special thanks to Gage for being my sound board for this chapter and the next one that I'm not done writing! -------------------------------------- drowning lessons

“Justin!” Brian screams, running away from a stunned Emmett. Chasing the blond, Brian is sure that his lover doesn’t even hear him and is purely running on instinct and adrenaline alone. What the fuck is going on? Another bullet hit the wall behind Justin and the blond quickens his pace, quickly turning a corner. Sirens can be heard, but nothing registers to Brian except for the fact that Justin is in obvious trouble. Reaching the corner, Brian watches as an older looking car slams on its brakes it front of the blond. The back door opens and Hunter pokes his head out, screaming something to Justin before the blond dives into the backseat with the younger teen. Stopping in his tracks, Brian watches as the car speeds away from his line of vision. “What the fuck?” ----------- --------------------- ------------------- ----------------------- “Man, oh, man!” the driver of the vehicle states, shaking his head, “Never would I have thought. Shit! Never would’ve I thought, man!” He keeps looking at Justin through the rear-view mirror. Hunter nods, “I told you he was real.” Leaning back on the tired upholstery, Justin closes his eyes. “Can I ask you something?” The driver asks as he licks his lips in anticipation. Justin keeps his eyes closed. “Are you, like… a robot?” Fuckin’ shit. Frowning, eyes still closed, Justin calmly demands, “Stop the fuckin’ car.” Hunter shakes his head, “Don’t be like that,” he chastises, and Justin shakes his own head, wondering why he didn’t just keep running instead of jumping into the car with Hunter and a stranger. “Justin, man, this is my old friend, Pac Man.” Opening his eyes, Justin isn’t sure if he’s being duped. “Seriously?” The man known as Pac Man, chuckles, “Yeah, well, when I started out on the streets, I had a tendency to keep whatever the fuck I found… you know, like a packrat or something… so the guys started calling me Pack Rat, but then when I saw how much I could pack away eating… well, it then changed to Pac Man.” Blinking slowly, Justin wants to say something, but decides that it would be rude and instead looks out the window. “Is this car stolen?” “No way, man, this beauty is all mine.” Pac Man beams. Hunter nods, “Pac Man here is a working man.” The man nods, “Yep, I do what I do best, man.” Hunter leans over to Justin, “He’s a pimp.” “Of course,” Justin mutters under his breath. Of course he would jump into a car with a former hustler and a working pimp. Hunter chuckles, “Pac Man wasn’t always a pimp though… nah, he used to work the streets just like all of us, and then a few weeks ago, bam! I spot him over at the mall---” “The mall?” Justin asks in disbelief. Pac Man shrugs, “It’s where I do my best recruiting.” Figures. Justin closes his eyes again. “So where are we going?” “Man, oh man!” Pac Man is down-right gleeful, “All this time I thought that crazy ass was just pulling our legs or mentally ill or some shit like that… but man! You’re real!” “Yay me,” Justin deadpans. “How does it… you know, feel?” Hunter asks and Justin suddenly feels like he’s under a microscope. “Drop me off here. I can walk.” The blond offers. “You shitting me?” Pac Man nearly laughs, “I ain’t losing a LINE26 on my watch. No way, man.” “Okay,” Justin rubs his face with his hands, “Why?” Hunter grins, “Because this is just too cool.” “Fuckin’ shit,” Agitated, Justin turns to them, “I am not your goddamn show & tell project!” Shaking his head, he looks away. Pac Man chuckles, “Testy, are we?” Hunter shrugs, “Well I’d be too if people were going around trying to shoot me.” Justin opens his mouth to thank Hunter for defending him, and then thinks better of it and continues to look out the window. “Where are we going?” “We’re close, RTD2.” Pac Man jokes. Closing his eyes, Justin murmurs, “My name is Justin.” He can feel Hunter watching him. “What?” “Do you… remember anything?” Sighing, the blond opens his eyes and stares at the ceiling. “Bits and pieces,” turning to Hunter, he asks, “What did that guy tell you about…” he wants to say ‘me,’ or ‘us,’ but then decides to just detach and ask, “about Line26.” Hunter is silent, and for once, so is Pac Man. Justin nods. He knew that wasn’t a good sign. “Um,” Hunter tries to be diplomatic, “well, he told us a lot of the history stuff, you know… um… I wasn’t listening to all that… um… like, why Line26 was created… and um…the stuff the software… and um… why they decided to destroy… the… uh… line.” “Why?” Justin asks, though he’s pretty sure he knows the answer. “Um… you guys… um, what I mean, uh… Line26… um…” Hunter struggles to find the right word choice, and Justin thinks that the young teen might actually be nervous about how he will react. Pac Man intervenes, “You and your crew killed one of the doctors. The lead guy, um… Dr. Badass or something… he realized that since he couldn’t control your line anymore, that he’d just destroy it and start over.” Hunter nods, “But the second batch was too obedient…couldn’t think for themselves and ended up being killed when they entered some no-contact zone.” Pac Man nods as well, “They tried a third batch, but then they ran out of funding or some shit like that, and had to shelf the project.” Justin sighs. “So then, I guess, well, you got a bat to your head and it re-activated your tracking device.” Hunter concludes, “And everyone else’s from Line26.” “How’d you guys escape anyways?” Pac Man asks. Justin closes his eyes again, “My grandfather.”