"Hey, they've got Brian out." Mindi told A.J. after he had radioed for help. "He's a mess, but they say if we want to go down and see him..."
"Let's go!" He was about to dart out of the bus when she grabbed his wrist.
"Did you *see* what it's like on the way down? You are *not* going to risk adding yourself to the injured list, Alex."
"But you said..." A.J. whined in what Mindi thought was a fair approximation of Nick.
"I'll take you down. No running." Nick Carter do you know what you're getting us into here?
"Shhh, Mindi. I'm trying to reach Howie."
"Sorry."
"Now what?" A.J. demanded.
"Why do I keep doing that?" Mindi shook her head. "Gotta learn to stop verbalizing telepathy. I was apologising to Nick. I distracted him."
"Distracted him? What was he..." suddenly A.J. pulled himself up. "Asking that kind of shit isn't going to help anyone right now, is it?"
Mindi shook her head wordlessly, pleased that A.J. was getting it.
"So, I should shut up, listen to what you tell me and try and help them the best I can?"
"Good boy."
A.J. sighed. "It's easier to just let myself be distracted. I don't have to deal with the hell that's down there. But those are my brothers down there. I need to help. I need to be there for them."
"You gonna be alright?"
"I think so."
"Okay." Mindi mentally checked on the sleeping band, reinforcing their sleep patterns once again. "Then I'll take you down. I'll explain as we go. Hold my hands." A.J. reached out and took her hands. "All right. this is gonna feel a little weird. Just relax, and trust me. It'll be over in a second. Someone wanna give me an anchor?"
"A what?"
"Verbalizing." She shook her head, having received a response. "Let's go."
A.J. felt a warm tingle for a moment, but before he could even really think about what was happening, it was cold and dark again and they were a few yards from the bus. "Wow."
"Deep discussion about teleportation or check on B-rok?" He was suddenly very grateful for Mindi's practical approach.
"Check on B-rok." As they made their way between small groups of people to the larger, more active group where Brian was being helped, A.J. was struck by the silence. He could hear some of the earlier-morning birds, the wind in the trees, the gravel and twigs underfoot...even the bus creaking, although he tried to ignore that one...but there were none of the usual shouts and chatter he associated with an emergency. Few people were even moving. He noticed one particular group of people in chairs.
"What are they doing?" he asked Mindi, nodding over at them.
"That's the central unit. They're spending most of their energy on more important things than holding themselves up." She pointed over at one girl staring intently at the bus. "That's Lina Allen. She's in charge of everything...on good days, she's Nick's partner."
Lina felt A.J.'s eyes on her, but ignored him. She felt for him, she really did, but right now the only thing she cared about was getting Nick out in one piece. Without warning, memory washed over her.
"HELP!" Nick's voice broke into her dream in a totally panicked scream. She shot upright, mentally reaching for him before she could even get out of bed. Gone. Frantically she searched for him, any trace at all. Nothing. Lina nearly broke down right there, but her training kicked in instead. Recalling the tour schedule she'd memorised, she sent out a call, knowing that about eighty percent of the psychics in North America would have heard Nick's broadcast.
"This is Lina Allen, special ops. I need a sweep of Colorado *now*. We're looking for Nickolas Carter, possibly in the company of the Backstreet Boys. Use all available facilities and get back to me ASAP." The mere fact of having done something reassured her a little. She grabbed clothing from a heap on the floor, put on her glasses and hearing aid, and was just putting her hair into a ponytail when the reply came back.
"Lina? Mike O'Hara from the Colorado search and rescue. We think we've found your partner. Bring a jacket, and a flashlight. It's four am here."
"I'll be right with you." Not wasting time with the stairs, she teleported to her front hall, found her jacket and knapsack and reconnected with Mike. What she saw destroyed all pretense at professionalism. "Oh God. Nick."
"It's the right bus?" Mike confirmed, wisely holding onto her arm, because she was a moment away from teleporting in and hauling Nick out bodily.
"I can't..." even from a few metres away she had no sense of his presence.
"Lina." The raw pain of Mike's open-handed slap brought her back from the edge of hysterics. He took her shoulders, forcing her to look away from the burning wreckage and face him. "Lina you're the best we've got, and you're *his* best chance of getting out of this alive, but I'm not going to surrender my authority to you if you're going to lose it."
"I..." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The smell of burning metal shook her to the core. Nick was in there. "It's the right bus. I'll get him out."