It had been a couple hours since Joey had spotted Lance�s cell phone on the table a few feet from them and called Johnny to fill him in on what was happening as well as getting filled in on the efforts to rescue their butts from the people holding them hostage. Through a system of hand signs the boys had developed so they could talk to each other during boring press conference and interviews, as well as mouthed words and writing in the carpet on which they sat when needed, Joey had been able to fill in Lance, Chris and JC on what he had been told. Justin who had fallen asleep sometime ago with his head in JC�s lap was still sleeping sounded and therefore didn�t know the details or even the fact that they had managed to get a cell phone and call anybody without being caught.
Since then Chris had also managed to get to the washroom without supervision and use the cell phone hidden in they�re, getting the latest information from their manager and answer more questions. He had been told that the police had been discreetly called and the media was still not aware of the boy�s current position. He had also been told that there are a few undercover cops patrolling carefully outside the house, ready to make any emergency moves should they be needed.
An hour had elapsed since Chris� call and the boys were waiting for at least another hour to pass, to make another phone call and possibly the last one they could make. It had been a unanimous decision amongst JC, Lance, Chris and Joey that Lance be the next to go, and seeing that JC had angered the men to many times already he would most likely not be able to get to the washroom without supervision. And since Justin didn�t even know about the phone he was also obviously out of the possibilities, and even if he wasn�t he too had managed to annoy their captors one to many times so that the odds on an unsupervised visit were slim to none. Which left only Lance, and they had to make the most of the phone call they had.
So they were sitting quietly on the floor waiting for that moment to come, each one lost in his own thoughts hoping to pass the time quickly.
Lance was thinking about the various Free Lance and Happy Place work he was doing right before this whole mess had started. He had just listened to a potential artist, when he gave up and started to play poker with Chris and Joey, so he was now trying to recall what she had sounded like, but the situation and the lack of sleep wasn�t helping his efforts.
Chris was thinking about FumanSkeeto and various new styles for the up coming fall line, wishing desperately that he had some paper and pencil crayons so he could be sketching some of the good designs out and get them sent off later.
Joey�s thoughts drifted towards his daughter and how they were having so much fun in the park in what seemed like just a few short days before, thanking God that he hadn�t brought her and Kelly up with them this weekend liked originally planned. Kelly�s parents had surprised her by showing up and wanting to spend time with their grandchild, so he promised her they would go away another time and left them behind.
JC was still rubbing his hand through Justin�s curls subconsciously and trying to remember where he had put his songs notebook, because after sitting quite and still for the last several hours he had at least a dozen song ideas that he would like to try out as soon as he got the chance. Hoping he wouldn�t forget them in the meantime.
The only sound that could be heard through the quite house was the hushed tones of the men standing off in one of the corners of the room� Well that was until loud scream shook the house and cut through the silence bringing everyone out of their conversations and thoughts. Heads whirled around to where the noise came from and landed on a very pale, sweaty and frightened looking Justin� again� Momentarily stunned everyone simply watched as Justin sat straight up and searched the room, then relax visibly as he spotted his friends safe and very much alive. His calmness disappeared quickly however�
�WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OVER THERE!!!!! I TOLD YOU BOYS TO BE QUIET!!!� Justin looked over and saw six huge and very angry looking men looking at him and the other guys, as one of them started to approach them all he could do was stare in fear� The others turned their concerned looks away from Justin to watch in horror as the man proceeded to them, stopping just short of where they sat to look at them, anger clearly written on his face.
The five of them sat there, none knowing if they are suppose to answer the man�s question or not, and none being able to meet the man�s angry stare. Sitting quietly under the man�s glare waiting for what would come next. When the man spoke again it was with an eerie sort of calmness that scared them more than it would if he had been yelling instead.
�I�m very tired of this now� I�ve given you boys more than enough chances to sit still and be quite on your own, obviously world famous pop stars can�t do that without help��
Five sets of wide eyes watched as the man turned around to address the other men
�You go get the rope and tape we brought along with us, we�re gonna help these boys out, and you three (pointing to the 3 men who had gone up to get JC and Justin earlier) go upstairs and search their rooms, I�m tired of having to deal with them. Take out anything thing they can use to contact the outside or use to possibly escape, and rig the doors so they lock from the outside, we will separate them, maybe then they can follow orders��
�But there is only 3 rooms upstairs boss, these 2 were sharing a room.� One of the men said pointing to JC and Justin.
�No matter they are going to be tied up anyway, even if they can get loose they won�t be able to get out.�
The guys were literally shocked into silence, hearing what was going to happen to them in the next few minutes, even JC would who had been the most outspoken and protective of the group couldn�t seem to find his voice to protest.
�Now boys you are going to make this easy aren�t you, it is for your own good, we really don�t want to have to hurt you. Lets start with this one here, with him done first the rest should be easy� The man said pointing to JC and the other man came back hold a bunch of rope and a roll of think duct tape. �I�ll say again it is really in your best interest to cooperate.�
JC still having not found his voice, couldn�t think of how being separated from Lance, Chris, and Joey, being tied up and most likely gagged, and locked in a room upstairs, where they had no way of telling Johnny how things had changed was really in his best interest. At least right now they had eye contact with each other, were all together and had some sort of way to contact the outside. But before he could voice anything, he was yanked up and thrown against a wall, where his hands were yanked behind his back roughly.
�Ow�� he mumbled quietly
�Shut up� was the reply that came from somewhere behind him.
He was jerked around and shoved back into the wall momentarily as the duct tape was pressed over his mouth. He could see his friends behind the man in front of him with worried faces. Pushed down onto the couch to wait he watched the man go for Justin next, who cowered, and was yanked up with a panicked yelp, and the procedure was repeated again, finishing with him being shoved down onto the couch next to him. Joey had been the next closest so the men grabbed him next. Sitting on the floor for so long caused him to stumble slightly, resulting in him being pushed into the wall harder than necessary. Chris was next who tried to yank his arms away when the man stooped to grab him, which resulted in a painful backhanded slap to the face, which managed to break his lip slightly. Lance was last and managed to get through the incident with little trouble� only a slight groan when standing up.
The men who had been sent upstairs returned as the man was placing Lance in a chair beside Chris, and informed the leader that everything was all set. The boys were lead upstairs to the various rooms and placed on the beds where their ankles were then also tied together with rope. Once the men were sure the guys wouldn�t be going anywhere they left the various rooms turning off the lights, and locking the doors, leaving the boys locked up with nowhere to go.