A/N, This story is like skipping through a field of daisies compared to 'Three'. I've always tried to write just one story at a time so that it gets all of my attention. However, 'Three' kills me every time I update it so I need to compensate. Besides, I miss Logan. So, I don't own anything.

Pain. It was the first thing Logan was aware of when he woke up. His foot and his shoulder throbbed daily but they both paled in comparison to the agony that was shooting through his hands so much that both of his arms felt almost numb. Instinctively, he drew his left hand, the one that hurt the most, to his chest. But his fingers brushed against his chest and the pain reached a new level. He groaned softly and shut his eyes waiting for the world to stop spinning around.

"Logan?"

Logan's eyes shot open and completely forgetting everything else, he sat up far too quickly. Instantly he was overwhelmed by the pain the suddenly gripped his entire body. He doubled over, trying not refrain from passing out. He felt sick to his stomach and his eyes filled with tears. He felt a hand on his back and then Kendall was talking to him

"Logan? Are you okay? Do you need something?" Kendall stared helplessly at Logan who couldn't even speak. His eyes darted to James and Carlos, frozen on the other side of the room, and then refocused his attention on Logan. "Just breath, Logan." He advised since Logan seemed to be struggling to do even that. When he still didn't get a response he looked up. "Carlos, call a doctor."

"No." Logan finally gasped out. He uncurled and took several deep breaths until the fog in his head began to clear. "Wait. I'm okay."

Kendall nearly choked on a laugh. "You're kidding, right?" He shook his head at Logan and then turned to Carlos and nodded.

Carlos stood up quickly and slapped the call button with a shaking hand. "James, don't move." He ordered James who was on the verge of climbing out of his own bed. The older boy shot him a pleading look but Carlos shook his head firmly.

James. Logan looked up, his mouth falling open slightly. James was sitting up in bed, his body tense, staring at Logan. Before Logan could say anything though, the door opened and a nurse breezed in.

"Can I help someone?" She asked with a friendly smile. Her gaze landed on Logan and her eyes became full of understanding. She looked at his charts and then spoke again. "It looks like you're due for another shot of morphine. I'll be right back, okay?"

"Thank you." Kendall called after her gratefully, since Logan seemed robbed of speech. "How ya doing, bud?" He asked softly.

"James?" Logan whispered, tears filling his eyes.

"I'm right here, Logan." James answered him. His jaw clenched tightly together as he watched Logan struggle.

The nurse reentered the room and with quick, efficient motions, stuck a needle through Logan's IV. "There you go, sweetie. That should help a little with the pain." She looked around the room. "Does anybody else need anything?"

"Can I go over there?" James begged. "Please. I can sit in a wheelchair. I just. . ." He trailed off, unable to translate his feelings into words.

Once again though, the nurse seemed to sense the problem and after careful consideration, she nodded. "Okay, but only for a little while. We don't want you to exert yourself."

Despite his earlier reservations, Carlos was quick to unfold the wheelchair and bring it to the side of James' bed. With the assistance of the nurse and Kendall, he helped James into the chair and wheeled it over to Logan's bed.

James totally ignored the pain in his own body and drew Logan into a careful hug. For the second time that week, Logan collapsed into him, shaking with long held back sobs. "It's okay, Logan." He felt Kendall and Carlos tentatively join the hug and he smiled despite the grief that shook him. He had missed all of his friends together.

"It's not okay." Logan shook his head, pulling away. "You almost died. Again."

James would never forget the look in Logan's eyes. The morphine had taken away most of his physical pain but he was still an emotional wreck. He searched his brain for something to say, wondering why it had always come so easy to Logan when he was the one comforting them. "I'm sorry, Logan." In the back of his mind, he found it amusing that he was apologizing for something he couldn't help, just like Logan would.

"It's not your fault." Logan muttered, looking down.

James hated the role reversal that had taken place in the last week. He was selfish for hating it too. He was stupid for wishing that Logan could be the strong one once again. "I know." He said quietly. "But I'm still sorry. I. . . I know how it feels."

Logan flinched at his words. "I guess you do." He said regretfully. "But you guys are all stronger than me. You could handle it if-"

"Don't even go there." Kendall interrupted. "I can't stand the thought of losing any of you and there isn't a day that goes by that I'm not thankful for the fact that you're all still here, especially after all we've been through."

"We love you, Logan." Carlos said shakily. "Can't you see that? You're our brother and we care about you. You know that, right?"

Logan nodded and swallowed against the lump that had been building in his throat. "I do." He said, his voice cracking slightly. "And believe me, I feel the same way about you guys. That's why it's so hard when one of you is hurting or. . . or dying. It feels like a part of me-"

"It feels like a part of you is dying too, right?" James finished. "We know, Logan." He took a deep breath. "But we're all here now and even though we're pretty messed up, we still have each other. And we have the rest of our friends and families too. We'll be okay."

At last Logan smiled. It was small and shaky but the sight of it allowed the other boys to breath a sigh of relief. He leaned forward for another hug, resting his head on James' shoulder while Kendall and Carlos crowded in again. When they drew away from another, Logan lay back down, his eyelids suddenly feeling heavy and the morphine took full effect. "When?" He whispered, closing his eyes.

"When what?" Kendall asked in confusion.

Logan opened his eyes, relieved to find James still there. "When did you wake up?"

"When you were in for your surgery." James told him, shooting a quick glance at both Carlos and Kendall. He frowned when both of them avoided eye contact and Logan shut his eyes again as if to ward of the memory. He bit his lip, questioning his wisdom in mentioning the surgery to Logan.

"Okay." Logan sighed. "I'm glad you're back, James. We were worried." His voice had started to slow down and his words had begun to trip over one another as he drifted off to sleep. "Don't do that again, k?"

James sighed. "I'll do my best, Logan."

Logan pried open his eyes and gave James a half-glare. "If you start feeling bad again don't wait until you're practically on your death bed like last time. The doctors can't help you if you're not completely honest with them."

At Logan's sleepy admonishment, James smiled. But he took Logan's words to heart too. "I promise, Logan."

"Good." Logan looked satisfied.

"Get some rest, okay? It's pretty hard to fight off the morphine."

"You get some rest." Logan shot back with a pathetic mumble. "You need your rest even more than I do. I'm not the one who. . ." He trailed off and yawned. "You shouldn't even be out of bed."

James rolled his eyes. "Go to sleep, Logan. I'm headed in the same direction."

"You better be." Logan looked up at Kendall and Carlos who were watching the whole exchange with some amusement. "Make sure he gets rest." He ordered, fighting back another yawn.

"Don't worry." Carlos told him. "You can count on us." He laughed softly when his words fell on deaf ears because Logan had already fallen asleep. Then he stood up. "Okay, Kendall. Time to out James to bed."

Kendall snorted and stood up as well. His heart felt lighter than it had all week. Logan and James finally seemed to be on the road to recovery, not just physically, but emotionally as well.

Later that afternoon, James and Logan had woken up once more to find Kendall and Carlos in the same place by their beds. The four fell into an easy conversation about the Minnesota Wild. It was clearly an evasion by all of them to avoid talking about the inevitable but everyone was happy with it.

Just as Kendall and Carlos were in a heated debate about the statistics from the last game, there was a knock in the door and immediately, silence fell over the room.

"Come in." Kendall finally called, shifting slightly closer to Logan while Carlos did the same with James.

The door opened and two uniformed policemen removed their caps before strolling into the room. One was short and stocky, his graying hair giving him the appearance of someone in their mid-fifties. His companion was much younger, probably not even thirty, and was long and lean.

"Boys, I'm Chief Carl Edwards and this is Officer Noah Hendricks. We're from the LAPD, the Los Angeles Police Department, and we'd like to to ask James and Logan a couple of questions if they're feeling up to it. Kendall and Carlos, I believe you've already been questioned, correct?"

Kendall and Carlos nodded wordlessly, their gazes shifting anxiously from their two best friends, to the policemen in front of them. They had been questioned together, the day after the shooting but James and Logan had never been well enough. Kendall doubted they were prepared even now. "It can't wait at all?" He asked, hopefully. "Yesterday was kind of a hard day for both of them and-"

"I'm okay, Kendall." Logan said quietly. "Might as well get it over with, right?" He glanced at James questioningly but the other boy nodded, apparently eager to get the ordeal with as well.

"This won't take long." Chief Edwards told them, pulling up a chair. He looked at Kendall and Carlos and opened his mouth to speak to them but Carlos beat him to it.

"We're not leaving." He said with uncharacteristic stubbornness in his voice. Carlos was always hardheaded about his opinions but it was unlike him to stand up to an adult in a slightly disrespectful way.

Chief Edwards sighed and rubbed his face wearily with both hands. "Boys, I can't force you to leave." He told them. "But I am going to warn you that sitting in on this conversation won't be easy. I just want you to be prepared that some of the things you are going to hear may upset you greatly."

Kendall rolled his eyes. "I think we can handle it." He said dryly. In truth, he knew that they couldn't handle it. They had already been through so much together, what was a little chat with the police? Besides, they would have had to drag him and Carlos kicking and screaming out of the hospital if they really wanted them to leave.

"Relax." Logan muttered to Kendall when he noticed that his friend's fierce protective side was rising to the surface.

"Okay then." Chief Edwards slapped his knees with his hands and pulled out a notepad and pencil. His silent companion mimicked his actions. "James, how about we start with you?" He waited until the boy nodded. "Did you see Andrew before the shooting?"

James blinked at the bluntness of the question then struggled to come up with an answer. "Um, yeah. On the bus. Some of the jocks were bullying him. They threw his books on the bus floor and then tripped him." A dull panic awakened and throbbed in his chest as he began relieving that awful day.

"Do you remember specifically who was bullying Andrew?"

"Sean Williams." James said softly. He didn't miss the look the two men shared at the mention of the name. What had happened to Sean anyway?

"Had that ever happened before?" The chief scribbled something down on his pad of paper before looking back up at James.

James nodded. "All the time." He whispered. "We should have said something, right? Maybe we could have stopped it. I just. . . never thought that it would happen to us. I thought it was something we would only read about. Bullying happens all the time. I guess. . . I don't know what I was thinking."

His only response was a hum and a nod from the police chief. Then another question. "Did you notice anything strange about Andrew that day?"

Andrew. Does he have to say his name every time? James cringed. "Not really. He never tried to fight back. He did look more upset than usual and I remember thinking that his backpack looked really heavy. But that's all."

"Logan, do you have anything to add?"

Logan jumped at the sudden change in direction the interview had taken but shook his head readily. "No. Nothing."

"So let's move on then." The man said abruptly. He gestured to the young officer seated by his side. "I'm going to let Officer Hendricks take over from here."

At his superior officer's words, Officer Hendricks leaned forward slightly in his chair and spoke for the first time. His voice was quiet and comforting in comparison to the older man's booming voice that demanded attention. "Did either of you see Andrew before the shooting aside from the bus ride?" Despite the nature of his question, both boys remained completely calm and shook their heads in denial. "Where were you when it began?"

James cleared his throat. "We were both in study hall." He began shakily. "Logan had another class but he skipped it to help me study for a test I had later that day."

"What happened?" Officer Hendricks asked gently, aware that the answer wouldn't come easily.

"Logan was on the other side of the room. . . He. . . He needed to sharpen a pencil. Then, Sean dumped Andrew's backpack out and. . . and then Andrew pulled out a gun and. . . started shooting." He could practically hear the first gunshots go off all over again.

Logan suddenly spoke up. "The first shot hit Sean." He said, staring blankly at the wall. "Then Andrew shot twice more, randomly. One of the bullets hit me in the foot." He broke his frozen stare to nod at his injured foot. I went down and. . . I couldn't walk. Then James found me and he carried me to a lock down room. Everyone was running around so much and panicking that I didn't see what happened to Andrew after that."

"You mean you weren't keeping a look out for him?" The chief suddenly spoke again, disbelief coloring his tone. "He could have shot you both dead."

"James, did you see what happened to Andrew after you found Logan?" Officer Hendricks smoothly ignored the chief and continued talking like he wasn't even there. Kendall relaxed his tense posture.

"No." James said quietly. "All I could think of was getting out of there with Logan. I didn't think that Andrew could have shot us. I guess I should have-"

"It's hard to think clearly in that sort of situation." Officer Hendricks brushed James' words away with a wave of the hand. "We're not here to talk about what could have happened. We're here to talk about what did happen."

Kendall ducked his head to hide the smirk that darted across his face. Chief Edwards looked like he had just swallowed a lemon. Officer Hendricks though was completely disregarding his superior's disapproval though, focusing all of his attention on James and Logan.

Carlos choked on a laugh and tried to cover it by clearing his throat. "Sorry." He mumbled. "Tickle. . . in my throat."

James started talking again and all amusement disappeared. "We made it to a room and locked the door. After that not much happened at first. Logan's foot was hurt pretty badly but there wasn't anything we could really do. I tried to get a first aid kit out of the closet but the door was locked and the key wasn't in the teacher's desk. And then-"

"Then Andrew came in." Logan took over the story when he saw James losing his nerve. His own voice shook but he pressed on in determination. The first four words proved to be the easiest though because he fell silent, trying to put into words what happened next. "He unlocked the door somehow. . . I don't know. Because it was locked but he got in anyway."

Kendall and Carlos had only heard bits and pieces of their best friends' ordeal and now, as hey sat listening to it in each sickening detail, they felt utterly helpless. James was staring at his hands in his lap and Logan had suddenly stopped hesitating and was talking in a steady monotone that made them think of a robot.

"He started talking to us, like taunting and yelling at us. He said that we didn't do anything to him but we also didn't do anything for him. You know, to stop it. He was right. We should have done something. Anything. But we didn't. Nobody did. So then he started talking about which one of us he was going to shoot first. He pointed the gun at me and pulled the trigger but. . ." Logan's rambling cut off abruptly and he closed his eyes, tears beginning to stream down his face. His body shook yet again with sobs and instantly Kendall's arms were around him in a firm but gentle embrace.

"I knocked Logan out of the way." James said, picking up where Logan had left off. He stared at Kendall and Logan, unable to cry himself because he was emotionally worn out. He felt Carlos' hand on his shoulder and turned back to the policemen. The chief looked somewhat annoyed and impatient at Logan's outburst but Officer Hendricks stood up and handed to box of tissues from the nightstand to Kendall.

"Take your time." He said softly to the boys.

Logan slowly drew away from Kendall and started talking again, his voice shaking violently. "I'm sorry." He sniffed, looking apologetically at the kind officer and avoiding eye contact with the cold chief.

"Don't be sorry, Logan." Hendricks said so gently that the tears nearly started again. "It's not easy to relive something like what you went through."

Logan nodded gratefully, the officer's kindness seeming to give him strength. "He s-shot James and then he tried to shoot me. But I tackled h-him and we fell down together. That's when I got shot the second time." He glanced at James carefully then continued. "The gun went off and hit me in the shoulder. And t-hen. . ."

Chief Edwards leaned forward in his chair, peering at Logan with such an intense stare that the boy trailed off, intimidated by the look. "And then?" The man pressed, impatient once again.

Officer Hendricks sighed, his patience wearing thin as well, but not with Logan. "Chief, with all due respect, the kid is talking about how he and his best friend were held hostage and shot. Now, that's never happened to me but I'm guessing it's not like telling your class about what you did on summer vacation. Give him a break."

The chief frowned but didn't reply and dropped his gaze to his notepad, appearing to study what he had written down.

"The gun. . ." Logan began in a faltering voice. "The gun fell and landed closer to me. I grabbed it and. . . Andrew said I wouldn't but I did."

"What did you do?" The chief asked eagerly.

This time, Logan didn't waver. He stared straight at the chief and answered him right away. "I shot him."

A/N. This wasn't going to end like that but then I realized that it would actually be perfect so yeah. Haha. All right! I'm done skipping through daisies! On to 'Three'! Please review!