~38~

"Logan, are you in here?" Kendall asked as he burst into the room he and Logan shared. Logan jumped, putting a hand over his heart. "Sorry." He kicked off his shoes and crossed the room, kicking the door shut behind him, before moving to sit down on his friend's bed. "I got your texts. Riley's cancelled wardrobe for tomorrow?"

"Yes," Logan replied, setting his computer aside. "She said something had come up, but we still have dance rehearsal though."

Kendall frowned, his eyebrows knitting together. A cold feeling washed over his body and he actually shivered a little bit. "Logie, I've got a bad feeling about this," Kendall said and Logan gave an odd laugh. "So, what's your idea?"

After he left Ronan's apartment, he had gotten a bombardment of texts from Logan asking him to come back to the apartment as fast as he could. He didn't really want to go just then as he felt terrible about how he had treated his mom and how he treated Ronan.

His mom had taught him better than that, but it all just flew out of his mind when he found out that they had known about the Jacksons abuse and haven't done anything. Or at least, it felt like they haven't done anything. If they had, surely things would be working out by now. They were adults for a reason; they could do anything and everything and for him to see the worry on their faces, scared him. It was like the time he had walked in on his mom crying shortly after his dad had left.

His dad.

He couldn't believe he had actually yelled at his mom for how she handled things with his dad and he couldn't believe what had actually happened. He tried so hard to think back to what had happened while he was at the hospital that fateful night, but he just couldn't remember anything. That scared him. What else could he not remember? On one hand, given how he's reacted to everything else, he didn't think he'd be able to handle it and on the other, he wanted to know once and for all what had happened.

Logan pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. "You remember that one time I left the apartment, but didn't say where I was going?" Logan asked.

"Logan, you've done that a lot," Kendall pointed out to him. "I just thought you were trying to get on Camille's good side after ducking out on her after our party." Logan open and closed his mouth, turning his head away. "Uh huh, so I was right."

"Well…what about you and Jo?" Logan shot back and Kendall cringed.

The two of them hadn't really talked since the dance and he noticed that things were becoming tense between the two of them. They weren't officially dating or anything, just squeezing in time whenever they could, but he hadn't actually paid that much attention to her lately. He felt really bad about it, but with everything that's been happening lately, she wasn't at the forefront of his thoughts. That made him feel like an even bigger jerk. Without knowing how to explain everything to her without bringing up what he knew…everything was just getting too complicated.

"Sorry," Logan said quietly. "Anyway, remember? I went to the police and they couldn't do anything?"

"Uh, y-yeah, you said that earlier," Kendall said, putting a hand to his head. His head was swimming. It was all too much. "What about it?"

"While I was out, I did some research," Logan said with a heavy sigh. "And I found something." Kendall's eyebrows shot up when Logan didn't fully answer. Logan bit his bottom lip for a moment. "They have an older brother back in Australia."

"What?" Kendall asked, his eyes popping open. "I thought it was just-"

"The five of them?" Logan finished for him and Kendall nodded. "Yeah, well, it makes sense. Like they say, they're big back in Australia and their fans there seem to be the only ones who know about him. His name's Julius. He used to be in the first "lineup" of the band before…everything happened. He doesn't sing or perform anymore, since it's not what he wants to do-"

"The point, Logie, get to it," Kendall said with a slight edge to his tone.

Logan briefly closed his eyes. "Look, you're not the only one who wants to help their friends, ok?" Logan asked, deadpan and Kendall gave him an apologetic look. "Anyway, I got his cell phone number-"

"How did you manage that?" Kendall asked, blinking in surprise. But, he was proud of Logan. There was no way he could've thought of trying to find out something like that. He certainly was the smartest one for a reason.

"MyFace," Logan simply replied. "They have personal and public pages, remember?" He wiggled his phone in the air. "I looked through their friends on the personal page and found his name. He doesn't go by his full name on there but the black hair and blue eyes thing really sealed it for me."

Kendall blinked in partial surprise. It took him a little bit to get used to the fact that the Jacksons all shared that family straight, and really did look like boy and girl versions of each other, so it wasn't too much of a shock. It was just that sometimes it was kind of scary to see the same head of hair in the family.

"So…I was thinking we could call him while everyone's out," Logan said, glancing down at his phone as he held it in his lap. He pressed his lips together, his dimples popping up in his cheeks. "What do you think?"

"Do you think he could help?" Kendall asked, looking down at the phone as well.

"It's worth a shot," Logan replied. "We can't look back or hesitate, right?" He gave a weird smile and Kendall laughed at the mention of part of their song lyrics. He then sucked in a deep breath and nodded his head. Logan nodded back before using his thumbs to punch in the phone number before switching the phone into speakerphone.

The loud ringing filled the quiet apartment. It rang once, twice, three times, before it was answered.

"G'day. How are ya?" A masculine voice came onto the line with a thick accent. Logan looked over at Kendall and Kendall motioned back towards the phone. "Hello?"

"Uh…is this Julius?" Logan asked, holding the phone out and Kendall gave a thumbs up.

"Yeah."

"Julius Jackson?"

"Yyyyyeah."

"Um, hi," Logan said. Kendall noticed his voice was more high pitched. "Um, my name is Logan Mitchell. I'm here with my friend, Kendall Knight-" Kendall shook his head frantically from side to side and Logan shot out a foot, kicking Kendall's shin, "we're, um, friends with your brothers and sisters."

"From Big Time Rush, right? Kendall and Logan? Yeah, I've heard about you guys." There was a shuffling sound on his end of the phone. They could hear him breathing before hearing a squeaky sound and then he was back on the line. "Is something wrong?"

"Um…kind of," Logan replied, looking over at Kendall. "We, um-"

"We have a question," Kendall spoke up and Logan moved the phone closer to his mouth. "It's, uh, pretty important."

"Carlos, right?"

Kendall exchanged glances with Logan. "Kendall," he replied.

"Right, sorry. What's going on, Kendall?" Julius asked. "Are they ok? What happened?" Kendall could hear the concern in his voice and smiled a little bit.

"We're worried about them," Kendall said before launching into a quick explanation of how the Jacksons had acted since he had met them. "And just recently, Riley confirmed it, but…we know that they were…I mean, they are being abused. Logan and I were talking and, uh-"

"We have a question," Logan said, moving the phone back towards his mouth. "An important one so listen closely. Um…how long have they been…abused for?" There was silence on the other end and Logan pulled the phone closer to his face. He frowned, seeing the time clock still ticking. "Hello?"

"I'm still here." Julius's voice sounded different; like his nose was stuffed up. He could hear Julius's breathing on the other end of the line and heard him let out a deep breath of air. "Look…I've been working my way through school trying to get jobs to make money to get out there and bring them back. Ronan's been looking out for them—I was going to be out there as soon as I could. Do they need me?"

"We're worried that something's going to happen if we don't get them away from Robert soon," Kendall replied. He felt his heart pang in his chest. He had no idea how things were with Julius. He didn't know what he'd do if Katie was in danger and he was halfway across the world, trying to get to her.

"How fast do you need me out there?" Julius asked, urgency coming to his voice. There was another squeaking sound and then they heard him walking somewhere. "Babe, go pack my bag—with Ronan with them—Please? Aand pack yours too—they should be ok. I trust him to look after them—My brothers and sisters need me. It's bad—If you feel like you have to do something, do it. I'll be out there as soon as I can."

Kendall tried to keep up with his conversation between him and Logan and with whoever it was that he was talking to. Before they could say anything else, there was a small click and the line went dead. Kendall watched as Logan took the phone off of speakerphone, sliding it back into his pocket.

"Well, that confirms that," he said with a sigh. "But, it's good that he's coming out there." He then got a troubled look on his face. "The problem is, is that now we have to somehow convince the Jacksons to go to the police."

"Easier said than done," Kendall said, running his hands over his face.

"Yeah, no kidding," Logan said with a shake of his head. He then reached out a hand and slapped Kendall's knee. "I feel bad about going behind their backs, but…we're getting them help. That's all that matters." He then was silent for a moment. "Kendall…how did you find out that-"

He stopped when he heard the front door to the apartment slam shut, and a second later, Kendall heard his name being called by his mom. He immediately got off of his bed and headed out of his room to face her. He expected her to be mad, but instead, she looked concerned and worried.

"Mom, I'm sorry about what I said, and I love you," Kendall quickly said before she could even open her mouth to say anything. "But, we really need your help convincing the Jacksons to go to the police."

"Who needs to go to the police?" Katie asked, coming out of the hallway that lead to her room, her hand in a bag of popcorn. Kendall turned on his heels to glare at Logan. Logan's eyes widened and he shrugged his shoulders. She frowned, looking back and forth between Logan, Kendall, and her mom. "What's going on?"

Kendall licked his lips, glancing over at Katie before facing his mom again. "Mom, can we talk to you in private for a minute?" Kendall asked.

"Are you leaving me out of things, again?" Katie asked and Kendall stopped. He bowed his head for a moment, pressing his lips together. He had just apologized to her for leaving her out, but this was something he knew would be better if she didn't know anything about. It was already hard for her to even want to accept what their dad had done to him. But, this? He didn't know how she'd handle it. "Kendall, I want to know what's going on and why you're acting so weird?"

"Katie…I saw dad today," Kendall said quietly.

Mrs. Knight shot him a confused look and he could feel Logan's eyes burning holes on the back of his head. Katie's jaw dropped slightly before her eyebrows twitched and she crossed her arms over her chest. She tried to look like she didn't care, but her shoulders slumped and her bottom lip jutted out slightly.

"Um…did he…say anything?" she asked quietly and Kendall shook his head. She nodded.

"I couldn't say anything to him," Kendall said quietly. "I…I got scared. I just wanted to leave, to get away from him." He cleared his throat. "I saw him at Jamba Juice on my way to Rocque Records. But, ahhh, he was there with…someone else?"

Katie looked over at Mrs. Knight who slowly set her jaw before letting out a breathe of air through her nose, running her fingers through her hair. "Was it…another…?" Katie trailed off, looking back at Kendall, although he saw her eyes flicker towards her mom a few times.

"No, he was there with Robert; the Jacksons' dad," Kendall replied and Katie adopted a look of confusion. "Or they just were in the same building at the same time. I don't know. Noah said he was supposed to be at the meeting we had with them earlier, but he never showed up."

"Ok, tell me everything from the beginning," Mrs. Knight said, putting her hands up into the air. "Starting from when you went to Rocque Records." Kendall gave his mom a pleading look, angling his head towards his sister, but it didn't look like Katie was going to budge. Mrs. Knight briefly closed her eyes. "Kendall, just tell me. She has a right to know, she's their friend too."

Kendall almost snorted. He considered the Jacksons to be his friends, but it was obvious that they didn't feel the same about him. Or are they just trying to save themselves? Kendall thought to himself. To keep other people from finding out? The idea suddenly slammed into his brain; it was all making so much sense to him now, he wondered how he never noticed it before. That made him feel even worse.

He looked over at Logan and Logan gave a brief nod of his head. "We had that meeting with Ronan to talk about our tour and to start thinking about what we wanted the stage to look like and everything," Kendall explained, slowly rubbing his hands together. "On the way there, I was listening to their old CDs. I hadn't thought of it before, but…I've been having nightmares…about what dad did to me. I've never had them before I got out here. I thought they meant something, like they were warning me. So, I asked Katie to borrow her CDs."

Katie's eyebrows slowly knitted together as Kendall continued his story. She looked like she wanted to say something, even crack a sarcastic comment, but she stayed silent. "Their song lyrics…it's all about it, mom." A confused look crossed Katie's face and Mrs. Knight's eyes widened. "I ran into Noah after seeing dad, and he had a weird reaction to my saying what CD I was listening to. He seemed…off after I told him. Not like he said much, because he doesn't ever really talk to me, but he just seemed to be more stiff."

"He doesn't talk to me either," Katie said, a small frown on her face. "In fact-"

"Let your brother finish, Katie," Mrs. Knight said quietly. Katie muttered an apology.

"Anyway, after the meeting, we were going into wardrobe and some recording for the rest of the day. I stayed behind and…went onto Riley's computer. I know it was wrong, but I just wanted to know for sure. She has all these song lyrics on her computer, and one really stood out to me. It was really cryptic. And then Logan caught me, and I asked him about it and he said that it's true. The bed wetting, Syd's nightmare, how they act, it all makes sense. And it's true."

"What's true?" Katie insisted. There was silence. "Is someone going to tell me, or-?"

"Katie, the Jacksons are being abused by their dad," Logan interrupted her. Kendall turned to look at him, and saw that he was staring back at him, his arms crossed over his chest. He heard Katie gasp, but didn't turn to look at her. "So, that's what you were doing; looking for song lyrics?"

"Yeah," Kendall said quietly, nodding. "I just got a bad feeling. Their old songs…they're cries for help."

"Seriously?"

Kendall clenched his teeth together, closing his eyes. What is it with people and eavesdropping? He thought to himself, turning to look past Mrs. Knight where James and Carlos were standing in the doorway. They both looked uneasy, exchanging glances. James stepped farther into the room, closing the door behind him.

"They're being abused?" Carlos asked quietly. Kendall had never seen nor heard him that quiet except for the time when he had found out about James's parents' divorce.

"Are you sure?" James asked quietly.

Kendall nodded. "We're sure," he replied. "And Ronan knows, too. Gustavo and Kelly probably do by now as well." He looked over at his mom for confirmation and she nodded. "So, you've heard all of that, then?" He knew that was a stupid question as soon as it came out of his mouth but James and Carlos silently nodded. "Anyway, Riley came in, wondering what was taking us so long and…she overhead us talking about it. She didn't take it well but she pretty much confirmed it. After we were done, I went to mom and Ronan, and got into a fight with them, and then came here."

"That was why she was so…mean during our fitting and everything," James said, rubbing at a spot on his thigh. "Word of the wise, don't' get her mad when she's hemming clothes. For me especially."

Kendall rolled his eyes. "Unbelievable," he muttered, feeling his annoyance spike all of a sudden. "Your friends are in danger and all you care about is your stupid body?"

"Hey, I didn't say that," James said in a warning tone, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I've seen how Riley is when she's mad. She punched out that guy in the Palm Woods, remember? When Camille was helping me with my acting career?" He crossed his arms over his chest, his biceps bulging. "Man, I'd like to punch out that guy. Who puts their hands on their kids; wanting to hurt them?" He then stopped and a pained expressions crossed his face before looking over at Kendall. "Sorry, man," he said in a tight voice.

"It's cool," Kendall replied in the same tone, setting his jaw.

He knew that James didn't mean it, he was just worried. But, he wondered the same thing. Why would any parent put their hands on their kids? He had always thought of Robert as intense; wound so tight like he would snap at any second. Unfortunately, his kids are his punching bags.

"You're not going to do anything to him, James," Mrs. Knight said in a warning tone. James gave a slight nod of his head. She then turned back to Kendall. "That's why I came after you; we are doing something to help. I've been watching them, reporting to Ronan anything I found that would help his cause. I didn't want to at first, because it reminded me of what happened with you."

She stepped towards him and cupped his cheek in her hand. "Gustavo and Kelly have been doing the same. But, Ronan's been doing the most; he's been reapplying for foster care in the state of California so he could take them in should something happen." She paused for a moment. "He wants to adopt them if he can."

"They're safer with him," Logan said, sounding like he was in a trance. "That's what Julius said."

"Who's Julius?" Mrs. Knight asked, turning her attention to Logan. He blinked, shaking his head, before focusing his attention on her.

"Julius Ceaser?" Carlos joked. He laughed weakly and then cleared his throat. "Sorry. That wasn't funny."

"Julius is their older brother," Kendall replied. "Logan got his cell phone number and we called him. He must've been waiting for the call or something. But, he's on his way out here."

"With a 14 hour flight, give or take a few hours for check in and security at both ends, I'd say it'd be around 18 hours until he gets here," Logan said, his face scrunching up in thought. "And that's only if he leaves right now. Who knows what else he's got going on down there?"

"Mom, he said he was working his way through school and getting a job to help them," Kendall said, raking his fingers through his hair. "I think this has been going on for a long time."

"I…they have acted…kinda weird," Katie commented, chewing on her bottom lip. "They seem so lively with Ronan, but with Robert…" she shook her head, her pigtails slapping her face. "And Noah doesn't ever really talk. And Sydney—?"

"It's like he's five years old," Kendall said with a nod. "After his nightmare, when he wet the bed, it was like he didn't want anyone to come near him. He was so…still when I helped him change." He shook his head. "I didn't know what I was looking for, maybe a bruise or something, I don't know." He shrugged his shoulders. "Mom, they need help. I need your help. What are we going to do?"

"I'm going to talk to Ronan, Gustavo, and Kelly about this right now," Mrs. Knight said before glancing at the clock on the microwave. "It's getting late. I don't think there's much we could do tonight. We could go to the police-"

"I've tried," Logan replied. "They won't do anything unless the yget a formal complaint from one of them."

"That's messed up," Carlos said with a shake of his head. James nodded in agreement.

Mrs. Knight looked lost for a moment and Kendall felt that sense of fear like he did when he ran into his dad. It was scary to see his mom looking to be at a loss for words, not knowing what to do. She then sucked in a deep breath of air and let it out, a confident look coming to her face. Kendall couldn't help but smile. His mom was protective over him and Katie especially, and of course, James, Carlos, and Logan, but she had always been a surrogate mother to any of his hockey friends or friends from school if they ever came over to his house. He knew she could do something to help.

"Don't worry," she said, reaching into her purse to grab her phone. "Everything will be ok." She gave them all a smile. "I'm on it. It's going to be ok, I promise." She then made her way out of the room and any sense of security she had managed to build in those last few seconds left with her.

"Kendall," Katie said, moving to his side, giving him a hug. Kendall wrapped his arms around her and placed a kiss on top of her head. She looked up at him, pushing her chin into the side of his ribs. "Mom is right, right? Everything will be ok?"

Kendall reached a hand up and touched the back of his neck, feeling the burn under his fingers. "Yeah," he replied with a small smile. "Mom will do anything she can to make sure they'll be safe." He smiled down at her. "She did the same for us, after all, Baby Sis." Katie smiled back at him.

"I can't believe they're going through this," Carlos said with a shake of his head. "I had no idea this was happening."

"None of us did," Logan replied. He really looked troubled. "Guys, we have to do something. I mean these are my-" He stopped and looked at all of his friends. A small smile came to his face. "These are our friends. If we don't do anything, they could die."

"We still have dance rehearsal tomorrow," James said, rubbing his chin. "Maybe…maybe afterwards we can try and convince them to get help." He didn't get an answer and he shrugged. "It's just an idea. Kind of like an intervention or something."

"Good idea," Logan said with a nod. He then snapped his fingers. "But, I think it'd be easier if it's just with Rhuben. Riles would blow a gasket the second we tried to talk to her, especially once she finds out that Kendall went onto her computer." He slid his hands into his pockets. "And Rhuben doesn't get mad like Riley does, and she tends to think things through more. Patrick, Noah, and Sydney, they'd all follow anything Riley says."

"So does Rhuben," Kendall replied.

"True," Logan agreed with a nod. "But, I think we'd have a better chance with her."

"Rhubes is always the last one to leave," Carlos spoke up. "She has the keys to the place, remember?"

"Tomorrow then," James said with a nod.

'Wait, what about me?" Katie asked. "What am I going to do?" Kendall opened his mouth to protest and she stomped a foot. "They're my friends, too. I want to help."

"Well…" Kendall stopped to think. Julius had never answered the question of how long they'd been abused for? He gently removed Katie's arms from around his waist and started to pace, his fingers to his chin. He even knows that they're safest with Ronan. Riley had said that this was the longest they've gone without anyone find out. But, that doesn't make sense. His frown deepened and he stopped to think hard, his eyes darting around the room. Someone must've noticed. Someone they worked with? Producers, tour managers…performers.

He snapped his fingers, before pointing over at his sister. "You're friends with Lizzie Zevon," he said and Katie nodded, "and both Lizzie and Dak have been friends with the Jacksons before we even met them. Maybe they know something." He walked over to Katie and put his hands on her shoulders. "I need you to do some detective work, find out anything you can, but don't let either of them know anything. The less people know, the better. That way word can't get out to anybody."

He then released her and turned to look his friends in the eye. "We're all going to need to work together on this to make sure things go well," he said in as strong a voice as he could muster. It was no wonder they all made him the leader of the band. "James, Carlos, sorry Logan and I haven't said anything before, but we all need to do this to try and get through to them. I…I thought I could do this on my own, but I can't. I haven't done anything on my own since I met you guys, and I'm not going to start now. The Jacksons need us."

He looked over at the clock on the microwave and ran a hand through his hair. "I just hope we have enough time," he said quietly before dropping his arm down to the side, the sound of his hand hitting the side of his leg, deafening in the silent room.

A/N:

Hope you all liked this chapter.

-Rhuben