Chapter 7: Untrained
(The "ish" hits the fan)

"The world is once again in shock today after the second kidnapping in as many days of pop group The Backstreet Boys. The 'Boys,' who were in treatment at a hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, were spirited away during a hostage situation in which several armed men threatened to set off a bomb in the middle of the maternity ward. NSYNC, who were at the hospital at the time, were able to thwart the men's plans, but not before the discovery of the Backstreet Boys' disappearance.

"The members of NSYNC were only able to capture four out of the estimated fifty armed men who stormed the hospital, even with the help of several FBI officers. Witnesses described the group of superheroes as 'disorganized and amateurish,' but were also quick to defend them, reminding reporters that although NSYNC have never been trained as a fighting force, they did manage to ensure the safety of most of the people present in the hospital at the time of the incident. The Backstreet Boys, in fact, were the only casualties.

"The FBI has since announced that they believe the kidnapping to have been the main objective of the attack, with the threat to the hospital used only as a means of distraction. Now, the world is simply watching and waiting to see what will happen next. Will NSYNC be able to save their musical rivals a second time, or have they met their match?"

~*~

Peter Harmon of Jive Records watched in dismay as the news of the latest kidnapping unfolded. All around him were other Jive employees, watching the news in white-faced horror. Several of them were already on cellphones, trying to decide what the record label's response would be. Harmon, however, could only stare dumbly, painfully aware that his own plans had most likely precipitated this attack.

It was Brummel, it had to have been, he thought, his mind whirling. The doctor had been extremely enthusiastic about what he called "his experiment," and as the procedure had advanced, Harmon had developed a nagging suspicion that the doctor meant those words literally. He had asked that Brummel and his team do the necessary research beforehand, and had been expecting a wait of several weeks for that research to be completed, but Brummel had come to him in just a few days, saying that he was ready to proceed. Harmon had wondered even then how he had done it so fast, but had convinced himself that Brummel was simply a genius. Now, he knew with a sickening certainty that despite the man's genius, he was also a madman.

He gulped and stared down at the floor, unsure of what to do. How far would Brummel go? Would his "experiments" cause real harm to the Backstreet Boys? He remembered his own callous thoughts while watching the first radiation treatment and cringed. He could hardly believe how unconcerned he had been just two short days ago, only truly starting to worry about the Boys' wellbeing after his escape. His relief at hearing of their relative safety and good health had been so great that he had promised himself right then and there to never let his greed and selfishness get so out of hand again.

Harmon narrowed his eyes and straightened his back, decision made. He had made himself a promise, and he could not let Brummel harm those boys, no matter what it meant for his own life and career. He stepped into his office and closed the door before picking up the phone. "Hello, police? My name is Peter Harmon, and I have a confession to make...."

~*~

"Joe?"

Joey was jolted out of his thoughts by Johnny's quiet voice.

"It's okay, Joe," Johnny whispered, giving him a sympathetic smile and rubbing a hand over his back in reassuring circles.

Joey looked away, frowning. It most certainly was not okay. They had failed miserably and the Backstreet Boys were paying the price.

He and the others had arrived at the hospital at 8:30 am for their appointments, alert and in good spirits. At 9:05, Justin had yelled down the hallway that he heard a gun. By 10:30, the fight was over, most of the armed men had gotten away, and word came from Agent Chang that the Backstreet Boys had been taken once again.

After that, everything seemed to slow down. The FBI sent several more agents to the hospital, along with a team of local policemen. The few mercenaries who had been captured were formally arrested and taken to the police station for questioning, while NSYNC and the FBI agents who had been present for the raid gave their statements. Reporters seemed to magically appear outside the hospital, and the five singers watched in tense and disbelieving silence as news of their humiliating defeat was broadcast all over the world.

Agent Chang had pulled them aside in the middle of all the resulting chaos and told them it wasn't their fault, but none of them could really believe that. They were supposed to be superheroes, they should have been able to defeat those mercenaries easily.

"Listen, boys, I think you're being too hard on yourselves. None of you are trained fighters, and that makes a difference against guys like this, no matter what kinds of special abilities you have. You've never had to do anything like this before, remember? The other two times you fought were completely different. The first time, all you had to do was disarm one man. The second time, you were on the offensive, not worrying about trying to defend anybody else. Today you were forced to fight several trained men, trying not only to defend yourselves, but everyone in this hospital. It would have been a daunting job for anyone, especially people as inexperienced as you five." Chang had paused, sighing slightly. "Don't forget, several of us were there too, and we are trained for things like this. You couldn't have done any different. I promise you that." It was a nice gesture, and Chang's words made sense, but it was still difficult to let go of the guilt.

The FBI called a lunch meeting and gathered everyone together in a large conference room at the police station. The provided sandwiches looked delicious, but none of them had been able to bring themselves to eat more than a few bites. Joey could see his own anger, frustration, and guilt mirrored on the faces of his friends, and obviously, so could Johnny, Dre, and Lonnie, who were all watching the five of them with concern.

Looking around, he saw that of all of them, Lance looked by far the worst. He had been targeted during the fight by several men who seemed to know in advance that he, for whatever reason, wouldn't be fighting alongside his friends. He had been forbidden by Chris to use his powers and, with the agreement of the rest of them, he had obeyed. Unfortunately, Lance wasn't much of a fighter without any powers, and they spent a lot of time just trying to protect him from the men's attacks. He was obviously taking that hard, his face pale and pinched, his green eyes fixed firmly on the tabletop. Even his hair seemed droopier than usual.

Joey allowed himself a humorless smile at that thought. Lance really was doing a great impression of a kicked puppy. Joey made up his mind that as soon as this meeting was over, he would make it a point of spending some time with the younger man, trying to reassure him. If he knew Lance—which he did, intimately—he would continue to blame himself until the day he died, unlike the rest of them, who would eventually get over it. Maybe. In a few years.

Joey shook himself and forced himself to actually listen to what was being said. The FBI had already had their say, Agents Welsh and Chang giving the large gathering an overview of events so far and the status of the investigation at the point of the kidnapping. Now, the police were giving an update on the information they had gotten from their suspects, which was basically nothing. They still didn't know who had hired them or where the Backstreet Boys had been taken, and since the laboratory that had been searched earlier contained no clues as to its owner, the investigation was basically at a standstill. If only Lance wasn't sick, he could probably just pull all of the answers they needed out of thin air. Of course, Lance was probably thinking the same thing, which would only add to his frustration. Joey caught himself thinking that he was glad he wasn't Lance.

There was a sudden knock on the door and it flew open, revealing an eager young police officer. "Captain Ulrich," he blurted, his excitement obvious.

The police captain stopped in mid-sentence and glared in annoyance at the man. "What is it, Kowalski?"

"I'm really sorry to interrupt, sir," he continued, obviously not sorry at all, "But we've got a lead!"

All of Ulrich's annoyance vanished immediately. "What is it?" He repeated, his tone completely different. Everyone in the room waited in restrained excitement.

"We got a call from a man named Peter Harmon, sir, he's an executive at Jive Records."

Joey frowned. The name didn't sound familiar.

"He's confessed, sir," Officer Kowalski continued, almost bouncing up and down in happiness.

"Oh, for God's sake," Johnny groaned under his breath as all of the officers and FBI agents in the room started whispering excitedly among themselves. Joey just sighed. It seemed Jive had beaten the odds and managed to employ not one, but two psychos. At least this one had confessed willingly....

"Confessed?" Ulrich prodded, "He's behind the kidnappings?"

"No, sir, not exactly," Kowalski explained hurriedly. "He says he was behind the first one. He hired a man named Julian Brummel to transform the Backstreet Boys into superheroes, but he didn't ask for them to be taken the second time. He thinks Dr. Brummel's done this on his own, sir."

"Motive?" Ulrich snapped brusquely, his eyes turned upward in thought.

"Harmon says Brummel seemed very interested in the Backstreet Boys as an experiment, sir," Kowalski finished. "He thinks he's taken them back to finish gathering data."

"Brummel...?" Lance repeated quietly, his voice somewhat slurred.

Joey looked over at him sharply. "Lance, what are you doing?"

Chris' eyes widened in alarm. "Lance, cut that out right now! No visions, you hear me?" Lance's eyes went blank and he didn't answer. "Lance!"

Justin looked around at them, his eyes filled with panic. "His heart's going way too fast, you guys!"

"Shit!" Joey leapt from his seat and yanked Lance out of his chair, ignoring the shocked looks from the police and FBI agents. "Lance, quit it!" He shook him gently and slapped lightly at his face as Chris, Justin, and JC surrounded them. "Snap out of it!"

Lance stiffened and gave a startled gasp, his eyes meeting Joey's for a split second before they closed and his body went limp.

Justin went utterly white. "No. Oh no...."

Joey looked up at him, his face stricken.

"His heart just stopped," Justin whispered.

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