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As the SUV entered the stadium parking lot, AJ looked away from his gaze out the window to smile and nod his head to his friends as they asked of his health for the hundredth time since being released from the hospital. He tolerated the overprotectiveness, knowing his friends needed the reassurance, but... it was getting irritating. You could answer the same question only so many times before the repetitiveness got to you, his previous experience of dealing with overdone questions such as: favorite food, color, music, type of girl... went right out the window as he reached the end of his patience, the SUV coming to a stop.

Kevin grasped AJ’s arm at the elbow as he helped him out of the SUV, his eyes dark with concern, “You doin’ okay, ‘J?”

AJ momentarily frowned and gritted his teeth, then forced his smile back into place, “Flyin’ high, macho man. I told you, I’m fine.”

Kevin pressed his lips together and nodded slightly, releasing AJ’s arm, “Okay, good. Just makin’ sure, that’s all.”

AJ thumped Kevin on the back, “Relax, Kevvy. I’m just fine.”

As Nick and Brian exited the front, Howie stepped out of the SUV and immediately fixed his eyes on the rebel, “Hey, you all right?”

His patience waning to a mere thread, AJ let out a short breath, “I’m fine.”

Brian and Nick joined the small group, Brian spoke, “Feelin’ okay, Bone?”

Patience has left the building, AJ threw his hands up, “I’m FINE!”

All four of his friends drew back, Brian let out a low whistle, “All right, jeez! Just askin’.”

AJ guffawed, “You’ve all been just askin’ for the entire time since I left the hospital!” Pausing, AJ forced himself to breath deeply to pull a tighter rein on his temper and to ease the sudden burning in his lungs at his outburst. Finally, he carefully sighed and looked apologetically at his four friends, “Look, I’m sorry, but... You gotta let up a little, I’m fine. The doctors wouldn’ta let me go if I wasn’t. So, you guys just gotta chill a bit. Okay?”

Howie glanced at the others, all of them showing slight embarrassment for their rather motherly actions. He faced AJ, “We’re sorry, ‘J. We just, well... that was- was pretty real, ya know? We thought you might not of... um...” Howie cleared his throat, sharing a brief glance with Nick, “We thought we lost you, AJ. We didn’t like that, and... We just need to be sure you really are still here.”

AJ’s eyes softened and he smiled, “Hey, no worries, bro’. I’m still here and plan on stayin’ here for a loooooong time!”

Howie grinned and shook his head, “Lord help us all.”

“Hey!” cried AJ in mock hurt as he took a halfhearted swiped at Howie’s head, to which the Latino easily avoided.

Kevin let out a relieved laugh, “C’mon, you guys. We got a concert to do!”

Brian smiled and looped an arm around Nick’s shoulders, pulling the quiet blond along as they all began to walk to the stadium doors. He smirked and tried to lighten the mood, singing out, “We’ve been through days of thunder! Some people said we don’t belong! They tried to pull us under! But here we stand together and we’re millions strong...”

With lighter hearts, the five chorused together as they entered the stadium, “Let’s get on with the show!”

Nick truly grinned for the first time since the nightmare began again, “Let’s get started!”

“Turn the lights down low!”

Nick shimmied ahead as they entered the arena, his voice echoing in the spacious room, “Turn the lights down low!”

The others grinned and continued, “You were there from the start!”

“You were there!”

Brian stepped forward and crouched down towards the floor, singing out mysteriously, “And this one goes out to...”

“Everyone!”

They all broke out laughing, feeling at ease for the first time in the last two days. AJ suddenly plopped down into one of the many chairs, fighting hard to cease his laughter. His breath wheezed as he gasped for breath, his chest burning. He let out a few quiet coughs and finally got himself under control, his head lolling back onto the chair’s support, “Whew! As much as I hate to admit it, I don’t think I’m gonna be able to do much tonight, guys.”

Their laughing immediately stopped as they stared in concern at AJ, Kevin approached him, “Are you all right?”

AJ smiled, “Yeah, just can’t overdo it, I guess. Seems when I get excited, my breathing gets kinda hard and my chest burns a bit.” At the four faces of fear that met his words, AJ hurriedly continued, “Don’t worry! If I just take it easy, I’m fine. The Doc said I shouldn’t get too excited. I’m gonna be in the concert, though.” AJ grinned, his eyes twinkling, “I think I can handle the slower, more relaxed songs. Besides, I’ll have more time to entice the ladies this way!”

They all smiled in relief, Kevin sat down beside AJ, “Just don’t go breakin’ any hearts, ya here?”

AJ pouted, “I resent that insinuation, Kev.”

“C’mon,” voiced Howie, “We gotta start gettin’ ready. We’ve got sound checks and stuff to get over with, then it’s the concert.”

Nick smiled and shook his head, “You takin’ over Kevin’s job, Howie?”

“Whatever works,” he smiled, “C’mon, the concert’s in just a few hours.”

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

Gloved hands gripped the gun, manipulating the weapon into readiness with a metallic snapping as the sliding mechanism over the barrel performed its duty and induced its dexterity of immediate discharge.

Her primary weapon now cocked and ready, Lalita smiled at her men. Three men in dark clothing and face masks stood before her, awaiting her orders. She chuckled, her ice blue eyes gleaming in anticipation. The game was now coming to its end, her demented satisfaction of revenge to soon be fulfilled.

Lalita suddenly laughed, causing her men to once again question their choice of being under her command. She obviously either didn’t care or notice their discomfort and simply reveled in her own sick world of darkness and hate, of violence and death, of power and control.

Her plan was she had no plan. She would let it fall as fate demanded. She was ready and willing to die, so long as she achieved her goal of ultimate revenge, to deliver the suffering she had endured this last year to the one that had caused it. He would pay, pay the price she had paid. He would feel the guilt, the loss, and the utter raw pain as it sliced through his rotten heart. Feel it burn away at his soul forever until it finally gave mercy and took his life, be it today or a hundred years, it wouldn’t matter. Time was of no circumstance, the suffering was unbearable no matter how long the person felt it.

Lalita smiled and breathed a serene sigh, God it felt good.

She looked at her men again, “Is it ready?”

One nodded, “Yes, boss. It should go the way you want.”

“Should?” she sneered, raising her free hand to her short blond hair. She gripped her fingers around the edge of her hairline and pulled back, shaking her head in the process. Shoulder length, ebony hair fell and shimmered about her pale face as the wig was lifted away. She stared down at the wig in her hands before briskly tossing it away, “It damn well better go my way.”

~/~/~/~/~( 1 hour’s drive outside of Orlando, on the highway )~~~~~

O’Rielly held the steering wheel firmly, his hands like fists around it. The wail of his cruiser’s siren echoed around him as he weaved through traffic, his actions past being reckless, more aptly described as desperate.

His steel gray eyes flitted to his dash clock, his jaw clenching as he returned his gaze to the road before him and pressed his foot down further on the accelerator. The cruiser surged forward, the speedometer pushing one hundred.

O’Rielly’s eyes crinkled in worry as he whispered a soft mantra, the words he uttered forth a useless effort to gain back time, “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon... gotta make it, just gotta... c’mon, faster... let’s go... move it, ya damn car!... C’mon, get out of the way!... Can’t ya hear the damn siren?... ...C’mon, c’mon, c’mon...”

As the minutes rolled slowly by, O’Rielly swore he could feel the gray hair at his temples spread further into his short black hair. Every minute that dragged by seemed to age the police chief ten years, his state of mind being only to get to the stadium before it was too late.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, he squealed onto the Orlando turnpike. He quickly turned off and toward the stadium a few miles away. A flash of small relief sliced through him as he was joined by multiple police cars, sirens wailing and lights flashing brightly in the dusk of approaching night.

Again, for the hundredth time, O’Rielly glanced at the clock. He swore and grabbed his cell phone from the seat beside him, his other hand distractedly steering the car as he fumbled to dial the correct numbers. He placed the phone to his ear and as soon as he heard the line picked up, barked out his orders, “Get me ambulances over to the stadium immediately! I’m not takin’ any chances! Radio all available personnel to haul ass to that stadium, we’re goin’ ta have ourselves a riot with all those people! We NEED backup! ASAP!!”

O’Rielly cut the call off and stared straight ahead, his peripheral vision capturing the whereabouts of the police cruisers around him. He began taking deep breaths as fear and adrenaline surged through him, willing himself to stay in control. He had to gain control of the situation, no matter what it may turn out to be. He had to, the very lives of the Backstreet Boys depended on it.

~/~/~/~/~( at the stadium, below stage )~~~~~

“Y’all ready?” asked Brian, adjusting his long black coat about his shoulders, an action he had performed six times already.

Nick nodded, running a hand through his hair for the tenth time that night, “As ever... ...you scared?”

Brian looked at Nick, a half smile on his face, “As ever.”

The other three nodded their heads, their eyes nervous not only of the coming show, but of the danger they could very well be running straight into. Howie kept shifting his weight from one foot to another, his dark eyes glancing about, “You think we can do this?”

Kevin stepped up beside Howie and gripped a reassuring hand at the back of Howie’s neck, “Absolutely. Once we get out there, everything else but the concert will go away.”

AJ forced himself to keep his breathing normal, “She wouldn’t do anything before all those people anyway...” AJ paused, his face suddenly uncertain as he gazed at his friends, “Would she?”

Silence answered him as they all simply stared, millions of possible scenarios tumbling through their minds. All five visible jumped as the lights when out and the crowd screamed, the arrival of the Backstreet Boys on stage imminent.

Brian’s voice rose above the roaring noise, “Show time! C’mon, we can do this!!”

Carefully, all five of them went to their platforms and held on. Soon, they felt the platforms begin to rise and before long, they rose above stage and were faced with thousands of screaming fans and flashing lights. Dry ice floated around them and made their ascent that much more dramatic as they eventually reached their positions in a staggering pyramid with Brian at center and the highest. To his right was Howie and then Nick, to his left it was AJ, then Kevin.

Brian felt his chest tighten with adrenaline and a new emotion, an emotion he had never before experienced while he performed.

Fear.

Fear still held him hostage. In every face before him he swore he saw Lalita, swore he saw her demonic smile, swore he felt her ice blue eyes upon him, watching his every move. Somehow, he forced himself through the paces of the first few steps of the show, his hands beginning to sweat.

When it came time for him to sing, his voice faltered slightly, but grew stronger as he continued and focussed all his attention on his singing, “We- We’ve been through days of thunder! Some people said we don’t belong! They tried to pull us under, but here we stand together and we’re millions strong!”

The others were ready and joined in, “Let’s get on with the show!”

Nick’s voice came out somewhat strained and shaky, “Let’s get started!”

The words didn’t come as easily as they had when they had arrived at the stadium two hours prior, their hearts now throbbing mercilessly within their chests, “Turn the lights down low!”

Nick turned his complete attention to the song and this time his voice came forth steadier, “Turn the lights down low!”

“You were there from the start!” Halfway through that last line, AJ broke off, abruptly cover his face mic as he coughed. He felt a hand on his shoulder and, taking steadying breaths, turned to see Kevin. AJ shook his head, his breath still wheezing slightly. Kevin nodded and gave him one last pat before looking away.

Nick’s next line echoed around the arena, “You were there!”

AJ wandered over to one of the side arms of the stage, giving attention to the fans before him as he gave himself a breather. Brian let out a quick, short breath before his line, “And this one goes out to...”

“Everyo-...!”

They broke off as the entire rear of the stage exploded in pyro and flames, smoke rising to the ceiling in an enormous rolling, gray-white plume. Nick, Howie, Brian and Kevin, still standing on center stage, were thrown forward by the shock wave of the blast. They landed hard on the metal stage, face down as the audience screamed in terror, the explosion casting off debris of every shape and size. The former rear part of the stage now rained down upon the helpless four men.

AJ, still on the right side arm of the stage, was thrown to the side, a flying metal pipe catching him hard in the left shoulder. AJ was aware enough to see himself falling to the cement floor below and hastily threw an arm out for one of the cables in an attempt to stay on stage. His right hand caught the cable and halted his descent, the throbbing in his shoulder slowly becoming all too apparent to AJ as the white hot spikes of pain reached through the fog of his mind.

Weakly, AJ pulled himself fully onto the solid side stage floor and laid still. He closed his eyes and tried to will the pain away, even as he felt a hot, sticky wetness trickle down his back. A shroud of blackness soon overcame his mind.

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

Howie groaned and tried to push himself up, but something prevented him. A heavy weight pressed down on his back and panic soon shot through him at the inability to move. With his frantic movements to try and extricate himself from the imprisoning weight, a stab of pain shot up his right leg. Howie gasped and abruptly ceased his struggles, eyes and hands clenching in an effort to ride out the wave of pain.

As the pain became bearable, Howie relaxed and laid back down on the stage. He could hear the panicked screams all around him, but tuned them out. Opening his eyes, he looked around. He gasped. Parts of the rear stage and rigging were strewn around him in an almost erratic disarray, but the images before him that cut through his heart the worst was the sight of three of his friends caught beneath the debris.

His soft, pain filled brown eyes fixated on the closest one to him, a mere arms’ length away. He reached out with his right hand, his fingers just brushing the short, blond locks.

“Nick?” he croaked out, his voice strained by pain and fear. He didn’t seem to notice as the panicked screams seemed to die off suddenly. Howie desperately wanted a response from Nick, whose face was turned away and not visible to Howie’s worried eyes, “Nick?” He tried again, his shaking fingers trembling as they stroked through the blond hair.

Suddenly, Howie’s hand froze and his face paled. Slowly, his mind impossibly calm, he drew his hand away from Nick and toward his face. His wide brown eyes stared at his blood covered fingers, his hand shaking more noticeably as the reality of what he saw inevitably sank in.

Denial flashed upon Howie’s face, “No! Nick?! ... NICK! C’mon, answer me!!”

At the continued silence from his blond friend, Howie slammed his bloodied hand down upon the stage with surprising force, “Damn it! NICK!!”

“How- Howie?” came a whisper, the voice rough and strained.

Howie’s face snapped to his left, his eyes widening as he watched Kevin dragging himself out from under a large fallen metal beam. The metal clanged noisily down upon the stage as Kevin heaved himself away from its weight, collapsing and rolling away from the debris.

Howie blinked, “Kev?... KEV! You okay?”

Kevin groaned loudly, forcing himself into a sitting position, head bowed with his left hand cradled to his chest.

Howie frowned in worry, “Kev?”

Kevin turned his head up and squinted across at Howie who gasped. A distinctly red cut marred Kevin’s left cheek bone, lines of blood running down his jaw and neck from the wound. Kevin blinked slowly and forced his eyes to open wider, “Howie?”

“Yeah, Kev,” replied Howie, his tone concerned and shaking with suppressed pain, “You okay?”

Kevin took a moment to think about this, then nodded, “Y-yeah, I think I’m not too bad.” Kevin stared at Howie, still pinned beneath a mound of debris, “You okay?”

Howie managed a half smile, “I’m stuck... that and I think my right leg is broken. Can you walk?”

Kevin nodded, “Yeah, I think so.” As Kevin struggled to his feet, he strained out, “Where’s Brian? Why were you yellin’ for Nick?”

Howie waited until Kevin stopped before him before answering him, “I think that’s Brian over there, under that pile of stuff. It’s where I last saw him. Nick’s... Nick’s right behind you. He- he won’t answer me a-and... he’s bleeding.”

Kevin began feeling less detached and more aware of what was going on, Howie’s words registering slowly. Pursing his lips, Kevin looked down at Howie and nodded, “Okay, let’s get you out first, then we’ll check the others.”

Looking over the beam that laid on top of Howie, Kevin asked, “You think you can scoot out of there if I hold this stuff off of you?”

Howie nodded, “Yeah, I’ll do anything I have to, as long as I can move again.”

“Okay,” said Kevin, leaning down and gripping the beam with his good arm, “On three you get out. One... Two... Three!”

Kevin heaved the beam up and Howie pulled himself forward, a cry escaping his lips and he dragged his injured leg. When Howie was clear, Kevin let the beam fall. Howie sat panting, eyes closed. Kevin could tell by just looking at Howie’s leg that it was broken. He placed his right hand on Howie’s shoulder, “You doin’ okay?”

Howie nodded, eyes still closed, “Check the others.”

Kevin looked to where Nick laid and where they thought Brian to be, his chest tightening in what he might find. Slowly, deliberately, Kevin strode over to Nick. Carefully, he knelt down on one knee and reached his good hand toward Nick’s slack face. He brushed his fingers across Nick’s forehead and then moved his hand to Nick’s neck, hesitantly waiting.

Expelling a loud breath, Kevin turned to Howie, who now stared at him, and nodded. As relief flooded Howie’s face, Kevin looked back down at Nick. He found a cut on the side of Nick’s head as the cause for the bleeding Howie had found, surmising Nick had, at the very least, a concussion. Kevin prayed that was all he had.

Kevin looked up and took in the chaos of the crowd, watching as security and the cops at the exits chauffeured them out of the arena, almost half of the crowd having already been shown out. WIth a frustrated sigh, Kevin looked from Nick, to where his cousin was, then back. The indecision was clear on his face. Then, deciding Nick was all right for the moment, Kevin got to his feet and approached where Brian should be. Quickly, Kevin began removing debris with his one hand, looking for his cousin.

Suddenly, the very junk Kevin was trying to remove, began to move, to push upward. Kevin felt a surge of hope, “Brian?!”

Debris was being flung to the side and Kevin caught sight of a hand. Quickly, Kevin grabbed the hand and held fast. Kevin pulled and soon he saw Brian’s wavy haired head emerging from the debris. Mustering all his strength, Kevin pulled back and heaved Brian from the debris, his cousin collapsing to the stage floor beside him with a muffled cry of pain.

With a groan, Brian forced himself to stand. His arms encircled his chest, a grimace of pain flashing across the Southern features. Kevin gripped Brian’s shoulder and tried to look into his face, “Brian? You okay?”

Wincing, Brian straightened and looked up at Kevin. He smiled shakily, “I’m all right, Kev. I- I think I cracked some ribs, but I think that’s it. Maybe a bump on the head, I was knocked out for a bit.”

Kevin studied Brian’s pale face and then nodded, “Okay, help me with Nick.”

“Nick?!” cried Brian, his blue eyes searching Kevin’s face, “What’s wrong with Nick? And what about Howie? And AJ?”

Kevin sighed, his voice soft, “Nick’s unconscious. I don’t know if there’s anything else wrong, he’s covered with debris. We have to clear it off him. Howie’s got a broken leg, but is otherwise all right.” Kevin paused, “I... I don’t know where AJ is.”

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

Noise and pain worked their way through the fog of AJ’s mind, his eyes slowly blinking open. At first, he looked around, confused. Then it all came back and he winced at the memory. With a groan, he pushed himself up into a sitting position and then examined the area around him. Slowly, AJ exhaled, a slight burning sensation within his lungs accompanying the action.

“Oh, Christ,” AJ said aloud, his voice a low rasp, “Guess she would do something in front of thousands of people.”

“Well, what can I say?” came a frighteningly familiar voice from behind him, “A woman loves an audience.”

AJ froze and slowly turned his head, but he didn’t finish the maneuver as a black gloved hand settled on his injured shoulder. AJ bit his lip to stop himself from reacting to the pain as she squeezed.

Lalita laughed under her breath, “My my, AJ. You seem to have gotten an owie! You just let Lalita help you with that.” Lalita spit out the last words and suddenly yanked AJ up off the stage floor with surprising strength, causing AJ to gasp sharply and then cough. He pressed a hand to his chest until the coughing stopped, his lungs on fire as pure terror surged through his veins.

Lalita wrapped one arm around AJ’s chest and used the other to retrieve something from the waist of her pants, the hand coming back with a gun in its grasp. She pressed the weapon to AJ’s neck, right below his right ear.

AJ stiffened, his breath beginning to wheeze slightly as a controlled panic coursed through him. He cringed as Lalita whispered in a low voice, her breath brushing against his ear, “You, me, and my boys here are gonna go visit your friends. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’d love to take care of you right now. You shouldn’t even be here, but maybe that’s a good thing...”

A smile turned her blood red lips as she leaned her mouth closer, “Wouldn’t you love to be the bargaining chip for one of your friends’ lives? Your friend will have a choice: his best friend... or you.”

AJ’s brow furrowed in confusion, his mind trying to process what she was implying. One thing was clear, though, and it made AJ’s insides twist. One of them was going to die by her hand, and AJ couldn’t think of a more terrifying way to go.

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

Brian fell to his knees beside Nick, his friend’s pale slack face tearing a hole through his chest in fear. He looked up at Kevin, naturally looking for the elder’s guidance. Kevin stared back and then at the debris covering Nick from his shoulders, down his back and towards his feet.

“Let’s get this stuff off him, then we’ll see what we’ve got,” stated Kevin, his voice hard with control.

Brian stood and they began to lift the debris away, Howie slid himself over and sat at Nick’s head, one hand continually brushing the blond hair from his forehead. In a matter of seconds, Kevin and Brian had uncovered Nick’s body and did their best to see if he had any injuries. Blood and a ragged tear in the right sleeve of Nick’s black coated arm denoted atleast one. The tear ran along the back of Nick’s fore arm, from the wrist to just about his elbow. Blood still seeped from the wound, adding to a dark puddle already below the arm.

Brian took off his jacket and then tore a part of his black shirt, using the strip in an effort to stop the bleeding of Nick’s arm. As soon as Brian put pressure on the wound, Nick moaned and tried to pull his arm away, a wince pulling at his face.

Howie looked hard at Nick’s face, “Nick? You with me?”

Nick’s eyes clenched and then squinted open, his brow furrowed in confusion as he tried to understand what was going on. All he knew was his arm hurt and his head felt like it was going to explode any minute, a muted roar sounding in his ears. He soon realized he was laying on his stomach, so he placed the arm that didn’t hurt under him and rolled onto his back. He opened his eyes wider and the shapes above him slowly took focus, the faces of Howie, Kevin, and Brian forming.

Brian smiled in relief, “Welcome back, Frack.”

Nick quirked a perplexed eyebrow, his voice croaking out, “Back? Where’d I go?”

Kevin grinned at Howie and Brian, “I think he’s gonna be okay, only Nick would say something like that.”

Nick gamely tried to sit up, Howie looping an arm around him to help steady him. Nick now sat beside Howie, Brian and Kevin kneeling before him. He raised a hand to his head and winced, pulling his hand away to see blood. He wiped it on his pants and looked around at what was left of the stage. He jaw dropped at the destruction, “What happened?”

Brian frowned, “I think Lalita stole the show. She blew up the back of the stage.”

Nick’s eyes widened, then the dull roar in his ears died away and the panic of the crowd reached him. Nick looked around, he didn’t see AJ, “What about the fans? Are they okay? And where’s AJ? Why ain’t he here?”

Kevin looked away from Nick, “I think the fans are okay, all of security and the cops that were at the exits have been getting them out. Some of the fans were tryin’ to get up here to help us, but the security held them back. They’d just get hurt. That’s why no one’s come to help us, they’re too busy trying to keep the crowd back and under control, trying to get them out.” Kevin shook his head, “I think the majority of them are out, but there are still some people still in here.”

Nick stared hard at Kevin, even with his mind in a confusing fog, Nick noticed the omission in Kevin’s answer, “Where’s AJ?”

Kevin glanced at Brian and Howie, then faced Nick, “We... we don’t know where AJ is. He couldn’t sing so he wandered off to flirt with the fans and... I don’t know. He was by himself when the explosion happened.”

Nick frowned and moved Brian’s hand from the cloth on his arm, replacing it with his own. He then struggled to his feet, concentrating hard on staying on his feet as the world seemed to tilt and rock precariously around him. He didn’t even know it when he started to fall forward, but Kevin saw and shot to his feet, catching Nick with his good arm.

Kevin steadied Nick, “Whoa, what are you doing?”

Nick closed his eyes and breathed deep to settle the flipping of his stomach, then he slowly opened them to look at Kevin, “Gotta find AJ.”

Brian struggled to his feet with a wince and placed his hand over the one Nick still grasped his injured arm with, “We’ll find him, Nick, but we gotta take it slow. None of us are in very good condition, and Howie can’t walk.”

Nick looked down at Howie and saw his leg, he grimaced at the sight. He looked back at Brian, “We gotta find him, Bri’. We gotta. She’s gonna come after us.”

Brian bit his lip and glanced at Kevin, who shrugged in helplessness. Brian sighed, a fear deep in his gut causing his hair to prickle, “We’ll find him, Nick. We’ll find him.”

“Don’t worry boys! I found him for you.”

All four of them froze. Nick closed his eyes and released a trembling breath, afraid to look, afraid to see if AJ was dead or alive. Brian slowly turned and gasped at what he saw. The others started at Brian’s gasp and forced themselves to look. Each of them paled in that instant.

AJ was in the clutches of Lalita, a gun at his neck, but it would be Lalita’s face that would forever be embedded in their minds: her eyes were chips of cold blue ice, narrowed dangerously, her ebony hair framed her pale face, accenting the shadows and deepening her evil presence, and her red lips were turned into a half smile, half sneer, a flash of white presenting her teeth. She was pure evil, pure insanity... and the Backstreet Boys feared that this sight would be the last thing they would ever see again.

Howie swallowed hard and managed to find his voice, “AJ? Ar- are you okay?”

AJ fixed his sad and fear filled brown eyes on his friend, a grimace pulling at his smooth features. When he spoke, his voice came out forced and strained, breathy and raspy, “I’ve been better, ‘D.”

The effort to speak burned through AJ’s chest and he couldn’t stop the cough that escaped, his eyes squeezing shut as his breath wheezed past his now clenched teeth.

Nick’s eyes were pinched in concern, his heart pained to see AJ in such danger and pain, “AJ?!”

AJ tried to take a breath, but his lungs seemed to burn even more and a fit of coughing, which would have doubled him over if not for Lalita’s hold, hit him hard.

Brian’s eyes narrowed as he glared at Lalita, “Let him go!”

Lalita smiled, shaking her head and tisking, “Now, Brian. I can’t do that. I need him right now.” She nodded to them, “Spread out so I can see all of you clearly.” When they hesitated, she pulled up on AJ, his injured shoulder pulling and eliciting a yelp from him. The four Backstreet Boys moved as fast as they could so she could see them. Nick was still being held up by Kevin, who stood at his left. Brian stood to Nick’s right and Howie was on the ground beside Kevin’s feet.

With her three men still at her back, Lalita felt a feeling of power and the thirst of her revenge flow throughout her body. She smiled and closed her eyes briefly at the feeling, then opened them and let her face fall into a deadly seriousness. Her ice cold stare pinned Nick back with it’s intense hate and vengeance. Her voice came out low and frighteningly calm, “Now, Mr. Carter, for your punishment. You took Jake away from me, so you shall suffer what I felt. You will see your best friend die, and if you resist, this one will die instead.”

Nick’s eyes grew wide and his breathing stopped momentarily in disbelief. He stared at Lalita and AJ, then to Brian beside him. Brian locked eyes with Nick and shared his shock, all five of them reeled from Lalita’s cold words. Nick looked back at Lalita, no words would come out of his mouth.

Lalita stood with impatience, she cocked an inconsiderate eyebrow, “Well, what will it be, Nick? Who do you choose to die: Brian or AJ?”