?" Kevin’s eyes flew open.

"Nothing. I was just wondering if you were planning on sticking around the room all day today." AJ sat on the edge of Kevin’s bed and bounced a bit. Kevin shoved him until he fell on the floor.

"I was going to go over some paperwork, yes."

"Couldn’t you take it with you to a park or a café or something? I’d like to go kidnap Amethyst and bring her back here. We have some unfinished business to take care of," AJ replied, smiling evilly as he sat back up on his own bed.

"AJ, I don’t think this is a good idea. I mean, number one, you hardly know this woman, and number two we can’t afford to jeopardize the plan."

"Fuck the plan. I want Amethyst, Kevin, and I know damn well she wants me. What’s wrong with a little consensual sex?"

Kevin opened his mouth and closed it. "Fine. Whatever. Can I at least shower and get dressed?"

"Oh, sure! I still have to go wake her up."

Ariana was wrapped up in sensual XXX rated dreams of AJ. She swore she could feel his hands on her body…his hot breath on her face. She could feel his arms lifting her…

Someone WAS lifting her! They had wrapped her in a blanket and were lifting her off the bed. She began to scream and thrash about.

"Shut up, if you know what’s good for you," a deep voice said. She froze, her mind racing frantically. Why hadn’t she seen this coming? Because you were too busy dream-fucking AJ McLean, she told herself as the man carried her into the stairwell. He carried her down a few flights, and then she heard him unlock a door. He tossed her onto a bed and she yanked the blanket from her face.

"AJ!" She yelled furiously. "You scared the shit out of me!"

"But it was funny," AJ said in the low voice he had used in her room. "I surprised you didn’t I?"

"Yes, but it was fucking rude!" She said angrily. "If you were a woman, you’d understand what it was like! The idea of a man kidnapping you usually leads to the idea of rape! It’s not cool, Alex!" She sat on the bed and seethed. AJ fell to his knees before her.

"I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t think about it that way. I just wanted to sweep you away somewhere that it could just be the two of us." His brown eyes stared up at her sorrowfully. "Can you forgive me?" He asked.

She looked at him for a long moment. "Are we really alone?"

"Yes. I sent Kevin out for the day. He won’t be back until four or so."

"You mean we’re here all alone for hours?" She said, slowly smiling.

"Yes. You’re my prisoner, Amethyst. Now what are you gonna do about it?"

Shae slept in until about eleven, then just dozed off and on for another twenty minutes. She loved the feeling of snuggling under the covers, not having to get up for any reason unless she wanted to. She rolled over and stared at the phone. She wondered how pissed Kevin was. Maybe he had forgiven her. Maybe he hated her. Maybe…

She sighed and picked up the phone, dialing Kevin’s room. AJ answered.

"I hope this is good because I’m damn busy!" AJ snapped.

"Good morning to you too, AJ. This is Opal. Is…ah…Kevin there?"

"Nope. Sorry. I sent him packing for the day. He’s out somewhere going over…I mean…out somewhere doing something."

"Oh…okay." Shae heard a feminine giggle in the background and immediately knew what was keeping AJ so damn busy. "Thanks."

Shae hung up and stared around the room. She knew there were nine hundred things she could be doing to help organize their plan, but all she wanted to do was go find Kevin. She also knew that would be impossible. He could be anywhere. Rome was a big city. She sighed and called Lara.

"Sure…come on over. Bring Kelley along too," Lara said to Shae. She hung up and went in to take a shower.

As the hot water rolled over her, she tried to tell herself that the wetness on her cheeks was from the shower, not tears. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Nick. She was furious with herself for letting things go as far as they did the night before. It wasn’t Nick’s fault; she had wanted him as much as he had wanted her. She wanted him to make love to her. It was just such bad timing. She couldn’t think about Nick and everything that he stood for, such as love and desire, when they had so many other things to worry about. She lathered up one of her sponges and began to rub in her apple shower gel. As the sponge ran over her body she closed her eyes, remembering Nick’s mouth…his hands…his teeth nibbling on her ears…his fingers thrusting in…

Her eyes flew open and she reached up to turn the water to cold.

Amanda met Brian in the lobby, and she decided she could never look at him enough. He wore a light blue sweatshirt and a simple pair of jeans, but in her eyes he was, as usual, incredibly sexy and attractive. "Hi," she said shyly.

"Hi there," he said, his smile lighting up his whole face. "What do you want to do first?"

"Well, let’s grab some coffee…I was up kinda late last night." Brian held the door open for her, then grabbed her hand and swung it between them. "Then, let’s do all the corny tourist things that we can think of before we have to go back!"

Shae knocked on Lara’s door, her hands full of croissants and coffee. Lara opened the door, looking as if she hadn’t slept all night.

"Excuse my Italian, but you look like shit," Shae remarked as she dumped their breakfast on a small table near the kitchenette.

"Thanks a lot," Lara replied, eagerly grabbing a cup of coffee.

"Mind telling me exactly what the hell happened last night?" Shae asked, kicking off her sneakers and curling her feet under her as she sat on the sofa. "Everything was huggy kissy between you and old Nicky boy, and then you were bawling your eyes out in the limo."

"I was NOT bawling my eyes out," Lara protested. Shae raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I cried a LITTLE. Nothing I couldn’t handle. Nick was fun for a while, but I have to give all my attention to the effort at hand here."

"Right," Shae agreed, attempting for the nine hundredth time to push the thought of Kevin’s green eyes out of her mind.

"Where’s Kel?" Lara said as she began to spread papers out on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

"Oh, yeah. When I came out of my room, there was a note on the door telling me she was going for a walk and she’d be back later."

"So…what do you want?" Howie asked Kelley as he tried to decipher the menu.

"I’m fine, really," she told him, sitting on the edge of his bed. "You’re the lucky one, huh? Single room."

"Right. I love it when that happens!" He smiled and sat down next to her. They grew serious, staring into each other’s eyes. "Um, let’s watch TV," he suggested. He grabbed the remote and moved back to sit against the headboard of the bed. He bent his legs and spread them a bit. He motioned for her to sit between his legs and lean back against him. "Is this comfortable for you?"

"Yes, fine," she said, briefly closing her eyes and savoring the moment.

He flipped channels, and then found MTV Europe. As they watched, he began to run his fingers through her hair, ever so slightly massaging her neck and behind her ears.

"I will give you about twenty-five years to stop," she moaned, enjoying the feeling of his soft hands on her neck.

"I’ll keep that in mind," he chuckled. His hands moved down to her upper back and shoulders. She moaned again.

"Could I put you on retainer?" She whispered. He leaned forward and placed his mouth near her ear, ever so slightly allowing his lips to trace her earlobe.

"I dunno. I’m pretty expensive," he breathed, allowing his tongue to flick against her ear. She whimpered, her hands running up and down his legs. "But I’m sure we could work something out."

He brushed her hair aside and moved his lips from her ear to his neck. She moaned and twisted her head so more of her neck was accessible to him. He pulled a pillow from behind his back and tossed it to the foot of the bed. He gave her a gentle push, indicating that she should stretch out on her stomach. He began a gentle massage-back rub, allowing his fingers to run along her sides, occasionally leaning forward to pay close attention to her ears and neck.

Kelley felt as if her body was made of oatmeal. She swore she could feel it melting. She slightly gasped as Howie’s hands went under her shirt. His smooth hands traced up and down the soft skin of her back, and soon he was tugging at the shirt until she sat up for him to pull it off. Her bra soon followed, but he still concentrated on her back, neck and ears. He began to plant small kisses up and down her spine, and she was clutching at the covers on the bed.

He removed his own shirt, and then rolled her over. He reached up and turned off the TV. He kissed down each collarbone, then back up to where her shoulder met her neck. She was arching her back off the bed, unable to remain still. Howie planted kisses around each breast, refusing to actually kiss the nipple itself. Kelley moaned loudly, trailing her fingers over his arms and shoulders. Finally, he lightly flickered his tongue across her nipple, and she had to refrain from screaming. With a contented sigh he sucked and tongued one breast while his fingers lightly teased the other. Kelley could not control her body. Her hips rolled and moved against him, and her legs rubbed against his.

Howie kissed down between her breasts to her stomach, planting soft kisses before teasingly rubbing his fingers along the waistband of her sweats. He stood and slowly pulled the pants down before removing his own pants. He lay back down slightly to the side of her, so his fingers could continue to tease her. She felt his hardness against her leg, and as his fingers found out just how much she wanted him, she felt the hardness jump ever so slightly.

"Ohhhh God…Howie…" she breathed, arching up against him as his fingers made a trail from her clit down to deep inside her, and back up again.

"How much do you want me, Emerald?" He whispered in her ear, tantalizing her with his soft sexy whispers.

"Oh…so much," she whispered back, hardly able to put a rational thought together. "I want you so fucking bad, Howie…"

He moved to lay over her, teasing her as he rubbed against her. "How much? So "fucking" bad? Is that what you said?" He moved to thrust inside of her, and she was so ready that he slid right in. They both moaned loudly. Her legs wrapped around his waist, and she moved her hips up to meet every thrust.

After a long while of slow steady thrusts, he rolled over so she was on top of him. She lightly dragged her fingernails across his chest as she rode him, unable to keep the slow pace he had set. She rode him hard and fast until he turned her back over, pinning her arms above her head. She whimpered as he slammed into her, so close to her own release.

"Oh…god…Emerald…" he gasped, biting down on her neck as he felt himself come inside of her.

She moaned and clawed at his back as the orgasm washed over her. She felt her body shake and it continued to quiver even as he moved off of her to cradle her in his arms. She felt him kissing her hair and running it through his fingers, and she slowly dozed off.

"So, you kidnapped me. Now what?" Ari asked AJ flirtatiously, raising one eyebrow. He slowly removed his ever-present sunglasses and took her hand. He stood her by the bed and began to slowly remove their clothing. If he took off her shirt, he took off his shirt.

"We are going to play follow the leader," he said seriously, trailing his fingertips from her forehead to her cheeks to her arms to her stomach and back up again. She shivered.

"Follow the leader?" She asked, trying to sound as if she could care less.

"Yes. I will be the leader." He lay down on the bed and pulled her down to lay in front of him, so her back was against his chest. "You must do everything I do."

"I don’t understand," she began.

"Shhh," he whispered, his breath warm against her ear. He began to create lazy paths up and down her body with his free hand. "Whatever I do, you must do to me." He nibbled and then bit down on her neck. "If I want you to bite my neck…I bite yours." He continued to lick at her earlobe as his hand moved to cup her breast, gently caressing it and lightly tugging at her nipple. "If I want you to caress me, I caress you." He moved his hand down slowly until it settled between her legs. His finger teased at her opening. "If I want you to tease me, I tease you." Ari moaned as she rubbed her body back against him. AJ’s breathing turned ragged, and he sucked and licked at her neck and ear with more intensity. "Do you think you’d like to play this game, Amethyst?"

"I…don’t think…I can concentrate…on following you…" Ari gasped as AJ’s slender fingers slipped inside of her. AJ sighed and moved so she was flat on her back. He shifted until he was laying between her knees.

"That’s the problem with Follow the Leader. It never works that well." He began to lick a line up from each knee. "This position seems vaguely familiar."

Ari moaned as her hands found his short dark hair and tugged at it. "AJ…please…" she panted.

"But I’m enjoying teasing you so much," he told her, licking the very inside of her thighs. "It’s so fun."

Ari grabbed his head and practically forced it between her legs. AJ chuckled and dutifully licked one straight line up the center of her. Ari shrieked and arched her hips towards him. He smiled evilly and placed his hands under her backside, lifting her up to meet his eager mouth. His tongue snaked in and out of her until she was calling out to him, begging him not to stop. He slowed down until his tongue was hardly moving, and then he slowly slipped a finger inside of her, pumping his hand until she moaned loudly, her walls quivering around his fingers.

AJ moved up to hold her until her body stopped shaking. He got up from the bed and went to the kitchenette, retrieving something from the fridge. "Baby, this may be cold but you gotta trust me. And don’t close your eyes." He leaned down to kiss her. "Watch every move I make."

He shook the can of whipped cream and Ari’s eyes opened wide. "But Alex, that will be so cold," she almost whined.

"Shhhh," he said, silencing her with another kiss. He slowly sprayed a bit of whipped cream on her right breast, and she let out a mixture of a moan and a gasp.

"That’s c-cold!"

He bent his head down, his brown eyes never leaving her face. He ever so slowly licked up the whipped cream around the outside, leaving the nipple for last. He closed his eyes and sucked every bit of whipped cream off of her skin, using his tongue to clean up after himself. As Ari watched him, she decided she had NEVER experienced anything more erotic in her whole life. He moved to the left breast, and once again, she let out an erotic gasp. This time he took a small bit of whipped cream in his mouth, and brought it up to hers. As they kissed, he licked the whipped cream off of her lips. She whimpered. He bent his head down to her breast and hovered for a moment, breathing lightly on the tiny mound of whipped cream.

"Please," she whispered, and he dutifully bent his head down. By the time he had cleaned her off, her legs and lower body were once again moving towards him. He placed his hands on her hips and entered her with one quick movement. He paused, then thrust again. He had turned her on so much with the whipped cream that Ari soon found herself on the edge. "Oh…Alex…God…" Her fingernails clawed down his back as she came, feeling as if she were melting into the bed.

"Oh, fuck, Amethyst," he groaned, his hold tightening as he soon came after her.

"Okay…so the lights are controlled by…" Shae interrupted herself and looked at Lara, who was staring out into nowhere. "The lights are controlled by little green men who look like Al Gore," she finished.

"Uh-huh," Lara replied absently.

"And then Nick is gonna strip and do a dance on CNN," Shae added.

"Huh? What?" Lara quickly came back. Shae laughed and shook her head.

"Girl, you have it BAD. I think you should call him and…"

"No!" Lara snapped, shuffling through papers. "Now where were we?" A few moments later a knock on the door startled them. Lara looked at her watch. It was about twelve-twenty. She looked through the peephole, then gasped. "It’s Nick!"

"So, open the door," Shae replied. "Duh."

"No! We have to clean this up!" Papers, drawings, and schematics were all over the coffee table and floor. Lara and Shae began to quickly gather the papers together as the pounding at the door continued. "Just a minute!" Lara yelled. Shae grabbed one of the sofa cushions and lifted it, throwing the papers underneath. Lara smoothed back her ponytail and opened the door. "Oh…hello, Nick."

Nick fidgeted uncomfortably. "Can I come in, Sapphire?"

"Well, Opal and I were…"

"…just going to have lunch," Shae finished. "I’m running downstairs to get something for us. Want anything, Nick?"

"No, I’m fine." Nick’s eyes never left Lara.

"Be back in a jiffy!" Shae said brightly, grabbing her purse and slipping past Nick before Lara could stop her.

"Please, come in," Lara said stiffly. She sat on a chair next to the sofa. Nick took a seat on a loveseat across the coffeetable from her.

"Sapphire, what the hell is going on?" He said finally. "I waited and waited for you to call, and you never did. I thought we were going to see each other today."

"We are seeing each other…right now," she said coldly. He came over and knelt by her chair. He took her hands in his.

"Sapphire, what did I do? Was it because of last night? I am so sorry about that. It wasn’t the right time."

"It has nothing to do with last night, Nick. Last night was very…nice," she said, ice dripping in her tone. Nick drew back as if he had been slapped.

"Last night you asked if you were just a one night stand to me. I’m beginning to see how you feel."

Her heart ached as she saw the hurt in his beautiful eyes, but she willed her heart to remain hardened. "Think what you want." She withdrew her hands and stood, walking over to the fridge. She poured herself a soda.

Nick strode after her. He took the soda out of her hands and slammed it on the counter. He placed his hands on her shoulders, turning her so she had to look at him. "Is that what I was? A one night stand?"

"I didn’t say that," she replied, placing one hand on his chest to steady herself. She wished that she could use her powers to remove emotional pain as well. He looked at her for a long moment, then slowly released her.

"I see." He ran a hand through his hair. "I’m sorry I bothered you then."

Nick, wait! she mentally screamed, but remained silent. "No problem," she replied.

"I’ll see you later." He left, slamming the door behind him.

Tears streamed down Lara’s cheeks as she picked up the glass of Pepsi she had poured. She slammed it back down on the counter, breaking the glass. A shard bounced up into her palm and she slowly sank to the ground, weeping.

Shae returned to find Lara still seated on the kitchen floor, sobbing into her blood covered hands. "Holy shit! What the fuck did he do to you?" Shae yelled, tossing the food onto the counter and squatting down beside Lara.

"N-nothing. I broke a glass and a piece went into my palm," Lara sniffled.

"Here…wrap this around it." Shae grabbed a tea towel and gave it to Lara. Lara carefully wove the towel around her hand. "Can’t you um…uh…you know?"

"No. I can’t heal myself. Remember that whole taking on the pain of the other person thing? I can’t take on my own pain." Lara stood and began to unwrap the now stained towel. She rinsed her hand under the water, cleaning all the glass out of the nasty gash.

"I think you might need stitches," Shae said. "We should go to a hospital."

"No!" Lara said sharply. "I’ll be fine. We’ll call up the hotel doctor."

Amanda and Brian collapsed on a bench, exhausted from their hours of walking.

"I don’t think I’ve ever been this tired," Brian told her, trying to keep his heart from pounding after all the exertion.

"I can think of a few times, but not many," Amanda replied, groaning as she bent down to tie her shoe. When she sat up, she noticed Brian sitting with his hand over his heart. "God, Brian, I forgot about that. Are you okay?"

"Fine." He opened his eyes and smiled at her. "We’re almost home. What do you say we go back and take a nap."

"That sounds GREAT," Amanda said, thinking that this was the PERFECT time for them to get busy.

"We’ll have to go to your room though…I don’t know what Sapphire and Nick are doing."

"A one night stand, huh? Nothing but a good time, huh?" Nick grumbled to himself angrily as he furiously hit at the punching bag in the hotel’s gym. He tried to make the punching bag Sapphire’s face, but every time he did that, he only saw her bright eyes and beautiful smile. He groaned and punched harder.

"Just because you hit it harder doesn’t mean it’s doing any good," a voice said behind him. He whirled around to see Kevin standing behind him, dressed to work out.

"Leave me alone," Nick said rudely, turning back around. Kevin sat at a fly machine and began doing reps. They worked out in silence for a long while. "She told me I was a one night stand!" Nick blurted out suddenly, not even meaning to. Kevin finished his last set of reps, then took a long drink of his water.

"So, something happened last night, huh?"

"Yeah, something sure did, though I am totally confused as to what." Nick sat down at a rowing machine, but didn’t move. "It was great, at least I thought it was, and now it’s all over."

"You thought she was really something special, and you felt that she thought the same about you," Kevin said quietly.

"Yeah!"

"Just being around her made you smile, and feel like you were something special."

"Yeah!"

"And now you don’t know what the hell’s going on."

"Yeah," Nick grumbled, then looked at Kevin curiously. "Guess things aren’t going so great with Opal, huh?"

"Nothing gets past you, Carter, does it?" Kevin said with a wry smile. He moved over to the Stairmaster. "It’s all for the best, bro. We have a lot more to concentrate on than moody women."

Amanda and Brian entered her suite. "Damn, this is nice!" Brian said as Amanda went in to use the bathroom. "I’m jealous."

Amanda returned to the living room area wearing nothing but an oversized t-shirt. "Um…still want that nap?"

"Uh, yeah, I’m beat," Brian said, trying to remove his eyes from her legs. "I think I’d like a shower first, though. Do you mind?"

"No…go ahead," she said generously. "Towels are in the closet in the bathroom."

He leaned over and gave her a sweet peck on the cheek. "Be back before you know it."

Once he was in the bathroom, Amanda jumped up and down in frustration. Why did she suddenly feel like his baby sister or something? When was he gonna jump her bones? How many more hints did she have to give the boy? She stared moodily at the bathroom door, then got an idea.

She stood outside the door for a long moment, then closed her eyes. She concentrated, then reached for the doorknob.

Brian sang quietly to himself in the shower as he scrubbed between each toe. He didn’t want to be all stinky during their nap. He felt a sudden chill as if someone had entered the large bathroom. "Topaz?" He yelled. No answer. He sighed, and finished showering.

He opened the glass doors of the shower and stepped out into the giant bathroom. He carefully toweled off before wrapping the fluffy golden-colored towel around his slim waist. As he began to examine his face in the mirror, he felt the breeze again, but the door was shut tight.

Amanda ran to the bedroom and muffled her face in a pillow before she started screaming with delight.

The other girls trickled into Lara’s suite later that afternoon. Amanda was the last to arrive, and she was not in the best of moods.

"What crawled up your ass and died?" Kelley said after Amanda snapped off about nothing for the third time in twenty minutes.

"Nothing. Leave me the hell alone."

"I’m beginning to sense trouble in paradise," Ari noted, "and I’m not using any powers to do so."

"Shut up, Ari!" Amanda yelled. The other girls laughed, and even Lara had to smile.

"Tell us, Amanda. Get it off your chest," Lara said kindly.

"Okay. We walked all over Rome, and then we decide to take a nap. So I think, oh goody, here’s where I get to tear his clothes off and attack him. The problem was…he really DID want to take a nap. We crawled into bed, and he fell asleep!" Shae, Kelley and Ariana began to laugh until they cried. Even Lara giggled a bit. "This is not funny, guys! What do I have to do to get him to notice me?" They laughed harder, until even Amanda had to smile. "Okay, maybe it’s kinda funny," she admitted. "But I did get even." She told them about sneaking into the bathroom while Brian was showering.

"No fair…totally not fair," Shae said, frowning.

"How big was he?" Ari asked eagerly. Amanda hit her with a sofa cushion.

"None of your business."

"Okay…guys…we gotta talk about tonight," Lara said finally, pulling out the now badly wrinkled papers. Amanda, Ari, and Kelley stared at her hand.

"What happened?" Ari said in amazement, staring at the gauze wrapped around Lara’s palm.

"Nothing," she said simply.

"Nick Carter happened, that’s what," Shae said rudely.

"What did he do to you? I’ll kick his ass!" Kelley yelled.

"Nothing. He didn’t do anything. I broke a glass and some cut my hand, that’s all, I swear," Lara replied, sending dagger looks at Shae.

Kevin, Howie, Nick, and Brian stood outside of the door that led to Kevin and AJ’s room. A "do not disturb" sign hung on the doorknob.

"Fuck that," Kevin said in disgust, using his keycard to open the door. AJ was sprawled out naked on his bed, snoring loudly. Insanely jealous, Kevin walked over and smacked AJ on the head. "Wake up, Sleeping Beauty!"

"What?" AJ opened one eye. "What are you doing here? Where is Amethyst?"

"Well, contrary to what you think, we are sharing this room, McLean." Kevin poured himself a glass of orange juice. "And we need to talk. All of us."

AJ pulled on a pair of sweatpants, grumbling the whole time. Brian and Nick stretched out on Kevin’s bed, while Howie sat on the floor at the foot of AJ’s bed, and Kevin sat on a chair.

"Alright…what new Kayla information do you have for us, Old Man," AJ asked.

"This isn’t about Kayla. This is about our new friends." Kevin looked from one man to another. "We need to just forget them. We have too much to do and…"

"Jealous much, Kevvy?" AJ smirked. "A little upset that some or all of us got some and you didn’t?"

"AJ, shut your fucking mouth before I come over there and shut it for you," Kevin snarled.

"AJ, let it go, okay?" Nick said quietly.

"Why? I know I had an incredible afternoon, and I’m sure I’m not alone." His eyes flicked from Howie to Nick to Brian.

"That’s really none of your business, AJ," Howie told him.

"Fine. Whatever." AJ turned back to Kevin. "We’re grownups here, too, Kev. We ARE able to think with something beside our dicks."

"I’m not so sure about that," Kevin said, glaring at him. "But we HAVE to concentrate. You guys do realize that Jones has us by the balls. He could ruin our lives in a minute."

"Then let’s talk about tonight," Brian said.

"You do realize that they are gonna be there tonight, right?" Kelley pointed out to Shae and Lara.

"I know. And we can’t just ignore them. Especially the three of you. That would look too weird," Shae remarked.

"I wouldn’t mind ignoring Frick. Dumbass…takes a nap when I’m right there next to him in nothing but a t-shirt," Amanda grumbled.

"Not to be rude, Amanda, but you have to let this go. This whole plan depends on you concentrating on your part of it." Lara told her.

Lara hovered in the hotel lobby that evening, watching to make sure that the Backstreet Boys were well on their way to the exhibit. They couldn’t chance meeting up with them on their way down. The men were in matching tuxedos, and they all looked so handsome. Her heart and body ached as she watched Nick walk through the lobby. His face was a mask of misery, and even from far away, she could see the sadness in his beautiful blue eyes. She sighed and went to the elevators.

"We look like the Supremes or something," Shae grumbled as they met in the hallway outside their suites. Their outfits for the evening were exactly the same, different only by color. The top was a spaghetti-strapped cropped top, and the skirt was short but flared.

"No, we look like hussies," Lara said, staring down at the skin that showed between the top and skirt.

"Look, we all look fantastic, okay? We will definitely cause a sensation in these dresses, and I think Kayla truly knows what she’s doing," Kelley remarked. "We’re all built so differently that it must have been hard to find wardrobes for us that compliment each other."

"I like it," Ari said as they entered the elevator.

"You would," Lara grumbled.

"You know, I am getting about really sick of this place," AJ whined to Howie as they stood in a corner of the exhibit hall. "I’m ready to move on."

"AJ, quit bitching," Howie said, his eyes never leaving the doorway as he searched for Emerald. It was almost ten o’clock, and there was still no sign of Emerald or her sisters. "We’re out of here in a day or two, and then we’re off to Korea. We’ve never been there."

"I’m hungry. And tired. And thirsty. And horny as hell," AJ bitched.

"AJ, shut up," Howie ordered. "If you DON’T shut up, I’m going to punch you."

"Everyone is so touchy today," AJ remarked, but shut up.

Oh, God, there she is, Nick thought as he watched Sapphire and her sisters enter the room. She wore a sexy dark blue dress, and her legs seemed endless. His heart ached for her, and then he remembered what had happened earlier and he frowned.

"Kelley, make Kevin follow me out onto the balcony," Shae whispered.

"Shae, I don’t think…"

"Please," Shae interrupted.

Kelley sighed and made a beeline for Kevin and Brian as Shae went out on the balcony. She smiled at the two men. "Hi."

"Hello, Emerald," Brian said kindly. Kevin briefly glanced at her, then watched Shae leave the room.

"You know, Kevin, Opal is dying to talk to you. Why don’t you go out onto the balcony and find out what it’s about?" Kelley suggested.

"I’m gonna go talk to Opal." Kevin abruptly turned and walked away. Before Brian had a chance to say something, Amanda and Howie walked over.

"Hi," Howie said, planting a kiss right below Kelley’s left ear.

"Uh, hi," she said, trying desperately to remember that she wasn’t supposed to pay attention to him.

"Topaz! It’s so good to see you!" Brian said, reaching over to put an arm around Amanda. She shrugged away. He stared at her. "What’s wrong?"

"Brian, we need to talk." She took his arm and dragged him away from the group of people.

"Hey, baby," a sexy voice said in Ari’s ear as two arms snaked around her waist. She snuggled back.

"Hello, Alex."

"What if it wouldn’t have been me?" He said, kissing her neck.

"I just knew it was you, that’s all," she replied, closing her eyes and ordering her body not to respond. "I think it’s best if we don’t do this here." She wormed her way out of his embrace. He stared at her.

"What’s up, Amethyst?"

"Nothing, I just don’t think this is the time or place and…"

"And what made you just sneak out of my room without saying goodbye?" He continued, all the stress of the afternoon and evening building up inside of him.

"You were sleeping and I had to go get ready," she told him, her eyes narrowing. "What the hell’s your problem, AJ?"

"I’m sick of being chewed out by everyone," he snapped.

"Whoa…Alex…back the fuck off…I didn’t chew you out at all," she hissed, trying not to yell.

"I need some air." AJ took off for the balcony.

"Planning on running away again tonight?" Kevin said as he walked up behind Shae.

She whirled around. "Oh…last night…Kevin, I’m sorry. It just got so crazy and then…"

He held up a hand. "No need for excuses. I’d rather not hear them. I’m just glad you are okay. I was worried."

Shae smiled, taking in every bit of his emerald eyes, strong hands and torso, gentle smile, and gorgeous body. "I’m fine, thank you, Kevin."

"Listen, Opal, I just wanted to try and explain that…"

"Fucking women!" AJ exclaimed, throwing open the doors that led to the balcony. "Now I know why I don’t have a girlfriend."

"I know why, too," Shae grumbled.

"AJ, we’re kinda busy out here," Kevin growled.

"Sorry…sorry…wouldn’t wanna interrupt anything important," AJ said, faking embarrassment. He returned back inside.

"I like you, and I think you like me, right, Brian?" Amanda asked.

"Of course I like you! What’s not to like?"

"Then what happened today? I mean, there we were, in bed, and you went to sleep!"

"I was tired! I had a lot on my mind and…" a light bulb seemed to go on in Brian’s eyes. "Oh, Topaz…I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to lead you on." He took her hands in his. "There’s a lot going on in my life right now, Topaz…things that I can’t possibly explain to you. I didn’t want to confuse either of us by taking things further. I want you so bad I can practically taste you, but it would just make things worse if we hopped into bed right now." He lightly traced a finger down her cheek. "But do NOT think I don’t want you."

"Oh…okay…" she whispered, closing her eyes as he touched her face.

"We basically just stopped by to say goodbye to you guys," Kelley told Howie. "We decided there’s nothing we liked here, and we’ll be leaving tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Already?" Howie said, frowning. Kelley’s heart yearned to tell him everything, but she couldn’t.

"Yes, I’m sorry. Is there anyway I can contact you? Like email or something?"

"Of course. Here are our email addresses."

Around eleven o’clock, the ‘sisters’ said their good-byes and left the exhibit. By twelve-thirty, the security guards were starting to lock down the museum. The last guard to leave never noticed that the tiny little green light that signified the motion detectors suddenly went from green to red.

Lara, Kelley, Shae, and Ariana hovered in the shrubbery outside of the museum, anxiously awaiting the sign from Amanda.

"Ari, are we gonna get busted or what?" Shae asked nervously.

"I can’t tell. I mean, I don’t THINK so," she whispered.

"What do you mean you don’t think so? You’re supposed to be able to see the future!" Shae snapped.

"Well, it’s not like I can control what I see!" Ari hissed. She shoved Kelley. "Get off of my foot, EMERALD."

"Well, if you’d get your bigass feet out from under MY feet," Kelley whispered.

"Will you guys STOP! This is about the most UNPROFESSIONAL behavior I have ever seen!" Lara scolded.

"Yes, Mom," Ari whined. Shae nudged her.

"Look…upstairs…there’s the signal."

The girls went to a side door of the museum. Lara heaved a deep sigh and slowly pulled on the door. It opened quietly, with no alarms or sirens. The girls quickly slipped in and hurried along the dark and silent corridor.

"I REALLY hope she disarmed everything the way I taught her," Lara remarked as they slipped down the hallway.

"You only told her the same thing nine MILLION times," Ari replied. "I’m sure she got it."

"Bitch!" Lara hissed over her shoulder.

A figure stepped out of the shadows. The four girls stopped and gasped. "Took you long enough!" A familiar voice said.

"God, Amanda, scare the shit out of us, please!" Kelley snapped.

"Okay…I turned off everything just like we planned, but the cases are still locked."

"WHAT?" Shae yelled.

"I was looking the control panel over. If we unlock the cases, it sends a silent alarm to the security agency. However, if someone was to use their telekinetic powers to open the cases, I think it would be okay."

"That makes NO sense," Ari pointed out.

"Well, excuse me, I’m not a rocket scientist. We can try it if you want," Amanda said. Ari closed her eyes and thought for a moment.

"I honestly think we’ll be okay turning the system off," Ari told her. "They aren’t expecting anything like this so it won’t send an alarm."

"Fine," Amanda pouted.

"I’ll run up and turn it off," Shae suggested.

"No, we need you here. I’m no help down here so I’ll go," Lara replied, a bit jealously.

She ran along the hall, up the stairs to the control room. She remembered from Shae’s description exactly which panel was connected to the case locks, and slowly flipped the switch, praying all the while. She heard a beep, and then silence. She returned to the exhibit room. "Well, if they ARE gonna come, we’d better get rolling." She stood by the main entrance as the other girls got to work.

Shae stood before the first case. Although the alarms were off, the cases still needed a key to unlock the actual lock. She closed her eyes and concentrated. The lock clicked and she slowly lifted the lid.

"Excellent!" Amanda exclaimed, reaching in to grab the first pieces of jewelry.

"Careful, Amanda! We don’t want anything to happen!" Lara hissed.

"Yeah, ya dumbass! Put your gloves on!" Ari ordered. Amanda rolled her eyes but pulled on her gloves, blushing with embarrassment.

Shae moved from case to case, leaving some pieces and taking others. They were under strict orders from Kayla as to what pieces to remove. Some of the more famous pieces would be too difficult to steal.

"I don’t see why we can’t each take something for ourselves. Would she really know?" Ari asked.

"Kayla has eyes in the back of her head, you know that," Shae pointed out.

"Then why hasn’t she bitched us out about…about…about them?" Lara said softly, her eyes filling with tears as she thought of Nick Carter.

"True," Shae said. "I don’t think I want anything, though. Maybe she’ll be generous and give us something. You know, something to go with our names. I could definitely get into a pair of opal earrings or a ring."

Kelley stopped in front of the case that held the cat that she and Howie had discussed. "Shae, open this."

Shae consulted a piece of paper. "Kel, it’s not on here and…"

"OPEN it," she snapped. Shae sighed and walked over to where Kelley stood. She opened the case and Kelley grabbed the figurine. "Okay. Is this everything?"

"I hope so," Lara said nervously.

"You’ve got to lighten up," Ari said as she walked past Lara towards the door they had entered through. She soon stopped short. "Something’s wrong."

The other girls froze and stared at her. "What do you mean, something’s wrong?" Kelley whispered.

"I just feel it. Someone…no…more than one person…they’re on their way here. Not guards…but someone who is NOT on our side. We need to haul ass…NOW!" Ari yelled.

"What about the alarms?" Amanda said.

"Leave that to me. Go!" Shae yelled, shoving Lara and Kelley towards the door. "I’ll get outta here, don’t worry."

She ran up the steps two at a time, and hurried to the security room. She flipped switches and turned knobs until everything was back the way it had been. She hurried to the first window she saw and closed her eyes. The window seemed to unsnap from its frame, and she carefully set it on the ground. She opened the duffel bag she carried and pulled out the thick rope. She looked around for something to weight it with and groaned. Nothing. She hurried back to the security room and drug a chair out, placing it below the window. She threw the rope out and quickly but carefully climbed down.

She jumped to the ground and stared at the window. This was the hardest part. She closed her eyes, concentrating with everything she had. The rope unraveled from the chair, and slipped out the window as she gently tugged on it. The chair slid a few feet at a time until it was back in the security room. The window seemed to be weightless as it hovered in the air before snapping back into its confines. Shae opened her eyes, feeling a bit dizzy. She stopped to get her bearings before running off to the waiting car.

The Backstreet Boys stared at each other in glum silence as they exited the elevator and headed for the limo. They remained silent as the driver loaded their bags into the trunk, and even as they pulled out onto the street.

"He’s gonna kill us," Brian said finally.

"We have nothing to worry about. There’s no way that…" Howie began.

"D, the man has eyes in the back of his head," AJ pointed out. "We’re fucking toast."

"This was our first mission. All we were supposed to do was LOOK for her," Nick pointed out. "How could we have known she’d slip in and out so quickly?"

"She took over ten million dollars worth of gems and jewelry, Nick. Jones is NOT gonna let this one go," Kevin said gloomily.

The limo drove right out onto the tarmac, and the guys exited the limo. "Excuse me, gentlemen, but which one of you is Mr. Dorough?" The driver asked in heavily accented English.

"That’s me," Howie said.

"The clerk at the hotel was holding this for you. She asked me to give it to you." The driver handed Howie a small wrapped bundle.

"Thanks," Howie replied, staring down at the small bundle.

The group entered the private jet and took their seats. They were surprised to see that the plane was empty. Jones was not sitting anywhere.

"See? Maybe he’s too busy to even worry about us!" Nick said hopefully.

"Doubtful," AJ retorted, flopping into a chair.

"Let’s just relax, okay. And whatever you do, do NOT tell him about the girls!" Kevin ordered.

They had just fastened their seatbelts when they noticed someone walk in from the cockpit. "Gentlemen," Jones said, sitting in a revolving chair. He turned to face them, locked the chair into place, and fastened his seatbelt.

"Jones, how’s it going?" Brian said weakly.

"I think you have some explaining to do," Jones said sternly. The group fell silent, looking everywhere but at their new boss.

"We looked for her…honestly, we did," Nick said finally.

"There was no one there with her description! We looked both nights!" AJ added.

Howie looked down at the bundle he held. He slowly unwrapped it. He gasped as he realized he held the Egyptian cat figurine from the museum. He looked up at Jones, but he was glaring at AJ. Howie quickly shoved the figurine into his carry-on bag.

"Gentlemen, I understand that this was your first mission…I also understand how devious Kayla can be. Therefore, I will overlook your errors and mistakes…this one time." Jones looked from one man to another until they all felt the seriousness of his gaze. "Are you sure there were no distractions?"

"No…no distractions," Kevin said finally.

"We hurried out there as soon as we were notified about the alarms, but she was already gone," AJ told their boss.

Jones sighed. "We’re on our way to get a larger jet to take us to the Orient. There is a large ancient pottery and earthenware exhibit at the National Museum in Seoul, South Korea. There’s no way Kayla can walk out of there with items that size." He glared at the Backstreet Boys. "This time…you catch her…or else."

"I can’t believe we’re going to be in London, and we’re NOT allowed to sightsee," Lara grumbled as the small plane landed at Heathrow Airport.

"We’re only gonna be here a few days," Kelley pointed out.

"I don’t care. Do you realize the great literary history that fills this town? There is so much to see!" Lara looked out the window, frowning.

"We have enough to worry about, getting this stuff to Kayla," Ari pointed out. "To be honest with you, I can’t even think about anything else. Do you realize how much this shit is worth?"

"I am trying NOT to think about it," Amanda said, zipping up her carry-on bag.

"How in the world are we gonna get through Customs?" Shae asked.

"That’s why we have Kelley," Lara said, smiling at her big "sister".

The girls slowly walked towards the Customs area. The jewelry and figurines were in their duffels and carry-ons, and they struggled with the bags. "Can I help you, ladies?" An officer asked. Lara drooled at the sound of his British accent.

"No, thank you, we’re fine," Shae replied, dragging Lara away. Kelley headed for the official with the shortest line.

"Open your bags, please," the official barked. Kelley gave him her best smile.

"You know, you really don’t have to check any of these. You don’t even have to put them through the x-rays. All we’re carrying is books. Lots of books. And we could really use an escort out to our car."

The official stared at her, then looked to one of the other officers. He jerked his head, motioning for the man to come over. "Walk these ladies through the airport and help them into their car. They’re carrying books, and could use the help."

"Thank you," Kelley said sweetly as the other officer had a cart brought over to carry their bags.

The girls settled into their hotel rooms, which were a lot smaller than the suites they had occupied in Rome. They gathered the bags together and caught taxis to another hotel in London, where Kayla was staying.

"Somehow this doesn’t seem fair," Amanda grumbled as they walked through the elegant hotel. "We do all the work and are in a dump, and she’s staying here."

"She IS the boss, Amanda," Kelley pointed out. Amanda rolled her eyes.

Kayla answered Shae’s knock and moved aside so the girls could enter the room. They placed their bags on the dining room table and flopped onto various chairs and sofas. No one said a word as Kayla opened the bags and emptied the contents onto the table.

"Very good," she said finally. She slowly smiled as she looked at the group. "Well done. Any problems?"

"Nothing we couldn’t handle," Ari bragged. Kelley rolled her eyes.

Kayla picked through their contraband and separated a few pieces onto a pile. "Choose."

"Really?" Shae gasped. The other girls’ mouths dropped open.

"Yes. I think you deserve it."

The girls gathered around the table, oohing and ahhing over the pile. Shae chose an emerald pin that reminded her of Kevin’s eyes. Kelley found a smaller cat figurine, very similar to the one she had admired with Howie. Amanda chose a blue topaz bracelet, the blue of the stones exactly matching Brian’s eyes. Ari chose a ruby pin that looked almost like flames. She smiled as she thought of the heat that AJ made her feel every time she even looked at him. Lara shook her head.

"No, thank you."

Amanda stared at her. "Are you crazy?"

"Maybe it’s jet lag," Ari added.

"No. I…I just don’t want anything."

Kayla quickly glanced at the pieces left on the table. She picked up a necklace. "I think this catches your eye, doesn’t it?" She held the sapphire and silver necklace that Lara had looked at with Nick.

"It’s…uh…it’s beautiful," Lara stammered, willing back tears.

"It’s yours." Kayla handed it to her and she could do nothing but take it. Kayla stared at Lara’s hand. "What happened?"

"I startled her and she broke a glass," Shae said quickly. "She’s so jumpy."

Lara stuck her tongue out, but her eyes smiled gratefully.

"Okay. Enough play. Now…about Korea," Kayla said, gathering them around a briefcase full of papers.

"This is the worst part of traveling," AJ grumbled as they made their way through the Seoul airport towards the waiting limo. "Jet lag."

It was early in the morning, but to their worn out bodies it was almost nighttime. They piled into the limo, and fought to stay awake until they reached the hotel. They checked in, and walked zombie-like to their rooms. Brian was alone this time, with Howie and AJ sharing a room, and Nick and Kevin sharing a room. They agreed to meet in five or six hours, and then they all went to their rooms and crashed.

"Let me guess. You’ve mastered the Korean language as well," Amanda said to Lara as their limo took them to their hotel.

"I wouldn’t say mastered…let’s just say managed," Lara said with a smile. She picked up the silver pendant and played with it. Once she had put it on, she never removed it. It seemed to link her to Nick somehow.

"You’re awful quiet," Shae remarked to Ari.

"I have a terrible feeling about this one. Something awful is going to happen."

"The last time you said that, we met the Backstreet Boys," Amanda pointed out. "And I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t see that as being so awful."

"It’s only our second heist, Ari. Maybe it’s nerves," Kelley said kindly.

"No…it’s not just nerves. It’s something more. Physical harm is going to come to one of us tomorrow night," Ari insisted.

"Well, relax. That’s what you have me for," Lara said reassuringly.

"All I know is physical harm is going to come to someone if I don’t get some sleep!" Shae declared.

The girls went to their hotel and napped for a few hours, then went out to sightsee. They went to the different palaces and museums, and took a dinner cruise on the Han River. They shopped in the tourist markets of Itaewon, and flirted with the different American soldiers at some bars. At three am, they were still wide awake.

"I don’t want to go to bed!" Kelley pouted.

"Well, everything’s closed. We have to go back to the hotel," Lara told her. They walked out onto the almost empty street, waiting for a stray taxi to pass by.

"We can plan our strategy for tomorrow," Shae suggested. They had walked through the museum where the pottery exhibit was being held, checking out as much as they could without being noticed.

Ari suddenly froze. "The guys are here."

"What guys? Those Air Force pilots who were so crude to us?" Amanda asked.

"Well, you sure didn’t seem to mind," Lara pointed out. Amanda made a face at her.

"Any attention is good attention," she replied.

"No…THE guys…AJ and Kevin and Nick and Brian and Howie," Ari said. "They’re right here on this street?"

"Are you sure?" Kelley gasped.

"Yes…I’ve never felt anything so strong before. We HAVE to get the hell out of here. They’ll never believe we’re vacationing here, too!" Ari said. The girls looked frantically for a cab, and Amanda finally spotted one creeping down the street. They began to jump up and down and wave. The taxi came to a stop, and they almost fell over each other to get in. The cabbie began yelling at them.

"What’s he saying?" Kelley asked Lara, almost hysterical.

"He can’t take all five of us. Only three."

"I’ll wait…they won’t see me," Amanda said.

"I’m staying with you," Lara said. The others began to protest. "Amanda can’t even remember how to say hello in Korean…she’ll never get back to the hotel. Go. We’ll be right behind you."

Kelley, Shae, and Ari got into the cab and they drove away. Lara and Amanda paced back in forth, their eyes frantically searching each doorway of the dozens of bars that lined the street. "Look! Down there!" Amanda said, grabbing Lara’s sleeve. A small group of people was walking towards them. Nick’s blond head shone distinctly under a streetlight.

"Oh, shit!" Lara whispered, wishing the ground would swallow her.

"TAXI!" Amanda yelled with all her might, running out into the road. A cab was moving towards them, and at the same time the people in the group started yelling for it as well. The taxi screeched to a stop inches from Amanda’s feet. "Let’s go!"

They jumped in and Lara quickly gave directions to the driver. As the cab pulled away, Amanda caught sight of Brian’s blue eyes, wide open and staring at her.

"That looked like…" Brian gasped.

"Nah…no way," Nick replied, not wanting to believe it.

"Not here…in Korea…" Howie added.

The five men stared at each other, not wanting to believe.

"Ya know what I think? I think we’ve had too much to drink, and we’re hallucinating. Let’s go back to the hotel," AJ suggested. Everyone quickly agreed, and Kevin flagged another taxi.

When Amanda and Lara arrived at the hotel, the other girls were anxiously waiting in Shae’s room.

"It took you long enough!" Kelley yelled as Shae threw open the door.

"Excuse the fuck out of us!" Amanda snapped back. "We couldn’t exactly throw out the driver and drive ourselves."

"We’re just glad you’re okay," Ari said, giving Lara a hug.

"It was scary…I think Brian recognized us." Lara hugged Ari back, then thankfully took the cold beer that Shae handed her.

"You don’t like beer," Kelley observed.

"Well, it’s all I have and I didn’t think she’d care too much," Shae retorted.

"Where’s mine?" Amanda demanded, getting a laugh out of everyone. Lara took a swig of the hated beer, to calm her nerves.

"Okay…this is just weird. Of all the cities in all the world, why are the guys in SEOUL?" Lara asked no one in particular.

"It’s a cool place, you said so yourself," Ari said.

"No. It’s just too weird. Remember how they told us they are looking to invest in priceless items? Maybe they’re looking to buys some of the cheaper pottery and vases," Shae suggested.

"I think Shae’s right. We HAVE to find out why they’re here," Lara decided. All eyes turned to Amanda.

"What?"

"Do you realize how many hotels there are in Seoul? Seoul is its own county, for God’s sakes!" Brian exclaimed. The five Backstreet Boys were lounging around in Howie and AJ’s suite, which was already in disarray, thanks to AJ’s haphazard method of unpacking. "If we checked first class alone it would take days. And can any of you speak Korean fluently?"

"I bet Sapphire could," Nick said faintly. Everyone turned to stare at him. He blushed.

"Well, I’m sure that the girls wouldn’t travel any less than first class," Howie began.

"But we don’t have the time!" Brian exclaimed. "We can’t let them divert us from our mission, guys."

"You’re beginning to sound like Kevin," AJ observed from behind a magazine. Kevin hit him with a pillow.

"I cannot believe I am doing this. This is the most retarded thing I have ever done," Amanda grumbled to herself silently. After some serious concentration on Ari’s part and a few phone calls, they had found the hotel where the guys were staying. Amanda walked into the lobby, cleared herself in a corner, and then went behind the counter. Lara had carefully printed out the words for "Backstreet Boys" in Korean, and Amanda flipped through the ledger carefully until she found what room they were in. To save energy, she returned to her corner and brought herself back, then went to the elevators.

She stood outside rooms 312, 314, and 316, wondering which guys were in what room, and where she would get her information. Silently cursing the other girls, she was about to start eeny meeny miny moe when she heard raised voices coming from room 314. She smiled, cleared herself, and then knocked.

"Dammit, AJ, did you order room service again?" Kevin said irritably as Howie went to the door.

"No, I didn’t. This place only serves Korean food, dude."

Howie stepped into the hall and looked around, seeing nothing but feeling a draft. "No one’s here. Probably just some little kid fooling around."

"Okay…back to the issue at hand," Kevin said. "Do we go to the exhibit tomorrow night?"

"Hell, yes, we go. We HAVE to. Jones will kill us if we don’t," Brian exclaimed.

After drooling over Brian for a few moments, Amanda began to pay attention. Jones? Who was that? Their broker? Their financial consultant?

"Okay…okay…guys, we don’t even know if the girls will be there. And if they are, they will only be a distraction…a distraction easily avoided," Nick said finally.

Amanda frowned, wanting to slap his face. Easily avoided…not if she could help it, her vanity said, before her common sense brought her back to the matter at hand.

"Okay, so we’ve decided we’re going…can you guys get the hell out of here so I can get some sleep?" AJ asked, removing his shirt and digging out a pair of sweatpants.

"Anyway," Howie added, pulling out a pair of emerald green satin pajama pants.

Amanda stayed until they changed, telling herself it was for the sake of Ari and Kelley. When Kevin, Brian, and Nick left, she slipped out behind them.

Amanda returned to Shae’s room as quickly as possible. The girls were dozing in various places in the living room. "Wake up!" Amanda yelled, causing everyone to jump.

"You’re such a bitch, Amanda," Kelley grumbled, rubbing her eyes.

"Well, don’t you want to hear about Howie changing into his pajamas?" Amanda said smugly, shoving Lara over so she could sit on the couch.

"What do you mean, Howie changing into his pajamas?" Kelley was suddenly awake.

"Yeah. They were talking in AJ and Howie’s room, and while I was there, they just happened to change into their pjs." Amanda leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

"You ARE a bitch," Ari said, throwing a pillow at her.

"Did you learn anything amidst your drool?" Lara said. "I’m tired. I want to get through this."

"Yes. They will be at the exhibit tomorrow. They also talked about some guy named Jones. I guess he’s their financial advisor or something."

"Who the hell cares…let’s here more about Howie in his pjs!" Shae said.

"Shae!" Kelley snapped.

"I’m sorry! If it’s not Kevin, Howie’s the next best thing," Shae told her. Kelley stood and stretched.

"To hell with y’all. I’m going to bed."

"We’ll meet tomorrow and talk some more about this. I think we should scope out the museum one more time," Lara suggested as everyone but Shae walked to the door.

"Yes, Mom," Amanda said. Lara smacked her.

Around lunchtime the next day, Lara finally woke the other girls. They assembled, grumbling and tired, in Amanda’s room.

"You know, you are really starting to piss me off," Ari said to Lara while they waited for coffee to brew.

"What did I do?" Lara asked, truly insulted.

"You’re WAY too chipper too early in the morning," Ari moaned, falling so her head landed in Lara’s lap. She pulled a blanket off the back of the sofa and snuggled down into it. "I need more sleep."

"Forget it." Lara shoved her away and moved to sit somewhere else. Ari moaned and pulled a pillow over her head.

"I suggest we get our asses to the museum and figure out Plan B," Kelley said. "I don’t know about you guys, but I really enjoyed the high after we took all that stuff in Rome. I want to do it again!"

"This is not going to be like Rome, Kel," Shae said. "Pieces of ancient pottery three or four feet tall are not going to be easy to move."

"We can do it. You can move them," Lara said, shuffling through some papers. "I downloaded some stuff off the Internet about the museum. There are tons of back doors. All we need is to get a truck to get the stuff to the loading dock on the river."

"Wait…back up…what do you mean, I’m moving them?" Shae asked, jumping to her feet. "I’ve never…"

"Shae, you freaking moved a chair on the second floor from down on the ground!" Kelley reminded her. "You can do this."

"This sounds like that scene in Fantasia where Mickey Mouse has the brooms and everything cleaning the house," Amanda volunteered. Shae turned to glare at her.

"I am NOT Mickey Mouse," she snapped. Her eyes grew big. "I don’t know if I…"

Lara put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "You HAVE to, sweetie. You’re our only hope."

"Feel like shopping?" Kevin asked Nick as he dried his hair. "We could get souvenirs for our families."

"My family has enough souvenirs," Nick said quietly. He lay on his back on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Tell me about it. I might have to buy my mom a new house for all the crap I buy her," Kevin tried to joke. No response from the man on the bed. Kevin sat on his bed and sighed. "Nick, you gotta forget her, man. She’s only getting in the way of…"

"The plan! Yeah, I know…the fucking plan…" Nick mumbled.

"I was GOING to say, in the way of your peace of mind," Kevin retorted. "Nick, we all agreed to this plan. I know it’s not the most sane thing for us to be doing, but did we really have a choice?"

"Kev, you know how Brian always talks about his "normal" life, and how all he wants is a girl who wants him for HIM, not for Brian Littrell the Backstreet Boy? Well, I finally realize how he feels. I’m only twenty, but I want someone to love. Someone to love, someone to spoil, someone to share my life with." Kevin stared at Nick, mouth open. Nick had always been party boy second only to AJ. He had never mentioned wanting to settle down with someone. "And I know who I want that someone to be." Nick sighed and closed his eyes. "But she wants nothing to do with me."

Lara stared at the vase on the stand in front of her. At the top and bottom were intricate vines and flowers. In the middle was a garden, through which two lovers walked. The man had his arm around the woman, and he was handing her a rose.

"Very beautiful, yes?" One of the museum curators walked over to her, speaking in perfect English.

"Yes, it is," she stammered, awakened from her reverie.

"It’s called The Garden of Love. It’s the smallest piece in the collection, and one of the least expensive."

"Is it for sale?" She asked. The man smiled.

"Normally I would say no, not until the exhibit tonight, but I have watched the way you look at it. I will give it to you for a good price." The price he quoted was so low that Lara stared at him.

"No, I couldn’t…" she began.

"Please. I insist."

Lara looked at the other girls. They were involved in their various tasks. She smiled at the man. "Could I have it sent somewhere?"

"I can’t believe we’re stuck doing this again," AJ grumbled to Howie as they stood in a corner of the exhibition gallery.

"AJ, shut up, okay? We HAVE to keep our eyes open. If this Kayla chick tries anything tonight, we have to catch her."

"Well, maybe she won’t even show up tonight. Maybe she has a flock of double oh seven spies who come in and scope the place out," AJ joked. Howie began to smile, then stared at AJ. AJ stared back. "Holy shit."

They hurried over to Kevin, Brian, and Nick, who were on the other side of the room. "Guys, we need to talk. We also need to call Jones."

"Okay, what the hell is this all about?" Kevin demanded once they were in the limo. AJ began to dial Jones’ private number.

"Dudes, what if Kayla didn’t steal that stuff? What if she had someone do it for her?" Howie said excitedly.

"That would explain why we hadn’t seen her in Rome, but the stuff STILL disappeared!" Nick chimed in.

"This better be damned important!" Jones barked over the computer monitor. "Didn’t I tell you never to call me unless…"

"Jonesy, shut up, okay? Listen to Howie’s idea!" Nick interrupted.

Howie explained their theory, and Jones remained silent for a moment.

"In all the years I’ve known Kayla, I’ve never seen her work any way but alone. However, the heist that was pulled in Rome was almost impossible for just one person." Jones sighed. "I’ll look into it. Keep your eyes open. Go back inside."

The Backstreet Boys returned to the museum. "Well, all I have to say is, they’d have to be pretty strong guys to move this stuff," Kevin observed.

"I can’t do this anymore!" Shae whined. "I’m tired."

"Shae…one more time…please…" Lara begged. The four girls were on the sofa. Shae was across the room, trying to pick up the sofa.

"Shae, just close you eyes and relax," Ari said soothingly. "I know how you feel. When I concentrate and try to see things, it gives me a migraine. Just let it flow through you."

"Thanks, Yoda," Kelley said. The other girls laughed. Shae settled down, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. The sofa shook, then began to slowly levitate above the floor. One foot…two…three…suddenly Ari sneezed, and the whole thing slammed down.

"Very good, Shae," Lara said weakly. "But try not to drop thousand year old vases like that, please."

At about midnight, the Backstreet Boys stood outside the museum, anxiously watching the last stragglers. The guards looked at them strangely before closing the doors behind the last patron.

"Recognize anyone?" Howie asked.

"No," Nick said.

"Nope," AJ added.

"I wasn’t looking for anyone but this Kayla girl last time," Brian pointed out. "So I don’t know WHO I recognize."

"Last time, they waited until the second night before moving it. Maybe they’ll do that this time," Nick suggested.

"Can we really take that risk?" Kevin asked. "Let’s get back to the limo and change."

"I’m not sure about this," Shae said nervously as they bumped along the road in the old truck Lara had managed to obtain. Kelley was driving, and she was not used to driving such a large vehicle.

"Kel, stay ON the road, please!" Amanda yelled as Kelley swerved to miss an open manhole.

"Look, Amanda, either shut the fuck up or drive yourself!" Kelley snapped.

Amanda opened her mouth to snap back, but a squeeze of her leg by Ari kept her quiet. They drove up to the loading bay at the back of the museum.

"Okay. If the plans I saw were correct, there’s a long corridor that runs from the exhibition hall to the loading area. All we need to do is get the pieces unlocked from the cases and pedestals, and out to the hallway." Lara pulled on a dark sweatshirt.

"You make it sound so easy," Shae mumbled. "You’re not the one doing the work."

Lara turned on her. "I might not have the powers that you guys do, but I still do a lot of work in this little outfit! Who stays up late studying boring museum plans and learning languages? Not any of you!" She hissed. Everyone turned and stared at her.

"S-sorry," Shae said. "I didn’t mean to…"

"It’s okay." Lara gave her a hug. "I’m wound a little too tight tonight."

"Sounds like you need a good screwing, then," Amanda said helpfully. Everyone laughed.

They grew silent as they walked to the side door of the museum. Shae took a deep breath as she began the easiest part of that night’s chores: unlocking the door.

The girls slipped inside and made their way down the corridor. The alarm system in this building was different, and it had been quite easy for Kelley to talk her way upstairs earlier that day and find the control room. She had set the timer to turn the alarms off an hour after they had gone on.

"Down this way," Lara whispered, motioning to a side hallway. They reached the exhibition gallery and skidded to a stop.

"You didn’t say anything about this!" Shae snapped at Lara. The doors were wrapped with a thick chain and secured with a large lock.

"Well how the hell was I supposed to know?" Lara retorted. "Ari’s the one with second sight, not me."

"Don’t blame this on me!" Ari yelled, her voice echoing through the hallway.

"Will you guys shut up?" Kelley snapped. "Shae, just open the damn thing!"

"Grrrr…." Shae mumbled, but closed her eyes. Slowly, the lock opened, and the chain unraveled from the doorway.

"Sweet!" Ari exclaimed. They slipped inside. The gallery had about four rooms off of one another. Lara flipped on her flashlight and consulted her list.

"Rooms one and two, we take everything. Three and four are the smaller pieces; she only wants a few of those." She turned to Shae. "Do you want to do the big ones or the small ones first?"

"Might as well tackle these big ones," Shae said, sighing. "Did I mention how much of a klutz I am?"

"You know, this is stupid. What if there’s a BACK door?" Kevin said suddenly. The guys looked at one another foolishly. AJ finally removed his sunglasses, though it was closer to sunup than sundown.

"Let’s roll."

"Okay, Shae, you’re doing great!" Lara called from the end of the hallway. "Just a few more, and then we’re down to room four!"

Shae was seated in a corner of the long corridor that led to the loading dock, her head in her hands. She had the worst migraine she had ever experienced, but she was proud of the fact that she hadn’t broken one piece of the priceless pottery. "How many pieces in room four?" She asked wearily.

"Only three," Lara said, consulting her sheet.

"Quiet? Did you guys hear that?" Ari asked suddenly. Everyone froze.

"No, I didn’t hear anything. It must be your…" Amanda began, then stopped as they heard a clanging of metal. Someone had picked up the chain.

"Holy shit!" Lara gasped. "Kelley, get your ass in the truck now and get it started. Go down to the end of the lane, and we’ll meet you there. You guys haul ass out there."

"What about you?" Shae asked as she scrambled to her feet.

"We left a lot of paperwork in the main gallery. It will lead right to us, or at least Kayla. Go, dammit!" She yelled in a whisper. Kelley, Ari, Amanda, and Shae took off down the hallway. Lara scurried down the hall and ducked into the shadows. The pile of paperwork was right inside the door of the main gallery, but a group of men were on the other side.

"Someone made short work of this chain," she heard a voice say. It was vaguely familiar, but she didn’t waste time thinking about it. She grabbed the pile of papers and took off down the hall.

"Look!" Another voice yelled.

Lara ran as fast as she ever had. As she reached the doorway to the loading dock, she saw the taillights of the truck in the distance, and could just make out the figures of her friends running down the road after it.

"Stop, asshole!" A voice yelled behind her.

"Holy shit, look! There’s someone else running!" Nick said as they took off after the lone figure.

"Stop, asshole!" Howie yelled.

"Get him!" Brian yelled. Kevin sprinted ahead, pulling off his sweatshirt as he ran.

"Not so fast!" A voice behind Lara shouted. Something dark enveloped her head, and she fell to the ground, passing out as her head thudded against the earth.

Kevin picked up the now motionless body. "Let’s go."

"What about the other ones?" Howie asked, squinting into the distance.

"Let them go. We should be able to get all the information we need out of this one."

They went as fast as they could to their still-waiting limo. "He’s pretty small," Brian observed. "I don’t see how he could move this stuff."

"Hey!" AJ said, insulted. "Small doesn’t necessarily mean weak," he pointed out.

"Sorry, AJ, wasn’t thinking," Brian apologized.

The girls piled into the waiting truck. "Hold up. Where’s Lara?" Kelley asked.

The other four looked at one another. "I thought she got here ahead of us!" Shae exclaimed.

"Oh no! They have her!" Amanda started to open the door.

"No!" Kelley yelled, shifting into drive.

"Kelley, we have to go back!" Amanda shouted.

"We’ll get in touch with Kayla. She’ll know what to do," Kelley said, trying not to feel guilty for leaving one of her ‘sisters’ behind.

"But what if they…" Amanda began.

"She’ll be fine. We’ll find her," Kelley said with a reassurance she didn’t truly feel.

"Go tell the driver to pop the trunk," Kevin ordered Nick.

"You’re putting him in the trunk?" Brian asked.

"We can’t have him seeing where he’s going. We want him as disoriented as possible."

Nick ran ahead, and the trunk was open when Kevin reached it. He carefully laid the still-covered body in the trunk, and closed it.

The Backstreet Boys piled in, and Brian called Jones as the driver sped towards the hotel.

"NOW what?" Jones snapped.

"We got one of them!" Howie said excitedly. "They were running out the back, and we caught one!"

"Excellent," Jones said.

"How soon can you get a flight out here?" AJ asked.

"I don’t need to. Tell your driver the following address. I’ll be there in half an hour."

The girls ran into their hotel, not even caring who found the truck parked in the garage, full of priceless artifacts. They immediately went to Kelley’s room, and she called Kayla.

"They got Lara!" Kelley said, as Amanda sobbed in the corner and the other girls looked grim.

"Relax. Everything will work out," Kayla said. "I can be there in a few hours."

"RELAX? They have her, Kayla. God knows what they’ll do to her. How do we know we’ll even find her?" Kelley shouted into the phone.

"Stay put. I’ll be there as soon as I can." Kayla hung up.

"She says she’s coming out here, and THEN we’ll do something," Kelley told the others.

Shae paced back and forth. "I don’t want to wait."

"But she said…"

"Fuck what she said. We aren’t just gonna let Lara rot there. This city is huge, and for all we know they could be taking her out of the city, or even out of the country. We’re gonna get her on our own." She turned to Ari. "Think you can find her?"

The limo pulled up to a small house outside of Seoul. Jones opened the door before the Backstreet Boys had even exited the limousine. "Where is he?"

"Kevin dumped him in the trunk," Nick said bluntly.

"Get him. Follow me."

Kevin picked up the still-unconscious body and carried it inside. They could see now that the person wore dark pants and a dark sweatshirt, and even gloves. Jones led them through the main hallway and down a set of stairs into a cellar. He unlocked a door. The room they entered had a few chairs, as well as a two-way mirror that looked into a smaller room. The second room had a cot, and nothing else.

"Take him in there, and then leave me," Jones ordered.

"Hold up. I want to see what the little shit looks like!" AJ exclaimed.

"OUT!" Jones barked. The group left, shutting the door behind them.

Jones advanced slowly towards the silent form on the cot. He reached down and gently unwrapped Kevin’s sweatshirt. He blinked twice when he saw the face underneath, the forehead matted with blood. He returned to the observation room, and picked up a telephone. "A basin of warm water, and a cloth. Bandages. Fruit. A bottle of water."

About forty minutes later, the Backstreet Boys all stood as Jones walked into the small study. "Well?" Brian asked.

"I’m ashamed of you, gentlemen." Jones placed a ring, a watch, and a necklace on a small end table. "Thwarted by a woman. Or perhaps even women."

Kevin’s mouth dropped open. "What do you mean?"

"Our young man downstairs is no young man. It is a young lady. Quite pretty, as a matter of fact."

"I want to talk to her," AJ demanded. "Find out what the hell is going on."

"In a moment." He looked at AJ appraisingly. "You might be just what we need to scare our new guest. She does have a nasty gash on her head, and is still unconscious." He went to a locked drawer in the desk and opened it. He pulled out a bottle and a syringe. "She’ll be waking up soon."

"Don’t you feel ANYTHING?" Kelley demanded of Ari.

"Kelley, shut the hell up. I can’t just turn this on and off!" Ari yelled. "All I know is she’s still alive, but in danger. Someone is threatening her, or planning on it."

"We should NEVER have left!" Amanda glared at Kelley.

"What was I supposed to do, let us ALL get caught?" Kelley snapped.

"Shae coulda thrown ‘em up against a wall or something!" Amanda shot back.

"Actually, no I couldn’t have. I didn’t have that in me," Shae said quietly, from her seat on the sofa.

"Let’s just wait for Kayla. She has powers, too. Maybe between the two of us, we can figure something out," Ari said wearily.

Lara moaned, her head feeling as if a piano had fallen on it. Her inner arm stung. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Sleeping Beauty awakes," a strange voice said. She tried to sit up, but the room spun. "Easy, my pet. Don’t rush it." A strange man sat next to her on the cot. "You’ve had a nasty bash to the head. I guess it’s from when your head hit the ground."

"Who are you?" Lara whispered, cringing back from the hand that caressed her forehead.

"That’s of no consequence to you." He brushed some hair from her face. "Kayla knows how to pick them."

"Who?" She asked. He smiled.

"You may not want to talk to me, but you’ll talk." He stood and left the room. Jones went upstairs and motioned to AJ. AJ followed him down the winding staircase. "Don’t harm her. Barely touch her. Just be…menacing," Jones told him. AJ nodded, and Jones went back up the steps.

AJ walked to the mirror and decided to just watch. Nothing wrong with looking at a beautiful woman before going in to scare the shit out of her. The girl turned her head, looking straight at him, though he knew she could not see him. He gasped when he saw his face, sinking into a chair.

"We’ll let AJ play with her for a while. I’m going to get some dinner. Anyone hungry?" Jones asked. No one replied, and he wandered towards the kitchen.

"This is a Rolex," Brian observed as he picked up the wristwatch.

"She probably stole it," Nick said bitterly, hating this strange woman. He hated her for interfering with his life. He hated Jones for making them do this. He hated Sapphire for…being the wonderful Sapphire that he missed so dreadfully. He walked over to Brian, taking the watch from him. "You’re right," he remarked. "Nice ring, too." He began to pick up the necklace as AJ burst into the room.

"What’s wrong?" Kevin asked.

"What’s she like? Is she a hottie?" Howie asked.

AJ’s eyes nervously bounced from one guy to another, continually returning to Nick. "Yeah, well, she’s…okay, I guess…if you like that type."

"What? The lying thieving type?" Nick snickered, glancing down at the pendant that hung from the silver chain. His face went white, and the necklace slipped through his fingers. He stared at AJ.

"Now, Nick, I don’t…" Nick went to go past him. "Nick, wait!" AJ shouted, but Nick was already halfway down the staircase.

Nick skidded to a stop inside the observation room. A figure was curled up on the cot inside the small cell, sobbing as she laid her head against the wall. "Oh, God," he whispered. The other Backstreet Boys weren’t far behind him.

"Oh…damn…Nick…" Brian stuttered, placing a hand on his best friend’s shoulder. Nick shrugged it off.

"You know what this means, don’t you?" Nick said in a low monotone, his eyes never leaving the woman he had thought he loved. "She didn’t do this alone." His sad blue eyes swung around to the other men. "They were all in on it."

"Wait a minute…" Ari whispered as the other three girls chattered and fought. "Hey! Shut the hell up!" She yelled. They whirled to look at her.

"What do you see?" Amanda asked softly.

"She’s…not out of the country. She’s out of the city, but not out of the country," Ari said slowly. "I can’t figure out much else…a small room…no outside entry to that room…it’s in the basement. A cell, maybe?"

"Who has her…can you tell that?" Shae asked eagerly.

Ari concentrated, then shook her head. "Not just one person…one in charge, but a group of people."

"I wish Kayla would get here!" Kelley said. "Maybe the two of you could figure something out."

AJ, Nick, and Howie sat on the three folding chairs in the observation room. Kevin and Brian leaned against a wall. "I don’t believe this," Howie said softly. No one else spoke for a moment.

"What do we tell Jones?" Kevin said finally. Four pair of eyes swung to stare at him. No one had thought about that.

"We can’t tell him. He’ll fry us for sure," Howie began.

"Bro, we didn’t know! It’s not our fault!" AJ insisted.

"He won’t listen to that, and you know it, AJ. He’ll say that we were distracted by the very people we were trying to catch," Brian pointed out.

"Think they knew?" Nick’s eyes still hadn’t left the figure in the cell. "Think they were playing us all along?"

AJ moved his chair next to Nick, and sat backwards on it. "Nick, I don’t think she’s like that. For all that she did, she wasn’t playing you," he said gently, his heart breaking for his friend. He liked Amethyst, sure, but the sorrow in Nick’s eyes reflected a crushed heart.

Nick sighed deeply. "Okay. Let’s decide what we’re telling Jonesy-Boy."

The Backstreet Boys returned upstairs just as Jones walked back in from the kitchen. "So, what did you think of our little thief?" Jones asked.

"Cute," AJ replied.

"Did you talk to her?"

"Uh…no. She was asleep," AJ said quickly. Jones sighed.

"I see I will have to teach you the finer arts of interrogation." He looked at his watch. "It’s practically morning. Why don’t you gentlemen go upstairs and rest. You’ve had a long evening. I’ll go down and wake up our guest."

"What are you going to do with her?" Nick asked. Brian glanced at him quickly.

"Force her to tell us who she’s working with…and how that can lead us to Kayla, of course," Jones replied. "Go on up to bed."

The group slowly plodded up the stairs to the second floor, where five bedrooms were specially prepared for them. Each man took a room, though none of them were in any mood to sleep. Nick waited until everyone settled in, then slipped out of his room.

He snuck down the steps to the cellar rooms. He could hear Jones’ voice, though both the observation room and the cell were enveloped in darkness.

"Wake up, my pet," he said softly.

Lara moaned, and her eyes slowly fluttered open. She could see nothing, but feel the presence of someone sitting near the cot. "When are you going to tell me who you are?" She demanded, with a courage she didn’t truly feel.

"As soon as you tell us who you were working with, and how you know Kayla."

"I don’t know any Kayla, and I was working alone," she retorted. She could feel his amusement, as a hand reached down to cup her face in its palm. She tried to pull away, and the hand tightened.

"There’s no way a sweet little thing like you could have worked alone, Pet. And I know you are very familiar with Miss Kayla."

"You’re hurting me!" Lara gasped, tears springing to her eyes.

"Oh, Pet, this is the least of the pain you’ll be feeling unless you start talking." She heard him stand. "Until you do, you will remain in the dark. Totally." She heard him leave.

Nick ducked into a corner of the observation room, thankful for Jones’ wish to leave the rooms dark. As soon as he heard Jones close the upstairs door, he slipped into the cell.

"Now what do you want?" Lara said wearily through her sobs. Nick said nothing, but felt his way to the chair that Jones had placed by the cot. He sat for a moment, then reached over and found her hand. She jumped, but he kept it in his, just holding it until she relaxed. "You’re not the same person," she realized.

"No," he finally whispered, remembering the feeling of her body against his. His fingers lightly caressed her hand.

"I’ve done nothing wrong! Please, let me go!" She pleaded. Nick’s heart hardened, and he drew away.

"If you didn’t do anything wrong, then why are you here?" He hissed. He left the room, slamming the door behind him.

At about three o’clock the next afternoon, Kayla appeared at the hotel. The girls were dozing on and off in the living room. Amanda answered the door.

"Well it’s about fucking time!" She shouted. Kayla brushed by her and went directly to Ari.

"Anything?" She said sharply.

"Only that she’s still in the country," Ari said tiredly.

"Okay. I need you all to leave. Everyone but Ari."

"But it’s my room!" Kelley protested. Kayla calmly looked at her. "Okay. Okay. Let’s go to Amanda’s room."

The three girls left. Kayla removed her jacket and sat across from Ari. "Okay. Tell me everything you see." She took one of Ari’s hands in hers.

"She’s safe, for the moment, though she’s very scared. She is in some sort of cellar, with no outside door. One man is in charge, though he is supported by a group of men." Ari swallowed deeply. "The group mean her no harm, and are almost sorry that she’s being treated the way she is. This man in charge…he has no qualms about hurting her if he has to." She looked over at Kayla. "He wants to find you."

Kayla sighed. "I knew it. Well, I don’t feel anything, not yet. Give it a few days."

"A few days? But by then…"

"You said it yourself, Ariana. He wants me…not her. She’ll be safe for the time being."

Ari didn’t see it that way, but had nothing more to say. Kayla went to get the other girls.

"What do you mean, a few days?" Kelley snapped, once they were all together again. Kayla had gone to register in the hotel. "Maybe Lara doesn’t HAVE a few days, did she think of that?"

"I don’t think he wants to kill her, Kel. He needs the information about Kayla too much," Ari said.

"I think we should just give Kayla to him ourselves," Shae mumbled. Amanda stared at her.

"Shae, Kayla knows everything about us! She can ruin our lives…turn us into circus freaks!" Amanda gasped.

"I know…I know…" Shae sighed, sitting down.

"Let’s try to get some rest. All this commotion isn’t gonna help Ari find her anytime soon," Kelley said. They all hugged Ari and then Ari, Amanda, and Shae went to their respective rooms.

A Week Later

Lara had lost track of the days. She was constantly kept in the dark. She slept when she was tired, waking only when awakened. The menacing man visited her often, while the other person who had visited her the first day never returned. She craved a bath…real food…an inch of sunlight…she knew she looked awful, and she could feel herself getting thinner and weaker. With all her might she wished she could heal herself…heal her undernourished body, her frantic mind, and her broken heart. She missed Nick dreadfully, even though she knew she had more important things to worry about. She dreamt often about him coming in and saving her, though she knew it was impossible. Many times she would sing softly to herself, to keep her sanity, as she walked the length of the room. She had memorized its dimensions, and often Backstreet Boys songs sprang from her lips as she walked back and forth. She had to keep her mind alert. She was proud of the fact that she had not given the strange man the information he wanted, though she didn’t know how long she could keep from telling him. That morning, she had started reaching out with her mind to Ari, to Nick, even to Kayla. She didn’t quite believe in psychic ability, even with all she had seen Ari do, but she didn’t think it would hurt.

"You can’t even see her, bro," AJ said to Nick as he came down the steps. Nick was sitting in the observation room, looking through the two-way mirror at nothing.

"I know," he said softly.

"You want to hate her, don’t you?"

"She stole millions of dollars’ worth of priceless items, AJ. She broke the law."

"And we’re so perfect?" AJ sat next to his friend. "Why don’t you go in and talk to her again."

"I can’t. It’s not right."

"Maybe you can get the truth out of her," AJ suggested. "It will give you an excuse to be down here. Jones would love it." Nick sighed, then stood. He lingered at the doorway of the cell. "GO, Nick. Talk to her."

Lara heard the door open. The light from the other room was so bright against her weak eyes that she could not make out the figure in the doorway. "What do you want now?" She asked angrily. "Another excuse to paw me…put your dirty hands on me?"

"No," a voice whispered. It was different…it was the voice from the first day. She slowly sat down on the cot.

"Who are you?"

"No one," the voice replied. She heard the person sit down on the chair next to the bed. "Who are you?"

"He sent you, didn’t he?" She couldn’t keep the bitterness from her voice. "Sent you to drill me for information. Sorry…I’m not gonna bite at that one."

"No, he didn’t send me. He doesn’t know I’m here. I’d get into a lot of trouble if he knew," Nick whispered. He reached out a hand, and gently found her leg. "Can’t you even tell me your name?"

"Lara," she said, responding to the softness of his touch.

"Lara," he repeated. "That’s a lovely name."

"Thank you. It’s nice to be able to tell someone my name," she said, and he understood.

"I have to go now. If he finds me…" Nick let the sentence trail off. "Are you okay?"

Lara snorted with sarcastic laughter. "Oh, yes. This is wonderful, like a country club."

Nick’s anger flared, inspired by guilt. "Well, you brought it all on yourself." He stomped out.

"Today we leave," Kayla announced, barging into Ari’s room, where the girls had congregated.

"You’ve found her?" Amanda said excitedly.

"I think we have a good lead. I’ve hired an interpreter, since my Korean is no better than yours." She smiled at the group. "We’ll get her."

"But will it be dead or alive?" Shae grumbled.

"Is there a problem, Shae? Do you have any better ideas? If so, I’d love to hear them," Kayla said, as close to anger as any of them had ever seen her.

"No," Shae whispered.

"Okay, then. Pack your bags. The interpreter will pick us up in an hour. We’re going to the province southeast of here. I’ve checked with all the sources I have, and there may be a chance that he has her in a house there, in the country."

"Just who IS he?" Kelley asked.

"I’ll tell you on the way."

Dammit, Ari, why don’t you ever pay attention when I need you? Lara was thinking to herself as she paced. Not that I can give you much information, but maybe you can follow brainwaves, kinda like radar. She sighed at the impossibility of her thoughts, and went back to singing… "…without you I don’t think I can live…"

"Are the only songs she knows YOUR songs?" Jones said irritably. He and the five men were sitting in the observation room.

"And what exactly is wrong with our songs?" Nick snapped back just as irritably.

"Nothing. This is just taking way too long." Jones turned to AJ. "Okay…you’re on."

"What do you mean?" AJ said.

"Go on there. Scare her."

"She can’t even see me…how could I be scary?" AJ said nervously, glancing at Nick.

"She doesn’t need to scare you. She needs to feel you…hear the menace in your voice. Of all of us, your voice has the darkest quality. I want you to go in there and scare the hell out of her…any way you can think of."

"I don’t know, Jones. I don’t think that would work. I mean, what kind of a threat am I?" AJ protested.

"I think you’ll be very threatening, once you start ripping her clothes off," Jones said calmly.

"W-what?" AJ said weakly.

"She knows me too well now. She doesn’t know you…has no clue who you are…and you said you think she’s attractive…go for it."

The group stared at their leader in disbelief. No one expected him to be this cold…this evil.

"I’m not gonna rape her, Jones, no matter what you want," AJ said, shocked. "Sure, she’s fine and all, but I’m not like that."

"I’LL do it," Nick volunteered. Everyone whirled around to face him. "I don’t have a problem with it."

"Nick, what the hell?" Kevin gasped.

"I don’t know, Mr. Carter. You’re not very…"

"Evil? Oh, I can be. Let me in there," Nick insisted. "She’s just a thieving, conniving bitch who got caught. I have absolutely no problem making her talk."

"Like yourselves, I have always had the special kind of powers that made me feel different from other people around me," Kayla said, as they bumped down the small country road. "I kept them hidden to the best of my ability, and tried to live my life as normal as possible." She stared out the window. "Then I met him…the man who would change my life." She smiled to herself. "Handsome, charming…swept me off my feet. I fell in love with him…what woman could resist him? Then I made a big mistake that ruined everything."

"What? What?" Kelley asked eagerly. Amanda smacked her.

"He was involved with sports. Baseball. I had begun to bet on games…not his…but other games, using my power to predict the scores and even influence the plays a bit. I was cleaning up a tidy sum, and he began to notice." She sighed. "Then, one day, I made the mistake of betting on one of his games. For once I was clean…bet honestly and watched the game just like any other spectator, and I won. Fair and square. He confronted me with this, and I finally had to admit that I had been betting on baseball. He was furious, reminding me that if he was connected to this in any way, he could be banned for life." Kayla ran her fingers through her hair. "Unfortunately, someone overheard us, and though he was innocent, he was already convicted as guilty."

"Why didn’t you say anything?" Ari asked.

"It would mean bringing myself into the limelight…exposing the powers I had, small as they were. So I said nothing. He left me and I’ve not seen him since." She looked at them all, long and hard. "He eventually found out about my new line of work, and has devoted himself to finding me…and stopping me…he’s the one who has Lara, I’m sure of it."

"What’s his name?" Shae asked suddenly.

"He goes by Jones, now," Kayla said.

"As in CHIPPER Jones?" Shae asked, her mouth falling open. "I remember when he disappeared from baseball, because of some kind of scandal. Oh my God!"

"Yes…it was because of me," Kayla admitted.

"I was so pissed off. He’s such a hottie!" Shae continued.

"Shut up, Shae!" Ari murmured, poking her friend.

"Nick, what the hell are you doing?" Brian asked in a low tone.

"Leave me alone," Nick hissed. He turned to Jones. "I want this. I want her. I want to give her what she deserves."

The Backstreet Boys stared at him. This was not the Nickolas Carter they knew. Even his face seemed unfamiliar.

"Are you sure you can…" Jones paused delicately.

"Get it up? Sure…no problem. Just the idea of giving this bitch her due is getting me hard," Nick sneered. "I’ll make her talk."

"Go ahead. I’m proud of you, Nickolas."

Nick briefly met the sad dark eyes of Howie before opening the door to the cell.

He felt his way to the chair, and sat down. The lights remained off. He knew that Jones and the rest of the guys couldn’t see him, but they could hear everything. He leaned over Lara, and she jumped, instantly awake.

"What the fuck do you want now?" She snapped. He placed his hands on her shoulders, pinning her down.

"If you know what’s good for you, you’ll just shut up and do as I say!" He growled, leaning so his mouth was near her ear. "You’ve got to trust me," he whispered. "I’m trying to protect you."

"Protect me?" She replied.

"Shhh! They can hear you!"

"Who?" She said, whispering.

"There are five people on the other side of that mirror, listening to every word we say."

"But why? I…"

"I’m supposed to get you to talk…to tell us what you know," he murmured, moving his hands down to her sides. He was shocked at how thin she had become.

"But how?" She was shocked at how gentle his hands were.

"By…forcing you to tell me," he said, blushing even in the dark.

"Forcing? But…oh God…" she said in realization. She began to squirm. "Get off! Get off of me! Don’t touch me!" She punched at him with weak fists, and he couldn’t help but smile.

"You think you could hurt me with those little baby punches?" He said loudly. He bent down to whisper again. "I’m not going to hurt you, baby, don’t you see that? I’m trying to save you. He wanted to do it himself but I wouldn’t let him." A hand caressed her hair. "I would never let anyone hurt you, even after all this."

Lara froze. The voice…so familiar…could it…no…no way. "Get off of me…I’m not telling you shit!" She snapped.

"That’s right…keep fighting me…we have to make this as real as possible. They can hear it all," he whispered. "I don’t think they can see it, but just in case…" he pinned her arms above her head, and she whimpered.

"Don’t…you’re really scaring me," she said. She kicked up at him, trying to come in contact with anything that might hurt him.

"You’re SO brave," he said sarcastically. "I’m sorry," he whispered, before ripping her shirt in two. Lara screamed in true fright. "Oh, baby…" he murmured against her ear, pulling his own shirt off.

"Don’t…" she said quietly. "Don’t…don’t…don’t!" She ended in a yell as his hand reached for her pants.

"Baby, I have to…I have to make this look real," he said. He stopped, and reached up to gently stroke her cheek. "Trust me…this one last time."

She grabbed the hand, holding it against her cheek. There was no mistaking that caress…that touch… "Nicky…don’t let him hurt me," she whispered.

Nick froze, his hand at the waistband of her pants. "What did you call me?"

"Nicky. Oh, Nick, I know it’s you," Lara whispered, beginning to sob. "Get me out of here, Nicky, please!" With a brutal yank, he pulled her pants to her ankles, then stood and tugged them off. "What the hell are you doing?" she whispered.

"He’ll come in here after I’m done…the worse you look the more he’ll believe it," he murmured. "Now, just shut up and this will all be over quickly…unless you want to tell me the things I need to know," he said in his normal voice. "Who are you working with?"

"I’m not working with anyone!" She shouted, jumping up from the cot with newfound strength. She backed away into a corner. "If you fucking touch me, I’ll kill you. I swear to God. I have powerful friends. They’ll kick your ass…all of you!" She shrieked.

"And just who are these friends?" Nick asked, advancing towards the sounds of her voice. He reached out and grabbed her, pinning her against the wall with one hand. With the other hand, he untied the drawstring to his sweatpants.

"I don’t care what you threaten me with…I’m not telling you anything. I have nothing to say to you!" She yelled. He put his face next to hers.

"I don’t know how much longer I can protect you, baby," he whispered.

"Fuck you," she replied, her tone cold and harsh. He took her by the arm and dragged her over to the cot. He threw her down, pulling down his own pants. He spread her legs with his, laying over her. Sudden lust for her inflamed his body as his skin met hers. She gasped as she felt his erection against her. He was really going to do it…the Nick she had loved seemed to no longer exist in this man. "Nicky…what are you doing?" She whispered.

"Stop calling me that," he growled, trying to maintain control. She had broken his heart, driven him away with her lies. He wanted to hate her.

"Don’t…don’t do this…I love you," she whispered.

He stopped, bringing a hand up to touch her face. He felt her tears, and realized what he had been ready to do, without a second thought. "I have to do this, baby, I have to make them believe I’m really…um…" He blushed in the darkness. "I don’t want to, though."

"Go through the motions," she said suddenly.

"What?"

"I’ll make it sound like I’m fighting you and you make it sound like you’re…raping me…go ahead." Lara drew a ragged breath. "Just kiss me…one last time…" Nick pressed his mouth to hers, and her arms wove around his neck. Her tongue dueled with his as his hands explored her body. "I never meant to hurt you, Nick. Never."

Ari had been dozing with her head against the window. She suddenly woke up with a jerk. She nudged Kelley, who was dozing next to her. "Kel!" She hissed, so as not to wake the others.

"What?" Kelley grumbled.

"Remember when Amanda went in and spied on the guys? She said they mentioned someone named Jones!"

"Oh my God, Ari! Concentrate…what do you see?" Kelley said.

"Someone is threatening her…she is in danger. Oh…Kelley…we’ve got to get there!" Ari shrieked, waking the others.

Nick walked out of the cell, fastening his pants and holding his shirt in his hand. Jones smiled and clapped him on the back. "Excellent, my friend. Tomorrow we send someone else in…and I bet we won’t even have to lay a finger on her. She’ll talk. Excellent," he repeated, heading up the steps. As soon as he was out of earshot, Brian turned on Nick.

"You fucking animal!" He snarled, drawing back his fist. "How could you do that to her, huh? HOW?" Brian shouted, lunging at his best friend. Kevin grabbed him just in time.

"B-Rok, get away from me!" Nick yelled. "I didn’t do anything, okay?" He sat down, running his fingers through his hair. "It was all fake."

"Didn’t sound fake," AJ stated. Everyone glared at him. "What?" He asked, all innocence.

"I couldn’t do that to her," Nick said as if AJ had never interrupted. "I love her too much. I could never…hurt her," he insisted. "Besides, she recognized me."

"How in the world could she have recognized you?" Howie asked skeptically.

"I don’t know…but she knows it’s me. She called me Nicky, D. No one else but my mom calls me that." He stood and went to the door of the cell. "I want to see her."

"Nick, what if Jones has some kind of alarm rigged to the light switch or something?" Kevin said nervously.

"Kev, for once get that damn stick out of your ass, okay?" AJ said. He turned to Nick. "Bro, warn her. She hasn’t seen any kind of light for days."

"What? What is it?" Amanda said as Ari jolted them all awake.

"Oh…God…something awful is happening to her!" Ari wailed, almost crying.

"Can’t we go faster? How much longer until we get there?"

"About another fifteen miles," the interpreter/driver stated.

"Okay. We need to plan," Kayla said calmly.

"Lara?" Nick said softly, poking his head into the cell. "Lara?"

"Yes?" A voice mumbled from the cot.

"I want to turn the light on. I want to see you."

"No!" She said sharply. "No way. Why…do your little friends want an eyeful?"

The guys looked at one another. "Here," Kevin said, pulling off his XXL sweatshirt. "Give her this. I’m the tallest, so it should cover her."

"Baby…take this," Nick said, tossing the sweatshirt in the general direction of the cot. He heard a rustling as she put it on. "Okay…I’m gonna turn on the light. Hide your face in the pillow or something until you can start to slowly look up." He flipped the switch, almost afraid to look at her. His mouth dropped open, and he heard the startled gasps of his friends.

"Oh…God…baby…"

"Wait…I have a question…how in the hell am I gonna talk our way in there? I don’t know Korean, and I have a feeling whatever power I may have won’t work unless I’m doing the talking," Kelley pointed out.

"Jones would never take the time to learn the language. He’d hire someone to do all his talking for him. Therefore, I can be fairly certain that he’d hire help that would understand English," Kayla said slowly, thinking this point over.

"So, Kelley talks our way in, and then Ari finds the cell. Then what?" Amanda asked.

"You and Shae get her out," Kayla told her.

"I’m going to fucking KILL HIM!" Nick all but roared. Lara cringed back against the wall. He rushed to her side. "Oh…baby…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you." His fingers tenderly caressed the bruises that covered her face. "When did he do this to you?"

"Yesterday," she whispered, blinking continually as her weak eyes grew accustomed to the light. "Nicky…get me out of here," she begged. He looked up at his friends, who were crowded in the doorway.

"I…I can’t, baby. Not until he gets who he wants," he said softly.

"Tell us…please…where are the others? Where is this Kayla person?" Kevin asked. Her face hardened.

"I don’t know where they are. They ran away when you caught me. And I don’t know any Kayla." She turned her face to the wall.

"I suppose there is a really good reason why we’re doing this at eight in the morning," Ari grumbled as the group walked up the drive to the house.

"We need to catch them off guard," Kayla told her. "Jones and any of the people he has working for him should still be in bed. The help will be up, cleaning and preparing breakfast."

They trudged up the stone driveway to the door. Kelley took a deep breath and knocked. No on answered, and she knocked again. A small Korean woman answered the door. "Do you speak English?" Kelley asked politely.

"Of course I do," the woman replied, almost insulted.

"Yes, of course." Kelley stared directly into the woman’s dark eyes. "My friends and I have a flat tire a few miles down the road. We need to rest in a small room, perhaps a study, and be left alone for a few hours until our ride comes."

The woman stared at Kelley for a moment, then her eyes moved to the rest of the group. "Please…come in…you are welcome here."

"Thank you," Kelley said. The others breathed a sigh of relief.

"Can I get you anything to eat or drink while you wait?" The woman asked, as she led them to a small library.

"No…we’re fine, thank you. We would prefer to be left alone," Kelley told her.

As soon as the woman closed the doors to the small room, all eyes swung to Ari.
"Okay, Amethyst," Amanda asked. "Where is she?"

Nick tossed and turned. He hated himself. He could not understand why he was allowing the woman he loved to be kept in a cell, in the dark, alone, beaten. Why couldn’t he let her go? What was so awful about what she had done? He sat up, rubbing his eyes. From infancy, his mother had drilled into him the difference between right and wrong. What Lara had done was wrong. She had taken things that didn’t belong to her…including his heart.

"There’s a door…a stairwell…" Ari whispered, standing in the darkened hallway outside the library. "This way." She led the way out through the main foyer, and down past the dining room.

"I don’t see a doorway, Ari," Shae whispered.

"It’s hidden," Ari said suddenly. Her eyes flew around the hall. "Here!" She pushed aside a large tapestry, revealing a doorway.

"Kelley, stand guard," Kayla ordered.

"Why me?" She whined.

"Because you can talk anyone into going away!" Amanda replied before Kayla could even reply. The girls followed Ari down the stairs. Kelley sighed and leaned against the doorframe.

The Backstreet Boys all wandered out of their rooms at about the same time. None of them had slept very well, and they looked it.

"I think you should let her go, Nick," Howie said.

"Good morning to you, too, D," Nick said sarcastically.

"Dude, she stole millions of dollars worth of…" Kevin began.

"Who gives a shit, Kev? You see what he’s doing to her!" AJ said.

"That could be one of us, if we cross him," Brian pointed out. The group fell silent.

"Let’s get some breakfast. I’m starving," AJ said.

"Lara?" Amanda called softly. "Lara?"

They felt their way along the walls, looking for more rooms. "These walls are stone, Amanda. She’s not gonna hear us," Shae pointed out.

"Shut up. It makes me feel better to call for her," Amanda snapped.

"Fine," Shae sighed.

"This way," Kayla said suddenly. They stopped at a door that was locked. Amanda jiggled the handle.

"Out of my way," Shae said, placing her hand on the knob. She closed her eyes, and they heard the lock click.

They stepped inside a dark room. Shae felt until her hand came in contact with a switch. Light flooded the room, and they saw the two-way mirror. Amanda was at the other door before anyone could stop her. She threw the door open and turned on the light. The figure on the cot sat up.

"Well, it’s about fucking time."

Kelley hummed a tune as she anxiously watched the rooms around her. She froze in mid-hum as she heard voices. "Um…guys?" She hissed in the direction of the stairwell. "Guys!"

The men turned the corner, loudly wondering what was for breakfast. Howie took one look at the figure in the hallway and stopped short, causing everyone to run into his back.

"D, what’s your prob…holy fuck," AJ whispered.

Howie strode over and grabbed Kelley by the arm before she could protest. "Emerald! What the hell are you doing here?"

"Uh…Howie! Hi!" Kelley said brightly, desperately racking her brain to find a way to talk her way out of the situation. "What are you doing here?"

Howie was taken aback by her question, and paused for a moment. "Uh…uh…"

"I was here for a late dinner last night, and I left something here, so I came back," Kelley said.

"Exactly what did you leave?" Brian asked suspiciously.

"My underwear," she said defiantly, daring anyone to question her.

"Well, that’s gratitude for you!" Shae said, grabbing Lara and hugging her.

"Ow!" Lara yelled. "Easy!" She turned to Kayla. "Can we get out of here?" Without a word, their "boss" led them out of the cell and out to the observation room. Lara’s mouth dropped open. "So they DID watch everything!" She shuddered. The girls wanted to ask what had happened, but decided it wasn’t a good time.

As they went up the stairwell, Kayla stopped. "Quiet!" She barked. They listened, and heard male voices.

"Oh, no! They have Kelley!" Ari said without thinking. Kayla turned to her.

"WHO has her?"

Howie drew back as if he had been punched, and Kelley’s heart ached. She had said the first thing that had popped into her head, without thinking how much it had hurt him. "I…I…"

"This is bullshit. No one was here for dinner. WE were here for dinner," Kevin argued, grabbing Kelley again. "Now why don’t you tell us exactly what’s going on."

"I know what’s going on. She’s here to rescue her little friend," AJ sneered. The guys advanced on her, even Howie, and Kelley took a step back.

"I’d advise you to just turn around and go back upstairs," she said, her voice wavering. To her shock and dismay, the powers were not working . They continued to come towards her.

"You want to tell me exactly HOW you all robbed the museum?" Howie asked. "How in the hell did you get those pieces of pottery out of the gallery, and where are they now?"

"I…I…" Kelley stammered, as her back hit the opposite wall.

"Out of my way!" Amanda said quickly, running up the steps. "I’ll distract them. You guys get the hell out of here!"

As she ran, she cleared herself, and had disappeared by the time she hit the door. With all her might, she ran directly towards the Backstreet Boys, and threw herself at Brian. Brian bumped into Kevin, who bumped into Nick, who bumped into AJ, who bumped into Howie, and they all tumbled to the ground, pulling Kelley with them. Amanda jumped to her feet, pulling Kelley with her. "Run!" She hissed in Kelley’s ear. Kelley needed no second invitation.

The girls ran towards the front door as fast as they could, Ari helping the weakened Lara. The guys stared at them in shock.

"What the hell was that?" AJ asked.

"Who cares? They’re getting away! Jones is gonna kill us!" Nick yelled. They scrambled to their feet and took off out the door. The girls had a good head start, but the men knew they could quickly catch up.

"Holy shit!" Brian said, so shocked that he almost stopped running. Topaz had appeared out of nowhere, and was helping Amethyst with Lara. He started to run again when a pain seared through his chest. "Oh…God…" he panted, falling to his knees.

Nick whirled around. "Brian!" He rushed back to his friend.

"No…go…get…them…" Brian panted. "I’ll…be…fine…"

"AJ! Kevin! Howie!" Nick almost shrieked. The guys looked over their shoulders and stopped, then looked at the girls. "Get your asses over here!"

Lara heard the commotion behind them, and looked over her shoulder. She stopped suddenly, almost making Amanda and Ari fall over. Amanda looked behind them. "Oh my God…Brian!" She whispered.

"Come on! The truck is right around the corner!" Kayla yelled, as Shae and Kelley stopped as well to see what was going on. "What’s the hold up?" Lara took one look at Amanda’s fearful face, and pulled away from Ari. She started back towards the group of men. "Where’s she going? Lara, where the FUCK are you going?" Kayla shrieked. The girls looked at one another.

"Oh…God…Brian!" Amanda shrieked, running faster than even Lara. She pushed Nick and Howie out of the way, and fell to the ground next to Brian. She pulled his head onto her lap. "Brian…baby…" she wept, tears falling onto his face.

"Get your slimy hands off of him!" Kevin snapped, reaching out for her.

"Don’t touch her!" Shae said quietly. With a flash of her hand, she had Kevin flat on his back on the ground, and she had never even touched him.

"What the hell…" AJ and Howie took a step back.

"Topaz…" Brian said weakly, reaching up to touch her cheek. "My heart…I guess it was always with you…so now…" he was gasping for breath.

"Brian…baby…no…" she sobbed, rocking him back and forth.

"What’s…your name…really?" He managed.

"Amanda," she replied, stroking his face.

"Amanda," he repeated. "I love you, Amanda." He closed his eyes.

"NO!" Kevin yelled, reaching out for his cousin.

"I SAID stay back!" Shae shouted, flattening him again.

Amanda’s miserable eyes turned to her friends. "He’s…he’s…"

Lara wormed her way into the group around Brian, and placed her hand on Brian’s chest. She looked at her "sisters" one by one, and smiled. "You were the only family I ever had," she said softly. She closed her eyes, and pressed her hand over Brian’s heart.

Amanda, Kelley, Shae, and Ari all stared at Lara. "What the fuck are you saying?" Kelley gasped.

Shae’s legs gave out, and she fell to the ground next to Kevin. He put his arms around her, forgetting his former anger. "Lara…shut up…he’s gone…" Shae began to babble.

"You’re NOT doing this!" Ari shouted, grabbing at her. AJ pulled her back.

"Amethyst, what’s going on?" He asked, his dark eyes wide.

"Nick, come hold me," Lara said softly. He didn’t move, unable to believe that his best friend was dead. "NICKOLAS!" She shouted. "Hold me…please!" He came to kneel behind her, putting his arms around her.

"Lara…no…don’t…please…he’s gone," Amanda said, gently stroking Brian’s face. "He’s gone."

"No, he’s not," Lara whispered. She turned to look up at Nick. "I love you, Nick, even after everything. Never forget me."

"Lara, what are you…" Nick began. Something in her eyes made him stop talking. She closed her eyes, placing both hands over Brian’s heart. Nick felt something like an electric jolt flow through Lara, pushing her body against him. He tightened his hold on her.

"Oh…God…it hurts so bad!" She moaned, tears streaming down her cheeks as a pain roared through her chest. "Poor…Brian…"

"What the hell is going on here?" A voice shouted. No one turned to look at Jones, who was running across the grass. "Get your hands off of my man!" He shouted.

"Shut up, Chipper," Kayla said softly.

"And you…you witch…it’s about time we get you!" He snarled.

"Chipper, SHUT UP!" Kayla shrieked, reaching up and smacking his face.

With a deep sigh, Lara fell back against Nick’s chest just as Brian inhaled a deep breath and groaned. The Backstreet Boys gasped as their friend’s blue eyes fluttered open. He smiled a sleepy smile at Amanda. "Baby…what happened?" He said weakly.

"Oh…Brian…" Amanda burst into tears.

"Lara…Lara…wake up…Brian’s okay!" Nick exclaimed, slightly shaking the quiet form in his arms. Shae placed her hand over her mouth to keep from crying out. "Baby…he’s okay!"

"Emerald…what…how…" Howie whispered. Kelley buried her face in his shoulder.

"Lara?" Nick whispered, turning her so he could see her face. He looked up at Ari and AJ, who were the only couple still standing by now. His face was full of bewilderment. "Why won’t she wake up?" He sounded like a little boy.

"Oh…Nick…I’m sorry…" Ari said sorrowfully, kneeling next to him. "She’s…gone…"

"I don’t understand," AJ said.

"She saved Brian…took his place, you could say," Kelley said softly. The Backstreet Boys, and even Jones, all stared at her. "She can heal people. Could heal people," Kelley corrected herself. "Every one of us has a special power. Hers was the most special, though."

"Excuse me?" Kevin asked. "Special power?"

"Lara could heal. Amanda can make herself invisible. Ari can read minds and see the future. Shae can move things with her mind, and I can influence people’s minds and ideas," Kelley finished.

"Your name is Ari?" AJ said softly. Ari looked up at him and slowly nodded. "Ari…I like it." She smiled back.

"And what’s your name?" Howie asked.

"Kelley," she said quietly. "I’m so sorry about this, Howie. I never wanted to lie to you. We never figured on meeting you guys, or caring so much about you."

"This is a very sweet soap opera here, but we have to get back to the fact that number one, you all broke a hell of a lot of laws, and number two, there’s a dead body to get rid of," Jones broke in. Everyone glared at him.

"She’s NOT just a dead body!" Nick shrieked. "She’s the woman I love, you bastard! And we’re going to take her someplace quiet and beautiful…and lay her to rest!" Nick began to sob over Lara, his tears falling in her hair.

"Put her down," Kayla said suddenly. "Put her DOWN, Blondie!" She shouted. Nick was so shocked that he did as he was told, gently laying Lara down on the grass. "You girls, get your asses over here!" Kayla ordered. "Form a circle around her, except for this side." She pointed to Lara’s heart. She looked at Nick. "You sit here."

The stunned group did as she asked, without question, except for AJ. "What are you going to do?"

"We can’t heal her. We don’t have those kind of powers," Amanda gently reminded her.

"And I don’t have any at all," Nick added.

"Just do what I tell you!" Kayla snapped. "Place your hands on her, wherever you can reach," she told the girls. "You put your hands on her heart. You have it already anyway," she told Nick. AJ, Howie, and Kevin helped prop up the weakened Brian as Jones looked on in amazement. "Close your eyes…concentrate…" Kayla said softly.

"On what?" Shae asked.

"On how much you love her," Kayla replied, her eyes never leaving Nick’s face. The group closed their eyes, and mentally prayed.

"Please…baby…come back…don’t leave me when I’ve just found you…" Nick whispered.

"This is ridiculous," Jones snorted. "A bunch of witches, all of you." Without a word, Kevin turned and punched Jones square in the jaw, knocking him to the ground.

"Call her name," Kayla told Nick.

"Lara…baby…come back to me," he begged. "Lara…"

Lara drew in a choking breath and suddenly sat up. Her eyes fluttered open, darting madly from one person to another. "Wha…what…where…?"

"Shhh…baby…shhh…rest…" Nick said, drawing her into his arms. There was not a dry face among them, except for Jones.

"You all are crazy. How can you believe in all this…they’re common criminals! Thieves! They’ll get their reward, I guarantee you!" Jones said.

"They will not. WE will get our reward…by getting to spend the rest of our lives with them!" Howie shouted. "And if you do anything to try to stop us, I will personally kick your ass!"

"And I’LL hold you down while he does it!" AJ snarled.

"I’m sure all five us will have something to say about this," Kevin added.

"And don’t forget us," Shae said suddenly, taking a step towards Jones. "Do you really want to mess with a bunch of ‘witches’, as you call us?"

Jones looked from one to another. "Fuck you all…I’ll get you sooner or later." He turned and ran towards the house.

"I think we should get to a hospital," Nick said, looking from Lara to Brian. He bent down and kissed her cheek. "Can you ever forgive me for hurting you…for letting him hurt you?"

"Oh…baby…no. It was my fault. I should never have just let you think…"

"Okay okay we were all wrong. Let’s get the hell out of here," AJ said, as Kayla drove up with the van.

Epilogue One-Amanda

Three months later

"Finally," Amanda muttered, lugging her suitcase into the room and throwing it on the bed. Brian was out by the car, giving last minute orders to the chauffeur. She walked to the double doors that led to the lanai, and threw them open. She walked out onto the balcony and drew in a deep breath. The sea air was so invigorating.

"Happy?" A voice said in her ear as two arms wrapped around her waist. She sighed and snuggled back against him.

"Extremely," she replied, sighing again as he kissed behind her ear.

"I’m sorry it took so long to get out here. I swear, Hawaii is still like a new province sometimes." He turned her around so he could face her. "Mrs. Littrell, I would like nothing more than to start this honeymoon off by making sweet, passionate love to you."

Amanda wound her arms around his neck. "Mr. Littrell, I also would like nothing more." He swept her up into his arms and carried her back into the room. "Brian, put me down! You have to be careful!"

"Honey, I’m fine. I actually feel healthier than I have in years." He gently set her on the bed, then pushed her suitcase onto the floor. He crawled up her body, and lay beside her as he began to unbutton her blouse. His lips nibbled at her ear. "I noticed you didn’t give me a wedding gift," he murmured as her braless breasts were revealed.

"Mmmm…" she mumbled, unable to concentrate on anything but his hands on her breasts.

"So…what did you get me?" His hands stopped moving, and he moved to look into her eyes. "WELL?"

She laughed, moving out of his embrace. "You just stay here. I’m gonna go slip into something more…comfortable. Undress while I’m gone." She disappeared into the bathroom. Brian sighed and began to pull off his shirt.

He had been lying on the bed naked for over fifteen minutes, and there was still no sign of his bride of a few hours. "Honey, did you fall in or something?" He called. The bathroom door was open, but there was no sign of Amanda. He sat up and peered in the general direction of the bathroom. "Topaz?" He called. He knew she hated the name, and loved to tease him with it.

"Shhh…." A breeze seemed to whisper in his ear, and he felt air go over his body. "Just relax," the wind told him.

"Wha…" he began, then felt a light pressure on his mouth. A finger…asking him to be quiet.

Brian felt pressure on his back and shoulders, and moaned slightly as his muscles were massaged and relaxed. All the stress of the long plane flight and the fight through traffic was released as the skin was kneaded and rubbed. Hot oils were worked into his skin, and the scent of raspberries wafted into the air. A slight pressure on his chest made him lay down, and he closed his eyes as the lotion was rubbed into his chest. The pressure went lower and lower, and Brian gasped as he felt something wet on his incredibly hard penis. "Oh…God…" he panted. He could sense Amanda’s hair draping across his skin, and the pleasure of her mouth on him when he could see nothing was unbelievable. He moaned as she took him all the way in her mouth, and then continued down, planting little kisses on his thighs and legs until she reached his feet. "Amanda…please…I need to see you," he murmured.

"No," she whispered, moving up to lie against him. "I don’t want you to do anything but feel." She began to suck on his earlobe as her hand stroked him once more. He moaned and arched his back off the bed. He ached to touch her, but felt awkward grabbing around to try and feel her. Suddenly, he felt her lay totally across his body. "Can you feel me, Brian? Can you feel how much I want you?" He groaned loudly as she rubbed her wetness against him.

"Amanda, PLEASE!" He begged.

"Close your eyes," she whispered. He did as he was told, and she uncleared herself while licking his neck. "Here I am, sweetheart."

With a growl, he flipped her over and thrust into her, almost all in one movement. She shrieked and clawed at his back as he lifted her hips up to meet him. He pounded into her, eventually pinning her arms above her head. She was amazed at his strength and ferocity. She threw her head back, loving the way he was making her feel.

"Oh…God…Amanda…" he stammered. She could feel the muscles of his back tense under her hands, and the sound of her name uttered in such pleasure brought her to the edge just as he spurted inside of her.

Epilogue 2-Ariana

A few weeks after the incident in Korea

"What do you mean, you’re leaving?" Ariana shouted as AJ threw some wifebeaters and cargo pants into a suitcase. "We just got here!"

"The suite is paid through the week. You can stay as long as you want. I just need to get out of here." AJ snapped the suitcase shut. "I’m sorry." He stopped in front of Ari, caressed her cheek, and kissed her lightly on the mouth. "I love you."

"You love me? Fuck that!" Ari ran over and stood in front of the door. "AJ, we just got here. All of Sydney is waiting for us to explore it. What the hell’s going on?"

AJ sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, running his fingers through his hair. He looked up at Ari, his dark eyes full of sadness. "I can’t do this, Ari. I can’t be with you right now."

Ari sat on the floor, not even trying to find a chair. "What do you mean? Alex, I thought we loved each other. I thought…"

"Oh, God, Ari, I DO love you…so very much. I guess I just can’t deal with this…thing you have."

"You make it sound like a communicable disease or something," Ari replied, trying to joke. AJ didn’t smile.

"It’s hard for me to deal with the fact that you know what I’m gonna say before I even say it…that you can almost read my thoughts. I feel like I have no privacy…no time for me."

"AJ, I realize that you didn’t know about my… "thing" when we first met, or when we fell in love. That is my fault. But after everything that happened in Korea, and we had that talk, I thought you understood, and that you were gonna try…"

"I HAVE tried!" AJ burst out, jumping to his feet. "I’ve tried my damndest, and it just isn’t working." He sighed. "I’m beginning to see why Jones had such a hard time with Kayla."

In a flash, Ari’s hand flew out and she slapped him across the face. "Do not compare ANYTHING have to do with me with ANYTHING having to do with that fucking prick Chipper Jones, do you hear me?" She shouted. "If you can’t handle the heat, then get the fuck out of my kitchen!"

Without a word, AJ picked up his suitcase and left the room, slamming the door behind him. Ari fell onto the bed, sobbing her heart out.

Epilogue Three-Kelley

Around the same time of Amanda/Brian’s honeymoon

"Howie…I can’t. I can’t do it. I can’t go out there," Kelley said, cringing in her fiancé’s arms as the cheering got louder.

"Baby, you can do anything. I want you to do this. Please?" His puppy dog eyes stared down at her. "For me?"

"That’s cheap. Bribery, even," she retorted, trying to make him stop looking at her. She was not successful. In the past few months, he had learned to block her from affecting his mind.

"Come on. This is your big break." He took her hand and pulled her out onstage.

They took their places in the center of the studio stage, and Kelley ordered her hands to stop shaking as Howie began to sing the love song. When it came her turn to sing, she decided to think of nothing, and just sing it.

A few weeks after the incident in Korea, Howie, Kelley, AJ, and Ariana had gone to Sydney for a vacation…kind of a get to know one another better kind of thing. AJ and Ariana had had a falling out almost immediately, and AJ had returned to the States while Ariana disappeared into the Outback for a week. Howie and Kelley had been sunning around the pool of their hotel when she had started to sing along with the radio. Howie had stared at her.

"Why didn’t you ever tell me you could sing?" He demanded.

"Um…because I didn’t think I could?" She said, wondering where the attitude was coming from. Oh, dear God, let’s not fight. I don’t want to end up like Ari and AJ, she thought.

"You’re amazing!"

"You’re biased," she replied, smiling.

"No, really. Now try this." He sang a simple melody and asked her to follow him. To his amazement, she picked it up instantly, and he began to harmonize with her. She was a natural.

And now here they were, on the Letterman show, their first live performance of the song Howie had written. He had written a love song for Kelley, planning on recording it as a solo. As soon as he heard her sing, however, he rewrote it as a duet.

Kelley was almost amazed when the music ended and the audience cheered. David Letterman came over and shook their hands, and led them over to the sofa by his desk.

"So, Howie, who is this lovely creature? Wherever did you find her?" Dave asked.

"We met in Rome. Love at first sight, you could say," Howie replied, as Kelley blushed furiously.

"Emerald…what a fascinating name," Dave noted. "You must have had creative parents."

"Yes, I did," she said shyly. "My sisters are named Topaz, Amethyst, Sapphire, and Opal."

"Now that sounds like a music group that would give Jewel a run for her money," Dave chortled. The audience groaned, and Howie took the opportunity to squeeze her hand.

"You’re doing great!" He whispered.

"I can’t believe it! I was just on Letterman!" Kelley shrieked as they left the studio. She jumped into Howie’s arms and he whirled her around.

"Just like I said…you were a natural." He put her down and held her face in his hands. "Did you have a good time, though?"

"It was great…fantastic…I hardly even saw the people. It was all the music…the song…YOUR song." She gently kissed him. "Thank you, Howie. It’s all been like a dream come true."

"Then I guess you’re ready to go into the studio soon."

Kelley stopped walking. "The studio?"

"Yeah. The recording studio. Kevin is gonna let us use the one in his basement."

"I can’t record…I can’t even sing!" She protested.

Howie raised an eyebrow. "I think the audience in there would beg to differ. I think you really have a future in this, Kel. And if you’ll let me, I want to produce you."

Kelley opened her mouth and then closed it. "Howie…are you sure? I mean…do you think I can…"

"I KNOW you can." He put his arms around her and gave her a hug. "And I already have the title of the album: Thief of Hearts."

Epilogue Four-Lara

A few months after the incident in Korea

"You’re wearing out a path in the carpet," Ari observed from her seat on Lara and Nick’s bed. Lara stopped pacing long enough to make a face at her, then continued on her path back and forth in front of the bathroom door.

"I can’t…I can’t wait…I have to look!" Lara said suddenly.

"If you take one step towards that door, I will kick your ass," Ari told her, glaring up at her friend. "Now, sit down and talk to me. You only have a few minutes more to wait."

Lara sighed, and flopped down onto the bed, immediately bouncing back up again. "Are you sure you can’t tell? You’re Ms. Know-it-All…can’t you see?"

"No," Ari said patiently for the twentieth time. "I’ve tried, and I can’t."

"Have you heard from AJ?" Lara asked suddenly. Ari’s eyes turned to stone.

"No. Nothing. The only things I hear about him are either on Entertainment Tonight, or when I overhear the other guys talking."

"Ari, why don’t you call him?" Lara asked softly. "You can patch things up. You could…"

"No. If he really wanted to be with me instead of all the bimbos they show him with, he’d have called ME by now." Ari glanced at her watch. "Okay…it’s been long enough." Lara ran to the bathroom, picking up the little stick of plastic. She stumbled back into the bedroom, flopped onto the bed again, and began to sob. "Well? Is that happy sobbing or distressed sobbing?" Ari asked.

"I’m not sure!" Lara wailed, throwing her arm out dramatically so Ari could take the pregnancy test. Ari looked at it, then looked at her friend.

"Congratulations, Mom."

Lara rolled over, glaring at her friend through her tears. "Knock it off," she snapped. She closed her eyes. "This CANNOT be happening to me."

"Honey, why are you so upset? Shouldn’t you be happy?" Ari asked. "You live with the man you love, one of the greatest guys I know, who thinks your feet hardly even touch the ground. What’s to worry about? Haven’t you guys talked about kids?"

"Yes…like YEARS from now," Lara sniffed. "He’s just getting started on this solo thing. He’s only twenty. He doesn’t want kids NOW. He probably won’t even want ME now." New tears began to flow. "And who knows what they’ll be like. What if they’re like monsters, or something?"

Ari thought that Lara was being a bit melodramatic, but she understood where her friend was coming from. They had all often wondered if their children would have any powers, or if they would be "normal", or be like some kind of mutants. "Honey, I’m sure he will still want you, and only love him more. You have to give him the chance to decide. You have to tell him."

Around eight o’clock that night, Nick stumbled through the front door, mentally and physically exhausted from his long day arguing with the people at the record company. They wanted more bubblegum pop, and he wanted something with more of an R and B feel to it. They finally broke up the meeting at seven fifteen, and he hurried home, stopping only for Chinese food for dinner.

"Honey? I’m home?" He called, smiling at the cornyness of his words. He always said that when he came in, and then Lara would always come running from whatever corner of the large house she was currently in. They called it their "Leave it to Beaver" act. Only this time, she didn’t come running. "Honey? I got what you wanted…chicken and broccoli!" He called. He took off his jacket, and went wandering through the first floor, Chinese food in tow.

He went up the large staircase two steps at a time. "Baby?" He pushed open the doors of all the guestrooms, thinking she might be cleaning or reorganizing, since they had only been in the house a few weeks. He heard a noise coming from the master bathroom as he walked into the master bedroom. "A-ha! I hope you’re waiting under tons of bubbles wearing nothing but a smile!" He said as he walked into the bathroom. What he saw instead was Lara, sitting on the floor in front of the vanity, surrounded by balled up tissues. "Oh my God!" He exclaimed. "Are you okay? Are you sick? Do you need me to call the doctor? Is it your heart?"

"I’m fine…I wish that was all it was," was all she would say. He put his arms around her, and she gratefully sobbed on his shoulder for the next twenty minutes. Nick said nothing, just sat and gently rocked her back and forth. "How was your day?" She said finally. He smiled, easily recognizing her attempt to change the subject.

"Miserable. We got nowhere. I guess I’m gonna have to compromise and throw in a semi-bubble gum song to ease their minds." He leaned back and tilted her tear-stained face up to his. "Wanna tell me what’s going on?"

"Not really, but…" Lara began, then realized that Ari was right. She owed it to Nick to tell him.

"Nick…honey…I’m…I’m…I’m pregnant."

Nick stared at her. "That’s it? That’s what you’re so upset about?"

"Well…"

"Honey, that’s WONDERFUL!" He exclaimed, squeezing her in one of his giant hugs. "I’m so happy!"

Lara sighed and leaned against him, realizing that he would never understand her worry or paranoia.

Epilogue Five-Shae

Also a few months after Korea

"And did you see them applauding? Wasn’t it great?" Kelley was saying as Shae chopped up vegetables. "I was a nervous wreck, but I loved every minute of it." Kelley swung her feet with excitement. She was sitting on the countertop in the kitchen of Shae’s apartment, watching Shae make vegetable soup.

"I did see them, and I applauded all by myself, from right over there on my sofa," Shae told her, smiling at her friend’s excitement. "Do you think you could actually HELP, or something, maybe chop up some celery?"

"Nope. I’m so excited I’d probably chop my fingers off, and then I couldn’t hold the microphone."

"Lame excuse," Shae retorted, but reached for the celery herself.

"So, what’s the big deal? I didn’t know you were such a whiz in the kitchen," Kelley said.

"Well, I’m sick of eating junk all the time. I thought I’d make a big pot of soup, and then freeze some of it for another time. You’re welcome to stay; I’ll have a lot."

"No thanks." Kelley slid off the counter. "Howie’s taking me out to celebrate the Letterman thing."

Shae raised an eyebrow. "Must be nice to be engaged to a rich man," she teased. Kelley rolled her eyes, then grew serious.

"You haven’t heard from…"

"A few phone calls at the beginning. We were never as close as the rest of you anyway." Shae blew off the subject, though it was one she often laid awake at night thinking about. What had happened between her and Kevin?

"Well, I’d better go. I want to soak in a luxurious bubble bath so I look AND smell good tonight."

"Have a great time!" Shae called after her as Kelley let herself out.

Shae finished up the vegetables and put the soap on to cook. She debated on taking a shower or flopping onto the sofa and watching TV. The remote won out over the shower, and she got herself comfortable on the sofa. She began flipping channels, but nothing caught her interest. A knock at her door startled her.

"NOW what did you forget, Kel?" She called as she rolled herself off the sofa. "You are the most absentminded…" Shae threw open the door and stopped in midsentence when she saw Kevin Richardson standing in the hall. "Um…uh…Kevin….what a surprise."

"Hi, Shae." Kevin shuffled his feet uncomfortably. "Can I come in?"

"Oh, God, sure!" She moved aside so he could come in. "Sit down, please."

Kevin sat on one end of the sofa, and Shae sat at the other end. They looked everywhere but at each other, until Kevin finally spoke.

"I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch lately. I have been so busy…" he began.

"That’s okay. I understand. I’ve been busy too, getting a REAL job, setting up this apartment…" Shae replied. Kevin looked around.

"This is new? You have it decorated really nice," he said politely. He turned his green eyes on her. "This is incredibly short notice, but I was wondering if you’d like to go to dinner with me. Tonight."

"Tonight?" Shae gasped, looking from her dismal self to the pot of soup bubbling on the stove.

"Well, I understand if you have other plans. I just thought…I wondered…" he stammered.

"No, I don’t have plans!" Shae said quickly, then kicked herself for sounding so desperate. "I just…I’d need some time to get ready, and…"

"Oh, of course," he said. "I’m in hotel nearby. Could I come pick you up in a few hours, around seven or so?"

"Uh, sure. That is plenty of time," she replied. "Can I ask where we’re going so I know how to dress?" Kevin named a very expensive and exclusive restaurant, and it took all Shae had to keep her mouth from dropping open. "That sounds nice. I’ll expect you around seven, then."

Kevin left, and Shae turned off the stove, and flew into the shower.

At ten of seven, she was sitting on the sofa once more, flipping through the stations. Her hair was done, she smelled like apple bubble bath, and her short shimmering dress showed off her legs to perfection. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. Her mind was racing. Why had Kevin just shown up at her door all of a sudden? How did he even know where she lived? What did he want? Why in the world are you even arguing, she asked herself. He’s back and he asked you out for a nice dinner.

A knock at the door at seven on the dot made her jump. She smoothed her hair one last time and opened the door. There stood Kevin in a dark green Armani suit that brought out his eyes. Shae mentally wiped the drool off her chin and made herself smile up at him.

"Hi, Kevin."

"Shae…wow…you look fantastic. I had forgotten how gorgeous you look when you dress up."

Shae blushed prettily, and went to the closet to get the wrap that matched the dress. Kayla had let them keep all the clothes from their trip, and this was an outfit that Shae had never gotten to wear. She grabbed her purse and locked the door behind them. They didn’t say much in the elevator, and she was surprised when she saw the limo in front of her building.

"I thought we’d go all out tonight," Kevin said as he held the door for her.

Once again, they were fairly quiet on the ride to the restaurant. He held the door for her once again, and the maitre’d quickly led them to their table. They had ordered drinks and appetizers before Kevin finally looked her in the eye.

"I’m sure you’re wondering why I just suddenly appeared tonight," he began. She nodded, but her eyes invited him to continue. "I have to go to this…thing…next month, and wondered if you’d be my date."

"A ‘thing’? What kind of ‘thing’?" She asked.

"The ghammoiehrds," he mumbled.

"Excuse me?" She said.

"The Grammy Awards," he mumbled more clearly.

"The Grammy Awards? As in THE Grammy Awards? THE Grammy Awards?" Shae knew she sounded like a fool, but she could not stop herself.

"Yes. I need a date, and I know we’d look great together, and I…"

"We’d look great together? Is that the only reason you asked me, because I’d make you look good?" Shae snapped. "I mean, I guess that should flatter me but for some reason it doesn’t, Kevin!"

"Would you keep your voice down?" He murmured, reaching across the table for her hand.

"No, I will NOT!" She said loudly, standing so fast her chair almost fell over. "I don’t hear from you for MONTHS, and here you are, asking me to go out with you just because we’d look good together. Forget it." She yanked her wrap off the back of her chair. "I shoulda stayed home and ate soup!" Shae stormed out of the restaurant, with Kevin close behind.

"Shae, wait! Will you let me explain, at least?" He yelled, getting angrier by the minute. He grabbed her arm, and in an instant he was on his ass on the ground.

"Oh…Kevin…I’m sorry!" She bent down and helped him up. "When I’m angry, I tend to use it without thinking." She helped him brush off the expensive suit.

"That came out totally wrong in there. Can’t we go back in and talk about it?" He asked. "And what’s all this about soup?"

"I was making soup for dinner when you stopped by and…"

"Let’s go back and eat some then." He whistled to the driver, who seemed amazed to see them outside already.

"But Kevin, we’re here and…"

"And we’d both be happier at your place. Come on."

Epilogue Six

"Dammit, Kelley, answer your freaking phone!" Shae snapped to the rings at the other end. She sighed and hung up after the fifteenth ring. It was three in the morning, and Kelley STILL wasn’t home. Well, if I was with Howie, I wouldn’t come home, either, Shae said to herself, then mentally kicked herself for lusting after her friend’s future husband.

She rubbed her eyes, nowhere near tired. Kevin had left about twenty minutes earlier. They had eaten the soup, which was not the best but he emptied his bowl. They sat and talked the night away, getting to know each other but not venturing onto the topic of what had happened in Korea. Shae knew he was still uncomfortable with the fact that all five girls had some weird powers that he couldn’t understand, and that he wasn’t quite sure he believed in it all, even after what he had seen. He had thoroughly apologized for what he had said in the restaurant, blaming it all on nerves. Shae wasn’t quite ready to forgive him, but she had let it drop, for the moment.

She glanced at the clock, wondering who she could call. Who was up? No one. She wandered over to her computer and decided to see who was online. No one. She frowned and turned off the computer. She changed into her pjs, and climbed into bed. She stared at the ceiling until around five, then finally dozed off.

The phone rang at nine o’clock, shaking Shae out of a deep sleep. "Good morning, sleepyhead!" Amanda’s voice rang out.

"I hate you…I fucking hate you…" Shae mumbled, rolling over and glaring at her clock. "What the hell do you want?"

"Lunch…the Raspberry Lounge…eleven thirty…be there." Amanda hung up. Shae groaned and rolled back over.

"I know…I know…I’m late…I’m sorry," Shae apologized, as she gave hugs to her friends.

"I told you she’d be late," Ari remarked to Lara. Shae heard her, and stuck out her tongue.

"So, what’s going on?" Shae took her seat next to Kelley.

"Nothing, just a lunch for the girls," Amanda replied, motioning to a waiter. The girls gave drink orders.

"You are so tan. You make me ill," Kelley remarked to Amanda.

"You also look like you’ve had a lot of good sex," Ari added, causing Amanda to blush furiously.

"That is NONE of your business," Amanda replied, but the smile on her face told all.

The drinks came, and they ordered appetizers and their entrees. "Okay. One of the reasons I wanted us all to meet is because we have a few things to discuss," Ari began.

"Ari, not now," Lara whispered, causing the other three girls to stare at her. They had not noticed that she was very quiet, like she had been when they first met her.

"Uh-oh. What’s going on? Do we have to kick Blondie’s ass?" Shae asked angrily.

"No! Nothing like that! And don’t call him Blondie!" Lara snapped, then smiled at Shae apologetically. "Sorry."

"Blame it on hormones," Ari suggested. Kelley’s mouth dropped open.

"You’re not…"

"Pregnant?" Amanda shrieked, almost knocking over her water glass. Everyone in the quaint restaurant turned to stare, but she could have cared less. "Oh, honey, that’s WONDERFUL!"

"Yes…wonderful…" Lara said faintly.

"You’re not happy?" Kelley asked gently.

"What does Nick say about all this?" Shae asked.

"Yes, I’m happy, and so is he. I swear, since I found out last week and told him, he’s been buying every stuffed animal east of the Mississippi. He just doesn’t realize why I’m so worried."

"Do you feel okay? Is your heart doing all right?" Amanda asked. She had become quite the expert on heart problems, though Brian had been in excellent health since Korea.

"I feel fine. I’m just worried about what kind of baby I’ll have," Lara began.

"There are only two kinds," Kelley interrupted. Shae shushed her.

"I mean, what if it’s some kind of monster with weirdo powers? What if it’s like an X-Men baby, or something…like a mutant?" Lara said, staring down at her salad.

"And what if it’s a beautiful baby boy or girl with its father’s blue eyes and its mother’s dark hair?" Shae said softly. "With no power except the power to wrap us all around its little baby fingers?"

"Don’t worry," Ari added. "Whatever happens, we’ll take care of it." The others nodded, and Lara finally smiled.

"You guys are the best."

"Okay…so now can I talk about being on David Letterman?" Kelley asked. The others groaned.

"No. I want to talk about Kevin asking me to the Grammy Awards," Shae put in.

"What?" Ari shrieked.

"You saw Kevin?" Lara asked.

"Fuck Kevin. You’re going to the Grammy Awards?" Ari yelled.

"Yes, I saw him last night. Yes, he asked me to the Grammy Awards, and yes, I’m going," Shae said, smiling in satisfaction.

"My life is totally NOT fair," Ari moaned melodramatically. Amanda shoved her.

"So let me get this straight…I sang on Letterman, Lara’s having a baby, Shae’s going to the Grammy Awards, and Amanda just got back from ten days of great sex in Hawaii," Kelley finished. She turned to Ari. "Now we just have to get dumbass McLean back where he is supposed to be: with Ari."

"Maybe I don’t WANT him back," Ari pointed out. The others ignored her.

"Bri and I were talking about this. I say he distracts AJ, and then I go invisible and give him a beat down sandwich," Amanda suggested.

"I say we kidnap him like they kidnapped Lara, tie him to a chair, and make him listen to Michael Bolton ‘til he caves," Kelley put in.

"I say we tie him down naked, and let cockroaches crawl all over him until he gives," Shae added.

"AJ tied down naked…not a bad idea…" Lara observed. Ari slapped her.

"Enough!" She shouted in frustration. "If he doesn’t want to be with me, he doesn’t want to be with me. I can’t do anything about it."

"Honey, he wants to be with you. Anyone who watches the two of you together can see that," Shae said softly. "He’s just afraid of what he doesn’t understand. Kevin’s the same way."

"We all have to deal with this," Lara told her.

"Yeah, well, you’re power is easy to deal with. At least you don’t have to worry about saying something, and having Nick say, ‘How did you know that? Did you read my mind? Did you know what I was saying before I said it?’" Ari told her. Lara blushed.

"No, I just have to worry about having a mutant baby," Lara mumbled.

"If you did, maybe you could go on Letterman, too!" Kelley remarked. Even Lara had to smile.

"We’ll get him back. He’s no match for the five of us," Amanda told Ari.

Epilogue Seven

A few weeks later

"I am so jealous. This is so not fair," Ari whined to Lara as they drove downtown. They were meeting the other girls at one of the very chic boutiques downtown, to help Shae pick out her dress for the Grammy Awards.

"Ari, just be happy that you will not spend the next few months growing into Shamu," Lara snapped. She was well into the throes of morning sickness, and had no patience for anyone.

"Oh be quiet. You love the fact that you’re having a baby, and you know it," Ari told her.

"Oh yes…I LOVE gorging myself on junk food, and then watching it come back up the next morning!" Lara said sarcastically. Ari sighed but kept quiet.

They parked at a meter, fed it some quarters, then walked down to the first boutique on the street. Amanda, Kelley, and Shae were seated inside.

"I didn’t want to start until you guys got here," Shae told them.

"Wait, before you do anything…I have a confession to make." Kelley looked from one to the other, but her eyes kept darting back to Ari.

"You’re secretly seeing Chipper Jones," Amanda suggested.

"Oh, God, how gross!" Shae said, shoving Amanda.

"I need to pick out a dress, too. Howie asked me to go to the awards as well," Kelley said sheepishly.

"Oh, cool! Maybe we can sit together!" Shae gushed. Ari sighed and flopped onto a chair, pouting.

"Do you think they ALL got invitations?" Amanda asked slowly, trying not to sound jealous.

"Well, I would think that any of them could get in…I mean…they’re still pretty big, even though they’re done touring for a while," Kelley pointed out.

"Did Nick say anything to you?" Amanda asked Lara. Lara shook her head.

"But then again, I haven’t exactly been in the best of moods lately. I don’t blame him for not wanting to talk to me."

"Well, Brian didn’t say anything to me," Amanda told her. "Oh, well. I hope you two have a great time," she said to Shae and Kelley. "Now, let’s find you some killer dresses!"

The girls pawed through the racks that were placed by the dressing rooms, and they soon had Kelley and Shae stepping in and out of designer gowns and suits.

"You know, I think I’ll just use one of the outfits Kayla gave us. I’m sick of trying things on," Kelley moaned.

"Kel, this is only the first shop!" Ari protested.

"Speaking of Kayla, has anyone heard from her?" Shae asked as she stepped into of a gorgeous Versace gown the color of pearls.

"Last I heard, she was down in the Caribbean, vacationing with Val Kilmer," Lara told them. She had stayed in contact the most with their former boss.

"From Chipper Jones to Val Kilmer…some things just aren’t fair," Shae mumbled.

Lara was saved from replying by a commotion at the front door. "These are all rags! Why in the world did you bring me here?" A shrill voice raged.

"Daphne, this is one of the best shops on this street! And you haven’t liked anything we’ve seen so far," a more patient female voice replied.

A petite woman with long flaming red hair made her way back to where the five girls were standing. She began flipping through the racks. "Trash! All of it!" She snapped. She turned to look at the five friends, who were all staring open-mouthed at her rudeness. "Wait a minute. I like that one. Give me that!" She pointed to the dress that Shae wore. "I’ll double your commission for it!" She told Lara, who stared at her open-mouthed.

"We don’t WORK here," Ari told her angrily, the first one to find her tongue.

"Even better. Give me that dress!" She shouted.

"Now, Daphne, there are other…" her friend began.

"No! I like that one!" She took a step towards Shae, as if to physically remove the dress from her body.

"Look, honey, you do NOT want to mess with her," Kelley warned her.

"Don’t talk to me," the redhead said, never even looking in Kelley’s direction. "I am going to the Grammy Awards with AJ McLean, and I need that dress!"

Ari sat down weakly, barely making it to a chair. "YOU’RE going with AJ McLean?" She asked.

"Yes…and the Awards are MUCH more important than whatever little soiree YOU’RE going to, so hand over the dress!" She yelled.

"Okay," Shae sighed. "You’re right. The dress would look MUCH better on you than on me." She began to take the dress off.

"Shae!" Amanda hissed.

"Shut up, Amanda," Shae murmured. She handed the dress to the other woman. "Here you are."

The woman grabbed it without so much as a thank you. She pulled it on, struggling to zip up the back. Her friend finally took pity on her, helping to zip it up. She turned in front of the mirror triumphantly. "See? I KNEW this dress was made for me."

"You’re absolutely right," Shae replied with a wave of her hand. A small ripping sound filtered through the air, and a small tear appeared at the waist of the dress. "However, don’t you think it’s a bit too small for you?" Shae added. The woman stared down at the gaping hole. "And I think it’s a bit tight in the…" another wave of the hand, and another rip, this time in the bosom. The woman gasped, and it was all the women could do to keep from laughing.

"What are you doing? Stop it, you little nothing! I’ll…I’ll…I’ll call the police! I’ll get AJ to sue you!" The woman shrieked.

"Oh, puhleeze do!" Shae said.

The woman struggled out of the dress and threw it into the corner. She stomped out of that room and went back out to the dresses in the front of the store. Once she was finally out of earshot, the girls doubled up in laughter.

"Oh…Shae…that was priceless!" Ari gasped, tears running down her cheeks.

"I had to. I couldn’t help it. I MUST say, though, that there is NO punishment we can come up with for AJ that matches that woman," Shae told her.

"I agree," Ari said. Shae picked up the dress, waving her hand over it once more. Miraculously, the rips and tears seemed to mend themselves.

They went out to the counter, and Shae gave it to the salesgirl to wrap up. "Enjoy dressing in rags, Cinderella?" Daphne sneered. Shae ignored her. The bells on the door jangled, and everyone turned to look.

"Where’s the most beautiful pregnant woman in the world?" Nick called, his eyes searching the room. He smiled his gorgeous smile when he found Lara. "These are for you." He pulled a bouquet of white roses from behind his back and held them out to her.

"Oh, these are beautiful!" Lara said in surprise. She gave him a huge hug.

"And where is the most beautiful wife in the world?" Brian asked, pulling Amanda into his arms.

"I’m beginning to feel nauseous," Ari whispered to Shae, but loud enough for everyone to hear. Lara swatted at her with her roses.

"We are here to take you beautiful ladies to lunch," Brian informed everyone.

Shae picked up her box and looked at Daphne, whose mouth had dropped open. "That’s MS. Cinderella to you," Shae said haughtily. The guys turned to look at who she was talking to.

"Oh, hello, Daphne," Brian said with a polite smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

"Hey," Nick said, almost coldly. "Come on, baby girl," he said to Lara, snuggling her close against him as they walked out.

As soon as they were outside, Lara turned on him. "You KNOW that wench?"

"Well, we met her once at AJ’s," he said, blushing. "I thought you might get mad if I…"

"Damn right I’m mad!" She shouted.

"Sweetie, no need to miscarry over that tramp," Amanda told her. She turned to Brian. "Why the HELL didn’t you tell us you knew who AJ was seeing?"

"Well…I…" Brian stammered, looking at Ari and blushing a dark red.

"Forget about her. I’m starving. Let’s get lunch…and it better be somewhere good and expensive after this," Lara said. The five girls strode down the street, leaving the guys in their wake.

Epilogue Eight

Later that evening, Nick and Lara were snuggling in their bed, flipping channels on the TV. "A hundred freaking channels and nothing’s on!" Nick complained. He turned off the TV, and pulled Lara closer. "Let’s not watch TV."

"Honey, did you get an invitation to the Grammy Awards?" She said, pulling back.

"I don’t know…maybe…I don’t remember." He nuzzled behind her ear, kissing her neck.

"You don’t REMEMBER getting an invitation to the GRAMMY Awards?" She asked, ignoring his advances. Nick sighed and pulled back, realizing he was not going to get lucky.

"Yes, I got one," he finally admitted.

"And you weren’t going to tell me? You didn’t think that maybe I’d wanna go?" She sat up and stared at him.

"Well, I didn’t know if you…whether you’d…" he stammered.

"You’re ashamed to go with me, aren’t you? You think I’m a cow!" Lara burst into tears. She got out of bed and pulled on a robe, tying it tight over her almost non-existent stomach.

"Honey…no…that’s not it…not at all!" Nick protested. "I just wanted to stay at home and…"

"I’m not listening to your excuses!" She shouted. She left the room, slamming the door. He jumped as he heard the door to the guestroom slam as well. He sighed, pounding a pillow in frustration.

"And when were you going to tell ME that you had an invitation?" Amanda shouted at Brian.

"I was going to get around to it eventually. I don’t want to go, ‘Manda. I’m tired of all that stuff. I just want to have a regular life," Brian told her, his sky blue eyes pleading.

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe your WIFE might want to go? That maybe it would be a big deal to ME?" Amanda yelled.

"Baby, I’m sorry, I…"

"Please get out of this room," she finally snapped. Brian’s mouth dropped open.

"Honey, this is my bedroom…"

"OUT!" She yelled. Brian retreated quickly, carefully closing the door behind him.

Amanda was furious. She threw a shoe at the bedroom door, and felt a bit better. She leaned across the bed and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" Nick snapped as he answered the phone on the first ring.

"Put your girlfriend on!" Amanda ordered. He sighed, realizing that Brian must have told her about the invitation as well. He left the bedroom and knocked on the guestroom door.

"Lara, it’s Amanda." He waited until he heard Lara say hello, and then he hung up. He went down to the study, picked up the phone that they used for the Internet, and called Brian at his cellphone number.

"You will not BELIEVE this!" Amanda said in Lara’s ear.

"Let me guess…the man you love has received an invitation to the Grammy Awards, and had decided not to tell you because he didn’t really want to go in the first place," Lara said wryly.

"Yes!" Amanda shrieked. "I am SO mad!"

"Well, at least it isn’t because you look like a cousin to Orca," Lara said, sighing.

"Lara, you are not fat! Not even close," Amanda told her.

"Whatever. Listen, do you REALLY want to go to the Awards?" Lara asked.

"Yes, of course I do!"

"Do you think you can find something to wear, even though the Awards are next week?"

"Yeah, I have all those clothes from Kayla," Amanda said, wondering where this was going.

"Think you can get the invitation?"

"Hello…can we say invisible?"

"Okay…get the invitation…find something to wear…plan on meeting me and Ari about two hours before the awards, at her house, okay?"

"Um, sure…" Amanda said, smiling broadly as she hung up.

"Let me get this straight," Ari said when Lara called her ten minutes later. "You got us into the Grammy Awards?"

"Nick gave me his tickets, and there are two, so…and Amanda is using Brian’s," Lara told her.

"Wait a minute…I’m sensing that Nick didn’t just GIVE you his ticket," Ari said warily.

"He will though…he will. So, do you have something to wear? Something gorgeous?"

"Of course," Ari said, insulted. "I ALWAYS look good."

"Excellent. See you then."

Lara hung up, her mind already spinning. She HAD to find a way to get AJ and Ari back together, and she would need the combined forces of the other girls to help her do it. Sickness and nausea suddenly forgotten, she opened the door to the guestroom and went downstairs to think.

She ran into Nick, who was on his way out the door. "Have a good time," she called over her shoulder.

"Don’t you even care where I’m going?" He asked her.

"Well, we aren’t married, so I have no place to ask. I’m just your pregnant girlfriend. Besides, whenever you want to pout, you hang out with B-Rok."

Nick sighed and left without another word, wondering how she could sometimes read minds as well as Ari could.

Epilogue Nine

Pounding, followed by the doorbell, followed by more pounding awakened Lara at three in the morning. She threw on her robe and made her way downstairs, cursing under her breath the whole way. She looked through the peephole and saw Brian’s chauffeur supporting her boyfriend. She sighed, and opened the door.

"Thank you, Daniel. I’ll take it from here."

"Miss, are you sure you can…" he asked politely as Nick practically fell into her arms.

"I’m fine, Daniel, thank you." She smiled at him, and then half carried, half-supported Nick as he stumbled in the door.

"I dinnit drive, baby…you tole me nevereverever to drive when I’d been drinkin…so I dinnit…" Nick slurred, planting a sloppy kiss on her cheek. Her anger mixed with relief that he was home, as well as embarrassment for his present condition. Lara hated seeing people so drunk they couldn’t even stand up.

"Do you feel sick?" She asked him.

"Nope. I feel fine! I could even dance! Wanna see?" Nick pulled away from her, weaving on his feet. "Everybaaaaaaady…" he sang, trying to do the dance but instead almost falling on his head.

"I believe you, Nick. Let’s go upstairs."

"Nope. I wanna stay down here. It’s…closer…down…here…" he said, suddenly drowsy. He wove his way into the den, collapsing on the sofa. He smiled his beautiful smile. "I…stay…down…here…" he mumbled, his blue eyes fluttering closed. They opened once more. "Love you…baby…" he whispered before dozing off. Lara sighed, her anger returning. She stomped up the stairs, locking herself in their room.

Clanking pots and pans shook Nick awake at eleven the next morning. He began to sit up, then fell back with a groan as the room swirled around him. He wondered if this was what fish saw in an aquarium. He painfully made his way to his feet, and headed for the kitchen.

The smell of bacon, eggs, and sausage began to make his stomach swirl worse than the room had. He groaned as he poked his head in the door and saw Lara at the stove. She had her back to him, and he could see the tenseness in her shoulders. He groaned again. This was not going to go well.

"Baby…I…" he began.

"Good MORNING, Nick!" She whirled around, smiling cheerfully. "I thought since I didn’t get but two hours of sleep last night, I’d get up early and make you breakfast!" She put a plate in front of him, piled high with runny scrambled eggs, greasy bacon, and a few links of sausage.

"Baby, that’s sweet…but I just want toast and coffee," he mumbled, closing his eyes as the smells filled his nose. He wanted nothing more than to push the plate away, but he also didn’t want to do anything that might insult her.

"Oh, I’m so sorry," Lara said. She sounded sympathetic, but he knew better. "The few pieces of bread we had were moldy, and I think we drank the rest of the coffee last night." She went to the refrigerator and opened it. "Let’s see…we have orange juice…or milk…or how about we mix the two together?" She poked her head up out of the fridge just in time to see Nick run for the bathroom, holding his stomach. She smiled as she dumped his breakfast in the garbage. She pulled the fresh loaf of bread out of the cabinet and put two pieces in the toaster, and then pulled out her bag of cocoa roast coffee and began to fill the coffeemaker.

"No! I’m serious! We’ll be at the Grammy’s, too!" Ari shrieked in Kelley’s ear.

"And you needed to call me at nine in the morning to tell me this?" Kelley mumbled, trying to ignore Howie’s soft fingers tracing patterns on her back.

"Hang up," he whispered, his hands sliding around to her stomach.

"Sweetie, that’s great, but could we…" Kelley began.

"It’s all Lara’s idea, actually, because Nick got this invitation, see, and…" Ari continued.

Howie’s hands moved lower. "Ari, gotta go." Kelley hung up on her friend.

Lara came upstairs after cleaning the kitchen. She smiled at Nick, who was asleep on the bathroom floor in front of the toilet. She took pity on him, and found one of their older pillows and gently placed it under his head. She smoothed back his hair, and kissed his cheek. Sometimes he was still such a little boy. She went back into the bedroom to call Shae, her hand unconsciously rubbing her stomach.

Kelley was dozing in Howie’s arms, enjoying the feeling one has after experiencing earth-shattering sex. The clanging of the phone made her jump.

"If that’s Ari, we are going to kill her," Howie murmured. Kelley smiled as she pushed "talk".

"Hello?"

"Kel? I really need you to come over here…like now…"

Epilogue 10

"What? What is it?" Kelley asked, sitting up suddenly.

"What’s wrong, hon? Who is it?" Howie asked, concerned by the tone of her voice. Kelley waved at him to be quiet.

"Just get over here, okay? It’s Lara. She’s acting weird," Shae said in a whisper.

"She’s always…"

"Kel…NOW."

"Okay. Gimme five to get dressed." Kelley hung up. She jumped out of bed and dug around for jeans and a clean sweatshirt.

"What’s going on?" Howie asked.

"That was Shae. Something’s wrong with Lara. Shae said she’s acting weird or something."

"Well, I hate to say it, but she IS pregnant," Howie pointed out. Kelley glared at him.

"You men think that PMS or pregnancy is the cause of every problem women have!" She snapped. She softened and kissed his cheek. "I shouldn’t be long."

Kelley squealed into the parking lot of Shae’s apartment, and hurried upstairs. Shae opened the door almost before she could knock. Lara was sitting in front of the TV, eating popcorn and watching The X-Men.

"She looks fine to me," Kelley whispered. "What’s going on?"

"You’ll see," Shae whispered back. "Lara, Kel’s here."

"Cool," Lara said, turning off the TV. She smiled up at her friend. "Thanks for coming over, Kel."

"Are you okay? Is the baby okay?" Kelley sat down next to Lara and took her hand.

"The baby is fine, as far as I know. I, however, am another story." Lara sat up and looked each of them in the eye. "I need to get away for a few days."

"Get away? What’s going on?" Shae demanded. Lara ignored her.

"And I need you to keep an eye on Nick for me," she told Kelley.

"Me?" Kelley squeaked. Lara smiled.

"I know you secretly have the hots for him, even though you love Howie. I can count on you to make sure nothing happens to him…and that other women keep their hands off of him." She stood and began to pace. "Nick and I had a five minute spat last night, and he just HAD to take himself off to Brian’s to get plastered. I can’t handle that kind of juvenile shit right now. I know I haven’t been in the best of moods lately, but he also hasn’t been helping the situation much. I need time away."

"But what about the Grammy’s?" Kelley protested, grasping at straws. "I mean, Ari was all in my ear this morning, jabbering about how great it was gonna be for us all to be there and…and…"

"You’ll be fine without me. I didn’t ask Ari or Amanda here because I need you guys to make sure the plan runs smoothly. I love those guys, but they don’t think before they act, more often then not."

"What plan?"

"The plan to get AJ back with Ari. I have an idea, and you guys have to help. My powers won’t do much to help this along, so it’s not a big deal if I’m not around."

Shae sighed, knowing full well that there was nothing they could do to change Lara’s mind. "Okay…where are you going, in case something would happen?"

"I’m not going to tell you. I don’t want you to break in a weak moment and tell Nickolas," Lara said to them both, though she looked directly at Kelley. "Now, here’s my plan. Tell me what you think."

Nick moaned as he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the underside of the toilet bowl. He moaned again and slowly sat up. He cursed toilets, Jack Daniels, Brian, and the world in general as he got to his feet. He looked down at the pillow and smiled. Lara had taken care of him. She always took care of him.

"Baby?" He called out as he walked slowly into the bedroom. "Honey? I want to…" he stopped and stared at the dresser. Drawers were open. Lara NEVER left drawers open. She also never left them empty. He hurried to the closet, all sickness forgotten. Her duffel bags were gone, as were all of her new maternity clothes. "Holy shit!" He fell onto the bed and dialed the phone.

"If you answer that, I will fucking castrate you!" Amanda told Brian as he bit at her neck and ears.

"I won’t…I promise…" he moaned as she clawed at his back. They continued their passionate lovemaking as the phone continued to ring and the machine finally picked up.

"Frick…God…it’s me…please…call me…she’s gone…she left me…I don’t know why…"

They froze as they heard Nick sobbing on the machine. Brian looked up at Amanda. "For God’s sake, answer it!" She told him.

Brian rolled over and grabbed the phone. "Nick? It’s me…I’m here."

Within ten minutes, Amanda and Brian were on their way to Nick and Lara’s. Amanda was on the phone with Ari. "No, I don’t know where she is! Why the hell would she…okay…I’m sorry. I’m just worried about her, that’s all. Call Shae. I’ll call Kel."

Ari pulled into the long driveway just as a Porsche convertible squealed in behind her. Ari whirled around to see AJ climbing out of his car, slowly pulling off his sunglasses. It was the first she had seen him in person since Australia.

"Hi," he said uncomfortably.

I miss you! I love you! Why won’t you come back to me? Ari thought to herself. What she said was, "What the hell are YOU doing here?"

His brown eyes turned cold. "Kevin called me. I wanted to be here for Nick."

AJ headed for the house, and Ari followed. "I ran into Daphne the other day downtown. Lovely girl."

AJ turned to glare at her. "Stay out of my life, Ari."

"What? I was just commenting on your new girlfriend. Style, charm, wit…of course, she could use a major attitude adjustment…"

"Let it drop, Ari," he growled. "And besides, she’s NOT my girlfriend."

Ari stopped in her tracks. "She’s…she’s…not?" She whispered. AJ softened.

"No…she’s not…I couldn’t…I…" he blushed and went into the house.

"Hi," Amanda said, shocked at the sight of Ari and AJ together.

"Hey," Ari said weakly, still surprise at the glimpse of his heart that AJ had just given her. He still loved her! She knew it!

"Nick, bro, how are you?" AJ said, going over to comfort his friend. He tried to ignore the evil stares he received from Amanda, Shae, and Kelley.

The guys all crowded around Nick, and Shae took the opportunity to draw Amanda and Ari aside.

"What are we going to do? Should we call the police?" Ari said almost tearfully.

"No…leave the cops out of this," Shae told her. Amanda’s mouth dropped open.

"What?"

"She’s not missing, Amanda. She’s…away…for a while," Kelley told her. Ari looked at one, then the other.

"You knew about this?"

"No, not really…she just dropped it on us a few hours ago. She wants to get away for a while."

"Lara? Get away? She HATES being alone," Ari said.

"I know. She really just needs some peace and quiet."

"But she…we…we were gonna go to the Grammy Awards," Amanda said faintly.

"We still are. She has an excellent plan, and told us exactly what to do. I think it will work," Shae said, smiling at Ari encouragingly. Ari didn’t see the smile. She was striding towards Nick.

"What the fuck did you do to her, Carter? What the hell made her run off like this? What kind of stupid shit did you pull this time?" She screamed. In a flash her hand came out to strike his face. "She’s pregnant with your child, you dick, and she’s off somewhere all alone!" Ari went for his eyes, but Kevin grabbed her just in time. She struggled in his arms, ignoring his requests to calm down. His green eyes searched out AJ, the only person who would have an effect on the hysterical Ari.

"Ari…baby…come on…come over here and sit with me…" AJ took Ari’s hands as Kevin gently put her down. Ari sobbed on his shoulder.

"I…I…didn’t do anything, I swear!" Nick said, his face streaked with tears. "I didn’t tell her about the Grammy Awards, and she got mad, and I went to Brian’s and we drank a little, and then I came home, and then…this morning…she was gone…" He buried his face in his hands. "I’m nothing without her." He looked around the room. "She makes this place a home."

"Then you should have STAYED home, you big baby, not gone out boozing it up again!" Amanda snapped before she thought. Everyone turned to look at her.

"’Manda, please," Brian said.

"What do you mean again?" Shae said suspiciously, glaring at Nick.

"We’ve been fighting a lot lately…she’s been moody and…"

"Pregnant, maybe?" Ari said. AJ shushed her.

"Maybe I haven’t dealt with it all very well, but I usually go over to Brian’s to calm down, you know, so I don’t say something stupid."

"That’s virtually impossible for you, Carter," Kelley told him.

"Baby, stop. He doesn’t need that right now," Howie whispered. She glared at him but kept quiet.

"And they usually drink and he usually gets drunk and Daniel usually takes him home and he’s usually not a quiet drunk," Amanda finished.

Ari stood, giving AJ a smile of thanks. She turned to Nick. "She’s fine. I can see it. She’s okay and she’s safe. But you better do your best to find her…or she’ll find someone else."

Epilogue Eleven

Lara did not relax until the airplane landed on St. Simon’s Island, a resort island off the coast of Georgia. She kept looking over her shoulder, as if the old woman in the seat behind her was going to miraculously turn into Nick. She gathered her two carry-on bags and got off the small plane. She hailed a taxi, and gave the name of the small villa she had rented. She leaned back on the seat and sighed. This was what she needed. Peace and quiet, and nothing to worry about but keeping herself healthy and happy.

They reached the villa, and she gave the taxi driver a handsome tip. She didn’t go up to the door; instead, she walked to the back of the villa. The small house was situated on a cliff that overlooked the ocean, and she sighed as she watched the waves crash on her own tiny beach. Finding something secluded and quiet was almost impossible on this island of tourists, but she had found that it was amazing what the right amount of money could buy.

"But where did she get the money to run away?" AJ asked.

"She didn’t ‘run away’, Alex!" Shae said angrily. "She just needed time on her own to think about things."

"Well…she…she does have her own account. She’s done a little freelance writing for magazines, and I gave her a teeny bit each month for housekeeping and stuff," Nick said slowly.

"Nick, why don’t you call the bank? Maybe she’s charged something somewhere, and you could trace it," Brian suggested. Nick went to find the bank’s number. Amanda turned on her husband.

"Brian, stay out of this! She needs time on her own, away from the child you call your best friend!"

"Amanda, I usually let you say whatever you want, but this time, I am telling you to SHUT UP!" Brian said angrily. "I have NEVER seen Nick like this, NEVER. Okay, maybe he’s a bit immature sometimes, but I think this is something that will change all that. Being without her is KILLING him, and if I can help him in any way, I’m going to. YOU stay out of this!" Amanda stared open-mouthed at her usually mellow husband, and then meekly sat on the sofa.

Nick came back into the room, holding the portable phone in his hand. "It’s gone. Her account is closed. She took out every penny."

"So you couldn’t trace her," Howie said slowly.

"How much was in there, Nick, do you know? If it wasn’t all that much, she won’t be gone for long," Kevin pointed out.

Nick flushed slightly. "I put a whole bunch in last week, as a surprise for her, so she could start to decorate a nursery." His lips trembled as he fought back tears. "Big mistake."

"How much, Nick?" Brian asked softly.

"When she cleaned it out, there was over a hundred thousand dollars in that account."

Lara unpacked her backs, carefully placing the books on parenting and having a healthy pregnancy on the nightstand so she could read them later. She changed into shorts and a halter-top, plopped a baseball cap on her head, and decided to walk on the beach.

Standing in the surf about twenty minutes later, she realized that she had made the right decision. She hadn’t felt this relaxed since she had found out she was pregnant. And mutant baby or not, she knew she would love it with every part of her, and it would know all the love she hadn’t known growing up. A sudden ocean breeze grabbed her cap and ripped it off her head. "Dammit!" She snapped, running after it. She froze as it landed on a pair of bare feet.

"I guess this is yours?" A male voice said. She gazed up into brown eyes with green flecks around the edges. Light brown hair framed a kind face, and the hair looked so soft she had to make her hands not reach out to touch it.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded in embarrassment. "This is MY beach!"

The man laughed in amusement. "I’m sorry, but you are unfortunate enough to have to share it with me. It belongs to both villas. I’m over that ridge there," he pointed, but she didn’t follow his finger. She was furious.

"I explicitly asked for my own beach, and I paid a hell of a lot of money for it!" She stomped her foot. "You’ll just have to leave!"

"I’LL just have to leave?" The man, who looked to be about ten years older than her, cocked an eyebrow. "I’ve been here for a week already. If we’re going to be childish, I could say that I was here first."

Lara frowned, not able to think of a comeback. She then smiled her best smile, looking right up into the man’s eyes. "Well, I’m sure we could work something out, couldn’t we? I mean we ARE two grown adults."

He laughed again. "Your feminine charms won’t work on me, Scarlett, though I would be more than happy to share this beach with you."

She sighed, angry once more at the condescending tone the man was taking with her. "I’ll just come back when you’re not here." She turned on her heel and began to walk back towards her villa, making herself remember that she had come here to relax. The man’s amused laughter followed her up the beach.

"I think we should go," Kevin said to Shae in a low voice. "I think Nick just needs to be alone."

"I think you’re right," Shae murmured, watching Nick bury his head in his hands once more. They stood.

"Nick, you know where I am if you need ANYTHING," Kevin told him. He nodded.

"Thanks for stopping by, guys." He smiled a weak smile. "I’m sure it will all be fine."

Within about fifteen minutes, everyone had left, and Nick was shutting the door behind them. He went to the kitchen, but wasn’t hungry for anything. He slowly made his way up the steps and into the bedroom. He flopped down onto the bed, and grabbed Lara’s pillow. He could smell her shampoo on the pillowcase, and tears soon spotted the fabric.

Epilogue Twelve

Lara was sitting at the small kitchen table, making out a grocery list, when the doorbell rang. She stared in the general direction of the front door for a moment, wondering who could possibly be at the door. She slowly made her way over, and looked through the peephole. A delivery boy stood impatiently on the other side of the door.

"Yes?" She said, opening the door.

"These are for the occupant of this house…no name on the card…guess that’s you," he said almost rudely. He handed her a beautiful bouquet of pink and white roses, along with a long box.

"Thank you," she said in amazement. She went back to the small kitchen and looked for a vase. The kitchen was stocked with all the small appliances and dishware necessary for every day life, even down to a cappuccino machine. She opened the box to find a bottle of expensive white wine. She dug for the card.

"It’s been a long time since someone has made me laugh so much. I apologize if I embarrassed you or made you angry…Rhett". She smiled. The wine was very tempting, but she was determined to have a 100% healthy pregnancy. She decided it would only be polite to return the bottle to the person who had sent it to her.

About thirty minutes later, she was knocking on his front door, dressed in a skirt and halter-top. As he opened the door, his face became wreathed in a smile.
"Scarlett! What a pleasant surprise! Please, come in." She stepped inside and he closed the door behind her. He wore only a pair of denim shorts.

"I’m sorry to bother you, but…"

"No bother. I’m just cooking some dinner. Please, stay. We can drink the wine," he said, noticing the bottle in her hand.

"No…I wouldn’t want to impose. I just came over to…"

"Not an imposition. You’re staying. I don’t listen well to ‘no’." He took the bottle from her. "Did you like your flowers?"

"Oh…yes…thank you very much," she said as they went to the kitchen. His kitchen was a lot bigger, and the aromas coming out of it made her mouth water. "About the wine…"

"I hope you like white. I was debating, but I decided you seemed like a white wine type of person."

"I’m sorry…but I can’t drink it," she finally told him. He looked at her.

"Lemme guess…recovery, right?"

"Not quite," she said, insulted. "If you MUST know, I’m a little over three months pregnant. I can’t drink alcohol."

The man blushed. "Oh, God, I’m sorry. A lot of times my mouth runs a marathon and leaves my brain at the starting block. Forgive me?" She smiled and nodded. "I had no clue. You sure don’t LOOK pregnant," he observed, letting his eyes run over her body.

She blushed, and began to realize that maybe Nick wasn’t just being nice when he told her she hadn’t gained weight yet. Thinking of Nick made her heart seem suddenly heavy. She missed him so much…missed his smile…missed his laugh…

"Hey…Scarlett…wake up…" the man was saying. He handed her a damp towel. "Make yourself useful. Go wipe off the table on the patio."

"My name’s not Scarlett!" She snapped, embarrassed at the way she had drifted off.

"Then what IS your name? You never told me," he reminded her.

"Lara," she said.

"Lara, I’m Michael. Now go wipe the table!" He ordered.

"I’m going," Nick said for the tenth time as he, Brian, and Kevin unloaded Brian’s car.

"You’re NOT going," Brian replied. "This is crazy. You look like shit, you’re miserable, you do NOT want to go."

"Thanks for the words of encouragement," Nick snapped as he unlocked the door.

"Which way?" Kevin asked as they walked inside.

"Upstairs, third door on the right," Nick told him. Kevin led the way upstairs, and stopped short when he reached the door Nick had told him to go to.

"Damn, Nicky…you’ve been busy!" Kevin exclaimed. Brian’s mouth dropped open. Nick had begun to set up the nursery, sure that Lara would not take his son or daughter away from him forever. The floor was painted a dark blue, with a large Noah’s Ark stenciled by the doorway. Small pairs of animals were stenciled around the floor. Precious Moments borders were around the top and bottom of the walls, and the print of the wallpaper had small Precious Moments animals on it.

"Don’t call me Nicky," Nick whispered, sitting in the rocking chair in the corner. The chair was the only piece of furniture in the room. "Only Lara can call me that." He looked up at his friends, misery filling his blue eyes. "She likes animals…and Precious Moments…so I thought I’d…well…they’re good for a boy OR a girl, so…" he stood up. "Okay, let’s get started."

"Oh no…you said help pick them out and help carry them. You didn’t say ANYTHING about assembling them!" Brian pointed out.

"Oh, shut up, Bri," Kevin said, grabbing the box with the crib in it.

"Okay, back to the fact that you are NOT going to the Grammy’s," Brian said as he helped Kevin get the parts of the crib out. Nick started to put up shelves.

"I’m GOING, Frack. I’m going alone, but I’m going. I need to get out of this place. I sit around all day and night, waiting for the phone to ring. I need to be around people. And maybe she’ll be watching…and she’ll see me in the audience…and she’ll come back."

Brian started to reply, but a look from Kevin silenced him. "I think that’s a great idea, Nick," Kevin said kindly. "But I think she’ll come back anyway."

"Oh, GOD, I am so full!" Lara exclaimed. "That was incredible. That will make anything I could possibly come up with seem like dog food."

"Cooking is among my MANY talents," Michael said with fake egotism. "I’m glad you liked it. Tomorrow I’ll take you into town to the market."

"Look…Michael…I don’t know if it’s a good idea if we spend all that much time together," Lara said slowly. She knew he wasn’t involved with anyone, and she didn’t want him to get the wrong idea. "I still love…the father of my baby very very much, and eventually I’ll be going back to him."

"And because of that we can’t just hang around and have fun?" He asked her as he started clearing the table.

"Um…well…" she didn’t know what to say. He took her plate from her, and held her hand.

"Lara, you are hurt and confused. I can see it in your eyes. All I want is to spend time with you, be your friend, make you smile, make you throw tantrums like you did on the beach. Is that so bad?"

"No…" she admitted, smiling at the memory of how childish she had acted. "I guess that’s okay."

"Good…all settled then." He turned on the small TV by the sink. She handed him pots and pans. Entertainment Tonight came on.

"The big story in town is the Grammy Awards, scheduled for next week. The big story…The Backstreet Boys! Will they be there? They aren’t scheduled to perform, but Kevin Richardson will be presenting, and there’s a rumor that Howie Dorough will be performing a surprise duet. The question on everyone’s mind is…where’s Nick Carter? The youngest Backstreet Boy has virtually disappeared from the public eye since the group parted, but sources say he’s had a terrible spat with his girlfriend, and that he is almost suicidal…"

Lara dropped a glass, not even jumping as it shattered at her feet. "I have to go," she whispered. "I have to go."

"Lara, wait, what’s wrong?" Michael asked. "Let me walk you home."

"N-no…I have to go. I’m sorry." She fled before he could say another word.

The phone rang in the master bedroom. "Kevin, go answer that," Nick said, struggling with a shelf.

"I’m a bit busy here, Carter," Kevin snapped as he and Brian worked on the last leg of the crib.

"Fine," Nick sighed, inching his way around them. "Hello?"

"Hey, Nick, did you know you’re almost suicidal?" AJ asked cheerfully.

"AJ, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Right from the horse’s…I mean…Mary Hart’s mouth. You had a spat with your girlfriend, and are almost suicidal. Just thought you’d like to know."

"Whatever," Nick said, hanging up.

"Who was that?" Brian yelled.

"AJ. They’re spreading some story about me being suicidal now," Nick commented on his way down the hall.

"Well, as I said, you look like shit," Brian said. "You haven’t eaten, your hair is a mess, and…"

"Okay, Bri, we get the picture," Kevin interrupted.

The phone rang again, and Nick turned on his heel. "What now, AJ?" He said without a hello.

"Nicky? It’s me."

Epilogue Thirteen

"Baby?" Nick sat down hard on the floor. "God…honey…how I’ve missed you! How are you? How’s our baby?"

"Fine," Lara whispered. "We’re both fine." She gripped the phone tightly. "I just wanted to…to apologize…for running off like that. I was afraid that if I told you I was going, you’d get angry, or upset, or go off and drink again."

"It’s okay," Nick said slowly. "I probably would’ve done something stupid like that…you’re right."

"I just needed to get away for a while. I need to sort through some things," she told him, closing her eyes and rubbing her stomach.

"I understand," he said to her surprise. "Just remember I love you more than anything in the world, and that I’m waiting here for you to come home. And when you come back, we’re getting married…if you want," he added quickly.

"I’d like that," she said, smiling. "I’ll be home soon baby, I promise. I just…"

"You don’t have to explain," he told her. "I love you, Lara."

"Nick…goodbye," she said suddenly, hanging up.

Nick stumbled back into the nursery. Brian looked up at him and did a double take. "Nick? What is it? What did AJ say now?"

"It wasn’t AJ." Nick flopped down into the rocking chair again. "It was Lara."

"Lara?" Kevin asked. "What did SHE want?" Brian shoved him. "What? It was rude and thoughtless of her to run off like that, like nothing else mattered but what SHE wanted."

In a flash, Nick was off the chair, and had a hold of the front of Kevin’s shirt. "She needed time away, okay? And after the way I’d been acting, I can’t say as I blame her. You feel the need to talk shit about her, you make sure you do it where I can’t hear you, alright, Kev?"

"Yeah, sure…sorry…my bad…" Kevin stammered, surprised at the sudden anger of the younger man.

"Why DID she call, Nick?" Brian asked gently as Nick released Kevin’s shirt.

"Just to apologize for running off, and to let me know she was okay."

"You could trace the call, you know," Brian reminded him.

"No…I’m not going to do that. She promised to come home soon. We’ll work it all out then."

"What do you mean she called? She called and he didn’t find out where she was? Did he even THINK to call the phone company?" Ari shrieked into Amanda’s ear.

"Yes, Brian suggested that. Nick said that he wanted to let her come home on her own," Amanda told her. After Brian had come home that afternoon, Amanda had called all the "sisters" to let them know Lara was okay.

"Wow…sounds like he’s finally growing up," Ari remarked.

"He’s not that much older than the two of us, Ari," Amanda reminded her.

"Well, he acts like a five year old sometimes," Ari said. She sighed. "I hope we can pull this Grammy thing off without Lara. What exactly is the plan, again?"

"Don’t worry. We’ll take care of it," Amanda told her, smiling as she thought of exactly what they had in store for AJ McLean.

Epilogue Fourteen

At ten am the next morning, Lara opened the door of her villa and saw Michael standing on her doorstep.

"What are you doing here?" She asked in amazement, clutching her knee length kimono tight around her.

"I told you I was taking you to the market today, so you could buy some food. How long are you planning on staying, anyway?"

"M-maybe a week, maybe two or three," she answered, not able to believe that he was here at her door after the way she had run out on him the night before.

"Can I come in?"

"Um…sure, of course. I’m sorry." She moved aside so he could come in. "I’m sorry the place is a mess," she apologized. The living room was covered with books and the morning newspaper. "I didn’t sleep well last night," she explained, motioning to the books.

"I see." He looked her over, trying not to stare at her slender legs. "Why don’t you scoot up and get ready, and I’ll straighten up down here."

"No, I couldn’t…"

"What did I tell you about ‘no’, young lady?" He asked, feigning anger. She smiled and "scooted" up the stairs.

Forty minutes later they were walking through the charming downtown farmer’s market. Lara had to stop at every stall, and examine every piece of food, every trinket, every cheap souvenir. Michael patiently walked behind her, carrying her bags. She soon had enough vegetables and meat to last her the week, and they began to circle back to Michael’s car. As they passed a small accessories shop, Lara stopped short. "You know what? I left in kind of a hurry, and I never packed socks. Let’s run in here quick." Michael sighed but said nothing. He followed her into the store, and they headed back to the area where socks were hanging on racks on the wall. Lara smiled as she passed the little girls’ section, and stopped walking suddenly. She stared up at a display of Backstreet Boys socks, hairclips, pens, pencils, and any other thing you could imagine. "You know what? I think I’ll just wear sandals. Let’s leave." She turned sharply on her heel and walked out of the store.

Later that evening, they were together in the kitchen, making Michael’s favorite stew. As they chopped vegetables, Michael kept staring at her. "What?" She snapped, slamming her knife down on the cutting board. "Has my face gone green or something? You’re staring a fucking hole through me!"

"I’m just wondering how long it’s going to take you to tell me what the hell’s going on," he said calmly, continuing his gentle assault on a stalk of celery. "Every time we see that group…what’s their name…the Backstreet Boys…you freak out and bolt. I’m just curious. Can you blame me? What…did you have a fling with one of them and got knocked up?"

"You know, I was just beginning to like you, and then you go and act like a dick again," she said, her blue eyes filling up with tears. She turned to leave and he grabbed her.

"Not this time, Scarlett. Tell me." He loosened his hold on her. She stared at him, fighting back the tears, but she finally just fell into his arms. She sobbed out the whole story, at least the whole story about Nick. She skipped the beginning, about how they had met.

"I love him so much, Michael…more than anything. He’s all the family I have," she finished, wiping away the tears.

"Then go back to him," he said softly. "It sounds like he’s finally starting to realize what he has in you."

"I can’t go back…not yet…I’m not ready…what if it’s all an act to get me to come back?" She sniffed.

"If it is, you get one hell of a settlement to support the baby, then haul your cute ass back here and live the life of a beach bum with me," he told her, making her smile. "Now if we’re gonna eat any time before next week, you have to finish cutting up those carrots."

She sighed, but they went back to work. They chatted about this and that as they worked. "Dammit!" Michael swore suddenly, grabbing a dishtowel and wrapping it around his hand.

"What?" She grabbed his hand and made him uncurl his fist. "Oh, Michael…" An angry gash had sliced through the middle of his fingers.

"The damn knife slipped," he said. "I’ll live."

"No…Michael…this is deep," Lara said, taking a deep breath. "Close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Just DO it," she ordered.

"Fine, fine," he said, obediently shutting his eyes. Lara placed her hand on his, gently letting her fingers rest on his fingers. She winced slightly, but watched as his wound healed. She quickly wrapped the towel around her own bleeding fingers. "See? I think you were just imagining things. It isn’t half as bad as we thought," she said lightly, turning to the sink to rinse off her hands. Michael stared down at the smooth skin of his fingers, his mouth falling open. "I have to go to the bathroom," Lara stated, running upstairs to place a Band-Aid on her hand.

The week of the Grammys was hell for Ariana. The other "sisters" would not tell her ANYTHING about the plan, and she could hardly stand the suspense. She begged, pleaded, and coaxed, but even Amanda wouldn’t tell her anything.

The night of the Grammys, Ariana sat in her living room, watching TV but not really seeing it. The limousine that would take she and Amanda to the Awards was running late. "Figures," she griped, smoothing down the skirt of her gorgeous purple gown. She had found it in the closet of clothing they had received from Kayla, and it had never been worn before. A knock at the door made her jump. "Finally!" She clicked off the TV and grabbed her wrap. She gasped as she opened the door. "Nick!"

"Hi, Ari." He smiled his sexy smile at her. "You look sensational."

"Uh…so do you!" She exclaimed, looking him over quickly. He wore an Armani tuxedo with a banded color and silver and black studs. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, since you’re using my other ticket, I thought it was only right that I be your date for tonight."

"Well…uh…Nick…that was really sweet of you but I don’t think…" Ari began, torn between showing up at the awards on Nick’s arm and knowing the way her friend loved him.

"Only platonic, I promise," he told her, reading HER thoughts. "It was Kelley’s idea, anyway." He held out his arm to her. "Ready?"

"Are you sure you wanna watch this thing?" Michael called from the living room. Lara was in the kitchen making popcorn. "I mean, it’s like three hours long, and you should get your rest.

"Yes," she answered back as she walked into the room. "I’m sure I want to watch it. And I know that getting rest is NOT the reason you don’t want me to watch it, and I appreciate it." She bent and kissed Michael’s cheek as she set the popcorn down in front of him.

"Lara…I…" he began.

"Oh, look! It’s starting! I can’t WAIT to see if Kelley and Shae get on camera." She turned to him. "What were you going to say?"

"Nothing…nothing," he said, passing her the popcorn.

Epilogue Fifteen

"I cannot believe I’m really here!" Ari whispered to Nick as their limo pulled up in front of the mass of people outside the building where the awards were to be held. She was suddenly nervous as she looked at the ocean of bodies peering into the limo. Nick looked over at her and smiled.

"Don’t worry. All you have to do is get up the carpet and inside the building. It’s much easier once you’re inside."

He gave her another smile of encouragement as the chauffeur opened the door. Nick took Ari’s hand and helped her out of the limo. Flashbulbs popped in her face as she felt him tug gently on her hand. She dutifully followed him down the red carpeted walkway.

"Nick! Nick! Over here!" Voices shouted. Professional photographers and fans alike clamored to get pictures of him. To his dismay, one of the reporters from "Entertainment Tonight" got a hold of his arm.

"Nick Carter! Great to see you out and about again!" Her eyes quickly raked over Ariana. "And is this the young lady who has been keeping you so busy lately?"

Ariana blushed furiously, not knowing what to say. Nick’s blue eyes darkened. "No, she couldn’t be here tonight. This is a good friend. Excuse me." He practically dragged Ari away.

"Who’s that?" Michael asked, emptying the bowl of popcorn. "Do you know her?"

"Yes…she’s a friend," Lara said quietly. Or so I thought, she said to herself. She grabbed the empty bowl. "I’ll make more."

As she stood by the microwave, she tried to pull herself together. There was NO way Ari would move in on Nick while she was away…was there? Ari loved AJ. They were meant for each other. And Ari was her friend…her sister. Lara shook her head as if to dismiss these crazy jealous thoughts, and filled the bowl. She returned to the living room.

"Look! There are Kevin and Shae!" Nick said to Ari. They went over to the other couple.

"You look fantastic!" Ari whispered in Shae’s ear as they hugged. Shae wore the dress from the boutique, and she wore it better than Daphne EVER could. "Having fun yet?" Ari asked. She couldn’t help but notice the protective hand Kevin had on Shae’s back.

"Well, nothing’s happening yet, but I’m nervous anyway. This is so exciting!" Shae drew Ari aside. "You need to keep Kevin distracted for me later, when I tell you to, okay?"

"Shae, what the hell’s going on?" Ari demanded. Shae smiled a sly grin.

"You’ll see."

Amanda hurried over to them. "I’m so glad I found you! We’re sitting together, right?"

"As far as I know," Kevin told her. "Where’s my cousin?"

"Oh, he was being a big party pooper, and decided to stay home and be "normal". I understand where he’s coming from, but he’s gonna have to kiss up big time for making his wife go to the Grammy Awards without a date!" Amanda griped.

"I’ll be your date, Amanda. I am Mr. Date tonight," Nick said, gallantly holding out his other arm to her.

They went to their seats, only to find Kelley already seated, alone.

"Where’s Howie D?" Nick asked her.

"Oh, backstage somewhere," she said vaguely, unable to hide her excitement. "We’re singing the duet tonight!"

"Tonight? On national television?" Shae almost shrieked.

"Yes! I am so nervous! What if I screw up? What if I forget the words?" Kelley said dramatically.

"You’ll do fine," Kevin said reassuringly.

"Honey, all you have to do is look at Howie," Amanda told her. "You’ll remember the words, because you’ll be singing from your heart."

"Right…right…" Kelley agreed, though she didn’t sound convinced.

Shae nudged Amanda. "Look." She discreetly pointed to their left, where AJ sat with Daphne.

"Oh, that woman annoys me to no end!" Amanda snapped. "I can’t wait to get AJ away from her claws."

"Let’s just hope it works," Shae replied. She waited until Ari was deep in conversation with Brian and Nick, and then the three girls had a quick secret conversation.

"Oh my God!" Lara shrieked. "Did that just say what I think it said?"

"What?" Michael asked in confusion.

"Emerald! I mean, Kelley! She’s going to be singing with Howie! On the GRAMMYS!" Lara yelled, bouncing up and down on the couch.

"I take it she’s one of your friends?"

"Yes! God, I’m so proud!" Lara smiled the biggest he had ever seen her smile. "I can’t WAIT!"

She watched carefully as the camera panned the audience. It suddenly stopped on a row of people. There were Kevin and Shae, Howie and Kelley, Amanda, Ari, and Nick. Lara sighed unconsciously. The camera stayed on Nick a second longer than the others. He looked so good in that tuxedo, and she would have given anything to be seated in Ari’s place.

The awards began, and seemed to drag on forever for Kelley, Shae, and Amanda. About fifteen minutes before he was supposed to present an award, Kevin turned to Shae.

"You’ll be alright here without me?" He asked gently. She smiled at his concern.

"It’s not like it’s a madhouse out here. I’ll be fine." She nudged Kelley, who turned to Kevin.

"Kevin, what would you say about not presenting?"

"What do you mean?" He was confused. "They asked me, and I have to do it."

"You don’t REALLY wanna go up there, do you?" Kelley continued, gazing into Kevin’s green eyes. "Why don’t you let US do it…me, Shae, and Amanda. You can stay here and sit with Ari."

"Well…" Kevin seemed to be fighting, and Kelley wondered if she was losing her touch. "Okay. Maybe I should just stay here with Ari. Why don’t YOU guys go up for me?"

"Great idea, Kev!" Kelley beamed. Amanda and Shae gave her the thumbs up sign, and stood to go backstage.

"Where are you going?" Howie looked up at Kelley.

"We’re going to present in Kevin’s place," she told him, smiling down at him. "Don’t you think it’s a good idea?"

"Great idea," he agreed, never taking his eyes off her face. The girls stepped out into the aisle, and headed for the doors on the side of the auditorium.

"Hold on a minute. What the hell do you think you’re doing?"

Epilogue Sixteen

The girls whirled around to see a stern looking Nick. "What’s going on? Why isn’t Kevin presenting the award?" He asked.

Kelley opened her mouth and shut it again. Shae said, "Don’t worry about us, Nick. Go back to Ari. She’s your date, after all."

"Why isn’t she with you?" Nick asked. A light bulb seemed to go off behind his eyes. "Does this have something to do with AJ?"

"Nothing gets past you, does it, Blondie?" Amanda mumbled.

"Nick, let us go, okay? Kevin didn’t have a problem, and…" Kelley began.

"That’s because you used your little "gift", and got him to let you go on in his place," Nick said. The look on Kelley’s face told him he was right. "Let me go up there with you," he said finally. The girls stared at him. "I need to talk to Lara. I know she’s watching, and I need her to come home. Please," he begged.

Shae sighed. "Come on, then. Just be quiet and let Kel do all the talking."

"Oooh!" Lara squealed as the Awards went to commercial. "Kevin’s up next!" She grabbed a handful of popcorn.

"He’s the one, right?" Michael asked, a bit confused.

"No, that’s Nick," she replied gently. "Kevin’s Shae’s, or at least he would be if he woke the hell up," she grumbled. The theme music came back on and she leaned towards the television. "Holy fuck," she gasped, as she saw the next presenters. "What’s HE doing up there?"

"Kevin’s not feeling well. We’re going on in his place," Kelley told the stage manager as they waited backstage.

"Okay. Tell him I hope he gets better soon. My kid loves him!" The man said, waving them onstage.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Kevin Richardson," the emcee announced. Kelley, Shae, Amanda, and Nick walked onstage, and the audience broke into uncertain laughter.

"Hi, I’m Nick Carter, as you probably know," Nick said, stepping to the microphone. Kevin gasped.

"What the hell are they doing up there? I was supposed to present this!"

"You told them it was okay for them to go up there," Ari told him. She turned to Howie. "You agreed with him."

"PLEASE don’t let them screw up!" Kevin buried his head in his hands.

"Before we present the next award, these lovely ladies have a few things to say." Nick backed away from the microphone. Shae, Kelley, and Amanda crowded around it.

"Good evening. I’m Opal, and these are my sisters, Emerald and Topaz."

"AMANDA?" Brian shrieked from his seat in their living room. "What the hell…" his mouth dropped open in shock from seeing his wife on national television. He grabbed the phone, then realized there was no one he could call. Lara was nowhere to be found, and everyone else was at the Grammys. He leaned back and sighed, shaking his head at his tempestuous wife.

"We are here to give the award for best new artist. Before we do that, however, we have something to say." Shae moved back and let Kelley step up to the microphone. Kelley stared directly into the camera.

"Just be patient, and everything will be understood," she told the millions of people watching. She stepped back.

"AJ McLean, you need to get your head out of your ass!" Amanda snapped, glaring at AJ. "That tramp you’re with totally isn’t right for you." She saw Daphne gasp and turn red. "You belong with…"

"Amethyst," Shae finished, slightly shoving Amanda out of the way before she got out of hand. "You know you love her, and any little…differences…you might have had can all be worked through."

"I don’t believe this," Ari whispered, uncertain as to if she should be angry, embarrassed, or pleased. She wanted to laugh out loud at the look on AJ’s face. He looked like he wanted to crawl under his chair and never come out.

"Amethyst loves you, Alexander McLean," Shae continued. "She’s never stopped loving you, even though you’ve been acting like a prick, just because she has special talents you can’t understand."

"We’ll put it to you this way. If you don’t wake the hell up, you’ll have US to deal with, and you know what we’re capable of," Amanda finished. The confused orchestra conductor started his orchestra for the break to commercial.

"Don’t…even…think…about…it," Kelley said slowly. He lowered his baton. The girls stepped back and went offstage, leaving Nick onstage alone. He looked directly into the camera as Kelley had.

"Lara…Sapphire…I love you…very very much. I never should have acted the way I did. I could blame it on my age, blame it on alcohol, blame it on a lot of things. It all comes down to the fact that I blew it." Women in the audience began to sniff and dab at their eyes as they watched the miserable face of the young man onstage. "Baby…please…come home…I need you…and that baby inside of you needs both a mother AND a father." The audience gasped at this revelation. A Backstreet Boy got some woman pregnant! "I’ll do anything…anything…I’ll never drink again…I’ll never leave your side…we’ll get married the second you’re home…whatever you want. I love you, sweetheart." He dropped his head and slowly walked offstage. Music finally started as the producers hurriedly broke to commercial.

"Come here," Michael said, patting the sofa cushion next to him. Lara fell into his arms, sobbing even harder.

"I can’t believe he did that…he went on national…INTERNATIONAL television, and told everyone…he said he loved me…that he needed me…" she whimpered. He held her for ten minutes or so, then stood.

"Come on."

"Where are we going?" She wiped her eyes.

"Upstairs to pack. You’re going home, young lady, and I’m not taking no for an answer."

Epilogue Seventeen

One More Chance

Amanda caught a ride with Kelley and Howie, sending her own limousine home. "This is definitely a Grammy Awards that will go down in history!" She remarked. She turned to Kelley. "You guys were fantastic!"

"I messed up that whole second verse," Kelley replied morosely. Howie gave her a kiss.

"Honey, you did great. You didn’t mess anything up. It’s all in your mind," he told her. She sighed and said nothing. "So, ladies, which party are we going to?"

"Whichever you want…I wouldn’t know the difference," Amanda replied. Kelley nodded, and Howie gave directions to their driver.

"Would you mind very much if I ended my date duties now? I really don’t feel much like partying," Nick told Ari. She smiled at him.

"No, of course I don’t mind. I’ll just get a lift from Kev and Shae." Ari reached up and lightly touched Nick’s face. "She’ll be home soon, Nick. I can see it."

He sighed. "I hope you’re right."

"Will you just go already? They’re not gonna hold that jet forever!" Michael told Lara, who was hugging him for the twentieth time.

"How DID you get that jet, anyway?" She asked. He mumbled something she couldn’t understand. "What did you say?"

"It’s my jet," he said finally. Her mouth dropped open.

"What exactly do you DO?"

"You know that golf course across the block from us?" She nodded. "I own it, as well as two others in the area."

She stared at him, and then slowly smiled. "And I thought I could keep a secret!" She hugged him again. "Are you sure you won’t come back with me?"

"You need to do this on your own, Scarlett. But if you ever need me, for anything, you know where to find me," he told her, caressing her face. Before she could stop him, he bent and gently kissed her.

Howie, Kelley, Shae, Kevin, Ari, and Amanda all ended up at the same party, given by a group of musicians that no one would ever expect to be friends. Amanda’s mouth dropped open as she saw Marilyn Manson in one corner, Christina Aguilera in another, and Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20 talking to Jessica Simpson. "This is so cool!" she exclaimed. "I only wish Brian could be here."

They moved over to the refreshment table and got drinks. Kevin excused himself and left Shae with the others. Ari pulled her aside. "So? What’s up?"

"I don’t know. He’s been all over me like a hawk, getting defensive if another guy even brushes against me!" She tried to act angry at his possessiveness, but all she could do was smile.

"It’s about damn time," Amanda said. "Men take forever to get with it sometimes."

Kelley peered around the room, trying to make out faces in the crowd. "Think AJ’s here?"

"What do you MEAN, you want to take me home?" Daphne yelled, her voice filling the back of the limo. "I WANT to go to a party!"

"I don’t much care what you want, Daph. I don’t feel like partying. I want to go home."

"It’s because of that girl…that Amethyst or Crystal or Diamond or whatever the hell her name was, isn’t it?" Daphne said angrily. "I can’t believe those snotty bitches had the nerve to get up there on stage and say those things! I knew when I saw them in the store that they were nothings." She stared out the window. "And that one girl, wearing a TORN dress," she scoffed.

"Stop the car," AJ told the driver. The chauffeur pulled to the side of the highway. He turned to Daphne. "Get out."

"What?" She said, her mouth falling open.

"Get out. I want you out of my limo, and out of my life. Out."

"But…Alex…how will I…" she gasped.

"You’ll find someone to pick you up. Get OUT of the fucking limo, Daphne, NOW!" He shouted. She grabbed her purse and got out of the car, cursing him the entire time.

"Where to now, sir?" The chauffeur asked.

"Just home…I have some planning to do," he told him, settling back against the seat.

Nick let himself in his empty house, and slowly made his way upstairs. He started for the bedroom, then changed his mind. He went to the nursery, removing his tuxedo jacket along the way. He turned on the small Precious Moments nightlight, and sat in the rocking chair. The room was finished, even though there was almost six months left until the baby would be born. He picked up a stuffed giraffe and played with it. He closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair, slowly rocking.

Ari stumbled in her door at five in the morning, yawning big. Something hit her in the face, and she shrieked. She fumbled for the light switch and gasped. The entire living room and dining room of her apartment were filled with purple helium balloons. She sat down weakly on the sofa, staring up at the balloons. She then began to smile. Only one person could think of something as original as this. She slowly made her way to the bedroom, carefully brushing aside balloons as she went. There were no balloons in this room, but she saw a long jewelry box on the bed. She unwrapped it and quickly opened it. Inside was a heart pendant made of amethysts. She gasped as she took it out and let it sparkle in her hand.

"I know I can’t buy you," a voice said. She whirled around as AJ came out of the bathroom. He was still in his tuxedo. "I just wanted to let you know that you still have my heart. You always have."

"How did you…"

"Conned your landlord," he said, smiling the sexy smile she had always adored.

"Alexander McLean, did you ever think for one minute that I might be absolutely FURIOUS with you? You dumped me in Australia, jumped around from hoebag to hoebag, then ended up with probably the biggest bitch in the northern hemisphere!" Ari snapped. He slowly walked over to her and took the necklace. He began to fasten it around her neck.

"I know…and I can never say I’m sorry enough." He clasped the necklace, then led her over to her dresser mirror. "Will you ever forgive me?"

"Um…uh…" she said, feeling her knees begin to shake as he kissed her neck. "Maybe."

"Well, while you think about that…why don’t we see what you look like wearing your new present…wearing ONLY your new present…"

Lara struggled with her bags as she unlocked the door of Nick’s house. The house was quiet as she tiptoed in the door. It was four am, and she half expected to find Nick asleep in front of the TV in the bedroom. The bed was empty, and she began to worry. What if it was all a joke…if he had found someone else…if he didn’t really love her?

She decided to dump her bags in the smallest guestroom until she found out if she was staying. The door was open, and she peeked in. She gasped, and weakly leaned against a wall. She reached for the light switch, but saw a figure on a chair in the corner, the face lit only by a small nightlight. She quietly walked over. She fell to her knees beside the chair, tears streaming down her face. She looked at Nick for a long moment, her eyes memorizing his face, and she smiled as she saw how tightly he held the stuffed animal. She hadn’t realized how much she had missed him in the short time she had been away. She reached up and gently brushed some hair off of his face.

"Baby?" She whispered. "Nicky?"

"Lara…come home…" he mumbled in his sleep. She swallowed a sob.

"Honey…it’s me…I AM home," she said a bit louder. His eyes fluttered open.

"L-Lara…is that you? Am I dreaming?" His blue eyes opened wide.

"No…baby…you’re not dreaming…it’s me…" she said, beginning to cry in earnest.

He slipped off the rocking chair to join her on the floor, and immediately pulled her into his arms. "Oh…God…baby…I thought I’d chased you away forever!" She could feel his tears in her hair. He pulled back to kiss her forehead, her nose, her cheeks, anywhere he could get his mouth on her.

"I’m sorry, Nick…I just needed time away…to find out if you were serious about me…about us…" she stammered. "And then…I saw you on television…"

"I’m the one who should apologize," he said softly, his hands moving to caress her chin and neck. "I promise it will NEVER happen again. We’ll talk things out and work things out…I won’t storm off to get drunk. I can’t bear the thought of losing you again." He bent down and gently kissed her. She clung to him as if she were drowning. He was the first to pull back. "How’s our baby?" He said softly, his hand moving down to lightly rub her stomach.

"Fine. We’re both fine," she said, smiling through her tears. "What is all this?" She peered around the semi-lit room. He jumped to his feet and turned on the light. Her mouth dropped open. "Oh my God…Nicky…"

"Do you like it?" He asked uncertainly. She stood up, smiling.

"Oh, I love it! It’s perfect! So much work…" she ran her hand over the changing table.

"I love you, Lara," he said, pulling her back into his arms.

"I love you, too, Nick."

"Is it okay to go in?" AJ whispered, struggling to keep from dropping the six stuffed animals he held.

"Yes, and you can even talk in your normal voice, too," Ari said as she opened the door to Lara’s hospital room. "Hey, girl."

"Hey!" Lara said, smiling up at them from her bed.

"Where is it?" AJ demanded, tossing the toys onto an empty chair.

"It’s not an ‘it’, dork," Nick snapped. "Lara wanted to wait for the other guys to get here before she asked the nurse to bring in the baby."

Lara sighed. "I just wish Shae and Kevin could be here. I mean, I understand them wanting some time off on their own, but they KNEW my due date was coming up."

"Honey, there was no way they coulda known that you were gonna deliver two weeks early," Nick reminded her, bending down to kiss her forehead. Ari sat on the chair by the bed.

"How ya doin’, sis?" She asked. Lara beamed.

"I’m in pain, I’m exhausted, I’m hungry…and I’ve never been happier," she said. "And no mutants!" She exclaimed in a whisper.

"Here are Uncle Howie and Aunt Kelley. Where’s the baby?" Howie announced as he and Kelley came in, followed closely by Brian and Amanda.

"Call the nurse, honey," Lara said to Nick.

"In a minute. Let’s give everyone a chance to get situated," he suggested, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"You don’t LOOK like a daddy, Frack," Brian observed.

"Speaking of which, when are YOU guys gonna start?" Lara asked Amanda and Kelley.

"Oh…puhleeze…we’ve only been married a few weeks," Kelley protested.

"But we’ve been practicing on a regular basis," Howie was quick to add. Kelley smacked him.

Amanda looked at Brian. "Well…we hope to start in about six or seven months," she said shyly.

"WHAT?" Lara shrieked, as Nick tried to lay her back down. "Oh, that’s WONDERFUL!"

"We figured if Nick could be a father, anyone could," Brian joked. Nick faked a punch in his direction.

"What is all this racket?" A voice announced. Lara’s face lit up.

"Shae! Kevin! What are you guys doing here?" She asked happily.

"We couldn’t miss the first few days of my little niece or nephew’s life," Shae said, hugging Lara as Kevin hugged Nick. "We brought this for the baby…" she held up a stuffed tiger, "…this for the daddy…" she held up a box of cigars, "…and this for the mommy." She handed Lara a box from Frederick’s of Hollywood.

"I didn’t know they had Frederick’s in Japan," Ari observed.

"They don’t. I made Kev stop at the mall on the way here," Shae said, making everyone laugh. "I figured you’d be inspired to drop that baby weight if you had something like this to look forward to," Shae told Lara.

"I’ll help in any way I can," Nick said quickly, drooling at the dark blue negligee Lara pulled out of the box. Lara blushed and quickly put the lid back on.

"You knew they were coming?" She asked her husband.

"Yes. I talked to Kevin a few days ago, and he told me they were cutting their vacation short anyway. As soon as we brought you in here yesterday morning, I called him on his cellphone."

"You’re the best." She gave him a hug. "NOW can we call the nurse?"

"Of course." Nick went out into the hallway.

"See, girl? We told you. No mutants…no X-Men…just a beautiful baby," Kelley said.

"Well…not exactly," Lara said. Everyone grew silent.

"What do you mean, not exactly? Is that why they brought you in last night?" Shae asked.

"Look what I found out in the hallway," Nick announced, carefully balancing a blanket-wrapped bundle on each arm. Mouths dropped open.

"Two?" AJ squeaked.

"They taught you to count that high in school, McLean?" Amanda couldn’t resist asking.

"Twins…wow…I mean…you were big…but I thought all pregnant women were that big," Howie said without thinking.

"Thanks a lot, D," Lara said in amusement. She took the pink wrapped bundle from Nick. "Yes…twins…we’ve known for a while but we wanted to surprise you. That’s why we haven’t let you see the nursery for the last few months. We had to make room for two."

Kevin peered down at the bundle in Nick’s arms. "What are their names?" He tenderly ran a finger down the soft cheek.

"Kayla Nickole and Michael Gene," Lara announced, smiling down at her daughter.

"Kayla? Why Kayla?" Brian asked.

"If it wasn’t for her ‘recruiting’ me, I never would have met Nick," Lara said, smiling up at her husband.

"That’s true for all of us," Shae realized as Kevin put his arm around her.

"We don’t have to name OUR baby Kayla, do we?" Brian asked Amanda.

"No…only one baby Kayla," Amanda said, laughing.

"And that’s me!" A small voice came from the bundle in Lara’s arms. Kevin had a split second to grab baby Michael before Nick fainted dead away on the floor.

The End

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