Finally, Melody crossed the wall of people and reached the space in front of Draco and Alex.
"Oh my God! I am your biggest fan! Guys, can I interview you?" Melody asked, pulling out her phone from her purse, raising it with a giggle, "I've always wanted to and..."
"Sure!" Draco said, and all the boys turned to look at him furiously.
"Okay, first question," Melody said as the boys frantically autographed pictures of themselves, posters and even the boxes of their dolls. "If tomorrow some studio decided to make a biographical movie about you, who would you like to be the actor to play you?"
"Oh, that's a tough one," Alex said, flexing for a picture, "I honestly have no idea... Maybe Alex Perea? He is a Mexican actor. How about you Everett?"
"Me," The Yeti replied immediately, autographing the forehead of a boy
"Why did I ask you?" Alex rolled his eyes.
"You should pick someone other than yourself, big guy," Draco said, sticking out his tongue for another photo.
"How about that guy from the show you like? Alan Ritchson?" Evie winked at Everett.
"Good choice," Everett grumbled, "But I still think I'd win Oscar. How about you, Evie?"
"Oh yeah!" Melody laughed, "What about you, bodyguard girl?"
"Me?" Evie got nervous.
"You must be the most famous bodyguard in the world by now," Melody said, "You're probably a big part of the boys' story. So, any actress you'd like to play you?"
"Oh, well. Many people don't know this but, Lauren LaVera is proficient in Taekwondo, Kun Khmer and Wushu." Evie said, biting her lip, "She and I don't look much alike, but I met her when the guys were filming the video for that killer clown movie and I think she's very talented so... Yeah. How about you, Boss?"
"Dacre Montgomery," Zeth replied without hesitation, "Say what you want about the Power Rangers movie, he definitely stole the show."
"I don't really know who that is," Melody cocked her head, but Frank raised a hand to speak way too excitedly.
"I know who he is!" Frank said, "He is the actor who plays the Red Ranger. You may know him better as Billy Hargrove from Stranger Things, Melody. He doesn't look much like Zeth but I think the guy gives off the same leadership vibes," Frank then turned to look at Finn, autographing blindly, "W-What about you, Finn?"
"Me? Oh! I think Barry Keoghan is an amazing actor, or maybe Tye Sheridan," Finn said, swallowing hard, "What about you? Any actor you would like to play you?" He evaded Frank's gaze then.
"Milo Manheim is my one and only choice," Frank said with complete certainty, nodding his head, bending down a little to take a photo with a girl and her mother, who was wearing a CNCO t-shirt. The woman was a bit confused but she had the spirit and was high on life so Frank didn't care much about it, "I think Milo is very talented, he can sing and dance, he is tall, we look alike a bit, and he doesn't get short of breath like me."
"That's what you get for smoking pack of cigarettes every day," said Everett, smiling slightly for a picture with an arm around Boomer. They fist-bumped afterwards.
"But Frank has me to cover his parts if he loses his breath," Draco said, nudging Frank friendly, "Don't you, bro? Plus, singing high notes and dancing at the same time is already a challenge!"
"And what about you, Draco? Any actor you'd like to play you in a movie?" Melody asked and Draco nodded a little too effusively after autographing a doll.
"Oh yeah! I would love for Chase Arcangel to be me in a movie! We are practically twins, although the animal print underwear is..."
"Oh my Fucking God!" and immediately, Alex tackled Draco. Both fell hard at Evie's feet, and Alex covered the vampire's mouth while everyone gasped around them.
"I don't understand, who is Chase Arcangel?" Melody asked, lowering the phone to record them wrestling a little on the floor.
"Next question please!" Alex chimed in, blushing scarlet while covering Draco's mouth.
"But who is..."
"Next question!" Alex insisted.
"Well... What do you think of Dralycandro?" Melody asked. On the floor, Alex and Draco looked into each other's eyes, both nodding.
"I think we understand why it's a ship," Alex said as he stood up, helping Draco get to his feet. Then he put his arm around the vampire, both laughing, "But there is nothing but friendship between him and me."
"Are you sure?" Melody asked, and all the people around the boys remained silent and came a little closer to listen.
Draco looked at Alex with his eyes full of happiness, and Alex looked back at him with the same kind of look.
"I wouldn't risk my friendship with Draco at all for a kiss or a relationship," Alex said, caressing Draco's cheek, "All I want is for him to be happy, for us to continue being chaotic together and I am straight, but hey! We are partners in crime!"
"That we definitely are!" Draco said, giving Alex a big hug, and everyone present went 'Awwww' in unison as both boys melted as one. Draco squeezed Alex's hips hard, with his cute little eyes closed and his face buried in his abs.
Alex pressed Draco against him, smiling, and there would be nothing in the world, ever, that Alex would have treasured more than this moment.
"Zeth, you're too quiet," Melody said. He took a selfie with two girls, signed an autograph, and turned to look at her with half-lidded eyes, "Anything you want to say?"
"Yes... Your brother is a musical genius," Zeth said, winking, "And you're a genius too, Melody,"
"You are evil genius," Everett muttered.
"Everett, we should go get 'Frozen Burritos' after the concert," Evie took a quick look at the Big Guy, who nodded and took a long breath, "We can get a relaxing tea too."
"Oh yes! I like..."
"Lavender tea, I know," Evie laughed a little, nodding, "I always carry some in my purse in case you get anxious, Big Guy."
"Frank is anxious one," Everett laughed softly, "He could use it."
"Frank only calms down with cigarettes and coffee, not a healthy choice though," Evie and Everett laughed a little, "Buy Frank some sour gummies or gum and he'll calm down too. And if you buy Draco some Cheetos and give him Angry Bats, you'll have peace for about forty minutes."
"That's true," Draco snapped his fingers and pointed. "I need Cheetos like Finn needs water."
"As much as Frank needs his PJs to sleep," Evie smiled at him, and Frank blew her a kiss from where he stood.
"Well I need water," Finn was breathing heavily and Evie snapped her fingers.
"On it. MO-53, come in. Aquamarine needs you."
From the crowd, a short female bodyguard with a friendly face appeared, carrying a pink backpack. She opened it and handed one of many bottles to Finn, then she closed the backpack and disappeared into the wall of people.
"You knew I'd need water and asked Miceline to... Wow! Thanks, Evie!" Finn chuckled and he took a long drink.
"You know us well, Evie," Everett nodded, "I like that."
"I think Evie could write a book about our secrets and never work again," Zeth laughed a little, not caring that he was on camera, "She was the first person in a long, long time to whom I told my parents' names."
"I didn't know it was a secret?" Evie raised an eyebrow.
"It's not. I don't think I even told anyone other than you, though." Zeth shifted his shoulders. He turned right, then left. "Is Paul okay?"
"BC-13, come in," Evie pressed her earpiece, "Are you with Sugilite?"
"I watch from a distance," BC-13 replied, "The girl and he chatted amicably, she gave Sugilite her number and left. Our boy is already going back to the circle. The girl is on her way to the bathroom. YE-71 is guarding that perimeter in case something happens."
"TY-63, come in. I need you to follow someone home, a girl," Evie said to her Comms, "BC-13 will give you the details."
"TY-63, I want you to investigate everything about that girl," Zeth ordered, pressing his earpiece.
"And Sapphire is also going to need two copies of what you find," Evie gave the band leader a knowing look, "One for his record and one for his lawyer's just in case, and don't forget to send another copy to his cell phone, PDF only."
"Understood." Tyler confirmed.
"EV-13, this is BC-13. The hotel manager has just informed me about a fancy car that has arrived, I will keep you posted."
"Got it," Evie turned to look at Zeth. He was looking at her with peculiar eyes, full of pride or perhaps trust. "Do I have something on my face, Boss?" Evie joked.
"No, it's nothing," Zeth avoided her gaze, blushed, and then continued signing autographs. "Does any of you know where JD-46 is?"
"I have no idea," Evie looked around. There were too many people, everything was a fairly controlled chaos, but still, Jade felt lost.
"Oh Jesus, please help me find who I'm looking for," Jade was a split second away from cutting her own bangs, turning from left to right, lost in a sea of ââpeople, crashing into one or another wild fan, "Where are you?! Where are you?!"
"JD-46, The Red Sparrow is with the Gems, specifically, she is right in front of Ruby and Amethyst, come and get her," Evie said from her earpiece.
Thank you, Jesus!
"Oh... Sure," Jade bit her lip. She could barely see anything among so many people jumping and screaming. She'd have to move fast and blindly.
"Hey, I think you suck at this job," a hand rested on Jade's shoulder. She turned to look at Kasey rolling her blue eyes, "You forgot their codenames, didn't you?"
"Maybe?" Jade bit her lip.
"Frank is Emerald, Draco is Ruby, Alex is Amethyst, Finn is Aquamarine, Zeth is Sapphire, Everett is Opal, Paul is Sugilite, Deadgar is Alexandrite, Damon is Amber, Kato is Morganite, Boomer is Agate." the blonde said, pointing forward, "Your target is in front of Ruby and Amethyst."
"Oh... Draco and Alex. Thanks," Jade muttered under her breath before stepping towards the multitude around the guys. Rubbing shoulders with some people, Jade made her way to The Red Sparrow, who was filming with her phone.
"JD-46, I'll send a message to have a pretext for the arrest," Kasey said over the Comms and soon, The Red Sparrow's cell phone buzzed.
Of course Zeth was right, this girl was definitely the one who had hired Kasey.
There was no doubt now.
"Why don't you give me that and follow me?" Jade quickly snatched the phone from The Red Sparrow, closing the camera, scrolling through the sent messages, "Well, well... Zeth was right. He always is." Jade pressed her earpiece and communicated with the bodyguard team, "EV-13, this is JD-46. I confirm that The Red Sparrow received a message from KC-47."
"Understood," Evie said over the comms while swatting a fan's hand away from Everett's thigh, "Take The Red Sparrow out of here, the rest of us will handle any inconvenience."
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?! Let go of me! Jade!" The Red Sparrow asked as Jade pressed the button on her tablet and grabbed the handcuffs. She was so proud of herself when she put them on her suspect. Surely the boys would love her more than Evie now for impressing them so much! She had excelled at this! Her first day and she had done everything perfectly!
"I'm so sorry, but I don't talk to criminals... Melody," Jade said, pulling the crimson-haired girl by the shoulder, "Now let's go! You have a lot to explain."
"Ouch! Hey! Stop it!" Melody complained as Jade pushed her handcuffed through the crowd, "Let go of me! This is illegal! Mum! Mum, where are you?!"
"It's also illegal to send a murderer to threaten special girls like me! You took Jessica Stanley envy to another level!" Jade replied, walking out of the crowd until she reached the spot where Kasey was, with a smile upon her face, "Meet your client, KC-47."
"Oh, we knew each other alright," Kasey did not look surprised.
"You knew each other?" Jade asked.
"Oh yeah," said Kasey, "After the collapse of the Hunter Academy, I mounted an effort to search the world for remaining Hunters to regain my status. I tracked down Cadence and infiltrated her house. She and I engaged in a fight, I was pointing a gun at her face so I can't blame her. After making a truce, we talked about my plan to recruit ex-Hunters and that's when she told me she had married and had a son and a daughter. Cadence offered me a job to teach Melody some self-defence. Now I see why my client had my business card."
"Was Cadence a huntress?" Jade asked and Kasey nodded.
"She ended up falling in love with her target. I would have preferred the Ken Doll than Faltom Operman though. The next generations received free sterilizations thanks to her romance." Kasey said, winking, "Bit of advice, Melody. Do not send a murderer to threaten, it is better to send her to kill."
"Don't give the Psycho Fan new ideas," Jade grunted.
"JD-46, the guys will go on stage soon. Fifth Octave is about to sing their song." Evie's voice said from the earpiece, "Sapphire wants to talk to Fanny Longbottom before the show though. Go find her."
"Fanny Longbottom?" Jade asked, looking up at Kasey, "S-Sure. I saw her by the bathroom."
"You didn't check the list," Evie said and Jade turned red, "There's no Fanny Longbottom."
"You're in trouble." Kasey laughed.
"JD-46, take Melody out of here," Evie said, "KC-47, you're in charge, Operation Black Dress while I take the guys to the stage."
"Got it," Kasey nodded.
"Fine. Move," Jade pushed Melody through the pool area, opening the glass doors of the hotel. It was cold inside. "Move!"