Friday, June 6 - Detroit house show
Sarah and Claudio sat together in catering, heads together, feeding each other food and kissing in between bites. Isabelle and Stephen stood in the doorway and watched the loving display. "Doesn't it just make you sick?" she whispered.
"Ah em so lucky yeh do net spoil meh like tha'." Stephen whispered back. "Sick'nen. Jes sick'nen."
"Hey, ya'll! We haven't seen you in forever!" Summer Rae greeted as she and Renee sat down at Sarah and Claudio's table. "Where have you two been hiding?"
Isabelle turned to bury her face in Stephen's collarbone as she whispered, "Let's get outa here. I can't stand those two. Sorry to leave Sarah and C in their clutches…"
"Ach, C's been lovin' it up fo' days wit da lass. He can deal wit them!" He hooked his own lass around the neck and snuck away from catering without being spotted.
Nick and Colby sat in the locker room together. "We need to walk through tonight's show."
"I don't feel like it."
"Neither do I. This week has been pure hell." Colby admitted.
"I don't know how they do it. I thought our schedules were hell, but the pace they keep is absolutely brutal." Nick agreed.
Colby sat on a bench with his head in his hands. "I don't think either one would have eaten if we hadn't stuffed food in their mouths."
"Or slept if we hadn't forcibly closed their computers." Nick laid on another bench. "I'm afraid of whatever they are working on. It's definitely not good." Both men flinched but didn't rise from their positions as the locker room door slammed open. "WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!" Nick shouted at the four figures infiltrating the room.
Jon and Joe lead the way. Sam and Torrie followed, shutting and locking the door. "You aren't the problem, Nick. Just shut up and stay out of the way." Jon snarled as he headed for Colby. "We want an explanation and we're going to beat it out of him."
Colby stood and waited for Jon calmly. Nick jumped to his feet and met Jon halfway across the room. He put one hand on the center of Jon's chest and looked him in the eye. "I get that you are pissed. You have every right to be. The three of you should sit down and talk but now isn't the time to do it. Colby really isn't the ass I thought he was. He might surprise you, too."
"I'ma 'bout to surprise his ass." Jon snarled again.
Nick held him off again. "Let him come. Might as well get it over with." Colby said tiredly.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Joe asked. "You both look like shit. Have either of you slept this week? And when did the two of you get so tight?"
Colby dropped back onto the bench. Nick looked at Jon, blinked slowly before backing up and dropping beside the other exhausted man. "Shannon and Kay have been working all week."
"Nick wasn't thrilled to knock on our door but he did it because Shannon needed help." Colby added. "We've tried to be supportive. Keep them fed and make them sleep every once in a while." He resumed his previous position of holding his head in his hands.
"Damn." Sam said softly. "Don't know what's coming?"
"Nope. Provide assistance. That's it." Nick said quietly.
"You both look beat." Torrie finally spoke.
Joe and Jon sat on the bench opposite Nick and Colby. Their woman sat on either side of them. Colby ran a hand through his hair tiredly. "I shoulda called."
"Shoulda not beat the shit outa us in the first place." Jon corrected.
"We just need four hours of sleep. With four hours our batteries would be recharged. Then we can…" Kay sighed as she flopped backwards on the bed.
Shannon started to lie back only to roll to her side and grab her phone as it began to ring. She barely got the customary greeting out before the person began to fill her in on the activities on the other side of the world. She sat upright and snatched her computer. Ranked second on their threat assessment list, police officers had been kidnapped. Now the powers-that-be were hoping that they could get some help with who was responsible and where to look for the missing people. Promising to try, she hung up the phone and threw it on the bed.
"What happened?" Kay asked, all trace of exhaustion gone.
"Twenty-one police officers are missing in Iraq. They want us to see if we can find any trace of them or who is responsible." Shannon explained briefly.
"Let me wave my magic wand." Kay muttered as she grabbed her computer and began searching for surveillance video that no one else would be able to find. "You know this is really a fruitless search, don't you?"
Shannon sighed. "I know that. You know that. I think most everyone knows that. But their families need them back."