*Author's Note - a few days ago I was sitting in the campus center watching television (watching the ever popular MTV) when someone flipped the station to CNN. (I about had a heart attack because this poor soul never has the time to catch the news these days.) I noticed that I had ten minutes before my next class started (a real bummer because I wanted to see what was going on in the world as of that moment), so I grabbed my book bag. A news report on the Amtrak collision in Illinois (Monday ~ March 14, 1999) stopped me dead in my tracks. It then began to inspire me.

I am in no way, shape or form claiming that Amtrak is an unsafe railway service - I've never even been on a train (unless you count the Boston T - in which I lived on the Red Line growing up.). I am also not saying that anyone is at fault for this tragic accident because it's not up to me to decide on such a matter.

My deepest sympathy and prayers go out to the survivors, their families and the families of the people who perished while saving other lives. Thank you.

**Disclaimer - I do not own any of the members of 'N Sync (nor would I ever really want to) they belong to their respective owners. I do, however, own all fictional characters such as Mike, Ashley, Devon, Carli, Rachel and Blake. Plagiarism is against the law. Thank you.

They had just finished packing for their two week promotional trip to New York City. Twenty-one year old Joe Fatone sat in the corner of the room talking quietly on his cellular phone to his mother. Seventeen year old Justin Timberlake sat on the couch in front of the television, his head bopping in time to Timbaland and Magoo's hit song 'Luv 2 Luv U' currently playing on MTV. Nineteen year old Lance Bass occupied the easy chair, his head resting against the back of the chair, dozing lightly. Twenty-six year old Chris Kirkpatrick sat at the small table, his laptop computer set up in front of him, typing out a quick e-mail to a friend of his in Boston. Twenty-one year old JC Chasez lounged on the floor, leaning back against the wall, reading a book he wanted to finish before they had to leave. It was a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere. They were together as a group yet had maintained their separate individual personalities.

They were all exhausted, having to get up at four am to start packing, only to be told they had to go to a radio station for an interview in L.A., then have a six hour rehearsal, and a meeting with management only to turn around and come back to finish packing. It was just another day in the life of 'N Sync. Throughout the hardships, they wouldn't have changed a thing. They were having way too much fun to call it quits just because they had to get up early a few days a week. Justin sighed, rubbing the fatigue from his face. He hoped it was a long flight so he could catch an hour or two of sleep.

"What time are we being picked up again?" Justin inquired, rising to his feet to rummage around in the hotel room's refrigerator for something to munch on.

"The should have been here twenty minutes ago. But then, when do we ever run on time these days." Chris snorted with a lopsided grin, shutting down the laptop so he could pack it away. Justin shook his head as he grabbed an apple out of the complimentary fruit basket that had been in the room when they had reached the hotel, three days ago. All that was left inside the basket was another apple, a banana, a pineapple and a couple of oranges.

"You figure with the way management is always on our butts about time management, they would instill the same speeches on the people who transport us from place to place." Justin mumbled before he took a bite out of the apple he was holding. Chris said nothing, he only smiled in silent agreement. JC closed his book with a yawn.

"What time is the flight, anyway?" JC questioned as he tossed the book aside, finally finished with it.

"In an hour. We're cutting it close with all the luggage we have." Lance mumbled, his eyes still closed. JC shook his head, a thoughtful look on his face.

"We should probably call to switch to a later flight." he mumbled more to himself than anyone else.

"Can't do that." Justin shook his head as he flopped down on the couch again. "Steve would kick our butts. He hates it when we do stuff like that without consulting him first."

Chris groaned loudly. "Yeah, but he'll do the same if we miss the flight all together."

The hotel courtesy phone rang shrilly, causing everyone, including Joe who was still on his cell phone, to look over at the object with trepidation. Chris, who was closest, reached over and picked it up. The others listened to the one sided conversation.

"Hi Steve, we were just talking about you.....no, it was all good. Nothing but sterling remarks said by all....we're not flying out anymore? What are we doing? Walking?....Steven...you know that....okay....yeah, I'll let the guys know...no...I'm sure they won't mind the switch....yeah Steven...I'm sure...nope..we're still waiting for them to show up...okay...yeah I will...all right...talk to you later...bye." Chris sighed hanging the phone up.

"Well?" Justin prompted, giving a slight gesture with his hands.

"Well, we're not flying anymore. We're too late to catch the flight, so he booked us on a train." Chris shrugged. "Which leaves in five hours."

Everyone groaned at the news of another four hours of doing absolutely nothing in a small, cramped hotel room. They were bored enough as it was without adding this little gem of knowledge into their tired brains.

"Well, we could always look on the positive side of all of this." Lance opened his eyes with a small yawn.

"Yeah? What's that?" Joe inquired as he slipped his cell phone back into his backpack.

"A train ride takes longer than a plane ride. Five times longer. We'll have at least five days of relaxation before we have to do anything of importance." Lance grinned brilliantly.

"I think the albino has a point. Knowing Steve, he's already rescheduled everything so we won't have to worry about it. We could sleep for the next five days, and no one would miss us." JC laughed and he pulled himself to his feet.

"And also knowing Steve, he'll have us do something aboard that train. We'll be nightly entertainment or something. Like a lounge act." Justin grinned as he settled back in the couch, arms folded behind his head.

"Must you always be so pessimistic?" Chris demanded, tossing a pillow in Justin's general direction.

"Wait, guys...what if we're trapped in a small train car with a bunch of kids who adore us?" Joe inquired suddenly.

"That would be a bad thing?" Lance raised an eyebrow.

"Think about it. A bunch of nine year olds following us around for days, not leaving us alone except when we go to bed." Joe explained with a groan.

"Why must you all always be so pessimistic?" Chris cried out, jumping to his feet.

"Because we're good at it." Joe laughed with a shrug.

"Look at it this way. If we do get trapped with a bunch of nine year olds, Justin will have no problem finding a date." Chris cracked giving everyone a devilish grin. Justin jumped to his feet and tackled Chris in one swift movement, and they both went down to the floor, hard. Chris yelped in surprise then burst out laughing.

"Pig pile!" Joe yelled as he jumped on top of Justin. Chris grunted, all the air whooshing out of his lungs. JC toppled onto Joe and gave Lance a satisfied smile when he heard both Justin and Chris groan under the added weight.

"My hair man! You're messing up my hair!" Justin yelped, his voice muffled because of Joe's back, which was pressed into his face. Lance stood up from his chair and grinned evilly. He climbed up on the couch and took a flying nose dive onto the top of the pile. This time, the whole group groaned under the weight and manner in which Lance had deposited himself.

"Oh God, Lance, you've gained weight!" Chris groaned loudly, trying to wriggle out from underneath the pile his friends had made on top of him.

"I have not! That's all muscle, baby." Lance retorted with a shake of his head. JC gave Lance a rough shove, sending him sprawling to the floor so he could get up. Lance glared up at JC, who only gave him a sweet smile. Joe clambered to his feet, then turned to help a smashed Justin to his feet. Chris lay on the ground, gazing up at everyone with a dazed expression on his face.

"You think he's hurt?" Justin inquired, leaning over his older friend.

"Nah, he'll be alright." JC replied as he flopped down on the vacant couch.

"I thought the angels were coming to get me. I saw a bright light and I thought I was done in for." Chris mumbled as he slowly say up. Joe burst out laughing and immediately clapped a hand over his mouth to stop the loud noise.

"Uh, Chris? Are you okay?" JC raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Chris answered with a faraway smile.

"Oh man, I really think we did it this time. We have to remember he's too old to be doing stuff like this." Justin stated with a shake of his head.

"Speak for yourself, Gerber boy." Chris snorted tossing a pillow in Justin's general direction.

"Yeah, he's okay." Lance laughed as he walked to the refrigerator to grab a bottled water.

"Well guys, wake me when we're ready to leave." JC sighed as he sprawled out on the couch, eyes closed. The others waited silently for him to fall asleep before they huddled around the table to whisper quietly to one another.

"What should we do to him this time?" Chris whispered with a devilish gleam in his eyes.

"Well, not something that's monstrously difficult to clean." Lance whispered back with a smile.

"How about shaving cream." Joe suggested softly.

"No, that's way to 'camp'. We have to think of something eloquent, something witty. Something we've never done before."Chris smiled with a shrug.

"What haven't we done before?" Justin made a face.

"I don't know. I think we've done just about everything." Lance sighed glancing over at JC to make sure he was still asleep.

"We could paint his face up." Justin suggested.

"With what? We don't have any of our stage make-up, nor are we traveling with any women." Chris replied with a roll of his eyes.

"Well, it was a thought." Justin grumbled, folding his arms across his chest.

"What do we have around us?" Chris stood up and started pacing around the room, looking for something that would make a witty trick to play on the blissfully sleeping JC. All that was left in the room was a couple of pieces of fruit, some toilet paper and a few bottles of water. Not really a whole lot he could do with, but maybe if he stopped to think about it, he could come up with something classic. Suddenly Chris snapped his fingers with a grin.

"What did you come up with?" Joe laughed rubbing his hands together with anticipation.

"We're going to make JC into the first living, breathing, anatomically correct mummy." Chris answered softly with flourish.

"And how are we going to do that?" Justin raised an eyebrow with confusion.

"Ah, my dear boy. Look around you, lad. We have toilet paper, water, a banana, a pineapple, a couple of oranges and an apple." Chris grinned triumphantly.

"We're gonna need a bra or something to keep the oranges from slipping all over the place." Joe commented with a thoughtful nod.

"Okay. Justin, call the front desk. Tell them were playing a prank on someone and we need a B cup bra." Chris ordered the youngest member, trying to contain his laughter.

"Why do I have to ask for the bra?" Justin squeaked in a loud whisper.

"Because the girl at the front desk thinks you're hot and would do anything, or just about anything, for you. That's why." Lance rolled his eyes as he stepped back into the room with three rolls of toilet paper.

"Fine!" Justin tossed his hands into the air as he walked over to the phone. He dialed the extension for the front desk and waited for someone to pick up. He lucked out when the girl they had mentioned answered the phone.

"Front desk, this is Wanda, how can I help you?"

"Hi Wanda, this is Justin Timberlake in room 247, I have a favor to ask of you. We're playing a prank on a friend of ours and we desperately need a bra, B cup size. Can you run to a store and grab us one?"

"You what?"

"A bra. I need a bra."

"Um, okay."

"Will you help us?"

"Only if I get to see the finished product."

"Sure, that's not a problem. We'll send someone down with enough money to cover the cost."

"All right."

"Thanks." Justin breathed a sigh of relief as he hung up the phone.

"Did you get it?" Chris inquired as he grabbed what was left of the bottled water.

"Yeah, I got it. But she wants to see JC when we're done and before he wakes up." Justin shrugged with an impish grin. Chris tossed his hands into the air victoriously.

Devon Summers flopped down on her hotel room bed with a loud heaving sigh as her two cousins Blake and Michaela Costeo watched with amusement. "If I never hear one of uncle Harry's stories again, it'll be way too soon." she muttered loudly with a shake of her head. Uncle Harry was a sixty-eight year old friend of the family.

"You ever notice that with each telling of the story, it gets worse?" Blake grinned as she took a seat on a chair.

"I know. This time around he had to get up at three in the morning to walk five miles through a blizzard, with holes in his boots no less, just so he could make it to school on time. Next time we hear it, he'll have had to get up the night before to walk through a white out, barefoot." Mike giggled as she sprawled out on the second bed.

"Up hill both ways." Blake snorted with a giggle.

"Too true." Devon agreed with a tired nod.

"And you know what the truly sad part is?" Mike continued with a laughing groan.

"What's that?" Blake inquired raising an eyebrow.

"He grew up in Texas!" Mike burst into laughter. Devon's jaw dropped open for a moment, before she to exploded into laughter.

"Oh my God. I totally forgot about that!" Blake gasped for air through her peels of laughter. The three girls finally calmed down after a few minutes of uproarious laughter and got down to the matter at hand.

"The train is definitely leaving today, right?" Blake inquired as she climbed to her feet.

"That's what the representative told me yesterday." Mike nodded. "Because they had to bump us, we get to go first class all the way this time."

"That should be fun." Devon replied rubbing her hands together with anticipation.

"When do we leave?" Blake yawned as she climbed to her feet.

"In an hour or so." Devon answered glancing down at her watch.

"Mike, give me some money. I ran out before we hit a cash machine." Blake demanded holding out her hand. Mike sat up, clearing her throat while giving Devon a wink.

"My friend's got a girlfriend, man he hates that bitch, he tells me every day. He says 'man I really gotta lose that chick in the worst kind of way'." Mike sang loudly as she jumped to her feet to dance crazily around the room. Devon jumped up and joined her, clapping to the beat going in her head.

"She sits on her ass, he works his hands to the bone, to give her money every payday, but she wants more dinero just to stay at home, well my friend you gotta say!" Mike sang with a sweet smile before she turned to her cousin who joined in with the chorus.

"I won't pay, I won't pay, no way. Why don't you get a job! Say no way, say no way, no way. Why don't you get a job!"

Blake shook her head with a rueful smile, flipping her sister and cousin the bird.

"I guess all his money well it isn't enough, to keep her bill collectors at bay, I guess all his money well it isn't enough, cause this girl's got expensive taste." Mike sang, her voice shaking with laughter.

Justin, Lance and Chris all stood in the hallway, listening to someone singing with shocked looks on their faces, trying to keep from exploding into laughter.

"At least its Offspring." Lance shrugged.

"I won't pay, I won't pay, no way. Why don't you get a job! Say no way, say no way, no way. Why don't you get a job! Well I guess it ain't easy doing nothing at all, but hey man free rides just don't come along every day, let me tell you about my other friend now. My friend's got a boyfriend, man she hates that dick! She tells me every day, he wants more dinero just to stay at home, well my friend you gotta say. I won't pay, I won't pay, no way! Why don't you get a job! Say no way, say no way, no way. Why don't you get a job!" the women continued before all was silent. Chris, Justin and Lance all looked at each other before bursting into loud applause. The door opened and the trio saw a petite young woman holding the door open with an amused smile.

"Thank you, thank you. We perform nightly at the Roxy." she stated taking a flourished bow in front of them before turning to shut the door again.

"Hold on a second," Justin called out. She turned to face them again with a raised eyebrow. "I don't know about these two bums, but I'd like to know who you and your singing partners are."

"Oh, that's an easy question. I was hoping you weren't going to ask for an explanation of the nuclear sub-missiles that we're using to bomb some third world country into submitting to us." she shrugged with a smile, holding the door open for them. They walked in, giving each other bemused looks.

"I'm Mike and this is my singing partner Devon, who is also my cousin, and the person we were singing to is my sister Blake." she giggled when the two girls got a glimpse of the brief guests. Jaws practically dropped to hit the floor.

"Nice to meet you all." Lance smiled with a nod.

"What is with you two?" Mike demanded giving Blake and Devon peculiar looks.

"Mike, do you even know who they are?" Devon inquired, flabbergasted at her cousin.

"No, I haven't had the chance to get their names yet. Yeesh. Manners dear cousin, manners." Mike wagged a finger in her face with a grin.

"I'm Chris and this is Lance and Justin." the one with the dreadlocks stated, trying not to laugh.

"Okay," Mike nodded with a smile, turning to Devon. "Their names are Chris, Lance and Justin."

"Smart ass. That's not what I was talking about." Devon shook her head giving Mike a push. "They're famous in the music business."

"Yeah? They don't look familiar. What do they sing?" Mike raised an eyebrow, tossing a look over her shoulder at the men standing near the door. One of them covered their mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

"Oh, I don't know. Just 'Tearing Up My Heart'; or if you don't like that one, there's always 'I Want You Back', or 'God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You'." Devon snorted, tossing her hands into the air with a sigh.

"Oh! The bubble gum guys! I remember now." Mike exclaimed loudly.

"Uh, 'bubble gum guys'?" Justin inquired folding his arms across his chest with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah. That's what your music reminds me of. You know, boy bands, they all sound like kids who have had the unfortunate experience of over dosing on bubble gum. It would explain all the hyper dancing and such." Mike shrugged, waving a hand from side to side. Devon covered her mouth with a hand to keep from giggling too loudly.

"I take it you aren't a fan of ours." Chris stated folding his arms across his chest.

"Not really. I mean, when one of your songs come on the radio, I don't take the extra effort to turn the dial or shut it off. But your type of music really isn't my style." Mike shook her head giving them a sympathetic smile.

"Okay, we know you listen to Offspring, what else do you listen to?" Justin questioned raising an eyebrow.

"Oh Lord, help me out ladies. What do I listen to?" Mike groaned covering her face with her hands.

"Why do you look so familiar?" Lance mumbled with a shake of his head.

"I don't know. Maybe I just have one of those faces." Mike shrugged.

"She listens to people like Korn, Pearl Jam, Bon Jovi, Slaugh....oh damn. Sorry Mike." Devon sighed glancing over at her younger cousin.

"That's it. That's where I've seen you. The Slaughter home video." Lance cried out suddenly with a triumphant smile. "That's not something I like to talk about. Excuse me." Mike stated in a strained voice before leaving the room and locking herself into the bathroom.

"We missed a whole paragraph on that one." Chris shook his head.

"It's nothing major. She'll get over it." Blake shrugged with a sigh. "Well, it was nice meeting you, but we have a train we have to catch."

"Chris-to-pher Al-lan Kirk-pa-trick!!" a muffled voice screeched from the hallway just as Mike walked out of the bathroom, a somewhat faltering smile plastered on her face.

"I think you're being paged." Devon glanced over at Chris who had paled visibly. He dashed to the other side of the room as Mike pulled open the door to see a tall young, what looked to be male, human form walking briskly down the hallway. He was covered from head to toe in wet toilet paper, a bra held two oranges and a banana suck out of his belt. Mike gasped and took a step backward when he spun around at hearing Justin's laughter. He stormed into the room and glared at everyone.

"JC, you never looked better, man." Chris smiled brilliantly at his younger friend who clenched his fists at his sides.

"Why is it that every time I close my eyes, you all have to make sure I wake up in something totally off the wall?" JC demanded loudly tossing a hand into the air.

"Because by sleeping all the time, you ask for it." Chris shrugged, ducking behind Lance who had his arms folded across his chest, trying not to laugh for all he was worth.

"Whatever. But if we're late because I have to clean up, it's on your heads." JC admonished loudly, the hilarity of the whole charade finally hitting him as his lips twitched with a smile. He shook his head and left the room.

"Okay, who was that?" Mike inquired glancing toward the open door.

"That would be JC. He's a friend of ours." Chris laughed as he walked back over to the door to peer out and make sure JC had gone back to his room.

"And you do that to him all the time?" Mike pressed with awe.

"All the time. We can't resist doing things such as that. Especially when JC is one of the heaviest sleepers we've ever known." Justin shrugged with a smile.

"Mike, Devon, we have to go if we're going to get to the train station on time." Blake called from the bathroom.

"Okay, well, it was nice meeting you guys. Have a nice life and I hope you stay famous for a while." Mike shrugged as she slipped on her jacket and grabbed her bags.

"Thanks. You also have a nice life." Chris shook his head with a rueful smile as he, Justin and Lance headed back to the room everyone had congregated in to wait for their limo.

"Have a nice life, Michaela?" Devon made a face as she grabbed her bags.

"What? We'll probably never even see them again." Mike countered with a shake of her head.

"Never is a powerful word that you shouldn't use. When you say never, things seem to happen." Blake sighed tiredly as they headed out to catch a cab. It took a half an hour to get through traffic and reach the train station. One of the ticket agents directed them to gate nine, where their train was loading passengers. They slowly made their way to gate nine, stopping only once to get some lunch before boarding the train. First thing the three girls did was make themselves at home in their sleeping compartment. They unpacked the necessities then walked to the sitting car. At three o'clock on the dot, the train pulled out of the station.

"Guys, are you ready yet? I'm starving." Justin questioned loudly as he waited in the small hallway of the first class sleeping car. He had been waiting patiently for the others to unpack their things, but his patience was now wearing thin. He hadn't eaten in seven hours and he was hungry.

"Will you calm down Justin. We'll meet you there." Chris shot back from his small, compact room.

"Fine." Justin grumbled leaving the car. Chris sighed shaking his head. The sleeping rooms were too small for his liking. You could barely turn around in the things, let alone get dressed and do anything other than sleep.

"As claustrophobia sets in." Chris muttered to himself as he quickly walked out into the hallway and shut the door to his room. The hallway wasn't much better. Chris groaned closing his eyes. This was going to be a long trip. JC opened his door and walked out into the hallway rubbing his head.

"Ceilings are low in this thing." JC sighed as he gave Chris a knowing grin. "Claustrophobia?"

"What else could it possibly be?" Chris snorted as Lance made his was out into the hallway.

"Joe! We'll meet you in the dining car!" JC called out. Seconds later they all heard a muffled okay, then a grunt and the sound of a falling bag. The left the sleeping car and made their way two cars down to the dining car. The place wasn't as crowded as they thought it would be.

"Anyone have any Dramamine?" Chris muttered holding his stomach as he glanced out the window. Loud laughing caught their attention. They turned to see Justin with the three girls they had met earlier.

"Well, looks like Justin found some company." Lance snorted as they made their way over to their table.

"I told you that never was a harsh word." Blake smiled as JC, Lance and Chris joined them at the huge round table. "Welcome new comers."

"Thanks. What's going on?" JC inquired taking the closest available seat, which turned out to be on Mike's left.

"Oh no. I hate being boxed in. If you're sitting here, you have to trade places with me." Mike shook her head looking over at JC.

"Why's that?" JC questioned raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know. It's just one of those things. I hate having to sit in the middle. It brings back memories of the back seat of my parents' car. Trapped in between two fighting siblings, getting bashed in the head numerous times. Being set on fire. It wasn't a cheerful experience. Therefore, I don't sit between anyone anymore." Mike laughed as he scooted out so she could take the end seat.

"Well, that was an interesting little story on the history of Mike." Devon rolled her eyes as she sipped her soft drink.

"Dev, you're no better so I'd shut up if I were you." Mike teased as another young man joined them.

"Ladies, this is Joe Fatone. Joe, this is Devon, Blake and Mike." Justin introduced everyone who hadn't already met at the hotel.

"Hi." the three girls chorused as a waitress walked over to them. They all ordered asking for separate checks. One for the females and one for the males.

"What brings you to California?" Joe inquired as he sat back in his seat.

"Family. We're doing the visiting thing while we have break." Blake answered with a yawn.

"You go to college?" Lance inquired.

"So it would seem, Poofoo." Justin laughed with a shake of his head.

"Wait, Poofoo? What the hell does that mean?" Mike laughed setting her drink down on the table.

"Dear God. Finally a person who doesn't know what Poofoo means!" Lance yelped happily as he gave the young woman a huge smile. The group talked until two in the morning about everything that came to mind, sharing family stories and embarrassing moments in public and alone. By the time they all went to bed, they had formed the beginning of a friendship.

© 1997 hells_fiction@hotmail.com

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