Chapter
14 starts now
<Early morning>
I wake up a few times and reach over and
stroke Howie's face. I just have to make sure that last night
wasn't a dream. I still can't believe that he loves me like
he does.
<8:00>
I wake up and can't go back to sleep, ' "C"
lights up to ½ please.' I say quietly. I just lay there
and watch Howie sleep. He wakes up about a half hour later,
sees me watching him and starts to smile. 'Morning love, sleep
well?' 'Like a baby. How long you been awake?' he asks. 'Oh
maybe half an hour, I had something nice to watch, so I stayed
in bed.' I say as I give him a light kiss. 'Shall we go take
a shower?' he asks. 'Sure .' I reply. We get up and head to
the bathroom. I get the temp right, we get in, and help make
sure we're both clean. It takes longer than normal since we
keep hugging and kissing. When we're done and starting to get
dressed, 'Bob, I've got a question for you, and don't laugh.'
'What's on your mind?' 'Do you think Corbin has a crush on me?'
'Well that's a good question. Remember how his powers showed
up…at one of your concerts, after he met you guys, so it
wouldn't surprise me that he does have a crush on one of you.
Why do you ask?' 'When we train together, and I look to see
how he's doing, he starts to blush.' 'When I scanned him, I
found out he is gay. So it's a possibility.' 'Should we talk
to him…I don't want to hurt him, but if he does have a
thing for me we need to let him know I'm taken, and to let him
down easy.' he says before he gives me a kiss. 'Let's wait till
he asks, if that's ok with you. Then we can tell him.' 'Ok we'll
do it that way.' we talk for a little while longer and figure
out how to handle everything. Then Howie leaves to change cloth.
<10:00>
I'm working on the computer, going thru my
email trying to get rid of all the spam I've been getting lately
when "C" interrupts me, 'Bob, Rogers on line.' 'Put
him through.' 'Hey Bob…good news.' 'What's that Roger?'
'I got the passes and tickets, the last of them were just delivered
this morning.' 'Good, I'll get Corbin and we'll be over in a
few.' 'Sounds like a plan.' 'See you a couple. "C"
have Corbin come over when he can.' 'He says he'll be here in
5.' 'Thanks "C".' in about 6 min., 'It's Howie, Corbin
and I are here.' 'Come on in.' As they come into my office,
'Get something to drink and have a seat.' when they do, 'Howie,
what are you doing here?' 'Everyone else is still asleep and
since we're off today, and I can't go back to sleep, I thought
I'd see if I could hang out with you.' 'Well I do have something
to do, but your welcome to come along. Now Corbin, how's training?'
he looks at the floor, 'What's wrong?' 'I…I don't think
I'm doing very well.' I look at Howie and arch my eyebrow. He
sees it and nods, 'Corbin, your doing great. All our trainers
think your doing fine.' he says and gives Corbin a hug. 'Well
do you want to join us?' 'You sure you want me along?' 'Yeah
I am.' 'Oh <sigh> ok.' 'And while we're at it, do you
want to get anything from your place? Like your teddy bear?'
<evil grin> 'I don't have a teddy bear.' he replies with
indignation. Howie and I crack up laughing. In a few Corbin
starts also. 'Back to business. Corbin, I'd like to do some
timing training today if that's ok with you?' 'You sure you
trust me?' 'Yes I do. You Howie?' 'Hell yes.' he answers. 'And
I can always take over if needed, but I don't think I'll have
to.' 'Thank you.' he says as he gets a small smile on his face.
'Ok we'll go see Roger first, then back here, then time it to
your place, then time it here.' Corbin nods. We stand up and
I go over to them and put my arms on their shoulders. 'May I
link?' they both nod. I expand my mind, 'Corbin?' ''Yes.' 'Howie?'
'Got ya.' 'Ok we're gone.' I teleport us to Roger's office.
<Roger's office>
'That took longer then I thought it would.'
Roger says. 'Had to reassure Corbin that he was doing ok with
his training.' I say with a smile. Roger reaches down and pulls
out a briefcase and hands it to me. 'That should be all of them.'
He says . 'If not I'll let you know.' 'I'm sure you will.' he
says with a chuckle. 'Howie, if you would please.' 'Huh.' 'Portal
us to the Transport room.' 'I'll try.' 'There is no try, you
do or you do not, there is no try.' I say trying to sound like
Yoda. We all start to laugh, I can see that Howie is more relaxed
now. He takes a deep breath and opens a portal and we walk through.
<Transport area>
'See, told ya you could do it.' I say with
a smile. 'Now stay here and I'll put this in the control room.'
I put it on the desk in the control room. ' "C" tell
Stacy that I'll want to talk to him when we get back.' 'Will
do Bob.' When I get back to the Transport room, 'Ok Corbin,
think about your place, bedroom, living room, kitchen, where
ever it's easiest.' 'Ok ready.' 'Now think about it at least
an hour earlier then now. Use shadows, sun light, a clock, or
a special sound that only happens at a certain time.' he thinks
for a few seconds, then, 'Got it.' ' "C" beacon on
in an hour.' 'Confirmed.' 'Kay Corbin, lead the way.' he nods
and opens a portal and we walk through.
<Corbin's place>
He closes the portal and we're in the living
room. 'Good job.' 'You going to need any help?' Howie asks.
'Well…' 'Don't be embarrassed , Howies been with the Boys
for awhile, and I've been around forever.' I say. 'Ok…this
way.' he says as he leads the way to his bedroom. I look at
his alarm clock and see that he went back 3 hrs. just like I
thought. Corbin pulls out some suitcases and a backpack and
we start to pack his things. In 30 min. he closes the last case
and looks around, 'I think that's it for now.' Howie looks around
for a few then gets an evil grin on his face and walks over
to a shelf, 'Are you sure you don't want to take him?' 'What
are you talking about?' Corbin asks. Howie points at a small
teddy bear and Corbin starts to turn red. 'I forgot about him.'
He says, 'I've had him like forever.' 'Bring him along, he's
cute. Just like his owner.' Corbin turns redder. 'Go ahead,
I told you, you could bring along anything you wanted.' 'Go
ahead.' Howie says as he tosses the bear to Corbin. He opens
one of the suitcases and puts the bear in then goes around and
picks out a few more sentimental items. 'Well that's it, I think.'
'Are you going to keep this place or get rid of it? It comes
in handy to have a place to go and hide once in a while.' 'I
don't know yet.' 'Well I have a house that I haven't been to
in a few years. I need to go check it out soon.' 'I'll have
to think about it.' he says as he starts to grab his stuff,
but he has his hands full. 'Give me one.' Howie says as he goes
over to Corbin's bed. I go over and grab one also, so Corbin
has one suitcase and the back pick , and Howie and I have a
suitcase apiece. 'We ready?' Yeah.' 'Sure are.' 'Ok we're out.'
I open a portal and we walk through. 'Ok guys sense how I do
this.' I say as I get to the beacon. I check the call sign and
open a portal into the Transport room.
<Transport area>
I close the portal. 'Good job Corbin. You
did great.' he starts to turn red again. 'Yeah…I guess
I did ok.' 'Yes you did.' Howie says. 'D would you help C with
his stuff? I need to get the stuff that Roger gave me and get
ready for Stacy to come over.' 'Sure…C, take me there.'
'Huh?' 'I said "take me there." You proved you can.'
'Well…ok.' Corbin opens a portal and they go through. As
it closes, 'Thanks How.' I go to the control room and get the
briefcase and go to my room.
<My room>
I put the briefcase in my Ready room, get
a cup of coffee, then go back in and start to check it out.
In a few min.s 'Bob, its Stacy, you ready?' 'Come on over. I'm
in my Ready room. Just started to go through it.' 'Be right
there.'
When Stacy shows up and we really start getting
the passes and tickets sorted out. When we've got close to done,
'Bob, it's J.C. can we come in?' 'Yeah we're in my Ready room.'
They come in and look at the table. 'My but you made a mess,
do you need some help cleaning it up?' Joey asks with an evil
grin. 'If you mess this up I'll kick your ass.' 'Listen to the
old man. What do you think guys?' 'I think your digging a DEEP
hole for your self Joe. And I'm not going to help you out.'
Justin replies. 'Some friend you are. What about the rest of
you?' Joe asks. They all shake their heads. 'Some family.' 'Not
our fault your trying to mess with the wrong guy.' Chris says.
Joey wiggles his fingers and a light breeze starts up and I
throw up a kinetic shield around him. Chris walks over to Joey
and tries to put his hand on his shoulder. 'Joe you need to
learn who to mess with and who not to. Hey I can't touch him.'
Chris exclaims. 'Yeah…I put a tempest in a tea pot and
corked the spout.' I say with a smile. 'You give up Joe?' 'Yeah…for
now.' 'Ok lets go eat. Corbin, Howie, you getting hungry?' 'On
our way…all of us.' Howie replies. 'We're just leaving.'
I say as we walk out in to the hallway, the Boys and Corbin
walk out of Kevin and A.J.'s room, and we all head to the kitchen.
<Dining area>
We get our food, find a couple of tables,
sit down and start to eat. In a few J.C. looks up at me, 'Bob
would it be all right if we stayed on tour for the last few
days? The concerts are everyday, and some of us thought the
morphs might like some time off.' I think for a second, 'Both
groups?' they all nod. 'How many buss'?' '3 each.' I think for
a few more, 'I guess, I'll need to talk to Randy to see if we
have the stuff to do it. Call Doug and get the ok to modify
the buss'.' 'What you need to do to 'um.' Justin asks. 'For
your
protection, we need to install a masker in them all, and also
put in chargers for the personal maskers. And if we can, I'd
like the protection teams to stay with you .' 'We'll call him
when we're through with lunch.' Kevin says. As we finish up
I can see that the guys are getting excited about the end of
this part of the tours. After we're done I head to see Randy,
and they go to talk to Doug.
<Maintenance area>
'Hey Randy, you busy?' 'Not right now.' 'We
need to talk .' we go into Randy's office and sit down. I tell
Randy what the guys want to do, he sits back and thinks about
what he'll need, then he starts to pull stuff up on his computer.
'It looks like we have everything in inventory, but we'll have
to have a lot of it brought in. How long will we have?' He asks.
'If it's oked, from when ever the buss' get in tonight until
sometime in the morning.' 'That'll be cutting it close. But
with help we can get it done in around 8 hours.' 'Get it written
up and send it to Roger, and I'll give him a call.' 'Bob…sorry
to interrupt, but Doug's on the line.' 'Put him thru "C".'
"Bob?' 'Yes Doug, go ahead.' 'What do you need the buss'
for and who are the people that you want to go along?' I explain
everything to him, 'Ok I'll let you do it, but take care of
everything please.' 'Will do. And would you get a hold of Tim
and George and let then know what's up?' 'Sure.' 'Thanks. Talk
to you later. "C" disconnect from Doug, and get me
Roger.' 'Done.' 'Hey Roger check your email. We're sending you
a list of things and people we need.' 'Now what are you up to?'
Roger asks. The three of us talk for a while. As we're about
to hang up, 'IF you need me to I'll portal the stuff we need
here myself.' 'No there are enuff people to do it. But what
about tonight?' 'I was thinking of having of having Corbin help,
then we'll only need three drivers for the buss'. We talk for
a while longer, get the deliveries setup, the extra help sorted
out, and a few other details ironed out. 'Ok Roger, I'll talk
to you later.' 'Take care guys.' ' "C" have Corbin
and J.C. meet me in my Ready room.' 'Ok Bob.' Randy and I talk
for a few min.s more, then I teleport to my Ready room.
<My Ready room>
I 'pop' in just as J.C. opens the door. He
stops with a startled look on his face as Corbin comes through
the door, and he knocks J.C. down. 'Walk much J.C.?' I ask with
a smile and then start to snicker, Corbin starts to laugh softly,
and then J.C. looks up and glares at us. The two of us totally
crack up, 'Just what I need, a couple of hyena's' J.C. pouts,
'I need to go change me shorts if I can find them.' when I finally
settle down, I kinetically help him up. 'If you keep your lip
out like that a bird will shit on it.' I say before I start
to laugh at the look he gives me. This sets Corbin off again,
and then J.C. joins in. When we settle down, 'Ok Bob, what'd
you need?' J.C. asks. 'I'd like Corbin to copy your power.'
'Ok, why?' 'We're going to be doing some heavy moving, remember?'
'Then why me? Juju's the kinetic.' 'We'll need a good line of
communication if we're going to get the buss'.' 'Kay, lets do
it.' J.C. replies. 'But…' Corbin starts. 'You can do it,
just turn the switch "on" .' he concentrates for a
second. 'I think I got it.' 'Ok, touch Josh and think about
coping his power.' he does as I told him and starts to smile.
'I think…I did it.' 'Ok turn the switch "off",
now try to talk to Curly.' 'Did it.' he says as he smiles wider.
'One more test, see if you can get a hold of the rest of N sync,
BSB, and Aaron and have then come over. Just do like you did
to get a hold of Just.' 'Kay, I'll try.' in a second, 'I think
I did it.' in a few min.s they show up. 'Corbin…when did
you become a Path?' Chris asks. 'Just a few min.s ago, I just
copied J's power.' He replies. 'Did you call alone? Or did Bob
help?' A.J. asks. 'Alone, why?' 'Your "voice" was
just as strong as Bob's, that's why I asked.' A.J replies. 'Go
grab a seat in the Den, I almost forgot a couple of things.
"C" ask the protection teams for N sync and BSB to
come over, and connect me to both Tim and George.' 'Your getting
old.' Joey says with a smile. 'We can always see about that
in the Danger room Joe.' 'Nah…I don't want to embarrass
you.' he says as he quickly heads to the Den. 'Bob, I've got
both Tim and George on line.' 'Thanks "C". Hi guys.'
'Hey Bob.' 'Hi guy, what ya need?' 'Did Doug get a hold of you?'
'No.' 'Me nether.' 'That…Ok guys here's the deal…'
when I'm done giving them the lowdown, 'So the drivers will
need to take their stuff with them. And when you get to the
there tell the guys to go into the hotel, morph to normal, then
come back to the buss'.' 'Got ya.' 'Will do.' 'Later guys, I'll
talk to you when you're there.' 'Bye.' 'Later.' I go into the
Den, and grab a seat. In a couple, both of the protection teams
show up. I stand up, 'Have a seat if you want, this isn't going
to take long.' when they're settled I explain what is going
on. 'This is what the guys want to do. If any one doesn't want
to, I'll find a replacement, no hard feelings…' when I'm
done, 'This could be fun.' Connie says. 'Yeah, it could.' Bengi
replies. 'Ok I'll leave it to you to get everything set up.
A.C., I just wanted you to know what was going on. Corbin, we'll
need to go to the Danger room in a while, so any time your ready
I'll call Pat.' I go to my desk and sit down and start to goof
around on the net. In a couple of min.s Corbin walks in and
sits down. 'I'm ready when you are. But can we talk for a min.?'
'Sure what's up?' 'Do you know if Howie has a girlfriend?' he
askes in a rush. 'No he doesn't…he has a lover. And your
talking to him.' I say with a smile so he knows that I'm not
mad that he asked. 'Oh well, I hope I didn't make you mad by
asking.' 'No you didn't.' 'How about Brian?' he asks hopefully.
'Sorry but the rest of BSB and all of N sync are taken.' 'Darn.
I guess I'll never get a boyfriend. I thought Howie liked me
that way.' he says sadly. 'Now why would you say that? Your
smart, good looking, have a nice personality, and are very caring.'
'Well everyone that I've liked are either straight or are taken.'
he explains. 'Well I'll keep an eye, and ear open, you never
know what'll happen.' 'Thanks.' he says with a little hope coming
into his voice. 'You ready now?' 'Sure it'll take my mind off
things for a while.' he replies. I call Pat and find out he
has a 15 min. break till anyone is due, so I teleport us to
the danger room.
<D.R. #1>
We port in and Pat calls 'What you up to
this time?' when I get it explained to him, 'Ok what you gonna
need?' 'Just a voice controlled robot. Corbin head to the other
side of the room.' a door opens and a robot comes out and heads
in my direction. 'Robot stop, tracker on.' 'Confirmed.' It says.
'Ok I'll open my portal, then you open yours Corbie. Lets see
if we can do it.' 'Corbie?' 'The best I've been able to come
up with so far. Let's do it. Pat watch to see how far apart
they are.' 'Will do.' Pat replies. Corbin and I open our portals
and we can see each other. 'Well so far so good. Robot walk
through the portal to Corbin.' he does and comes out Corbin's
end. 'How far apart are the portals?' '50 foot.' is Pat's reply.
'Ok close and reopen them, I'd like them a lot closer.' we do
this for a while, 'Your about a foot apart, is that good enuff?'
'Lets try one more time, I want to get them as close as possible,
I don't want the buss' in there any longer then we have to.'
we do it again, '6 inches.' Pat calls down. 'Good to go. Thanks
Pat. Lets get something to eat Corbin.' 'Sounds good.' Corbin
says. 'Later.' Pat says as we head out of the Danger room and
over to the kitchen.
<Dining area>
We get our food and find a place to sit down.
After we get started, 'Bob may I ask you a question?' 'You just
did, but go a head.' I say with a smile. 'Why did you pick me
to help you?' 'Good question. Now if I had a good answer…
<big grin> First, you're new to your powers, and with
us going places together while linked and I thought we'd mesh
the best. Second, you're a multi-mimic like me, so I need to
keep tabs on you to see how good you are. Next, if you decide
to go into the R & R section, I need to know that we can
work together, and to see how you work under pressure. Then
I also need to make sure you don't out shine me and take my
job. <grin>. And lastly is a selfish reason, with you
being a timer as well as being a mimic, I may be able to take
some time off.' 'You sure I'll get that good?' 'Of course I
am. I can tell you've got the potentail, just have to get you
to see it.' He looks down and starts to blush. When we're done,
we take our trays to the kitchen and haed back to the R &
R section.
<My room>
I open the door, 'Do you want to come in
and veg for a while, or do you want go to your room and try
to get some sleep?' 'Are you sure I won't bother you?' 'Yeah
I'm sure, I'm just going to listen to some music and try to
relax enuff to get a nap in before we have to start to bet the
buss'.' 'Well…ok.' he says as he comes in. 'Grab something
do drink if you want.' I go get a cup of coffee, and he grabs
a cup of tea. We go into the living room, we each grab a couch,
and kick back. About a half hour later Corbin starts to yawn.
In a few, I start to yawn also. 'Are we allowed to sleep on
these? They're comfy.' 'Just so you take your shoes off first.'
I say with a grin as I get up and get out a couple of pillows
and quilts. 'Here you go.' I say as I hand him his bedding.
'You gonna sleep out here? Go on to your bedroom, I'll be asleep
if a few. And I don't want Howie to get the wrong idea.' 'Yeah
I am, and we'll be sleeping on separate couches so he has nothing
to be jealous about. And that way "C" can wake us
at the same time. "C" lights down to ¼ please.'
we each lay down on a couch. In a couple of min.s I think I
hear Corbin sigh, and in a few more, I'm out.'
<A few hours later>
'Bob, Corbin, Tim's on the line, time to
get up.' 'Go away "C".' 'Yeah.' Corbin adds as I sit
up. 'Put him thru "C". Hey Tim, you there?' 'Just
pulling into town now. Thought I'd give you a little time to
get ready.' 'Thanks Tim, give me a call when your at the hotel.
See you in a few, if your still around.' I look at Corbin and
he has his pillow covering his face. 'That ain't going to work,
just ask Just.' in a flash he's sitting up. 'What's wrong? Don't
you think you'd like a cold shower?' 'Knowing you…you'd
put me in still clothed.' 'Prob. It'd be fun to hear you scream
when the cold water hits you.' I say with an evil grin. 'Yeah
I'm sure you'd enjoy it.' 'Ok get ready to go and meet me back
here.' he gets up and heads to his room as I go to my room.
" "C", tell Randy we'll be there in a couple.'
'Will do.' I wash up quick, grab my trench coat and head back
towards the living room. I get a cup of coffee just as he knocks.
We head out to the maintenance area.
<Maintenance area>
The place looks like a tornado hit. Creates
sitting all over, some people running around checking on stuff,
others checking out the equipment, and Randy trying to make
sure every thing is going ok. 'You ready? I can always time
it if you need me to.' 'No that's ok, when ever your ready,
I'll get the drivers.' 'We're ready.' He goes and rounds up
the drivers, 'Ok…ready you three?' 'Yeah, guess so.' 'All
we have to do is wait for Tim to call, and we're outta here.'
<Ring…ring>
'Yo.' 'The drivers are in the hotel. And
the…what was it you called them…morphs are ready.'
'Thanks Tim, I'll be there in a short.' I hang up and put my
cell phone away, 'We ready?' 'From here?' 'Yeah from here, don't
you trust me?' 'Yeah I trust you, just used to doing it from
the transport room, that's all.' 'Ok we're outta here. "C"
N sync's beacon on.' 'Confirmed.' 'Corbin, you ready?' 'Yeah,
just give me a call. I'll be here.' I open a portal and we walk
through. I check the call sign and open a portal into the buss.
<N sync Buss>
As I close the portal, ' "C" beacon
off.' 'Roger that.' 'You portaled us inside a buss? Boy you've
gotten better.' 'I've been on it before. So I knew where to
go.' 'WHAT THE F…!' I turn around and see that Tim has
his pistol out and has it pointed at us.
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