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Izzy pulled the buzzing phone out of her pocket and glanced at the screen.  The number was unknown to her so she put it on the seat next to her and continued to sit in silence with Brian next to her.  Megan had volunteered to go into the airport to check on departure times for a flight to Kentucky.  There was no point in all of them going inside, exposing themselves to the cameras and the hundreds of others inside until it was time to actually get a flight and board it. 


The phone started to buzz again with the same unknown number.  Izzy thought about answering and telling the person to shove off but decided to just ignore it again.   She put it under her leg trying to silence the vibrating noise even more.


“Do you need to get that?” Brian asked a little jealous that she was getting constant calls from people who might be concerned about her.  Brian’s phone had not rung a single time since they left the hotel the other day after running into Nick and AJ.  Brian would have thought that Nick might have called him out of curiosity.  He took out his phone and checked it.  No missed calls, full battery life. 


“No,” Izzy blushed as she hoped the phone would stop ringing.  She looked over at Brian and smiled as he checked his phone.  “Expecting a call?”


Brian could feel his cheeks burning as he shoved his phone back into his pocket.  “No, just,” he stopped unsure how to explain that he was hoping at least one person in his life would have called to check on him.  He hoped at least one person in his life was not part of the fake life Leighanne had described.  Brian let out a barely audible sigh when he thought about Leighanne. He hoped she and Baylee had made it to where ever it was that they were going.  He hoped that when this was over she would come back. 


“I’m not your wife,” the words she spoke echoed in his mind at the same time the image of him proposing to Izzy flashed into his mind. 


Izzy could sense that Brian was tense sitting next to her.  She wondered what he was thinking about.  She tried to think of something that could possibly lighten the mood.  When she couldn’t think of anything she decided it would be better to talk about what was going on than to continue to sit in silence.


She opened her mouth to speak but she closed it again when she felt Brian’s leg move ever so slightly.  The movement caused her hear to jump inside her chest.   She turned to look at Brian who was already watching her.


Brian was watching her trying to decide how or if he should bring up some of the other dreams he had been having, some of the more intimate feeling dreams.  A few days ago it was all he could do to not see the woman from his dreams, now that he was sitting next to her he still couldn’t tell if it was real or if he was going to wake at any moment back on his tour bus, Leighanne’s steady breathing next to him.   


“Brian,” Izzy started unable to handle the silence anymore but she was interrupted by the door opening. 


“Hey guys, let’s go. We lucked out.  A flight leaves in thirty minutes.”  Megan smiled at both of them and grabbed for her one bag in the back seat. 


Brian and Izzy climbed out.  Both were tense as they walked inside the building.  They all kept their eyes to the ground as they approached the counter and purchased their tickets.  The woman behind the desk didn’t recognize, know or care who Brian was.   They managed to make their way through security and to the gate with no problems.  Since the flight was so close to departure time they were surprised they made it, they walked straight up to the gate, handed the attendant their boarding passes and got on the plane. 


Brian heard Izzy’s sharp intake of breath and wondered what it was about until his eyes fell on the men in taking their seats towards the back of the plane.  They were wearing dark suits much like the men that had attacked them earlier. 


The three split up to take their seats, they were able to get a flight but unable to get tickets near each other.  Brian’s seat was the closes to the men at the back of the plane, Megan was closer to the front of the plane and Izzy was in the middle.   How Izzy managed to get a window seat was beyond her but she scooted past the other two in her aisle and took her seat.  She crammed her backpack under her feet and sat staring out the window.


Izzy looked at the woman reflected in the window of the plane.  The brown eyes staring back at her were the same she saw on a daily basis but the woman in the window looked as though she was hiding a secret from her.   “What are you hiding from me?” She whispered to her reflection before propping her head on her arm, closing her eyes awaiting take off.


“Izzy,” Brian’s voice called out to her.  She looked up and over, Brian and a stranger were standing in the aisle looking at her.  Izzy’s heart started to jump in her chest, who was this person with Brian. Why would he be standing with him? 


“Brian?”


“This man has so graciously accepted a seat change.  He’s willing to give up his seat for yours so you can sit with me.”  Izzy could hear a slight twang to his voice as he spoke.


With the fear pumping through her it took a few minutes to understand what Brian was saying. When it hit her that she could move and sit next to Brian she grabbed her bag quickly and apologized to the people next to her as she climbed out.   “Thank you,” She smiled at the man who was trading seats.  He simply nodded in response and took his new seat. 


Brian led Izzy back to where the vacant seats were.  Brian let Izzy take the seat next to the window and he took the middle seat again.   “It’s been so long since I’ve flown coach,” Brian commented as he let out a soft laugh. 


“It could have been seven months ago,” Izzy smiled back at him reminding him that if they were to believe what his wife told him, his memories were only six months old. 


“True,” He laughed again and without thinking about what he was doing he took hold of Izzy’s hand with both of his.  He felt relieved when neither one passed out at the moment of contact again. 


Izzy felt Brian’s hands take hold of hers.  She breathed in quickly but placed her free hand on top of Brian’s when she felt him start to pull away. 


“Do you think the two guys we saw are part of it?” Izzy leaned closer to Brian and whispered.


Brian had a hard time keeping his hands on hers, he wanted to wrap his arm around her and pull her closer than she already was.   “I’m not sure,” he replied instead. 


“What if they are and they attack on here?  We won’t be able to fight them off as easily?”


“Somehow if they are part of that group I doubt they will do anything here.” Brian tried to comfort her with his words though he was still feeling an overwhelming urge to pull her close and comfort her.   


“What if one of the nine is on the plane?”


“I doubt it,” Brian released one of his hands from hers and wiped it on his pant leg.  He was nervous.  He could tell Izzy was nervous too.  “Let’s figure out who we already know are a part of the nine.” He tried to smile to reassure her but was sure that the tight-lipped smile did nothing to help calm her. 


“I know for a fact Leighanne is one,” Brian started.  He still couldn’t believe the woman he’d shared a bed with, had a child with could be in on something that sounded sinister.  It had to be sinister, what other reason would someone wipe memories and replace them? It couldn’t be for fun, or perhaps it was, he had no idea.   “And Howie can’t forget him.”  Brian muttered.


“Natalie was one, but she’s dead now.  Dr. Thompson and Patricia have both been injected with that serum they kept trying to inject in me so they may not remember.”   Izzy touched her face where Patricia had hit her several times.  It was sore but there was no bleeding, no bruise.  When she had first realized that she barely showed any evidence of an attack she thought she was going to hyperventilate.  She hardly ever got injured, she knew that, but was there another reason? Was something wrong with her?  She knew the other two noticed it but neither one said anything since they could both tell she was already having a hard time adjusting to the new information discovered about her.


“So we are safe from two,” Brian continued taking Izzy’s hands with both of his again.


“Two?”


“Natalie is dead and Leighanne is in hiding with,” he paused and felt embarrassed to say it, “with our son.” 


Izzy felt a twinge of jealousy and hurt when he mentioned the son he had with the other woman.  She couldn’t understand why though if their dreams were memories she was sure that Brian meant more to her than just a good friend. 


“I can’t help but suspect the rest of the group; AJ, Nick and even Kevin. I even suspect our manager.”  Brian admitted.  He hated to think any of other guys were in on it but if Howie was and the group was only six months old than it would only make sense the rest were involved. 


“My co-worker Tony has always despised me, I wouldn’t doubt it if he was involved.  Patricia set me up with some guy named Greg that I went out with.  The fact she set me up with him and that night when we ran into Dr. Thompson the two seemed to recognize each other but tried to hide it from me.” 


“That’s more than nine,” Brian counted.


Izzy shrugged.  “We won’t know until they come after us.” 


“Excuse me,” A small voice came from the aisle.   “Are you Brian from the Backstreet Boys?” The girl asked.


Brian immediately dropped Izzy’s hands and turned his attention to the young girl.  He smiled broadly at the girl. “I sure am,” he held his finger to his lips and winked at her making her feel special that she had picked him out. 


“Can I?” She held out a small book and a pen.  Brian took it from the girl, thankful that the person on the end of the aisle was sleeping.  He flipped to a blank page and signed the page for her.  In that moment he forgot about his life falling to pieces and being a lie.  His job now was to make that little girl’s day, to make her feel like the most special person on the plane. 


The girl and Brian talked for little longer until her mom called for her to return to her seat, they were going to land soon.  Brian turned his attention back to Izzy but she was looking out the window, she looked lost in thought so he let her be.  


“Welcome to Kentucky,” the voice of the flight attendant wafted over the speakers as the plane touched down on the runway. Brian sighed to himself. He was home.

Chapter End Notes:

sorry, I feel that chapter was more filler than I intended....