*Disclaimer - I do not own any of the members of ‘N Sync (nor would I ever really want to), they belong to their respective owners. I do, however, own all fictional characters. Plagiarism is illegal, please don’t do it. Thanks.

Nineteen year old Lance Bass rested back against the wall of the elevator, closing his eyes as he rubbed the back of his neck tiredly with a hand. It had been a long day with interviews, a photo shoot, rehearsal, sound check and finally, the concert; and everything had taken it’s toll. The slight vertigo of the elevator caused a small throb behind his eyes to appear and he groaned softly, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. He had decided to forgo the after concert party in favor of resting. He hadn’t been able to shake a slight cold he had picked up a week prior and he thought it best to spend the evening in a deep sleep. The elevator dinged softly and he sighed, opening his eyes as he stepped into the hallway. He reached into the pocket of his jacket, taking out the card key for the suite he, Justin and JC would be sharing throughout the group’s stay in Boston. When he made it to the door, he slipped the credit card looking key into the slot and pushed the door open, stepping into the darkened room. He shut the door softly behind him, and leaned back against it with a grateful sigh. He muffled a sigh of irritation when his cellular phone began ringing. He debated momentarily on answering it before deciding against it. If it was important, they would call back in the morning. He reached into his pocket and pulled the annoying object out, only to shut off the ringer. He made his way through the darkened room to his designated bedroom and kicked off his shoes, falling onto the mattress. He struggled briefly to climb under the covers before turning on the television for some mindless entertainment. Slowly, his eyelids began to droop, his breathing becoming steady with sleep.

Bright sun light streamed through the blinds, casting the room into semi-light, causing Lance to burrow deeply under the blankets, trying to cling to the remnants of sleep. Muffled noise came from the main room, telling him the others were already up and ready to start another day filled with everything a person could possibly imagine. Lance winced, the throb behind his eyes no longer something he could ignore. He reached blindly for the glass of water resting on the bedside table, groaning as the cool water seemed to burn his throat each time he swallowed. Great. Just what I need. Sickness. He sighed, pulling a pillow over his head to block out the light and the noise. Suddenly, the bed began to bounce madly, startling Lance into a sitting position.

“He’s up!” Chris yelped loudly, causing Lance to wince yet again. Lance cracked open an eyelid, lips twitching slightly as he looked up at Chris, who was standing on his bed. He could only assume Chris had been jumping on the bed to wake him up.

“No, I’m not up. Me sitting and talking is all just one of your strange dreams. Go back to bed, Chris.” Lance snorted, his voice unusually hoarse.

“Uh oh. Lance’s is sick!” Chris yelped even louder this time.

“Yeah. Sick of you. Now get outta my room.” Lance gave his older friend a shove, causing Chris to lose his balance and go toppling to the floor with a loud thump and a soft groan. Lance groaned a laugh when Chris bounded to his feet once again, then gave the older man a mock glare as he slapped the palm of his hand to Lance’s forehead to check his temperature. Lance batted his hand away, shifting slightly to the side so he could lounge back against the headboard.

“He has a fever, guys!” Chris yelped, bounding from the room, leaving Lance with blessed silence. He closed his eyes again, wincing slightly with the drum pounding in his head. He cracked an eye open when he heard someone enter the room and sighed when he saw Justin and JC give him a worried look.

“It’s just a cold, guys. I’ll be fine in a day or two.” he assured them. JC gave the younger man a dubious look, shaking his head slowly.

“You should see a doctor. Get some antibiotics or something so it doesn’t get worse.” JC suggested, placing a glass of orange juice on the bedside table next to the glass of water. Lance nodded bonelessly, wishing he could just go back to sleep.

“I will. After I get some more sleep. I promise.” Lance gave the pair a weak smile. JC nodded, worry still lingering in his eyes as he and Justin left the room to give Lance the chance to grab more well needed sleep. Dream images filtered through his mind as he slowly reclaimed his hold on sleep, the murmured voices of his friends in the other room lulling him to a deeper sleep.

The young woman glanced around, holding a small bundle to her chest lovingly, a large bag slung over her shoulder. She had been on the run for more than three weeks, trying to disappear into the world so he wouldn’t find her. A few times, he had come way too close for her to remain comfortable. She glanced around the hallway, wondering which way to go. She hadn’t thought it would be so hard to track down her friend, but she couldn’t give up. Too much depended on this. Her heart gave a painful tug as the bundle in her arms stirred slightly, whimpering through a yawn. Tears burned her eyes, causing her to blink rapidly to keep them at bay. She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard familiar voices. She slowed to a stop, debating on her next move. She could just leave the baby and not look back until it was safe to do so. Or, she could knock on the door and ask him for help and hand the baby over that way. But, if she did that, he would more than likely demand she stay so she, too, could be safe. She closed her eyes. No one would be safe if she were around. After a moment of her continued silent debating, she stopped in front of the hotel suite door, gently hugging her baby close to her breast.

“All right, little one, you’ll be safe here. He’ll take good care of you because I can’t right now. Just remember one thing, I love you.” she pressed a delicate kiss to the infant’s forehead before she leaned over and gently placed the baby on the floor in front of the door. Before she could stop herself from leaving her baby, she whirled around and hurried away from the door. She swiped at the tears dotting her cheeks. Though she knew it was a good idea to leave her baby with her friend, she couldn’t help but feel like the worst kind of mother. Most mothers would ask for the police to help protect them and their children. But this time, the police couldn’t help. Tanner owned people on the police. Tanner owned people all over the place. Her best bet was to contact the FBI and try talking with them. She managed to stumble into the stairwell before her knees weakened and she collapsed onto the top step, her chest heaving as she tried to staunch the need to cry. She hugged her knees to her chest, tears soaking her jeans.

He didn’t know how long he had been asleep before the wailing of a small child woke him from his sleep. His brow furrowed in thought, wondering who in the world had a child with them in the group’s suite. No one he knew of who worked with the tour had a baby within the past six months or so. Curiosity piqued, he yanked the covers from his body and stumbled to his feet, weaving his way out into the main living quarters of the suites. He yanked open the door and nearly burst out laughing at the sight which met his sleep muddled mind. Justin was sitting on the couch, jaw sagged in complete awe; Chris was pacing the room with a small, wailing infant in his arms, trying to calm the baby; Joe was shaking his head, holding his head in his hands; JC was also pacing the room, one hand covering his free ear while his other ear was occupied with his cellular phone.

“What in the world is going on here?” Lance inquired hoarsely, startling everyone in the room. He lifted an eyebrow, waiting patiently as all eyes turned to him. Justin reached over to the small table beside the couch and picked up a piece of paper, handing it over to him with a sigh. Lance shook his head, eyes darting down to the paper.

Dear James,

Where to start? I guess I’ll start with my daughter. Her name is Tasha. She’s four months old and an absolute doll. She’s why I’m doing this. I’m sure you’re probably wondering what’s going on and who the hell left you this baby to take care of. I’ll tell you what I can, but it won’t be much. I’m in trouble, James. Serious trouble. Its not something I can really talk about right now, but I need your help. I know I should have done this to your face, I just couldn’t take seeing the disappointment in your eyes. Tanner has done something. Something I accidently saw and now I have to testify against him in court. My life could be at risk and I didn’t want Tash to be a part of that. So I did the only thing I could do. I’m asking you to take care of her until this whole thing blows over. I don’t know how long it will be, but hopefully it’ll be sooner rather than later. Thank you, James.

Rachel

Lance’s eyes widened as he read the letter written in flourished letters. He shook his head, realization slowly dawning on him. Rachel had been one of his best friends in grammar school and high school. She had started dating Tanner her junior year in high school, and though Lance knew he was a bad seed, she didn’t listen to his pleadings over her not seeing him. He had lost touch with her months after she graduated and had always wondered how and what she was doing.

“How long ago did you find her?” Lance demanded, eyes darting around the room to his friends.

“I dunno. Maybe ten minutes?” Justin glanced around at the others in the room, who all nodded agreeably. Lance turned and hurried to the door, pulling it open and stepping out into the hallway, leaving his friends to deal with the wailing baby. He glanced down the hallway, debating on which way to go. Hopefully, he’d be able to catch up with Rachel and ask her what in the world was going on and why she was leaving her baby with him. He jabbed the elevator call button impatiently, wondering if he’d have better luck with the stairs. He was about to turn and head toward the stairwell when the elevator doors dinged and finally opened. He stepped inside, pressing the lobby button.

If Lance wanted to be honest with himself, he would admit that he had feelings for Rachel. Feelings other than those that come with friendship and protectiveness. And if he wanted to be brutally honest with himself, he would admit he’d been in love with Rachel since their early high school days. But, he had done well with keeping the secret from her and she had never guessed his secret. He began tapping his foot impatiently, waiting with growing dread for the elevator to reach the lobby and open it’s doors so he could begin his search for Rachel. Finally, minutes later, the doors wooshed open and he hurried out into the lobby, quickly glancing around, looking for her familiar face, hoping with every fiber of his being that she was still there. Doubts began nibbling his mind when he didn’t immediately spot her, thinking he had missed her completely. Then he met up with a tortured gaze from a pair of violet eyes, eyes that haunted his dreams some nights. Rachel’s eyes widened as she came to an abrupt halt in front of the hotel lobby doors that led out into the street and shook her head slowly.

“Rach,” Lance called loudly, making his way through a crowd of tourists, trying to get to her before she disappeared. Her eyes were red, as if she’d been crying, and she winced, backing slowly to the door.

“Don’t do this, Lance.” she pleaded, her voice sounding hoarse.

“What’s going on? Talk to me.” he returned the plea, grabbing her arm in a light grip to keep her from leaving all together.

“I can’t. If I bring you into this, something potentially horrible will happen to you. And I can’t do that to you.” her voice was soft, yet firm. She wasn’t going to budge and he knew it.

“Fine. I’ll take that for now. Just come upstairs and at least get something to eat. Maybe sleep for a while. Then if you still want to leave and have me keep Tasha safe for you for a while, I will. No questions asked.” he held up a hand, going against his better judgement and letting her leave without a word if she chose to. She silently debated for a moment before nodding with a sigh. He gave her a strained smile, then gently tugged her back to the elevator.Lance and Rachel rode the elevator up to the fifth floor in silence, each lost in their own turbulent thoughts, neither daring to say a word to one another in fear of vulnerability. Rachel, obviously more nervous than her counterpart in Lance, wrapped her arms protectively around herself, hoping to ward off some of the chill that had settled into her bones. Finally the elevator door dinged then opened, letting it’s passengers out into the hallway. Rachel followed Lance down the hallway to the last door on the left and waited as he opened the door and ushered her inside. Tasha had put up quite a fuss and had the undivided attention of four young men, whom were all trying to figure out what was wrong with the baby. Without a word to anyone, Rachel hurried over to her daughter and lifted her easily from Justin’s arms. She murmured something softly to the baby, and moments later, Tasha fell silent, content with her mother’s appearance in the room. Lance gazed on, rubbing the back of his neck, wondering how he was going to explain this to everyone. If the press got ahold of the information that there was a young woman and a baby traveling with them, gossip would turn for the worse, naming one of the members of the group as the father and saying the child was obviously illegitimate because none of the group members were married or even dating anyone seriously at this point and time of their lives. JC wandered over to him, lifting an eyebrow.

“What’s going on, Scoop?” the question was asked softly so not to capture the attention of the young woman.

“She’s an old friend. And I’m guessing she’s in some kind of trouble. She won’t talk about it, so I can’t be sure.” Lance shook his head.

“And what are we going to do about this?” JC continued softly, eyes darting back to the young mother cradling her child.

“I told her she could have something to eat and get some sleep. If she wanted to leave after all that, and leave Tasha in my care, I told her she could.” Lance shrugged and mentally sighed at JC’s brief incredulous look.

“There’s nothing else I could do, Jace. I can’t turn her and Tasha away without knowing what’s going on. And you have to admit that it takes a lot for a mother to give her baby to someone else for protection.” Lance continued with his reasoning, hoping it would be enough for his older friend. JC had taken it upon himself to be the father of the group, always making sure everyone was doing what was in their best interest, but somehow Lance doubted if JC would ever understand this.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” JC glanced over at his friend.

“I don’t know. I hope so.” Lance sighed, taking a seat on the couch, rubbing a hand over his face. He wished he knew what he was doing, but this was all flying by the seat of his pants with minimal thinking. Rachel cooed softly to Tasha as she rocked the baby in her arms, taking a seat next to Lance. Justin, Joe and Chris gazed on with obvious interest, wondering who the new woman was and what she was doing in the hotel room, though they kept their silence.

“You want something to eat?” Lance finally inquired, glancing over at Rachel. She shook her head silently, giving him a tentative smile.

“No, thanks. I’m really not all that hungry.” She murmured, heaving a silent sigh of relief when Tasha finally dropped off to sleep in her arms. Cautiously, she reached for the bassinet and slowly lowered the sleeping baby into it, covering her with a warm, fuzzy blanket before turning back to Lance.

“We’ll let you two talk. Come on, guys.” JC gave the others a pointed look and they all mumbled their agreement, following JC out the door and into the hallway.

“Okay. Question. Who was that?” Justin inquired, glancing over his shoulder at the closed doorway.

“Rachel. Mother to the baby.” JC answered shortly, not really wanting to air Lance’s problems to everyone without doing so himself.

“What? She change her mind about leaving the baby?” Justin snorted, shaking his head, his lips pressed into a firm line, jabbing the call button for the elevator.

“Justin, that’s none of our business.” JC warned softly with a shake of his head. “Unless Lance comes to us with this problem, its none of our business.”

“How can this be none of our business. Doesn’t this have to do with a friend of ours?” Joe inquired, making a face.

“Yeah. We just have to wait until Lance comes to us with this. We can’t force anything out of him.” JC rolled his eyes heavenward.

“So, you going to tell me what’s going on, or do I have to guess?” Lance finally broke the silence, turning so his back pressed up against the arm of the couch. Rachel sighed, shaking her head.

“I can’t talk about it. Too many people’s lives are at risk. And I don’t want yours to be one of them. Just, trust me on this, Lance. Please.” she pleaded softly, rocking the bassinet slowly with a foot.

“I’m not sure if I can, Rach. I mean, you’re willing to leave your baby with a friend you haven’t seen in years. I want to know what’s causing you to do this.” he shook his head, arms folded across his chest. She closed her eyes, searching for the words to put his mind at ease.

“Rach?” Lance prodded softly, covering her trembling hand with his own. Her eyes snapped open, meeting his soft blue-green gaze.

“I’ve placed so many people in danger, I can’t do that to you.” she shook her head firmly.

“You’re not going to put me into any kind of danger. Besides, we have bodyguards and it’s their job to make sure nothing happens to us. And believe me, they love their job.” Lance reassured her softly, his eyes glimmering with a small measure of mirth.

“Lance, please don’t do this to yourself. I know you, and I know you’ll get more than a little upset once you know the whole story. The reason I wanted to leave Tasha with you is because I know she’ll be safe here with you. Another reason is one you just pointed out. I would have left her with my parents had I thought it safe enough.” Rachel’s voice trailed off as she waved a helpless hand in the air.

“Rachel,” he sighed, rubbing a hand across his face. “I wish you’d tell me what’s going on. I can help you.”

“No, you can’t.” Rachel smiled, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

“You don’t know that for sure. Why don’t you tell me, and I’ll be the judge on whether or not I can help you.” he suggested, settling back for a long conversation. Rachel shifted, leaning over to check on Tasha to make sure the baby was still sleeping peacefully in the bassinet before turning back to Lance with a soft sigh.

“All right, I’ll tell you what I can, but no more.” she finally conceded with a nod. “But could we eat while we talk. I’ve suddenly become rather hungry.”

“Sure.” Lance nodded, reaching for the hotel telephone. He dialed the number to the front desk and spoke briefly to the person who answered the phone, ordering room service while he was at it. He glanced over at his friend as soon as he hung up the phone and waited patiently for her to explain everything.

“I’m sure you’ve already guessed it has something to do with Tanner.” she started, sighing heavily.

“I imagined he was involved somehow.” Lance nodded, resting his elbows on his knees, his head propped on his hands.

“I had just found out I was pregnant when the FBI first showed up at my parents place looking for me. I was still with Tanner at the time and we were talking about getting married, making all the appropriate plans, seeing about costs for the dresses and all the other arrangements.” she continued softly, folding her arms across her chest protectively.

“Tanner told me it wasn’t a big deal, that there had been some sort of misunderstanding with some other people involved. He would never tell me who else was involved. I guess in a way he was still trying to protect me. After a while, things started getting worse. There were threatening phone calls and Tanner, himself, started to act more strangely than normal. He started to snap at me, then yell. When he raised his hand to me in anger, that’s when I left and took my baby with me. I was about eight and a half months pregnant. He’d call the house, threatening my parents that they’d come home one day and find me missing and they’d never see me or our baby again. My parents started talking to me about talking to the FBI. The more I thought about it, the more I became scared. I’ve heard all those stories where people living in the witness protection program for ten years who’ve been found murdered by the very same people they were trying to escape. I didn’t want to end up a statistic. I didn’t want any harm to come to Tasha. She’s my life’s breath. If anything ever happened to her,” Rachel shook her head, closing her eyes tightly as she instinctively placed a gentle hand atop her daughter’s head. “Anyway, she’s the reason why I’m doing this. I need her to be safe while I take care of this whole talking to the FBI thing. That’s why I chose you, Lance. I trust you with my life, and that’s what she is. She’s my life.” her voice ended on a whisper, tears escaping her closed lids to slip down her cheeks.

Lance sat back, slightly stunned, trying to digest all the information she had given him in the past twenty minutes. She was in trouble, real trouble, and she was asking him for help. Years ago, he would have done it without thinking of the consequences. He would have taken them both in, protected them the best he could. But with him now in the lime light, he wasn’t sure it was the best place for either of the girls. Of it’s own volition, his hand lifted to cup her cheek, fingertips brushing away her tears with a whisper of a touch.

“Tell you what you want me to do to help.” he murmured softly, his heart beginning to ache in a peculiar way. In a way it hadn’t ached in years, not since the last time he had seen Rachel.

“Take care of Tasha for me. Until I can come back for her.” she pleaded softly, covering his hand with her own.

“Rach, are you sure that’s best? I mean, with - everything.” his voice trailed off as he gestured a helpless hand.

“You mean, with all your new found fame? I’m sure, Lance. I know you, and I know you wouldn’t let anything happen to her.” Rachel gave him a small reassuring smile, giving his hand a gentle squeeze before releasing his hand.

“All right. But, you’re going to have to give us a crash course on how to take care of little girls.” Lance gave a soft rueful laugh, shaking his head slowly as he climbed to his feet to pace the room.

“You’ll do just fine.” she laughed with a knowing smile.

“Oh, sure. I know everything there is to know about the opposite sex, no matter the given age.” he rolled his eyes, snorting loudly. “But, seriously. I don’t know what to do when she cries, or the proper ways of doing things.”

“It’s all very simple. When she cries, you pick her up. If her bottom feels damp, you change her diaper. If she starts puckering her mouth, feed her. There’s nothing to it. When you burp her, just rub small circles on her back. She’s too young to start teething, so you don’t have that gem to worry about. Other than that, you know about as much as I do. We all learn as we go.” Rachel shrugged, propping her chin on her fisted hand.

“Better for you to mess up. Kids expect their parents to mess up. It’s normal. However, a complete stranger messing up is probably going to cause years in therapy for the poor kid.” Lance muttered, raking a hand through his short blond hair. Rachel snickered softly, rolling her eyes heavenward.

“I appreciate that.” she exclaimed loudly. The pair glanced up when the door opened, JC and Chris wandering into the room, laughing about an encounter with a fan they had just had out in the hallway.

“Um,” Chris stopped abruptly, his smile still twitching at the corner of his lips. JC halted beside his older friend and gazed at the pair with amusement.

“Hey guys. Looks like we have a new addition to the group, and her name’s Tasha.” Lance gave them a bright smile, though he felt as if he were waiting for the other shoe to drop. Chris lifted his eyebrows and glanced over at JC, who shrugged his shoulders.

“Um, okay.” Chris stated slowly, unsure of what type of reaction was appropriate for this situation.

© 1997 hells_fiction@hotmail.com

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page