Chapter 10

"Howie!"

Kevin was the first person to reach Howie's room, banging on the door and screaming his name.

Nick, AJ, Brian and Tara soon caught up, standing around in a panic, watching Kevin pound on the door.

"Howie, open up!" Nick screamed, his eyes filling with tears. "Come on man, please be ok!"

Brian was leaning against the wall, his face as white as a sheet, and breathing heavily. "This can't be happening, this can't be happening," he kept muttering to himself, watching Kevin in horror.

After what felt like an eternity, the door slowly opened, revealing Howie standing on the other side, his face drawn tight. "Hey," he said weakly, before falling down in a heap on the floor.

"Howie," Kevin fell to his knees next to him, touching his shoulder gingerly. "What happened?"

Howie lifted his hand, biting his lip against the searing pain he felt from the motion. "I put my hand in my bag, and I don't know, something." he said in a trembling voice, staring at his own hand.

Kevin looked at Howie's hand, wincing at the sight of the reddened, blistering skin. "Jesus, what the hell?"

"I felt something burst, something wet….." Howie shuddered, and rocked back and forth unsteadily. "I can't keep my eyes open."

"Get him into bed," Kevin told Nick and AJ, watching as they lifted Howie and delicately put him into the bed. He grabbed the phone and called a doctor, his eyes not leaving Howie once.

Tara followed them into the room, but stopped when she realized someone hadn't joined them inside. "Brian?" She said softly, turning around and finding him still huddled against the wall. "Hey, you going to come in?" She asked him, looking at him closely. "Howie's ok."

Brian looked up at her, and took a deep breath, "in a second." He shuddered, and raised a hand to his face, wiping the sweat off of his forehead. "He's ok, right?" He asked, looking into Tara's eyes.

"Yeah, he is." She extended her hand to him, and smiled. "Come on, see for yourself."

Brian nodded slowly and accepted her hand, letting her lead him into the room. "Hey D."

"I think he passed out," Nick told him softly, going to him and hugging him tight. "He's ok though, Bri, he's gonna be fine."

"What the fuck happened to his hand?" AJ whispered, unable to take his eyes off of the angry sores forming on Howie's skin.

"I don't know," Kevin said, shaking his head. "Where's his bag?"

Tara looked around the room, spying the bag lying on its side in a corner. "Over there," she pointed.

"We'll let the FBI take a look tomorrow, hopefully they'll be able to figure out what's in there. Don't touch it!" Kevin said fiercely, stopping Nick, who was walking towards the bag. "You don't want to end up like Howie."

"I just wanted to see," Nick said softly.

"I know. But it's not safe," Kevin said firmly. "We'll find out tomorrow what that was."

"Doc's here," Billy stuck his head into the room to warn them, an instant before a doctor walked in, black bag in hand.

Kevin quickly explained to the doctor what they knew of what had happened, and everyone stepped back to let the man examine Howie. When he was done, he stood up, and looked at them all solemnly.

"Well?" Kevin prompted him.

"It appears your friend has a pretty nasty chemical burn," the doctor explained. "I've put some ointment on his hand, and wrapped it. I'll leave some ointment here so he can reapply as needed. It's a third degree burn, but the surface area isn't all that great, so he should be all right. With burns, the most serious risk is that of infection, so it must stay clean, and well covered. Understood?"

Kevin nodded, looking the doctor in the eyes. "We'll make sure he understands."

"So he's ok?" Brian asked, his blue eyes wide with fear.

"He's just fine," the doctor nodded. "But whatever he was messing with, he should leave alone in the future. Chemical burns are serious things, he is rather lucky that the burn is as minimal as it is."

"Thank you so much for coming," Kevin shook the doctor's hand and showed him to the door. He returned to the room, smiling wryly at the sight of everyone staring at Howie sleeping in bed. "Ok, what do you say we all give Howie some privacy?"

"I'm gonna stay here," AJ said, sitting down in a chair and stretching out. "I want to be here when D wakes up."

Kevin nodded at AJ, before turning to Brian, Nick, and Tara. "We should get some sleep, then. Ok?"

"Gotcha," Nick looked at Howie one last time before leaving the room.

Tara followed, watching him carefully as he walked back into his own room and sat down on the couch. "Thank god Howie's ok," she said softly, chewing on her bottom lip.

"Yeah," Nick agreed, staring at the floor in front of him. "At least he's ok."

"Chemical burn, huh," she murmured, sitting down next to him and shaking her head. "Something must have been in that bag…."

"Yeah."

Tara looked at Nick, feeling strangely guilty for being unable to help him in any way. "I'm sorry, Nick."

Nick turned his head to look at her, a curious expression on his face. "Why are you sorry?"

"Because I knew days ago what the clue was, and I still couldn't stop it," she bit her lip, and looked away from him. "I'm not helping at all."

"What are you talking about?" Nick stared at her in astonishment. "You saved Kristen's life, how can you say that you're not helping?"

"Howie still got hurt, we still don't know who this guy is," Tara frowned, and shook her head slowly. "I'm not doing any good being here."

"Tara," Nick took her hand in his, yanking on it gently to get her to look at him. "You are helping us, so much….until you came along, all we had to go on were random letters and phone calls. Not only did you save Kevin's wife, but you've helped us figure out what he's doing, hell, we TALKED to him tonight thanks to you."

"Yeah, but Howie…."

"Nobody could have stopped that," Nick interrupted her. "How were we going to stop him from going into his own bag? Not possible."

Tara looked up at Nick, and sighed, "I guess."

"I know." Nick smiled lightly and looked at her hand, stroking the soft skin of her palm. "And, well, I'm glad you're here, for, um, well, more personal reasons…."

Tara chuckled, "you like getting your ass kicked, do you, Kaos?"

"I like you," Nick replied, raising his head to look into her eyes. "I've never met anyone like you, Tara, and I really like that."

Tara shifted uncomfortably on the couch, and frowned, "Nick…I…"

"You're fun, and you like to do the things I do, and we just clicked, you know?" Nick continued, ignoring her attempt to interrupt him. "I'm glad that, well, if someone had to be the one to figure out what this guy was doing, and be here with us, I'm glad it's you."

Tara just stared at Nick, a strange expression crossing her face. "Nicky…"

Nick smiled at her, and tilted his head coyly. "You just called me Nicky."

Tara laughed lightly, "sorry."

"No, I like hearing you call me Nicky," he told her, before bending his head to hers. He moved in to kiss her, pulling away with a frown when he felt his lips make contact with her cheek, and not her lips.

"Nick," Tara felt like her heart was going to break at the look in his eyes, and she squeezed his hand tight. "I like you too, I do, just…"

"Not that way," he said sarcastically, his voice taking on an angry edge. "Right."

"I'm sorry," she said softly, biting her lip when he dropped her hand and stood up. "What are you doing?"

"Getting ready for bed," Nick said, turning around and walking into the bedroom. "You should too, it's late," he told her before slamming the door shut.

"Nick," Tara called through the door, but he didn't reply. "Dammit," she cursed, walking to her bedroom and grabbing her bag. She hadn't meant to upset Nick like that, but, shit, she just couldn't see herself with a Backstreet Boy. Why was that so hard for him to accept? She'd had fun playing Quake with him earlier, and definitely understood what he meant about them clicking, but…just not that way…. She dug her nightshirt out of her bag and slipped it on, before grabbing a small bag and heading to the bathroom.

She brushed her teeth and did her business, returning to the large bedroom a few minutes later. She sat down on the side of the bed, wondering if she should just go to sleep and deal with Nick in the morning. But he'd looked so hurt…

Tara sighed heavily and stood up, padding through the suite in her bare feet until she reached Nick's door. She knocked lightly, frowning when there was no reply. "Nick?" She called, before knocking again. "Nick, please talk to me?"

The door opened slowly, and Nick stuck his head out to peer down at her. "What?" he asked dryly.

"I, um, I," she stammered, unsure of what exactly to say. God, he looked like he hated her… "Nick, are you ok?"

He rolled his eyes, and shook his head, "no. Not that you care, of course."

"Jesus, Nick, I care!" Tara told him, shoving the door open in her frustration. Her eyes widened when Nick flew backwards, falling on the floor on his back. "Oh, god, sorry…" She stepped inside the room, apologizing again when she saw he was only wearing a pair of boxers. "I didn't mean to do that…"

"I didn't expect you to punch in the door, damn," Nick started to laugh in spite of himself, and stared up at her, shaking his head slowly. "I can't believe you just did that."

"Here," Tara offered him a hand, and hauled him up, her eyes trailing over his body as he stood up. Damn, she had to admit, the boy had one hell of a body… "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," he sighed, and crawled onto the bed, sliding under the covers. "I'm sorry I acted like a brat out there, I just…damn, I like you, Tara, I don't get why you don't like me."

Tara sat down on the side of the bed, biting her lip. "It's not that I don't like you, Nick! I do!"

"You're just not attracted to pretty boys," he said angrily, shaking his head. "I'm not a goddamn pretty boy."

Tara smiled wryly, "Nick, you're just not my type…"

"I don't get that," he sighed. "We're so much alike, how could I not be?"

"Maybe I'm not attracted to me, then?" Tara joked.

"I am, though," Nick replied, looking into her eyes. He reached up to run a hand over the side of her cheek, "god, am I."

"Nick," Tara pulled away from him, taking his hand in hers. She stared into her eyes, trying to find the words to explain what she was feeling. "I don't know what to say, I…"

"Just promise me one thing," Nick interrupted her. "Promise me you'll leave that pretty boy door open. Let me prove you wrong."

Tara smirked, "once a pretty boy, always a pretty boy?"

"No!" He sat up straight and wrapped his arms around her neck, bending his head to look at her. "I will prove you wrong, ok?"

"Sure, Nick, ok." Tara grabbed his hands, removing them from her neck with a soft sigh. "I should go to bed, and so should you."

"Sleep with me?" Nick asked her softly, refusing to let go of her hand.

Tara's eyes widened, and she stared at him, "Nick, was I just talking to myself here?"

"Not like that," he laughed, and rolled his eyes. "God, I'm not that dense. I mean…I'm still kind of freaked, with what happened to Howie, I just don't want to be alone. You know?"

Tara nodded slowly, "yeah, I'm pretty scared too."

"So?" Nick scooted over in the bed and pulled the covers back, patting the sheets. "Join me."

"Ok," Tara slid into the bed, unable to resist a happy sigh when she felt Nick's arms wrap around her waist to pull her close to him.

"This is just better, right? Not so scary when you're not alone," Nick said softly, one of his hands tangling through Tara's hair.

"Much better," she had to agree. Nick made a wonderful pillow, and she felt completely safe, pressed up against him under the covers. "Just go to sleep Nick, ok?"

"Going," Nick reached over and turned out the light. He kissed her forehead, before whispering, "sweet dreams, Francine."

"Fuck you, Kaos," Tara laughed.

"You already said no to that…"

Tara smacked him playfully, "silly, silly pretty boy."

"Yeah, well…." He sighed, and snuggled against her. "Goodnight, Tara."

"Night, Nicky."

***

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