Chapter 6

Tara awoke to a soft knocking on the bedroom door. She wrapped the blanket around herself and got up, opening the door to reveal a grinning Nick on the other side, dressed in a pair of boxers and a t-shirt. "Good morning."

"Morning," Nick smiled at her. He held up a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt, "I figured you might need some clean clothes."

"Oh! Thanks," Tara accepted the clothes gratefully, seeing as she'd just slept in the one shirt she had with her, something else to wear was much appreciated.

"No problem," Nick watched her set the clothes down on the bed, his eyes widening when the blanket fell off of her shoulders and to the floor, revealing her bare legs. "Kevin came by earlier, he said we should eat breakfast, then he wants to talk. Sound good?"

"Sure," Tara sat down on the bed and pulled on the sweatpants, rolling her eyes when she saw Nick staring. "You gonna get dressed too?" She asked him pointedly, looking at his boxers.

Nick shifted uncomfortably, feeling her eyes on his crotch. "Yeah, I'll see you in a few," he closed the door behind him as he left the room.

Tara couldn't help but laugh once he left, shaking her head. "Such a silly pretty boy," she whispered, standing up and groaning when his sweatpants immediately fell down. "Now, how am I going to get these things to stay up," she frowned. Nick had to be nearly a foot taller than her, and probably a good hundred pounds heavier, no wonder his pants didn't seem to like her body much. She pulled at the drawstring on the sweatpants, and rolled up the bottoms, laughing at her own appearance.

"Good thing you're not trying to impress anyone, Tar," she told herself, slipping off her t-shirt and pulling on the hooded sweatshirt he'd given her. He did have great sweats though, she had to admit that, nice and soft. She was very much a fan of comfy sweats, even when the sweatshirt did go down to her knees. She ran her hands through her hair in an attempt to brush it, before giving up, opening the door and walking into the main room of the suite.

Nick looked up from the menu he had been examining when she walked into the room, immediately bursting into laughter at the sight of her. "Hey, I thought there was a girl sleeping in that room, but I don't know, all I see now are some sweats that appear to be walking all on their own?"

"Shut up," Tara waved the sweatshirt arms at him, but laughed just the same. She definitely was a sight to see in his clothes. "Not my fault you're too big for your own good."

"Hey, you don't even know me, how do you know I'm too big for my own good?" Nick smirked at her. "Could be I'm very good with my size."

Tara groaned and sat down next to him, grabbing the menu off of his lap. "You always such a smartass?"

"I try," Nick replied, snatching the menu back. "I wasn't done."

"You said we'd eat breakfast," she reminded him.

"And we will."

"Then let me look," she said, smiling happily when he tilted the menu so she could read. "I haven't eaten a thing since early yesterday, I'm starving." She examined the menu closely and decided what she wanted.

Nick placed the call to room service, sighing heavily when he hung up. "Why does it always have to take an hour? No matter where you are, room service always takes an hour. So much faster if you're just downstairs…"

"You whine, you know that?" Tara remarked, getting up to examine the spacious suite. Last night she'd been in such a daze, all she'd seen was a huge room. But now that she could actually think, wow, this was an amazing room. "Is this a hottub?" Her eyes widened, and she knelt down to stick a hand in the water.

"Yeah, wanna swim, baby?" Nick cooed, laughing when she rolled her eyes at him. "No?"

"Breakfast is coming."

"In an hour."

"So the life of a Backstreet Boy, that's what you do?" Tara asked him bluntly, returning to the couch and curling up with her knees inside the sweatshirt.

"What, hottubs before breakfast?"

"You tell me," she shrugged.

"No." Nick chuckled. "Normally it's up at the crack of dawn to work."

"Why's today different, then?"

"Because Kevin's bus blew up last night," Nick said, his expression growing serious. He shook his head, "I still can't believe that happened."

Tara sighed, "unfortunately, I can."

"I'm also pretty amazed by you."

"Amazed by me?"

"I mean," Nick stammered, and blushed. "Figuring out what he was up to and all. Not many people would have done that."

"Trust me, if I didn't have to, I wouldn't have," she replied evenly. "I just…I couldn't stand by and let someone die. Even someone I didn't know. I'd been hoping it was all some freak, but when I saw the pictures from the party, I knew…he was for real."

Nick shuddered, "AJ was in bad shape that night."

"I can imagine."

An awkward silence fell over them, as each examined the other closely, trying to play mind reader. Neither really knew anything about the other, but they were making assumptions, as people always do. Assumptions that were rarely correct…

"How do you do it?" Tara finally broke the silence, looking into Nick's eyes as she asked her question.

"Do what?"

"Go on. Knowing what this guy wants to do to you."

Nick shrugged, "what am I going to do, hide? I thought he was a quack, I mean, strangling me with my playstation controllers?"

"Not that," Tara said softly, shaking her head. "That's later. You figured out that much, right? He's torturing each of you, then killing you. AJ's torture was alcohol, Kevin's, his wife. Yours…" her words trailed off, and she frowned when Nick just stared at her in confusion. "Don't tell me I know more about this guy than you do."

"You told us a lot last night we didn't know. So yeah, I guess you do…"

"Oh." Tara looked away from Nick, and stared at the floor, wondering if she'd said too much. "Forget it, then."

"No, wait, you said you know how he's going to torture me?"

Tara nodded slowly, "and Howie, and Brian."

"Same theme as the death? With what we love?"

"Yeah, a game."

Nick giggled, "torture my playstation? Or my nintendo? Poor little Pokemon…"

"Make you live out a game," Tara said softly, raising her eyes to meet Nick's. "He said you should check out a certain game, because you were going to live it out."

Nick looked back at her, and shrugged. "That doesn't sound too bad."

"This game…."

"What is it?"

"D2."

Nick continued to stare at her blankly. "And that is…"

Tara sighed, "what, am I the only person who's ever played this game? Dreamcast game."

"That doesn't help me understand what it is."

"Ever heard of hentai, Nick?" Tara asked him, nodding when his face paled. "That's what D2 is."

"Hentai."

"My friend Andy calls it the game with the tentacle sex. But it's rape. Violent rape," Tara bit her lip, watching as Nick's face continued to crumple with her every word. "That's what this guy says he's going to do to you."

"I don't like games that much, really," Nick whispered, running a hand through his hair.

"I bet AJ doesn't like drinking that much anymore either," Tara said sadly.

"You think that's what he wanted? To turn us off of what we really like?"

She sighed, "I don't know what he wants. Only what he writes on his site, and says in the chatroom…." She gasped, and looked around the room for a clock. "Shit, what time is it?"

"Nearly 10?"

"Fuck, do you have a computer? I need to let them know I'm out sick…"

"Don't people call in sick?" Nick asked, laughing when she made a face. "Well, don't they?"

"Not at my company, ok? We e-mail in. So do you have a computer or not?"

"Sure, it's right over there," Nick waved to his laptop set up on a desk. He turned on the television and flipped channels until he found some cartoons, occupying himself while Tara dialed in and e-mailed her office.

"Thanks," Tara closed the laptop a few minutes later, e-mail sent. She returned to the couch, laughing when she saw what Nick was watching. "Cartoons?"

"You don't like?"

"I love," she smiled at him. "Andy teases me to death about it, but yeah, every Saturday morning, I'm in front of the television, watching all of them."

"Cool," Nick returned the smile, looking into her eyes. He bit his lip as he continued to stare, until he was interrupted by a knock on the door. "That's our food," he said, still gazing into her eyes.

"We should go get it, then," Tara said, raising an eyebrow at him. "Unless you'd rather just sit here all day, I swear, my eyes will still be brown after breakfast."

Nick sighed and got up to answer the door, fighting the blush he was positive was creeping over his face as he walked. What was it about this girl…. He waved the waiter in, watching as the man rolled in a cart with their food. He signed for it and closed the door behind him, before turning to Tara. "Food?"

The two moved the plates from the cart to the table and sat down, before peering at them. "Which one's mine?" Nick asked, lifting up a metal cover to look. "Yours," he passed the plate to Tara.

"Thanks," she accepted it and set it down in front of her. "So that's yours."

Nick lifted the cover, immediately dropping it with a loud curse when he saw what was under it. "Holy shit," he jumped up from the table, knocking over his chair, as he stared at the plate.

"What?" Tara stood up, staring at him. He was shaking from head to toe, and his face had gone a shade of ash gray she could swear she'd never seen on anyone's face before.

"I'm not hungry anymore," he said quickly, walking away from the table and returning to the couch.

"Nick?" Tara watched him sit down, looking at him curiously. "What was under the cover?"

Nick didn't reply, he just flicked the television back on, fixing his eyes on the screen.

"Nick?"

"Cartoons are good," he said softly, pulling his knees into his chest and hugging them tight. "I'm just going to watch cartoons."

Tara's eyes widened, "are you ok?" When he still didn't reply, she carefully lifted the cover of Nick's plate, gasping when she saw what was underneath. A copy of a Dreamcast game. D2. "Holy shit," she whispered, turning around and walking to the couch. She sat down next to Nick, taking his hand in hers and squeezing it tight. "Nick?"

"You like cartoons, right? Watch cartoons with me," he said, forcing a weak smile onto his face. "I'm not so hungry anymore."

"Neither am I," she agreed, giving his hand another squeeze. "But shouldn't you tell someone? That waiter, maybe that was the guy?"

Nick nodded slowly, "Kevin. Kevin always knows what to do." But he didn't move, except for the soft trembling of his body as he watched the screen.

"I'm going to go tell Kevin then, ok?" Tara spoke slowly, as if he were a child, looking into his eyes. When he didn't reply, she got up, leaving him on the couch as she ran down the hall. She knocked on Kevin's door and explained what had happened, and how Nick had reacted.

Kevin told her he would get AJ and Howie, and be there in a minute, that she should go back to make sure Nick was all right.

Ten minutes later, the group, minus Brian, was all gathered in Nick's room, watching him watch cartoons.

"Nicky?" Kevin said softly, patting his knee lightly. "Nick, hey, I just called Agent Palmer, she's gonna come here to get the game, ok?"

"He wants me to play it," Nick's voice sounded sluggish as he spoke, his eyes still focused on the television screen. "Maybe I should?"

"He's not going to get to you, Nick," AJ said, his voice relaying more confidence than he felt. "We got bodyguards, we'll get more, we'll be ok."

"He got to me already," Nick replied. His head slowly turned to look at Kevin, and he bit his lip hard before telling him, "he could have killed Kristen last night."

"I know, Nicky. But he didn't."

"Cartoons are better," Nick's head turned back to the television, and he hugged his knees tighter. "Cartoons don't hurt."

"Maybe we should cancel the tour," Kevin said softly, his eyes meeting AJ's, then Howie's. "At least if we're at home, we'll be in a safe, controlled environment."

"You heard the FBI lady, she said that's what he wants, for us to react and get scared," Howie said. "What happens if we give this guy what he wants?"

"That part of it she didn't say," Kevin replied. "I just don't know how we can tour when, well, god," he turned back to Nick and ran a hand through his blonde hair, trying to get some sort of reaction from him. "Nicky…"

"At least Brian is safe," AJ said, smiling lightly. "We know the bad guy's here."

"You've read this guy's diary, what does he say he wants?" Howie asked Tara.

She sighed, "to torture you guys. He says that you're all on top of the world, and he wants to bring you down."

"So what difference does it make if we're touring or not?" AJ frowned. "Sounds like he thinks he can get to us anywhere."

"Yeah, but he CAN'T if we're at home," Kevin argued. "I say we cancel the tour, NOW."

AJ and Howie began speaking at the same time, both arguing with Kevin why they had to keep the tour going.

"NO," Nick shouted, finally breaking out of his trance to stand up and stare at Kevin. His blue eyes were bright with tears, as he violently shook his head, "NO! We are not canceling the tour."

"But Nicky, he's here!" Kevin insisted. "We should cancel."

"I will not be a sitting duck at my own house wondering when he's coming to get me," Nick told Kevin, his hands balling into fists as he spoke. "I'd rather be out there, doing what I do, trying to keep my mind off of it."

Kevin sighed, and shook his head, "this isn't a good idea…"

"It's what the FBI would want us to do," AJ reminded Kevin.

"Oh, and that inspires so much confidence," Kevin said sarcastically. "Fine, we'll keep touring. Tara, you'll let us know the instant you see anything from this guy, right?"

"Totally," she nodded.

"We're gonna be real close friends from now on," AJ slung an arm around Tara's shoulders and grinned at her. "You give us all the scoop on him, we figure out how to bust him."

"You make it sound so easy," Kevin frowned. "It's not going to be that simple."

"The Feds will help," AJ said confidently. "But I know we can do it."

Tara looked at AJ, her brow crinkling. "We can?"

"You got this far, didn't you? If I'd had my way we woulda kicked you to the curb last night. Good thing Nicky took a chance on you…" AJ's words trailed off as he looked at Nick, who was standing by the window, staring outside. "Nicky?"

"The pool's red," Nick said softly, pressing a hand to the window pane. "How'd the pool get red?"

The entire group stood up and ran to the window, Tara gasping in horror when she saw what Nick was talking about. The water in the pool outside was blood red, and a crowd had formed, staring at the strange sight. "Oh god," she whispered.

"You'll help us, Tara?" Howie asked her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Look at this, we need your help."

She nodded, and sighed. So she hadn't wanted to play heroine, but it sure looked as if someone else wanted her to. "Yeah, I'll help you."

***

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