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Howie flinched as his window exploded, showering him with glass. He forced himself to keep his eyes open as the ‘vette’s tires screeched and screamed in protest of their sudden stop of movement, sliding across the paved street as if in slow motion. Howie felt the seat belt strain against his chest, thankfully preventing him from slamming head first through the windshield.

Hands still gripped to the steering wheel as they skidded, Howie watched as the Ram suddenly slammed on its brakes ahead of them and then veered into a skid as it turned in front of the ‘vette. Howie couldn’t believe it and barely managed to take action.

“Shit!” he screamed out as he wrenched the steering wheel to the right, the same direction the Ram suddenly took. The ‘vette responded in kind by swinging its back end around in a wide arc. Howie watched in shock as the Ram’s squealing mass became closer and closer as his ‘vette careened toward it, still in full swing of its arc.

Howie’s hands stayed welded to the wheel as his mind desperately, but futilely, tried to slow their rapid closing in of the struggling Ram. He watched with almost a detached feeling as the Ram’s spinning tires finally retained some grip on the smooth pavement, propelling the black Ram forward and out of the ‘vette’s path. The Ram squealed off, disappearing down the adjacent street. The ‘vette finished its arc of almost a full 180 in a weakening scream, the left rear tire just nudging the curb as the sports car jerked to a wobbly stop. All this happened in a matter of seconds, seconds that seemed an eternity to Howie.

Silence filled the deserted street where now a lone, battered purple corvette resided, facing the direction it just came from. Howie sat staring up the street, panting from both the fear and the adrenaline coursing through him. He remembered Kevin and strained out in a breathy voice, his eyes never straying from their stare, “Kev? You okay?”

He was answered by a groan and then a hoarse, “Yeah, in a matter of speaking.”

Hearing the pain in Kevin’s voice, Howie tore his gaze from the street. Kevin sat with eyes clenched shut, his right hand gripping his left forearm in a white knuckled grip. Howie then noticed the red liquid seeping from the furrows between Kevin’s fingers. In alarm, Howie pried his hands from where they still clamped the steering wheel, flexing his fingers in an attempt to regain some feeling.

“Kev? What’s wrong with your arm?” Howie asked while reaching forward, managing to pry Kevin’s hand loose to reveal the blood soaked sleeve. “Ah, shit,” Howie groaned, realizing what happened.

“They shot me,” informed Kevin, his voice matter-of-fact.

Howie grimaced. The bullet that shattered his window went wide to miss him, but managed to catch Kevin in one of the arms he had braced against the dash. Howie replaced Kevin’s hand with his own over the bleeding wound, his brown eyes looking up to scan their surroundings, “We gotta get you to the hospital. Where’s my cell?”

Kevin finally opened his eyes, “On the floor. It fell when we slammed on the brakes.” Kevin stopped, his green eyes focussing in on Howie’s face, “‘D, your face.”

Howie looked confused and brought his left hand up to his face, wincing when the contact sent a stinging pain across his nerves. He moved his hand in front of his eyes, seeing his fingers covered in red blood. He glanced in the rear view mirror and grimaced. Several gashes marred the left side of his face, bleeding freely, “It’s nothing, you need help.”

Kevin was about to disagree, but instead his words came out in a hoarse cry as a spike of pain suddenly shot up his arm. Howie winced in sympathy and reached down for his cell, picking it up and just beginning to dial when sirens suddenly filled the air.

As several police cars sailed over the small hill and screeched to a halt around the ‘vette, Howie threw Kevin a despairing look, “Better late than never, eh?”

Kevin huffed, pushing Howie’s hand off his arm and replacing it with his own again, “Hell, they’re doin’ a remarkable job at keeping us safe. It’s a wonder they haven’t been considered for an award!”

Howie stared at Kevin, seeing the pain in his eyes overrun by anger. Kevin was severely pissed. Howie almost felt sorry for O’Rielly as he watched the man in question get out of one of the vehicles and walk toward them. Almost.

Howie saw O’Rielly’s eyes widen at seeing them, then the police chief barked over his shoulder to his men, “Someone call an ambulance!”

No sooner than when the words left his mouth, did a whining ambulance fly over the hill and screech to a halt. Several EMTs scrambled out and headed to where Kevin was now stepping out of the battered corvette, Howie reflecting the same on the driver’s side.

Kevin shouldered the EMTs away and stalked up to O’Rielly. Kevin’s fierce green eyes bore into O’Rielly’s soft grays, their faces a mere inch apart, “Where the hell were you?!” Kevin fairly spat the words into O’Rielly’s face.

O’Rielly didn’t flinch as he explained, “When you first left, I sent a unit after you only to find my messenger bound and gagged under the stage. Then I received a phone call from Mr. McLean, who relayed that you were being attacked. I immediately gathered several units and followed the same route I knew you would take and this is where I stopped.” O’Rielly gestured around him, “I don’t know how the ambulance got here so fast.”

A passing EMT heard the last comment, “An AJ McLean called the hospital and told us to go toward the stadium until we heard police sirens, then we were to follow them.”

O’Rielly stared at the EMT as he turned away, then muttered under his breath, “Smart kid.”

Kevin didn’t lessen his glare, “You had better start doin’ a better job, O’Rielly.”

Then Kevin spun away and headed to the ambulance that Howie was already being escorted to. His eyes softened and he smiled at Howie and then he noticed who was escorting him. They all met at the ambulance back doors, “Hey, Alec.” Kevin greeted.

Alec shook his head, “I hope we don’t keep meeting like this.”

Howie grinned as he stepped up and into the ambulance, “You and me both, man.”

Alec helped Kevin in and then joined them, making Kevin and Howie sit on the stretcher, “You guys sure are havin’ some luck. Who’s car?”

Howie sighed, “Mine.”

Alec chuckled as the doors were shut and the ambulance started its trek to the ER, “Sorry to here that, it was a nice car.”

Howie’s eyes snapped to the boyish face smiling up at him, the hazel eyes twinkling in mirth, “Was? I’ll have you know that it still is my baby, even with a few dings in it.”

Kevin chuckled, realizing Alec was purposely diverting their attention from the chaos they just went through by poking fun at it. Kevin smirked at Howie, “A few dings, Howie? It looks as if someone took a sledge hammer to it!”

Howie frowned at Kevin, wincing when the action pulled at his cuts, “It’s still in one piece, that’s what matters.”

Kevin smiled, “All thanks to your drivin’. Jeez, Howie! Maybe you should forget the music business and pursue a career of drivin’ for NASCAR!”

Howie blushed, “Aw, it was nothin’. I just did my best.”

“Yeah, and ended up savin’ our asses!” Kevin forgot about his gunshot wound and slapped Howie on the knee, with his injured arm.

“AH! Son of a-” Kevin grasped his arm and clenched his teeth, cutting off his speech.

“Kev!” cried Howie, his eyes anxiously looking him over.

Alec shook his head, placing his hand on top of Kevin’s wound after removing Kevin’s hand, “Well, that was smart, Kevin.”

Kevin sent him a mock glare, “I know.”

Alec examined the gunshot wound, “Went clean through, its not too serious. I need to stop the bleeding though, and your gonna have to get some stitches, too.”

Alec turned to Howie, “I don’t think you’ll need stitches, those cuts aren’t that deep. Mainly superficial. Some butterfly clips should be enough, after they’re cleaned.”

Howie and Kevin both groaned aloud at the procedures to come. Alec eventually stopped the bleeding of Kevin’s arm and placed a temporary bandage over the two wounds. Kevin and Howie soon felt the ambulance come to a stop. Looking out the back window, they read Emergency Room in bold letters above the hospital doors.

“Well,” said Alec as the ambulance doors were pulled open, “Let’s go.”



~/~/~/~/~()~~~~~



AJ hefted his bag over his shoulder as he slammed his car door shut, sending a glare at the police car that followed him before starting up the sidewalk to Brian’s door. Keeping one hand on his bag’s strap, AJ knocked on the door. Almost immediately it is swung open to reveal Brian’s worried face.

Brian motioned AJ in, “Any word?”

AJ shook his head, walking into the living room and chucking his bag next to the couch, “No, I haven’t heard from them yet.” AJ paused and looked around, “Where’s Nick?”

“Right here,” came Nick’s strained voice from behind AJ.

AJ turned and saw Nick walk into the room, looking like someone who’s dog just died. AJ sent a glance at Brian, who shrugged in answer to his silent question, running a hand tiredly through his hair before plopping down on his couch with a sigh. AJ remained standing as Nick sank into the cushions beside Brian, not raising his eyes.

Brian looked up at AJ, his blue eyes plagued with worry, “Do you think they’re okay?”

AJ sighed, crossing his arms and looking up at the ceiling, “I don’t know, Bri’. I did all I could think of. I called O’Rielly when Kevin didn’t answer my call, then I called the hospital for an ambulance. I don’t think they were that far from the stadium, so the cops should have gotten there pretty fast, but- ... I just don’t know. It sounded pretty bad over the phone, and that was over two hours ago.” AJ closed his eyes as his helplessness slowly transformed into anger.

Nick spoke, his voice unsure, “I thought the cops were supposed to always be watching us, where were they?”

AJ sneered, “Beats the hell out of me! Damn, O’Rielly. He couldn’t watch TV without screwing up!”

Brian stood and placed a calming hand on AJ’s shoulder, having seen the fury building behind the brown eyes, “Take it easy, AJ. We don’t know what happened.”

AJ shrugged Brian’s hand off, throwing him a glare, “All I know is I should of taken care of that woman when I had the chance!”

Brian took a step back, shocked. Nick’s head snapped up from his gaze of the floor, fixing AJ with horrorstruck eyes, he shook his head in disbelief of what he heard, “AJ, you-... you don’t mean that.”

“To hell I don’t!” yelled AJ with a wave of his arm, his furious eyes pinning Nick back with their intensity, “None of this would be happening if I had killed her!”

Brian was temporarily speechless. This wasn’t like AJ, it was more like AJ was blaming himself for this happening again, “AJ, listen, you know you wouldn’t of killed her. It’s not in you to do that.”

“I could have and would have, Brian,” hissed AJ, then his brown eyes sneered down at Nick, “If it weren’t for you, Nick. You are the reason she’s still alive, why she’s torturing us all over again.”

Nick’s mouth dropped, his eyes stricken. He moved unsteadily from his seat on the couch, standing and backing away as AJ stepped toward him. Nick shook his head, staring at AJ in disbelief, “No... AJ, we couldn’t kill her. It wasn’t right-”

“Bullshit, Nick!” yelled AJ, reaching out and shoving Nick in the shoulder, “It’s your fault!” AJ shut his eyes tight, his voice sounding self-incriminating as he turned away from Nick’s shocked form, “Damn it! It’s all your fault!”

“AJ!! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!?!”

Nick, AJ, and Brian turned to the voice, seeing a furious Kevin along side an angry, but confused, Howie. Kevin had a thick white bandage around his left fore arm, Howie had small white butterfly bandades over four red cuts on the left side of his face. Nick blinked, his eyes registering that Kevin and Howie were here, they were all right. Then AJ’s words echoed in his head and his breath quickened at the remembered malice behind them, tears quickly building in his blue eyes. He sent Brian a brief, anguished gaze, then he spun around and ran from the room and out the door into the late afternoon sun.

“Nick!” cried Brian, sending a glare at AJ before running after his best friend.

Kevin and Howie stared at AJ, furious at what he had just done. Kevin stalked up to AJ, “AJ, what were you thinkin’?!”

AJ stared at Kevin, then Howie, the anger soon melting away as he realized what he had done. AJ’s face suddenly twisted in anguish, then he collapsed onto the couch, hunching over with his head gripped in his hands. “Oh, God,” he groaned, his voice hitching, “What have I done?”

Kevin frowned, glancing at Howie. Kevin crouched down in front of AJ, placing a hand on his back as it jerked with sobs, “AJ?”

AJ turned his tear streaked face up towards Kevin, his eyes squinting in sadness and regret, “I didn’t mean it, Kev. God, I didn’t mean it... not to Nick.”

Howie came and sat down next to AJ, “AJ, its not your fault either.” AJ’s red rimmed eyes snapped to Howie, surprised.

Howie nodded, “You weren’t really yelling at Nick, were you, AJ. You were yelling at yourself, you think this is all your fault.”

AJ turned away, staring at his hands. Kevin exchanged glances with Howie, “AJ, it isn’t your fault. Hell, you have helped more than any of us so far.”

AJ looked up, confusion obvious in his eyes. Kevin nodded, “You called for the cops and an ambulance, AJ. They came right when we needed them, thanks to you.”

AJ still looked doubtful. Howie wrapped an arm around AJ’s shoulders, “C’mon, Bone. You are our friend, we’re all brothers. You could never be at fault for what has or will happen, okay?”

AJ half smiled, then frowned again, “But, Nick... I said-”

Kevin shook his head, “He’ll understand, AJ. We’ll talk to him. Hell, Brian knows you didn’t mean what you said, he’ll set Nick straight. Brian always can.”



~/~/~/~/~()~~~~~



Brian cursed his short legs, he never hated them as much as he did at this moment. He couldn’t gain any ground, Nick was just too fast. Brian could barely see Nick’s figure, running far ahead of him. Pushing himself harder, Brian took a moment to glance at his surroundings. He nearly stopped. They were atleast three blocks from his house and, go figure, the cops sitting outside of his house didn’t even see them run out. Course, he thought, We did kinda take a route through the trees.

Brian brought his mind back to the present when he saw Nick veer into the park. Brian mentally slapped himself, he should have known. Nick always liked to go and hang out at the park, usually around the large fountain that was surrounded by trees. He had said he liked the way that there was such a cool display of water and still there were trees so close around it, almost creating a secluded location. Nick had said it was a good place to go and think.

Brian assumed that would be Nick’s destination and he cut into the trees, taking a shortcut. As Brian weaves his way through the trees, he took time to analyze what had happened. AJ, plain and simple, had lost it. This ‘situation’ finally got to him. Brian could tell that he had been angry about it, but he had been directing his anger toward the police. Now he took it out on one of them, Nick. That was going over the line... and AJ knows it. God, thought Brian, he has to be beating himself up for what he said. I know he didn’t mean it, he was worried about Howie and Kev. He wasn’t blaming Nick, he was blaming himself. I could hear it in his voice. Christ, am I the only one that believes that none of this is anyone’s fault? We hav-

“Ooommph!” The air rushed out of Brian’s lungs as he slammed into something, falling back to the ground. Damn it, obviously I can’t think and run at the same time.

Brian looked up to apologize, knowing it was a person he had run into at having heard their cry of surprise as he fell back, but... no one was there. Brian picked himself up, looking around the shady darkness of the thick trees. There! Brian squinted, he had seen someone, running further into the trees. Now they were long gone. Brian shrugged and continued to the fountain, he had more important things to do than to wonder who that was and why they took off. He was close to the fountain now, anyway.

Reaching the edge of the trees, Brian stopped. Huh, Nick’s faster than I thought. There, sitting dejectedly on the rim of the stone fountain, was Nick. He was staring down into the water, one hand reaching down to caress the cold, clear liquid. Nick’s other hand rises briefly to push at his bandage, then he lets it fall back onto his lap in defeat. Something glints for a fraction of a second, the sunlight reflecting off of something. Brian furrowed his brow in confusion, then it relaxed in sad understanding as several more glints fell from Nick’s face. Nick was crying.

Taking a breath, Brian strode out of the shadows and toward Nick. Nick didn’t move as Brian came to a stop behind him, Brian didn’t think Nick even heard him. Brian smiled slightly, knowing what will happen as he opens his mouth.

“Hey, Frack.”

It was a simple phrase, spoke in a gentle and low tone, but Nick still jumped a mile in the air. He twisted around, revealing his tear streaked face. Nick relaxed when he saw Brian standing there, grinning.

“Jeez, Brian. Are you trying to kill me?” Nick tried to sound upbeat, but he knew he failed miserably.

Brian shook his head, “Nah, wouldn’t think of it.”

Brian had heard the underlying sadness in Nick’s voice, that and the smile Nick put on didn’t reach his eyes. The red rimmed blue orbs remained dull, empty. Brian sat down on the fountain’s stone rim beside Nick, turning to face him.

“You know he didn’t mean it, Nick.”

Nick wiped the back of his hand across his eyes, looking back down at the water instead of Brian, “Maybe he didn’t mean it, but he’s probably right.” Nick again ran his fingers through the cold water.

“Nick!” cried Brian, shaking his head, “Its not your fault. AJ was blaming himself, not you. It just came out that way.”

That made Nick pause and look up into Brian’s face, “He’s blaming himself? What does he have to be blamed for?”

Brian stared straight into Nick’s face, “The same as you,” Nick looked down. Brian continued, touching Nick’s shoulder, “Nothing.”

Nick’s hand stopped its motion through the water. Silence stretched between the two friends, the only sound being the soft, musical trickling of the fountain’s falling water. Nick stared hard into the clear water, watching the sun refract off the small waves made by the impacting water. Then watching the shadows of the surrounding trees dance in scattered patterns, moving with the breeze.

Brian waited patiently, knowing Nick was gradually accepting the truth. He smiled as Nick spoke in a whisper, not taking his eyes from the water, “Thanks, Bri’.”

“Hey, no problem, Nicky!” grinned Brian, causing Nick’s lips to turn into a smile as well, still looking at the water. Brian decided to lighten the mood, “C’mon, Frack! Let’s get back, I can’t wait to hear Howie and Kev’s story!”

Brian finished his last sentence with a splash of water at Nick’s face, “Brian!” Cried Nick, laughing while reeling back. “You are SO going to pay for that!” Nick cupped both hands in the water and sent a wave of water at Brian.

“Ack!” sputtered Brian, holding his arms away from his soaked body. His face scrunched up in a grimace, one eye squeezed shut while the other glared at the laughing Nick. His mouth is set in a firm line, rivulets of water cascading down his face from his wet bangs. “No fair! I didn’t get you that wet!”

Nick just grinned, “So?”

“Ohh..” ground Brian in mock anger, about to retaliate, but something in the shadows caught his eye. He stared into the trees, a look of suspicion changing his features.

Nick didn’t notice Brian’s sudden change of expression, still laughing. Brian reached a hand out to grab Nick’s shoulder while still staring out into the trees, “Stop a minute, Nick.”

Nick’s laughter fell away at Brian’s serious voice. He looked at Brian, then glanced nervously around, “What?”

“Shh!”

Silence.

Nick was about to ask Brian what was going on when a muffled crack carried through the air. Nick gasped as Brian suddenly let go of his arm, falling backwards with a cry of pain.

“Brian!” cried Nick, his eyes wide and flipping back and forth between Brian’s falling form and the trees. Nick reached out for Brian, but missed. Brian hit the cold water with a huge splash, sinking beneath the deep fountain liquid.

Not caring if the person who was in the trees did anything more, Nick leaned over the water ready to grab Brian and bring him back up. Nick’s hand froze just before diving into the water as his eyes registered the sight forming before them. Nick’s breath caught in his throat at the growing cloud of red in the clear water.

“Oh, God! Brian?!”