By heidi
Johnny was mad.
JC looked around at the group sitting at the table. The only one looking straight at Johnny was Lance, but then again, Lance had balls when it came to facing down trouble.
Lance also fully understood why Johnny was so angry when the rest of them only had a vague idea. The last two operations N Sync had undertaken had gone wrong. The first one could be brushed aside as simply being given incomplete information - except the cops had obviously been notified. But now they had a second situation, so soon after the first. Someone wasn't telling them everything they needed.
Tapping on the table drew JC's attention back to Johnny, even though he was unable to meet the manager's eyes.
"I don't like this. You guys could have been seriously hurt."
JC could tell by the little noise he heard coming behind him that Chris was ready to protest.
"Yes Chris, I know you got banged up. I'm talking *seriously* hurt here." JC noticed something different in the tone of their manager's voice. Looking up, he could see the genuine worry in Johnny's eyes.
JC became slightly panicked. If Johnny was this worried about them, then something was truly fucked up. The older man looked over, catching JC's eyes, nodding a little to acknowledge what must have been showing on the singer's face.
"I'm flying back to Orlando tonight. Lance, do not accept any more assignments unless they come directly from me. If they ask you why, simply tell them that your controller gave you direct orders. That should shut them up for the time being." Slapping his hand down onto the table, Johnny looked at each member of the group individually. "I will not put my team in any more risky situations until I'm sure the Agency isn't jerking you boys around." His grim expression took on a hint of anger. "I think I know who's behind these incidents, and if I'm right, I need to warn Kevin, be sure his team doesn't experience the same things you five have had to deal with. Then I'm going to take care of that son of a bitch once and for all."
Having no clue who Johnny might be talking about, JC simply nodded.
Rubbing his face quickly, Johnny returned his attention to Lance. "Give me a rundown of your schedule for the rest of the day."
Lance closed his eyes, then began listing, "When we finish here, we have enough time to grab something quick to eat before the radio interview at 1. Then we head over to the arena, run through a sound check. We have meet and greet at 4:30, and the concert begins at 7:00." Opening his eyes, Lance smiled briefly. "We're lucky today. Not a very busy schedule."
Johnny smiled back, then looked at the rest of the men at the table. "Any questions?" Everyone shook their heads. "Okay then, go grab something to eat, and I'll be in contact with what information I'm able to gather. You boys did good. I'm proud of how you all handled the last two situations. Enjoy this free time."
Joey laughed. "Man, for a free time, sure seems like we're working hard."
"Yo, but you know you love it." Joey and Justin high fived each other, then dragged their hands back, tickling their fingers together.
As they milled out of the Lance's suite, JC moved next to the younger man, waiting for the opportunity to ask him what he thought was happening. Justin came up beside him, wrapping an arm around JC's waist and looked over to Lance. "He thinks it's Lou, doesn't he?"
Lance nodded.
Justin frowned. "You think he knows all about the Agency?"
"I don't know. I mean, look at what happened to us. Things that would have caused us to be caught, but things that also happened," he paused, looking for the right word.
"Almost after the fact," JC commented
Lance nodded again.
"But the tapes weren't in the safe," Joey said from behind them.
"I don't know if Lou could have control of that, Joe."
"Well, we'll just have to wait to see what Johnny comes up with.
Until then, it's party time." Hearing a loud slap from where Joey
was standing, JC watched as Chris ran by them with Joey on his heels.