"Best Friends"

Summary: Tommy Quincy hates Jamie Andrews with a passion. But why? Takes place after "Date With the Night."

Disclaimer: All chapter titles are songs by Fall Out Boy. Also I don't own anything related to "Instant Star" except for a couple of Jude-centric fantasies.

Author's Note: So far no one's got the song.(Which isn't the last chapter but one of the last.) Here's a little hint: B-side.

88

Tommy had seen better days. He was currently handcuffed to a chair in the middle of an empty warehouse with only Jamie Andrews for company; Definitely not the best day. "Are you okay?" he asked Jamie, who was likewise handcuffed.

"Just dandy," came the sarcastic reply.

Tommy rolled his eyes but inwardly he smiled. As long as Jamie was facetious towards him, then he knew Andrews was fine. The door to the warehouse opened and the men who had taken them entered with a third man, this one clearly in charge, in tow.

"Jacob?" Jamie whispered, referring to the new arrival.

Tommy took in the man's six foot frame, lean muscles, and ugly face. "Jacob," he nodded.

"Gentlemen," Jacob spoke and it sounded as if the man had never used the word before. "How are you?"

"A little uncomfortable," Jamie said, "but hey we're your captives so who are we to complain?"

Jacob grinned and motioned to Jamie. "You've got spunk."

Jamie shook his head. "Don't do it, Jacob. Don't you dare quote 'Mary Tyler Moore'."

Tommy winced as Jacob struck Jamie hard across the face. The young man went flying backwards, his head hitting the ground. He didn't know what had gotten into Andrews but he knew that he had to do something before Jamie got them both killed. "What does Liam want?"

Jacob turned his attention to Tommy. "Your assurance."

"Assurance of what?"

"That you will call off the Feds and let him go," Jacob said.

"Why would we do that?" Tommy demanded.

"Because," Jacob smiled. "If you don't...Jude dies."

88

"So you think the Federal Bureau of Investigation is going to just back down because of one girl?" Darius asked.

It was three days later and everyone was crowded into Darius' office. "More or less," Jamie nodded.

"They aren't going to go for it," Darius said. "They would like to see Jude saved as much as the next guy but not at the cost of the entire investigation."

"We don't have a choice," Tommy said quietly. "They back off or he kills Jude."

"And our kids," Jamie added, his voice for the first time showing the strain of the past week.

Darius sighed. "I'll see what I can do." With that Tommy and Jamie left with Sadie and Stuart.

"Do you think they'll really let Liam go?" Sadie asked, once they were out of G Major.

"Hopefully," Stuart muttered.

Tommy shook his head. "I wouldn't bet on it."

88

Liam looked into the room where Jude was being kept. "I appreciate your hospitality," he began, "but I must be leaving." He turned to face the family who had 'volunteered' their house to be his temporary hiding spot. "Just leave the girl in there." He smiled, an act that was ten times more threatening than if he had pulled out his gun and started to wave it around. "Don't let her go. Not until you get a call from me." He eyed the couple, who were in their late forties, and handed them an envelope. "Give this to her when she wakes up. I guarantee she won't try to run."

Without another word he began walking out, but before he reached the front porch he turned and said, "Don't call the police either. They won't help." And then he was gone.

88

Jude looked at the envelope in her hand; the one that the woman had handed her after she'd woken up, screaming at Liam. Inside were two pictures, one of Jamie and the other of Tommy. Both had the same thing written on them in red ink, "Run and they die."