Chapter 6: Scandalous
(Chris is a cheater and Howie stinks)

"Alright, Justin, which way do we go?" Dre stood at AJ's shoulder, offering silent support. The Backstreet Boy wasn't one of his, but his protective instincts had leapt to the fore, regardless. Lance, on his other side, was grim and rigid.

Justin seemed to understand. He nodded and closed his eyes, cocking his head slightly as he always did when he was deep in thought. "128 came from the right," he decided after a few tense seconds, opening his eyes. "We'll go that way. Howie couldn't have gotten too far away, it's only been like 15 minutes." He began to walk before he had finished speaking, probably in deference to AJ's palpable nervousness.

Dre kept one large hand on AJ's back as they walked, unnerved by the way the slight body vibrated with suppressed emotion. Justin looked back at them, glancing at AJ before turning his eyes to Dre and quickly tapping his ear. Dre narrowed his eyes and frowned, not understanding. He looked to Lance for an explanation, but he just shrugged.

Justin shook his head and tapped his ear again, then moved his hand down to his chest and tapped that in a syncopated rhythm. Dre nearly lost his step, but recovered quickly. Sending his own glance down to AJ, he mouthed, "Heartbeat?" Justin nodded. "Howie?" A shrug, this time. Dre frowned again. It was a long shot, since 128 had told them Howie was dead, but worth checking out. It wouldn't do to get AJ's hopes up by saying it out loud, though, so he just nodded at Justin and picked up the pace slightly, AJ keeping up easily.

Justin held up a hand several minutes later, when they reached the entrance to a nondescript alley beside an abandoned tattoo parlor. "Wait here," he whispered. AJ let out something that sounded like a low growl, but obeyed. Justin stepped into the alley slowly, then froze, his eyes on something far back in the darkness that Dre couldn't quite see. "Howie?" he said, disbelieving.

There was a sharp gasp and a flurry of movement, and there he was. He looked horrible. His face was pale and there was blood on the collar of the rags he wore, but it was definitely Howie. Lance sagged slightly, letting out a relieved breath.

AJ let out a strangled gasp and leapt forward, tackling Howie in a violent hug.

Justin prudently stepped back, joining Lance and Dre at the mouth of the alley and turning away to offer the two Backstreet Boys some measure of privacy. Dre cleared his throat, feeling it become suspiciously tight. "So...."

"Yup," Justin answered, sounding just as choked up.

"I'll call the others," Dre offered, removing his phone from his pocket.

Lance sat down with his back to the building and closed his eyes, leaning his head back. "Tell them to send a car."

"Yes, your majesty," Dre joked, feeling an inane grin bubbling up from somewhere deep inside.

Lance snorted rudely, but his lips twitched in a smile.

Then AJ's incredulous voice floated out to them from the alley. "Damn, Howie, you stink!"

And Lance started to laugh.

~*~

"So...." Brian said quietly, drumming his fingers on the table. "Read any good books lately?"

Kevin, who had been staring blankly at the far wall, snapped to attention and regarded his cousin with confusion and slight annoyance. "What?"

Brian sighed and let his eyes drift to the ceiling for a moment. They had been sitting in one of the hospital's private waiting rooms for a good twenty minutes now, and no one had spoken a word. Welsh and Marks had taken 169 to be examined, leaving the three of them wondering what was in store for the fragile clone. Welsh, though he had been civil—even verging on kind—once 169 had been found, had made it clear before that the clone was to be presumed guilty until proven innocent. Marks seemed a bit more open-minded, but Welsh was the senior agent and would most likely be the one to decide 169's fate. The clone's situation had been so dire when they had found him that all three of them were worried about what was in store for him. The result was this uncomfortable, strained silence. Brian took it upon himself to lighten things up. "Books," he repeated. "Read any?"

"Of course I've read some," Kevin retorted, frowning. "I'm not illiterate."

"I think he's trying to make small talk," Nick put in, sounding amused. "He's not very good at it."

"Oh." Kevin considered that for a moment. "Okay. Books. Fine. Yes, I have. You?"

Brian sighed. "Never mind."

"It was a good idea, Rok," Nick assured him, patting him lightly on the back. "It was kind of ominously quiet in here."

"Nick has obviously been reading," Kevin teased, nodding his head at Brian in apology, "If he's using big words like 'ominously.'"

"Ha-ha. What wit. I bow down to your obviously superior intellect." Nick rolled his eyes at a smug Kevin.

"Thank you," came the satisfied reply. "So, what books have you been reading?"

Nick flushed. "Harry Potter."

Kevin's lips twitched. "As much as I would love to tease you for reading children's books, I can't. I've read them, too."

Nick gaped at him. "All five?"

"Yup. Brian?"

"Me, too. They're kind of addictive."

"I just read the first one out of curiosity," Nick told them, "after Aaron spent, like, an hour on the phone raving about it. And then I got hooked. I preordered the fifth one on Amazon.com."

"I read the first one just to find out what all the fuss was about," Kevin replied. "Guess I found out. I didn't preorder, though."

"I found Kevin's," Brian smirked. "I haven't had to buy any of my own."

Kevin gaped at him. "You unapologetic little thief!"

"Yup!"

"What house would you be in?" Nick asked quickly, not willing to spend the next ten minutes watching the cousins bicker,. "If you went to Hogwarts?"

"Hmmm." Kevin considered that carefully. "Slytherin, I think."

"Hufflepuff," Brian answered sheepishly. "You'd be Gryffindor, Nicky."

"What about Aje and Howie?"

"Gryffindor and Hufflepuff," Kevin answered positively.

"Agreed," Brian nodded.

"What about Nsync?" Nick sat back in his chair, fascinated. It seemed as though Kevin had put some thought into this before, and the idea was amusing.

"Justin's Slytherin, no doubt. Chris is Gryffindor, Lance is Ravenclaw, Joey is Hufflepuff, and JC.... I'm honestly not sure."

"Not Slytherin," Brian decided instantly. "And not Gryffindor, either."

"No, but he doesn't seem particularly Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw to me, either." Kevin pointed out. "He may not quite fit into the equation.

"We should ask him," Nick mused. "I bet he's read the books. He'd know himself better than we do."

Kevin smirked. "One can only hope."

"Do you think 169 is Slytherin?" Nick cringed the moment he said it, as the mood in the small room plummeted.

"I'd bet he is," Kevin answered after a long pause. "He'd have to be, to still be alive after everything that's happened. He's a survivor."

"I hope he stays one," Nick sighed gloomily. "None of this is his fault, and Welsh...."

"Welsh is doing what he thinks is right," Brian said firmly, reaching over and squeezing Nick's forearm. "I believe 169 didn't mean any harm, and I believe that he's done what he had to to stay alive, but the fact remains that he's been an accessory to at least three deaths. Not to mention, legally, he doesn't exist. Even if it's decided that he's innocent, where would he go? What would he do? This is a very complicated situation, Nick, and I'd bet you anything that Welsh is just as lost as the rest of us."

Nick sighed. "It's still not his fault."

"No, it's not."

They sat in silence again for several minutes, until Marks burst into the room, pale-faced and breathing hard. "We have a big problem."

~*~

"Got any twos?"

Joey shook his head, grinning gleefully. "Go fi—" His arm gave a violent spasm, sending his cards flying. "Damn!"

Chris frowned. "Almost ten minutes that time. Thought we were done with them." He took a surreptitious glance at the cards that had landed face-up on the floor.

"Oh, no you don't," Joey grumbled as he bent to retrieve them. "We're both drawing new hands, you big cheater."

Chris looked insulted.

JC smiled fondly at them from the couch where he lay in a comfortable sprawl, watching daytime television. "Cheer up, Joey. They're nowhere near as close together as they were before. They'll stop soon."

"Yeah, Joey nodded glumly, "but it's a bad sign. How can we stop 128 now, if even I can't stand up to his powers?"

"We'll get him," Chris said grimly, absentmindedly shuffling the deck of cards. "He's not invincible, Joe, and we'll get him." His eyes narrowed and the cards began to smolder slightly. "For Howie."

JC's smile faded into a puzzled and worried frown. "Howie will be fine, Chris, Lance will...." He trailed off as Chris shook his head, eyes firmly on the tabletop. "Chris?"

"I.... I'm not so sure Lance will be able to do anything for Howie," Chris admitted, then muttered a curse and hastily put the cards down just before they would have burst into flame.

"What do you mean?" JC sat up, the remote sliding from where it had rested on his chest and hitting the carpeted floor, unnoticed. "He brought you back before, and you were—"

"I was only a few seconds dead. My body hadn't had time to... deteriorate, much. And even before he brought me back to life, he was already healing the damage. Howie...." He sighed, his voice thick. "He'd already been dead for who knows how long when we stumbled across 128. We may have crazy powers, but we're not gods. I just don't know.... He may be beyond our reach."

JC gaped at him, horrified. "Oh, God."

"I might be wrong," Chris said hurriedly, finally looking up to meet their eyes. "I pray to God that I'm wrong."

"But you don't think you are," Joey guessed quietly, eyes reddened.

Chris hesitated. "No. I don't."

Joey gave a vile curse and with one swing of his arm, upended the table and sent it crashing to the other side of the hotel room in splinters.

"Yeah," Chris agreed miserably as sudden footsteps rang out in the hallway and someone began to pound frantically on their door. JC just stared mutely at the wrecked table.

"Guys, are you okay?" The door burst open and Johnny stepped in, key card in hand. "I—" He took in their sober demeanors and the destroyed table. "I see you've heard."

JC jumped up, hand flying to his heart. "Heard what? Oh my God, what?!"

Johnny frowned and gestured at the television. "That."

The three of them turned immediately to a breaking news bulletin that had gone unnoticed during their discussion. SUPERPOWERED BOYBANDS IN CLONE SCANDAL, read the running headline at the bottom of the screen. FBI DENIES EXISTENCE OF COVER-UP.

Joey cursed again and punched a hole in the wall. Chris burst into flames. JC turned to Johnny, relieved. "Oh, good. I thought it was about Howie."

~*~

"That settles it," Kevin drawled, his accent thickening in his annoyance. "We're good and trapped."

He frowned at the TV screen that was currently displaying the growing crowd of people gathered outside the hospital. The hastily-erected police barricades were the only things keeping the crowd from surging into the hospital itself.

The news media were at the forefront of the disturbance, with all four major networks in attendance, along with several cable news shows. Agent Welsh had his hands full trying to answer all of their questions without really telling them anything. Then there were the protesters. How they had managed to make their signs and gather so quickly was a mystery, but they included all sorts, from government conspiracy theorists to religious fanatics and back again. Rounding out the crowd were the gawkers and fans, who seemed to be there just for the novelty. Either way, there were too many people for any of the Backstreet Boys to safely exit the building.

"How did they find out, anyway?" Brian asked irritably, glaring at Marks as he paced back and forth in the small waiting room.

"Someone leaked it," Marks answered helplessly, looking just as frustrated as Brian felt. "The only people who know are the FBI, you guys, and a select few individuals who work here. It had to have been one of them."

"That doesn't make sense," Nick disagreed, biting at his lip. "They'd have to know that they were being given classified information. Nobody in their right mind would leak that sort of thing knowing it'd be obvious it was them."

"They might for the right price," Kevin pointed out. Then he paused and shook his head in sudden realization. "No, you're right. Can't spend money in jail. Someone had to have overheard something vital. It's the only explanation."

"Well, it's too late now," Brian grimaced. "The proverbial cat's out of the proverbial bag."

"The proverbial shit's hit the proverbial fan," Kevin added.

"Everything's gone to proverbial Hell in a proverbial handbasket," Nick finished.

Brian sighed. "Oh, shut up."

They were all quiet for a few moments, watching the ongoing news coverage. Then Marks suddenly straightened. "I think I know how to get you guys out of here."

"Yeah?" Nick brightened considerably. "How?"

"Gertrude," Marks answered smugly.

"Gertrude?" Kevin repeated. Then he grimaced. "Oh. Gertrude."

Brian considered it. "I suppose that'd work...."

"Oh course it'd work," Marks insisted. "Who in their right mind would stand in Gertrude's way?"

"And who says all of those people out there are in their right minds?" Kevin retorted, even as he turned his focus inward. Gertrude, I need a favor, he told the creature, feeling its consciousness swim sluggishly into wakefulness as he called upon it.

Uh? Gertrude answered, articulate as always.

We're trapped in this building by a big crowd of people. Can you clear a path for us without hurting anyone?

Gertrude was quiet for a moment, then answered confidently. Uh-huh.

Okay, then, come on out, Kevin invited, and let go of his command of his body.

It was a strange feeling, letting go. At first, when he'd gotten his powers, the change had been uncontrollable, brought on by strong emotions. Now it was completely in his control, but the creature was still a separate consciousness and personality. He was dominant—even once he had given over control, he could wrest it back at any time—but it still felt strange not to be connected to his own body. It felt as though he was floating, able to see and hear everything that Gertrude did, but disconnected from it. Numb.

He watched quietly as Marks opened the door and gestured for Gertrude to proceed him out. The creature did, ignoring the people who shrieked and jumped out of his way as he went. Their trip down the corridors was largely uneventful, except for the intern who was so startled by Gertrude's appearance that he walked straight into a wall. Kevin would have laughed, but didn't have the body to do it.

Marks's idea worked perfectly. The crowd outside started to surge when the doors opened, but fell back immediately once Gertrude came into view. As requested, Gertrude didn't hurt anyone. When one overzealous reporter attempted to rush them anyway, Gertrude simply picked the man up and tossed him and gently as possible into the arms of the nearest police officer. Thanks, Gert, Kevin said, feeling strangely proud. Gertrude merely grinned in response.

They were about to get into the car provided by the Feds when a limo pulled up just behind it and Howie leaned out, calling, "Hey, come on, get in!"

Kevin told Gertrude to let the others in first, then waited until the last second to take control of his body back and leap into the car. "Go, go!" he shouted, laughing as the crowd surged forward once more.

Gertrude do good? The creature asked, sounding sleepy.

Yeah, Gertrude, you did great, Kevin answered silently, still chuckling. Go back to sleep, and thanks.

Gertrude mumbled a response and was gone. Kevin realized that everyone in the car was looking at him funny, and that something really stank. "What is that smell? And why are you all looking at me like that?"

"Howie," AJ answered, "and you're laughing at nothing."

"Nerves," Kevin shrugged, trying to stop. "And why does Howie smell like a trash heap?"

"He was in one," Justin responded. "Long story, we'll tell it later. The short version is that 128 got to him and threw him in a dumpster, but we located him. We'd split up because 128 zapped Joey, so once we had Howie back, Dre called the guys at the hotel to let them know he was safe, and they told us what was happening with you guys. We decided to swing by here and pick you up on the way to the hotel."

Nick's mouth had dropped open somewhere in the middle of the explanation. "I...." He managed to close his mouth. "That makes no sense."

Justin shrugged. "Like I said, long story. We'll talk after we've all settled down and had something to eat. It's been a long day."

Brian sighed and leaned back against the seat, closing his eyes. "I'll say. Wake me when we get there."

"Nuclear holocaust every second Tuesday," AJ muttered. Kevin didn't even bother to ask.

~*~

128 stood, fists clenched, staring at the bank of televisions gracing the windows of an electronics shop. He'd only been visible for a moment, but the stations were replaying that moment again and again, and he knew what he'd seen. His double was still alive.

He ground his teeth, rage making his hair stand on end and sparks fly from his fingertips.

He would never be so careless again. Next time, he would make sure the bastard was dead.

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