The Federation

My eyes popped open at the sound of Joshua opening the door into Carter’s penthouse suite. I’d barely been dozing, which probably contributed to the fact that I could hear such a quiet sound whilst Carter, who lay breathing deeply and steadily beside me, couldn’t. I took a deep breath as I heard Joshua walking with purpose towards the bedroom door. In a moment, the gears of our plan would begin to spin. Hopefully, they would not grind and stick. I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep, hoping my acting skills would be up to par this night.

The bedroom door slammed open, placing a frantic Joshua inside the room. Carter jerked awake, swearing beneath his breath as Joshua flicked the light on. I blinked in the sudden light, acting as though I’d just woken up.

“Damn it, Joshua, what the hell did you do that for?” Carter growled, his hand instantly finding mine on top of the covers. His fingers squeezed hard around my bruised hand, and I winced with real pain.

“Carter, the rockstars have revolted!” Joshua exclaimed, his voice breaking perfectly with panic. Hell, he could take up acting after this. Carter just blinked at him.

“What?” he asked groggily, rubbing his eyes with his free hand.

“The Legion agents have all revolted! I don’t know how they did it, but they overpowered all of the guards! They’ve collected in the lobby. Joan wants to speak with you,” Joshua answered urgently.

Carter scowled. He released my hand and shoved me towards the edge of the bed, his way of telling me good morning, baby, how did you sleep?

“Go get dressed,” he snapped, sliding out of bed himself. “We’ll go smooth out this revolt.”

When the three of us stepped into the lobby, it was to find everything as we’d planned. In the center of the lobby, with a solid circle of rockstars standing guard, lay all of the guards’ “unconscious” bodies in a large pile. They had possibly the easiest job here—just lie there and look unconscious. The rest of the agents milled around the lobby, speaking with each other and wearing their game faces. Carter’s hand tightened around mine, and I knew that now that he’d seen that Joshua spoke the truth, he was outnumbered now. He was scared now.

The rockstars turned and looked toward us as we stepped out of the elevator. As Carter started forward, they paved a clear path for us that ended up at the receptionist’s desk, upon which Joan stood, looking angry and fierce. Joshua followed behind Carter and me as we walked towards the desk. Carter was being cautious, his gaze flying all around the room looking for any surprise attack.

As we neared the desk, Joan jumped down off of it. She glared at Carter, her dark eyes sparking with anger. He scowled back, but it was feeble compared to Joan.

“You are outnumbered,” Joan pointed out. “We know that there is no back-up coming to join you. I believe that you have no choice but to surrender or go the same way as your so-called guards.”

In response, Carter turned towards his brother. “Joshua, do something!” He sounded terrified. His voice was high-pitched and his blue eyes were wild with the knowledge of defeat.

“No, my brother,” Joshua answered with a slow shake of his head. He stepped around me and came to a rest next to Joan, facing his brother. Even I could feel Carter’s desolation rolling off of him in waves as the rest of his band mates materialized from the Legion agents to stand behind Joshua and Joan. Carter was utterly alone now.

“What are you doing!?” Carter shrieked in a feeble attempt to keep his dignity about him. “How dare you side with them? You are such fucking hypocrites!”

“Carter, what you are doing is wrong,” Joshua said, his voice harsh. “None of us ever agreed with your plans. We only followed them because you can be so fucking charming and persuasive sometimes. All you are is a con artist. And this is your last con...a failure.”

“You have betrayed me, brother!” Carter shrieked. He began to back towards the elevator, dragging me with him. No one moved. “You have dishonored me! Your own brother! You will pay!”

With those parting words, he whirled, releasing my hand but wrapping a tight arm around my waist in the same moment. He took the final steps towards the elevator as Matt Sanders stepped forward from the crowd of rockstars in one last attempt to keep me from Carter’s wrath. I reached for him with the arm not pinned against Carter’s side. Matt’s hand closed over mine, but then Carter leaped into the elevator. My fingers slipped from Matt’s, and then the elevator’s doors closed.