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September 20, 2007

Nick Carter rushed into the building of The Firm management for a meeting with the Backstreet Boys and made his way to the office where the other Boys were waiting for him. The three looked to the youngest band member and greeted him. Brian waved and slapped fives with Nick while AJ simply gave him a nod. Howie said a quick, “Hey” before returning to texting on his phone.

“We’re still waiting on Jenn,” informed Howie, not looking up from his Blackberry.

“Well, at least someone other than Nick was late this time,” said AJ, picking at his fingernails absently.

“Jenn doesn’t really count. And Nick’s always late, man,” said Brian.

“Shut up,” Nick shot back, taking a seat next to Howie.

“So I know you just got out of a relationship with what’s her face…Mindy?” AJ said.

“No, it was Mandy,” corrected Brian.

“I thought it was Mitzy?” Howie said confused, finally looking up from his Blackberry.

Nick sighed exasperatedly. “It was Missy. And I wouldn’t really call it a relationship. We went on a couple dates, that’s it. And she was just like those other girls who used me to get to something.”

AJ shrugged nonchalantly. “Well that’s because you don’t know how to pick ‘em, Bro. You’re all about ass and tits. Anyway, I was saying that I got this friend of mine, if you’re interested…”

“Don’t you think it’s a bit too soon for Nick to start dating again?” Brian asked.

“Well, he seems to have a string of dates and girlfriends after the other,” Howie said.

“Why you guys talking like I’m not here?” Nick cut in. “And I’m already seeing someone anyway.”

AJ nearly fell out of his chair. Brian leaned forward eagerly. Howie just shook his head and muttered, “Figures.”

“What? Who?” AJ and Brian chorused.

Nick gave a cheeky grin. “The new intern.”

Both Brian’s and Howie’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. AJ snorted as if he didn’t believe him.

“Mia Blade?” AJ asked Nick skeptically. “Dude, she is way out of your league!”

No way can he score a chick like her, he thought.

“Well…I took her out to dinner last week,” Nick said, a grin still on his face.

“Mia Blade?” AJ repeated still skeptical.

“Yup, five-three, brown eyes, long black hair, nice ass, a body to die for…”

“We get it,” AJ, Brian and Howie said in unison, making Nick laugh.

“You already hooked up with Mia after only being here a week?” Brian asked.

“See you just like picking up girls left and right, don’t you?” said Howie, rolling his eyes.

“I was about to hit that too!” AJ added disappointed.
Nick laughed. “You snooze you lose, Buddy.”

Their manager Jennifer Sousa finally entered the room. “Sorry I’m late, guys. We’re having trouble burning the songs on these CDs for some reason,” she explained. “Our new intern is working on burning and getting them ready to send to Jive for the final touch ups. Now, have you guys come up with a name for the album yet?”

“I was thinking of the name ‘Popolution’. You know like the evolution of pop,” suggested Nick.

“Pop-pollution?” asked Howie, “Wouldn’t that be taken like our music is pollution, so people wouldn’t want to listen to it and play it on the radio?”

There was a short pause among the Boys.

“What about ‘Unbreakable’?” suggested Brian, grabbing a small peppermint from a glass bowl in the middle of the table and eating it. “You know, because after all we have been through we’re still together and doing this. So that makes us unbreakable.”

“Backstreet Boys…Unbreakable…that actually sounds good,” AJ agreed.

“Do we have a vote?” asked Jenn, looking around at each Boy for approval, who each returned a nod. “Alright. ‘Unbreakable’ it is.”

The Boys’ meeting had finally ended and they all got up and dispersed leaving Jenn in her office.

Just a few doors down Jenn’s office, Mia was studying the contents of the music files on her computer. She studied each song file trying to locate the weapon software, and one particular song file had an anomaly which she suspected was the weapon. She was in the middle of burning the song to a CD when she heard a knock on her door. She quickly minimized her screen and got up to answer the door.

She opened the door and found Nick standing in the doorway. Mia noticed him staring at her. She felt that she wasn’t really wearing anything flattering, but the way he looked at her made her blush a little. She wore a lavender button-up blouse and a black pencil skirt that came just above her knees with black pumps.

“Hi,” greeted Mia pushing her rectangular-framed spectacles up further on her nose.

It seemed a little too soon to call Nick her boyfriend yet even though they have been dating for about a week. APO had a strict policy on having relationships and “entanglements” (unless it was inside the agency, as is the case with Ryu and her sister Aundrea). She felt a little guilty for skirting the policy and dating Nick, whom she was assigned to protect along with the rest of the Boys, but she felt it was the only way to do her job.

“Sorry,” Nick said flustered, “They sent me here to see if you were done with the CDs.”
Mia invited him into her office. “Not quite. I’m still working on them.”

He flashed her one of his famous grins, which had quite an effect on her despite not being easily charmed by anyone. “It’s cool. I…wanted to ask you…if you wanted to have lunch with me… this afternoon?” he asked, his perfectly groomed eyebrows shot up.

“Oh, I’m kind of doing something this afternoon,” Mia said rather quickly. She needed to meet with APO about the weapon.

She didn’t miss the disappointed look on Nick’s face. “How about dinner?” she offered, hoping he would smile again. Why his smile made her knees go weak she didn’t really know, and she felt silly for feeling like a total fangirl.

Get a grip, Mia! It’s not like you’ve never seen a good-looking guy before, she thought, but then again, she never met one as good-looking as Nick Carter.

His mouth turned up in a grin and made Mia’s heart race. “Great. Pick you up at your place at 7? Uh…where do you live?” he asked, taking out his Blackberry from his pocket.

“Um…how about I meet you up at your place?” suggested Mia. Nick coming to her house and seeing her ninja weapons displayed on her walls and her exotic car collection in her garage would definitely reveal to him she was more than just an intern.

She noticed he gave a puzzled and strange look but shrugged it off. “A’ight, see you later, Babe.” He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving her office.


Mia entered APO headquarters later that afternoon and headed for Ken’s office.

“Ah Mia, I was about to call you,” Ken said as she came in. “Were you able to get the disk from the Backstreet Boys?”

“Yes, I have it here.” She handed Ken the disk. “The weapon is embedded in track 8.”

“Good. We’ll contact the CIA and let them know we have it. I’ll keep it in our vault for now. I need you to meet with Agent Davenport to discuss your next mission.”

“Why do I need to meet with Agent Davenport about a mission?” she asked, though she was mostly concerned about missing her date tonight than actually about the mission with the CIA.

“It was the Director of the CIA’s orders to have a joint mission, not mine,” Ken said defensively. “Director Gordon asked me to send my best agent to help Agent Davenport intercept a shipment coming in a couple of weeks in New York. Agent Davenport has more details so you’ll need to meet with him.”

Mia folded her arms across her chest and gave an exasperated sigh.

“I need to be somewhere later this evening,” Mia said.

“Where, may I ask, is that?”

Ken was like a brother to her and he was one of the few people she trusted and confided in, but she couldn’t tell him about Nick just yet. She wasn’t sure how he would react.

“The Backstreet Boys are having a special dinner with their new staff. I told them I would go,” Mia lied.

Ken studied her carefully. Usually he can tell when Mia was lying but this time it was hard for him to tell.

“Alright. I guess I’ll have Agent Davenport message you the details,” he said, though he was still skeptical of Mia.

Mia gave a nod and left him in his office.