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Nick had always been one to scare easily. True he was the oldest in his family. True he liked to inflict unnecessary torture on his younger siblings, especially Aaron. He would hide under Aaron's bed just waiting for the young boy to walk by, trying his hardest to stifle any oncoming giggles for what he was about to pull off. Aaron would walk by the bed and Nick would stick his hand out, grab Aaron's foot and watch as Aaron screamed bloody murder. For years the poor kid thought that there was a monster living under his bed, unaware that that same monster would comfort him when the clapping of the thunder brought him racing into his older brothers arms. Little did Aaron know though, that when that thunder clapped, Nick would shudder. He did not like unexpected things.

He held his hands to his ears every Fourth of July and would jump, always anticipating the loud BOOM! Most times screaming before it would happen setting the people around him off. He was even afraid of opening those Pillsbury Dough canisters because he was never sure when they would pop. Yup Nick Carter was a full fledged chicken. That's why the absurdity of him crawling around in a cold, dark vent was more than he could deal with. To make matters worse, now he was hearing scurrying. Was it all in his head? Or was there someone up in that duct crawling around only to grab at HIS ankles. Aaron Carter finally gets his payback.

Nick decided not to stick around to find out and began to crawl forward, away from the sounds he heard approaching. Away from this entire situation he hoped, and prayed. The ducts seemed to be never ending tunnels that crisscrossed on occasion. He was hoping to find the right one to lead him out of the bank and into an adjoining building. He stopped again, only briefly to try to adjust his eyes to the darkness. That was another thing that scared the overgrown child in him. He squinted, searching for any source of light he could find. He heard voices still but they sounded distant, good sign or bad, it was to soon to tell.

His neck was beginning to hurt from being forced into such a strange position and he felt like stopping dead and crying. He felt so ill and now he was achy. He couldn't stop though, too many lives depended on it. His brothers lives depended on it.

Just as Nick was the oldest in his big family, he was the baby in this one. His second family, the one he would spend most of his time with. They were strangers at first, not even seeming to like one another really, then on a bright Spring Day, it all changed just like that. They became a family. Bonding forever. Like any baby brother, he was the brunt of many jokes, and took his share of torture from his older band brothers. They never grabbed at him from under the bed, but Brian and AJ would sometimes sneak into his bunk on the bus and just stare at him until finally, Nick feeling uneasy, feeling like someone was watching him, would open his eyes and let out the biggest scream he could muster. His cheeks would redden as they would laugh at him. Kevin would sneak up behind him and grab him, making him scream, it became a goal of theirs. See who could make Nick scream first. Brian always won that little contest. Glad that one got old quick.

But it was also those four guys, who would do anything for him. They understood Nick. They understood his temper tantrums, his pranks, his immaturity, and they excepted him for it. They took care of him always. Nick sighed as he thought about the last example of that. AJ first going out to buy him medicine, then giving himself up to get Nick out of there. Yup he had to stay strong for them. With renewed vigor, Nick took a deep breath and continued on in the dark, cold vent. Stopping when he heard someone whispering his name...
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AJ just sat and stared up at the ceiling, hoping for the best. If there was a way out of there, Nick would find it. He would find it and get us out of here. He had to think that way, because if he was wrong, he could have signed his little brother's death certificate. It all happened in a matter of seconds. How do you make a decision that quickly which could literally mean life or death?

Two things had run through his mind when he heard footsteps approaching, the first was to grab Nick's hand and get the hell out of there. There was a problem with that one. Nick was to thin to handle the shorter man's weight and it was then he realized, that scenario would end with both of them being caught. So he went with option number two, the one that scared him to death. Give himself up and let Nick try to flee from the bank. As the men came in with guns in hand, it amused him that he wasn't scared for his own life, not at first, he was scared they would see the vent open and shoot. Thank God they didn't. Maybe this plan would work. But when he saw the man, Chris, was his name, come back from the bathroom carrying the vent cover in his hand, AJ felt like he had made the biggest mistake of his life.

So he sat and stared up at the ceiling hoping that right now Nick was not up there at all. He noticed they all were staring up there, probably thinking the same thing. He was startled out of his gaze by a pair of female hands. She grabbed him by the chin and smirked. "We will find your friend" She then stood up and walked away.

He looked over to Kevin who looked like he was almost in a trance. Staring at the vent cover that Chris had forcefully dropped at Kevin's feet. "Tell me about this kid now!" Chris yelled at Kevin. "I don't know him" He said, his gaze never leaving that cover. The guy kicked Kevin in the side, "Stop it!" J yelled. The man walked over to AJ slowly to build up the suspense. "So, are you gonna tell me what I want to know?" He felt lost, unsure of what to say or do. "What do you wanna know?"

Terry walked over to AJ at that point, stepping over the now lying down, Kevin. "How about a name for starters"

"His name is Cecil" She wore a half smile, not sure if she should believe him or not. She stood up and grabbed the vent cover and walked back towards Brian, she held the cover over his head, "Now, what was his name again?" She asked AJ while all Brian could do is wince and prepare for the oncoming blow. "Nick" He said defeated. She brought the cover down towards Brian's head, stopping mere inches away from impact and only tapped him, "Sorry, I know it was a rotten trick, but we needed the guys name" She winked as she sat up and looked over at Jason, "His name is Nick, tell Chris to whisper it in the vent, maybe he will think it's one of these guys" She smiled over at the four boys when she said that. Howie had scooted over to Kevin to help him up and AJ was at Brian's side.

"Are you okay man?" He whispered into his brother's ear. Brian turned toward him and nodded. "They're gonna find him" He whispered. AJ took a deep breath and sighed. He wanted to go back in time and change his decision. Nick would have been caught but at least he would have been safe, with four pairs of protective eyes watching him. Now all AJ could do was stare up towards the ceiling and hope for the best as he heard Nick's name being whispered from above his head...