Like my cover? :D I made it myself. *buffs nails* So, yeah, I discovered the image-thingy and went a little crazy. xD What can I say, the things are fun!

This one's for you, Halo. :P

Enjoy!

...

Logan couldn't sleep.

He glanced at the clock on the wall, its glowing red numbers basking the room in the dimmest of light. 1:42. In the morning. Wonderful.

Well, there was no way he was getting back to bed again. Logan sat up a little in the chair, surprised to feel a stark pillow behind his head, and a thin blanket over him. He looked across the room—Kendall was fitfully tossing and turning on the floor with his own pillow and blanket; James was leaning against the wall, his pillow tucked between his chest and his knees as his legs were drawn up to his chest; sometime during the night Kendall's mom had snuck in with Katie and was currently sleeping in the chair next to Logan's, and Katie had crawled into the bed with Carlos, carefully positioning herself so she wouldn't touch him.

"Can't sleep, huh?"

James' voice was husky and thick with exhaustion. Logan looked at him and saw that his eyes were half-lidded, but open.

He shook his head. "I'm not sure how anyone can."

"Tell me about it." James sighed heavily. "First chance, I saw the explosion again as soon as I closed my eyes. I really thought…"

"I know," Logan said. "Me too."

They were quiet for a few minutes before Logan carefully threw his blanket off of him.

"What are you doing?" James inquired, puzzled.

"Going for a walk," Logan said, standing and stretching. "I'm going to go crazy cooped up in here."

"I'm coming with you," James said.

"You don't have to."

James chuckled. "Well, there is some crazy stalker running around. I think the buddy system is in order."

"You know what the buddy system is?"

His friend sent him an insulted look, and Logan cracked a smile. At least some things never change.

James quietly rapped his knuckles on the door, making sure not to wake the others. As he did a tired-looking bodyguard opened the door and poked his head through the crack.

"You shouldn't be up at this time of night," he whispered to them.

"Can't sleep," James shrugged. "Thought about going for a walk."

The man looked uncertain. "But my partner left to get some food," he protested. "I can't leave my post to protect you. You have to stay here until he comes back."

Logan frowned at him. "We're not going anywhere," he said. "Just for a walk around the hospital."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Mitchell," the bodyguard apologized. "There's nothing I—"

"Oh, stand down, Daniels," came a familiar, if not quieter, voice. Eddie came up behind him, patting him on the shoulder. "I'll walk them around."

Daniels gave him a confused look. "Um, Mr. Winstrom, I don't think—"

"It's alright," James said quickly. "Eddie was a friend of Parker's. He's fine."

The young bodyguard, who must've obviously been new, still didn't look convinced. But when Eddie gave him a nod, he sighed and waved them through.

"Thanks for coming to our rescue," Logan told Eddie as they turned the corner, walking towards the elevator.

"Yeah, well, it's the least I can do," Eddie said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Sorry about your car."

Eddie laughed humorlessly. "Kid, the car was nothing. Money can buy a new car."

James, quicker than Logan, figured out what he was talking about. "Sorry about Parker."

"Don't worry about it." Eddie turned towards them in front of the elevator, intensity in his dark eyes. "Parker was a good guy," he said. "Better than me by far. This guy killed him."

Logan stopped and glanced at James. He liked the smirking, happy-go-lucky Eddie better.

"What are you saying?" James asked.

Eddie fixed them with a look so harsh Logan almost took a step back. Then his face softened. "My daughters love you," he said finally, turning away.

"Cool." James threw Logan's look back. He was weirded out, too.

The elevator doors dinged open, and Logan and James stepped in with Eddie. They were only going down one floor, to the dining area, but the ride was suddenly tense and silent. Logan wondered if Eddie had anything to do with the bomb being in his own car—but then, that was stupid, wasn't it? Eddie wouldn't take them to the restaurant and give Kendall the keys to the car, not knowing when he would unlock the car. The Man in Black said it himself—the thing was meant to scare, not kill.

Another ding, and the elevator doors slid open. Logan was about to step out when a man placed himself in front of him. Although the lights were dimmed, Logan could make out the man's angular face, sunglasses, and brimmed black baseball cap. He flashed Logan a crooked smile, and then lifted his head to Eddie.

"Very good, Mr. Winstrom," he congratulated. "It seems you fulfilled your service. And I suppose now you want your reward."

Eddie said nothing. Logan looked between him and the new man and with a click, it all came together. Logan grabbed James' sleeve, ready to bolt.

A soft thump broke the sudden silence. Eddie managed a gasp, thrown backward into the elevator before collapsing to the floor. Logan and James froze, staring at him and then the man in black. He waved a pistol, complete with the small barrel silencer, at them and smiled.

"Don't worry," he told them. "He'll live. Maybe. Now, how about that walk?"

"No!"

Kendall shot bolt upright, shaking and gasping, his scream already absorbed by the small hospital room's walls. He pushed his sweat-mattered blonde hair back from his face and sighed, trying to still his racing heart. All night he'd been tormented by nightmares. It was a wonder he fell asleep in the first place.

He looked around the room and noticed that James and Logan were missing, but his mom and Katie had snuck in. He'd also been given a pillow and blanket—hospital issued, obvious, since both were thin and not very comfortable, though he appreciated the gesture.

Where had Logan and James gone? It was morning—the clock read 8:12—and they might've gone to get breakfast, but Kendall doubted it. They would've waited, or woken him up and told him. Or maybe they did, and Kendall just couldn't remember. He frowned, rubbing his forehead.

"Kendall?" his mother said softly. "Are you okay?"

She sat up. He had probably woken her when he woke screaming. Guilt flooded him. "Yeah," he said hoarsely. "Nightmare. Mom, I'm so—"

Jennifer held up a hand, shaking her head. "Don't. We can have this talk when you're safe, okay?"

Kendall opened his mouth to argue, then closed it and nodded. His mother, apparently satisfied with his answer, looked around the room. "Where are Logan and James?"

He shrugged. "I was about to go ask."

A knock on the door made them both look up, and Katie sat up in bed to see a nurse poking her head through the door. Her eyes were concerned. "Are you here with James Diamond?"

Kendall could barely get his chin to nod. Fear was already seizing his muscles.

The nurse looked down at her clipboard. "He's asking for you in room 212."

"What?" Kendall shot to his feet. "What happened? Why is he in the hospital?"

A startled look settled on her face. "Um, he was admitted last night for extensive bruising on the torso, two broken ribs, and a gunshot graze to the shoulder? I just assumed—"

Kendall was shoving her aside before she could finish her sentence. Freight Train was at his side in an instant. "Did you hear about James?"

"You knew?" Kendall whirled on him in the hallway, green eyes blazing.

"Of course I did," Freight Train said, eyes narrowing. "James is fine, for now. I've got twenty-four hour guards on him. Nobody's going in or out without an ID. He's the least of our problems right now."

"What do you mean, the least of our—" Kendall broke off, eyes widening. "Where's Logan?"

"We don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"Listen, Kendall," the big man sighed, "if you want to see James I can take you to him. But the police are searching the place top to bottom. You're going to have to stay there until they come to question you."

"Unbelievable," Kendall muttered. He slid down the wall of the hallway and dropped his head into his hands. "Unbelievable. How could he get to us here? In the hospital?"

"I don't know," Freight Train admitted. "But I do know that the hallway is more dangerous for you than anywhere else. Are you going to see James, or not?"

It took Kendall another thirty seconds, but he shook his head and stood again. "Yeah," he said. "Let's go."

If you were only looking at James from the neck up, you couldn't tell he'd been attacked. As it was the bandages crisscrossing his chest made Kendall cringe the second he laid eyes on him.

"What happened?" he asked as the door closed behind him.

James opened his eyes tiredly. "Sorry," he said gratingly. "I had to talk to the cops before I could talk to you. The Man in Black has Logan."

"Start from the beginning."

So James told him. His face burned with shame, but Kendall wasn't mad at him. Eddie, however, was another story.

"I can't believe…" He interrupted at that part, and then shook his head. "Well, actually, I can. We only knew the guy for less than a day."

"Yeah, but Parker knew him," James said quietly. "Liked him, even. And now Parker's dead, and Eddie… I don't know. Have you seen him?"

"You're the first person I came to see."

James slammed his fist into his palm, and then winced. "I can't believe I didn't stop him."

"What happened after he shot Eddie?"

"He told us to keep walking. He hid his gun, and told us not to look at any of the nurses passing by. Then he took us outside the hospital and shot me, then kicked me a bunch of times. Logan tried to stop him but he hit him with his gun and I don't remember what happened after that."

Kendall was quiet for a minute. "And you saw his face up close."

James nodded. "Never seen him before. Sorry, Kendall."

"Don't worry about it," Kendall sighed. "The police will find Logan, I know it."

The brunette nodded, and Kendall stood up. "I'm going to go see if you can move into the room with Carlos so I don't have to keep going between you two."

"Has he woken up yet?"

"Not that I know of."

James sighed. "Alright. I'll be here."

"You better be." The joke fell flat but James managed a smile, and Kendall left the room.

"Back to Carlos'?" Freight Train asked.

"Yeah." Kendall tugged on his sleeve. "Can you see if they can move James into Carlos' room?" Freight Train nodded. "And… can you get the journal from my apartment? It should be on the table in the cardboard box."

The bodyguard apparently didn't need to ask what the journal was. He gave him another nod and took Kendall back to Carlos' room. Katie was up, pulling her hair into a ponytail when he came in.

"Well?" his mother inquired. "How is he?"

"Doctors say he'll be fine," Kendall said, sitting down heavily in the chair. "It's Logan I'm worried about."

"You shot him."

Jason looked over at the kid as he tightened the zip tie. "I've shot a lot of people, kid, you're going to have to be more specific."

Logan Mitchell scowled. "Eddie. You shot Eddie. Why?"

"He was a loose end."

"So was James."

"And I shot him, too, so why aren't you more concerned about your friend?" Jason raised an eyebrow at him. "Or yourself, for that matter?"

The kid shrugged as best he could tied to a chair. "James was right outside of the hospital, and that bullet only grazed him. As for me… I'm a hostage. Which means I'm your only chip to getting out alive. Which means you're not going to kill me… yet."

"And yet seems to be the operative word, isn't it?"

Logan shook his head. "Why are you doing this?"

Jason walked around the chair to the table, the only other thing in the empty room. This warehouse had been abandoned for a long time. It was, quite frankly, the perfect place to hide people. He poured himself a drink—Mulbec, something he'd been saving for years. Swirling the wine around in his cup he finally answered Logan's question.

"It was four years ago," he murmured. "Alex would've been eighteen last Friday."

The kid's dark eyes were on him, even as he twisted his wrists around, trying to find a space for him to slip his hand through. Jason ignored his efforts and sipped the wine.

"There was a car crash," he said finally. "She was in the front seat, talking to her friends while I drove her to school. We never saw the truck coming. The reports said it was his fault. When I woke up again I was in the hospital and she was dead."

"I'm sorry," the kid said, much to Jason's surprise. He lowered the cup and stared at him, studying the genuine apology in the teen's face. He wanted to be a doctor, Jason remembered. Too bad that'll never happen now.

"Yeah, well." Jason downed the drink. "Anyway, Alex's mother—we've been divorced for eight years now—gave permission for those damn doctors to take her heart and rush it to some other kid." He waved his hand. "Kendall Knight."

Logan's eyes widened. "I remember that. Kendall had an irregular heartbeat… He went into cardiac arrest during a hockey game. He almost died."

"He should've, if you ask me," Jason grunted. "Took me forever to track him down. I was just gonna rough him up, maybe make him know who she was so he'd appreciate what he had. But when I found out this kid's some sort of… celebrity..." He made a sound of disgust. "So my little girl had to die just so this kid could become famous? How's that fair?"

"You're kidding, right?" Logan sounded incredulous. "Those doctors worked hard to save your daughter's life, but sometimes there are things even they can't do. And Kendall was going to die if he didn't receive that heart transplant. It was just lucky your daughter—"

"Luck?" Jason slammed the glass down on the table, silencing the teen. "It's not luck. It's not justice. That boy took something of mine and I want it back."

The kid looked sick to his stomach. "You can't, it's a heart, you'd have to…" His voice trailed off.

Jason felt disgusted with him. "Don't sweat it, kid, I'm not going to rip his heart out or anything." He opened the cardboard box on the table and took out the bomb. Logan sucked in a breath, and Jason had to grin tiredly at his reaction. "That doesn't mean I won't kill him."

"What are you going to do?"

Jason shrugged and set the thing in Logan's lap. "That's for me to know and you to find out." He took out a phone—the kind you get at Radio Shack, the disposable kind. "For now, we need to give your pal Kendall a call."