Justin shifted, trying to get comfortable once more so he could fall back asleep. He wasn't sure why he had woken up, but his body was too sluggish for it to be morning. Of course, it was practically impossible for him to tell considering that even when he opened his eyes all he saw was inky darkness.

It was just one more thing he added to the list of things that frustrated him about the whole situation. He was never really obsessed about time - he hardly ever wore a watch and it often drove Lance crazy because it more often than not had him showing up a little late to things. Wearing a watch was never a big deal because you could always get a general idea as to what time it was just by looking at the window and seeing where the sun was. But now he couldn't rely on those visual cues, and he found that he was becoming obsessed with knowing the time. He suspected it was because it was a way for him to try to regain control of his day and feel like he was doing the things he normally would do because when all you saw was darkness all you wanted to do was sleep.

Though of course now that he actually wanted to sleep, he was unable to. This was largely due to the fact that he couldn't seem to get himself to relax; he was a bit on edge with not knowing why he'd woken up and as the minutes passed, more and more thoughts ran through his mind.

He wondered if JC was still sleeping; he certainly hoped he was. Chris had had a hell of a time trying to get JC to go back to sleep after he'd told them what'd happened to Beth. With Chris stating that Gabe would likely do whatever to get Alice back, JC had wanted to go check on her and put her to sleep himself. He'd tried to reason that he didn't want her to think he'd forgotten about her considering he hadn't seen her all day.

Justin had done his best to help Chris convince JC that seeing Alice right then wasn't the best idea because there was no way he was up for that. Even though JC had calmed, it'd been easy to see he was still on edge and wouldn't be able to handle seeing Alice. He'd said he just wanted to check on her, but Justin and Chris had both known that whenever he saw her he likely wouldn't be able to avoid telling her what'd happened. It was hardly something that should be told to her right as she was getting ready for bed, and it wasn't like the news wouldn't keep until morning. Unfortunately, she'd be dealing with the fact that her mom was dead forever. Just like JC would too.

It upset Justin to hear JC so upset, and it frustrated him to no end that he couldn't do anything to help. Now, he knew there wasn't anything he could truly do because it wasn't like he could bring Beth back to life, but he felt like he wasn't even able to properly comfort JC. His blindness left him hesitant and less confident than he normally was, which was why he'd hung back for the most part and let Chris comfort him - he didn't want JC to pick up on his unease and have it add to his own negative emotions. Plus he hadn't wanted to take the attention away from JC because as terrible as what'd happened to him was, JC was going through something much worse.

That didn't mean it was easy to sit back and let Chris handle most of it though. Justin might not have been able to see JC's tears or the sorrow on his face, but he'd been able to hear his pain. Every sob and hitched breath was like a knife to Justin's heart. He'd always hated to see any of his friends in pain and this was certainly no exception. In fact, this was worse than usual because there was truly nothing any of them could do to make it better.

Justin figured he had to have dozed off or at least lost track of time because he jumped awake to a commotion down the hall. Granted, it was muted, especially given that his door was closed. But he could hear it just the same. Well, he could hear Chris anyway.

"JC," Chris hissed and even from a few doors down Justin could hear the aggravation in his voice. "What are you doing?"

JC either didn't reply or he spoke too softly to be heard from Justin's room. Regardless something was going on and he wanted to make sure everything was okay. He sat up and turned to his head to the left where the nightstand was, glancing at the clock. The numbers were blurry, but he was just able to make out the numbers when he squinted. 3:17 AM. Nothing good could come from JC being up this early and...

Justin stopped, his entire body freezing as he let the last few seconds sink in - specifically what he did. He slowly let his eyes roam the confines of the bedroom, taking in everything about the familiar guest room. It was hard to take in every detail considering the room was dark and cast in shadows and all blurry, but he couldn't find it in himself to be bothered by it. The shadows were easily blamed on the moon streaming through the window, and the blurriness...well, who cared if things were a little blurry. All that mattered was that he could see.

He wanted nothing more than to let out a loud sound of excitement, but he managed to control himself as he remembered there was a five year old girl fast asleep across the hall. And he had no doubt he'd get hell if he woke her up. Then he remembered what'd woke him up in the first place, and he forced himself to push his excitement aside. He was still insanely happy - deliriously so - but he couldn't revel in it when something was going on with JC.

Without another thought, Justin jumped up from the bed and went to the door. He felt so damn happy that he was able to quickly move down the hall to the master bedroom, all of the hesitance of the last few days gone. His blurry vision wasn't so bad he couldn't make out things or people - it was just hard to see the details of things. And it resulted in him making it to JC's bedroom in record time.

Justin stood just inside the doorway and frowned at what he saw. Even though his vision was off, he was still able to clearly differentiate between his friends by their build and just the way they held themselves. Chris was standing next to JC's bed with his arms crossed while JC was moving spastically throughout the room. He'd grab something from one drawer or the closet before crossing the room to deposit it in a suitcase. Justin remembered Chris's earlier exclamation and repeated it himself. What the hell was JC doing?

He was going to ask JC why he was packing, but Chris spoke before he could. "Do you honestly think running away is going to do anything?"

"I'm not running away," JC objected, not pausing in his mission in the slightest. Though, Justin was almost convinced he would collapse at any second given his exhausted, disheveled appearance. "I'm just putting some distance between Alice and Gabe."

"You honestly think it's going to be that easy?" Chris demanded, and it wasn't hard to tell that he was quickly losing his patience with JC. Justin would've expected him to be a bit more patient and understanding given the circumstances, but he supposed it was too early in the morning to expect that out of Chris. "Who's to say Beth didn't try that? And look where it got her."

Almost immediately Justin could feel the energy of the room shift. He understood the point Chris was trying to make, that he was only looking out for JC and worried, but he shouldn't have gone there. It was entirely too soon to say something like that about Beth.

JC slammed the drawer he'd been going through shut. "Shut up!" he said, glaring at Chris. The hoarse quality of his voice from his cold made him sound harsher than normal. "None of this is her fault." And after pausing just a second more, he went back to packing his things in a very agitated manner. "I can get further than she could."

"And where are you gonna go, huh?" Chris didn't give him an opportunity to answer as he continued, "You can't stay in hiding forever. Our career doesn't exactly allow for that."

JC narrowed his eyes, though he didn't stop his repetitive movements this time. "I think I have more important things to worry about than my career right now."

"Your career?"

JC stopped, leaning tiredly against the wall near his dresser as he sighed heavily. He bowed his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean it like that. I'm just trying to do what is right for Alice."

Chris uncrossed his arms and stepped closer. "I know, but she's not the only one involved in this."

"No." JC shook his head. "This has nothing to do with you guys. Sure I might be messing up our studio time, but we can push that back a bit, can't we?"

"Chris is right."

Justin turned along with JC and Chris to see that Joey and Lance were standing just outside the door. A hand rested on his back and Justin turned his head to see it belonged to Joey, and he was being gently guided further into the room so Lance could step further into the room. He wasn't surprised that none of them had really noticed that he was no longer blind - he still couldn't see enough to really look them in the eye unless he took the time to focus his gaze and squint. And anyway, they were all busy concentrating on dealing with JC.

Lance walked until he was halfway between JC and the door before he continued, "We're involved whether you want us to be or not. Gabe and the people he sent after Beth probably know who you are."

"And so they'll know they can find you with us," Justin said with a nod, following Lance's logic.

Justin might not have been able to clearly see the panic on JC's face, but he could sense it. JC backed away from them and turned back towards the closet, like he was going to begin packing again.

Chris sighed, sounding aggravated. "JC-" he began, but stopped when Joey stepped forward.

Joey reached out and grabbed onto JC's arm, trying to still his movements. When JC tried to pull away, he latched onto the other arm as well so he was holding onto JC's biceps and looking him in the face. "C'mon, C. You know you can't just take off."

JC shook his head, not in disagreement but like Joey didn't get it. "You're right. I can't take off by myself. You guys have to come with me." There were multiple objections, but JC interrupted. "It's the only way I can know he won't be coming after you guys to get to me."

"There are no guarantees," Lance said, stepping a little closer but not trying to crowd Joey and JC. "Based off what Chris told us you said about Gabe, it doesn't sound like he'll let much of anything stop him from getting Alice back. It won't matter if we're with you or not - he'll come looking regardless."

"We'll just go somewhere he can't find us."

Justin could hear the desperation in JC's voice, and his heart clenched painfully for his friend. "JC, we can't. You might not like it, but Chris was right before when we said you can't just disappear and go into hiding. None of us can. And what kind of a way is that to live for Alice? You don't want her to live in fear, do you?"

"I want to keep her safe and this is the only way I know how!" JC cried, a little emotional and a little frustrated as he finally pulled out of Joey's hold.

Chris frowned. "This is not your responsibility. It's not up to you to protect her."

"What?" JC began to back away, putting more space between them. "You're wrong! Beth counted on me to look out for Alice. I can't...I can't..."

JC's voice trailed off as he folded in on himself, wrapping his arms around his midsection like he was in pain. His breaths were coming fast and ragged as he tried to fight off the tears.

Justin took a step forward, wanting to comfort his friend, but Joey was closest and so he beat him to it. Without a word, Joey pulled JC into a hug. It was one of the bear hugs that he was known for, that usually never failed to comfort any of them when they were down. Though, Justin wasn't sure it would be much help in this situation.

"We know you're trying to take care of Alice, but you have to know you can't do this on your own," Joey said. "We can get some of our security team over here and work on coming up with a way to keep Alice safe permanently."

"How?" JC asked, his voice cracking on the single word. Justin wasn't sure if it was from the emotions he was still trying to fight or if it was from his cold, but it broke his heart all the same.

Lance moved closed. "We'll figure something out. You're not in this alone."

JC was quiet for a long moment, and Justin was sure that he was going to argue some more. But after a minute, he finally nodded slowly and straightened as he pulled out of Joey's hug. "I'll call Lonnie."

He stepped forward like he was going to do so right that second, but Chris intervened, grabbing his arm gently. "JC, no. It's almost four in the morning. You can't call him now."

"But what if Gabe or those guys show up? I can't let anything happen to Alice."

Justin frowned, so unused to JC sounding so fearful. It made him uneasy and he wanted to do whatever he could to get rid of it. Apparently Chris felt the same because he said, "I'll stay up, okay? I'll make sure nothing happens."

"I can do that," JC replied.

"You should get some rest, C," Justin told him. JC began to object and he immediately cut him off. "You sound like hell, and you know you won't be much good to Alice if you don't take care of yourself."

Justin thought once more that JC was going to fight him on it, but after a few seconds he just sighed heavily and nodded reluctantly. The posture told Justin that JC realized it wasn't an argument he would win and maybe he was recognizing just how exhausted he truly was. It was proven even more when he let Joey lead him back to bed. Just before he got comfy, Lance grabbed the medicine off the nightstand and offered a couple of pills to JC along with what Justin was sure had to be a lukewarm bottle of water. JC took them both, washing the pills down with water before settling back against his pillows that were slightly propped up against the headboard so he was laying somewhat upright.

"Wake me when Alice gets up," JC mumbled even as his eyes began to close.

"Get some rest," Chris said, and Justin was almost impressed at how he'd sidestepped promising anything to JC. It was obvious JC needed rest and it was highly unlikely any of them would purposely interrupt it. They could certainly handle watching Alice when she woke up if JC was still sleeping.

They all stood there for a moment longer, seemingly to see if JC was actually asleep. There was no doubt in Justin's mind that he was because he could hear the slight change in his breathing rhythm...even from where he was standing. And after a couple more seconds, the others obviously felt the same and turned to head out of the bedroom.

As they did, Justin could make out Lance looking at him and he looked back, squinting slightly as he tried to read what expression was on his face. But it became clear when he heard a quiet intake of breath just before Lance surged forward, grabbing his wrist and leading them all out into the hall. It was only when they were all out and Joey closed the door behind him that Lance spoke.

"You can see?"

Lance's voice was urgent but hushed, like he was still wary of his voice carrying into JC's room or down the hall to where Alice was still sleeping. Justin could also detect the hint of excitement, and the feeling was contagious as he finally let himself to feel giddy.

Justin nodded. "Everything's pretty blurry, but it's better than being blind."

"How did this happen?" Joey asked, stepping closer and putting his face practically in Justin's, like he wanted to see for himself that Justin could see.

Justin shot a look at Joey as he stepped back, putting some distance between them. "I don't know. I just woke up and was ready to head to JC's room when I realized I could actually see."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Chris asked.

Justin sighed, feeling a little like Chris was reprimanding him for not bringing it up immediately. "Because JC was kind of in the middle of panicking," he said, his tone telling them it should've been obvious.

"That's exactly my point. It would've been a good distraction for him," Chris replied.

Lance barely glanced at Chris before he looked back at Justin. "Regardless, we should get you checked out by a doctor tomorrow."

"Okay," Justin agreed easily. He wasn't going to argue with that. While he didn't love going to the doctor, he was anxious to see what they said about the change in his vision - if this was a sign that it would be coming back completely. He hoped so.

**************

JC was dead asleep.

At least until he heard an anguished cry of "JC!" just seconds before a small weight slammed into him.

He immediately jerked out of his restless sleep, his senses already in tune to the little girl that had been living in his house the last few days. Though, he was almost getting used to the early morning wake up calls too. While he still dreaded them, they didn't take him by surprise anymore and he didn't complain about it. At least he wasn't going to today. He couldn't, not when Alice all but threw herself at him, wrapping her little arms around his neck and burying her head into his shoulder.

JC did his best to sit up with her attached to him and he wrapped his much larger arms around her small body. "Alice, honey, what's wrong?"

"I had a nightmare," she said, her tiny nails digging into his skin as she adjusted her grip around his neck. "It was about Mommy."

He froze. A fresh wave of grief washed over him, trying to overwhelm him and make him lose control again. He forced himself to push it away. Now wasn't the time to give in to those feelings. Alice needed some kind of reassurance from him. Though, he couldn't exactly give her that anyway - at least not without lying to her. And he couldn't do that, not about this.

"Alice..." he began, but stopped to clear his throat. He grimaced as the mucus was dislodged from the back of his throat. Then he gently reached up and pulled Alice's arms away from his neck, moving her so she was sitting on his lap and he could see her face. "About your mom..."

"She's gone, isn't she?"

Alice was looking at him with big green eyes, a deep sadness in them that no five year old should have. His heart stopped. She didn't know, did she? There was no possible way she could...

"What do you mean, honey?" he asked, forcing himself to stop thinking of worst case scenarios and just find out for sure.

A big, fat tear fell from her left eye and rolled down her cheek. And he knew before she even said anything. "Mommy's an angel now," she said.

JC was unable to stop his own tears from falling. "How do you know that?" he practically whispered, unnerved that she had somehow already known what'd happened to Beth.

"I could feel her go. In here and in here," Alice said, touching first her heart and then her head.

A sudden feeling of fear came over him, fighting his grief for attention. Normally he would never believe that such a thing could be true - that Alice could have felt it the moment her mother had died. But he had heard of odd cases where a loved one could sense when another had died or was severely injured even from miles away. If that was true, it made sense that it could be heightened by a psychic connection, and if what Beth had told him about Alice was true...

JC shook his head, unable to let himself go there right then. Losing Beth was bad enough; he didn't think he could deal with Alice's potential psychic abilities and what it all meant. He couldn't deny that she had felt something when Beth had died because ever since her body hit the pavement, he felt like there was a deep void within him. But he didn't know what the extent was of what she felt, and in his mind the how wasn't nearly as important as comforting her and trying to help her deal with it.

"I'm so sorry, Alice." He gathered her up into another hug. "I miss your mom too."

Alice cried harder, and JC tightened his hold on her, hoping he was giving her some kind of comfort. Though, he knew things wouldn't be okay in her world for a long time. It took months, hell even years, to move on. He vowed right then he would always be there to help her.

They stayed like that for a couple of minutes until JC felt her little sobs subside and she relaxed in his arms. He gently pulled away so he could look at her. "Are you hungry?" he asked, knowing that things would never be the same again but trying to give her some kind of normalcy and routine she could depend on.

Alice was quiet for a long moment before she finally nodded. It was lacking the usual enthusiasm she'd had the last few days when breakfast was mentioned, but he took it as a good sign nonetheless. He was half afraid she'd be too upset to eat; he certainly wasn't hungry. Though, part of it probably had to do with his stuffed up nose and pounding headache from his clogged sinuses.

He went to release Alice so he could get out of bed and stand up, but she refused to let go of him. With a quiet sigh, he shifted her so she was settled more against his hip and carefully got out of bed. From there, he readjusted her once more to make sure he had a good grip and that she wouldn't fall before he headed for the kitchen.

The house was quiet and for a moment JC thought that everyone was still sleeping, Chris included even though he'd promised to stay awake to keep an eye out for any trouble. Though, JC was aware that Chris likely had said that so he could get some sleep without feeling too guilty about it. But he began to wonder if Chris had kept his promise because as he got closer to the kitchen, he could hear noises coming from within and soft voices talking.

When he entered the room, he found all of the guys sitting around the table. They all looked up at his entrance, including Justin. And it was at that moment that JC realized that Justin hadn't just looked in his general direction, that he was looking directly at him. He might not be looking him in the eye, but clearly he could see at least somewhat.

"You can see," JC said, his eyes still fixed on his youngest friend.

Justin nodded. "It's not a hundred percent, but I have a feeling it's getting there."

Alice wiggled in JC's arms, and he let her down, making sure her feet were firmly on the floor before letting go. Once he did, she ran over to Justin and climbed up in the chair next to him, leaning in like she wanted to see what JC had noticed. He made a face at her, causing her to giggle quietly.

"That's great," JC said, and he actually found himself smiling. He knew his relief couldn't compare to what Justin was likely feeling, but he was happy to know that the blindness hadn't been permanent. "I guess those eye drops really did help."

Initially, Justin hadn't been all that thrilled about taking the eye drops. Mostly because he didn't like having anyone do anything for him, and that had certainly been no exception. It'd been the only thing JC had been allowed to do for Justin the last few days, especially when he'd sequestered himself away in his guest bedroom. He hadn't done it since Chris had returned though so he could only assume that he'd taken over for JC, helping Justin put them in instead.

"It's a good sign," Lance agreed. "We're going to take him to the doctor later."

"When?"

"Our appointment is around noon."

JC frowned. "Do you think that's a good idea?" He realized how that sounded and rushed to explain, "I mean, with everything else that's going on. I don't want you guys to have any trouble if you're followed..."

"Here," Joey said, suddenly appearing at JC's side and startling him just slightly. He grabbed onto his arm and gently pulled him towards the now empty chair that was where Joey had been sitting. JC allowed him to, feeling a little flustered as the action had him forgetting what he was saying.

"That's not going to happen," Chris objected, responding to what JC had begun to say.

JC's eyes went to where Alice was sitting, not wanting to say too much in front of her and scare her. She had enough to deal with already without adding to it. "You don't know that."

Chris sighed, heavily. "Why don't you let us worry about that? You should go back up to bed."

JC shook his head. He could understand they were trying to look out for him, but they couldn't keep him from worrying about things or pretending like Gabe wasn't a threat. It was true that he felt like shit and wanted nothing more than to sleep for like three days straight, but he wouldn't allow himself to rest until he was sure there any danger had passed.

"I came down to make Alice breakfast," he said.

"Joey and Lance can do that," Justin replied.

Lance looked at Justin from across the table, raising an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

"Well, yeah. Joey's already up." And right as Justin said this, Joey placed a steaming mug of tea in front of JC. Justin continued, "And we all know that out of the five of us, you guys are the least culinarily challenged."

"Alright, fine. I suppose it would do us all some good to eat breakfast," Lance said.

Joey moved closer to Alice, stooping down slightly so he was more at her level. "What would you like to eat?"

JC would've expected her to shy away from Joey given that she didn't really know him, but she just looked back at him and quietly requested that she would like pancakes. And of course, Joey being Joey, he suggested, "With chocolate chips?"

Alice nodded, a small smile on her face.

Lance rose from the table and asked, "Do you want to help us?"

She paused for a long moment before she said softly, "Okay."

Part of JC wanted to object, knowing that it was probably going to result in a huge mess. But he couldn't bring himself to do it, especially because it could very well help take her mind off her mother. At least for a little bit. He hoped anyway, and he had a feeling that Lance had suggested it because he recognized that too.

As Alice jumped down from the chair she'd been sitting in, Justin leaned in just slightly and asked in a quiet voice, "Does she know?"

JC nodded, knowing exactly what he was referring to. "We talked about it upstairs a little."

He wasn't ready to admit that she'd already known that Beth was dead before he could even tell her. There was a large part of him that was still afraid how the guys would react if they found out that Alice may have some psychic abilities. But he also wanted to give himself some time to wrap his own mind around it and figure out what he was going to do about it. And that wasn't exactly something he was prepared to make a decision on just yet.

"Is she okay?" Chris asked.

JC shrugged, taking a drink of his tea. It'd cooled down significantly, but it was still warm and the peppermint flavor helped to open up his sinuses. At least temporarily. "As okay as she can be I guess."

It felt like they both were just trying to continue on, the stress and fear of what might happen with Gabe weighing on both of their minds. Because while nothing had been said, he was sure Alice was more in tune to what was going on than the guys probably thought she was. She would have to be what with Beth having run away from Gabe and the rest of the cult because of the things he'd apparently done to Alice. Things that JC didn't know about in detail and might not ever know.

Almost as if Justin could sense the inner turmoil he was feeling, he reached out and put a comforting hand on his arm. "Nothing is going to happen to her. She's going to be okay."

JC wanted to believe that, but he couldn't. Not without knowing she was safe from her father. It was his number one concern, and he suddenly remembered what Chris had told him last night. "Have you called Lonnie?"

"Yeah, he'll be over in an hour or two with a few of our security team," Chris said.

JC briefly wondered how that call had gone. Because they were supposed to be recording their album, there wasn't really much need for their security team; they were supposed to be on a vacation of sorts. If he was them, he wouldn't really want his vacation interrupted.

"What all did you tell him?" JC asked.

Chris looked him in the eye. "The truth," he said simply. "You know we can't keep secrets from our security team. At least not about stuff like this."

JC knew he was right. He might not want many people knowing about the situation with Beth, but if anyone needed to know it was their bodyguards. Besides, he trusted them completely and knew that none of them would say anything about it to anyone outside of the five of them. They would even keep it from Johnny if they asked, though they would make their opinion known that their manager should be informed. That thought had him sighing a little, closing his eyes as he realized Johnny knew nothing about what was going on.

"We need to let Johnny know about all this," JC said, opening his eyes and looking at Justin and Chris. "He's probably expecting us in the studio today."

"No he's not," Lance said, obviously having overheard them. He looked up from where he was frying bacon over one of the burners on the stove. "I already told him we wouldn't be coming in, and I said we'd be stopping by later to fill him in on what's been going on."

JC sighed again. "Okay. Well, I can meet you guys at the compound so we can all talk about it."

"It's okay. You don't need to come," Justin said.

JC opened his mouth to object, but Lance spoke before he could say anything. "We're going to tell him we all need a few days at least. Maybe more. You're going to need some time to get better and...to handle some things before we get back in the studio."

JC was aware Lance was purposely being vague for Alice's sake as she was standing just a few feet away on a step stool as Joey supervised her mixing the pancake batter. He couldn't argue with Lance's logic and so he let it go, preferring to sit there and finish his tea as he watched Alice help Joey make the pancakes.

He suddenly felt so exhausted. There was so much to do and so much uncertainty that lied ahead, but he couldn't prepare for any of it until the situation with Gabe was dealt with. He could only hope it happened soon because there were some important decisions that needed to be made for Alice, and the sooner they could be the made, the better it would be for her.