Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2000 15:19:12 -0800 (PST) From: James Midwest Subject: 'My New Life #2 - 3' (midwestjames) (mm slow rom) [2!2] My New Life This is the first attempt at a story that has been kicking around in my head for some time now. It is to be a story of friendship that develops between the main character, Marc Newman and the guys of N SYNC. Legal Disclaimer: This story is totally fictional and is not meant to imply anything about the personalities of Justin Timberlake, Lance Bass, J.C. Chasez, Joey Fatone, or Chris Kirkpatrick of the music group NSYNC. If you are under the age of 18, offended by male/male material, or it is illegal to view such materials in your area, you should be leaving now. If you are looking for a story with lots of sex, go away! This is a story of friendship and only time will tell which direction it will take. Like anyone who writes feed back, good or bad is needed. The good feed back, strokes our ego. The bad feed back, strokes the delete key. My e-mail: midwestjames@yahoo.com Part 2. Three Years Later Sara pulled into her parking spot at the hospital, getting out of her car she looked around, enjoying the great summer day, and wishing she didn't have to work today. She just wanted to go lay out in the sun and enjoy today. But duty calls, and she headed toward the hospital entrance. As she approached, Marc came out the door and walked over to the bike rack. "Hay, Mark what's up?" "Hay, Sara. Just stopped by to show your dad my grades from last semester. They came today." "Great, how'd you do?" "Still 4.0 average." "Cool, you going to take any summer courses this year?" "No. Not this summer. I only have two more courses to take to complete this major. And they won't be offered until this fall. I'm just going to spend the summer biking and hanging out. Oh yes, and catch the concert next week in Madison." "How many majors have you completed?" "Well there's computer sciences, English lit, and music." "Well now, what kind of job will you be qualified for then?" Smiling Marc replied. "I'm not sure, but I do know that I can write music, using my computer and the lyrics will have proper grammar. I may have to sell them over the internet, if I'm to make a living at it." "Where are you going today?" "I was just going to ride around the lake a couple times, to break in my new bike. " "Be sure to wear your helmet. And be careful, coming down Sutters Hill." "Always do. See you later sis." Sara watched Marc get on the bike and head out. "Oh, by the way. I like you new bike paints. It shows off you butt, really well." Marc turned back to look at Sara, as the blush rose up into his face. A little shocked at what she just said. All he could do was laugh. Sara turned to enter the hospital smiling thinking, Got Ya! * * * "Justin, just admit it, your lost." said Chris from the back seat of the van. "I know exactly where I am. Oh ye of little faith." said Justin. Lance leaned forward and calmly pointed out. "Just, I thought the Dells were just a hours drive from the hotel. We've been driving for over two hours now and I haven't seen a Dells billboard for more than hour. I think we took the wrong exit off the expressway." "Joey, you're the one with the map, tell them were right on course." "Ah,.. Just,.. maybe the guys are right, this road has so many twist and turns and the crazy way they mark the roads, I'm not sure where we are." said Joey. "Oh great! With you two Daniel Boons blazing the way, we could end up in Michigan." grumped Chris. "I doubt it," said JC. "Remember there is that little body of water called Lake Michigan." "Well anyway there's a sign up ahead, slow down J maybe we can find out where we are." said Lance. This is great, I love this route around the lake. It's close enough to the lake, the cool breeze keeps you from overheating, and the hills sure gets the heart rate up. It must be getting close to supper time, I've sure worked up an appetite. Ok, you only need to get down Sutters Hill than a right on route 12 and its only one more mile to the dinner. I hope Mae has some apple pie left. As Marc started down Sutters Hill he noticed he was picking up speed so he started applying his breaks to slow down. To his horror he heard the twang of his rear break cable snap. "Shit!" he yelled. Knowing if he tried to stop using the front break only he would end up skidding face first down the road. All he could do was apply light pressure to the front wheels hoping to slow down enough to make the turn at the bottom of the hill. It was working, as his speed started to drop to under 10 mph. Just in time too, the turn was coming up now, a wide turn and I'm home free...just then a mini van pulled into the intersection. "Oh SHIT!!!" Justin slowed down to read the sign. "J, look out for that biker!" Joey shouted seeing the blur coming at him from the side road. Marc hit the van broadside. He flew over the handle bars, hit the roof of the van, bouncing twice than came to rest five feet on the other side. "Shit J we hit him" screamed Chris. Justin stomped on the breaks and everyone jumped out to check on the biker. Marc laid on his back trying to take a breath. He had gotten the breath knocked out of him. When all of a sudden five guys came running over to him. "Don't move! Are you all right?" A very nervous curly headed kid asked. "He's having trouble breathing, quick someone start mouth to mouth." shouted Joey. "His head is bleeding, what do we do? Does any one know first aid? asked Lance. "I'm not giving no guy mouth to mouth." stated Chris. "Shut up you guys, we have to get him to a doctor." JC said. "Do you think we should move him?" Justin asked. Finally I was able to get my breath and started to sit up. My luck to be hit by the five stooges. "I think I'll live." I said sitting up. "Hay man, just sit there for a minute. How are you feeling? Can you move you legs and arms?" Lance asked. Moving my arms and legs I said "Nothing seems broken" "We do, need to get you to a doctor, you will need stitches on that cut on your forehead." Lance said. "Lets get him to a doctor guys." Joey and JC help the biker to his feet and lead him around to the side of the van. When Marc saw his bike he said "Shit, the whole front yoke is bent." "Hay man, what do you want us to do with your bike?" asked Chris. "Just toss it into the ditch, I'll pick it up later." As they all climbed into the van Joey handed the biker some napkins to put on his cut to try to slow the bleeding. Justin turned to the biker and asked, "which way?" Mark pointed straight ahead "Down the road about a mile than a left at the Dairy Queen. Two blocks and the emergency room will be on your left. Can't miss it." Justin nodded and headed off to the emergency room at a high speed. "Slow down before you cause a accident." Marc said. They pulled up to the door and Joey hopped out, and ran in to get help. Running up to the desk he said, "We need help, there was an accident." The nurse and orderly headed out to see who was hurt. Seeing Marc's bloody face she said "get a wheelchair over here." the nurse helped Marc into the chair and they wheeled him into the emergency room. The guys followed them into the building but were told they had to wait in the waiting room. The nurse returned to her disk and picked up the phone and dialed the second floor nurses station. "Sara, this is Jill, I thought you would like to know Marc has just been brought into emergency. He's been in an accident. You'd better tell your dad." Sara hung up the phone, hearing her fathers voice coming out of a near by room, she raced to him. Sticking her head in the room she calmly said. "Doctor, Marc has just been brought into emergency, he has been in a accident." "Thank you Sara, I'll be right with you" and turning to the patient he excused himself. Exiting the patients room Dr. Morgan and Sara headed for the elevator. "Do you know what happened? "No, Jill called up and said Marc was brought into emergency." Getting off the elevator Sara and her father headed straight to the emergency room. Sara glanced into the waiting room and noticed five young men looking back into emergency with great interest. Sara thought she had seen these guys somewhere, but couldn't place them. "Jill where is he? asked Dr. Morgan. "In exam two." she answered. As they entered exam room two they found Marc sitting up holding a gauze pad to his forehead. "Marc, what happened? How bad are you hurt?" Dr. Morgan asked. Looking over to his two concerned friends Marc said, "Sutter Hill, lost breaks, big van, splat. And I'm OK, just this cut on my head, the helmet protected everything else. A few scrapes is all, nothing broken." "Lets look at that cut." the doctor reached up and removed the pad and examined the wound "Yep, your going to need a few stitches to close that. Nurse, lets get it cleaned out, it looks like we'll need six or maybe eight stitches." In the waiting room the guys stood off to one side talking among themselves. "Gee Justin, I can't believe you hit that biker." said Chris. "It was a accident, I didn't see him until we where about to hit, than it was to late." said Justin sadly. "I know you didn't mean to hit him, but now do you understand why we don't let you drive more often." Said Joey. "Hay guys lay off, ok. It was an accident." defended Lance. At the reception desk Jill overheard part of the conversation. She slowly picked up the receiver of the phone and dialed a number. "Hello, Sheriff Dillin. Please." "Sheriff Dillin here, what can I do for you?" "This is Jill More, at the emergency room, Marc Newman was just brought in. It seems he was hit by a van at the edge of town. And I think the driver of that van is here in the waiting room." "Jill keep an eye on the driver, don't let him leave until I get there. I'm coming right over." "Ok, but please hurry." nurse Jill said before hanging up. Five minutes later the sheriff walks into the waiting room. Looking at nurse Jill she glances over to the group of five young men standing off in a corner. He approaches the group and asks, "Can anybody tell me who the driver is of the white van out front?" Four heads turn to the young blond kid. "Son are you the driver of that van?" the sheriff asked. "Yes sir, is there something wrong?" "Son what's your name?" "Justin Timberlake, why?" "Well Mr. Timberlake, your under arrest for not reporting an accident with injuries, and leaving the site of an accident, for starts. And depending if the victim survives, or not, more charges may be added.." said the sheriff as he took Justin's arm and lead him out of the waiting room. As they started out the door the sheriff said "Son you have the right to remain .... Lance, Joey, Chris, and JC just stood there in shock, not believing what just happened. "This can't be happening, what do we do now, who do we call?" asked Chris. "What is management going to say, there going to kill us." moaned JC. Sara came out to the waiting room to let the guys know Marc was ok and he'd would be out in a minute. She saw only four of them standing there, white as ghost . She knew something was wrong. "Marc is fine, he'll be out soon. Weren't there five of you? What's wrong, you look upset?" "The sheriff was here and he arrested Justin, took him right off to jail." said Lance. "HE DID WHAT!!" Came a very angry voice. The guys all looked past Sara to see Marc standing there with fire in his eyes. Sara, seeing Marc's anger rise, went to him an said "Marc, calm down! It's of no help to get mad." Seeing that Sara was right he quickly calmed himself. Looking at the guys he said. "Lets go get your friend." and he started off to the door. Sensing that no one was moving, he turned back and asked "What?" "Justin has the keys to the van." said Joey. Looking over at Sara he noticed Doc Morgan toss a set of keys at him. "Go get him out of there Marc." "Thanks Doc. You guys coming?" They all headed out and as they approached docs 4 x4 Marc tossed the keys to Joey. "Here you drive, I'm on medication." As they entered the sheriff's office, Marc spotted the sheriff and headed straight to him. "Bobby Lee Dillin I've seen you do some stupid things but this has got to be the stupidest yet." "Why did you arrest that boy?" Bobby Lee was shocked to see Marc storming at him. "Ma Marc, your ok? I thought you were critical." "Now, where did you get that idea?" "Jill called, said you were rushed into emergency and that you had been run over by a van." "Geesh, Bobby Lee, you know Jill, how can you believe what she says? Did you even talk to the doctor?" "No Marc, Fred radioed he found your mangled bike in the ditch." "And you assumed I was on my death bed. Didn't you?" "Did you bother even to look at the van?" "No" said Bobby Lee sheepishly . "If you would of even looked at the van, you could have seen that it was me, that hit them. I lost my breaks coming down the hill, when I ran into the side of them. And they were kind enough to take me to emergency." "I'm sorry Marc. I guess I over reacted." "Ok, Bobby Lee give me the keys to the cells so I can get him out of here. By the way which one is he in?" "He's in the tank. We haven't processed him yet." "The Tank! I hope there isn't any anybody in there with him." "Only the Roe brothers." "Shit Bobby Lee, how could you put a kid in the same cell as those two animals. They could mess him up really bad." Marc shouted as he stomped toward the cells. "And I want all of his paperwork when we get back." As Marc approached the tank, he only saw the Row brothers standing there looking into the corner of the cell laughing. Looking into the corner he saw Justin curled up into a tight ball. "Shit!" Marc said softly. Putting the key into the lock, he walked into the cell and spun the brothers around yelling "What have you two done to him?" "Nothing Marc, we were just having some fun. Is he a friend of yours?" "Matt, Jim, get to the other side of the cell before I beat the shit out of you. And you know I can do it too." they moved quickly to the bunks and sat down knowing Marc meant what he said. Going over to Justin, Marc knelt down and placed a hand on his shoulder and Justin pulled himself into a tighter ball. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- A New Life Part 3: Marc to the Rescue. Going over to Justin, Marc knelt down and placed a hand on his shoulder and Justin pulled himself into a tighter ball. Seeing Justin's reaction Marc put his hand on Justin's back and started to lightly rub his back. Softly, almost in a whisper, "Justin it's alright, they aren't going to touch you or hurt you in any why. Come on buddy, let's get you out of here." Justin slowly started to calm down. The hand rubbing his back was so comforting, he raised his head from his protective arm's. Looking out with tear redden eyes, his gaze fell on the two drunks. Marc, seeing Justin start to relax, his head rising from his protective cocoon , to freeze, staring at the Roe brothers. "Justin, Justin, buddy look at me." Marc said moving his hand to Justin's chin, gently turning his head toward him. Breaking eye contact with the drunks, Justin looked into the concerned eyes of the biker. "Come on, lets get out of here." Marc said. Slowly standing up he pulled Justin up with him. Putting his arm around Justin's shoulder, for support, they walked out of the cell. Feeling how shaky Justin still was. He turned into the break room and set him down in a chair. Walking over to the sink, he took a wad of paper towels, wet them and grabbed a cup of water for Justin.. Knelling in front of Justin he handed him the water. "Here drink this, try to clam down" "Thanks." Justin said taking a sip of the water. "Boy you are a mess, here clean up you face." as Marc handed him the wet towels. "We don't want your friends to see you like this." Justin gratefully took the towels and started whipping his tear streaked face. Holding the cool towels to his eyes, it felt so good. Marc handed him a dry paper towel "Here, blow your nose, I can't take you out front with a runny nose." Justin smiled at the comment, and did as he was told. "Thinks" he said, realizing he did not even know his saviors name. Seeing Jason's questioning look. He said, "I know, we've not been properly introduced, my name is Marc, Marc Newman." "Thanks Marc, I'm Justin Timberlake." "Yea, I know who you are. Are you feeling better?" "Yea, I'm feeling better, my legs are still a bit shaky." "Just sit here a few minutes. I need to do something real quick, I'll be right back." Justin grabbed Marc's arm, not wanting to be left alone. "Don't leave me." he pleaded. "You'll be alright, I just want to make sure we can leave here without any trouble." "I'll be right back." Marc said looking into Justin's eyes. Giving his hand a strong squeeze he got up and walked out front. * * * The guys followed Marc into the sheriffs office. Not knowing what to do, they just hung back letting Marc handle the problem. To their surprise, he walked right up to the sheriff and started going off on him, calling him stupid. Shouting in the sheriffs face and his only reaction was that of a little boy looking down at the floor taking his tongue lashing. Then to their amazement, he handed Marc a set of keys. A few more comments were exchanged and a very angry Marc stomped to the back of the building. "I don't know what just happened but Marc sure looked pissed." Joey said. "Ya," said Lance in awe, "I half expected the sheriff to pull his gun on him." "What do we do now?" asked Chris. "Just wait here for Justin and Marc" said JC. The guy waited patiently. Ten minuets later Marc came out, alone. He walked over to the sheriff and the sheriff handed him a folder. Marc came over to the guys. "How's Justin?" they all said together. "Physically, he's ok. But his head is really messed up." Mark said. "I need you guys to give him some space. He got the shit scarred out of him, and he pulls away from any physical contact. Let him make the first move." The guys all understood what Marc was trying to tell them. "We understand." said Joey. Marc handed Joey the folder and went back to get Justin. * * * Looking up Justin was relived to see Marc returning. "Are you ready?" Justin shook his head, "Yea, lets get out of here." Marc offered his hand to Justin. Smiling Justin took his offered hand and stood up next to his new friend. "Lets go then." Marc said. Smiling, knowing Justin had just taken a big step, trusting in a new friend. * * * Marc and Justin emerged from the back room. The guys all let out a collective sigh of relief. They stopped at the sheriff's desk so Justin could collect his personal items. "Mr. Timberlake, I want to apologies to you. I over reacted, as Marc has so clearly pointed out. This should never of happened. I'm sorry for any stress I may have caused you." said the embarrassed sheriff. Marc said, "Thanks Bobby Lee." as he led Justin over to his friends and out the door. With out saying a word the six walked over to the 4 x 4 in silence. Reaching the vehicle Lance turned to Justin and softly asked "Just, are you all right?" "Ya, I'm all right. Thanks for asking." Justin said and walked up to Lance and gave his friend a hug. Marc smiled at them, knowing, how big a step Justin has just taken. Clearing his throat, Marc said. "Lets get doc's wheels back to him and pick up your van." The six piled in and headed back to the hospital . Pulling into the parking lot Marc noticed Sara at the door, watching for their return. Taking the keys from Joey he said . "I'll be right back." turning and walked over to the entrance where Sara was waiting. "How is he?:" Sara asked Marc. "Considering Bobby Lee had him in the tank with the Roe brothers, not to bad." "Dame, did they hurt him?" Sara asked with concern. "No, they didn't touch him, they just messed up his head and scared the shit out of him. He should be ok with a little rest." "What are you guys going to do now?" `They're going to take me home and from there we will see." Marc said with a smile. "Mark what have you got in mind?" "Do you really think, I would pass up the opportunity to get to know, the guys, of my most favorite group?" Sara laughed at Marc. "Just don't turn into a crazed fan on them. Just be yourself." "Ok, but that won't be much fun. Call me tomorrow." Marc gave Sara a quick kiss on the cheek and headed out to the waiting guys. As Marc approached the guys they stopped talking among themselves Joey asked "Marc, you want to grab something to eat before we take you home?" "I don't know if you have noticed but I'm a mess. All the other diners wouldn't want to see me in this bloody shirt. How about you take me home and we can cook out on the grill." "That sounds cool, do we need to stop and pick up anything?" asked Chris. "No, there's plenty" Marc said. "Who's driving?" "I am." said Joey, "Marc take the other front seat, so you can point the way." Everybody got in and buckled in. Joey asked. "Which way?" "Go up to the Dairy Queen and take a left." "Why is it every direction you give takes us past the Dairy Queen?" JC laughed. "Well in this town, if you want to go any were, all routs go pass the Dairy Queen." The drive only took a few minutes. "Joey, turn in just the other side of the red mail box coming up on your left." Marc said indicating the turn. "God Marc, this is going into the woods. I thought you said you lived in a house." said Joey. "I do live in a house it's up ahead about 400 feet. The trees help muffle the noise from the road." They pulled up in front of a modest size log cabin. Getting out of the van they all headed to the front door. Marc noticed Chris was walking a little funny, he was kind of doing the pee pee dance. "Chris is there something wrong?" "Yea, man. I gota use the out house?" Not able to pass this one up, Marc reached in the door and grabbed two objects. Turning to Chris he said. "Here, you'll need these." handing him a ball bat and a magazine. Pointing to a tree stump just off the left of the porch. "Take the path by the stump over there, its only about 30 yards down it." "What's this stuff for?" asked Chris not understanding. "Oh, when you get to the out house, take the bat and hit the side of the out house a couple times. Be sure not to stand in front of the door though." "Why?" Chris asked wide eyed. "There a black bear, that likes to take his nap in there. Hitting the side of the house usually startles him and he comes out running, and will trample you if your in the way." Marc said with a straight face. He could see Lance and JC trying not to laugh behind Chris. "Ah. What's the magazine for?" "What else, to read. And when your done, tare out a page and use it to finish the job. You city boys don't know much do you?" Chris looked at the path. Wondering just how bad he had to go. But mother nature told him there was no other option, he had to go. Taking his bat and magazine Chris started toward the path. "Chris" Mark said with a smile. "There is also the bathroom in the house, you could use." Chris turned around to see Marc standing there with a cheesy grin on his face and his fellow band mates roaring with laughter. He new he had been had by an expert. Stomping back to the house he went in to use the bathroom. As he passed Marc, he just said "ass hole." then he started laughing at himself. Letting Chris in, he pointed to the hall next to the kitchen. "First door on the right." "Come in guys make yourself at home. I'm going to go clean up quick, Lance can you handle lighting the grill?" "It's out on the patio, through the sliding doors." "Ya, I can handle it." Lance said going to the sliding doors and looking out. "Hay guys, there a big lake out here." Lance opened the door and stepped out back. Everyone went out to take a look, including Chris who had finished his business. They all stood there admiring the view. Again Marc couldn't let this opportunity escape. "Dame!! When did they put that in? Turn your back for just a minute and they change the scenery." With that comment, all the guys were roaring with laughter. As everybody started to gain control of them self Lance went to work lighting the charcoal. Marc turned to go back in the house to get cleaned up when he noticed Justin was close behind him. Stopping in the kitchen he turned to Justin. "How do you feel?" "Not to bad. Just tired." "Come with me." Marc said and led him into the bed room. "Kick off your shoes, and lay down and take a nap. Food won't be ready for at least a hour. Get some rest." Justin walked over to the bed removing his shoes, and clamed on to the bed. Marc picked up a blanket from the foot of the bed and covered his new friend. "Thanks Marc." "Just rest. I'll call you when the food is ready." Marc said as he gathered a clean outfit and headed for a hot shower. Emerging from the bathroom showered, and dressed in clean shorts and t shirt. Marc glanced in at Justin who was sound asleep. He entered the kitchen just as Lance came in. "The coals will be ready in about 10 minutes. Where's Justin?" "He's in on my bed taking a nap. Today really drained him." "Is there anything I can help with? "Here, take this bag of corn and clean them. Wrap them in foil for the grill. You'll find the foil in the second drawer next to the sink. Butter is in the door of the frig and ice cubes in the bin above." "Ice cube??" "Ya, put a pat of butter and one ice cube on each ear of corn and wrap them in foil. The ice cube steams the corn, cutting the cook time by about one third." "How many do you want me to fix?" "Do the whole bag, there's only a dozen." Lance went to the refrigerator to get the butter and was astonished at the amount of food he found. "Marc, I thought you said you lived alone. Why all the food?" "Oh, yea." Marc laughed. "I had a church group here yesterday for a cookout. That's just the left over's that no would take home." "Well what do you guys want burgers or brats?" "Brats" said Chris, Joey, and JC as they came in. "Brats" said Lance "And the same for Justin." as he finished wrapping the corn. "Ok, brats for everyone, lets get this stuff on the grill." As Marc and Lance took the food out to the grill, the guys started looking around the cabin. Chris spotted the stereo. Scanning the collection of CD's he was astonished at what he found. "Joey, JC, come over here and look at this." "What. What is it?" asked JC. "Look at the CD's, do you see what I see?" "I don't believe it, I thought only our moms had every CD we ever made." said Joey. "There's even one my mom doesn't have, our first demo. How did he get a hold of that?" Chris spotted something pined to the wall above the stereo. Looking close he recognized a ticket to their next weeks show, in Madison. "It looks like Marc has plans to attend our concert next week." Joey took a close look at the ticket and said. "His seat is in the second balcony, the worst seats there is, he won't be able to see much." Lance came in from the patio to start setting the table. "Hay Lance come over and take a look at this." said Chris. Lance walked over to take a look at what his friends had found. "Wow, Marc must be a fan, but he sure got a shitty seat for the concert." "I wonder what's his story." said Chris. "Well the only way to find out is ask him." said Lance. As he turned to set the table. Marc came in five minutes later with a tray piled high with corn and brats. He set the tray down on the table and noticed a sleepy eyed Justin coming down the hall. "I was just coming to get you." "No need, I smelled the food." "Come on lets eat." said Marc. Chris checked the CD's in the turntable seeing they were all N SYNC he pushed the random play button and joined the others at the table. As the music started Joey said. "Good choice, in music Chris." "There's not much of choice, Marc's CD collection is rather limited." said Chris smiling at Marc across the table. Marc, knowing he had been caught kept shoveling food into his mouth, hoping for a out. And thankfully, Justin gave him one. "So you like our music?" Swallowing his last mouth full, he thought hard and said. "No." "But I do like the group N SYNC a lot." "Ah, Marc. We __ are __ N SYNC." stated Joey. "No, your not. You are Joey, Lance, Justin, Chris, and Josh. My new friends, who are on vacation this week. N SYNC won't be around until next week, when they do a show in Madison. And I plan to attend that show like all their other fans." "Marc, your too cool." said the misty eyed Lance. "Yea. Said all the others." After a long silence Lance said. "It's getting late and we need to find a motel." "No you don't! Your staying here. The second bed room has a super king size bed in it. And the den has a super king Murphy bed. There's the two couches out here and my king size bed. If you can't find a place to sleep there's always the outhouse." looking at Chris, Marc said "The bear will share if you rub his tummy." "Thanks, we were hoping you would let us stay." Lance said with a smile. "Marc, you know something about us, how about sharing something with us" asked Josh. "Well what do you want to know?" "How about, how old you are, when is your birthday?" said Justin. "Well if you must know, my birthday was last month May 15th. And I just turned three." "Three??" they all said at once. ---------------------------------- Well that's part three. Next the story of Marc.