Season 1, Episode 3: Remember
Me
Part 3 of 6
Nick
rubbed at his eyes in frustration; he couldn’t focus with the other three
yahoos in his group discussing which song they were going to sing for the group
performance. Nick knew he should be over there discussing with them, but he had
faith, however small it was, that they’d pick a decent song that wouldn’t
require too much work, that most likely he’d know the words, and it’d be ok.
Looking
up at the other three members in his group, he frowned. There was Marcus, who
Nick could tell straight off wanted to be the “lead” in the group. He went on
and on about how he idolized Ricky Martin and Tom Jones and how he knew he was
destined for “greatness.” He’d insisted
that all decisions and choices be cleared through him for approval before they
were put into play.
Then
there was Joe, who, from what Nick could hear, was as tone deaf as they come.
He wouldn’t last, Nick was sure; what he couldn’t figure out, though, was how
he’d made it this far. When he attempted to “sing,” he was flat and always off
tempo. Smirking, Nick looked back down at his Sidekick when Marcus once again
stopped the singing to give Joe the right key. Nick thought the song sounded
familiar, but he couldn’t place it.
Lastly
was Elizabeth, the only girl in the group. She seemed nice enough and had a
decent voice, but she kept making passes at all the guys. Nick had caught her
staring at him hungrily more than once. She seemed more focused on trying to
sleep with one of them than she did trying to sing or win the competition.
Clearing
his throat, Nick went back to work on his Sidekick. He really wished Di was
there; it was too hard to go through everything without her input.
“Nick,
aren’t you going to join us? If this
group is going to be successful, we need to have everyone on the same page, ya
know; I can only do so much,” Marcus sighed.
“Yeah
Nick, why don’t you just… slide on over here beside me, and I can give you…a
hand,”
Nick
looked up and gave an apologetic smile. “Sorry guys, I’ll be there in a minute.
I’m… uhh… talking with my agent. She’s
trying to set me up with this… umm… lead in a musical.”
“Y-yeah,
sure.”
Suddenly
she licked her lips. “Ya know, I’ve
always though actors were hot. You know, the way they read their lines with
such passion, and the way they hold the scripts, their fingers gently caressing
the pages so that… so that… the paper becomes crumpled from the sweat, from the
heat of the moment, oh god,” she moaned, fanning herself with her hand.
“I
had a line in a commercial once,” Joe announced suddenly, his mouth dropping
open when Elizabeth directed her gaze at him, looking him over slowly, licking
her lips again.
“Focus,
people, focus!
“Hearing
you talk like that, Marcus, gets me so turned on,”
Clearing
his throat, Marcus clapped his hands, starting to count off again.
Rolling
his eyes, Nick typed fiercely on his Sidekick.
Diamond seemed to be making great progress on her own. She’d sent him over the new information she’d
found, and Nick quickly cross-referenced it with the little that he’d found.
“No,
no, Joe! Look, you hold the last note,
and you have to sing with emotion, from the diaphragm! The judges have to see that you’re serious,
that we’re serious as a group! This isn’t just a song or a performance,
people; we’re making magic here, we’re telling a story! This is a serious song,” Marcus announced.
“Diaphragm? What’s that have to do with singing? No one is having sex here, although, it could
be arranged.”
Nick
brought his knees closer to his chest, avoiding eye contact. “Sorry,
“Well,
the offer stands. You know, baby, that goes
for you both, too,” she smiled, looking first at Marcus and then Joe.
“Later,
“Guys…”
“Now!”
Marcus stated, pointing to the spot beside
Groaning,
Nick slipped his phone into his pocket and made his way over.
“Okay
now, here we go. Just watch me
closely. We’ll do a couple run-throughs
and then we’ll sing and do the routine.
Here we go – five… six… five, six, seven, eight!”
Marcus announced.
The
next fifteen minutes were spent learning the routine for a song Nick still
didn’t know. Most of the time he kept
trying to avoid
“Okay,
Nick, I want you to drop to your knees on the break, arms open wide as if you’re
pleading to your lady love,” Marcus practically squealed.
“Hey,
why does he get to do the break?” Joe frowned.
“Well,
originally I was going to do it, but I figured I can’t sing the lead and do the break without it looking
funny, so I decided to let Nick do it,” Marcus shrugged.
“What
about me? I’ve been here practicing, and
he’s been over there talking with his agent.
I want a solo,” Joe whined.
“Now,
what did we say about decisions? You
didn’t ask me first, and because of that, you don’t get a solo. Remember, we’re a team; there’s no ‘I’ in
team. Okay, I think we’re ready to do a
full run-through. Here we go – one…two…
one, two, three, four!” Marcus counted off.
The
other three started singing, and Nick stilled.
It couldn’t be; it just couldn’t.
It
was.
Damnit,
he should’ve been more involved; he would have made them pick another
song. He knew Marcus had been the one to
choose the song; it had his stink all over it.
Shaking his head, his heart dropped as he heard his group called to perform
next.
“Okay,
everyone, this is it! Let’s go!” Marcus
called, hurrying out to the stage.
Nick
hesitantly made his way out to the stage and got into position, groaning when
the music started playing. Resolutely, he
forced himself to start dancing as Marcus started singing.
“First time was a great time,
second time was a blast, third time I fell in love, now I hope it lasts. I can see it in your walk, tell it when you
talk, see it in everything you do… even in your thoughts…” Marcus sang passionately.
Groaning,
Nick joined in with chorus.
“You got the right stuff,
baby, love the way you turn me on. You got the right stuff, baby, you’re the
reason why I sing this song…” he sang softly. He’d die if this got out. Sighing, he dropped to
his knees suddenly, his arms spread apart as he sang his solo. “All
that I needed was you… oh girl, you’re so right. And all that I wanted was you… you made all…
my dreams come true!”
Looking
over, he saw Marcus give him a discreet thumbs up and he rolled his eyes,
continuing to dance.
“Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh… Oh, oh,
oh-oh… Oh, oh, oh- oh-oh, the right stuff!
Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh… Oh, oh,
oh-oh… Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh, the right
stuff,” they
all sang.
They
continued dancing, and Nick spun to find
“Your first kiss was a sweet
kiss, second kiss had a twist, third and your fourth kiss I don’t want to
miss. I can see it in your walk, tell it
when you talk, see it in everything you do… even in your thoughts…”
Nick
dropped to a squat as part of the routine and sang along once again with the
chorus.
“You got the right stuff,
baby, love the way you turn me on. You got the right stuff, baby, you’re the
reason why I sing this song.”
Rolling
his eyes, he dropped one more time to his knees suddenly, his arms spread apart
and sang his solo with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. “All
that I needed was you… oh girl, you’re so right. And all that I wanted was you… you made all…
every one of my dreams come true!”
Standing back up, he continued to sing and was upset to find that he was
actually starting to enjoy it. The song
went into a break, and they continued to dance.
Unable to stop himself, Nick dropped to his knees again.
“The right stuff, girl, yeah
baby, yeah, you know you got the right stuff.
And giiiiiirllllll, yeah, baby, you know, you
know you got it, girl. In my life, you’re
so right, you made all... you know what you did…” he sang soulfully as he
stood, backing up slowly to join the others for the end of the song.
“Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh… Oh, oh,
oh-oh… Oh, oh, oh- oh-oh, the right stuff!
Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh… Oh, oh, oh-oh…
Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh, the right stuff!
You got the right stuff, baby, love the way you
turn me on. You got the right stuff,
baby, you’re the reason why I sing this song.”
They
came to a finish in an over-exaggerated and highly unnecessary pose. Nick closed his eyes, trying to even out his
breathing. He’d be lucky if he made it
to the next round.
“Thank
you very much. Nick Carter and Joe
Hearty can stay. The rest of you, thank
you for trying out,” one of the judges announced.
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As Jay came into her
laboratory, her sanctuary of metal and steel, she gave a sigh. Her eyes never left the cameras. Her initial reaction had been natural; Justin
had been a close friend of hers, like Nick was.
At times, Nick had seemed closer, and other times, Justin had. Now, there was only Nick, of course.
The accident had shaken her
up badly... and she had refused to think about it since. Seeing him like he was on the video, the
hatred and rage within the one remaining eye... Had she contributed to what he
was now? Was this her fault for not –
No, she wasn't going to
think about it. She had gotten past the
entire thing, and everything was normal at HimTak again. No.
Jay sat before the cameras,
and she twirled a loose blonde curl around her slender finger.
“K knows. He’ll come by to
check the cameras, I think, now that the mission’s gotten complicated.”
“Complicated is not the
word – a vast understatement, actually.”
“What is the word then,
A shrug was her simple
reply to the pointed question. "If
you're watching the feeds, I need to check something in my office,” she said
flatly, wishing she could turn off the emotions. Yet she couldn't, so she escaped to her office
in the back of her lab.
It was rare that others
found her here, as she enjoyed her work and was constantly tinkering with some
new gadget or device. She shut the door behind her and was welcomed by the
turquoise walls with bright yellow accents that surrounded her. This was her, a bright and cheery
office. Truly it was, with a quite
cluttered, simple white desk and the color scheme remaining the bright blue and
yellow throughout the room. Something
surprising to some, with her often sarcastic and dry wit humored view upon the
world. Deep down, she was pretty
optimistic and sensitive. She was as
human as any other. Many seemed to forget
that behind the brains, there was a person.
An attractive person, though her looks also went forgotten by many
because of her intelligence.
A photograph fluttered
lazily to the desk from the bulletin board mounted on the wall, as a sigh
escaped from her. It was an older
photograph, four years almost. One of
the agents had taken it, she remembered, but she couldn't place who. The picture was of her trying to get her own
camera – which she had made herself – back from Justin, with Nick laughing and
cheering him on. They had been reprimanded
for slacking off instead of training, but as agents in basic training were
grouped together for certain tests, that had been how she had met Nick and
Justin for the first time.
She loved when she got
assigned to go on missions, especially with those two. With her expertise in certain technologies
and her ability to handle herself on the field, it happened more commonly than
she had originally thought it would.
But she hadn't been on one since the mission that had, in essence,
destroyed Justin. How could she?
There was a reason she had
put so much time into Nick's car. Projects
kept her mind away from her life, distanced her from it. It was her personal therapy, and she had
needed it.
Pearl, you have to help me..
.please... god... Kitana, I have no one else to go to!
That single phrase, his
pained voice, still haunted her, as it had since the day she had refused to do
what someone else eventually would…
It had been a simple day;
she had just started her sketches for the car she was eventually going to
modify. She had spotted it, and her mind
had what she considered her greatest project idea yet. Now she was just sketching the layouts, since
this was going to be a massive project.
She was concerned about Justin, of course, but the swelling had seemed
to go down since the eye burst. The eye
patch, ashamedly, unnerved her a bit.
After that mission, her mind had gone into overdrive, and
She was sure Jay would be
down soon, however. Their mentor had
been keeping a careful eye on her and Nick as of late. K had been, too, now that she thought of
it. For now, the tunes of classic
Beatles songs soothed her as she sketched in her office, rather than in her
laboratory.
The sound of slamming doors
made her jump with a start, and she looked up to find Justin now before her
with the horror of relapse. It had been
a possibility, since Red hadn’t known of a cure. If
“
“Ju… Drums, what… is it
happening again?” Her mind blanked, and,
for a moment, she was actually at a loss for words.
“I can’t take this
pain! Jewel can’t help me; doctors
wouldn’t know what this is. You’re a genius, Kit, you know that. This shit is so wickedly damn whack! You know that human robotics stuff like it’s
nothing!” His hand clutched at the socket
where his eye had once been; his head was pulsating with enlarged blood
vessels. Already, it was beginning to
swell again. “I need you to use all that
shit to fix me up, trip me out, yo!” The
slang. His emotions were jumping, and
she couldn’t say there wasn’t a reason for it.
“Why? We were a posse! First Nick, now you! God!”
“What happened was… an
accident! I can't do it. Justin, I would
have to wire up to the optical nerves to your brain; it would take intense
surgery. Brain surgery. You would mentally be more machine! It dehumanizes! I can’t do it to you. I’m not going to turn you into a robot so you
can have two eyes again. Even the
surgery just to get the swelling down... the chips and wires... I would have to
hook so much into your system in so many ways…
No,” she said brokenly, crossing her arms over her chest. Her sapphire eyes went downwards, trying to
hide the pain that achingly stabbed at her as she refused his pleas. "Just no. Please don't ask me this. I... I can't.
No."
“Kitana… you’re going to
say no?? I could die from this whack
shit Nick got on me! He knew what he was
doing… you’re doing this for him, right?”
His breath rapid, beads of sweat dripped down his face like a slow rain,
as he winced from the pain it caused him.
She just observed him with
obvious remorse. “I'm doing this for you.
I’m sorry, Justin, but dehumanizing you, to me, is worse than death…”
Justin simply stared at
her, a man betrayed. “You’re not the
person I thought you were… Professor.”
She wiped her eyes
discreetly as her hair fell into her youthful face.
Now it seemed Justin had
found someone else to do it for him instead.
He had been a new man on those cameras.
So dark, so empty. Gone were the joking,
playful actions and the excited Ebonics he always seemed to be spewing, despite
all their protests. Just part of his charm then. Gone was the caring nature he’d had. Now he was nothing but a dark, shadowed
reflection of the man he once was. A cold
machine.
“Pearl, come here, we need
to start skimming the feeds for Justin, see if he’s acting alone, since the
other agent was killed by his own hands.”
“Be right there, Jay,” she
spoke softly into her headset as she set the picture aside on her desk. Just memories. That’s all the picture could be. The Justin they knew was no longer there.
And they all would just
have to live with them.
± ± ±