* 60 minutes left: Johnny and the Police *
�DAMN IT! GET THEM OUT OF THERE NOW!!!!� Nsync�s manager Johnny Wright yelled turning to the officer in charge. He had just been told by the man in charge of holding the boys� captive that Chris needed to be punished. Whatever that meant exactly, he wasn�t sure but it obviously wasn�t going to be something he liked.
�Calm down Mr. Wright, we�ve just been through that let us do our job� The officer replied then turned to some of his men. �Get the officers that are near the house to surround it and get ready to charge. Get another officer in plain clothes ready to make like we are delivering their money. We�ll make our move and charge the house when the hour is up and they are distracted with getting the money. All officers are to use extreme care when making a move we do not want to have the boys injured in anyway.�
�Wait you can�t charge them! You heard that man they have the house wired to exploded! You�re going to wind up getting the boys killed!� Johnny interjected furiously.
�Mr. Wright, we have no way of knowing that these men won�t kill them anyway as soon as they get their money. We need to act while they are distracted in hopes that we can get you boys out of there unharmed. With any luck they will have left them upstairs or out of the way when we make our move�.�
�But you don�t know that!�
�No we don�t, that is why we will proceed with extreme caution. We know the boys are alive right now, and we know that they will stay that way so long as these men don�t have the money they are looking for. This is the only way we can be certain they stay that way. You need to calm down and stay that way because they will probably need you once this is all over since none of their parents will be getting here until some time tonight. Are you with me Mr. Wright?�
�Yes. Alright I�m with you, but so help me god if anything happens to them that is your fault��
�It won�t. I promise. Alright get everyone into position we move in 50 minutes!�
* 45 minutes left: Lance *
�Damn it!� Lance swore softly to himself, looking back at the clock � I�ve been at this for almost 15 minutes now!�
Turning back to the lock in front of him Lance continued trying to pick the lock open with growing despair that he couldn�t do it. He wasn�t sure what was happening downstairs, but something told him that he needed to get to the others quickly� He was just about to give up when the lock on the door click softly and the door opened slightly.
�Yes! Now to get to the others� opening the door a little more to pick out and make sure no one was around to see him leave his room he took survey and ran softly to the room right across from him. Chris�s.
* 40 minutes left: Downstairs with the bad guys *
�Is everything alright upstairs?� the leader asked the two men that had gone to check everything 20 minutes prior. They had just come back along with the rest of the men from checking the house making sure it was secure. Now all six men were sitting in the living room of the house waiting for their money to be delivered.
�Yup, for the most part none of those boys had even moved positions from when we dropped them there.� One of them replied
�Yeah all except the tall brown haired one were asleep.� The other added
�Good.�
�Uh boss?� another one of the men spoke up �Why did you tell them we have the place wired with a bomb when we don�t?�
�Well aren�t you the smart one� I told them that to deter them and buys us time to get out of here.�
�Well what are we going to do with the kids upstairs? Are we going to kill them?�
�I will decide that as soon as we get our money. We will take two with us until we can be certain that no one is following us, as for the other three� well time will tell.�
* Also 40 minutes left: Back Upstairs with Lance *
Lance had made quick work of unlocking the door to Chris�s room and had entered and closed the door behind him but wasn�t prepared for the sight before him when he turned on one of the bedside lamps.
Chris was in a crumpled mess on his bed. He had a large red handprint mark on his left cheek that was quickly turning black and blue and in a little area on his side that was exposed he could see more dark bruises forming, and to top it all off Chris was very obviously unconscious, breathing in what sounding like short painful breaths. As a result had been staring at Chris for the last 5 minutes in a combination of shock and fear of touching his friend and hurting him more.
Once he came out of his daze Lance softly got up on the bed talking in hushed calming tones to Chris, while deciding where to start.
�Hey Chris, don�t worry it is only Lance. You know I don�t think I�ve every seen you so quiet for so long.� Lance chuckle uneasily hoping to get a response from Chris. When he didn�t, he sighed softly and resumed talking in hushed tones just in case Chris could hear him and wouldn�t get scared at someone touching him.
�I�m going to untie you Chris, I�ll try to be gentle but I can�t guarantee it won�t hurt, you look pretty banged up from what I can see.�
Deciding that he should start with Chris�s feet because it was the less likely place that would hurt Chris. Lance set to work on sawing the ropes around Chris�s feet with it Swiss Army Knife. About five minutes later the ropes gave way and Lance moved onto the ropes around Chris�s wrists. Jumping in surprise after receiving a small groan upon touching Chris�s hands in order to keep them still will he cuts through the room.
�Hey Chris, can you hear me? I need you to open you eyes and look at me Chris.� Lance urged and was shortly thereafter rewarded when Chris eyes fluttered open and somewhat focused on him. �Hey there.� Lance said smiling at Chris. �I�m going to untie you hold on, it might hurt a bit.� At Chris�s small nod he went back to trying to cut through the ropes around Chris�s wrists, biting his lip as Chris groan a bit with pain. Finally the ropes around Chris�s wrists fell loose and Lance reached up to peel away the tape from Chris�s lips.
�We have to be quite.�
�How did you get free?� Chris asked
�With this.� Lance said holding up his Swiss Army Knife �Those idiots some how missed it. Pretty good luck huh?� Lance said with a small smile.
�Extremely� Chris replied and winced in pain as he rolled onto his back.
�What happened to you?�
�I was a punching bag for a while, I guessed I passed out because I don�t remember being brought back up here.�
�You ok?�
�I will be. Oh God they said there was a bomb in the house somewhere! They gave Johnny and hour to get the money here, that had to be at least a little while ago.�
�What?! We didn�t see them come in with anything or set up anything that could be a bomb��
�Who knows we�ve been up here for a while now, they could have done it during that time��
�Maybe� well then we will have to work fast� I�m going to go get Joey, JC and Justin. I was going to suggest we both go but I think you should stay here� We�ll come back to you.�
�Don�t be stupid I�ll come with you.� As Chris attempted to sit up he had to bit his lip from crying out in pain.
�No you are staying here that�s final. Go back to sleep or something we�ll wake you back. Hopefully we can get out of here or get somewhere where they can�t get at us before the hour is up�� With that Lance left the room carefully making his way next door.
* 30 minutes left: Johnny and the police.*
�Ok let�s move out and get into position! We have 30 minutes left! Mr. Wright you stay here.� The officer in charge ordered.
�No way I�m coming with you!� The officer was going to protest but one look into the eyes of the Nsync managed and he knew it would be wasted.
�Alright but you will stay at least a couple blocks away. We will bring them to you or take you to them clear?�
�Yes.�
�Ok good.� Turning to another officer. �Arrange for at least one ambulance to be waiting nearby, no lights or sirens going or would could be given away. Don�t worry Mr. Wright it is just a precaution, just because we really don�t know the condition of any of the boys, plus we will want to have them checked out to make sure they are ok, the paramedics and do that. Nothing to worry about I�m sure they are fine.� Added noting the look of alarm on the boy�s manager�s face �Alright lets go.�
* 25 minutes left: Bad guys*
�It�s almost time. Two of you go upstairs and get the two that are together, so we can get out of here as soon as possible. I�ve decided we will just take off right after getting our money, with those two as insurance we can count it later.�
* 20 minutes left: Upstairs Lance and Joey*
Lance had managed to get Joey untied fairly easily due to the fact that Joey was awake and had seen him enter and wasn�t injured like Chris now the two sat quietly talking in Joey�s room while Lance filled the Italian in on what was going on.
�� And that�s about all we know for sure Joey.�
�Wow, God we got ourselves into a good mess this time haven�t we.�
�We sure have but we better hurry and free Justin and JC then get back to Chris and get out of here before that hour is up� we can�t have a lot of time left.�
�Alright with two of us we should be able to get them quickly��
Just as they were about to pull open the door they heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
�Damn it, we are really screwed if they find us�� Joey whispered to Lance
They both held their breaths as the footsteps passed by their door and voices sounded from out in the Hall.
�Should we check on the other three while we are up here?�
�Nah, what does it matter, lets just grab these two and get back downstairs there is only about 15-20 minutes left anyway. I�m sure they haven�t even moved.�
�Oh God they are taking JC and Justin with them�� Joey whispered again.
* 15 minutes left to go: Justin�s and JC�s room*
He was standing in the living room downstairs, a gun to his head. He could see JC a little way from him in the same predicament but he couldn�t find the others anywhere�
�Oh god please don�t let them be dead� please help us�� he thought to himself.
The room was swarming with people all standing still pointing guns at each other, making it very difficult to determine which one is good and which one is bad. He was terrified not knowing what was going on� and then shots rang out�.
Eyes shot open and a loud scream was muffled behind the piece of tape cover Justin�s mouth as he woke up with a jolt. The scream although muffled didn�t go unnoticed by the other occupant in the room who also opened his eyes with a start. Blue eyes met briefly but were soon torn when the door to the room jerked open. JC and Justin strained to look at the two men standing in the doorway to their room. Awkwardly trying to move their bodies for a better view.
�Strange sense of D�j� vu don�t you think boys?� One of the men said. �Your presence is required downstairs again. Lets go.�
With that the two men separated, each on going to a different boy. Untying their ankles, grabbing their arms and pulling them to their feet. JC and Justin were escorted; well more like dragged them out of their room and downstairs.
Behind them at the sound of the footsteps retreating the door to Joey�s room open and he and Lance slipped out and headed back to Chris�s room.
*10 minutes left: Lance, Chris and Joey*
Chris was awake as Joey and Lance enter his room.
�Where are Jace and Justin?�
�We were about to go get them when two guys came upstairs and beat us to it. They took them downstairs somewhere. And we only have about 10 minutes left in the hour.� Lance replied
�Damn it! What do we do now?� Chris asked
�Well we heard them talking and as of right now the three of us are safe up hear, they have no intention of checking in on us again. As for JC and Justin we are rather outnumbered I don�t think we can really help them, as much as we want to. If we try we could get ourselves killed.� Joey said.
�But shouldn�t we try something?� Lance asked, looking out the window, when movement caught his eye in a bush. �Wait what�s that?!� Lance said pointing�
�What?� Joey said getting up and heading the window. He looked just in time to catch the movement again. �They must have seen us! Look it�s the police!� pointing to the officer which now cautiously poked his head out of the bush and was trying to communicated with them.
�Quick Chris grab that piece of paper and tell them JC and Justin are downstairs and the 3 of us are together up here.� Lance said.
Writing quickly Chris ignored the pain in his body and got up and went to the window with the note. At the small nod of the officer and a signal to sat put all three breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe they all will be all right after all.
*5 minutes left: downstairs*
After being dragged downstairs JC and Justin were deposited roughly on the couch, and looked up at the sound of a voice.
�How nice of you two to join us again.� The leader said ignoring the glares of the two boys on the couch. �We will be leaving momentarily, and you two will be coming with us, as a precaution of course. Just hang tight and behave and we will be going soon.� This time ignoring the wide eyes of his two captives.
*0 minutes left: Everybody*
�It�s time.�