Author Stephanie M
Feedback: Yes please, wicciangirl51@hotmail.com
Summary: The other Nsync members learn how much Lance has sacrificed for them.
Disclaimer: Complete Fiction people! Not meant to imply anything about the sexuality of the celebs mentioned.
Status: WIP
Rating: NC-17
Part 1
Lance took a quick look around and, taking a picture from his wallet, smiled. The photo went everywhere with him, hidden away from everyone. He could still remember the day it had been taken, he had been so happy to spend the day with his Alex. That was the last day they had spent together before the agreeing to part before anyone found out about their relationship.
Lance was so caught up in his memories that he didn’t hear his friend approaching until Joey snatched the picture from his fingers, staring at it in shock.
“Give it back, Joey.” Lance said his voice full of barely controlled anger, he wasn’t going to let anyone steal the last memento he had of his love - and that included his friends.
“What are you doing with a picture of AJ?” Joey shouted, in confusion drawing the attention of the rest of the group who had been at the other end of the bus.
“He gave it to me.” Lance replied reaching for the photo that Joey had passed to a confused Justin.
“Why would he give you his photo?” J.C. asked having just walked into the room.
“He was my boyfriend.” Lance said, knowing that if he didn’t tell the truth everyone would hassle him until he gave in.
Lance quickly left the room, taking advantage of their confusion eager to escape the hurt looks on the faces of his friends. He walked to the lounge were Chris was busy eating the remains of the pizza they had ordered shortly before leaving the last city.
“What’s up Lance?” Chris asked his friend, concerned over the angry and scared look in his friend’s eyes.
“They know about AJ. I’ve got to call him.” Lance said as he reached for his phone and dialled a number from memory.
Chris took that as his cue to leave, he knew that the other three would need someone to talk too about everything and he wasn’t going to let one of them hurt Lance.
As soon as he heard AJ’s voice on the other end of the line Lance said, “Alex, they know.”
“Oh, you okay?” AJ replied knowing how afraid Lance had been of his friends learning what had happened between them.
“Not really. What happens if they hate me?” Lance whispered, not wanting anyone to overhear.
Wanting to be there for Lance AJ said, “They won’t hate you, Angel. When are you getting back?”
“Sometime tomorrow morning.” Lance said absently, his mind already conjuring up images of how his friends might react.
AJ replied comfortingly, “I’ll be at your place when you get back. Don’t worry you won’t be alone.”
“Thanks, I’ll need you there. Bye Alex,” Lance said as he ended the call.
At the same time in the back of the bus Chris was standing in the middle of the room, wondering how he was going to explain everything without someone losing their temper.
“Look, I’ll tell you everything if you shut up.” Chris said calmly as he sat down waiting for everyone to finish yelling.
“You knew?” JC asked feeling betrayed that Lance had told Chris but not him.
Chris said bitterly, “They were dating until we joined Jive. They only finished it then because someone threatened to out them. They felt it would be the end for all our careers and agreed to stop dating. Lance was broken when it happened and from what Howie told me so was AJ.”
“How did you find out?” Justin asked his curiosity getting the better of him.
Chris said with a wry smile, “Howie and I kind of walked in on them.”
Justin asked feeling guilty, “So they stopped seeing each other because of us?”
“Yeah.” Chris said, before he could continue Lance’s voice drifted into the room.
“Thanks, I’ll need you there. Bye Alex.” Lance could be heard clearly in the now silent room, his voice full of love and gratitude.
“He sounds like he still loves him.” JC stated, he had never heard Lance sound like that before.
Chris replied with a sad smile, “He does.”
He and Howie had tried to get the couple back together but they had both insisted that they couldn’t risk hurting their friends if someone found out.
“If he still loves him then they should still be together.” Joey said not wanting to be responsible for his friend spending the rest of his life alone.
“Tell me something I don’t know. Just leave him alone! He’ll be fine once he goes back to AJ.” Chris said, knowing that it was true, whenever Lance was upset he always turned to AJ.
Part 2
Lance looked at the bedroom and wondered what to do, he really didn’t want to go in there and face his friends, if they were still his friends. Taking a deep breath, Lance walked inside and was shocked to see everyone smiling at him.
“Hey Scoop, I’m sorry about taking the photo earlier.” Joey said, realising why Lance had gotten so angry, especially if that was the only souvenir, he had of his love.
“That’s okay. I guess you want to hear the whole story.” Lance said wearily, he wasn’t too sure he could talk about everything without breaking down in tears. Oh sure, he still had AJ in his life but not how he wanted. Being friends with his love would have to be enough because they couldn’t risk someone destroying their friends-the guilt would be too much for either of them to live with.
Justin chimed in, “Chris already filled us in on some of it.” Lance looked at Chris in shock. Just how much had he told them?
“Oh, do you have any questions?” Lance said, assuming everyone was still friends with him after all the smiles directed his way.
Justin replied with a smile, “Yeah, but it’ll take a while to answer them.”
Lance took a seat and wondered just how much he should tell his friends, or more importantly how much could he reveal without crying? He had only just managed to think about everything that had happened without crying.
“When did you get together?” JC asked curiosity getting the better of him.
Lance realised that it would be easier just to tell the whole story now, in one piece, that way he could go back to his bunk and call AJ. He knew AJ was worried about what would happen with his friends. He could remember that day as if it was yesterday…
Flashback Lance’s pov
I picked up the book, a part of me relieved that we weren’t that well known in the US. The last thing the group needed was the press finding out about me buying a book about accepting your sexuality. Personally, I felt that wasn’t the problem, the problem was trying to reconcile who I was with what I had been taught. As I read the cover I noticed someone watching me, I turned and found myself looking into the eyes of someone who looked like he understood what I was feeling.
“You really shouldn’t buy that book, its not that good.” The man whispered smiling at me.
A part of my mind was shouting that there was something familiar about the man but I shrugged still trying to make sure my body didn’t betray me - the man was gorgeous to say the least.
As soon as I regained the power of speech I asked, “Oh, what would you recommend?” I blushed noticing that the sexy man was giving me an amused smile.
The man replied with a smile, “Honestly? You don’t need a book you need someone to talk to about everything. Do you want to go somewhere and talk about everything, Lance?”
I backed up, suddenly realising that I hadn’t mentioned my name. I just hoped the man wasn’t some kind of psycho stalker, which was entirely possible knowing my luck.
“Just who are you?” I asked, curiosity overtaking my common sense as it normally did.
“You really don’t recognise me? It’s me - AJ.” The man answered, taking his id out and passing it to me.
“That’s a relief, I thought I'd found myself a stalker! I’d like to talk to you, I’ll pick the place.” I replied, happy that it was someone I knew.
It made me feel a little safer knowing that no one was going to out me - it’d ruin the careers of the four men I had come to think of as brothers.
“Want to go now?” AJ said, taking the book from my hand and returning it to the shelf.
I walked quickly, snaking in and out of the side streets. I knew the area like the back of my hand, mainly because it was one of the few places I could escape.
Entering the park, I walked down a little used path and sat down under a large tree. AJ looked at me with a weird expression on his face for a few minutes, then he sat down with a shrug.
“How come you’re here by yourself?” I asked, the last I heard the Backstreet Boys were on a group vacation.
“You must know what its like being with the same people 24/7? Sometimes you just need to get away from everyone. Have you told any of the others that you’re gay, Lance?” AJ said, startling me at how fast he changed topics.
Thinking of all the sermons I had endured I replied, “No, I probably won’t for a while. I’m still trying to adjust myself, know what I mean? I can accept I’m gay but it’s hard to reconcile who I am with what the church preaches. How about you?”
His voice serious AJ said, “The if being gay is a sin and I was made by God how can I be a sin, deal? I think that since how God made you, me, everyone, so it can’t be a sin. God doesn’t make people perfect. I’ve been thinking about telling the rest of the group for a while. Howie would be okay and so would Nick but I’m not sure about Kevin or Brian. I guess I’m just waiting for the right moment but it hasn’t come yet.”
I said with a somewhat bitter smile, “It’s just so difficult trying to go through all this without someone to talk to. I’m so sick of playing the straight boy!!" Sighing I ranted, "I’ve known I am gay since I was 15, when I started the group I had a raging crush on Joey. I haven't even dated any guys in case the others found out - I couldn’t cope if they hated me.”
“I’ll always be here, if you need someone to talk. Remember that you’re not alone, Lance.” AJ said, taking out a piece of paper from his pocket and scribbling down a phone number. He passed it to me and I looked at it in shock.
AJ said flashing a smile at me, “Here’s my number, if you need someone to talk to about anything or even someone to rant to just call.”
I could see why everyone found him so attractive, I would happily slay dragons to see that smile. Taking my small black notebook out of my pocket, I quickly wrote down my home and cell numbers.
As I passed it to AJ, his fingers touched mine and I felt my whole arm tingle. As he placed the paper into his pocket, I knew that everything was only just beginning.
We just lay in the park for a while, sharing stories about our past crushes, what we thought of each other’s groups and had a little contest about who had the craziest bandmates. I won, not entirely surprising when I had Chris and Joey in my group.
My phone started to ring, with an apologetic smile I answered and immediately groaned. It was Lou, having a go at me for missing a meeting. I understood it was important but it wasn’t as if I did it on purpose.
I gave AJ a quick hug, surprising both of us and made AJ promise to call. With a smile on my face, I left the park ready to return to reality and Nsync for I’d finally found someone who understood.
End flashback
Lance said with a soft smile, “I met AJ in a bookshop just a couple of weeks after we finished our `98 tour. He advised me against buying a book and suggested I needed was someone to talk to. We went to a little park and started talking, about everything and nothing. We exchanged phone numbers then I had to leave for a meeting. After that day, we just talked for a while, mostly on the phone. He asked me out a couple of months after we met and that was it.”
“So when did Chris find out?” JC asked, wanting to know how long Chris had known about the couple.
Lance said with a short laugh, “That happened May 13th 1999, we were kind of busy at AJ’s and didn’t hear the door open. It was Chris and Howie, needless to say it was a little scary. We explained everything and asked them to keep quiet until we felt ready to tell everyone. Everything was great until I got a letter in February last year, inside were photos of us before we’d even started dating and a couple of us kissing. I told Alex and we agreed that it would be best for everyone if we broke up until it was safe for us to be together."
Lance sighed as he said, “We’re still close and I still love him, I always will. I can’t talk about this anymore.”
Lance ran out of the room in tears unable to think about his love and the situation.
JC stood quickly intent on following Lance to make sure the younger man was okay. He stopped outside the room when he heard Lance talking into the phone. Knowing he would hate himself later, JC listened to the conversation.
“Alex, it’s me.” Lance said, trying to hide his sobs.
His voice carrying into the small room AJ replied, “What have they done, Angel?”
“N...Nothing I’m just sad. I told them everything.” Lance said as soon as his breathing was under control.
AJ questioned worried, “Everything?”
In the shadows, JC wondered what was so worrying about Lance telling them about him and AJ to cause AJ to sound like he was going to start hyperventilating.
“I didn’t tell them about Him or about everything else. Do you think I should?” Lance said, honestly wanting to know what AJ felt he should do now.
“It’s up to you, Angel. If you want to you should just remember Tracy and I will be here no matter what.” AJ said, concern flooding their connection.
“I know you will. You going to be at mine when I get back?” Lance said sighing and wishing that he was back home with his Alex.
AJ said a smile in his voice, “I’m already at yours, I drove over as soon as you called. You want me to come and meet you?”
“Probably wouldn’t be a good idea, you never know who’s watching. See you, Kitten.”
AJ said as he ended the call, “See you later, Angel.”
JC was in shock, obviously Lance was telling the truth when he said he and AJ were still close, if AJ had keys to Lance’s house. JC felt from what he had heard, that they both stilled loved each other - he had never felt so bad in his whole life. Lance had given up on the love of his life for him, and here he was acting all jealous and angry. JC was curious as to who this Tracy was and what else had happened that Lance had kept hidden. From the conversation, JC knew that it was something big and painful at least for Lance.
Part 3
JC quickly walked back to the other and told them all not to tell Lance that he had followed the younger man. He knew Lance would be angry if he discovered JC had spied on him, and on a conversation that was intensely private.
JC whispered to the others as he heard footsteps approaching, “We need to talk about what I just heard on the phone. We’ll do it later when Lance has gone to bed.”
“What are you whispering about?” Lance drawled as he walked into the room, noticing the embarrassed blush on JC’s face. He hoped it wasn’t another attempt to help get him and AJ back together. Privately he wanted nothing more but he knew it just wasn’t something he could do at the moment.
Giving up on getting an answer Lance said, “As long as it isn’t another plot to get me and AJ back together. I’m going to go straight to bed, so can you all get out of here?”
The other four quickly walked out, not wanting to upset Lance anymore. Each one knew the day had probably brought up a lot of bad memories for and Lance needed time alone to deal with his pain.
“So what’s so important?” Joey questioned, wondering what had JC so worried.
“Lance was talking to AJ...” JC started but Justin interrupted.
Justin replied quickly, “So, we know he’s still in love with him and AJ loves him. After what happened who else was he supposed to talk to!” He could only sympathise with his friend and hope that everything worked out for Lance.
“The problem was he sounded funny, and said he hasn’t told us everything. Anyone know who Tracy is?” JC said thoughtfully.
“You can’t expect him to tell us everything all at once.” Joey retorted, knowing that it would be too much for Lance, in the space of three hours Lance had come out and told them that he couldn’t date the man he loved.
“I’ve never heard of Tracy but she could be someone AJ knows. What exactly did Lance say that has you so worried?” Chris said knowing there was something JC wasn’t telling him.
JC said seriously, “AJ asked if Lance had told us everything. Lance said he hadn’t and then said he didn’t tell us about some guy and everything else that happened. Lance didn’t say the guy’s name just Him, AJ knew what he was talking about straight away so it must be something big. I'd say from the way Lance was acting atht this guy hurt him in some way. We need to find out what this guy did to Lance.”
He stopped to take a drink of water before continuing, “Later AJ said that he and Tracy would always be there for Lance, at the end Lance said that AJ shouldn’t pick him up because you never know who’s watching.”
Joey could understand why JC was feeling so protective of Lance but also knew that there wasn’t anything they could do until Lance told them everything. Joey said with a smile, “How are we going to find this guy if you don’t know his name? Even if you do find him what are we supposed to do, interrogate him until he tells us about how he knows Lance.”
Privately thinking that JC might be going a little overboard Chris said in triumph, “This Tracy is someone that AJ knows and he probably just meant the press might see them together, if they did then everything they’ve gone through would be for nothing.”
“No, Josh has a point here. What AJ said about Tracy sounds weird,” Justin said, thinking everything over.
Their discussion stopped when they heard a bloodcurdling scream, echoing in the small bus. The four ran out the room, heading immediately for the bedroom where Lance was in the middle of a nightmare.
Lance was screaming the whole time, hitting away their hands as they tried to calm him down. Lance was writhing on the bed, screaming the whole time, before muttering words under his breath. Each one tried to wake Lance up, but the younger man couldn’t hear them.
Chris quickly picked up Lance’s phone and dialled AJ’s number not knowing what else to do. They had never seen Lance behave this way before, was it something to do with AJ or this other guy?
“AJ, that you? Something’s wrong with Lance and we need your help.” Chris said as the phone picked up on the other end.
AJ answered quickly, “God, I was hoping this would never happen again! Take the phone over to Lance and hold it up to his ear.”
Chris placed the phone to Lance’s ear and wondered what he was supposed to do now. Lance was still screaming in between crying and whimpering, sounding terrified and sad.
AJ chanted into the phone, “Angel, its me. Lance, I promise its okay, we’re both safe. It’s alright Angel, no one’s going to hurt you. I’m right here, its okay Angel.”
As soon as he heard AJ’s voice, Lance stopped screaming. For a second, Lance froze completely then as AJ talked he moved so that his body was curled up in a ball.
“Where are you, Kitten?” Lance asked confused as he opened his eyes, the presence of his band-mates not registering in his trance. Picking up the phone, Chris placed on the pillow, Lance started talking still groggy from sleep.
Lance asked his body tense like a coiled spring, “Kitten, are you okay - really okay?”
“I promise I’m okay. What happened, Angel?” AJ replied his voice soothing and relaxing.
“I had the dream again, he got you and wouldn’t let you go. Where are you?” Lance asked sounding confused and lost.
AJ said his voice betraying his smile, “I’m at your house, go to sleep and you’ll see me soon.”
Lance dropped the phone on the floor and returned to his bed, wrapping the covers around him and closing his eyes. Within seconds he was in a restful sleep, never feeling the shocked eyes of his band-mates looking at him in concern
AJ listened to the silence that indicated Lance was alright for a few minutes before switching off the phone and running a shaky hand through his hair. He had hoped that he would never have to hear Lance screaming like that again for as long as he lived. There was only thing to do, he would have try and convince Lance to tell the rest of Nsync.
AJ knew that the others would probably come to him to find out the truth. He had promised not to tell anyone unless Lance gave him permission, he knew Lance was afraid of how his friends would react but the past was eating at Lance.
Still holding the phone, AJ went to sleep knowing that soon enough he would see his beloved. He still loved Lance even if he couldn’t touch the other man-they had only met a couple of times since breaking up, always at night when there was less chance that they were being watched.
AJ last thought was that the others were going to freak once they discovered the truth. He knew that his friends would be able to handle the fact that he was gay, they considered each other to be brothers each one had sworn to always be there for the others.
Lance awoke the next morning to the feeling that he was being watched, looking up he was surprised to see JC sitting across from him obviously having stayed awake all night. Lance paled when he realised what it meant, he must have had another nightmare. He knew the flashes wouldn’t hit for a while and wanted to be well away from his friends when they hit.
“Jayce, don’t worry I’ll be okay. It’s an old nightmare, are we at Orlando yet?” Lance said, as he quickly got out of bed, eager to see AJ.
“We’ll be there in a couple of hours, you going back to your place?” JC asked, wondering if he should go with his friend.
“Yeah, I can’t wait to get back home.” Lance replied, startled at the question.
“Would you mind if I came to stay with you?” JC asked, knowing Lance would let him; Lance would never turn one of his friends away.
“Sure (!)” Lance replied sarcastically, he had hoped to spend some time alone with AJ and Tracy but he couldn’t let his friend down.
JC ignored the sarcasm, knowing that it be the best way to find out what Lance had been keeping from him. It would also give him the chance to observe Lance and AJ together; maybe he could find a way to get the couple back together.
JC was still sitting there contemplating the situation when Lance returned two hours later dressed and slightly excited. JC knew why but he wasn’t going to reveal that he overheard Lance’s conversation.
“We’re here.” Lance said, grabbing his and JC’s bags, pulling his friend off the bus.
Lance looked around for a cab and was shocked to see his Chris, Justin, and Joey waiting for him and JC at a cab. Obviously he wasn’t just going to have to put up with JC - the four had clearly decided that they needed to talk to him. Not that he minded, it was normal for the five to hang out at each others houses for days on end.
“So why have you decided to come back to my place?” Lance asked finally as Chris gave the driver Lance’s address and sat back for a response.
“We just wanted to hang out with you. It’s been a while since we just messed about together.” Justin said quickly - too quickly Lance thought to himself with a rueful grin.
“Okay but Alex is at my place,” Lance said wondering if Tracy was going to be there.
Joey said with a smirk, “That’s fine with us.”
Lance quickly got out of the cab, leaving the others to pay - he just needed to get inside to Alex. Opening the door, Lance ran inside into AJ’s arms, shaking as flashes of his nightmare hit.
That was how the rest of Nsync found them, Lance sobbing into AJ’s shirt while the Backstreet Boy ran his hand in soothing circles on Lance’s back. They stared at the tableau in front of them, feeling that they were intruding on a private moment.
“It was horrible, he came back and went after you and Tracy. Where’s Tracy?” lance said his voice quivering as he remembered the terror and dread he’d felt.
“It’s okay, Angel. No one’s going to hurt either of us and Tracy’s asleep in the bedroom.” AJ replied, ignoring the others - they didn’t matter, Lance did.
“I’ll go and check up on her.” Lance said, holding AJ’s hand as he walked upstairs to one of the bedrooms.
Lance opened the door of the room he always thought of as Tracy’s room and let out a breath he hadn’t even know he was holding. Tracy lay there, her long brown hair feathered out around her head.
AJ said into Lance’s ear, “She’s okay but we need to go back down, everyone is probably wondering what’s going on.”
Lance gave Tracy one last look and closed the door as quiet as possible. When Lance and AJ walked into the room the rest of Nsync where sprawled out on the floor. Justin was eating an apple while watching the TV.
“Hi, guys. How was the tour?” AJ asked taking his usual seat on the couch.
“It was tiring like always.” Joey said exhaustedly, he loved touring and performing but sometime it was too much.
“Can I ask you something, AJ?” JC said thoughtfully, ignoring the glares directed his way by Chris and Lance.
AJ replied flashing a smile, “You can ask all you want but that doesn’t mean I’ll answer.”
“Why haven’t you got back together with Lance?” JC asked seeing the shock on both AJ’s face and Lance’s face at the question. Chris just groaned and questioned what JC was doing this time.
“Its too dangerous and we can’t risk it.” AJ answered seriously, at the same time tracing patterns on Lance’s leg.
JC looked at what AJ’s hand and noticed that neither Lance nor AJ apparently noticed what was happening. The pair were clearly still in love, Lance had told them he was gay and he presumed the Backstreet Boys knew about AJ so why.
“Who’s Tracy?” Justin asked shocked when Lance and AJ stiffened and shared a look.
His eyes burning fiercely with conviction Lance said, “Tracy is fifteen, we found her a year ago on the street. She had been attacked and beaten, we took care of her when she refused to go to the hospital. Since then she’s been our friend, she lives here. We both consider her our little sister.”
There was no way Lance was going to let anyone hurt Tracy or AJ again.
Part 4
Positive Lance was hiding something Justin asked, “You keep saying it’s too dangerous for you to be together but what do you mean?”
AJ said wearily, “To explain everything will take a while but it concerns us and Tracey.” Knowing that if they were going to go into the whole story he should invite his bandmates over so they didn’t have to go through it all twice.
“We’ll tell you once the other Backstreet Boys get here. I really don’t want to go through this anymore than I have to,” Lance said as he passed AJ the phone.
Dialling Howie’s number, AJ started pacing, he couldn’t help but be afraid of what would happen once everyone knew the truth. Would they still see him as their brother or would they hate him?
AJ said as soon as the phone was picked up, “Howie, its me. It’s time to tell everyone the truth. Could you get the others to come to Lance’s place?”
“I’ll get them there, Kristen and Leighanne will probably come too. Is that okay?” Howie replied, wondering why AJ had decided to tell everyone now.
Knowing that the women would help if Brian or Kevin lost it AJ said, “That’s fine, they may help the others understand.”
“We’ll be there in thirty.” Howie said as he put the phone down, picking up his car keys.
AJ put the phone down and took his seat next to Lance, knowing that he was facing one of the most terrifying moments of his life. The others were more than his friends - they were family.
“Lance, you’re home. You’re really home!” Tracy screamed as she ran down the stairs, jumping onto Lance’s lap.
Pulling the teen towards him Lance said with a smile, “Hey, Trace. I told you I would be home today. You haven’t been wrecking the place while I’ve been gone, have you?” He hated being away from her, always afraid that something would happen.
“Not really, Mrs Donahue has been keeping an eye on me. I got 87% on my Math test and I’m going out with Kelly tonight,” Tracy said full of regret.
Seeing the sadness in her face Lance said, “I’ll be here when you get back and then you can tell me everything.”
Tracy said mischievously, “Okay, Alex will stay, right?” Ever since they had broken up she had plotted ways to get the couple back together.
“Of course, we’ve got shopping to do tomorrow.” AJ said ignoring the looks from the rest of Nsync.
Tracy asked pointedly, “You coming to the mall as well, Lance?”
“Sure, but let me finish some paperwork tonight.” Lance replied, giving Tracy a small kiss on the forehead as the teen jumped off his knee and headed for the kitchen.
As she walked away she sent glares at the rest of Nsync, sure that they were responsible for AJ’s terrified look. She wasn’t going to let one of them hurt Lance or AJ and get away with it.
Noticing the glare Tracy gave them all Justin said, “She seems like a nice kid.”
“She’s great, but a little shy sometimes.” Lance said, remembering the months when Tracy had refused to move from her room.
“Who looks after her when you’re not here?” JC asked concerned.
Lance said understanding JC’s worries, “Mrs Donahue stays here whenever Alex or I are on tour. Mrs Donahue is kind of like a grandmother for her. When we’re not on tour Tracy spends some time at my place and some time at Alex’s place. She has no family apart from us, her parents died when she was thirteen.”
The six sat in silence, Lance and AJ worrying about what was going to happen. The four Nsync members were watching the pair, each one wondering if they could get the couple back together. Now that they knew that price Lance had paid for them they were going to reunite the couple.
Exactly half an hour later there was a loud knock on the door causing AJ to jump. He walked to the door, knowing that he had to greet his friends. If Lance answered the door it would only confuse them.
“Hey, Bone. Why are we here?” Nick asked seconds after AJ opened the door.
“I’ll tell you once you’re inside. Hey Kristen, Leighanne - I hope you don’t mind me asking you over here.” AJ said as he held the door open.
Kristen asked worriedly, “No problem, is something wrong?”
“Not really just something I need to talk about.” AJ replied, as they walked into the lounge.
The Backstreet Boys stared at Nsync in confusion, they had assumed that AJ needed to talk to them in private so why were the others here? AJ looked at his friends unsurprised at the worry and concern on their faces.
Before anyone could speak, Tracy ran into the room flopping down on the chair next to Lance.
“Trace, would you do me a favour?” Lance started wondering how he was going to ask the girl to leave them alone for a couple of minutes.
Having caught on to the emotions in the room Tracy stated, “I’m going to Kelly’s now. I’ll see you later, Lance.”
Tracy knew that her adopted brothers had something big to talk about with the strangers and wanted to be out the way if anyone started yelling.
“Okay, be careful. Phone us when you want to come back.” Lance said as he hugged the young teen.
Picking up a bag from the floor, Tracy walked over to AJ. She quickly hugged the man and placed a kiss on his cheek. As she hugged him she whispered that she loved him into AJ’s ear.
Kevin looked at the girl in shock, just who was she and what was she to AJ? He didn’t know Lance had two sisters - something didn’t add up. He looked over at Howie and could see that Howie was also shocked, obviously he hadn’t known about the girl.
Tracy quickly left the room, grabbing her leather jacket seconds before she slammed the front door behind her. She just hoped that everything went alright, she knew that AJ and Lance were both worried and that scared her.
“Why don’t you sit down?” Lance asked the four, causing them to look at him in shock.
AJ mouthed a thank you to Lance as everyone sat down. He quickly took his normal place next to Lance and wondered just where to start. He noticed that Brian raised an eyebrow when he saw AJ sit down.
“Just what is this about?” Brian said, as he looked at the others. He wanted to know what was happening and what had AJ so scared.
Trying to organise his thoughts AJ said, “I’ve got something I need to tell you...God this is harder than I thought it would be.” Worried AJ turned to look at Lance for help. As Lance smiled back, the tension flowed from AJ’s body causing him to smile.
“The first thing is that I’m gay.” AJ said, saying the words to his friends felt freeing although he still had to tell them everything else. Everything depended on how they took the fact that he was gay.
Howie smiled at AJ amused at how much he hadn’t said. Brian looked shocked and betrayed, it was clear from the look on his face that he felt hurt that AJ hadn’t told him this earlier. Kevin was smiling one of those annoying I thought so smiles. Nick just looked confused and elbowed Brian, causing the other man to close his mouth.
“What about Amanda and the other girls?” Nick asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
AJ replied with a shaky grin, “Friends not girlfriends.”
AJ smiled remembering the way Amanda had told him that she already knew he was gay, and tried to set him up with her other gay friends until he told her that he was already in a serious relationship.
“You said that was the first thing, what else do you need to tell us?” Kevin asked seeing AJ wasn’t going to continue.
“I guess the most important thing is that I love Lance, we dated for a while.” AJ said, his voice softening as he spoke of his love for Lance.
As he finished speaking AJ noticed everyone was looking at him and Lance, who were sitting so close that their legs were touching.
“You said that you love Lance so why aren’t you still dating?” Brian said, finally regaining the power of speech.
“How long were you seeing each other?” Nick asked at the same time.
“We became friends in April 1998 but we didn’t start dating until October, we stopped dating in February 2000, just before Nsync joined Jive.” AJ said, answering Nick’s question. Brian’s question was really the reason why everyone was there.
Lance said looking at Brian, “There’s a lot we need to talk about, and it’ll answer your question.”
Taking a deep breath Lance continued the story, “I got a letter at home in February 2000 ordering us to break up. We talked and decided to be a careful but two weeks later, I got a package. Inside were photos of us together, a couple of us kissing but most of the time just talking. One of them was of us in a hotel room, on the 20th floor. There was a letter saying that if we didn’t break up we would be outted with copies of the photo’s being sent to a couple of newspapers and tabloids. I called Alex and we talked it over, we decided that it would be best for everyone if we broke up.”
AJ said trying to make their friends understand, “We couldn’t let you suffer because of us, if we had we wouldn’t be the people we are.”
“So you broke up for us?” Kevin said, not understanding how they could make such a huge sacrifice for them - their careers weren’t worth losing the love of your life for.
Trying not to show how much it hurt to be able to see Lance but not touch him AJ said, “You guys are more than just our friends, you’re family. We still see each other and talk but instead of lovers we’re friends.”
“When we’re sure that its safe for us to be together we will be. I...We can wait until then.” Lance chimed in, knowing that it was true. Their love was strong enough to withstand the pain of separation.
“I can’t believe you made such a huge sacrifice for us without even telling us.” Brian said, wondering how he could have missed so much about his friend and the fact that his friend was hurting.
AJ replied with a smile smirk, “We couldn’t tell you because you would have felt guilty. We are only telling you now because Joey found a photo of me Lance carries around.”
Nick asked in wonder, “How can you stand to spend time together without being together?”
“I would rather have Lance in my life as a friend than not at all. He means too much to me for me to not see him.” AJ replied, knowing that Lance felt the same.
Part 5
Seconds after AJ finished speaking Lance walked out of the room to the kitchen, terror flooding his body. They had gotten through the relatively easy part; the hardest part was going to be telling them about Mike. A part of his mind was stunned at how calmly everyone had taken the news that he and AJ were gay.
“What’s wrong, Angel?” AJ asked as he walked into the kitchen, seeing the shakes wracking Lance’s body.
“Just scared and nervous.” Lance replied, relaxing as he felt AJ’s arms move around his waist.
“You don’t have to tell them,” AJ said at the same time knowing the others were worried about Lance’s nightmare.
Lance said with a smile, “Nice try, Kitten! It'll be easier to go through it all once than have to do it a million times later.”
As he rubbed Lance’s arms gently AJ said, “You can’t blame a guy for trying. Remember you’re not alone anymore. I’m always here for you, Angel.”
Unnoticed by the pair, their ten guests were watching the scene from the doorway. Each one had a smile on their face at the interaction between the pair, amazed at how they had missed such a glowing love. The small group walked back to the lounge, not wanting to be caught spying.
“You want me to tell them?” AJ offered, hating to see Lance so afraid.
“Nah, I should be the one to tell them.” Lance replied with a nervous smile, letting go of AJ and preparing to walk back to the others.
“You okay?” JC asked as soon as Lance walked into the lounge, concern on his face.
“I’m fine.” Lance said absently as he took his usual seat next to AJ.
JC shared a look with the others, each one knowing that Lance was lying but unsure what to do about it. Should they confront Lance or would that make their friend feel worse?
“Does this have anything to do with your nightmare?” Joey asked, wanting to get an indication of how bad the next part of Lance’s secret was.
Knowing that he only had the strength to go through the memories once Lance said, “Yeah, the nightmares are pretty common, normally only when I think about what happened. I’ll tell you everything but you can’t interrupt-no matter what.”
Lance said shaking as he remembered the traumatic months, “We had been dating for a while when I started getting weird phone calls at home and later emails at my private email address, I just dismissed them as your normally weird fan stuff, okay a really skilled fan but nothing to panic about. I couldn’t have been more wrong. That’s when the guy upped the stakes, sending me details on how he was going to kill AJ.”
AJ quickly moved so that Lance was sitting on his lap and started rubbing the younger man’s shoulders soothingly. The worst was yet to come, and AJ knew that Lance would relive the entire experience as he told their friends about it.
Knowing he had to remain detached otherwise he would become trapped within the memories Lance said, “I was terrified that something would happen to Alex. I made him promise to never go anywhere without a bodyguard or at least telling someone where he was going and for how long. I didn’t even think about what could happen to me. Stupid or what?"
"That’s how he managed to get me. I was at a club waiting to meet Alex when I got dizzy. I walked outside to get some fresh air and everything went black. When I woke up I was handcuffed to a bed. The room was covered in photos of me some from photoshoots and others he had taken. I couldn’t move or even speak. That’s when he came back, carrying a knife and saying that unless I did what he wanted he would kill Alex.”
His voice revealing the pain and fear he’d felt AJ continued the story, “When I got to the club I asked around in case someone had seen something. One of the bouncers said that one of the bartenders helped Lance into a cab. I phoned everyone I could think of, trying to find out what happened but no one could tell me anything. That’s when I got the first call on my cell. It was a girl saying that she knew where Lance was and would try to get him out. That girl was Tracy, she told me where Lance was being held and I went in and got him.”
Lance said the terror starting to leak into his voice, “The guy kept coming back, promising that he was going to make me his. He hit me a couple of times when I spat on him and told him that I could never love someone as inhuman as him. That’s when I first met Tracy, she washed my cuts and promise to call Alex then she disappeared. I was positive that she was just an hallucination when Alex appeared...”
AJ quickly took over the narrative, “When I got there, the guy was raving about just what he was gong to do to Lance. I lost it when I saw the cuts and bruises on Lance’s body. I sneaked into the house and started hitting the guy. I would have killed him but I heard Lance crying. I just finished unlocking the handcuffs when Tracy walked into the room, her face was covered in purple bruises and she looked terrified.”
Lance said leaning back against AJ, “We brought Tracy back home with us and Alex nursed the two of us back to health. I went to see a shrink, mainly because of the nightmares but Mike is still out there."
"He sent the letter and the photos in February 2000, the handwriting and style matches. He said that if he even suspects we are together he is going to out us, kill Alex and teach Tracy a lesson for betraying him. Since then the nightmares have started again, the only time I don’t have them is when Alex is with me. I enrolled the three of us in Judo classes, it doesn’t mean that we’re never going to get hurt but at least this way we can defend ourselves.”
“When did this happen?” Kevin asked, wondering how everyone had missed the signs.
“Lance went missing on the 15th of October 1999 and I found him on the 19th.” AJ replied quickly.
“I thought you said you met Tracy a year ago on the street!?” Chris asked, wondering why the pair had lied.
Lance retorted,“I couldn’t exactly tell you that I met her a couple of years ago when this guy kidnapped me and tried to rape me could I?” He had only told them because there was no way to avoid it.
“This still doesn’t explain why you aren’t together.” Nick said confused, why had they told them this when it still didn’t answer the question.
AJ said angry, “I would have thought that was obvious (!) We can’t take the risk that Mike finds out we’re together and goes after Tracy. We’ve got a private investigator looking for him, as soon as we find him Lance is going to press charges. Lance was going to do it when it happened but the guy disappeared before the police could catch him.”
He couldn’t believe their friends were still asking these questions, didn’t any of them see how upset Lance was at even thinking about what had happened? Why were they going over it again?
Part 6
“Why do you call AJ, Kitten?” Brian asked breaking the serious atmosphere, causing everyone to laugh at the look on Lance’s face. Brian wasn’t really that interested - he actually thought it was cute but he could tell that AJ was about to blow. “
Oh, he purrs and has the grace of a cat.” Lance said with a smile, remembering the first time he had called AJ Kitten, he had never seen his love so shocked.
“He certainly has the attitude.” Kevin interjected with a large smile.
“I am here you know (?)” AJ said sarcastically, trying to hide a smile at the way Lance was behaving around his friends. He had always suspected Lance would be a match for them.
“We know, Kitten.” Lance said as he tapped AJ’s arms so that the other man would let him go.
“What are you worried about?” AJ asked seeing the look of fear on Lance’s face.
“Tracy’s been out three hours and hasn’t phoned.” Lance replied, looking at his watch in disbelief. Tracy always called in every hour, knowing how much Lance worried about her.
“You call Kelly, I’ll phone Jon.” AJ said, taking out his mobile phone.
The ten guests just stared at them confused, why were they panicking? Sometimes people simply lost track of time. As each one remembered Mike’s promise, they slowly realised and shared their friends fear.
“Kelly, its Lance. Is Tracy there?” Lance said into the phone while searching through an organiser.
Kelly replied sounding worried, “She never turned up, I figured it was because you came home today. You want me to call the gang and see if any of them have seen her?”
“That’d be great, if you hear anything call us.” Lance replied as he hung up the phone.
AJ was quickly dialing a number from memory. As he paced a feeling dread flooded every inch of his body as his mind went over possibilities what if Mike had Tracy? He recalled the detailed descriptions Mike had sent of what he would do to Tracy if he found the girl.
“Tracy’s disappeared, can you come round?” AJ said, looking over at Lance.
“I’ll be there in about ten minutes, don’t worry we’ll get her back home.” Jon replied determinedly.
“I know, but what shape will she be in? I’m going to ask Marie to come round.” AJ said, his voice low, not wanting Lance to hear him.
“That’s probably for the best. You want me to ask The Fallen to come with me, just in case we find the SOB?” Jon replied his voice suddenly cold and fierce.
“Yeah, I’ve got to go.” AJ answered, smiling for the first time since he picked up the phone.
“Kelly said that Tracy never got there but she’s going to call some of the others.” Lance said, seeing the worried looks of their ten friends.
As AJ walked out of the room dialling another number on his cell, Lance was positive that his love was calling Marie.
“Is it possible that she simply met up with some other friends?” Kirsten asked, wanting to calm the terrified man in front of her.
“No, it’s just not like her. She always phones every hour on the dot.” Lance said, feeling reassured by the presence of so many of their friends.
“I’ve called Marie, she’s going to come over in a couple of minutes.” AJ said as he walked into the room, immediately looking at Lance worried that this would be too much.
Lance questioned, “Jon coming as well?”
“Yeah, he’s bringing the rest of the Fallen.” AJ said, grinning coldly.
Lance simply gave a mean smirk in reply, sure, that now that the Fallen were on the case Tracy would be found, and her kidnapper punished.
Unconsciously their friends backed away, they had never seen the pair look so bloodthirsty and cold. The men in front of them were strangers; no trace of their friends remained. Gone was Lance's compassionate nature and AJ's love of life. What happened with Mike had changed the pair in ways they couldn’t even begin to imagine.
“Who are the Fallen?” Nick asked, not entirely sure he wanted to know.
“Friends who are going to help.” Lance answered, wondering if the others could handle the full knowledge.
The sound of the doorbell caused Lance to grin almost manically. Finally, they could start the search properly. Their friends would do everything and anything to help; it was a part of who they were.
“We’ve got some guests - the rest of the Backstreet and Nsync.” Lance said as he opened the door, letting the figures into the house.
“Guys, these are The Fallen.” Lance said as he led the six into the room.
The ten stared at the people in front of them in shock; the strangers were dressed completely in black. As they stared the ten started to fear for their friends, just what were AJ and Lance involved in?
Lance said to the four visible members of the detective agency, “Take off your masks, I need to introduce you all. I promise they’ll won’t tell anyone who you are.”
“These are Blade, Liam, Paula and Jon.” AJ said placing his hands on each person’s shoulder as he said their names.
Blade was a slim, petite, grey-eyed brunette with eyes that spoke of pain. She was in her early twenties, and had a mischievous grin on her face. One word described this woman and that was trouble.
Liam was a blonde and tall, despite his wiry build he radiated an air of danger. He looked at the ten as if he was dissecting them piece by piece. He grinned as Nick and JC shivered. He was used to people being a little wary of him.
Paula had shoulder length auburn hair, and pale white skin, her face was serious and slightly worried. She looked at the Backstreet Boys and then Nsync critically, trying to figure out if they would be any use.
Jon was a tall Black man; his hair had just a few flecks of white. This only served to make him look distinguished and welcoming. He smiled at the people staring at him, recognising each one from Lance and AJ’s descriptions.
“Jon, thank God you’re here.” Lance said as he hugged the last man tightly.
Jon replied tenderly, “Where else would I be when one of my Kids needs me?”
“Why do I get the feeling that something weird is going on?” Joey asked worried, the four were looking at him as if he was food.
“These four have a detective agency, they specialise in cases of abuse and kidnapping. Jon’s the one who’s trying to find Mike.” AJ said wanting nothing more than to get started.
“Why are you going to them instead of the police?” Chris asked wondering if the pair were hiding something else.
Liam said starting to get annoyed, “They came to us because we have methods that the police can’t use. We’ll get Tracy back home and make the inhuman piece of trash pay one way or another.”
“Just what are you going to do with Mike when you find him?” Brian asked, hoping that it was something he could live with.
“We’ll just teach him what happens to men who target little girls and defenceless people. Then we’ll hand him over to the cops.” Blade said, wondering why they were questioning their motives, didn’t they know just what had happened to Lance and Tracy?
“Lance, AJ I need you to go read your email and check your mail in case Mike’s contacted you.” Jon ordered, wanting the pair out of the room.
The pair left, holding hands, needing to feel their love with them. Each one terrified about what could happen to Tracy.
As soon as they were out of hearing range, Jon opened his briefcase and took out some photographs. He passed them to the ten friends of the two men he considered his children. The photographs were of Lance and Tracy after the last encounter with Mike.
Tracy’s face was covered in purple, black, and blue bruises but that was only the first picture. The other four of Tracy showed the scars and bruises covering the young girl’s body; on her back were scars that appeared to have been made by a whip.
The first photo of Lance showed cut wrists and burns on his arms that appeared to have been made by a liquid of some sort. The second was of Lance’s chest which was black, the photographs clearly showed the three broken ribs. The third photograph was of Lance’s back, which was covered in scratches, and more bruises. The last photograph was of Lance’s feet, which were cut, and bleeding, the skin having been cut away from his soles.
Part 7
Jon said seriously, “These photo’s were taken the day after AJ found the pair. As you can see, Mike was abusing Tracy and had been since he took her in when her parents died. Thankfully, she was only with him for five months before AJ and Lance took her in.” If Lance and AJ hadn’t taken Tracy with them, it was probable that the young girl would have been killed.
Kristen grabbed hold of the photographs before Kevin could move them out of her grip. She looked at them in a mix of horror and sorrow. How could anyone do that to another human being? Throwing the photographs to the floor, she ran to the bathroom. The sound of her vomiting could be heard in the now silent room.
Leighanne looked at the photos wondering what had so alarmed her friend, seeing the pain Mike had inflicted on Lance and Tracy her eyes glinted dangerously-she couldn’t help but want revenge. She felt disgusted that anyone could do that to two beautiful and good people.
Joey gasped as he looked at the pictures unable to believe what had happened to Lance and the now missing Tracy. Looking closely at the pictures, he could understand just why Lance and AJ had changed so much. After such a traumatic experience, no one would ever be the same again. However, he didn’t approve of Lance’s use of the four strangers; sure that his friend would get hurt in the end.
“This is what Mike did to Lance?” JC asked, shocked, Lance hadn’t given any indication that the injuries where that bad. If he was hiding this how much more had he kept from them?
“Yeah, I was surprised AJ didn’t kill the guy.” A woman said as she walked out of the shadows dressed in a black catsuit with the letters FA in gold.
“Just who are you?” Justin asked in shock, they hadn’t noticed her earlier.
“Becca. I’m an operative for The Fallen, I keep an eye on Lance.” Becca said with a smile, knowing that Lance and AJ had known she was there even is they couldn’t see her.
“What does FA mean?” Kevin asked, noticing that each of the black robed strangers had the same insignia. He didn't want to think about the pictures anymore but knowing they were etched forever in his memory.
Liam said with a smile, “Fallen Angels.”
“Why do you call yourselves that?” Nick asked, it was a strange name for a detective agency.
Blade said with a grin, “We where all either in law enforcement or the armed forces. I was a Detective for ten years but I quit when a rapist got off on a technicality.”
His voice full of anger as he remembered Liam said, “I was in the army for six years. I was a special forces operative but was kicked out when I hit my CO. He deserved it like, he was beating up this little ten year old girl for kicks.”
“Me? I was a strategist for the Marines.” Paula said as she looked at the others, she still needed to have a little word with them.
“I was a federal agent, undercover most of the time. I worked with violent crimes.” Becca said, hoping that she could get a chance to talk with AJ, she was worried about Lance - the man looked about to break.
“I was army for three years before I joined the Seals. I worked with them for six years. I was then recruited into the NSA. I retired after thirty years, during which I worked in various Intelligence agencies.” Jon said, sounding slightly bored. Maybe now that they had gone over the pleasantries they could focus on finding Tracy.
“If you guys are so good why haven’t you been able to find Mike?” Justin asked, then shut his mouth realising just what he had said to them.
“Lance and Alex only came to see me eight months ago. But the others only started helping a couple of weeks ago. As much as I hate to say it, their case is common. We have over two hundred people a week asking us to help.” Jon said, understanding Justin’s anger. He had started to feel the same, every time they got a lead on Mike the man would disappear just before they could capture him.
Upstairs in the study, Lance and AJ were frantically checking their emails for any sign that Mike had been in contact. Finding none, Lance stood up and kicked the nearby trashcan. He hated feeling so helpless, if Mike had Tracy it would be all his fault, Lance thought to himself remembering the way he had practically kicked the teen out of the house.
“It’s not your fault, Lance.” AJ said, seeing the expression on Lance’s face.
“Yeah? I’m the one that asked her to leave us.” Lance replied sadly.
“She was going out anyway, and Kelly only lives two streets away. You couldn’t have known something was going to happen.” AJ said, reassuringly, he hated it when Lance starting thinking he was to blame for every little thing that went wrong.
“I guess, I just hate not knowing.” Lance said as he switched off the computer and walked over to AJ. He hugged the man tightly, not wanting to let go - his Alex made him feel safe and loved.
“Its okay, love. We’ve got the best downstairs helping us, and you know that Jon won’t rest until he finds her.” AJ said as he tightly held onto Lance.
Jon walked to the door, hearing someone pulling up. Opening it, he was surprised to find a strange woman standing there. He had expected to find Marie, knowing that she coming to help Lance and AJ.
“Who are you? Where’s Lance?” The woman asked, confusion and worry colouring her voice.
“Just who are you, lady?” Jon retorted, there was no way he was going to let someone hurt Lance when the man was so upset.
“Diane Bass, Lance’s mother.” Came the angry reply.
“I guess you can come in then.” Jon said, moving to let her pass.
Diane Bass walked into her son’s house and stared at the living room in shock. Who were the five people dressed in black? Why were the Backstreet Boys sitting in Lance’s house when her son was nowhere to be seen?
“Hi Diane.” JC said, drawing her attention, while Joey hid the photographs.
“Nice to see you, Josh. Where’s Lance?” Diane Bass asked politely.
“He’s upstairs on his computer. Why don’t you wait here for him to come down?” Chris said helpfully, while the Backstreet Boys talked quietly amongst themselves.
“That’s okay, I’ll go upstairs and see him.” Diane replied over her shoulder as she walked up the stairs.
Hearing what sounded like crying, Diane Bass stopped outside the narrowly opened door and listened; was her son crying? What had happened to him?
“Don’t cry, Alex. Its okay, love. I promise everything will be okay.” Lance said his voice soft and gentle.
Opening the door, Diane Bass gaped in shock at the sight before her. Her son was kissing another man! She closed her eyes tightly, thinking she was seeing things but when she opened them, the scene was the same. Unable and unwilling to believe what she was seeing, Diane Bass fainted in shock.
Part 8
Lance broke the gentle kiss when he heard the muted thud, seeing his mother unconscious, he shouted, “JON!”
There was the sound of people running upstairs as the other members of the Backstreet Boys, Nsync and the Fallen hurried to see what had so alarmed the young man. Seeing Diane Bass unconscious, JC glared at AJ, what had the man done to her?
“What have you done, AJ?” JC asked angrily, approaching the confused Backstreet Boy.
“Leave Alex alone!” Lance shouted, grabbing JC by the collar and slamming the other man against the wall.
Startled everyone just watched the scene in shock, unused to Lance behaving so aggressively with someone the younger man called a friend. AJ only gently caressed Lance’s neck.
“Love, you really need to relax these protective instincts of yours. Let him go, you’re going to feel really bad later if you hurt him.” AJ reasoned, knowing it was true, Lance had always swore he wouldn’t hurt one of his friends.
“He attacked you!” Lance reasoned, still angry. He wasn’t going to let JC off that easy.
“He didn’t mean anything, he’s just confused.” AJ said, knowing JC must have thought he had done something to Diane Bass.
“What happened?” Jon asked trying to restore order, ignoring the fact that Lance still had JC pinned to the wall.
“I guess she was a little shocked to see us kissing.” Lance said, ignoring the smirks on everyone’s faces as they looked from him to AJ.
“I’m guessing she doesn’t know about you two (!)” Joey said sarcastically, wondering how the pair could have kept it a secret from their family.
“She knows I’m in love with Alex but I never really told her Alex was a man. I was too afraid of what would happen.” Lance said shooting nervous glances at his unconscious mother.
“We’ll put her in your room, Lance.” Jon said taking charge, motioning Liam to take the woman’s head.
Lance said addressing the room at large, “I guess I’ll have to explain everything to her. She’s not going to take it well.”
“We’re here for you, Lance.” Justin said, hugging the younger man, backing off when AJ growled at him angrily.
“Any sign of Mike?” Paula asked wanting to get onto the search as soon as possible.
“No, but I don’t think anyone else would take Tracey.” AJ said as he held Lance closer.
“Come downstairs, that way we can discuss everything properly.” Becca stated, as Jon and Liam carried Diane Bass into the bedroom.
“Did you see any sign of Mike while we where on the road?” Lance asked Becca as everyone sat down.
“No, everything was clear. You want me to call Neal and see if anyone fitting his description has been around Tracy’s school?” Becca said, smiling at the way Lance was half sitting on AJ’s lap.
AJ said sounding lost and angry, “Yeah, so what are we going to do now?”
“Who’s Neal?” Nick asked confused, who were all these people and how did Lance and AJ hook up with them?
“Tracy’s teacher and a friend of ours.” Lance replied with a grin, there was a lot they still had to tell their friends.
“You’ve been following Lance around and no one noticed.” Chris questioned in amazement.
Lance replied with a grin, “She’s my shadow, has been for almost a year and a half. Anywhere I go she goes, no one notices her because she’s good at her job.”
“Lance, your mother is starting to wake up.” Liam said as he walked down the stairs, followed by Jon who was talking quietly on his mobile.
“I should go and speak to her.” Lance said standing up.
“We should go and talk to her.” AJ corrected, standing and taking Lance’s hand in his. The pair walked upstairs hand in hand, ignoring the happy grins on the faces of their friends.
“Now they’re gone, I can have a little word with you.” Becca said grinning cruelly. She had few things to say to these people, who had ignored all the signs that Lance and AJ were hurting.
“What about?” Kevin asked, not liking the dangerous gleam in her eyes.
Looking at the four Nsync members Becca said her voice low, “Oh, about what terrible friends you are. How could you miss all the signs of what had happened to them? How could you not see the way Lance flinches if someone approaches him from behind without any warning, or the nightmares? Why didn’t you see they were in pain?”
Liam said looking from face to face, “You Backstreet Boys were just as bad! You never noticed the nightmares? Or the amount of time AJ would spend on the phone? More importantly, how did you miss the fact that they both have a teenage girl living with them? I guess you never noticed that AJ spends most of his time here, or how much they panic when someone close to them disappears.”
“If you ever hurt Lance or AJ I’ll make you pay! The pair are like sons to me and I won’t let you hurt them.” Jon vowed solemnly.
Part 9
“Hi mom.” Lance said as he walked into the room to find his mom sitting staring at the wall.
“Lance, how could you let yourself be seduced by a man? It’s wrong, against everything we taught you,” Diane said, narrowing her eyes as she stared at their joined hands.
“I love Alex. How can love be wrong?” Lance answered, moving to hug his mother.
Diane Bass said before running out of the room, “Don’t touch me, you dirty fag! I don’t want to see you ever again. You are no longer my son. If you come near any of my family, I’ll have you arrested.”
Lance watched her leave in disbelief; he had always hoped that his fears wouldn’t come true. He had lost his family, he had always guessed they would desert him when they found out he was gay. The reality was far worse than anything he had ever imagined. He started to cry, for himself and for the family he had lost.
“It’s okay, Angel. I’m here, I’ll never leave you again.” AJ whispered as he held Lance, letting the younger man cry.
“Marie, thank God you’re here! Diane Bass has just disowned Lance. He’s still upstairs with AJ.” Paula said as she opened the door, letting Marie walk in front of her.
“I’ll go up and see them in a couple of minutes. Any news on Tracy?” Marie asked as she walked into the room, noticing the ten strangers.
“Not yet. Lance and AJ are going crazy with worry, they’re back together.” Jon said as he took Marie’s coat from her.
Marie grinned briefly before saying, “About time, has Mrs Bass left yet?”
“Yeah, she ran out of here about five minutes ago. Just who are you?” Justin answered looking her over.
“My name is Marie Lewis. I’m a psychiatrist, I specialise in domestic abuse and sexual trauma. I’m Lance’s psychiatrist and their friend. I’ll go up and see them now.” Marie said shortly before leaving the room.
“How have you been following Lance around for over a year when they only came to your detective agency eight months ago?” Justin questioned looking at Becca, he had been asking himself the same question for the past thirty minutes.
Becca replied with a grin, “I’m a friend of Marie’s as well as a Fallen. She asked me to keep an eye on Lance in November 1999 when he told her about what Mike had done, and that the piece of scum was still free. I have been following Lance since then, he’s always known about me. When he asked for help to find Mike, Marie told him the Fallen Angels were the best people for the job. We are the best people for the job simply because we will do whatever we have to get a result.”
“Marie is the one who told Lance and AJ to go ask the Fallen for help?” Brian questioned, wanting to know just whose fault it was that his friends were involved with such a dangerous group.
Jon answered the question, “Yeah, we helped her when one of her daughters was raped. The guy who raped her is now in prison, being raped nightly by his roommate.”
There was a loud ringing of the home phone, Lance ran down the stairs with AJ hot on his trail. Marie was following a few seconds later, her face full of anger.
“Wait, let the machine get it.” Jon said as Lance went to pick up the phone, knowing they would need evidence if indeed it were Mike.
“Lance, baby why are you doing this? Can’t you see that he’s no good for you?” A low voice said full of love.
Lance shivered and leaned into AJ’s hold as he recognised Mike’s voice.
“You know, I was thinking you had been a good boy until I saw the slut arrive at your place last night. Do you remember what I told you would happen if you ever saw each other outside of work?” As they listened, they could hear a girl’s terrified screams.
“I’ve got the traitor back. I’m going to make her body my present to you, see you lover.” Mike said as he ended the call.
“Listen to me, Lance. He’s just playing with you, we are going to get her back.” Marie said as she looked at Lance, who looked like he was about to collapse.
“It’s all my fault he has Tracy!” AJ said, breaking into tears.
At the sight of his love crying, Lance did the only thing he could think of. He held AJ tightly and told him how much he loved him. The couple was engulfed into a tight embrace as the rest of Nsync and Backstreet hugged them, trying to comfort their friends.
“What have you got?” Jon said into his com set his voice low.
“We got an address. You want us to check it out?” A petite black woman said as she walked in the room from the study, a map in her hand.
“Yeah, Liam go with Sue and check it out. Paula you’ve got ten minutes to work out the details. Anyone else want to go?” Jon said looking at the room.
“We’re coming, this guy has to pay!” Joey said looking over Kevin who just nodded.
“Backstreet and Nsync can go but you’ll have to wear protective clothes. Liam, suit them up. Becca and Blade will stay with me and make sure Lance and Alex are secure.” Jon said, not even considering letting Kirsten and Leigh Ann go, it would only hinder Kevin and Brian.
Paula placed the map on the table, and started to plan. It was clear from the second she opened her mouth that she was good at her job. Within five minutes she had managed to assign everyone a position, keeping the singers as safe as possible.
“Everyone know their job?” Paula asked looking everyone in the face; the only reply was a nod.
“Here are your clothes. I’m going to give you all a Sig 9mm, it’s not hard to use so you should all be okay. Only shoot to incapacitate, we want him alive.” Liam said as he walked over, carrying two bags full of clothes, and a briefcase.
The eight men changed in silence, their thoughts on their mission. Each one was wondering if they would be able to shoot another human being, but as they remembered what Mike had done the direction of their thoughts changed. They started to question whether they would be able to stop themselves from killing him.
“Get out of here!” Jon shouted, smiling as each member of the team hugged Lance and AJ before leaving.
The ten left the house in silence, their faces showing no expression. As they left Lance prayed that his friends would manage to bring Tracy back safe and that everyone would be alive.
“Lance, why don’t you and Alex take a nap? You look exhausted and it’ll be a while before we hear anything. I promise, we’ll get you as soon as we know anything.” Marie said, sighing as she saw the look on Lance’s face.
AJ pleaded, “She’s right, love. We should sleep that way we can be here for Tracy when we get her back. Just a quick nap, please for me?” He didn’t want to sleep but knew they wouldn’t be able to stay awake much longer.
The couple left the room and went up to Lance’s bedroom. They quickly undressed and got inside the covers, holding each other tightly they went to sleep. Each one hoping that it would all turn out to be a horrible dream.
End Part 9
