Part 6

"No, no, no!" Rio's sharp reprimand blasted across the studio. "Are you ladies serious about cutting this album, or are you just here to waste my time?"

Shocked, Jem and the Holograms stared at him in silence, disbelief evident on their features. They'd never heard Rio take that tone of voice at any of their session - or anywhere else for that matter - and the shock of it drove them to absolute quiet.

Rio continued, tossing his headphones down inside the recording booth and storming into the studio itself. "Aja, you're off by an eighth of a beat; Kimber, you're being sloppy and the keyboard's coming through mangled, Shana, you're slowing the tempo in each bar and Jem..."

Jem flinched as he rounded on her, his expression stormy. "Could you try and add some feeling to the words? My dishwasher has more soul than what you're putting into this."

"Maybe if you backed off for a bit, we'd be able to find our rhythm." Kimber snapped back at him, irate at the way he was picking on her sister. "Jem's doing the best she can right now."

"Then you might as well hand over the Glitter and Gold contest to the Misfits because with the way you're performing, there's no way you'll be able to sell a hundred albums, let alone a million!"

"Back off, Rio," Aja warned, watching the way Jem's hand had tightened on the microphone, her fingers starting to turn white. "We'll get it right this time, won't we girls?"

"Right," Shana agreed, turning a dark look Rio's way. His attitude wasn't endearing him to any of the Holograms. "Out; go do what you do best and let us work!"

Jem turned away from the window leading to the recording booth as Rio re-entered it and took a deep breath, rolling her shoulders and her head around to ease the tension. Rio's remarks had smarted. They were true enough, but Jem knew it was her fault - she was the one dragging the others down.

But Jem wasn't broken hearted because of Rio; Jem wasn't his ex-girlfriend; Jem was thinking about a comeback. Men loved Jem, flocked to her and wanted to be around her - with her. Men didn't care if she was mysterious or held a secret that enabled her to protect and raise her foster girls.

Rio be damned.

"Thanks," she told her friends with a brave smile, trying to convince herself that Jem didn't care about Rio's criticism. "How about we show him how this is done?"

The Holograms nodded, each more than a little ticked at Rio's attitude and Shana raised her drum sticks. This particular song was a guitar intro and Jem nodded to Aja. The Asian woman glanced at Kimber, got her nod, and struck the chord. It held, faded away and then she broke into the riff that was the song's intro. As Jem jumped in on the up count of five, the drums and keyboard began to blend under her voice.

Ignoring the dark presence behind the glass, Jem belted out the love song with such raw emotion, her eyes began to tear. Closing them against the blurring sight, she focused on the words and getting them just right. Rio would have no cause to criticize this piece. He would have no reason not to cut it as it was.

It took three minutes before the track was done and he didn't interrupt them this time. As the final notes faded away, Jem bowed her head and turned her back to the glass. Discreetly, knowing the Holograms wouldn't hold this against her, she brushed at the tears on her lashes. Rio wouldn't see her cry.

"That was better, much better," Rio's voice came over the speakers, grudgingly respectful. He didn't apologize for his earlier behavior though. "We can cut that; two down, ladies."

"We need to practice the next few before we come back in," Kimber told Rio with a short wave. "We should have it by tonight - be back at six."

"Just call when you need me," Rio returned evenly as he was shutting down the equipment. "If you're ready sooner, let me know."

Shooting him a disgusted look, Shana pushed away from the drum set and stood, reaching out to take Jem's hand as the quartet left the recording studio. A few doors down, Shana pushed open the door to their practice room and ushered everyone in before closing the door and locking it.

"I could smack him."

"Boy, you said it; you'd think he could just do his job."

"He is." Jem took a deep breath. "And Rio wasn't wrong."

"How can you back him up the way he was treating you, Jem?" Kimber demanded, slapping her hands on her hips. "He's forgotten what it is to be nice, how can you even think for a second he's doing this to be anything but mean?"

"Because he's a professional, Kimber." Reaching for her earring, she whispered the words that turned her back into Jerrica. "Rio's our manager, he has been from the start. He knows our strengths and weaknesses and he's never pulled his punches before when we've been off. He's been nicer, yes, but just as critical."

"Jerrica-"

She held up her hands before they could protest further. "This is all my fault; I'm sorry."

"No it's not," came the staunch defense of her sister. "This is all Eric Raymond's fault. If he hadn't tried to run Starlight Music the way he had when dad died you never would have had to become Jem and none of this would have happened."

"Starlight needed a headliner," Jerrica corrected her sister. "And with everything dad left us, I think he expected us to do this."

"Well, if Eric and the Misfits hadn't been so set on causing mischief, you would have told Rio right away that you were Jem, right?"

"It doesn't matter what I tried to do, or would have done or who messed it up," Jerrica informed them evenly, struggling against the ‘could have beens’ playing over and over in her mind. If she'd only... Shaking them away, she focused on the now. "What's done is done and I have to live with it, even if it means Rio... even if it means he's leaving when his contract is done. We have an album to get out and Rio was right. I can't... If we're going to do this, I need to be Jem, not Jerrica."

"It doesn't matter the name, they're both you." Shana placed a hand on Jerrica's slumped shoulder and squeezed, "Rio just needs to see that. What do you say we play something old, something we haven't played in a long time. It might get us focused to work on the new set Kimber wrote."

"I'm game."

"Me too," Aja agreed. "Something upbeat, something that has nothing to do with love or men - who needs them anyway?"

"How about 'There's a Melody Playin' or..." Kimber settled at her keyboard and struck a chord that was familiar, her eyes sparkling as she glanced up at the others. It had been their first song, their first hit - and it was something they could play in their sleep. Aja grabbed her guitar as Shana jumped behind the drums, picking up the beat as Aja found the rhythm.

The music was upbeat and poppy, lifting Jerrica's spirits as little else could. With a quick word to Synergy, she was Jem again and began to sing. "There's music in the air..."

Jamming together was how they normally came up with the music to Kimber's lyrics and as they played through a couple of their hits, they flowed from one to another until the music evolved from there into something new. Kimber began to sing the first time they came up with a new melody, slotting in one of the new songs she's written. After the first pass through, they played it again and again, messing with the harmonies until they came up with something that fit her lyrics.

Once comfortable, they stopped; Shana - the opening beat on the song - gave them their time and struck up the fast paced song that would be their trademark for the album; Glitter and Gold. They moved from the upbeat song to a haunting, slightly discordant one that fit with Jem's current mood, did a brief stint with an old piece about jealousy and then jumped into two new tracks that they had no trouble nailing.

With Jem in the right frame of mind, they returned to the recording studio and ran through the new songs there, Jem making a point of facing away from the window. Instead of the two songs they came to lay down, they were ready with four. Kimber called Rio - who hadn't gone far - and within half an hour they were back to recording.

Recording the first three tracks went well enough, with Rio a silent specter behind the glass as he flipped switches and adjusted toggles and dials to match what they were doing. The Holograms paid him no attention, aware that their jamming session high had worn off awhile ago and that Jem was starting to feel the pressure of that icy, indifferent stare from beyond the window.

Kimber, seeing her sister starting to tire emotionally as they took a brief break for water between songs, flexed her fingers and began to pass them over the keys. An idea struck and she pun away to grab the paper and pen she kept handy for just such occasions. They all knew better, Rio included, than to interrupt her when she was composing. The words seemed to pour from her fingers, filling the page, line after line, her smile grim.

Only when she paused to review and looked up, did Kimber realize that they were all watching her with tolerant amusement, Jem's eyebrows lifted in a silent question. A question she then chose to voice. "I hope that expression wasn't because you dislike the lyrics you just penned."

"What? No!" Kimber blushed. "I've got a melody to go with it too; listen."

"We're recording, Kimber."

"Keep your pants on, mister high and mighty," she shot back, keeping the pad from Jem's reaching hand. "And you be patient; just listen."

Playing through the melodic line on her keyboard, she noted that they were all tapping their feet, approving smiles on their faces. Aja was already fingering chords to go with it, Shana's foot tapping to the beat she could hear in the background. Without further ado, Kimber launched into the song, her gaze on her sister's face - and wasn't disappointed.

"Deep inside your heart

That's where it's got to start.

There are those who doubt

That you will start to sprout."

Jem look startled, and Kimber knew her message was getting through. Jerrica couldn't let this set back with Rio tear her to pieces; she couldn't let the heartbreak she was feeling dictate her life and, while she was dealing, she had outlets and support. Believing in herself, however, was something that none of them could give her and Kimber knew that was the real message of this song.

"Believe in yourself

You've got to believe in yourself, baby

Got to believe in yourself

Or you'll get nothing from anyone else

Don't give up when people tell you no

Keep on working for another way to go

Go! Go! Go! Go!

Believe in yourself

You've got to believe in yourself, baby

Got to believe in yourself

Or you'll get nothing from anyone else

Believe in yourself

You've got to believe in yourself, baby

Got to believe in yourself

Believe in yourself!"

Jem's expression was near unreadable as Kimber finished the first pass through. Aja and Shana jumped in, adding their voices to the refrain as Kimber waited for Jem to take up the main line. She wasn't disappointed. Slanting her sister a knowing look, Jem picked up the microphone as they finished the last pass through - and began belting out the tune with such conviction, it made the Holograms grin.

In the sound booth, Rio sat back in surprise as Jem seemed to come alive before his eyes. She smiled, really smiled - Jerrica's smile - as she jumped wholeheartedly into the chorus. They eased off, stopped for a half a second, and then, as they ran up to the next run through, he began recording. Jem, to his surprise, continued on the level of energy Kimber's surprise inspiration had dished her and belted out the song with just a fraction more oomph than the last time.

As they finished and silence descended, Rio stopped the recording process. "I can cut that; Kimber that was..."

"What?"

"Wow."

Kimber blinked in surprise. Praise from the - of late - Mr. dour? "Do we have enough for the album yet?"

"Another day like today and we'll have time to spare in getting it distributed."

"Outrageous!" for a moment, the younger of the Benson girls forgot that she was mad at the man praising her work. "Then let's get to it, we've got one more track to lay down, right Jem?"

"Right. One more." Her smile had faded as she watched the byplay between her sister and her... and Rio. It brought back too many memories and the sound of her voice seemed to snap the two of them back into the present and the reality of their circumstances. Rio's demeanor turned icy once more.

"Now that we're here, see if you can't keep up that energy level, Jem; anything less is an insult to the music - plus it'll add a lot to the record."

"Sure no problem," was wanting to deck her former squeeze and the man who still owned her heart a bad thing? "One, two... one, two, three..."

The next two days were more of the same. Jem and the Holograms came to play and Rio came to criticize. He was overly critical, demanding and pushed them to the point of exhaustion. They replayed certain songs for hours in some cases as Rio recorded version after version, demanding they bring everything time and time again to land a flawless record.

The only, only saving grace through the whole thing was that Rio was pushing himself just as hard and his exertions resulted in fewer criticisms of Jem directly.