Author's Note: Muhaha... Joint stories are fun huh? Don't worry, no one is going to be treated unfairly. Everyone's going to be abused equally, both *NSYNC and Backstreet... LOL I know, best friend stories get old but this has a bit of a twist in it so... *shrugs*... ********************** Crossing Enemy Lines: Chapter One *********************** "I miss you," Laina said quietly into the receiver of the phone as she curled deeper into her overstuffed couch. "I miss you too baby girl but I... Laina this is my dream. You know that sweet heart." She sighed and wished that the comforting deep voice was closer instead of thousands of unimaginable miles away. "I know," she replied, hating herself for the weakness and loneliness that made her voice small and that made Lance feel bad. He shouldn't be unhappy, not now. Not when he was so close to doing what he had always wanted to do. "So have you met any hot Russian babes? Accents can be a very sexy thing..." There was a rumble of laughter before Lance responded. "Not yet baby girl. But you'll be the first to know if someone lights my fires." Laina giggled before he continued, voice soft and way too serious. "Really sweetie, how bad is it?" Laina blinked back sudden tears and cursed the fact that he knew her as well as he did. Men weren't supposed to be that intuitive. She twirled the cord on nervous fingers before answering quietly. "Its just... dammit Lance, Trace is in Virginia with Justin..." Her voice trailed off as she stopped, frustrated. "And you're not." She sighed again and buried her face into the cushions, trying to stop the tears. "Yeah. I'm not. And that's..." she took a deep breath, "that's okay. Its just... He's my brother you know? And Justin is like a brother and... I know they need guy time to go pick up hotties and drink and watch football and eat pork rines. The last thing they want is Trace's little sister along as baggage but... You know how close we are Lance. "They always include me and it... it just hurts that they aren't. And you're in Russia and I'm SO happy for you. You're right, this is your dream and you deserve it. You deserve so much Lance and I'm just tired and mopey and... God you're the best for listening to me whine, you know that?" "What about JC, Joey and Chris?" Laina winced. "JC is working in the studio non stop and Joey is on rebound..." "And Chris?" Lance asked persistently. Laina moaned. "Chris is... Trace would kill me Lance. He pulled the big brother act before he left. Chris is on rebound from Danni and Trace doesn't... doesn't trust me with him. I'm not some freaking teenager anymore Lance. I can take care of myself. Its not like Chris would... would jump me or anything." "But if he did you wouldn't stop him." STUPID Lance intuition. "Laaannnncccceeee..." Lance wasn't buying it. "Laina, sweetie, Trace is just looking out for you. Chris is really confused and hurt right now. He's going through a tough time and it'd be really easy for him to take advantage of you even though he normally NEVER would. Especially since you've had a crush on him for years. Be sensible baby girl. None of us want you hurt like that." She stared blankly at the carpet as Lance's words registered. "Maybe... maybe I want to be hurt like that Lance." There was a swift intake of breath from the phone. "Laina. Laina promise me you won't do anything stupid. Laina Marie are you listening to me? Laina?!" A tear ran down her cheek. "I... I'm sorry Lance I just... I just get so damn tired of being alone sometimes, you know? I see everyone with someone and sometimes I just want someone too. Even if its stupid. Even if it would never work. Even if its only for a little while." There was a minute of steady breathing before Lance spoke, deep voice carefully collected and controlled so that nothing could leak through. It was Lance at his most emotional and Laina hated herself even more for bringing him to this. She hadn't meant to. She had just wanted to hear her best friend's voice. She hadn't meant to spill her problems to him. He didn't need this right now. He was HAPPY. "Not with Chris Laina. It... it would seriously mess things up. Just, just not with Chris. Go clubbing with some friends. Hang out, be a kid while you can." His voice turned tender. "You miss it sooner than you'd think. You're young and beautiful sweetie. You have a long time to find someone baby girl. To find someone right. Someone who deserves you." She bit back the bitter retort on the tip of her tongue. Lance deserved better. "All right Lansten. I'll be good." "Promise Laina." She glared balefully at the phone in her hand. He knew her too damn well by far. "I promise," she replied grudgingly. Lance chuckled. "Good. Now, if you really want something to do you could go over to Jive and pick up my mail..." Laina snorted. "Don't you have an assistant or something for crap like that?" "Maybe because I sent a certain someone something special that I wanted to be a surprise." Laina sat up, an unwilling smile on her full lips. "A present?" she demanded. Lance's rich laughter rolled around her and she would have given anything in the world right then to bring him back to her so she could hug him and they could eat gummi bears and watch westerns and make fun of Trace and Justin. ANYTHING. "Yes baby girl, a present. I really have missed you too you know? You're my partner in crime... Without you to come up with evil plots I'm nothing..." She giggled at his dramatics. "You goof. Why didn't you just send it to the house?" "Because I DON'T have an assistant and forgot to have my business mail forwarded. I knew the only sure way to get you to go take care of it for me was to send your present to my box." "You're evil Lansten." "No sweetie I just know exactly what it takes to get you out of the house." "Jerk." "Hermit Lady." "Hick." "Love you sweetie. I gotta go." Laina swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. "All right. You take care of yourself. Wear mittens and eat right you hear me Lansten? I'll call your momma if you so much as skip breakfast!" "Yes mam," came the amused rumble. "Love you back," Laina whispered unsteadily before her best friend hung up the phone. Stupid Russian Space Program. Stupid NASA. If they sold seats on the American space craft Lance could be in Florida, or Texas, instead of half way around the freaking world. Instead of so far away from her. Stupid Trace and Justin for being guys. Stupid JC for being busy and Joey for being horny and Chris for, for being vulnerable and adorable and incredibly too tempting. She stared at the phone for a long moment before swallowing her self pity and getting up. She pulled her light brown hair into a messy bun on top of her head, grabbed some chap stick, tied on some sneakers, snagged her keys after several fruitless minutes of searching, and left the house to head over to Jive. Lance knew her WAY too well. ************************************************************************************** Laina stopped at the receptionist's desk, both to say hello and to weasel a key out of Lori, the receptionist. She and Lori were buds from the years that Laina had spent hanging out while the guys worked and Trace leeched off of them. Hypocrite. "Hay Lor!" The older woman looked up from typing and beamed. "Laina! God, its been forever!" She stood and gave her a hard hug before stepping back and appraising the shorter, younger woman. "You look great sweet heart!" Laina smiled. She liked Lori. Lori was nice. And genuine. And she kept suckers hidden in her upper left drawer. Anyone who kept a never empty stash of sugar was automatically elevated to cool status. JC was the king of cool. That man had candy hidden all over his freaking house. It was like an Easter Egg hunt. Only she got yelled at more, especially that time she was poking around his closet and found his Playboys. Like Trace didn't have his own collection. Like Justin didn't have his very own Playgirls. JC was way too sensitive. "Thanks. I swung by because Lansten forgot to have his mail forwarded. He wanted me to let you guys know his address and he also wanted me to pick up whatever has accumulated in his absence." Lori laughed. "What are you getting out of it?" Laina beamed. "A present! And a sucker from my very favorite receptionist who loves me so very much..." She may be twenty one but puppy dog eyes worked every single time. Especially on Lori. Not even Justin was totally immune and he was the master of sad and pathetic. Lori was already walking around her desk to shuffle through and find a spare key to Lance's mail box and to grab a treat for her young guest. "Cherry please," Laina said as she watched, chin propped up on the counter as she leaned. Lori shook her head. "I don't understand why you like cherry. It turns your mouth bright red. Aha!" she exclaimed, triumphantly pulling out a small key and a red sucker at the same time. "There you go my dear. Return the key when you're done because this is very against regulations." Laina rolled her eyes and grinned, giving her friend another hug before taking the sucker and key. She pocketed the key and promptly unwrapped the sucker and stuck it in her mouth. She understood rules and regulations very well, she just didn't like living by them. Which was probably why Trace rarely let her visit him on tour with the guys. Well and because she wasn't dating one of the girls from Innosense. Wah, wah, she's not sleeping with a pop star so of course she didn't deserve a bunk and some time with her friends. Not that Jive believed for an instant that her relationship with Lance was platonic. Actually, Jive as a whole wasn't exactly sure what to think about her. She frightened them. It was fun and incredibly too easy. She drove their PR person nuts. The little sister of a best friend wasn't supposed to be as close to the five pop superstars as she was. The little sister of a best friend wasn't supposed to be a best friend but, tell that to Lance. "Yes mam," she responded impishly and Lori wagged a finer. "Don't get me in trouble girl. Go make mischief with someone else." "Yes mam," was the obedient response and Lori shook her head. "You're hopeless. Now scram, go earn your present. Say hello next time you see the guys. They hardly come in anymore, except JC." Laina's bright mood soured. It wasn't like she got to see them any more often. She strolled slowly through the hallways, stopping to read framed articles or to study pictures. It was quiet today and she knew most of the artists were on tour or break or deep in recording. The business part of Jive was nearly empty. She found the mailbox room without much trouble and opened Lance's box. It was overflowing, of course. Laina stared at the stacks of paper and sighed. With a little maneuvering and a lot of cursing she managed to get all of the envelopes and memos into her two arms and slam the box shut. She started to make her way back towards the front and reception but paused when she saw an open conference room. Laina staggered in and dumped the mess on the table before grabbing a half empty trash can. She pulled up a chair and started to sort because she knew Lance and knew half of the stuff she had was junk. She wasn't going to haul his junk around. There was a lot of mail. Laina twirled the sucker around in her mouth as she absently hummed to herself, trashing things she knew he wouldn't look at and carefully stacking things she knew he'd at least want to throw away himself. She didn't open anything, she wasn't THAT nosy, but she was best friends with Lance and knew him and his business well enough to weed things out a little bit. Besides, she wanted her present. She was almost through the mail when she came to a big manila envelope with her name written boldly across it in Lance's familiar hand. "Creep," she said with a grin as she eagerly opened it. The first thing that fell out was a letter. 'Dear Baby Girl, I was going to get these developed before I left, seriously, but I thought about it and realized I really didn't want these floating around when I was there for the guys to tease me for them. That and there were still a few photos left on the roll. So enjoy and be warned, I have copies and blackmail can go BOTH ways. I'm sure JuJu would be VERY curious to know why you dragged me to this particular concert... Love Your Lansten' Laina ripped the envelope open the rest of the way and started laughing at Lance's "present". It was pictures, lots of pictures, of her and Lance at the Aaron Carter concert she had literally dragged him too as pay back for the Garth Brooks concert she had unwillingly attended a month or two ago. Pictures of them at the gates, Lance in "disguise" mode, and her, laughing her head off. Pictures of them, together and individually, throughout the concert and of Aaron on stage. Pictures of backstage after the concert too when she had made Lance use his celebrity status to wrangle her an introduction. She thought the boy was adorable and he had been as surprised as hell to find an *NSYNC member casually hanging out backstage. They had chatted for a couple of minutes and she had made Lance take even more pictures of her and the young singer. They had turned out wonderful and he was right... A lot of them would make very good blackmail photos either way. Justin would KILL her. But it was the last few that made her breath catch in the back of her throat and blink back tears. They were pictures of Lance in Russia, decked out in uniform, smiling and so very far away. She sniffled and jumped as someone cleared their throat from the doorway. Speak of the devil... "Don't I know you?" Laina stared in utter surprise as Aaron Carter stared boldly back. She blinked as he took a step close into the room, face a mask of concentration. "I'm sorry its just I swear I've seen you before..." Against her will her eyes flickered to the photos spread out on top of the table. Aaron's too blue eyes followed her involuntary gaze and frowned. "That's... That's my stage and concert..." Before she could stop him he reached down and grabbed a picture of her, him, and a mortified Lance. "You're that girl who was with Lance awhile back!" Shit. It was one thing to make fun of Lance. It was another thing entirely to be facing Aaron Cater with pictures that were meant solely for laughter among close friends. Laina blushed scarlet. "Hay Aaron buddy, where'd you go?" Oh and the day just got better and better. "I'm in here Nick!" Aaron called obliviously as he eagerly started to look at the photos and continued to chat a mile a minute. "Wow some of these came out really good. You must be really good friends with Lance because you could tell he was freaked out the entire time. I mean I know he doesn't like hate me but it must have been weird and all. What was your name again? It was pretty and it started with an L didn't it? Maybe I'm just imagining it. I meet so many new people I get mixed up pretty easily..." "Aaron, who the hell are you talking to?" Nick Carter rounded the corner and stopped dead in his tracks as he stared. His brother was chatting up a storm with a strange girl, nothing new there, but the photos caught his eye. "Whatcha got there buddy?" Laina's eyes widened as she made another desperate attempt to stop what was coming. Screw Justin and his jealous tendencies... LANCE was going to kill her. Her move to steal back the photo failed and Aaron handed it to Nick, Nick CARTER, with a happy grin. "Proof cause none of you fools believed me when I said there was a *NSYNC member at my concert." Nick studied the pictures for a long moment before his eyes moved to the rest of the scattered "evidence". His blue eyes widened a bit before a smirk curled his perfect lips. His curious gave moved to the girl who groaned and buried her head in her hands. "Lance is going to kill me. And then Justin is going to bring me back to life and kill me and then Trace..." She moaned again and Nick turned to his little brother. "Who's the girl?" Aaron shrugged easily and pointed to the laughing face in the numerous pictures. "Lance's friend. She's really nice but I don't remember her name." "Laina. My name is Laina Marie Ayala." Ayala. THAT was familiar. She raised her head and sighed, finally meeting Nick's eyes. "Yes THAT Ayala. May I please have my pictures back?" He grinned lazily. "So how are you related to Trace? Justin Timberlake's best friend Trace Ayala?" Laina sucked on her sucker in angry silence for a moment while she tried to collect herself. Why did she get to be the one to experience scaring mortification? There was plenty to go around... There really, really was... "He's my older brother," she ground out finally, eyes fixed stubbornly to the top button on Nick Carter's shirt. ANYWHERE but his mocking eyes. "Ohhh I see. And you're "friends" with Lance?" THAT got a reaction out of her. Laina stood and glared at the pop prince from her lofty height of five four. It didn't bother her that he was nearly a foot taller than her because, well, nearly EVERYONE was. Short people had issues with learning to back down. "My relationship with Lansten is none of your business Mr. Carter. Please return my property." Aaron sighed and rolled his eyes at the two near adults. "Come on Nick, chill out. Laina's cool and so was Lance. They're friends. Don't be a jerk." Nick reached down and cuffed his little brother lightly. "Watch your tone buddy." Aaron snorted. "Then be nice. There's enough rumors and crap without you picking a fight with Lance Bass's friend." Laina blinked in surprise and smiled sweetly at the younger Carter. "Thank you Aaron. That was very eloquently said. I knew you were a sweet heart." Nick snorted in disgust and tossed the picture on the table with the others as Laina ruffled his little brother's hair. "You're how old exactly Miss Ayala?" The sweet smile turned venomous. "Old enough to admire politeness and gentlemanly behavior, no matter the age. I had a wonderful opinion of you after the first time we met Aaron and this second time only reinforced it. I really must be going but best of luck to you." Aaron nodded and beamed when she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Nick stared, outraged, as she gathered her things and promptly left. Aaron turned to his older brother with a familiar smirk. "Told you she was nice..."