Chapter 1: Life at the Tipton
It's been thirteen years since that fateful night. Carrie couldn't handle the fact that Kurt had gone and done something that stupid, that careless.
How could he give away his own son? But deep down Carrie knew that it was her fault for putting so much pressure on him during the most stressful moments of both of their lives. Neither one could look at each other anymore; they had to go their separate ways because they couldn't bare the thought of knowing that what they did was perhaps the most selfish thing anyone could've imagined.
The twins of course were unaware of what happened and it was best that they never found out. Kurt had become like a passing wind in the boys lives, coming and going, unable to stay because every time he looked at his boys he would always wonder what the third one would've looked like if he was here.
Was the sacrifice worth it?
Things did get a little easier over the years for both Carrie and Kurt even though they split. Carrie moved from cruddy apartments, to temporary homes with her boys, Kurt chipping in any way he could, until Carrie finally got a big break in where she got a job as a headline singer at one of Boston's finest hotels. The Tipton. This was the breakthrough she needed because she was able to live there with her boys rent-free.
There was Zack, the troublemaking, smooth talking, chic magnet, and there was Cody, the quiet one that mostly kept to him self, but was always friendly. Those two boys were the only things Carrie and Kurt could really say they were proud of. The boys were an unstoppable team when they collaborated, but sometimes Zack would get the best of Cody and turn his peaceful like nature into that of an evil genius. As destructive as they were, they were still considered family at the Tipton.
"You are so dead when I find you" Zack chuckled to himself.
He and Cody were having a slingshot war with Tapeworm and Max. The game started out with two teams but instantly turned into an all out war where allies became nonexistent, rules of war had been dismissed, every moral fiber had decayed, all within the last twenty minutes.
Zack of course was the best at the game because he had no inner qualms about going to any extreme measures to get the results he wanted. Lets face it he was ruthless! Knowing Cody, and the rule that he made about the lobby being off limits, Zack knew that's exactly where he'd go to recuperate. This battle was not over; Cody's cheap tricks of diversion would only go so far. Zack had a few diversions of his own, the air ducts. That was off limits too but as everyone knew, rules were just a set of… suggestions.
As Zack made his way across the different sections of the hotel espionage style, he passed London's room peering through to see her glorifying her face up close in a mirror.
"Beauty like this should be called a talent," she said to her mirror. Then she looked off into the corner. "Hey Zacky looking for Cody?"
Wow was I that predictable, he thought. Then again both twins use the air ducts a lot and the people of the hotel have become accustomed to hearing noises through their walls, everyone except the guests. Every time they complained about the noise, Mr. Moseby would find himself knocking on the door of the twins. Then they'd be grounded all over again by Carrie.
"Have you seen Cody?" Zack asked, there was no point in pretending he wasn't there.
"Oh, he's in the lobby."
"I knew it"
"I wouldn't go down there though. Mr. Moseby's brother's here again and they had another argument. If you don't want to get stuck listening to them bicker, I'd stay as farabuble away as possible." London continued brushing her hair.
"Farabuble?"
"You know, further than far"
Zack just nodded his head. "Whatever, I'm going to get my revenge no matter what."
"Have fun!" she yelled.
Eventually Zack made his way down to the lobby ever so quietly, slingshot in hand he rolled out of the elevator towards the back of the first couch in sight. Peeking from a corner, he saw Cody sitting there with Tapeworm, having a conversation about how they were going to team up against Zack and bring him down.
"After today, Zack's reign as champion will be no more. Bwa ha ha ha ha ha…"
As Cody laughed he stood up with his hands in the air leaving his gut totally exposed to an open shot. Zack was gonna take this one shot to bring him down for good. He switched his ammo from rubber bouncy ball to a hardcore, freshly polished, shiny, marble, the size of a miniature jawbreaker.
It all happened in slow motion, Zack would dramatically rise from behind the couch, and with a distorted voice he would say, "TIIIIMMMMEEEE TTTTOOOOO DIIIIIEEE!" And as he released the firm grip on the slingshot, the marble bolted like a rocket on fire, launching towards its destination. Cody looked from the corner of his eye and saw a glistening beam of light come towards him. For what seems an eternity, he finally gets his body to maneuver just in time to dodge that maniacal bullet. Cody was saved, but the destination had changed, Cody was no longer the target, but the vase, the ever so expensive vase that Mr. Moseby had spent every waking moment of his life trying to protect from the evil little monsters would finally meet its eternal fate.
And then as if to speed up time a loud shatter quickly snaps everyone back to their senses. Like an explosion, this was the crack heard round the world, at least heard round the Tipton. Everyone stood in shock as the vase had practically vaporized. Everyone could hear inaudible gasps. Zack stood horrified, knowing where everyone's heads would be turning next. Then like a million beams of lasers being pointed at his gut, he could feel his stomach turn as he watched a million pairs of eyes focus on him.
Then there was utter silence, Maddie the candy counter girl, her jaw just dropped to the floor.
It wasn't even a minute later Mr. Moseby walked into the lobby talking to his brother, apparently reconciling some of their disagreements but he nearly busted a blood vessel when he saw the Tipton vase shattered on the floor. He didn't even know what to say so he started saying everything; it all came out as nonsensical phrases and loud gibberish. He wasn't making any sense but somehow everyone knew what he was talking about. Another minute later Carrie walked into the lobby and stood there and gasped. Zack could've fainted there. This was obviously the worst thing he's done at the Tipton. He destroyed an extremely valuable heirloom.
"Zack…" Carrie said quietly. "What have you done?"
Zack felt his knees weakening; he was about to pass out, until Carrie yelled his name.
"Zack!"
Now he was too scared to even faint. His mom looked at him with the most serious face he'd ever seen.
"DID… YOU… DO … THIS!" she said pointing at the vase while emphasizing every word.
"Y-yes…" Zack finally said after a long pause. "w-we were playing slingshots… and…"
"Both of you upstairs right now!" Carrie yelled.
Shakily, Zack moved his wobbly legs to the elevator. Pressing the button to their suite, Cody following suit. They said nothing to each other as the elevator took them away from all the commotion, slightly relieved from the massive amount of tension, but just slightly.
Meanwhile Carrie was going to try and calm down Mr. Moseby.
"I already know this is a lot to take in, and I know my boys can be a little rough, but I am begging you to please not do what I think you're going to do."
Moseby stayed silent allowing Carrie to ramble on and on. Until finally she stopped in her desperation to catch her breath.
"And what exactly do you think I am going to do." He finally asked.
"I don't know really, fire me, get my kids out of your hotel, there's so many possibilities, I have no idea."
"While I could very well fire you, and send all three of you away, however, I'm not going to do that. After all it was a mistake, not something that should ever be repeated might I add, but it was a mistake after all. I'm not the tyrant everybody thinks I am, I can be reasonable."
"Yeah that's what you think little brother" Marion replied.
"Oh pish posh, don't you have a plane to catch, little man?" Moseby fired back.
"Thank you for being so reasonable Mr. Moseby." She breathed a sigh of relief. "I know we don't deserve another chance… now I have some little people I'd like to kill." Carrie left to go upstairs.
Zack sat on his bed wondering how he was going to ever get out of this one. Max and Tapeworm were smart enough to duck out before anyone noticed that they were part of the game. Cody twisted and turned on his bed wondering how on earth he got in trouble.
"I told you the lobby was off limits, why'd you have to go there?" Cody finally said.
"If you played the game fair I wouldn't have had to go there to track you down."
Then there was more silence; there was no use in fighting because they were both going to be grounded for an eternity. They both knew their fate was sealed when they heard the door slam shut.
"Boys!"
They ran into the living room where Carrie stood there smoking mad.
"What did I tell you about rough housing in the hotel, how many times do I have to tell you that this is not our house, the only thing we have is this suite, and each other. We cannot afford to lose this gig!"
"But mom…"
"Shut up and listen… It doesn't matter who's fault it was, the fact is that both of you are at a disadvantage because you're kids, and people will always find an excuse to blame you for their problems. You have to be better than this. You're making it harder for Mr. Moseby to prove to the Tipton board why there is a reason for keeping us around."
Zack and Cody could finally see that this wasn't an easy thing for their mom, she had been trying hard to make things right and they weren't making anything better by pretty much sabotaging all of her efforts.
"I'm sorry" Zack finally said.
"I know you are sweetie, were all going to just have to try harder next time."
The boys smiled in unison until Carrie finally told them that they would be grounded for two months. To them, two months was fair enough, knowing how much worse it could've been.
"I have to go back downstairs and work. Do you think you two can stay out of trouble?"
"Yes ma'am"
"Good. Maddie will be here in a couple of hours to baby-sit. I want you to do your homework until then."
Carrie finally left going back down to the crowd of waiting guests.
The rest of the night pretty much stayed uneventful. Maddie came over as usual to baby-sit, Zack as usual was flirting, and Cody was watching the discovery channel, little did he know, the show that was coming up next would become one of the most shocking things he probably would ever see, and would be a prelude to an even more shocking revelation.