Important News: I had to change future Alex's age in chapter four and made a few changes in their graves in chapter ten. Don't look to much into it though.

Interesting News: Since sometimes I feel like I don't describe a place very well, I decided to put a couple of links in my profile of how the Waldorf Hotel's Ballroom looks like. You should really see it.

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Never Taking Chances

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This is where everything came down to. All he has done, all the hard work and sacrifice were finally going to pay off. This is what he has been waiting for. He was only going to have one chance to make things right. This was where his past and future became one. So many thoughts should be running through his mind, but they weren't. He had only one thought and he will not fail.

August 13, 2008

"Mom, have you seen J.R?" Alex asked from the hall. Alex was wearing a blue evening dress with spaghetti straps.

"Oh, he said he was going to go on ahead." Theresa said while putting on lipstick from her door.

"By foot! It's like two miles away!" Alex said.

Theresa shrugged her shoulders going back inside her room. "You know J.R, always doing things." She said from inside her bedroom.

"Can you go see if your brothers are ready?" Theresa asked from her room.

"Alright." Alex said walking to living room. She didn't need to go far because Justin and Max were sitting on the large couch, watching T.V already dressed.

"Oh, you guys are already dressed." Alex said.

"Of course, we don't take as long as you girls." Justin said with a smirk. Max gave a small laugh. Alex glared at him, but couldn't see because his eyes were on the T.V.

"Where's dad?" She asked.

"His downstairs making himself a sandwich before we go." Max said.

Alex was about to go straight to the stairs when she got an idea. Instead of going straight for the stairs she took a longer way by going around the couch while stepping on her brothers' feet.

"OW!" Both Justin and Max yelled.

Alex smiled sweetly. "Oops, sorry."

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While J.R walked on the sidewalk as the moon shined, he thought of everything that has happened since he came here. It has been long time and Alex's Quinceanera was an example of that. The connection between him and Justin has weakened. That connection was very strong when he first came here, but now the more time passed, it grew weaker. If it had still been strong, that switching spell Justin did would've also had affected him. And other thing he couldn't help, but think was what was going to happen to him if he succeeded. He might just disappear. Even so he wasn't afraid of dying. The only thing he was afraid of was failing.

J.R saw the Waldorf Astoria Hotel come into view. The entrance was filled with people as they got out of their cars and walked in. Everyone that went in was dress very nicely. J.R fitted well with his tux as he walked in. Once he got near the entrance to the Ballroom, he saw two men checking for invitations before letting people in.

He cursed under his breath. He has been thinking so much about this he forgot about the small details like this. J.R walked through the halls and looked around trying to hear through the walls. He was trying to find a wall that was directly between ballroom and him. After a few minutes of searching he finally found it. He quickly looked around and a blue light surrounded his body for a second. J.R slowly faced through the wall. He looked inside the giant room and made sure no one was watching before completely walking in.

The room was filled with tables and everything was decorated elegantly in all three floors. The second and third floor weren't really floors, but balconies surrounding the whole room. There was a stage at the end of the room with a screen in the background. At the sides of the stage there was a smaller screen on each upper side. J.R wasn't going to waste anytime. As soon as he saw he was clear he started to search for Declan. He didn't know how many men Declan had or knew what they looked like, except for two.

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The whole family were on their way to the hotel. Alex was looking out the window at the wet streets. It had rained earlier in the day.

"Why do I have the feeling we're going to be the only kids there." Alex said.

"You mean you and Max." Justin said with a smirk. Alex rolled her eyes and turned to look at him.

"Just because you turned eighteen three months ago doesn't mean you're an adult." She said and then smiled. "Besides you're the one that still takes baths remember." Justin glared at her.

"I'm also the one that bails you out when you're in trouble." Justin said.

Alex turned her gaze back to the window. "Yeah well, one of these days I won't need you to anymore." She said quietly to herself. It wasn't quiet enough for Justin not to hear. He frowned a little. "I didn't say it bothered me." He murmured to himself.

"Hey, how is J.R supposed to get in without an invitation?" Max suddenly asked. Everyone just realized this.

Nobody knew what to say.

"Well, I'm sure he found a way. He somehow always does." Alex said.

"And I'm sure magic has nothing to do with it." Justin said sarcastically.

"You're just jealous of him." Alex said.

"What do I need to be jealous about?" Justin shot back. Alex smirked. "That he knows more magic than you, his smarter, his stronger, need me to go on." Justin rolled his eyes.

"Sheesh, you sound like you have a crush on him." He said. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Besides, who knows? With time I might get just as strong as him." Justin said.

"Yeah, not in a million years." She said. Before they could continue Theresa interrupted.

"Alright, we're almost there. Remember to be in your best behavior." She said.

"And Justin," Jerry said from the rear view mirror, "take care of your brother and sister and keep them out of trouble."

Justin smiled at Alex. "You got it dad." Alex just rolled her eyes.

Unknown to them those exact words had been engraved for years in J.R's mind and they have taken top priority ever since that day.

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Declan was walking around greeting people as if nothing was wrong. He was startled when someone suddenly grabbed his shoulder. He turned around and found Gale. Declan smiled his rehearsed polite smile.

"Ah, Mr. Harsen. Glad you could make it." Declan said. Gale didn't smile back. He didn't like to act when he didn't have to, it…annoyed him.

"As always business first I see. Well, where are your men?" He asked.

"They're around making sure nothing goes wrong." Gale answered. Declan kept smiling. "You should relax a little. My plans never go wrong." He said arrogantly.

"There is always a first time." Gale said, seriously. He wasn't in the mood for this. Seeing as Gale wasn't going to lighten up, Declan dropped his smile.

"Fine. Where is it?" Declan asked.

An another part of the ballroom, J.R was still searching for Declan and the other two men. J.R wanted to end this as soon as possible. He didn't want to give Declan anymore time. His eyes lit up when his eyes found Declan. He was talking to a man, who didn't seem much into the party. It looked like they had been talking for a while now. He walked closer to them, but not close enough for them to notice him. He couldn't hear what they were talking about, but he was able to hear a couple of words.

"…the…detonator is…the…don't mi…" The man said.

"…when I…lock all the…" Declan said.

After a few minutes they paused and saw the man give something to Declan discreetly.

J.R was about to enhance his hearing, but they finished talking. The man walked away. When he couldn't see the man anymore he turned back to look at Declan. J.R stared at him for a few seconds before he slowly made his way to him while clenching his fist. It seemed the how was starting to slowly reveal itself. He was completely unaware of the two men, who were watching him.

After Declan finished talking to Gale, he went and joined a group of people because he had to make appearances. While the people around him talked among themselves, Declan was thinking. He was going over what he was going to do. The plan wasn't complicated at all if nothing went wrong, but if something did go wrong then it would get a little more complex, but it would still work out at the end. This was why his plans always worked, he never took chances.

Declan was going over every small detail in his mind when suddenly someone bumped into him.

"Oh, excuse me." Declan said, but the man was already walking away. He stared at the man for a bit, but then dismissed it and went back to the conversation the group of people were having.

As J.R made his way out of the room he held the small devise in his hand that he just took. Declan could wait, the safety of his family came first and then his revenge. He didn't need an invitation to come out. He walked out into the main lobby. He had to get all this people out of here somehow. Even if he had the detonator it didn't mean it was safe. Before he could think of anything someone tapped his shoulder. J.R turned around and saw Alex and the rest of the family.

"Having fun?" Alex asked, smiling.

"Oh, J.R did they didn't let you in?" Theresa asked with sympathy. "I forgot we had the invitation."

J.R didn't say anything. He wasn't really paying attention to what they were saying. His mind was working overdrive trying to figure out how to get them out of here. He couldn't just tell them to leave because they would wonder why and he couldn't give them a reason without making himself sound crazy.

"J.R."

"J.R!" He looked at them. It seemed they have been calling him.

"Are you alright?" Max asked.

"Yeah, I just need to go to the bathroom." He said.

"Okay, will meet you inside." Jerry said. Before he could say anything, they started to walk away. He wanted to say something to stop them, but there was nothing he could say.

Inside the Ballroom…

Gale was on the third floor on one of the balconies looking down at all the people in the first floor. "Gale!" He heard Beck call him from behind. Gale turned around and saw Beck and Lester coming fast.

"What's wrong?" He asked. Both looked very serious and Beck never looked serious. It most be something important.

"He's here." Lester said.

"Who?" Gale asked furrowing his eyebrows.

"Black coat." Beck answered. Gale immediately knew who they were talking about. He knew that guy had something against Declan, but he didn't think he would show up here with all these people around. To Gale, he seemed to be the type that didn't like to be the center of attention.

"But that's not all." Beck said. Gale looked at him, wanting him to go on. "We saw him talking to the Russo family. It seems they know each other."

Now, Gale was curious. What did this mean? It couldn't all be a coincidence. What kind of connection did he have with them? Was he protecting them? There was only one way to get answers.

"I don't know what's going on here, but something isn't right." Beck said. Lester stayed silent, waiting for Gale's orders.

"If he's in the building we might be able to capture him. Bring him alive." Gale ordered. Beck nodded and began to leave, but noticed Lester wasn't coming.

"There is one more thing you should know."

At the moment, J.R was walking on an empty hallway looking for the stairs to go upstairs and get a better look. While he walked he took out the detonator from his pocket to get a better look at it. It was a black handle like device with a red button. He didn't have time to examine it closer because something fast passed him and hit the wall. He quickly stopped and saw a small hole on the wall. J.R turned around and saw two men pointing MP5s with silencers at him.

"Hold it right there!"

J.R didn't have time for this, so he did what he thought was best at the moment…he ran. The two men chased after him. J.R noticed they weren't shooting him. He guessed they didn't want to draw any attention from the rooms. These guys were pros by the way they handled themselves, which meant escaping wasn't going to be easy. He really didn't have time for this. He had to get away quickly.

J.R quickly turned to the right into another hallway. The two men didn't slow down as they also turned, but the hallway was empty. Before they could stop they were knocked down to the ground. J.R reappeared standing with his arms raised to the sides. J.R had turned invisible and the two men's necks had connected with his arms. J.R dragged their bodies to the nearest closet and put them there with their guns. He closed the door and walked away like nothing happened. His break was cut short when he saw two more men spot him at the end of the hall.

"There he is!" One of them yelled.

J.R heard a small 'ding' and saw the elevator open. The only thing bad about this was that the elevator was towards their direction. He started to run, if he was fast he could make it to the elevator before running into them. They saw what he was trying to do and took out their guns. If they weren't going to be fair than neither would he. A blue light appeared in his hand. As they got near the elevator, the two men were about to shoot. J.R threw the light and right before it hit them it exploded into a big flash blinding them. He quickly got into the elevator and shut the door as the two men were on the ground groaning and holding their faces. Once the door closed one of them took out a walky-talky while still not being able to see.

"We lost him. He went inside the elevator." He said.

Gale was in the security room looking at the monitors when he received the message. Apparently they allowed him in there because he was part Mr. Malson's 'bodyguards'.

"In what floor is he going to stop?" Gale asked the security guard on the chair.

"He's going to stop in the eighth floor." The guard answered.

"Stop the elevator." He said.

"But-"

"Do it!" Gale said in a harder tone. The guard did what he was told. Gale raised his walky-talky. "Devon, Cain go up to the last floor."

"Got it."

Gale turned to look at Lester and Beck. "You two know what to do." They nodded and left the room.

"Make it go all the way up." The guard didn't argue.

Gale watched as the elevator started to move again. He brought up his walky-talky. "This is what you're going to do…"

Once J.R got inside the elevator he pressed any button to close the door. When he felt the elevator go up he looked at the buttons. There were 47 floors. All of a sudden the elevator stopped between the 5th and 6th floor. It didn't take him long to know why the elevator stopped. Not even a minute passed and J.R was already becoming impatient. He climbed up and opened the small panel in the ceiling. He pulled himself up until he was in top of the elevator. Just as he stood up the elevator started to move again. J.R saw it wasn't going to stop any time soon. It just kept going up.

As the elevator almost reached the top, J.R realized if he didn't do something soon he was going to be crushed. He quickly went back inside just as the elevator reached the last floor. The door opened with a 'ding'. J.R slowly step outside. He had to be careful, there had to be a reason why they sent him up there. All the lights in the floor were off. It seems nobody was in any of the more expensive rooms. That would be the only way they could shut off the lights in the entire floor.

J.R slowly walked on the hall trying hear if anybody was there. After walking for twelve minutes on the halls, J.R was beginning to think no one was there, but he knew that was just wishful thinking. He continued to walk in the darkness when heard a noise behind him. He quickly turned around expecting to see someone, but no one was there. He tried to hear if anything else made a sound, but all he heard was the low sound of his breathing. Besides that everything was silent as he walked. A few more minutes passed and J.R stopped walking. He stood there for a few seconds when he suddenly jumped into another hallway just in time to miss a bullet from behind.

"Shit!" Devon said from the end of the hallway. He took out his talky. "Cain, his heading your way."

J.R made another turn as he ran. This was not going like he thought it would and it was really making him mad. Another man suddenly appeared aiming his gun at him at the end of the hall where J.R was going. J.R made a right turn just before the man started shooting.

J.R felt a little relieved when he saw a door with a staircase sign. He quickly opened the door planning on going down, but luck wasn't on his side. He saw six other men running upstairs with guns two floors under him. This really wasn't going as he hoped it would. There was only one way he could go now. J.R ran up the stairs. He was just in the last floor, so that meant that this stairs led only to one place. He smashed the door open. It was very windy outside. J.R ran to the edge and stopped, there was nowhere else to go. It was to far to jump down to another building.

"Stop right there!" One of them said.

J.R turned around to face them. There were eight of them and they all were aiming their guns at him. It seemed he couldn't run anymore. If they wanted a fight, then they would got one. J.R clenched his hands into fists and blue light began to surround them. They all stood there waiting for something, while J.R waited for them to make the first move. He was so focused on them, he didn't see the helicopter coming behind him. When he finally did, it was too late. Before he had a chance to turn around he heard a gun shot. The odd part was he wasn't bleeding. He slowly raised his hand to his neck and felt something. He realized he just got hit by a tranquilizer. A few seconds passed and he fell down on the ground, unconscious.

"Nice shot. You finally got him." Beck said to Lester from the pilot seat. Lester pulled his gun back and looked at J.R's unmoving body.

Gale came from the door and walked over to his men, who were surrounding J.R. The helicopter hovered because there was nowhere to land. Gale furrowed his eyes when he saw J.R. He knelt down to get a better look at his face.

"Well what do you know? It's the acrobat." He said.

"You've seen him?" Devon asked.

Gale stood back up. "Only once and it was a very…strange situation." He answered.

"Here's what we're going to do." Gale said getting their attention. "Now that he has been taking care of, you're going to go back down and continue as planned." Gale picked up J.R and threw him over his shoulder. "I might not be back in time, but you all know what to do." They nodded. Lester helped Gale into the helicopter. As they began to leave Gale yelled one more thing. "And find Chad and Mandel!" They hadn't picked up his calls for a while.

As they flew away Beck glance back at J.R. "How long do you think he's going to be like that?" Beck asked.

Gale looked at J.R. "An a hour or two." He then looked back the building they were just in. "If he wakes up early, he might be able to see the fireworks."

So, what do you guys think? Time is running out and J.R is being taking away.