Prologue
JC Chasez and Justin Timberlake hated each other.
There was no easier or nicer way to say it. They simply hated each other. Not that it made any sense to anyone that knew them. If you asked JC about why he hated Justin, he would tell you that he was a conceited, hateful little bastard that looked down on everyone around him, which wasn't true in the slightest. Yeah, Justin was a little cocky, but that was to be expected. He was a genius, and good at what he did, and he knew it. However, he was never above helping anyone who needed it, and most of his co-workers could tell you that he was the most down to earth person they knew. And if you asked Justin about JC, he'd have no problem telling you that JC was a snarky, bitchy, know-it-all, which was almost hilarious, because even though he could be very intense at times, JC was also one of the nicest people ever.
The hatred between the two men wasn't due to some perceived wrong inflicted by one upon the other. They had hated each other as soon as Justin had walked into the building three years ago, before they had a chance to even get to know each other. No, the reason for their hate could be easily summed up by one thing: plain, old-fashioned jealousy.
Despite how good-natured they could be, both had a competitive streak a mile long. JC had easily been the best programmer at MicroSystems until Justin came in. Justin, who then was an eighteen year old whiz kid straight out of MIT, and had achieved notoriety by hacking into the FBI database when he was only thirteen. As soon as Justin stepped into the building, and the two laid eyes on each other, a rivalry had been born.
That was why this new assignment had been torture for them. MicroSystems was in charge of developing a security system for the government's computers that was supposed to be impossible to hack into. Their boss, knowing the severity of this project, decided to put together the best team he had, which had ended up consisting of only two people, JC and Justin. Some other people helped out with codes, but they were the two that put everything together, figured out the bugs, and basically created the program. For ten months they had been forced to work together until the wee hours of the morning. The forced closeness was killing them.
However, they had no idea that working together would be the least of their problems, and that someone might actually want them dead…
Chapter One
"I told you it wasn't going to work." JC gloated as Justin's coding attempt failed. Justin glared at JC over his wire-rimmed glasses.
"Well, since you're so good at telling me about what's not going to work, how about you show me what will?" Justin replied, leaning back in his chair and ushering JC toward the console. They had been working on this last piece of coding for three days, and the stress added with the fact that the two didn't get along was making them want to pull their hair out.
"Well…" Josh began, pushing up his glasses and then typing furiously, "why don't we try this? Ha!" He yelled out in glee when the coding finally worked.
"Bitch." Justin muttered. He supposed it was payback for all the gloating he did when he got the descrambling code right. Maybe the little victory ass-shaking dance had been too much.
"Well, look on the bright side, Timberlake. We're done. We can give this to Britney for some major testing tomorrow, but besides that and maybe some minor changes, we will be done with each other." JC reminded him.
Justin sighed happily. "Yep, that's great. These last couple of months have been hell."
JC rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Not only have I been stuck here with you, but I have been away from my boyfriend, which has made my time twice as hellish." Josh replied, thinking about Lance, his boyfriend of the last six months.
"Hey, what about me? I have a boyfriend, too." Justin protested.
Josh gave a bitter chuckle. "And how long have you been with him, three weeks? What happened to that girl before him? Alyssa? You've gone through about ten people since we've been working together. Maybe not seeing this one will actually insure that you might last for a couple of months."
Justin wagged his tongue. "What can I say? I'm too much man to be tied down by one person. Plus, I figure that being bi means that I need to make sure I taste the rainbow."
"No, being bi means that you're attracted to both sexes, not that you have to make it your personal mission to sleep with every inhabitant on earth. I'm bi, and I'm happy being in a loving monogamous relationship, and not going around LA like a bitch in heat." JC admonished.
This time, it was Justin who rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Well, since we're done, aren't you supposed to be going home to that loving monogamous boyfriend instead of preaching to me? Because God knows I'm not in the mood to hear your holier than thou bullshit." Justin spat out.
JC rolled his eyes and began putting on his jacket. Yes, in twenty minutes, he would be home in bed with Lance, and the unpleasantness that was Justin would be far from his mind. They walked to the parking lot, Justin a few steps behind JC, and got into their cars, neither one bothering to bid goodbye to the other. They pulled their cars out of the parking lot and to their respective homes, neither one noticing the two cars in the back of the parking lot, that revved to life and began following them not soon after they left.