Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2002 23:50:36 +0000
From: Stephanie M
Subject: Fic: Black Eyes, Blue Tears 13/?

Title: Black Eyes, Blue Tears 13/?
Author: Stephanie M
Summary: AJ discovers the truth behind Lance and JC's intense relationship.
Feedback: This is not my normal type of story, I'd love to hear what
everyone thinks.
Disclaimer: This is entirely fiction i.e. not true. I don't know Nsync or
the Backstreet Boys. The story is the result of a warped mind.
Warnings: JC bashing-sorry if that upsets anyone. Discussion of abuse and
rape.
Status: WIP

Part 13

The night had been fairly painless Kevin reflected as he lay in bed, arms
around his sleeping lover. Kevin knew he was supposed to sleep so he would
be refreshed for the conference in the morning but he couldn't stop thinking
about the shock on everyone's face when he and Justin had kissed Ben.

He didn't think the others would be very happy if they found out exactly how
close they were, how the four of them often spent months together. How they
would sleep with each other in a regular basis, so they had sex with each
other but that didn't mean anything. He loved Ben and Nick but not the way
he loved Justin.

Justin was his light, heart and conscience. He wasn't naive enough to think
all they needed was love, love was great but you needed to be independent of
each other. Kevin knew if he and Justin didn't have their own friends and
lives, they would drive each other crazy. He loved the way Justin would
happily tell him if he had broken a rule, if he was talking shit, and the
way Justin always supported him. Justin was something Kevin often felt he
unworthy of, not that Justin didn't have his failures. Justin was
headstrong, lazy and stubborn, not to mention impulsive.

Kevin sighed, Lance was on his mind again, well Lance and AJ to be exact.
Lance was becoming dependent on AJ, and Kevin didn't know how to break them
apart. He knew Lance needed someone to feel safe with but AJ? The pair
wouldn't even be able to spend a lot of time together after the tour,
becoming dependent would just result in pain. He didn't want either of them
hurt, not after what had happened.

Looking at the clock, Kevin realised he only had two hours before he had to
get up. Hearing the sound of someone banging, Kevin jumped out of bed and
ran out of the room.
*******
"Baby? Let me in! Lance, please!" AJ shouted as he knocked on the door
worriedly.

He had woken up to find Lance nowhere to be seen, hearing the sound of water
he had relaxed. It had been a forty minutes since he had awoken and Lance
was nowhere to be seen. He had jumped out of bed when he realised water was
coming through the bottom of the bathroom door.

Kevin asked using his key to get into the room, "What's wrong?"

"Lance has been in there for forty minutes at least and I'm worried about
him." AJ explained impatiently still knocking on the door.

"Okay, we'll kick it open." Kevin said and kicked the door.

The door shook but didn't open so AJ kicked the door again over the location
of the lock. There was a loud crack as the lock busted. AJ opened the door
and gasped, Lance was laying in the overflowing bath, an empty syringe
sticking out of his arm.

Picking the syringe up AJ gasped in shock and fear. It was completely empty.
What had Lance taken? Why had he missed the signs that Lance was using? With
his past, he should have seen the truth.

Kevin quickly called an ambulance and reception in the hope that the on duty
hotel doctor would be able to help Lance. He was then informed that the
doctor was off sick. `Some hotel,' Kevin thought with a sigh as he looked
over at Lance and the clearly shocked AJ.
*******
Wondering where Kevin was Justin walked out of their room and shouted
shocked, "What the fuck's happened?"

"We are taking Lance to hospital. We think he may have taken something."
Kevin answered as they waited for the elevator.

"Call the others. I'm going with him." AJ said as he helped the paramedics
wheel Lance's stretcher into the elevator.

"We'll be there as soon as possible." Kevin promised before the doors
closed, he prayed Lance would be okay. He didn't think AJ could handle it if
Lance died, none of them would really handle it. In the last two days they
had all become fond of the shy blonde.

Within fifteen minutes the singers along with Ben Affleck were on their way
to the hospital each worried about how Lance was. Chris and Justin were
feeling guilty for not thinking of the possibility of Lance trying to commit
suicide.

"Why did he do it?" Joey said looking at the others in the car with him.

"I don't know, maybe it all became too much. It could have been that he was
worried about the press or his parents."

Justin paled, "SHIT! Who's going to call them? They'll freak."

"I will later." Joey said ending the conversation.
*******
"Who is here for Lance Bass?"

"We are. How is he?" Kevin said as the group jumped up from their seats
expectantly.

"He's still critical. Only to be expected. I'm surprised no one saw the
signs!" The doctor said looking down at the chart in his hands.

"What do you mean?" Chris asked suspiciously, did Lance have a drug problem.

The doctor said confused at their reactions, "Why his illness! He's lucky we
caught it in time."

"Just what is wrong with him?" AJ asked angrily annoyed that the doctor
wouldn't just tell them what the problem was.

The doctor explained, "Mr Bass has Type 2 or non-insulin dependent diabetes.
He mustn't have been eating properly or taking his medication for a while,
at least two weeks. He managed to inject his emergency insulin but it wasn't
enough. We have placed him on an insulin IV, so we should see some
improvement soon. I'm just concerned that he may have some other problems."

"So he was injecting insulin?" Joey said feeling guilty for what he had been
thinking.

"Yes. I advise you all to go home, Mr Bass can't see anyone until he is
stable."

AJ pleased, "Please, can I stay with him? Lance has recently experienced a
traumatic ordeal and he gets frightened if he's alone."

"Oh. I guess you can, as long as you don't disturb him." The doctor said
before leaving the room.

AJ let out a sigh of relief as he looked over at the seven men who were
staring at him in confusion and anger wondering why he had basically told
the doctor what had happened to Lance.

Brian asked the others, "What are we going to do now?"

"We'll have to make sure the press leave him alone." Nick said seriously
seeing the others were too caught up in their thoughts to speak.

"I'll take care of that." Howie said seriously knowing that the Nsync
members would want to spend as much time taking care of Lance as possible,
even if Lance wouldn't let them near him.

"We're going to wait and see how Lance is. We'll be fine with the guards."
Justin said speaking for his bandmates looking up at their worried
bodyguards who had heard why JC was in prison, and vowed to help Lance as
much as possible.

"*ALEX*!" The shout reverberated through the hospital, causing everyone to
look up in concern.
*******
AJ immediately ran down the corridor in the direction of the sound, hating
himself for not going to the blonde's room as soon as the doctor gave
permission. He ran into the room to find Lance being held down by two
orderlies, while a young woman doctor tried to approach him.

"I'm afraid you'll have to leave," A nurse said to AJ as she walked into the
room.

AJ growled, "I can't leave him, he was calling for me."

The doctor sighed, "Well get over here then! We need to keep him as calm as
possible."

"NO, please! Let me go! I'll be good!" Lance shouted fighting and kicking at
the man restraining him.

AJ ran to Lance's side and started stroking the man's hair chanting, "Shh,
I'm here.  We're at the hospital, JC hasn't got you. You're safe, James."

Lance calm at AJ's touch, causing the orderlies and the doctor to look at
the pair in confusion before leaving the room, secure that the patient
wasn't going to have any more violent episodes.

The nurse quickly checked Lance's vitals, "I'm Kim and I'm his main nurse."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Alex but everyone calls me AJ. How come he's gone
back to sleep?"

<p>Kim looked AJ over carefully before saying, "It'll be like this for a
while, until his body chemistry is back to normal. Even when he wakes up he
may not be too coherent. Could you tell me what happened to him to make him
react like that?"

"He's been abused for years, I found out a couple of days ago. We managed to
get the guy arrested." AJ answered gently stroking the sleeping man's arm.

"What kind of abuse?" Kim asked wanting to know because it would change the
nurses she assigned to Lance. They couldn't risk upsetting Lance further,
and anything that could cause flashbacks had to be avoided.

AJ sighed, "He has been beaten for the last six years. The rapes started
about 14 months ago. He's scared of people and if being restrained. The
bastard who raped James used to restrain him and cut him while he raped
him."

Kim took a pen from her pocket and wrote on Lance's chart, "I've made a note
of it in his chart. When he wakes up, would it be okay if one of our
psychologists came to talk to him?"

"That's not my decision to make. I'll talk to him about it and see what he
wants to do." AJ said smiling at Lance's relaxed face.

`Thank God that poor man has someone he can trust,' Kim thought as she left
the room.

Not knowing if Lance could hear him AJ started talking, "It seems you can't
catch a break, kid. Don't worry, we'll make sure you're okay. I'm here and
our guards are outside. The guys are in the waiting room. God, it scared the
life out of me when I found you. I'm going to make sure nothing ever hurts
you again. You can come and stay at my place, you'll love it there."

End Part 13