Hey you guuuuuys! GUESS WHAT? It's my good friend Poppy Seed's (boomboomboommuffins on psychfic) birthday! She's older than me by five months. :P *pokes her* ANYWHO, she's a BTR fan! Therefore, BTR fic! YAY! Happy birthday Poppy Seed! Hope it's EPIC!

Disclaimer: Heh, if I owned Big Time Rush, there'd be a lot more blood. GOOD THING I DON'T, RIGHT?

…

"Why are we here again?" Carlos complained loudly, shifting from one foot to the other.

Kendall glared at him. "Because you're the one who convinced us to ride skateboards onto the set of the music video. Now we can't even do "Invisible" until we pay for all of the instruments we wrecked." He gestured at the bank's lobby they were in. "And since we all destroyed the equipment, we all can help pay for the damage."

"Is that even legal?" Logan said, taking his nails away from his mouth long enough to direct the question at Kendall before biting them nervously again. "I mean, don't we need, like, identification or something?"

"No, because Gustavo transferred it to my mom's account," Kendall explained. "And them Mom transferred it to mine."

James stopped combing his hair and widened his eyes at Kendall. "Wait, we have Gustavo's money now?"

The three other boys stopped and stared at Kendall, and the blonde shook his head. "Only for the music video!"

"Aww," the boys chorused, pouting.

The line shifted slightly and the boys moved up. It was an early Sunday morning, LA sunshine streaming through the various windows of the bank they were currently in line in. Kendall had dragged the guys with him to withdraw the money to help placate their new music video director—who seemed altogether impossible to work with. The previous day he had worked them for eight hours straight with no breaks, and he never seemed satisfied with their performance. The guys were edgy and irritable since the moment they woke up, and Kendall couldn't blame them.

Kendall looked over his shoulder and found Carlos smiling and waving at a little girl in the line next to them. She clutched her mother's hand and pointed at him, beaming. "It's Big Time Rush!" she said excitedly.

The woman looked over and Carlos waved at her too. Seemingly unimpressed, she harrumphed and turned back forward.

Carlos didn't seem to mind. He gave the little girl a high five and a sideways hug, and she giggled happily as she hugged her teddy bear.

Kendall smiled. It was always amazing to run into fans and be recognized when they weren't trying to.

The line moved again, and finally it was Kendall's turn to talk to the cashier behind the counter. He gave her his best smile and tried not to look as young as he actually was as he opened his mouth to speak.

He never got the chance.

A loud bang interrupted whatever it was he about to say. The guys jumped a foot in the air, screaming girlishly along with the other customers in the bank, and turned towards the door. White smoke was drifting through the doorway, causing everyone to cough uncontrollably. Kendall's eyes watered and he fell to his knees, pounding on his chest to try to keep himself from coughing.

"Nobody move!" a voice yelled.

Kendall looked up to see five dark figures—or maybe just men dressed head to toe in black—burst into the bank. Popping noises reached his ears and Kendall ducked, immediately recognizing the gunshots. A quick glance told him that the shooter was firing up, not hitting anyone but clearly intending to scare the crap out of him.

"Adults on this side, kids on this side!" another one said. He said something else, but the rest of his words were drowned out as the people inside the bank started to scream, panic rising and causing everyone to make a mad dash towards the door.

This was apparently anticipated as one of the men stepped in front of the large glass doors and raised his gun, a pistol, in their direction. They froze, not daring to move.

Kendall looked around and saw that Carlos was cradling the little girl who'd recognized him from before, holding her protectively against his chest. Logan was holding onto James' arm, the taller boy glaring ferociously at the closest man-in-black like he wanted to pick a fight.

"What did I tell you?" the man said, talking to the customers frozen at the door. "Adults on this side. Kids on this side. Disobey and get a bullet through your brain, see if I care."

What in the world was happening? A hand latched onto Kendall's upper arm and jerked him over to the right side of the bank, past James and Logan and Carlos.

"Let him go!" James yelled, flying to his feet.

"James, don't!" Logan scrambled after him, trying to reach him before he could attack the man he was aiming at.

James, of course, didn't listen. He reached the man and hit him in a tackle that looked more like it belonged in football than in hockey. The man fell with James on top, the gun flying from his hand and skidding across the floor.

For a second, everyone froze, eyes on the gun. But before anyone could go for it, the man James had pinned rolled, slamming James into the tile floor and holding him there. Then another man—supposedly the leader, by the way he walked—ambled over to them and pointed the gun almost casually at James' head.

"You really wanna go there, kid?" he asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"Leave him alone," Kendall spoke up, standing slowly. He didn't even realize he'd said anything until the man lazily looked over at him, blue eyes glittering from behind his black ski mask.

"You going to try anything?" The tone of his voice almost dared him to.

Kendall didn't do anything. He stood where he was and held the man's gaze. He walked over to stand in front of the teen, using his gun to tap him lightly on the cheek.

"I didn't think so," he said softly. Grabbing Kendall's arm he shoved him to where Carlos sat cradling the little girl against the wall, and as Kendall sat he felt Carlos clutch his arm so tight that he winced.

James was tugged to his feet and practically thrown next to them, and Logan followed on his own accord when the gun was turned to him.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the main gunman said pleasantly, "you may call me Rick. If you would all stay still for me and keep quiet, we'll be out of here before you even noticed we left. Yes, this is what you're thinking: we're robbing this bank, and you in it."