Hello, again, gentle readers! As usual, I first want to thank the Nifty archive, and all the totally awesome people who have written since part two to tell me how much they're liking the story - Becca, Joey, May, Dennis, Kent, Neena and anyone I may have forgotten. It is so appreciated. Usual disclaimers apply - I do not mean to imply anything about the real-life people portrayed herein. For those who have been patiently waiting for 'Nsync to make their appearance, here they come. I hope the wait was worth it! They'll be out soon as I can drag them from the dressing room. "TIMBERLAKE! Get your cute little butt out here!" He knows what I'm about to put him through in the sequel; that's why he's being difficult. :) Hee hee hee...don'tcha love hints? :) In addition to this, you should also read "Remembering Petticoat Lane", "Playing For Keeps", "A Tale of Two Boybands", "Tears In Your Eyes", "Justin's Real World", "'Nsync and the Vamps", "Justin Makes JC Ill", "Intimate Stranger", "Justin's Journal", "Superman Can't Fly", "Crying Like a Church On Monday", "By My Side", "Finding a Belief", "Xtreme 'Nsync", "J and JC", "Whatever It Takes", "After the Concert", "Kevin and Justin", and "Question Of Faith". Will that keep ya busy? :) No? Then be sure to read "'Nsync: Lance n JC", the best fanfic ever written, and YAAAAAY! it's still going! Okay, okay...here we go...:)
~Any Path~ by DaraLynn
PART THREE
"Time heals what reason cannot." - Seneca the Younger
~The Third Session~
Brian stopped speaking, and took a long drink of the bottled water he was holding. Still lost in memory, he looked at nothing in particular, until his eyes focused on his audience of one.
Dr. Gorman, who had been listening in rapt silence, leaned back in his armchair. "So the separation from TransContinental wasn't about financial disagreements or creative control."
Brian looked at him in surprise, an amused smile pulling at his mouth. "You knew about that, huh?"
"My daughter is a big fan. She speaks often of your group."
Brian laughed softly, then his face became serious again. "No. All the stuff the press is getting about that is manufactured. It seemed, then and now, to be the best thing. Just trying to pull it off was a gamble, but..."
Dr. Gorman softly murmured, "Any path..."
Brian nodded. "...is better than standing still. Yeah. If you have a good heart, which I'm told I do. And I know the other guys do.
"Anyway, Kevin went to that meeting and worked his magic. I've always been of the opinion that Kevin can talk anyone into doing just about anything. And if talk doesn't work, he can bully them." Brian chuckled. "He's certainly big enough!
"But, seriously, Kevin's a peaceful guy. He's got a lot of restraint. All of us do, usually...I guess being in the spotlight so much makes you think twice about everything you do.
"We should have thought twice, maybe, when we agreed to let Howie go with Kev that night..." ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kevin and Howie followed Lou into the empty office down the hall from where the meeting was going on. Kevin closed the door behind them, and Howie switched on a desk lamp.
Lou faced them with a curious smile on his face. "What is it, boys? Nothing serious, I hope-"
Howie rushed froward before Kevin could stop him, and slammed his right fist into the surprised man's face.
"Howie, no!" Kevin said, but the damage was done. He pulled his struggling friend back, and stepped in front of him.
Lou straightened himself slowly, and put a hand up to his throbbing jaw. He wasn't as badly injured as he could have been, but his eyes were wide with shock and anger.
"What the hell!? What was that-"
Kevin interrupted, his voice low and cold. "Shut up."
"WHAT did you say to me?!"
"I said shut up. We know what you've been doing to Nick."
The color drained from Lou's face like fluid from a pitcher. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Kevin's arm shot out just in time to stop Howie. "Save it, Pearlman. I don't wanna see your face any longer than I have to, so listen. You do what I say, we don't press charges. You don't...well then, you're going to end up with some very unpleasant roommates who can defend themselves a lot better than a thirteen-year-old boy."
Lou stared at him fearfully, apparently willing to listen.
"Here's what you're gonna do. You're gonna let us out of our contract.
We'll be managed exclusively by Jive from now on."
Lou found his voice, and it was hesitant, but angry. "The hell I will!
Who do you think you're talking to, young man? I made your little group the success it is!"
Kevin's face grew menacing. "So that gives you permission to molest one of us?"
Kevin stepped closer. Lou, his anger replaced by terror, quickly moved back.
"You hurt someone I love, you sick fuck. Don't you dare try to excuse what you did. And in answer to your question, I'm talking to the most pitiful excuse for a human being that ever crawled on this earth. If I did what I most wanted to you'd be in several million pieces right now. But revenge is not in my nature. What is in my nature, is to protect my family.
And that's what I'm doing now.
To spare Nick further pain, the media's not gonna know about this, and neither are the fans. That's a gift you don't deserve. But when we split from TransCon, which we are doing as of now, we're going to tell the press that it's because of financial and creative problems. You're gonna stick to our story and not comment further. And you will never, NEVER talk to, talk about or go anywhere near Nick again. 'Cause if you do, damn the press - I will kill you. And it will be slow. Understand?"
Lou, his face white as a sheet, nodded dumbly.
"Good. Now we're gonna go back to the meeting and make our little announcement so we can prepare for our separation. That" - he pointed to the older man's bruised jaw - "happened on the way in here. Before we turned on a light, you tripped and hit your face on the desk. Clear?"
Louis Pearlman cowered slightly, the picture of every bully who has met his match. "Yes."
"You go first. We'll be in in a minute."
Lou left quickly, still holding his jaw.
Kevin exhaled deeply, then turned to Howie, who was wincing in pain. "Is your hand okay, D?"
"Sprained, maybe broken. Hit him at a weird angle, I guess. I'm sorry, Kev-"
"Don't be," Kevin interjected. He even smiled a little. "If you hadn't, I might have. We'll stop and get your hand looked at as soon as the meeting's over."
"Okay." Howie grinned. "Man, Kev, you are good. I think he was about to shit his pants!"
"That would make a great 'Tiger Beat' cover."
Kevin spoke in such a serious tone that Howie burst out laughing. After a brief struggle to hold on to his composure, Kevin joined him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ~The Third Session~ (continued)
Brian took another sip of his water before he spoke again.
"Like I said, Kevin has really strong powers of persuasion."
He smiled slightly, and the doctor smiled back.
"Your friend Howie, was his hand all right?"
"It was broken, but not a bad break. The excuse we made was that he slammed it in a door."
"Yes, I think I remember hearing about that."
Brian nodded. "Yeah. Fortunately no one connected it to Lou's little 'accident'. For once I was grateful that that pervert is such a good liar.
"The Jive representatives at the meeting were very surprised by Kevin's request, but very obliging. The move is still in progress legally, I think, but going well. We'll be working with a lot of the same people we did before, with Lou outta the picture. We're getting a new management team, called 'The Firm', and from what I've seen they're pretty cool."
"I'm so glad. And your friends? How are they now?"
"Nick's starting to act more like his old self the past two weeks. A.J. still gets kinda upset sometimes, but I think he's really starting to deal with it, as are Kev and Howie." He sighed. "Me too, I guess.
"The past few weeks have been like a bad dream. But Kevin was right, coming here was a good idea."
"Talking helps," commented Dr. Gorman.
"Yeah, it really does. So does keeping busy, which we've been doing, as always. Between concert rehearsals, and promotional stuff, and getting ready for our next album and seeing therapists..." Brian's voice trailed off.
"I can imagine. Quite frankly I don't know how you do it!"
Brian laughed. "Well, I'm in good company."
"Please, continue."
"Okay. Now that we were safe, it was time to warn 'Nsync, our so-called rivals..." ------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Josh, why exactly do the Backstreet Boys wanna see us? And at this ungodly hour..."
"It's already eleven, Just. Maybe if you'd listened to me and slept instead of clubbing last night, you'd be more alert. And I already told ya, Curly, I don't know. Kevin just said it was important."
Lance's remarkable green eyes quietly observed the elevator he and his bandmates had just stepped into. "I hope it doesn't take too long," he said in his deep, but soft voice. "We have a rehearsal in an hour."
"Oh, man," Justin groaned. "Darren's gonna work the crap outta us!"
The youngest 'Nsyncer slowly ran his fingers through his short blond curls. "Ow, my head's killin' me..."
J.C. looked at him sharply. "Are you okay? Joey, if you let him drink last night, I swear to God..."
"I didn't! Honest!"
"It's just a headache, Josh. I took some aspirin, I'll be fine."
"Um," Chris spoke up. "Is somebody gonna make this thing go, 'cause people are starting to stare."
"Oh, yeah." Joey jabbed a button and the elevator began its ascent.
"Better hold on to your pants, Chris. We'll probably be seeing A.J., you know."
"You wouldn't be laughing, Scoop, if it was your little albino butt on display."
"Chris, you were wearing boxers," Lance reminded him as they exited the elevator.
"Yeah," Joey chuckled, "boxers with little froggies on them!"
"I don't recall inviting you into this conversation, Joseph. And who are you to talk? You wouldn't even wear clothes if there wasn't a law about it."
"Here it is, guys," said J.C., as he stepped in front of Kevin's door. He knocked, and after a moment it opened to reveal Kevin and A.J. They greeted 'Nsync warmly and ushered them inside. After offering their "rivals" drinks, which were politely refused, the two Backstreet Boys sat down on Kevin's bed. The others sat in chairs that had been brought in for them, and looked at Kevin and A.J. with expectance.
Kevin spoke up. "Okay, first of all, thank you guys for coming. I know we're all busy people, so I won't waste time. Something was brought to our attention a few days ago that we feel you should be made aware of."
//Wow,// J.C. thought. //Did Brian finally yank himself outta the closet?// J.C. didn't know Brian very well but, being gay himself, he had good gay-dar.
"Is everything all right?" Lance asked, concern dimming his bright eyes.
Kevin shook his head. "No, not really." He took a deep breath.
"What we found out was...Lou has been molesting Nick for the past five years."
"Oh my God," murmured J.C. The others were too shocked and horrified to speak.
"Yeah," agreed A.J. "That was our reaction."
J.C. leaned forward. "Is Nick okay?"
"Yeah, he will be now."
"Where is he? And the others?"
"Nick's at his first appointment with his psychiatrist. Brian went with him."
Lance nodded his approval, glad that Nick was getting help. "Good."
"And Howie's asleep. The painkillers he took totally knocked him out."
"Painkillers?" inquired J.C. The other 'Nsyncers, save for Lance, were still too stunned to speak.
"Yeah," said Kevin. "He punched Lou last night when me and him were at a meeting. Broke his hand."
"Alright, Howie!" exclaimed Joey. "I'd like to take a few whacks at that motherfucker!"
"What are you going to do?" Lance asked Kevin.
"We're splitting from TransCon."
"Wow," J.C. mused. "Maybe we should too."
"I'd recommend it. The reason we asked you here, the main one, was to make sure that Lou hasn't done this to any of you."
J.C. paled at the thought, but assumed an air of authority similar to Kevin's - the "group dad" thing. He addressed his bandmates in a concerned, but clear voice. "Guys? Please be honest. Has Lou ever done anything to any of you?"
Lance - "No."
Chris - "No way."
Joey - "No, I'd tell you."
Justin - "No."
Kevin, A.J. and J.C. breathed a collective sigh of relief.
//Thank God,// J.C. thought. //As it is I hate that sick fuck - if I had gotten even one yes I would kill him.//
Kevin broke through J.C.'s thoughts. "I'm so glad. You see, one reason Nick didn't tell us for so long is 'cause Lou threatened to do the same thing to...to Justin if he did."
J.C.'s eyes hardened until they looked like balls of ice. "WHAT?!"
Kevin said nothing, but his thoughts were racing. //Oh, God, please don't let him do anything rash. You should have expected this, Kevin - J.C.'s Mr. Responsibility, yeah, but when it comes to Justin all his logic goes screaming out the window.//
But all he did was pull Justin out of his chair and hug him tightly, as if fearing someone would take him away. Justin hugged him back, and smiled, though he was shaken up. Obviously he was used to his best friend being so protective.
"I'm okay, Josh. Honest."
J.C. finally released him, and reluctantly sank back into his own seat.
After a moment, he looked up at Kevin, and offered him a half-hearted grin.
"Would you guys mind some company jumping off the TransCon train?"
Kevin smiled back. "Not at all. In fact, since Lou's already agreed to let us go if this doesn't get out, we'll just add 'Nsync to the deal. We go together. It's worth a try, at least."
"Wow," Lance replied. "Are you sure, Kev?"
"Absolutely. Lou's really gonna hate this, but that just makes it better. I'll call him and then you, J.C., and if it works we'll turn the arrangements over to your people."
'Nsync nodded in agreement. J.C. looked at Kevin seriously.
"This means a lot to us, Kevin. I don't know how to thank you."
"Hey, I'm just glad you guys don't have to go through what we are. And anyway, that's what friends are for."
Joey chuckled. "Rivals, you mean?"
"Yeah," said Justin, "I don't know why people assume we don't like eachother."
Chris's eyes glinted playfully. "Maybe it's 'cause a certain badly-dressed singer with freaky hair decided that MTV viewers needed to see me without my pants."
A.J. grinned, and for a moment looked somewhat like the Cheshire Cat. "Hey, you are in no position to be calling anybody's hair 'freaky', bro."
Everyone laughed at that, even Chris.
"Um, guys?" As always, Lance's voice was low and polite. "I hate to say it, but we should get going."
"Yeah," said Justin. "Gotta go let Darren work us to death."
Kevin stood. "Okay. Thank you for coming."
J.C. surprised Kevin by hugging him. "No, thank you, man. Both of you."
A.J. smiled at him.
Kevin shrugged. "No problem. We group dads have to stick together, right J.C.?"
"Heck yeah! And don't worry, our lips are sealed. Um, Kev, if I write Brian a note, will you give it to him?"
"Sure."
J.C. grabbed a piece of hotel stationery and the pen Lance offered him and quickly scribbled. He folded the paper and handed it to the eldest Backstreet Boy. "Thanks. Hug Nick for us?"
"Sure thing."
As soon as the door closed behind the departing quintet, A.J. turned to Kevin, a pleased look on his face.
"Ya know, Train, they're pretty damn cool. For a boy band, I mean."
"So you'll stop calling 'em 'Nstink?"
"I didn't say that." ------------------------------------------------------------------------
There was no time to talk when Brian and Nick returned from the appointment, as the Boys had to go immediately to rehearsal. After four grueling hours of singing and dancing, the five teen idols shuffled slowly to Brian and Nick's room. Brian and Nick fell onto their beds, Kevin slumped down in a chair, and A.J. and Howie collapsed unceremoniously on the carpet.
"That's it," joked Nick. "I'm quitting show business."
"Cool." A.J. spoke from half-under Brian's bed. "So can I be the Cute One now?"
"Hell no."
"Brat."
"So," said Kevin, sounding almost cheerful, "who's so exhausted they feel like a useless heap of Jell-O?"
He was answered with a couple of affirmative groans. Howie said, "I'd raise my hand, Kev, but I'm too tired."
"Nick, Bri? How'd the appointment go?"
Nick carefully sat up. "It was okay. Dr. Sadler is really nice. She says that if I wanna keep talking to her after we leave, we can do our appointments by phone."
"Cool. So what'd you talk about?"
"Mostly my family, and you guys."
"Is she cute?"
"A.J., no way are you gonna try and date my shrink."
"Party pooper."
"So..." Brian sat up. "How'd it go with 'Nsync? I'm guessing they're all okay?"
"Yeah," answered Kevin. "Shocked and upset, but no victims."
Nick breathed a sigh of deep relief. "Thank God."
"Yeah. But they wanna get away from Lou and TransCon too. So I'm gonna call Lou later and tell him that we're now a package deal."
Brian looked skeptical. "Will he go for that? And won't that look suspicious, both groups leaving at once?"
"I dunno, but it's worth a try. If it does work, 'Nsync can delay their split for a few months, maybe. I'll talk to J.C. about that. Oh, by the way..."
Kevin handed J.C.'s note to Brian, and gave Nick a warm hug. "From the guys, Nick."
"Aw. I wish I'd gotten to see them."
"What's this, cuz?"
"Note from J.C."
Brian unfolded the paper and read silently.
//Brian - Sorry we missed you today, I was hoping to talk to you. We're all so sorry about Nick - I can't believe anyone would want to hurt such a sweet kid. If anyone ever hurt my kid brothers (meaning Justin and Lance)...God, I don't know what I'd do. Well, give me a call sometime and we'll talk, okay? And we'll try to get BSB and 'Nsync together more often. Thank you all, and take good care of Nick. - Josh (555-3281)//
Brian smiled to himself. //Cool guy, J.C.//
"Anyone else hungry?" asked Kev.
Nods all around.
"Okay. Bri, you, me and Bone'll go down and get some stuff from the restaurant. We'll eat in my room tonight."
"See ya there," said Howie as he headed for the door. "I'm gonna talk a quick shower."
"Me too," said Nick.
"You sure you'll be okay alone, Nicky?"
The blond gave his oldest brother an exasperated look. "For a whole few minutes? Gee, I dunno...seriously, Kev, I'm not made of glass. I'm not gonna break."
Kevin smiled apologetically as he followed Brian and A.J. out. "Okay. Be right back."
Just as Nick was heading for the bathroom, his cell phone rang. He hesitated before picking it up.
"Hello?"
"Nick? It's Justin."
Nick smiled with relief and surprise. "Hey, Timberlake. How'd you get this number?"
"Lance."
"How'd he know?"
"He knows everything!"
"Sounds like Kevin." The two boys giggled.
"Um...Nick...I don't wanna upset ya or nothin', but I wanted to say how sorry I am about all this."
Nick's eyes began to fill; Justin really sounded upset. "Justin, I'll be okay. And you didn't do anything."
"Yeah, but ya kept quiet partly cuz of me. I feel awful."
"Don't, please. There's only one villain here, and it's not you."
Justin's sniffles turned into slight giggles. "Yeah, it's an old fart who's about to lose his two biggest clients. So, Nick, ya holdin' up okay?"
"I'm better than I have been in a long time. It's weird, though...I didn't think Kevin could possibly get any more overprotective of me, and now he, like, doesn't let me go to the bathroom alone. He actually insisted on going with me when I had to go during rehearsal today!"
Justin started cracking up. "Yeah, you're lucky you don't have Josh! He's delusional, man. He thinks he's my mom. Ow!"
Nick frowned. "You okay, Just?"
"Yeah. Josh is trying to make me get off the phone. He's tryin' to make me go to bed early."
Nick laughed. "I guess you Mouseketeers have to stick together, what with all those years of Disney warping your brains..."
"Hey, don't be dissin' the Mouseketeers, man! You were almost one, weren't ya? Too bad, we coulda had fun. You mighta ended up in 'Nsync!"
"Nah, three blonds would be a little too much. And J.C. sounds as bad as Kevin."
"Worse! Ow! Speaking of which, Nick, I gotta go. Josh is driving me crazy."
"I thought you drove yourselves crazy."
Justin laughed. "Josh is already crazy! I better go deal with him."
"Give 'em hell, Timberlake."
"Will do! I'll call ya, 'kay? Bye!"
"Bye."
Nick, still chuckling, dropped his phone onto the bed. He whistled a cheery tune as he moved toward the bathroom, hardly realizing he was doing it.
~To be continued...~
Something interesting that I discovered last night, by the way - in the thank yous on the first BSB album, Nick is the only one who doesn't thank Lou Pearlman. And in the "Millennium" thank yous, Howie is the only one to do so! Making up for a certain thwack on his part, maybe? :) Interesting, no?