DISCLAIMER: I don't think I need one after nine chapters filled with disclaimers. If you don't know what you're reading by this time you never will. Okay, it's all fiction none of it's true. Gay situations throughout the story. Blah blah blah.

Fucking asshole Gabriel yelled in the confines of his mind as he followed Peter towards a cluster of people. The whole time Peter was rambling on about redecorating bills that his wife Melissa had accrued over the last two months. He suddenly felt extremely warm in his tuxedo.

Peter pushed his way through several ladies to find his wife talking animatedly to a slender brunet. Gabriel recognized him as the co-lead singer of the band Nsync.

Fuck me, this is just getting better and better he groaned inwardly, as he said, "Melissa, you are looking good as always." Bending down to kiss her warmly on the cheek.

"Gabriel, it's so good to see you again." Melissa giggled loudly, returning his kiss. "Where have you been hiding at?" She asked, wrapping her arm around her husband's waist.

"You know, here and there. But mostly in Cambodia Gabriel replied with a grin. "Peter here was telling me that you're driving him crazy again."

"I was just telling this nice young man about my newest edition to my art collection." Melissa rambled on, smiling at the brunet.

"Yes, I've always admired Field of Sunflowers." The brunet answered with a bored expression on his face. "Hi, I'm Jc Chasez, it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Jenkins." He offered a gloved hand to Peter.

The big man replied, "Nice to meet you. I hope my boorish wife didn't bother you too much." He said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Not at all." Jc replied. "She is quite charming."

Melissa rolled her eyes and stated to Gabriel, "He thinks he's so funny."

"It is the job of the young to humor the old." Gabriel replied with a straight face, winking at Jc. "Hi, I'm Gabriel. Nice to meet you."

"Hi." Jc said pointedly. "Pleasure."

"Are you one of the members of Nsync?" Gabriel asked, deciding to help out the uncomfortable singer.

"Yes."

"Some guy named Justin was looking for you." Gabriel stated, pointing towards the bar. "He's over there somewhere."

"Ah. It was nice to meet you but will you excuse me." Jc asked, bowing slightly towards the older woman.

"Of course dear." Melissa said.

Jc flashed Gabriel a strange look before weaving through the throng. Gabriel turned his attention back to Peter and his wife.

"Gabriel dear. What's this I hear about your offices burning down? Tragic." Melissa offered her sympathy.

"Yes. But these things happen." Gabriel assured before saying, "Ah, the mayor's here. Excuse me."

He left the two laughing, his blue eyes searching for Justin. Hoping that he would not run into anyone else he knew, he headed towards the bar. Ordering another beer, he sipped it slowly.

"Hi. How are you?"

A deep voice from behind startled him. Turning around, he looked into the smiling face of Lance, another one of Justin's bandmates. "Hi. I'm fine and you."

"Bored. But then I'm always bored at parties like these." Lance replied warmly. "But this helps." He laughed as he held up a martini.

"Yes, insulation is always good." Gabriel drained his glass, ordering another one.

"Alcohol is good for many things." Lance continued, never taking his eyes off the longhaired man.

"Such as?" Gabriel asked, returning the gaze intently.

"You know." Lance shrugged. "Forgetting. Or maybe enhancing a certain feeling."

"Really." Gabriel stated in mock amazement. "And I thought it was only good for getting wasted."

Laughing a deep rich laugh, Lance shook his head, "Oh no. You see, alcohol affects the brain. When you've consumed to much, you do stupid things."

"Really. I've never noticed."

"Oh yeah. Take my friend for instance." Lance said, pointing over towards Justin who was trapped in-between four ladies. "He gets that way after a few beers. One time he told Robert DeNiro that he was a shitty actor and only had one acting face."

Laughing, Gabriel tried to picture the singer berating one of America's favorite actors. "That's funny. I bet that was the first time anyone ever told that jackass the truth."

"That's besides the point. We were talking about alcohol and its effects." Lance waved his drink at him. "Take this other friend of mine." This time pointing to Jc who was laughing with a pretty blond in a corner. "Alcohol makes him believe something he's not. When he's drinking, he can forget what he really is."

Musing over Lance's statements, Gabriel tried to figure out where the conversation was going. Not finding it he asked, "And what does alcohol do to you?"

"Me? Nothing. I'm the same drunk or sober." Lance said with a grin. "But what I'm worried about is you."

"Me?" Gabriel asked, a bit taken back at the southerner's bluntness. "What about me?"

"What does alcohol make you do?" Lance asked, his face serious.

"For one, it gives me the strength to answer stupid questions from people I don't know." Gabriel said pointedly. "And for two, it makes me realize that some people shouldn't drink martini's. Excuse me."

Gabriel started walking away when Lance grabbed his arm, "Wait."

Gabriel ripped his arm away from Lance's grip, anger veiling his face. "Yes."

A smile broke out on Lance's face. Downing the rest of his vodka, he said, "I like you. I just don't want a certain friend of mine to get hurt."

Feigning ignorance, Gabriel said, "What do you mean?"

"Absolutely nothing. I just wanted to tell you that you should be careful what you drink." Lance stated blandly. "Other than that, have fun." Turning away he ordered another drink. Glancing back he stated, "Besides, I haven't seen him smile in months."

Gabriel stared at him for a moment. He would never have guessed that Justin would tell anyone. He seemed too secretive plus Gabriel would have sworn that he had never been with a man before.

Lance had turned away from him, already chatting with someone at the bar. Gabriel shook his head and headed towards Justin. This night was getting bizarre to say the least.

Justin was still talking to the four ladies, smiling and laughing loudly. But as Gabriel walked closer, he could see Justin straining to keep the grin on his face. Boy what a beautiful face.

"Excuse me ladies." Gabriel interrupted. "But I have to steal him for a moment. It seems someone is trapped in the bathroom and they need him to sing for him."

One of the ladies asked, confusion all over her face, "Sing for him?"

"Yes, it seems that the man is hysterical and needs someone to sooth him while they pry the door open." Gabriel lied smoothly, pulling an astonished Justin with him.

Laughing, Justin said, "Stuck in a bathroom?"

"It worked didn't it." Gabriel shrugged with a grin. "Besides, someone told me that you can sing well."

"Only well?" Justin asked, pretending to be shocked. "I have you know I sing more than just well."

"I'll take your word for it." Gabriel stated, as they walked towards the tables. "Where are you sitting at?"

Pointing, Justin replied, "Up there. The very first table."

"Important are we." Gabriel teased. "I'm all the way over there." He pointed towards the back. "You would think that you could've got me better seating arrangements. After all you're famous and all."

Justin grinned and said dramatically, "I tried, but they said you were just to common to sit up front with me."

"I see." Gabriel said, sitting down at Justin's table.

Justin sat down next to him. Trying to figure out the man beside him. He knew that Gabriel wasn't everything he said he was. He knew the man was an agent for the NSA and probably on assignment in Hershey. But he didn't know the motivation behind the obvious attraction that Gabriel had shown him.

Waving away a server, Justin stated quietly, "I want to explain why I left this morning."

"Go ahead. I'm curious myself." Gabriel said with a grin, folding his arms across his chest.

Toying with the silverware on the table, Justin continued, "I wasn't sure what your intentions were. For all I know you could've slept with me just to tell the world that I'm gay."

Laughing, Gabriel stated, "Who came on to who? As I recall, you kissed me first."

Laughing, Justin said, "That's right I did."

"But now you think you know my intentions."

"Of course not." Justin snorted. "But I don't think you're going to sell the story to the Inquirer either."

"Well." Looking at him with a straight face. "They didn't offer me enough. I decided on Star."

"Fucker." Justin said, playfully hitting him on the arm. Waving over the server, he said, "You know you have to split it with me."

"Oh really. I thought you had more money than god." Gabriel laughed.

"Not yet. But with my cut of the story I'll be damn close." Justin said lightly. "I'll have a beer and so will he." Justin informed the server.

"I don't know. After all, you didn't really work for it." Gabriel said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.

"Oh really. You don't call what I did last night work?" Justin asked, his eyes wide.

"As I remember I was doing all the work." Gabriel reminded him.

"Fuc..." Justin stopped himself as the server returned with the drinks. "Thank you."

"Yes. Did you want to say something?" Gabriel asked, grinning broadly.

"There you are. I've been looking for you."

They turned to see Joey and Chris standing there, each holding two beers. Justin grinned and said, "Two fisted tonight. Is it that bad?"

"You have no idea." Chris replied, looking at Gabriel evenly. He eyed up the blond, trying to figure out why Justin was talking to him.

Joey sat down next to Justin and nudged him. Justin smacked his head and said, "Joey, Chris, this is Gabriel. He's a video director and we've been going over ideas for our next video."

Gabriel immediately said, "Yes, I see the five of you on top of a building. Each one of you wearing yellow spandex and rain, lots of rain everywhere falling down on you while you sing to red headed hermaphrodites. It will be your crowning achievement." Gabriel finished, his eyes shining brightly, his hands over his head.

Joey and Chris looked at each other, frowns on their face. Looking back at Gabriel, who waited with a look of expectation on his face. Joey started, "Good idea. But we really don't have any say with our videos."

"Then it's about time you started." Gabriel replied harshly. "Videos are like a piece of yourself. Expression is the only freedom we have left. You have no idea where I can take you boys. To the very stars."

"Well, we'll call you." Chris said, his eyes pleading to Justin for help.

"I told you they would love it." Justin beamed at Gabriel. "Here is our business number. Please call us."

Gabriel took the piece of paper and smiled at them. "Nice to meet you. Remember, yellow spandex." And with that he left with a flourish.

Joey and Chris groaned while Justin lost it and started laughing. "You can't be serious about that Justin." Chris declared loudly.

"That was the worst idea I've ever heard." Joey exclaimed. "You've got to be out of your mind."

"We don't know where he can take us." Chris snorted. Joey finished, "To the fucking toilet. Yellow spandex."

Justin sat back grinning. Gabriel was just too much fun to have around. That was more than he ever expected. It was turning out to be a great night.

Lance and Jc joined them soon afterwards. A few minutes later, the Mayor and his wife introduced themselves and thanked the boys for supporting the benefit. They all replied sincerely that it was the least they could do. Each one of them had donated ten thousand dollars towards the AIDS charity, as much as they could they tried to give back.

Dinner was served, a choice of fish or goose. All of the friends dined on the fish. After dinner was finished, the entertainment started. Which consisted of a singer/songwriter that sang about the danger of AIDS, a lesbian spouting angry poetry at men, a teenager who begged for understanding and a comedian that made the audience forget about the previous acts.

All through dinner, Justin kept stealing glances at Gabriel who never seemed to take his eyes off of him. Between that and Jc's frown, Justin had his hands busy. Lance and Jc were sitting side by side, but he could see the strain in Jc's face along with confusion in Lance's. Neither knew what Justin knew and he couldn't figure out a way to fix the problem.

After Lance had made a statement on behalf of the band, the benefit ended. Most of the guests ended up at the champagne reception that was held one flight up in the Hershey lounge. Nsync made a brief appearance before heading down to the Hotel bar. They couldn't stay out late, but no one wanted to call it a night yet. Besides, Justin had promised to meet Gabriel there afterwards.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The man entered Gabriel's building like a ghost. Going through a basement window, he quickly walked up the nine flights of stairs. He was dressed in all black clothing, a mask covering his face.

Pausing for a second at the entranceway, he rushed into the hall. Sprinting down the hall, he stopped in front of the door. Looking up at the camera he waved before sticking the key in the lock.

Shutting the door quickly behind him, he surveyed the apartment. Just like any other bachelor pad, it was richly decorated with imported furniture and insanely clean. Famous pieces of art dotted the walls and the man smiled. Gabriel Foster had been doing quite well for himself. Stopping to pick up a bottle of scotch, he read the label. Even has good taste in liqueur he laughed.

One the surface, the apartment looked like any other wealthy person's apartment, but underneath the man could see the subtle differences. For one thing, there were no personal pictures anywhere in the apartment. No family members, no girlfriend or boyfriend not even the usual vanity picture. Nothing to show that Gabriel Foster existed, nothing that he couldn't leave behind in a moment's notice.

Without bothering to search the bedroom, the man walked over to the safe. The safe was top of the line, specially designed by a safecracker to be secure from burglaries. The man laughed, it took him twenty minutes to open it instead of the usual five.

Taking pictures of everything he found inside, the man peered over the documents. When he found the file on the Senator he whistled softly. Shaking his head he said, "I couldn't believe it. Not of you."

Stealing himself for the task ahead, he replaced the documents just as he found them. Knowing that there was no need to search the rest of the apartment, he went over to the security monitors. It took him a few moments to find the hidden videotape of the hall. Replacing the tape in the machine with one from his pocket, he made sure that everything was as he found it.

Satisfied, he quickly left the apartment and made sure to lock the door. As he walked down the stairs, his mind was racing. He had warned him once to stay away from the Senator. Maybe he needed to do something more substantial to catch his attention. Either way, Gabriel was going to know that he was only one step behind him. Look Gabriel, I'm coming for you.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gabriel couldn't help but laugh after leaving Joey and Chris dumbfounded at the table. He did not know why Justin started the fabrication but he found it amusing. Maybe the singer did not want anyone to know about his sexual preference. Either way, Gabriel was more than happy to oblige him.

After finding his seat, he read the piece of paper that Justin had passed to him.

For the entire dinner, he mind lingered on Justin. He watched him closely, the way he laughed, frowned, the birdlike way he ate his food, everything he found attractive.

He ate the soup politely and passed on the fish, he was still very full from Tom's house. During the dinner, he switched to water; he needed his wits about him for the upcoming day's events.

While he stared at Justin, his mind filtered through the information about the hitter. Or lack of information. Thinking back over his career, he realized how little information he had surrounding this contract.

Scott had been able to keep track of countless hitters in the past, even those that had nothing to do with Gabriel's own assignments. The more he thought about it, the queerer everything became. Could Scott be slipping?

In his mind he went over the packet that Mehmet had sent him. A few pictures, his schedule, a few personal items but nothing about his habits or preferences. It was odd that he had so little information about the Senator. Mehmet was usually very thorough and meticulous.

Then back to Scott. His lack of any leads was puzzling. Gabriel had seen the man track someone with nothing but a shoe to go on. Scott had gotten him out of more jams than anyone before, why now, all of a sudden, he came up empty on every item. Shaking his head, he thought, I can't start suspecting him. Paranoia gets people killed.

Again the thought that he had lost focus somehow crashed to the front of his mind. That beautiful smile, the way he bites his lip when he's thinking, everything about Justin drove him wild. Realizing that he was in over his head, he almost left the room during the middle of the comedian. He was breaking all of his rules.

But then Justin met his gaze and all doubts went out the proverbial window. When they're eyes met, even across a crowded room, he could feel the electricity between them. I've started this ride, can't get off now he murmured to himself. He could do nothing but wait until the ride stopped.

With a feeling of complete and utter helplessness, he headed towards the bar when the show was finished. Right or wrong good or bad he would trust his instincts and play the cards out. Nothing more he could do, his entire life had been a gamble, it was all he knew.

The bar was brightly lit, black tables with brass railing decorated the expensive tavern. Servers wearing tuxedos weaved in and out of private tables, trays held high above their heads. The bar itself was a giant horseshoe, black marble top with brass footrests. Three bartenders worked it, laughing and performing tricks while they flirted and chatted with the customers.

The bar was full, mostly guests of the hotel along with several attendees of the benefit. Each table was crowded with older businessmen, smoking Cuban cigars and sipping expensive scotch while they decided the future of big business.

As Gabriel made his way to an empty seat at the bar, he smiled. Money was something he could understand. His career was entirely based on monetary achievements. Having more money than he even knew about, it was the only way to keep score.

Ordering an imported beer, he waited for Justin to find him. A very drunk gentleman beside him interrupted his musing.

"Excuse me?" He replied, not catching what the man had said.

"I said, are you with the convention?" The man slurred, already far-gone in drink.

"No, I'm here on business." Gabriel replied smoothly.

"What are you into to?"

"I sell bathroom insurance." Gabriel replied with a grin. "I know, it's a crappy job but someone has to do it."

"Make a lot of money doing that?" The man asked, nodding his head slowly.

"Comes and goes." Gabriel said evenly. "The only draw back is I have to run around a lot."

"I'm a digital programmer for N-Tek Industries." The man continued on, obvious to Gabriel's absurd job description. "We're here in town learning about new safeguarding techniques."

Smacking the man on the back rather hard, he smiled, "Good luck. May no one steal your secrets."

"Thank you." The man slurred.

Gabriel motioned the bartender over and said, "Hey buddy, can you get rid of this drunk. He just asked me if I wanted to fuck him for fifty bucks."

The drunken man blanched and tried to deny the accusation as the bartender motioned for a bouncer to come over and eject the hapless customer.

The bartender stated with a frown, "I'm sorry about that. Let me buy you drink."

Downing the rest of his beer, Gabriel grinned, "That would be great. Thanks."

He angled his body so he could see the door. It wasn't long until Justin arrived with his four friends in tow. All of them were laughing and Gabriel could tell that they had indulged themselves with the champagne. Justin seemed more sober than the rest of the guys; Lance was having trouble walking straight.

He waved to Justin, a smile on his face. When they walked over to him Joey called out, "Hey, it's that director that wants us to wear spandex."

"Oh god, lets go before he sees us." Chris groaned, pulling Joey away from Gabriel. Of course it was too late considering they were standing right in front of Gabriel at the time.

Grinning at Lance, Gabriel stated, "I see now what you meant about the affects of drinking."

"Told ya." Lance slurred, giggling loudly. "I knew I liked you."

Jc offered his hand and said, "Thanks for earlier. Your friends were killing me."

"No problem. I do it to them all the time." Gabriel assured him, still peering at Justin.

"Hi." Gabriel said to Justin who replied, "Hi."

Lance and Jc looked at one another then started laughing. They ambled over to a group of ladies and started talking leaving Justin and Gabriel alone at the bar.

Justin sat down and said, "Don't take the guys seriously. Joey and Chris are harmless."

Laughing, Gabriel asked, "But are you harmless?"

"No." Justin replied with a straight face. "Not at all Gabriel Foster."

Wincing, Gabriel said, "You found out huh."

"Yep, I found out a lot about you lately. Care to hear?" Justin asked, motioning over the bartender. "Give me what ever he's having."

"Not really." Gabriel replied. "I would rather hear about what I can do to make it up to you later on tonight."

Grabbing his beer, he asked before taking a gulp, "That depends on why you lied? If you lied because of your job then I have lots of ideas."

"And if I lied..."

"Then I would walk out that door and never talk to you again." Justin replied honestly, staring at him intently. "So..."

"I can tell you that the reason I lied had to do with what I do for a living." Gabriel stated slowly, apprehension on his face.

"Perfect." Justin exploded, grinning broadly. "Then you can start by getting fucked up with me and my friends."

"Okay." Gabriel said, clinking their glasses together.

"Come on. Their really funny trust me." Justin laughed, leading Gabriel towards the table where Joey and Chris were entertaining a few ladies.

"Oh god." Joey groaned at the sight of Gabriel. Nudging Chris he stated, "It's that director guy again."

"Can we sneak away?" Chris asked, looking right at Gabriel.

"I don't think so. I think he saw us this time." Joey exclaimed sadly. "Hi Justin."

"What's up guys?" Justin grinned, smiling at all the ladies crowded around the table. None of them were young, mostly older ladies at the hotel with their husbands but all of them attractive and richly dressed.

"We were just telling the ladies about the time at Hershey Park when you threw up all over the place." Joey explained, laughing along with the rest of the table.

"You threw up?" Gabriel said suddenly, laughing. "What a pansy."

"I was hungover." Justin tried to explain, his face beaming. "It wasn't my fault."

"Sure it wasn't Curly." Chris said, shaking his head. "It was Jack Daniels fault."

"Speaking of shots." Joey said eagerly, rubbing his hands together. "Who wants one?"

The ladies declined and Gabriel shook his head. But then Justin shouted, "Oh no. We have a deal. First you get drunk with my friends, remember?"

Gabriel gave in and Joey ran off to get shots from the bar. With the humor getting raunchy by the minute, the ladies excused themselves leaving the four to their own devices.

Joey returned with a tray full of shots. Setting it down in the center of the table, he grinned like a madman. Justin and Chris groaned, they knew what game Joey had in mind. Gabriel looked down at the tray of shots with a look of confusion.

"Why so many?" He asked. He had stopped counting at twenty shots.

"If you want to direct us in a video, you have to prove you can drink with us." Joey slurred loudly. "It's a simple game."

"How do you play it?" Gabriel asked.

"We can only speak in questions. If someone makes a statement, then they have to drink." Chris explained, taking off his jacket. "Trust me, it doesn't last long. Most of the time the bartenders won't give us anymore shots.

"When does it start?" Gabriel asked with a grin. "Why do I love drinking games so much?"

"It starts now." Justin stated, then sighing. He grabbed the glass and downed it. "What the fuck did you get Joey?"

"Scotch." Joey answered grinning. The one drink Justin hated.

"Chris?" Gabriel asked. "Doesn't Joey have to drink?"

"Yes he does." Chris stated. "You didn't say it like a question."

Joey growled and motioned to Chris to follow suit. They clinked the glasses and shot them. Both grimaced but they eyes were shining.

Making a silent pact, they decided to trick Gabriel into drinking. Joey started it, "What do you do for a living?"

"Do they call me a director?"

"How old are you?" Chris fired immediately.

"I'm not old enough?"

Gabriel was smiling, Justin was right; they were fun to hang around with.

Justin got in on the action; "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Don't you know?" Gabriel shot back grinning. This was getting fun.

Asking Justin he said, "Are you finished with that?"

"Does it look like it?" He shot back with a smile.

Joey stated loudly, "Who here hasn't done a shot?"

Gabriel raised his hand and said, "Me."

All three of them yelled, "Drink."

"Join me." Gabriel said as he raised the small glass in the air. "I was getting thirsty." He explained while they all clinked their glasses together in the center of the table.

They slammed the shot glasses down loudly and continued their game. Sometime later Lance had joined them and quickly got caught up in the game. Jc was busy flirting with some woman and he had disappeared with Mike trailing behind him.

When the tray was empty, Lance was voted to try and get another tray. The group smiled when he returned with a tray with thirty shots on it. "Tequila time boys and girls."

To Be Continued

Copyright©2002 Glacier Boy