A/N: Hey, guys. It's been a few months now since I last posted something, but what better day to come back than today? It isn't so much that this is the 254th day of this year, or that it's Gibraltar's National Day. (Though, hi, Gibraltar!) No, today is also the day we celebrate the greatness of mxpw.

First though, I couldn't have written this story all by myself, although all the remaining butchering of the English language is mine. Sorry about that. Thank you to Frea O'Scanlin for beta-ing this story and making it a lot better, and for creating a cover. Thanks to JoeltotheD for working on this story with me, double-checking, reading, listening... Breathing too, that's always important. And thanks to Catrogue for pre-reading and all sort of fun we had with this.

Requiem for Stuck Pop Stars is a short multi-chapter story that I imagined for you, Max. (You'll see. Muhaha.) And I hope you'll have as much fun reading as I had writing it. Updates and completion should happen fairly soon.

Happy Birthday, Maximus!

Chapter 1: Falling Down

The applause rang out in the concert hall as Sarah Walker fled backstage. The adrenaline running through her veins conflicted with her craving to leave. She couldn't wait to go home; and she also couldn't wait to go back for an encore, or, at the very least, a curtain call.

Langston Graham was waiting for the band before the hallway leading to the dressing rooms. He had taken off the jacket of his expensive suit during the show, like he always used to do. He probably wanted to talk to them about some more interviews, party invitations, and so on. It felt like that was all he'd been doing since they had gotten in town three days ago.

"Wonderful, girls!" he said.

"Thanks," Sarah replied with a terse nod. She hadn't missed her ex-manager. Riggins, the hot intern standing beside Graham, was holding out a water bottle, which was a surprise considering that it had seemed as though he'd been drinking beer twenty-four/seven for the past three days. Sarah didn't dwell on it, and she thanked the intern as she seized the bottle and kept going.

She felt like drinking an entire fountain right now.

"What's the hurry, Walker?" Zondra asked, following her into the hallway. "Too rusty to get back out there?"

"Oh, bite me!"

She heard Zondra chuckle. "We're past this, I think."

Sarah entered her dressing room and closed the door behind her. She drew in a couple of deep breaths, and tried making the pounding of her heart recede, before gulping down water. It had been more than a year now that she'd done this by herself, and even longer with the band. As natural as it had been to take the stage with her co-singers and perform in front of their fans, to dance to the rhythm of the melody and sing lyrics she could still utter in her sleep, it had also been alien and sort of unfamiliar. It may have simply been that she was out of practice, rusty, but Sarah knew the break she'd taken in her musical career had changed both the artist in her and the person.

Trying to calm the euphoria created by the show, Sarah sat down on her chair. Spending her all-free time and savings on charity work, traveling the world, and hiking the highest mountains of the planet had done her good. The effort expended on a concert like this one had tired Sarah, but she wasn't anywhere near worn out. She wiped at her glistening face, careful not to mess up her mascara, before finishing her water and taking another bottle. Carina would likely pop up soon.

As if on cue, the redhead slipped inside. "So?" she said, flopping down on the sofa.

"So?"

"Doesn't this make you want to go back to the studio, and pack up for a tour across the country?" Carina asked.

Sarah smiled. She couldn't say the idea hadn't crossed her mind ever since she'd gotten here. The rehearsals, as tense as they had been, had felt great, like riding a bike again after a long injury, and tonight's concert had felt even better. As she looked at her friend, Sarah recalled the years spent on the road, the camaraderie, meeting the people who loved her music, working with musicians and technicians passionate about the music, and she could admit that she had missed it.

She had other things in her life now, however, and she still didn't know if she wanted to get back to the frenzied life of a pop star.

"It was a good show," Sarah said, nodding.

"I'm pumped!" Carina said. "We should celebrate afterwards."

"Chuck's here," Sarah told her.

"So? He can come with us."

Sarah hesitated. "Maybe. I'll ask."

"Sarah Walker," Carina said, her tone one of a tease, "don't tell me your boyfriend decides if and when you can go out with your girlfriends."

"No," Sarah replied with a laugh. "I'm just not sure that bringing him to have drinks with Zondra would be doing him any favors."

"Don't bring him, then."

"He's flown across the country to come and see me," Sarah said. "The least I can do is to actually spend some time with him, rather than letting him go back to an empty hotel room while I'm off having drinks."

"Oh, I see. You'd rather get laid," Carina said, her eyes sparkling. "You should have led with that."

The door opened, and Riggins said, "Five minutes," before closing the door again.

"Isn't he hot?" Carina said, standing up.

Sarah grabbed her phone. "I haven't noticed."

"Right," Carina said with a snort. "The show must go on. You coming?"

"I'll text Chuck," Sarah said. "See if he's up for an afterparty. I'll catch up with you."

After Carina left, Sarah frowned at her cell when she couldn't get a signal. It had worked fine before. She held the device in the air to no avail, and decided to see if she'd get more luck outside. Keeping her bottle in hand, Sarah walked down the hallway, eyes glued to her iPhone.

"What are you doing, Walker?" Zondra said, when Sarah passed her door.

"Gardening."

"They're waiting for us."

Sarah didn't stop. "I know."

"Stage's that way."

Sarah ignored her and opened the door at the rear of the hallway, entering a room with a window. Her text was ready, she just needed one little bar of signal.

Zondra walked after her, and called from the doorway, "Damn it, Walker! What do you think you're doing? Get your lazy ass to the stage!"

A crackling, distant sound distracted Sarah. It sounded like a wooden board being folded in two, but the echo was strange—electric—as though generated via mix-table. "Hear that?"

"What?" Zondra said, stepping forward. The door closed behind her. "The crowd waiting for us on the other side of this hallway?"

Sarah saw her phone screen blacked out with interferences. Before it crackled again—closer.

This time, Zondra didn't miss it. "What is it?"

"I don't know, but it's coming—"

Sarah stopped mid-sentence when she felt the floor under her feet move. It wasn't shaking the way it would during an earthquake. It just gave way. She saw Zondra sank too, and they tried to turn and run back from where they had come, but they barely managed a step. The collapse was faster than them.

"Whoa!"

The fall was quick, but the lack of gravity made Sarah's stomach seem to tingle in slow motion as empty air filled the space under her.

Bam!

The landing, on the other hand, was simply painful.

Sarah crashed the ground in a heap. The shock hit her coccyx and pain crept up the entirety of her back. A mass of debris followed her down. The minute air finally came back to Sarah's lungs, it sent her into a coughing fit. It hurt some more, the rumble in her body exacerbating every ache from the plunge.

She heard Zondra coughing beside her, but couldn't see her. The room was dark, the only light coming from the hole above them. Sarah craned her neck to look up. It was high. So high that the light didn't make it to the ground.

Sarah waved a hand in front of her to clear the dust. When her breathing allowed, she asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Zondra replied. She cleared her throat. "You?"

"Hurts like a bad rap song," Sarah said. "But I think I'm fine." If she wasn't planning on sitting down in the next two to three weeks, that was. It must have been the kind of ache that people who didn't take to snowboarding as rapidly as she had complained about.

"Where, in music hell, are we?" Zondra asked.

Sarah was wondering the same thing. As her eyes adjusted to the dimness, details of the room became progressively apparent. It was small, maybe a hundred and fifty square feet, and rectangular. They had fallen at one of the room extremities, next to one of the smaller walls. The walls were bare, save for a few faded posters, and consisted of old, dark cinderblocks. The worn cement on the floor didn't bring much more life to the room. There weren't any windows, but what looked like a door faced them on the opposite side.

Sarah didn't see another explanation. "Basement," she said.