A/N: This is considerably shorter than the last chapter, so no worries! Yeah, things will be explained, more action will happen, a lot of revelations, all that jazz. Nothing much to say, so review, disclaimer is in the first chapter.
Courtney walked to room 6, Shania's dressing room, and knocked on the door.
"What?!" Shania yelled from inside.
"It's me!" Shania opened the door.
"Get in here." The two girls started hanging out in the spacious dressing room. One side was filled with pots of white orchids.
"Damn!"
"Oh, aren't they gorgeous? Orchids are the symbol of pure affection."
"Wow. You sure have a lot of them."
"They help me relax." Shania was checking over her makeup at the vanity.
"I could use some of that."
"Have you ever felt so unbelievably alive?!" Shania leaned back in her seat. "This is going to be the best night of my life! I am ready, I am so ready." Courtney wandered over to an ice bucket where a bottle of water was and started drinking some while Shania practiced her singing and dancing.
"Hey, I thought you weren't getting anymore fan mail." Courtney examined a letter on the glass top coffee table. "Whoa, these people think they actually have a relationship with you."
"Like I said, it comes with the territory. My music touches people, so they want to touch me back."
"Shouldn't the cops be getting all of this stuff?"
"Oh, those are old."
"This one isn't. It mentions last night's show. Wait, these are all from the same guy. It's him. The one they're all afraid of. You're communicating with him?!" Courtney was becoming enraged, and fast.
"He's my number one fan. Brianna's a sweet girl, but she's got nothing on him."
"He's not a fan. He's insane!"
"What do you know? YOU'RE A BACKGROUND SINGER! A WANNABEE, A NOTHING!" Shania snatched the papers from Courtney.
"Three minutes." One of the assistants called from outside of the dressing room.
"Showtime. Biggest show ever." Shania left Courtney alone in the dressing room. Courtney was about to leave, but then she noticed a red paper under one of the flower pots. She lifted up the pot, and read the note. Tonight…Courtney grew frantic and started flipping over flower pots. She found one more. Will be your last…Then one last one. Goodbye! Courtney ran out of the dressing room to Shania as fast as she could.
"SHANIA!!! WAIT!!! Don't do this!"
"This is what I do."
"HE'S GOING TO KILL YOU! I THINK YOU KNOW THAT!"
"You have no idea what it's like."
"You can't go out there!"
"You don't tell me what I can and can't do."
"You want him to shoot you, onstage and tonight! You're crazier than he is!"
"I'm not crazy. I just want to be free." Courtney left Shania and tried to warn anybody about what was going to happen. She then found one of the crew and immediately tried to warn him about the impending doom.
"We have to stop the show. Shania—"
"Janis, get your ass stage left."
"Where's Katz?"
"I'll take you there myself." Courtney stopped him.
"I will smack you." The crewman shrugged and left her, and Courtney ran about backstage trying to find Joe. Meanwhile, the lanky man was piecing his rifle together once more and making sure that everything was ready and got into position, waiting for the perfect time to shoot Shania. Shania herself was introducing Bridgette.
"This is Brianna!" Leshawna handed Bridgette a microphone, but Leshawna started to back away slowly because she knew it was Bridgette she had handed the microphone to.
"What's up Los Angeles?" Bridgette shyly asked and waved to the crowd through a microphone. The crowd went wild for the two women onstage.
Backstage, Courtney finally found Joe. "He's here. I can feel it. I know it."
"Stop the show." He told the head of the security staff.
"Because the background singer said to?"
"Do it."
"There's no way psycho got through security. It's not like he could sneak a knife or a gun in here. Just relax." Courtney couldn't relax, and she resolved to get up onstage and use the light to find the assailant. "Hey, wait—" Courtney kneed him in the stomach. One of the guys went up to stop her, but was stopped by Joe. Meanwhile, Courtney started flashing one of the lights everywhere, looking in the crowd and then—she found him, and he fired two shots.
"SHANIA GET DOWN!" Courtney pushed Shania down just on time so that Shania didn't get hurt. In all of the confusion, Bridgette was pushed with the rest of the crowd, and Courtney and Shania were pushed backstage.
DJ had been driven around from hospital to hospital for the past eight hours because none of them would take him. All that time, DJ was awake, but couldn't speak at all. Then, one of the emergency responders put PVC in his system, and DJ went into arrest. DJ blacked out after that.
Meanwhile, Courtney and Shania walked back into room 6, Shania's dressing room. Shania, however, was extremely perturbed by Courtney.
"What the hell's wrong with you?" Shania asked Courtney.
"WITH ME?!"
"YOU SHUT DOWN MY SHOW!"
"I SAVED YOUR LIFE!"
"YOU'VE GOT NO UNDERSTANDING OF MY LIFE!"
"Okay, are there any drugs you are NOT on? The guy was about to put a bullet in you, which also ends the show."
"You disappointed all of those people. I was going to give them a show! Now, all they'll say is that I didn't give them a finish." Shania walked to her vanity and sat in the chair there.
"They don't want to see you die."
"Did they grow you in a lab? Do you know anything about people? They love to see me die. Eighty years old, they'd be talking about tonight, how they were there when—"
"Shania, you are not okay. You are having a break down; not a Britney Spears wacky phase; you are truly unwell."
"So he puts me out of my misery."
"What misery?! What have you got to be miserable about?!"
"No. Right, uh…I've got to be happy. I've got to be grateful! I've got to be rebellious, but just enough to give me cred so they know I'm not a factory girl. But I am. I don't exist. I'm not a real person. I'm everybody's fantasy, and God help me if I try not to be. You weren't grown in the lab I was. I've been singing for myself, for when, and for EVERYBODY ELSE! God put this voice in me, and I've got to make it mine. I don't feel it. I don't feel anything, and for a long while too. But I know he's out there. The Reaper, any minute now—boooooom—freedom. There's your rush. There's your joy. I can hear myself. I can—"
"I think you can hear yourself just fine. Maybe you want to listen to someone else. You don't like your life? Change it."
"THEY WON'T LET ME!"
"Then make them let you! You're feeling pain, but all you're doing is spreading it around. God, the last thing I ever thought you'd be was weak." Shania looked at Courtney, fire in her eyes.
"Get out of here. You say anything to Katz, I'll tell every psycho fan I've got where you live and you won't last a day."
"Oh, this gig was supposed to change everything, and now, I think it did!"
"Get your scrawny ass out of my space before I—" Shania started to push Courtney out, but Courtney rammed Shania against a wall.
"You can fire me, but you can't push me out, you fucking bitch. Have fun with your fan." Courtney left the dressing room, and Shania. She was going back to the dance studio to get her things.
Bridgette decided to be smart and walked to the back entrance, praying that someone was there to let her back in to be with Shania. However, the lanky man jumped out of one of the alleys and bound her, and the two of them were off to the man's house. He was going to film a video for Shania, and Bridgette was going to star.
"Hey, I came to get my things." Courtney thought she was talking to Raina, but instead, Leshawna turned around.
"Courtney? Is that you?"
"Um, my name is Janis. Janis Kusmitch."
"Girl, I know you're playing. So drop the act. I never knew you could sing so well!"
"Really, whoever you are, I'm not whoever you think I am."
"Hey, are you still together with that punk white boy? Duncan?" Leshawna had lost touch with all of the TD campers, but Duncan's name triggered a memory in Courtney's mind. She now remembered who all of the campers were—except for herself.
"Leshawna…?"
"Oh my God, I thought something had happened to you too. It wasn't a good idea to be seen out with Shania." Yasmin shook Courtney back down to Earth. Courtney immediately ran up the stairs to the second floor where Shania and Joe were watching the lanky red-head point a gun at Bridgette's head.
"You have my number. Call me." And the screen froze.
"Call me?" Joe asked, English accent wavering. Shania turned to look at him, and he slapped her square across the face. Courtney pushed Joe to the wall, and Shania ran away, as far as her legs could go. "Ten years. Ten fucking years, and I've never had to do that to anyone. She wanted this. She wanted all of it. Otherwise I never would've—"
"Getting what you want may not always be the best thing for a person." Courtney simply responded.
"You're supposed to be with her." Joe almost made it seem like a question.
"She fired me."
"Does that make a difference?"
"No. I don't know why, but even after everything that's happened, I still feel that I have to help her." Courtney glanced down at the screen and saw Bridgette, who looked like she had burst into tears numerous times, and left Joe alone, not even realizing that Joe had switched to his actual voice when he started talking to Courtney without Shania with him.
Heather was overlooking the Las Vegas skyline from her office. Tonight, she was wearing a black button down blazer, a hot pink silk dress shirt, and a black pencil skirt. Harold walked in, interrupting her thoughts about her conversation with her older cousin yesterday.
"Bridgette's been kidnapped."
"She drew his focus away from Shania. Good call."
"Thank you. Her Clerk's outside their location; I told him to wait for our team."
"And Courtney?"
"Still on task." Harold bowed and started walking away.
"Are you a fan Harold?" Heather asked him, but still looking at the skyline. Harold turned around to face her.
"Of who?"
"Of Shania, do you like her music?"
"I don't think that's a pertinent question, at least, not at the level we're dealing with."
"Nope. So get the girl, close it out." Harold bowed and left the office. It didn't have to turn out this way. None of it did. If it weren't for The Sir, none of this would've happened.
Courtney didn't have much time to act. It was now or never.
"What are you doing?" Courtney asked Shania. Shania was dancing in front of a mirror, watching herself. She stopped dancing and looked at Courtney through the mirror.
"You scared me."
"I scared you? After everything that's happened, I scared you?"
"Why are you here? I fired you."
"I'm not here to fight, and I'm sorry for the things that I said. How can I help?" A long moment of silence.
"You can leave."
"Then what are you going to do?"
"The show must go on."
"You can't be serious. This just isn't about you anymore; somebody else's life is in danger!"
"We called the police. What else do you want from me?"
"You know this guy. You know what he's capable of. You can stop him from hurting Brianna!"
"I can't stop him."
"You can try! She's your friend!"
"She's a fan! She'd want me to continue."
"Shania, I know you don't feel anything or think you don't, but you will. You will if you do something to save Bridgette. You will help Bridgette." And Courtney retreated into the darkness, got a folding chair, crept behind Shania, and whacked her on the head with it, effectively knocking her out. "Friends help each other out."
After the man had Bridgette sing for him, he got a message from Courtney.
"Hey there fan number one. My name is Janis, and I have Shania. I want to make an exchange, no funny stuff. I want to meet you at the original place where the shooting was supposed to go down, and you can have her. No funny stuff or I'll be the one putting the bullet in Shania's brain, not you." The call ended there.
"Get up. GET UP!"
"A little hard to do, being that I'm bound on the ground!" Bridgette fired back, now thoroughly pissed at the man.
"Then let's get up together!" He forcibly pulled Bridgette up and the two left to the El Capitan Theater.
Harold had learned of what Courtney did. Not the hurting Shania part, but that she brought Shania to the killer. He was furious, and to release his pent-up rage, he immediately went to Cody's office space and rammed him against one of the walls.
"WHAT THE HELL'S THE MATTER WITH YOU?! ARE YOU DOING THIS ON PURPOSE OR ARE YOU JUST TERRIBLE AT YOUR JOB?!" Harold screamed into Cody's face.
"Uh…neither. Doing what?"
"Courtney's off task. Your little brainchild just backfired."
"Okay, okay, firstly: OW! Secondly: Courtney is hard wired to protect the client. Sometimes, these things play out differently than we've anticipated."
"YOU BETTER CHECK YOUR TECH!" Cody was now furious.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Cody pushed Harold off of him and was no longer against the wall. "YOU'RE IN MY HOUSE HAROLD! OF THE TWO PEOPLE HERE, ONE OF US IS A GENIUS, AND THE OTHER IS A FORMER GENIUS TURNED SECURITY GUARD IN A LOVELY SUIT!"
"All right genius, tell me why Courtney would kidnap the girl you programmed her to protect and bring her to the man who's trying to kill her." Cody remained silent and baffled.
"Oh. That sounds kinda bad."
"UGH! FORGET IT!" Harold stormed out of the office space, going back to Heather. "Heather! What are we going to do?" She was still sitting in her swivel chair, looking out over the skyline, thinking. Her skills of deceit and treachery were as sharp as ever, and a plan was formulating in her head.
"Get Chase on the phone. Have him go in there."
"We're going to shoot the guy, right?"
"Yes. But I give the ultimate okay." Harold used the phone, but left it on speakerphone.
"Chase?"
"Harold! Hey, what's up?"
"We need you to go into the El Capitan Theater and eliminate the guy who has a gun pointed at Bridgette's head."
"Where are they?"
"We know that they're in the concert area, that's all. We don't know where exactly they are."
Chase sighed. "Fine. Russell or no Russell?"
"Bring him."
"No." Heather butted in. "Don't bring in Russell."
"Ma'am—"
"You heard me Harold. Chase, go alone, but keep us on the line. That way, we can hear how they're doing."
"I like the way she thinks Harold." Chase grinned to himself.
"Get in there." Harold stonily replied.
Chase skulked into the theater and into the concert area. He looked all over the dark room, but found no one. He kept looking backstage, onstage, in the mosh pit, everywhere. Then he heard a scream. The rafters. Oh crap. Chase pulled out his gun and started looking for the stairs that would lead to the rafters.
"Please, I'm sorry!" He could hear Shania sniveling and crying for her life and everyone else's.
"In position. I have a clear shot." Chase uttered through his Bluetooth piece.
"We're ready to eliminate the threat. Heather?" Harold asked her, praying that she'd say yes.
"Not just yet." Chase heard her commands, but kept his gun cocked and pointed at the red head.
"You know, this killer looks a lot like you Harold, no kidding."
"Shut up!" Harold yelled.
"Be quiet Harold!" Heather furiously whispered.
Chase kept watching Shania, Courtney, the red head, and Bridgette.
"Leave them." Heather suddenly commanded.
"You're boss Heather." And Chase left the concert area and waited outside of it, waiting for the ordeal to be over and done with.
"I don't want to hurt anymore." Shania cried.
"Let's leave it up to him." Courtney replied. "He decides your fate, right?"
"No, no, no!" Shania kept sobbing. "Please, he's crazy!" The man's slight grin started to falter.
"Guess it's not love after all."
"She doesn't mean that." The man seethed.
"I'm sorry." Shania apologized.
"Shania, I would never hurt you."
"Oh God, now you're changing your story too?!" Courtney rolled her eyes.
"SHUT UP!" The man left Bridgette sobbing on the metal floor. "I could kill you and have both girls. I could kill everybody." The man now had a crazed look in his eyes.
"NO!!!" Shania yelled.
"She doesn't seem to like that idea." Courtney pointed out the obvious to get on the man's nerves.
"SHUT UP!!! SHUT UP!!! I WILL SHOOT YOU!" Courtney pushed Shania to the ground and was ready to push her off the rafters and down to the stage.
"Then I'll let her go." The man backed off once Courtney did this.
"You don't want to die; you don't want her dead; this is way too confusing!" Courtney pushed Shania off the rafters, but Shania had her hands tied to some rope, so she managed to stay on and not die. The man cried out in anguish and ran to the rope to try to pull her up, but Courtney ran him into a post inside the building and slammed the gun out of his hand. He punched her, but she picked up the gun and pointed it at him. Finally, just to make sure he wouldn't harm anyone, she slammed the butt of the gun across his head, knocking him out.
"Is Shania okay?" Bridgette asked as Courtney helped her up. Courtney immediately went to check on Shania, who was still hanging onto the rope.
"Please don't let me die! I WANT TO LIVE!" Shania looked grateful now, and Courtney was glad. I know…And Courtney started to pull Shania up, and they both left the rafters. Shania ran out of the theater, leaving Courtney and Bridgette in one of the theaters.
"I will have quite a story to tell once I get back to BC!" Bridgette squealed.
"This is what everyday's like in America!" Courtney replied, still smiling because she was able to save Shania from herself.
"Part of it was scary, but it was by far the most exciting, fulfilling, and wonderful day of my life!"
"Have fun when you get back in BC Bridgette." Courtney hugged Bridgette.
"That's all I need." Russell had just barreled into the theater hall with Chase. "You rubbing off on her."
"Who the hell are you?" Courtney asked Russell.
"Brianna, time for your Treatment." Bridgette nodded, and the two left the theater. Now it was just Courtney and Chase.
"What's wrong with him?"
"Are you ready for your Treatment?" Chase calmly asked Courtney.
"Yeah, but can I kick that guy's ass first?"
"I will seriously consider it." Chase laughed; the pain in his abdomen long gone.
"DAMN IT HEATHER! SHE'S A RISK, AN INCREASING RISK!" Harold slammed his hand on her computer desk.
"She had control over the situation."
"BUT WE CAN'T CONTROL HER! I'm recommending that we send Courtney to the Attic before someone else ends up dead, OR WORSE, she compromises this organization."
"I believe she acted in our best interests."
"She went off mission!"
"In fact, I believe she did quite the opposite. She stopped the person who wanted Shania dead, it just so happened to be herself. And by literally dangling the threat of death in front of her, she prevented Shania from ever being a danger to herself ever again. Courtney took the mission parameter and did even better. I knew she could always think like me. You're dismissed Harold." Harold, though thoroughly pissed, bowed and left Heather alone in her office.
"Courtney seems to have the ability to think outside of the box, in pieces she can create." Chase and Beth were observing Courtney painting with brushes quite randomly on a sheet of paper.
"Create a new approach to the problem." Beth added.
"It's impressive. I don't know what it means, but it's impressive. She really is special." Beth stopped breathing for a moment after Chase said that.
"Special isn't always a good thing here."
"Heather's a businesswoman. Is she really going to harm her best Mankin?"
"She wasn't always the best."
"You're talking about Tyler."
"I'm just saying, sometimes, the best thing to hope for is good enough."
Courtney left the painting station and started to walk around. As she was walking, Bridgette was also walking, and noticed Courtney and decided to go to her. However, as Courtney was walking, she noticed Chase and Beth watching her from the second floor, then Russell talking to two other guys. Who are they? They look…mean. As Bridgette drew closer, Courtney quickly shook her head. No, please, not now…Bridgette looked downcast, and walked right past Courtney.
Sadie had made it to the hospital where DJ was being kept. She needed to see him, just to know what happened, and if he was okay. She didn't really want him to die; truthfully, she wanted to rekindle the love they used to have years ago. But she never admitted it to herself; it was buried deep in her mind. There was a guy standing outside of DJ's room.
"Please, I'm a friend of Agent Jones. What happened to him?"
"I'm not at liberty to say."
"Is he going to be okay?" Sadie felt as though she were about to burst into tears.
"I…don't know. I'm sorry miss, come back tomorrow, during visiting hours."
"Oh. Okay." Sadie looked down, dejected, and then she looked through the window to DJ's bed. He was looking at the wall, or was he sleeping? Sadie didn't know, but DJ was staring blankly at the wall, thinking about how he messed up, how he should've trusted Nicolai. Sadie heaved a sigh and left the hospital.
A/N: BOOOOOM!!!! How'd you like that? Still confusing? Dry? Action packed? Too much blood? Type what you think!
The Attic...oooo, it really does exist.
Leshawna is still with Shania, and Heather's older cousin Joe is still with her too.
The fate of the red headed lanky man is and will remain unknown.
Places where Courtney called Bridgette by her actual name instead of Brianna are not typos; remember, Leshawna re-jogged Courtney's memory.
No songs in mind again. Sorry people!
Same couples, same Company, yeah.
Will DJ and Sadie rekindle their love? Will Courtney and Bridgette break out of the Twilight Mall? Will Cody and Beth ever truly become a couple? How's Chris doing? Is Heather going to find love? Is Leshawna going to be kidnapped? Is Harold going to snap? Will Leshawna warn anyone about Courtney and Bridgette's whereabouts? Is The Company holding up fine, or is Gwen contemplating suicide? What is "the Incident"? Who is The Sir and will he work his way into the fanfic at all? Where is Tyler during all of this? Does he miss Lindsay, and does Lindsay feel the same way? All that and more, NEXT!!! Review please!
Oh, and check out my Dollhouse fanfic! Yeah, no updates yet, not until I get a review. Heh, I have standards.