"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: The song has officially been guessed; it's "It's Hard to Say I Do, When I Don't"; foreshadowing? Maybe. Anyways, I thought I'd just address some things right here so that everyone gets on the same page: Both of the twins are Jamie's; Jude, Tommy, and Jamie will all make it out alive (more or less); and yes, there will a part deux.

88

Five Months Later...

Tommy rubbed his eyes for the fifth straight time and tried to stay awake. Unfortunately, the fact that he hadn't slept in almost forty hours wasn't helping his attempt to stay awake during Darius' business meeting. He didn't want to be here, not when Jamie was off doing God knew what with the F.B.I., but as everyone seemed to point out to him, he had a job to do. And so he sat and listened to Darius drone on about record sales.

In the five months since Jude had been kidnaped, he'd been forced to just sit idly by and wait for news on Jude. Jamie meanwhile, once his injuries had healed, had taken a more active approach to things, often traveling with Stuart whenever the F.B.I. thought they had a lead. Which was where the younger man was now; following the agents around in Philadelphia. He and Stuart had been gone almost a week and so far, neither man had made a call. As Darius adjourned the meeting Portia approached him. "Tommy, you got a call from Jamie."

Tommy nodded and ran to his office where he took the call. "Any news?" he asked, not bothering with a 'hello'.

"No," came Jamie's tense reply. "It was just another dead end." There was a pause. "Do you think Liam's doing this? Feeding us this false information and then watching us scramble around like a fucking chicken with it's head cut off?"

"I don't know, Jamie," Tommy admitted. There was a tense silence and then, "Do you know what today is, Tommy?"

Tommy sighed. "Yeah, I know."

"She's supposed to be giving birth to our babies right now! Not locked up, God knows where."

Tommy closed his eyes, trying not to imagine Jude, locked up in some dingy warehouse, going through labor without him or Jamie there. Then, in a moment of clarity, it hit him. "Jamie!"

"Hospitals," the younger man cut off. "She could be in a hospital, right now."

After making Jamie promise to call if anything turned up, Tommy caught up with Kwest and told him about the epiphany he and Jamie had just shared. "Do you really think the F.B.I. is going to go through every hospital in two different countries just to find Jude?" he asked, once Tommy had finished.

"We'll start small," Tommy said. "People want to find her. She's a celebrity; millions of people know her face."

"Then why hasn't anyone called a sighting in?" Kwest countered. "Look T, I wanna see Jude safe and back here as much anyone, except maybe you and Jamie, but you've gotta stay realistic."

Tommy's eyes flashed as he turned to face Kwest. "I know that, Kwest. But hoping that she is alright is all I got left."

"I'm sorry, man," Kwest whispered.

"Whatever," Tommy shrugged before walking away.

88

"Quincy! Open up!"

Tommy slowly opened his eyes and checked the clock. 3 a.m. He'd only gotten to sleep twenty minutes ago. "Who the hell?" he muttered, sitting up.

"Quincy!" This time he recognized the voice. Running toward the door, a million images and scenarios began to play through his head. He flung the door open just as Jamie was preparing to knock again. "Get dressed," he said. "We think we found her."

"How much of a chance?" Tommy asked, remembering Kwest's earlier comments.

"Would I be here if I wasn't sure?"

Tommy smiled and, in an uncharacteristic moment, hugged Jamie. "We got her back," he smiled. "We got her."

88

"Hello?" While generally speaking, Liam didn't like to be awoken at this hour, the number that had flashed across his caller i.d. had made him get up.

"Sir." It was his spy at G Major. "Andrews is back and at Quincy's home." There was nervous pause as the speaker tried to work out how to deliver the news. "I think they may know where Jude is."

Liam grimaced. "Well then, it's time for Plan B."