A/N: So, this chapter is over 25,000 words- the size of TWO of my normal chapters all in one. I'm HOPING that that makes the long span between updates a little more bearable? XD I really am sorry that things keep getting in the way of me being able to have a consistent schedule. And thank you SO MUCH for the sweet messages and continued excitement for the story.

I hope you enjoy this extra-long chapter- I thought about actually splitting it in two and posting on separate weeks, but there was no way in hell I could hold out like that lmao XD This is one of my favorites so far… I missed writing Elliot :P

*****Also, between updates, the best way to keep in touch with me and to see info on the progress of updates, if you are curious, is to check my TUMBLR page. The URL is "waterwicca" there too, and the direct link to there can be found on my profile here by clicking my name at the top left of the screen :) I post/reblog BTR related things, PTS related things, and a few personal things :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Big Time Rush, but I do own Sage and Elliot.

-waterwicca


CHAPTER 53: BIG TIME ENCOUNTER


"We should go downstairs now…"

Carlos had no idea how long he had been holding his best friend, feeling Kendall's once sturdy frame shake as they perched on the end of his bed. The boy had cried for several minutes, only a few anguished gasps and hiccups cutting through the room while his heart beat so fast that Carlos could feel it beneath the arm he had wrapped around Kendall's shoulders. He pulled him close; as if they were kids again and Kevin Knight had just passed. In total, he figured it had probably been close to a half-hour before he decided to speak. His brother's breathing had evened out significantly, and he sniffled just once in a while. The side of Kendall's head was still pressed solidly against Carlos' shoulder, his face downcast to the floor and his eyes looking blankly past the wrinkled sketch of Elliot in his lap.

"I-I guess." He cleared his throat and then inhaled deeply, holding the air in while his body was still for just a moment before pushing against Carlos with an exhale and propelling sideways to sit up straight in a swift movement. He thrust the paper towards his friend without much effort; using just a twitch of his arm that made Carlos take it from him instinctively and scan the drawing as Kendall wiped his eyes.

The white sheet was creased in multiple spots from Kendall's angered fists, but the picture was clear. Elliot was seared in Carlos' mind for good, and he had a feeling that he'd be in the entire family's psyches for years to come. The sketch was in black and white but somehow felt full of life, with buried sinister intentions between all of the curved lines that formed a regular man's expressionless face that Carlos could only decipher since he knew the truth. It was difficult, though, to imagine the officer on the page as a stranger and then morphing him into a monster that could beat Kendall and rape and mentally torture a fragile girl like Sage. That evil reality was one Carlos fully comprehended, but it had been structured in his imagination from spoken words. His own interaction with Elliot had seemed normal, friendly even. It was mystifying to jump back and forth between nice Elliot and evil Elliot, and he assumed the switch must always be quick; fast enough to easily traumatize the people who met both personalities.

"Do I look like I was crying? Sage won't be able to tell, right?"

Carlos blinked and jerked his head after realizing Kendall had stood up. He was running his fingers through his bangs, swiping them to slightly favor one side of his brow. His eyes had successfully dried and his face was still a bit pale from what Carlos could see in the sunlight creeping through the blinds behind the bed, creating thin lines of light up the length of Kendall's body. The boy towered above the sitting Carlos, but somehow he appeared smaller than normal. He stared down at Carlos with hopefulness in his expression that could only be described as delusional because the rest of his form still reeked of depression he couldn't dismiss.

"Kendall…" Carlos sighed and shook his head. He didn't want him to pretend to be okay. It was what Kendall used to do in the beginning of Sage's recovery, and he was almost as unhealthy as she had been. Carlos, James, and Logan couldn't handle watching him go down that destructive path again.

Seeming to hear the warning in his friend's tone, Kendall's false confidence plummeted almost as fast as he had acquired it; his head tilted downward to resemble a scolded child under Carlos' gaze of sympathy mixed with wary reprimand that he knew was valid. His eyes fell to the floor beneath him, but his posture was still stiff; he was still fighting to be stronger than he really was before he saw Sage and shifted their lives yet another time.

"Don't do that again. It's not good for you or her… for any of us..."

Carlos' words were once again met with silence. He watched Kendall blink a few times, drying lashes brushing the skin beneath his eyes before staring right at Carlos for just a second. His shoulders slouched minutely enough to let Carlos know he had been heard, and then he rubbed his palms on his jeans and headed for the door, leaving Carlos to jump up and scramble after him.

Kendall didn't move too quickly down the staircase, providing his brother with plenty of time to catch up. Each of his steps dragged and he came to a complete halt once he had made it to the bottom of the stairwell, causing Carlos to nearly fall into him at the sudden stop. They stood closely together in the tiny space right before the narrow passage opened up into the wider hallway to Kendall, Sage, and James' rooms on the right and to the rest of the apartment on the left. Carlos watched Kendall in confusion as he bent forward a bit, and then he leaned in to press his hands against Kendall's shoulders to better hear what he was listening to. The first thing he heard was the faint sound of Sage's laughter followed by the much closer sigh of her boyfriend as he hung his head low and remained still.

"Please, Sage! I wanna know! Does Cam talk about me? Does she talk about Logan? I need details!" It had been half an hour since breakfast, but Kendall wasn't surprised that the trio he left in the kitchen was still on the topic of Camille, and Carlos didn't have to have been present for the earlier conversation to comprehend the current one. Camille was all James ever thought about whether he realized it or not. They couldn't see, but Carlos and Kendall could detect that the sink was running and a few dishes were clinking together.

"No, you don't," Sage was amused, a smile evident in her voice. The water ran faster before it was shut off.

"Actually," Logan started, "the thought is kind of fascinating. I wonder what Camille would say about us, her ex and prospect, in a strictly female environment."

Carlos smiled and bit back a small chuckle, momentarily forgetting that he and Kendall weren't with the rest of the family enjoying the morning and Logan's overly articulate ponderings. Kendall pivoted and pressed his forehead into the wall at the corner right before the hallway started. Carlos could see his tired grin and shut eyes in the shadows crawling across his profile as they listened.

"I can't repeat what she tells me in confidence," Sage maintained sympathetically but sternly.

"Stop being a good friend. It's not helping me at all," James whined, and Logan and Sage laughed at the boy undoubtedly crossing his arms petulantly as the pair finished cleaning and putting away the dishes.

"Just ask Cam what she thinks about you. She'll give you an answer."

"Easier said than done. He's gotta grow the balls to do it first. And if the last few months are any indication, it's a slow process," Logan teased.

"Both of you are mean," James complained in a high pitch. "I'm not gonna grace you with my amazing presence anymore if you don't wise up."

"Sorry, Jamie," Sage sounded sincere, but Logan kept up with his taunting because it wasn't often that he and James backed down from one another in their banter.

"Oh, god no. Please, stay. I'd be lost without you," Logan's voice was monotone and Kendall smiled faintly again, shifting on his feet but not moving away from the wall. Carlos sighed and twisted so that he was pressing his back against the wall right beside him. "Ow!" Logan yelped. "Dishtowels aren't weapons, James!"

"Well, I'm certainly not gonna use them to dry dishes," James chuckled haughtily, most likely having gone nowhere near the sink and leaving the cleaning to Logan and Sage.

"How long have Carlos and Kendall been upstairs? I'm going to need backup if you two insist on brawling," Sage was complaining but she still seemed entertained, shutting the cupboard with a soft thud as James and Logan mumbled curses at each other and scuffled, small screeches echoing as their sneakers slid against the kitchen floor.

Kendall tilted his head more towards Carlos' direction, the shimmer against his jade irises visible in the darkness as he smiled sadly, looking for a push. Carlos pressed his lips together and nodded slowly, swallowing the lump in his throat when Kendall appeared to shiver with anxiety as he slid away from the wall after Carlos placed a hand on his arm and gave him some literal coaxing. After Kendall had inched into the hallway, Carlos glanced down at the drawing in his hand. He took a deep breath and folded it in half when he could no longer handle the sight of Elliot staring back at him.

"Speak of the devils," Sage happily smiled when she spotted Kendall and Carlos, shooting extra cheer in her brother's direction because she hadn't really seen much of him in the last twenty-four hours during his intense artistic session.

Carlos could only see the back of Kendall's head by the time they had stopped near the dining table, but he assumed that his face couldn't have been displaying anything good because Sage's brow furrowed once she really took a look at her boyfriend. She ceased drying her hands with a towel by the sink, and James and Logan paused mid tug-of-war with the second one when she spoke.

"What's wrong?"

Carlos hated that she had to think that way; that she had to think in terms of something absolutely having to be wrong instead of just the possibility. The top of Kendall's body swayed backwards as if he was thinking of retreating but his legs knew it was impossible to leave Sage when she was staring at him like she was; fear mingling with guardedness that wouldn't fade until she got an answer she was pretty sure she wouldn't like. Kendall was quiet as he shoved his hands into his pockets and twisted his neck so he could see Carlos in his position just a step behind him out of the corner of his eye. His mouth opened and then shut with no sound. It dawned on Carlos that he was just as scared as Sage for once and not really doing much of anything to hide it. When their leader was silent, it spoke volumes.

"Is everything okay?" Logan asked, coming off as more optimistic but unable to succeed in taking the wary tone out of his voice. He gave James a sideways glance and they both let go of the towel, the tool of their childish game instantly lying forgotten on the linoleum floor.

"Not really," Carlos confessed with regret, staring at the folded paper clutched in both of his hands before looking up at Sage. He wished he didn't, though. Whatever expression he was wearing appeared to make her anxiety worsen. Her shoulders curled forward as if she were going to hide but she stopped herself and put her towel on the counter instead, using her hand to lean on it heavily.

"Does this have something to do with why you've been up in your room forever? Are you sick? Are you getting back with Arielle?" James suggested almost too brightly, like he knew that any alternative was going to be better than the truth. Carlos had to smile at his friend's cheery demeanor, no matter how sad it was in its origins, because the boy's attitude was always infectious, but then he shook his head.

"It's not about me…" Carlos admitted and snuck another look at Sage, who hadn't taken her eyes off of Kendall. They were staring at each other, both connected and engaging in a silent conversation filled with emotions and more questions than answers. After a few beats of nothing but breathing in the room, Kendall found his voice.

"Sage," he started, clearing his throat when her name came out in a whisper. "Baby, I need you to sit down, okay?" He held his hand forward and began walking towards the couch, meeting Sage halfway as she followed his request.

"Why?" She didn't protest despite her question. She settled on the couch right beside Kendall, finally taking her eyes off of him momentarily to see a puzzled James and Logan trailing behind a solemn Carlos as they joined the couple.

It was uncharacteristically quiet in 2J for a time when all five of the family members were in one space, and even though each of them didn't have answers yet, the need to be close was unspoken for the entire group. James sat beside Sage, his leg pressed right against hers and his vision unsuccessfully trying to connect with Kendall's on her other side. Logan moved the guitar that was left on the coffee table and took a seat on the furniture in front of the others with Carlos beside him.

"Dude, just rip off the Band-Aid. The suspense is making me jittery," James spoke while his leg bounced up and down, and they could tell he was trying for humor, but it failed miserably because they were all literally shaking in one way or another.

The hand Carlos used to hold the sketch wouldn't stay still even when he tried to prop it carefully in his lap. Logan's eyes were moving jerkily around their group while Kendall's jaw was loosening and clenching with more unspoken words. Sage's entire body was vibrating and she was waiting for something to snap as she struggled to read her boyfriend, who inhaled roughly, licked his lips, and looked up at her after shutting his eyes for a moment.

"It's Elliot…" Sage shuddered but didn't even blink. Her eyes were too wide. "He talked to Carlos..." Kendall sounded guilty even though he hadn't done anything. With the confession, he squeezed her hand so tightly that his knuckles turned as pale as Sage's face. She let out a pained gasp at the information, clutching Kendall even tighter. Her breath became strangled as if her ribs were cracked, and she jerked backwards at the memories of what it felt like to really have them fractured. She tried to catch her breath and then she held still.

"E-Elliot?"

The word, fortunately, had hardly come up in conversation too often anymore. It had been accepted as part of the past, something to move on from, but now it just came back with a nauseating ferocity; it had enough force for her head to ache as if her stepfather had struck her across the face. Bile rose up in her throat, which was constricting with its old instinctual readiness to scream in pain. She bit her lip roughly and looked down at her body like it didn't belong to her or like she wasn't really where she believed she was, but then she caught the sight of all of their knees knocking together in a cluster, because of the closeness of the quintet, and she remembered Kendall's words.

He jumped a little when Sage suddenly scooted forward on the orange sofa as much as she could, having been watching her slower movements so carefully that the quickness startled him into action.

"He s-spoke to you? When did- Are you- Did he h-hurt you?" she asked Carlos unsteadily. She was petrified. She didn't just have herself and Kendall to worry about anymore, and she had spent over a year praying that Elliot would never cross over into their life with Logan, James, and Carlos.

She touched Carlos' face with an expression that was purely eerie to her family. She looked distant and detached while somehow remaining present and concerned. Scanning his body with darting eyes, she slid her touch down to Carlos' arm slowly, like she was expecting the skin to bruise beneath her smooth and careful palm because absolutely everything Elliot encountered bruised and bled.

"No, sis. I'm fine, I swear…" Carlos smiled weakly and his words were gentle as he moved sluggishly to take the hand she didn't have attached to Kendall's, caressing the back of it between their laps.

"What the fuck happened, Car? Where is he?" James wondered heatedly, gaze fuming and his frame stiffening as if preparing for a fight while simultaneously placing a calmer palm on Sage's back and rubbing it up and down gradually, most likely hoping to feel the tension leave her even though he was pretty sure it was an impossibility.

"Is he here?" Logan asked for clarification, voice rising in worry as he thought about dealing with Elliot at any second.

Sage's entire body jolted a fraction of an inch before she settled down again, but none of them missed the way her eyes shifted towards the door and then onto Kendall. Carlos immediately let go of her hand so she could bring it to the ones she and her boyfriend had connected between them, the point of contact seeming to keep her grounded more than sitting down was.

"Not-" Kendall stopped because "yet" was right on the tip of his tongue but he didn't want to make Sage jump like she had again. He wasn't sure his heart could take another jolt in such quick succession. His own body felt like it was still recovering from when Carlos delivered the news to him earlier. "No, he's in Vermont."

Logan nodded very slowly, listening but still thinking rapidly with no solid result. Carlos stared at Kendall again, who was being abnormally short with his words, behaving as if each one had to be carefully selected, while Logan gazed sideways at Carlos. He watched him and blinked and breathed steadily, trying to stay levelheaded while they were all spiraling. He yearned for answers from the boy, an odd role for Carlos to be in since he was always looking to Logan for solutions. Meanwhile, James wouldn't stop staring at Sage and Kendall with anxious fury. He was stiff, like he expected them to disappear while he was so invested in keeping them together and happy; the two of them being his truest example of love.

"He's gonna come here, isn't he? I don't understand. Everything was fine. He was gone…" Sage's breathing was erratic as she stared at Carlos. James continued to rub her back and Kendall smoothed his free hand over her forearm. "Why now?"

"I kinda ran into him. He was working security outside of the stadium… We talked while you and Kendall were being interviewed before the concert," Carlos explained uncomfortably, wishing the conversation wasn't necessary.

"But you didn't know it was him?" James clarified.

"And was he really working, or was he pretending?" Logan inquired in a search for any information he could use to paint the bigger picture.

"He had a squad car and a badge. His nametag was off, though... He never introduced himself but then I heard dispatch say his name when he was leaving, and I freaked out," Carlos sighed and unfolded the forgotten drawing in his hand, looking at it with Logan peeking over. "I'm sorry… I didn't wanna show anyone until I knew I got it right and had Kendall confirm it…" he held up the paper for the others to see. James glared as if Elliot was really there, feeling uncomfortable with the fact that he had actually been standing so close to him only two days earlier without knowing it. Logan felt it too; terrified that they could all now put a face to the man. Kendall's jaw tightened once again, and Sage whimpered and shut her eyes at the image, bringing her chin down to her chest and causing the pendant hanging there to push into her skin.

"That's enough," Kendall whispered and took the drawing out of Carlos' hand, refolded it, and tossed it onto the coffee table behind his friends.

"So, you're saying this was just a fluke?" James scoffed and smiled darkly as he shook his head.

"I don't know… Maybe?" Carlos shrugged helplessly. "He asked a lot of questions about Sage and Kendall but nothing he couldn't have already known. He just seemed… interested…."

"You don't get it. He's not gonna just walk away from this!" Sage insisted abruptly, startling the others. She gazed intensely at Carlos, Logan, and James, pleading for them to understand. Then she looked to Kendall because he knew; he knew Elliot wouldn't lie down now that he saw them. It couldn't have been just a coincidence, and, if it was, then he'd undoubtedly find a way to utilize it in a manner that wouldn't end well.

"We'll think of something to-"

"It's my fault," Sage interrupted Logan like she hadn't really heard him, staring widely at their legs rather than any faces. "He shouldn't even be out there. He shouldn't- I shouldn't have let him go." She slipped her hands away from Kendall and grabbed at her hair with her elbows on her thighs, her upper body slowly rocking. "I was so stupid. I could've ran earlier than I did. I fuckin' helped him when he got shot. Why did I help him?" she murmured, rocking faster and twisting her blonde locks between her fingers. "I took care of him instead. I slept with him, and when I made it out I let him go free… I'm so fucked up…" Sage whined and curled in on herself tighter, speaking rapidly and lowly as if she wasn't aware of any of them being there anymore.

All she could think about was the mistakes she had made in her old life with Elliot, the potentially fatal errors she had foolishly made after being so broken down. But just because they were in the past didn't mean that they no longer belonged to her. The guilt they caused made her veins burn, but the alternatives were only becoming clear now that she was truly free. Back then, nothing seemed like a viable option. Her mind was unobstructed now, though, and she hated herself.

"Hey!" Logan stepped in, voice firm and loud as he grabbed her wrists. He took the initiative because Kendall couldn't; he looked like he was going to break himself, gazing at his girlfriend with wide eyes. "Listen to me, sweetie. Do not do that to yourself, alright? We worked past that last year. You remember, don't you?" Logan lowered Sage's hands but kept them together in one of his own as he titled her head up with his fingers under her chin so he could see her eyes. "Don't go back, Sage. Stay here with us… Breathe just like we used to practice…"

Logan was a saint, calm in the middle of a group breakdown and staring right at Sage while inhaling slowly, holding it, and then exhaling just as sluggishly. He repeated the motions without fail until the fog dissipated from Sage's eyes and she appeared more focused on him. She looked apprehensive, like she wasn't sure she comprehended or could comply, but then she nodded after taking a look at Carlos and James. Grabbing onto Kendall's hand blindly, she breathed like Logan showed her until she felt her heart beating at a normal pace once again; not realizing that she was having a panic attack until it was over.

"What are we gonna do? Don't we need a plan?" Carlos spoke nervously, watching Sage continue to breathe like he was sure that she was going to stop again. Then he looked to Kendall, but their leader wasn't paying much attention, only staring down at Sage's hand and grazing the smooth skin with his fingertips.

"I plan on getting a flight to Vermont. How 'bout you, Kendall?" James smiled sinisterly, ready for a fight, but he didn't stop rubbing his palm up and down Sage's back.

"That'd be premeditated…" Kendall mumbled as he simply continued his movements against his girlfriend's skin. The speed and severity of his answer scared her, Logan, and Carlos. It was like he fully intended on killing Elliot and the only thing stopping him was that he'd be sent to prison away from Sage. She didn't want him to consider it no matter what. The risks were too high. James was ready to do whatever Kendall wanted, though. He wasn't scared of Kendall's reaction because he was having the same thoughts, whether they were wrong or not.

"We need a legal plan," Logan replied, scowling at Kendall's response but choosing not to argue because the boy didn't even look at him. "Wait… Legal…" Logan thought for a moment, James looking like he was still about to leap off of the couch if his friend didn't say something good and Carlos waiting to support whatever the genius suggested. "We have to go to Kelly and Gustavo."

"We do?" Sage trembled again and shot her head up in Logan's direction.

"I don't know, Logan…" Kendall let his eyes roam to the brunette before going back to Sage.

"We should deal with it. Just the family- no outsiders," James countered and crossed his arms.

"Gustavo and Kelly are family. They've always been there for us," Carlos supported Logan, but Sage remained silent, and Kendall and James didn't look convinced; shooting glances at each other above the girl's hunched shoulders between them.

"Look," Logan started again, "we've been dealing with things by ourselves for well over a year now… The five of us can't keep it up forever, especially not with something like this happening," he turned to grab the tossed sketch and then he waved it between all of them. "We're pop stars and songwriters; we have no real power. We need help."


"I don't think I can help you kids." The lawyer Gustavo had called in was well into middle age but was the type to acquire enough plastic surgery to defy nature, and her emotional capacity was just about as genuine as her altered face.

"Then what am I paying you for, Ms. Harvey?" Gustavo growled and sat forward in his chair at the end of the conference table, glaring at the redheaded woman from over the top of his sunglasses with dark eyes as she rolled her own and stared down at the myriad of files on the surface in front of her, several folders spread between her and the boys and Sage on the other side that had been read through all morning.

The family of five left the apartment and made a beeline right for Rocque Records as soon as they decided to seek Gustavo's assistance, with Sage dragging her feet slightly, just like she used to when she started getting out of the Palm Woods a year and a half earlier, and only relaxing enough to take her eyes off of the ground once they made it to Logan's car. She and the others were quiet on the ride over; each one of them mentally preparing for what could happen. Sage never wanted to tell Gustavo and Kelly her true background and neither of them had ever honestly asked, the producer even going out of his way to not push her after he had seen how "different" she was when Kendall begged him to let her stick around. Even though she felt like it began as charity, she also felt like Gustavo was a true mentor to her now, and Kelly was a good friend and a strong woman to look up to. It killed Sage to think that she could be making them both see her in a harsher light.

She didn't know if she should have been extremely surprised or extremely grateful that they wound up taking it so well, so she settled on a combination of both that overwhelmed her into a silence as she listened to Gustavo say he'd take care of "Blondie and the dogs" no matter what happened. He showed a softer side of himself that matched the solemn mood they all seemed to be in as he discussed what they should do after he listened to Sage's entire tale, taking facts in from the boys if she couldn't find the right words when the nausea and anxiety choked her from time to time. Kelly didn't even have to be told to get on the phone with a lawyer at the end of their meeting, dialing the best Griffin had on a retainer for the global company that could be there and ready to talk by the afternoon; giving Carlos and James more than enough time to drive back to the Palm Woods to get Elliot's almost forgotten letter from its secure place in the living room desk of 2J. That and the contents of the envelope it was sent in were the only real connections they had with Elliot to show the lawyer, and she didn't seem very moved by them.

"Can't we get a restraining order?" Logan wondered in disbelief, glancing beside himself at Sage, who had her chair as close as possible to Kendall's because his arm was around her waist.

"The things you're alleging are over a year old. There's no reason for a judge to believe that there is an immediate threat to any of your lives. As far as this recent event goes, Mr. Henderson didn't search you out. You went to his town where he was doing his job, which was to take care of you. There was no danger involved," Ms. Harvey insisted condescendingly.

"Is she crazy?" James raised a sculpted eyebrow in Kelly's direction, looking for confirmation from the assistant sitting beside her boss on the shorter stretch of the table. He was angry, only staying in his seat by gripping the arms of the leather chair and because the cautious stare that Logan was giving him was strong enough to make him feel it without even looking.

"She's the best in her field," Kelly answered sheepishly, acting as if she was apologizing to him without having to say the word "sorry" and admitting that she didn't like the lawyer either.

"I assure you I have all of my mental faculties intact, Mr. Diamond."

Her self-important grin made James scowl and pray that he never looked like that big of an asshole when he got into one of his conceited moods. He'd want to punch himself, just like he was mentally attacking the redhead across the table. He had a solid rule against violence when it came to the fairer sex but his subconscious was making an exception without his consent as he bit his tongue and shifted in his seat because of how much he wanted to protect Sage and Kendall. This person wasn't a male or female to him; they were just the enemy.

"And we've done our research," Ms. Harvey's unnamed associate spoke up, sensing the tension in the conference room. He was uneasy and shy but more compassionate than his superior as he fumbled with a folder in front of him that contained the file he put together on short notice after Kelly contacted his office. "With a phone call to Elliot's station in Vermont, we learned from his captain that Officer Henderson didn't even choose to be a part of the security team outside the stadium on your concert date. He only went in because he was needed after one of his coworkers called out sick."

"Do you think he hurt the guy?" Carlos wondered in fear as he leaned forward to stare down the line of his family beside him, starting with Kendall. If he wanted to work at their performance, Elliot would have done anything to get the assignment.

"That right there is the kind of assumption that is going to bring trouble to all of you in the future if you keep pushing this. You have no evidence, but you accuse him of things openly without hesitation. It's called defamation of character," the lawyer informed them with irritation, like they were making her job harder. Her main goal was to protect the interest of the company, even if it meant sacrificing people's feelings. She didn't really care whether the boys and Sage were telling the truth or not; she only cared if she had a case that could be won.

"It's called reality, bitc-"

"James…" Kelly hissed and the boy shut his mouth dutifully after looking her way. Her red lips weren't even attempting a cordial smile but only a sympathetic and depressed frown that made him feel a little less angry about not giving the woman across the table a piece of his mind.

"Heel, dog," Gustavo added softly, sounding more soothing compared to his usual authoritative tone. James settled back in his chair and stared over at Sage, seeing the girl gazing blankly at the glass tabletop in front of her. Kendall's lips were pressed together, looking as if he was struggling just as much as James to keep quiet. Carlos appeared upset and frazzled, not thinking that this was how the meeting was going to go, and Logan was reclining and narrowing his eyes thoughtfully at the lawyers, thinking intensely.

"So…" Ms. Harvey began as awkwardly as she could manage while still maintaining a haughty presence, "the restraining order is a no-go. Now, as for the rape case-"

"You're gonna pursue that?" Sage finally spoke, jerking her head up to look at the woman.

"I'm actually advising against it."

Sage sighed, relief mixing with guilt caused by the former. She still wasn't sure that she'd be able to go through with a trial of any sort, and there most certainly would be one if they continued forward like they were. Elliot wouldn't go down without a fight, and just telling Gustavo, Kelly, the lawyers her story already made her feel like hiding in the apartment for the rest of her life. She knew that the shame of being raped shouldn't belong to her, but getting rid of it was easier said than done. It stayed inside of her like a virus circulating through her bloodstream, sometimes rearing its ugly head with vigor and other times lying dormant.

"Excuse me?" Kendall, Gustavo, and James all yelled at once. Kelly just looked like she was ready to grab her boss if he made a move to lunge at the lawyer, and Carlos and Logan stared at the pair of suits in shock. When they agreed to seek legal assistance, they hadn't anticipated being shut down. It didn't seem like a possibility after everything they had all been dealing with privately for so long. They thought that they just had to take the first step and then the rest would fall into place, but apparently everything was going to be an uphill climb.

"Elliot can't just get away with what he did," Carlos claimed passionately, pulling his chair more toward the table and putting his hands on the surface.

"Miss Henderson let him," the lawyer countered without hesitation.

"Don't call her that," Kendall ordered heatedly at the use of Sage's last name. He wanted more than ever for her to be a "Knight".

"Kendall…" Logan hissed in warning, sharing a look above Sage's head that the others couldn't quite decipher the meaning of; like the pair new something the rest didn't. "Let her speak," he requested softly, titling his head towards the lawyer.

"She's not saying anything we want to hear," James argued, making Ms. Harvey smirk. No one was sure whether she respected his spunk or just thought he was amusing, or perhaps it was the worst case scenario and she was about to walk out because of his attitude.

"Jamie, we probably shouldn't make enemies with the person hired to help us…" Carlos scolded him halfheartedly from the other end of their line.

"She's not helping!" James shouted, not bothering to keep his voice as low as Carlos had made his.

"There's nothing I can do. You have no evidence."

"She has scars." James looked as if he was personally ready to battle the redhead one-on-one. He originally thought that it would be him and Kendall as a team, but the boy was being silent most of the morning and no one had been able to crack him yet, so James was more than happy to demonstrate enough fight for the both of them.

"Prove to me, beyond a reasonable doubt, that they aren't self-inflicted."

James ground his teeth and Sage crossed her arms, trying to cover the blemish that was, in fact, caused by her own hand.

"Everything about this case is circumstantial, which translates into a loss in court. Hell, this won't even make it to court if I speak to the district attorney in North Dakota. They'd never prosecute Elliot Henderson," the lawyer continued.

"He beat her repeatedly. There are hospital records…" Logan reminded her hopefully, but he sounded weak, like he knew it wasn't going to change anything; already thinking ahead to everything Ms. Harvey was going to say before she even said it now that he realized what they had walked into.

"All littered with excuses from the victim herself."

"What about the letter?" Carlos asked, resting his elbows on the table and rubbing at his temples.

"No return address. I can't solidly prove to a jury that he wrote it, and it's all doublespeak anyway. It's not a confession. It's a letter to someone he loves... The law is very specific when it comes to deciding between guilt and innocence. There's not much wiggle room to work with. Those few pieces of paper would never hold up in court."

"Are you done? Do you want to be Elliot's lawyer?" Gustavo rolled his eyes in annoyance, shooting Sage a sorry glance before glaring back at Ms. Harvey.

"I'm not saying anything that you wouldn't hear from the defense if you were to go through with this. And it's only going to get ten times harder than an average rape case because you're accusing an officer of the law. You and the entire band would be hauled through the mud. It'd be a media frenzy with the amount of hype the five of you already get from the paparazzi. It also doesn't help that you've waited almost two years since your 'escape'."

She used air quotes and everyone in the room besides Sage, who looked embarrassed, and the lawyer's associate, who looked almost just as mortified, appeared ready to leap up before Ms. Harvey spoke on.

"The majority of those watching you are going to assume that you're stirring up trouble for publicity, all while trashing a man who saves lives for a living. They could debate your mental stability just as much as you want to debate his... Messing with a cop is one of the worst things you could do. It will make you look like the bad guy," she paused, appearing to think before she chuckled humorously. "You'd be named Hollywood's biggest bitch of the decade."

"Watch it…" Gustavo advised threateningly, matching the lawyer's stare with one the boys only ever saw when the producer was honestly stressed; when he wasn't just being pushy and whiny but actually angry and meant business. Ms. Harvey titled her head slightly, backing down a fraction of an inch as Gustavo turned to Sage and the others. "We'll do whatever you want, Sage. Don't let her scare you." he spoke much softer, Kelly nodding beside him.

Sage smiled genuinely for the first time since Kendall and Carlos had come downstairs that morning. She had been so sure that Gustavo would be disappointed in her or at least upset about her inadvertently messing with his business, but he had come through for her and the guys right away; first with the lawyer and then with having Kelly set up extra security for absolutely everywhere they went. Whether BTR was touring or walking the streets of Los Angeles to get groceries, they and Sage would be looked after closely.

"So, according to you," she started slowly, looking up at the lawyer with frightened and glassy eyes, "there's n-nothing to do?" She was both deflated and hopeful, unsure which emotion should win out.

"Not unless you want everyone to know that you were put in a nut house before…" Ms. Harvey snickered, all of the facts of the case seeming so straightforward in her point of view that anything but her opinion felt idiotic.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" James shouted, looking around the room as if she had to be joking due to her complete lack of compassion. Kendall cleared his throat then, having had his mouth open and ready to strike but looking grateful that James did it for him; it was probably nicer that way in comparison to what was brewing in him.

"I'm telling you what you need to be told," the lawyer insisted, more tired this time and thinking that she hadn't expected to receive this much opposition. "If I can get my hands on Sage's record, then her stepfather's people can too," she folded her hands together and leaned forward on the table to focus her gaze on Sage and Kendall, but she still addressed them all. "She was the one placed on a psychiatric hold after her mother's death, not Elliot. She was admitted to the hospital at age sixteen on heroin and she claimed that her dealer assaulted her, not Elliot. Mr. Knight also now claims to have been beaten by the man, but he lied to the authorities about it." She looked directly into Sage's eyes and then Kendall's. "You made your choices, and I'm trying to tell you that it's not so easy to take them back now…"

Kendall and Sage glanced at each other, connecting eyes for a long moment, and then they both stared at their laps as Ms. Harvey continued.

"All of this would turn into a battle of he-said-she-said, and Sage will lose against Mr. Henderson when it comes down to evidence and known facts. Big Time Rush will lose."

"But he sent a signed check with that letter…" Carlos offered, still grasping aimlessly as he pointed to the envelope they brought.

"Do you have it?" the associate asked with interest, looking through the papers, but Carlos was immediately disheartened when he remembered they didn't.

"N-No…" Logan answered for him.

"I was angry… I ripped it up…" Sage's whisper was small, her eyes distant as she stared at the table top. She wasn't moving at all now, and the only reason Kendall wasn't shaking her was because he could see her breathing; the unintentional rise and fall of her chest was steady.

The lawyer looked relatively pleased, like they were helping prove her point.

"And what about when he kept her locked up?" Kendall wondered, growing angrier. "What will the courts," he inquired with venom, "say about that? Where are they gonna think she was for a fucking year?"

The entire table appeared startled at his tone, loud and bordering on murderous, but Ms. Harvey barely blinked, having seen more than her fair share of it in her years.

"It doesn't matter. She legally dropped out of school. She signed those papers, and, from the story you weaved for me, she told a…" she paused to stare down at a pad in front of her, "… Dustin Sanders that she was going away for help." She turned to Sage. "You made Mr. Henderson's alibi for him."

"He forced me…" Sage insisted with a mumble as her tears threatened to fall, causing Kendall to kiss the back of her hand soundly. His upper body was still but his legs bounced in agitation beneath the table.

"I'm sorry I can't prove it," Ms. Harvey sort of looked like she meant what she said. "And, according to you, when you escaped Mr. Henderson and your home, you said nothing to the authorities. You got on a bus and traveled hundreds of miles and stayed here. You made a life and career with no complaint."

Logan sighed loudly when the rest of the table went silent, Gustavo resting his forehead on his fisted hands and Kelly running her fingers through her dark hair. Carlos and James were glancing at Kendall and Sage, wanting to say so much but unable to find the words. Logan himself was aggravated but almost resigned. Growing up with a lawyer for a mother, even though she was corporate, he was surrounded and engrained with ideas of the legal system that should have told him it wouldn't be simple to go after Elliot, but he hadn't been willing to just roll over without a fair try.

"So what do you suggest we do?"

"Call me if something changes," Ms. Harvey shrugged in Logan's direction and her associate smiled at him apologetically.

"You mean wait until Elliot comes around to fuck with us some more and then give you a ring…" James gave her a snarky grin after snapping his attention to her, his depressed face morphing into a chilled countenance again.

"My hands are tied," she insisted.

"This is ridiculous," Kendall groaned loud enough to make Sage jump beside him.

"Kendall, there's nothing-" she tried talking but his stare stopped her cold.

"Don't you dare say it too," he seethed, making her blink at him as he let go of her hand and spun his chair along with hers so they directly faced each other, keeping her in place with his palms bracketing her thighs on the seat. "We're gonna just wait around for him to ruin our lives again, is that it? Is that the plan? I'm supposed to just sit here and let him take you away from me again?" he wondered, breathing heavily and moving his hands to her forearms, rubbing the skin and paying extra attention to the pink scar on one of them. "You did nothing when you left him, and look how well that turned out…" he muttered darkly before huffing and sitting back to pinch the bridge of his nose. Sage clenched her eyes shut in disgrace.

She flinched when he groaned again and paired it with a solid push away from her, standing up from the table. She said nothing, no one did because they had no idea what could or should have been said. Kendall took a deep breath and looked down at Sage, who stared back sadly. He was much softer when he spoke again.

"Doing nothing about Elliot doesn't work. Waiting for things to get better doesn't work…" he whispered when his voice grew weak, cracking with emotion when he tried to get louder. His hands shook and his legs took him from the room, his lungs searching for air that wouldn't suffocate him.

"Sage, he didn't mean-" Carlos started but Sage shook her head vigorously and stood up.

"He's right," she insisted, her focus solely on Kendall as she followed his path before he got too far; leaving both of them visible just behind the glass doors of the conference room.

James, Carlos, and Logan watched without shame, wishing they could follow but feeling as if it wasn't their place.

"It doesn't matter what they say. Maybe we can't do anything legally," Gustavo said the last word like its taste resembled garbage, "but we have other ways of making sure you're all safe. Kelly, is security set up?" the producer asked his assistant, ignoring Ms. Harvey as she and her associate packed up the belongings they came with and remained silent now that their job was complete and Gustavo seemed to have no interest in even looking at them anymore.

"Absolutely. We have a company coming later in the evening to install an alarm system in 2J- top of the line- and we'll have actual guys with you at all times whenever you're outside the Palm Woods. It'll be just like when you're touring, only with even more caution," Kelly explained, making a few notes on her clipboard with a quick hand. She looked up at the boys, who were all staring in the other direction. "I know it might seem invasive, but it's for the best."

"We understand. Thanks, Kelly… Thanks, Gustavo…" James gave them a much nicer attitude than he had with the lawyer, taking a moment to look right at them with a smile along with Logan and Carlos, but then the trio put their attention back onto the couple outside of the room.

Kendall's anger had dissipated completely, morphing into frustration and depression as soon as Sage was in his arms and he was out of the conference room. He held her close, both of them speaking private words no one else could hear. Kendall was crying fully, finally, and Sage had her own tears slipping down her cheeks as she caressed his face, rubbing her thumb along his cheekbone before sliding her hand behind his neck and pulling him down to press her forehead onto his. After hours of confusion and resistance, the lovers were breaking; falling apart slowly but surely. The boys were more than prepared to piece them back together, but this wouldn't be the last time they'd crumble; not if Elliot was still around.


Elliot tried not to break, he honestly did. When he promised the girl he twistedly loved that he wouldn't come back into her life, he meant it. He put in an effort that he never had before since he met Sage years ago, showing resilience he didn't even know he possessed. It wasn't good enough, though; he wasn't strong enough. If he was, he wouldn't have gone to Los Angeles.

He hadn't intended to wind up there. He put thoughts of chasing after Sage out of his mind once he had dislocated his wrist while getting free of the cuffs she forced him into- having stretched his limits far enough to dig a nail out of the floorboard to pick the lock- and he remained depressed and on medical leave for a couple of weeks due to his "accident". He didn't move from the home he and Sage shared unless he absolutely had to or if Scott checked up on him. It wasn't long after that when he decided to seek a fresh start, a new beginning that his victim had oddly given him the opportunity for. That undeserved grace made him love her even more, which was counterproductive and unhealthy but still true nonetheless, but it also made it harder to be close to her, so he intentionally went to the other side of the country to live his new life.

He was fine, downright normal in almost all aspects of his daily activities besides the times he'd think about his stepdaughter at night, but then fate dealt him a second hand after he had already pushed himself away from the game table. He never was one to deny a game. He didn't have the willpower, he never would.

Elliot wasn't supposed to have been at the BTR concert, something he was both bitter and thrilled about in his now even-more-warped mind. He had offered to take the job without knowing the details until he got there after someone called out for the day. He was merely trying to help at the station, diving heavily into his work when he had nothing left that made him feel anything positive. He was just going to do his job, assisting in keeping the talent secure and the crowd localized, but then he saw who the talent was and the gears in his head- old ones that he had left unmoved for over a year- began turning slowly but surely. It only took him a few seconds of deliberation before he started to test his new limits, removing his identification from his uniform and casually approaching Carlos to strike up a conversation, which he didn't even have a goal for when he started it.

He had no goals, just a word: "Sage".

It was all about her again. Everything he did centered on her like she was a beacon guiding him to shore even though she didn't want to be seen and he knew it. As soon as his eyes caught her in the flesh, not just from a coveted tabloid or an article online, changes began initiating inside of him as if old holes he had filled were loosening and caving in. He felt like an idiot because of it, feelings mutating into shame and guilt. However, instead of those feelings driving him to retreat and stay put in his new home, he drove forward with an anger that was always difficult for him to explain due to its irrationality. As far as he could figure, it came from his extreme desperation for Sage, the girl he had unrealistically burdened with the task of improving his dark and unfixable world. He couldn't let her go again, not after she was so close, breathing the same air, and he was terrible at resisting temptation.

He did attempt to, though, after thinking of what could happen if he shoved his way back into Sage's life; about how much it would upset her. But, as usual, the bad outweighed the good inside of him. Now, four months after he saw her in Vermont, he was walking the streets of Hollywood with a plan to see her face to face instead of just from a safe distance.

"So what should I do?"

Elliot closed his eyes to calm himself and pressed his disposable cell phone harder against his ear, holding it in place with his shoulder as he ducked into an alley and dug through his pockets for his wallet.

"I told you already: Do whatever the fuck you want. Order room service, gamble with the money I left you. I don't really care, Lily," he insisted to his girlfriend, a woman only a bit older than Sage but nowhere near the real thing.

He had only acquired her a bit after the New Year once a plan started formulating loosely in his head. He wanted to get to L.A., but he wasn't prepared to disappear from his post in Vermont; it would be too suspicious. So, he had gotten his new and dim blonde girlfriend to start building his alibi. She was eager to please him, finding him attractive for his looks, his job, his admittedly large bank account, and because of her impressionable young age.

"But I'm lonely…" she complained, causing Elliot to bite back a groan of annoyance. She was useful, sure, but she frustrated him to no end when she required him to give her some sort of emotional response beyond indifference. "We're supposed to be on a vacation together. Vegas isn't fun when you're alone, El."

Elliot found his wallet, filled with nothing but cash, and smirked in success as he double-checked the amount in the low lighting of the alley. The only brightness came from a small bulb above the side entrance used by the employees of the club he was hovering beside. He almost forgot Lily was expecting him to say something, almost forgot she even existed at all, until she shuffled the phone around to switch to her other ear.

"I'm helping an old friend I owe and saving lives here. You know that. Don't you care about innocent people, Lily?" he wondered with mock offense to play her in a calculated way he knew well. She was dumb but not heartless; not like him.

"Of course!" she maintained in distress with her pitchy voice that grated Elliot's last nerve as he inched further down the alley, his eyes darting all over his surroundings and mentally doing a quick and practiced surveillance of the space for what was to come later. "Sorry… I love you…" she added desperately.

"Did, uh-" Elliot huffed at his own inability to stay composed. He refused to say he loved her back. He was great at acting when he needed to be, fooling the whole town of Ramsey and quickly securing a similar status in Vermont among his colleagues and neighbors. He could say anything a conversation required of him to look like a normal person, but declaring love for someone other than Sage, even if it was a hoax, made his stomach churn. "Has anyone asked where I am?" he redirected the conversation once he got his sturdiness back.

"Nope- Well, just the guy who carried our bags up to our room. He asked me where my husband was when I went down to the casino," Lily giggled and Elliot rolled his eyes. The dimwit probably thought he was going to really marry her someday. It wasn't like he ever made her believe otherwise.

"And you told him what?" he inquired with a dangerous edge that he tried not to let control him. If someone like Lily messed things up for him, he really didn't think he'd hesitate to kill her.

"I told him you were sleeping… That's good, right? I have to make people think you're still here?" Her eagerness to appease him was what made her so easy to mold and use. When he had fed her some story about going under cover and helping an old friend with a drug bust in California only hours after she and he touched down in Nevada for their "vacation", Lily ate it up and she never argued when he told her to keep up appearances. He left her a good amount of money before leaving to get a rental car and make the drive to L.A.

"Yup, you're doing a really good job, babe. You're- " Elliot sounded sweet, ready to emotionally reward her with a bit of affection, just enough to keep her on his imaginary leash with no qualms, but then he got distracted when he spotted the kid he was waiting for come out the side door. The dishwasher from the kitchen of the club was walking towards him with a trash bag for the dumpster that was halfway between the door and the only exit of the alley. "I gotta go," Elliot spoke quickly into the phone while ripping all of the cash out of his wallet.

"Okay, but I miss yo-"

Elliot disconnected the call without blinking, flipping the phone shut and pocketing it along with the bare wallet as he stalked towards the lanky teenager near the dumpster.

"You're late," he told the kid, glaring at the shaggy-haired brunette, who was wiping his hands on his apron.

"I was working," he argued hesitantly, shrinking under the taller man's gaze.

"Well, excuse me. I didn't know your eight-fifty an hour was better than this," Elliot countered dryly, holding out a wad of bills that easily trumped a month's worth of the boy's wages.

"It's not… Sorry…" The dishwasher snatched up the cash, shooting Elliot an apologetic look.

The officer turned villain loved how he could get everyone to apologize to him for things they shouldn't have genuinely been remorseful for. It was almost like they knew that they were helping a bad guy and they had to be sorry for some part of it, but they didn't really know the truth. They never would. It was just something about Elliot's personality; his presence made everyone else feel tinier. It was almost funny to him how he could make people who were much better human beings than he was believe that he had the qualities of some higher individual when he was, in fact, lower than the majority.

"Lead the way," Elliot gestured to the door and began walking, holding back a roll of his eyes when he saw the kid holding the cash low near his waist and attempting to count it all. People weren't as trusting in Los Angeles as they were in North Dakota or Vermont. It was a place full of fake individuals and some with motivations just as dark as his own. Money talked in a world like that, though, and Elliot had more than enough of it; plenty to bribe some kid working behind the scenes at a Hollywood party.

According to his research, tonight had been the premiere of Camille Wyatt's big movie. Being very close friends of hers, all of BTR went to the event, cameras and security everywhere as Elliot watched from down the block with the other onlookers as the celebrities walked along the front of the theater, stopping for photos and occasional interviews. He had witnessed Kendall hold Sage against his body the entire time, but he tried not to focus on his competition too much. Kendall didn't matter to him in that moment, only Sage; always Sage. She looked beautiful, mature and grown and happy, and Elliot was too delusional to realize that his presence would be the sole reason for that happiness' destruction.

He set his plan into motion after that, listening to and making small talk with enough of the limo drivers to know where the private after party was going to be held. He went to the club directly, scouting it and immediately spotting an easy target in the dishwasher trying to put himself through acting classes and waiting for a break. Everyone had a weakness, and money and greed were usually it. The kid had tried to deny him entry when he asked to be let in later that night after the party started, but then he caved like a house of cards built on a windy day once Elliot gave him the right price; agreeing to his request as long as he brought the cash. Elliot complied without hesitation or enthusiasm, not caring to deal with much of anyone. He just wanted to hear a "yes" so he could leave and make a few preparations involving Lily and his personal protection.

And now he was in the shadows at the back of the club, the dishwasher making sure the coast was clear until they got to the area where the bathrooms were located and Elliot would blend in with the rest of the people, wearing a black dress shirt and tie in the somewhat formal but crazed atmosphere. With a nod of his head, the boy pocketed his money and disappeared into the kitchen to leave Elliot, who he probably assumed just wanted to be a part of the festivities, but he was actually scanning the entire room for five very specific individuals. The mass of people were rambunctious and loud, squeals and laughter mixing in with the blaring music as the alcohol never stopped flowing and the sequins never stopped shimmering under the colored lights flickering above their pretty heads.

Elliot relaxed against the doorway to the back hallway, just on the edge of the chaos, and folded his arms casually as he watched it all with a smirk. The crowd was dense, but he eventually spotted Kendall and Logan lounging on a wall full of cushioned seating and low tables, exchanging words and smiles comfortably with each other. He couldn't hear, but it was enough for him to merely see; to get to know how they worked as he waited for the right moment to strike.

"Are you ever gonna stop looking at her? If I was a stranger, I think I'd be offended that I couldn't hold your attention…" Logan mused, smirking sideways and leaning down to the table in front of him to grab a newly poured drink, something red- he hadn't even asked what was in it- that went with the vampire theme to celebrate Camille's movie.

"Please, you were too busy hitting on the cute brunette server to even know I was alive," Kendall argued with his own smirk as he drank from his beer, only taking his eyes off of Sage, who sat across the large room with James at the bar, to glance at Logan for a second.

"That's- I- Shut up… She was flirting with me first," Logan pouted, flustered, and then punched his friend on the shoulder when the boy laughed.

"I saw, but you practically dove right in the second she giggled at you. I'm surprised you didn't offer to take her home right then and there… You kinda put James to shame when it comes to girls and you don't even know it," Kendall laughed harder when he finally looked at Logan fully to see him blushing and widening his eyes, embarrassedly sinking low in his seat as if he was being watched.

"I don't mean to! Am I really 'old-James' kinda bad? Why do you have to make such a cruel comparison?" Logan complained, whiny and slouching as his eyes went to the young server moving with a tray amongst the crowd. He honestly wasn't really trying to do anything with her. He just thought she was pretty and she laughed when he made a joke, but now he was sure that he came off as some celebrity scumbag.

"Chill out." Kendall waved his beer bottle lazily in his direction, eyes creeping just as slowly off of him and back onto Sage. "I'm teasing you… but you do sorta have game. I think it's the nerd-esque vibe you give off while still managing to be a catch- girls love a complete package. You should ask her out. She'd probably say 'yes' in a heartbeat, but you might wanna get her name first…" he rambled distractedly, still staring across the room.

"You think? I guess she did seem like she might- Whoa, wait a second… You're a fucker, you know that? You're totally trying to get me off of my original subject." Logan sat up straighter and put his drink down on the table, glancing at Sage and then back at Kendall. He repeated the motion twice before wiggling his hand in front of his brother's face to break the trance.

"It only took you about two minutes to figure it out that time. I need new material," Kendall sighed and propped his ankle on his opposite knee as he spoke to Logan, dropping his head to the side to see him clearly.

Logan always seemed to pester him about Sage and his relationship more than any of the others lately, but it was probably because he knew more than anyone else did…

The support and concern were nice. Kendall just got tired of it, though. He was stressed constantly because of the whole Elliot-possibly-destroying-their-lives thing, even though he tried not to show it, and it only got worse when Logan could see that stress all over him like the answer to an elementary math problem. Logan was the only one that could know what was going on in his mind most of the time; it made it difficult to hide, which was his favorite thing to do lately.

In the months since Elliot approached Carlos, and they had heard nothing of the man since, Kendall was on edge. Even though he wasn't alone in his anxiety- Sage had enough to fill an entire therapy group by herself and James, Carlos, and Logan rarely left their sides or went anywhere beyond the Palm Woods property- he felt like he had to be. He didn't want to add onto it all by admitting how terrified he was, figuring that one breakdown at Rocque Records was more than sufficient enough to let the family know he was far from okay, but he clung more than ever now; he never let Sage out of his sight and she never argued for him to do anything differently.

Logan stared at Kendall and he stared back, waiting for one of them to speak to see what the tone would be like; sometimes it was joking and other times it was serious and weighty. Kendall was hoping for jest. They were at a party, after all.

"Anyway… I'm proud of you for being more than a yard away from Sage," Logan grinned, but it was tight and his eyes remained filled with reprimand and concern. The conversation was obviously going to be a mix of jokes and serious. Kendall could work with that.

"For your information, our new minimum is ten feet. We have to use the bathroom sometime," Kendall crossed his arms after sipping on his beer.

"And shower," Logan agreed, tilting his head to the side and grinning more genuinely as he relaxed into his seat.

"Nah, I can't really use showering as an excuse; we rarely did that alone before."

"Thank you for the visual, Kendall," Logan sighed and rolled his eyes.

Kendall just gave him a thumbs up and put his beer bottle down on the table before sinking back into his seat along Logan's side, leaning against him like he could fall asleep if they were anywhere but a Hollywood club. He was wishing that they were all just home and on the couch together; the five of them watching a movie or napping in the safety of 2J. The door was always locked now and the new security system was constantly armed. They would have never missed Camille's big premiere, though. She was their best friend and confidant, the only one around besides Kelly and Gustavo who knew they had the stress of Elliot hanging over their heads again. She had insisted that they didn't need to go to the premiere, but every member of the BTR family went anyway; keeping their security guards close when they were traveling or walking the streets and then letting the faithful men go for a few hours after they were in the secure walls of the private club.

Sage and Kendall had kept contact with each other the whole time, a hand-hold here and an arm around the waist there. He finally- but reluctantly- let her go after they had been at the after party for a while. He figured she'd be fine as long as she was with one of the other guys, and she looked like she was having a good time with James; smiling and chatting as if they were home. Occasionally, Kendall thought Sage was dealing with the possibility of Elliot's return better than all of them. She was scared, that much was painfully obvious due to her jittery attitude when someone would come up behind her and how she wouldn't talk much when they were outside their home, but she rarely broke down. She wouldn't let herself do it, using Logan's coping techniques that he taught her long ago to keep her steady when she felt like collapsing. Kendall was both envious and proud of that ability, but it worried him too; worried that Sage was lying emotionally so she wouldn't cause any more concern. It was true that things went smoother when she was happy or at least content, but the boys were always watching her anyway to gauge her reactions; as if one slip could make her crack.

"You know…" Logan began with a more serious tone, making Kendall huff as he watched Sage and James but listened to his brother beside him. "It's been four months now…"

"Logan, I know how long it's been. There's this awesome thing called a calendar. It's got all these numbers and days of the week on it; real helpful." Kendall tore his focus away from their family members across the room to smirk at Logan, who didn't seem amused at all.

"Smartass," he mumbled before straightening his posture and jerking his chin in Sage's direction. "It's been a long time, is what I'm saying, so why haven't you asked her to-"

"I don't wanna talk about it," Kendall's voice rose and his stare hardened, humor gone, but Logan didn't flinch. He only gave him a look of disapproval.

"Why not? What changed? You were all gung-ho about it when we were in New York. You were really-"

"A lot changed… and who says 'gung-ho' anymore?" Kendall attempted to shift the subject away from himself and Sage as he leaned forward to hold his beer again. Logan didn't take the bait like he had earlier.

"What are you waiting for, Kendall?"

The boy thoughtfully rubbed at the condensation covering the bottle in his hands, biting his lip when he looked at Logan.

"The perfect moment."

"It doesn't exist," Logan smiled sadly and shook his head.

"That's some great optimism you got there, buddy," Kendall snorted.

"I'm just being honest!" Logan insisted loudly, glaring at anyone who chose to turn and stare at them while he was trying to talk to Kendall. "If you keep striving to be perfect, it's gonna hurt you both. It's not logical…"

"Can't I have something to look forward to?" Kendall groaned at his friend's reasoning.

"Not if it's literally impossible. You're gonna be miserable because you're not ever going to get it," Logan maintained quietly, voice just audible above the music coming through the several speakers littering the club. "You're letting Elliot get to you too easily. You're letting him win now that he's back."

"He's not back. He's in Vermont," Kendall spat, but Logan could tell that it was more of a spoken prayer rather than a solid fact.

"You and I both know that it doesn't make a difference whether he's here or there. He exists, and that's enough to make you crazy… We don't want you to be sad when you don't have to be," Logan frowned and played with his tie while Kendall nodded, not saying anything for a few moments; leaving them both to listen to the pounding melodies and laughter all around them.

"Things were easier when we thought he was gone…" Kendall clenched his teeth together and blinked down at his lap before raising his head to look at his friend. "I really started to believe he was gone, Logie. I started thinking that we were normal; that we could be-" he stopped when he felt a loss for words, smiling depressingly and shrugging while spinning the bottle in his hands. He put the alcohol back on the table without drinking any more of it.

Logan watched Kendall as he focused on Sage again. She was still sitting with James at the bar and facing the crowd behind them as they looked towards where Carlos was talking to a group of girls at the edge of the dance floor. He wasn't sure if he was doing it on purpose, but Logan noticed Kendall place his arms in his lap and rub his thumb continuously over the tattoo on his left forearm.

"I'm sorry, man…" Logan whispered and wrapped an arm around Kendall's shoulders, jostling him against him in a sideways hug and ruffling his hair just to see him grin again. Logan's heart stung a little at the now rare display, but he didn't let the pang of anguish show. "I wish I could help more. I wish I could make it perfect," he added after they settled down.

"But you can't," Kendall admitted, sad but understanding what Logan was saying; he couldn't spend all of his energy chasing a dream that wouldn't be fulfilled. "We can get pretty close to perfect, though… can't we?" he looked at his best friend with desperation, like a little boy.

"Yeah," Logan nodded slowly, grinning as he scanned their entertaining surroundings. Life was good for them, and they deserved to enjoy it; to keep it and strive to make it the best they could no matter who tried to stop them. "I think we could get damn fucking close," he added with confidence, bending down to pick up his glass and sip on the red liquid.

Kendall smiled gratefully and then glanced back over at Sage to see her looking his way. She was nodding at whatever James was saying, but her eyes were glowing for Kendall as her hand slid up to allow her fingers to wrap around the pendant hanging from her neck. He sunk into his cushioned seat and smoothed his thumb over his tattoo again, this time with more reverence rather than anxiety.

"That's what we'll aim for then: pretty close," he declared, waving at his girlfriend with a lazy wiggle of his fingers. He meant to do it with more vigor, but he was fighting his muscles' need to run to her already, knowing that it was irrational to want to be attached every second. Sage was fine, and she would always be fine now that she was with him and the others; that's what he kept telling himself.

"If you don't stop with the googly eyes and angst faces at your boyfriend, I'm gonna vomit- from cuteness or nerves, I don't know which," James rolled his eyes and nudged Sage with his elbow.

"Okay," she answered distractedly, not listening after Kendall waved at her. She waved back with the hand that wasn't gripping her necklace, and then the two lovers looked away from each other, but Sage still hadn't seemed to come back to the present. James pressed his lips together in a thin line and then smirked, raising an eyebrow.

"I think I'm gonna sleep with that girl over there. She looks easy," he said boldly, gesturing in a direction that he wasn't even sure an attractive girl was standing and leaning his lower back against the bar.

"That's ni- James! What are you talking about? What about Camille?" Sage finally turned to him, alarmed at his sudden shift in behavior after months and months of an attitude dedicated to change.

"Nice of you to finally snap out of it," he smirked and she huffed. "I thought I was gonna have to actually shake you that time."

"I don't space out that much…" Sage argued, blushing slightly and chewing at her bottom lip.

"You do when Kendall's not close enough… You gotta relax, it's a party! Here, drink this," James rubbed her shoulder, fingers gliding over the space where the black fabric of her dress met her pale skin, and then he reached behind her to get their forgotten drinks. Sage stared at him skeptically.

"What is it?"

"I don't know," he admitted, shrugging wildly and sniffing the liquid. "The bartender said it was free, though. He probably thinks you're hot." He laughed when Sage's eyes widened and she scooted to the edge of her stool to be closer to James as she peeked behind them to see if the bartender was near. "Relax. He said he was a fan of the band; he gave me one too. I'm just messing with you… Usually you know that… You really do need to calm down," James spoke with more sincerity and held the drink in front of his sister again.

"Good call, James. Get the unstable girl drunk. That'll end well," Sage quipped, taking the glass from him and putting it back on the bar. She smirked when he quirked a shoulder, though; both knowing he really didn't intend to get her intoxicated in the first place.

"Are you, though?" James wondered, eyes darting to hers and then to his hands in his lap.

"Am I what?"

"The 'unstable girl'?" he stared right at her. "How have you been doing?"

"You see me almost every hour of every day; you know how I'm doing," Sage chuckled lightly and reached out to squeeze his hand, her heart warming at his concern.

"Not really… I mean, we don't talk about Elliot that much. Not since we met with the lawyer and things settled down again," James flinched when Sage did at Elliot's name, silently regretting using it but knowing it was stupid to train himself not to because "Elliot", whether they liked it or not, was always going to be a part of their vocabulary.

"Everything's the same, I guess… I'm scared, but I don't really know what to do about it other than try to be okay... and I'm always grateful that I have all of you…" She left out the part where she also felt guilty about having them. It put them in danger when they took care of her.

She didn't want to trade it for anything, though, and denying their aid almost felt like giving up because she knew for a fact that she'd deteriorate drastically if she didn't have support. It would have made everything that she and they ever did worth nothing, so she tried to spend her days thanking who ever would listen that she wasn't alone. She even had the newly strengthened partnership of Kelly and Gustavo to look forward to. Kelly was careful with her, understandably treating Sage like she would break with the slightest touch after she learned about her past, but that caution faded into friendly concern until they were back to normal; working and stressing under Gustavo's lead. The producer himself probably handled everything the best, getting extremely angry and protective but calming down and practically ignoring the truth when everything that could be done was done. He didn't necessarily treat Sage any differently, except for a few times when she was expected at the studio and the man would sweetly be waiting outside for her even though there was no reason for him to be, and Sage didn't believe his lame excuses of coffee or food runs because she knew that was Kelly's job. They just kept moving forward and he still worked with her and mentored her closely and efficiently as they continued to piece together the second album.

The only different thing with the secretly-emotional Gustavo was the allowances he made for them. Even on quick weekend trips, he made plans, without anyone asking, for Sage to go on the road with the band rather than keeping her home alone. And he sent them all to Minnesota at Christmas time on his private jet with no disgruntlements, only numerous security guards that stayed in Sherwood with them as they visited family for the holidays. The several men were good at blending in, but they stood out drastically in the small homey town. It got the beloved boys, plus Sage, extra attention on the streets; so much so that they spent most of their days inside the Knight's home, where they could all be together, with Katie, Karen, and David.

The hardest part for Sage and Kendall was going to Katie and Karen, the two members of their initially formed family years ago, and telling them that they could be in danger; that they couldn't just live their lives with nonchalance and that they needed to be careful because of Elliot despite the fact that they weren't a part of the daily California world that BTR was. Sage didn't think Elliot would go near them, simply due to the fact that they weren't around her all the time and therefore they couldn't be easily used, but the possibility was there; anything could happen. Karen was so good about it all, being motherly and warm like she was born to be, and Katie didn't even complain when David and her mother both agreed that she wouldn't be allowed out by herself anymore despite her being at the age of budding independence. David was also the one to jump in and offer to let Sage and Kendall's personal security sleep in the living room during their week-long visit, instead of a hotel, just because it seemed to make the couple breathe easier.

Overall, after breaking the news and learning how to cope with it, life remained the same; just more caution-filled. The boys used their increasing wealth to pay for a state of the art security system to be installed in all of their families' homes and then they had to leave to go back to their own at the Palm Woods, where they often stayed rather than getting out unless it was to work. Phone calls were frequent too, the five of them talking to at least one person in Minnesota, and Logan's father in North Carolina, nearly every day just to check in. Like Ms. Harvey had said, they waited; there was nothing else to do.

"No offense, but I sort of expected you to be more… broken…" James frowned and slouched forward in his seat.

Sage wished that she could explain why she was relatively okay, perhaps even a bit numb after the initial panic and internal anxiety, but she didn't know how to put it into words for James, Carlos, and Logan. Only Kendall saw how she was when she wasn't trying.

"The nightmares are back…" she offered, biting the inside of her cheek and wringing her hands in her lap after tugging self-consciously at the hemline of her dress to be sure it covered the faded pink scar on her thigh. It was one of the spots Elliot always reopened her in her horrific dreams, which had thankfully stopped long ago but were now back with an unpredictable vengeance.

"Oh… I already knew that…" James smiled sheepishly when Sage looked at him with her mouth open. "I can't really sleep if you don't sleep…" he added, just as embarrassedly.

"How do you know if I do or don't sleep?" Sage grinned, the tension leaving her.

"I can just tell. I feel bad…" he pouted and shrugged. James could remember when Sage first arrived at 2J. He remembered the way she would cry out and how he would secretly stay up right along with her and Kendall. He would even walk by their room several times a night just to see if they were okay. Now, almost two years later, he was doing it all over again.

"We're too close," she giggled, shaking her head and reaching for the drink she had put down on the bar, tasting it slowly.

"We're like, the best siblings ever; like twins!" James insisted, waving his hands between them and widening his eyes and smiling. Sage raised her eyebrow, amused but affectionate. "Oh, god…" James began more seriously, but it was a type of seriousness that was more dramatic than average. "When you and Kendall have kids, I'm gonna be fucked. What if I get that sympathy pregnancy thing we saw on TLC last week?" he yelped, taking the drink from Sage's hand and sipping down a bit of it.

"We've gotta stop watching so much television…" Sage sighed to herself. "And I don't think that's how it works, James."

"If I get fat, I might have to hurt you," he warned, ignoring her statement.

"You can't attack a pregnant woman," she countered with a smirk, deciding to play along like she did best with James.

"I'll take it out on Kendall, then," he argued. His chin tilted towards the high ceiling and his chest puffed in triumph.

"I'm sure he'll appreciate that," Sage answered dryly and reached out to sip on their shared drink again.

Her emerald eyes traveled around the space when James fell quiet, watching the people dancing and laughing like it was their best night of their lives, and, for many of them, it was. Camille's vampire-romance movie, "Hollywood Night", went over amazingly with its audience and critics. The genre wasn't for everyone, but it was expected to be a highly profitable piece, paired with millions in merchandise sales to the younger frenzied fans of the original book series. The young actress' career was really going to take off, as was her co-stars'. It was a night of celebration.

"Are the nightmares really, really bad?" James asked intensely, looking right at Sage and reminding them both that finding reasons to celebrate their own nights was next to impossible lately.

"They could be worse," she responded softly, attempting to smile but failing.

"They suck, don't they?" James gathered the truth from her posture. "You and Kendall always look tired."

"You're a real confidence booster tonight," she laughed, knowing he meant no harm, but then she sobered; answering him more honestly. "The nightmares are terrible, they always are... It's like being back there…" she admitted, tracing her fingertips over the top of the glass she held. "Kendall wants us to try sleeping on the floor again, just to see if I can get through the night, but… I don't know… It feels like I'm giving up. I mean, it's just a dream, right? E-Elliot's not g-gonna have me again…" She clenched her jaw and handed James their drink when he held out his hand, dropping her limbs to rub her palms on her bare thighs.

"He won't, Sage. He's far away from here," James took her hand and squeezed a smile out of her.

"Guys!" Carlos leapt in front of them, bouncing on his heels even after he had stabilized himself using James' shoulder and Sage's forearm. "A ridiculously pretty girl just gave me her number. She even wrote down all of the digits," he announced proudly, waving a napkin in front of him like a trophy.

"Impressive! You're getting better, buddy," James congratulated him, punching him lightly on the arm. He and Sage had watched the boy with a group of good-looking girls a few minutes earlier, but he honestly hadn't thought he'd get anywhere with them. Sage was smiling happily too, but then it faltered as she studied the group Carlos had left. The females were gathered close together, swaying on too-high heels and giggling amongst themselves.

"Wait... was she a model?"

"Um, maybe?" Carlos answered hesitantly, already seeming to know where Sage was headed.

"Was she… not nice?" James caught on and inquired further.

"Maybe…" Carlos whined, frowning heavily. Now that he thought about it, and the buzz of the initial flirting had faded, he realized that the girl he met reminded him a lot of Arielle; and he wasn't sure he was ready for another partner like her.

"This is for your own good," Sage asserted, making a grab for the napkin with the numbers on it only to have Carlos yank it away.

"She was hot!" he protested squeakily and stared at James for assistance. If this conversation had been happening a year earlier, the boy would have been the first to tell him to go for it regardless of the model's attitude.

"Give it to her," James ordered and pointed at the cloth and then to Sage.

Carlos grumbled but wound up handing it over willingly.

"Buzz kills. Just because you two have solid relationships doesn't mean you can keep killing all of my potentials," he complained, choosing to be childish even though he knew they were right in stopping him before he made a mistake.

"We just don't want you with a copy of Arielle. She was brutal. You're looking for a girlfriend Car, so you gotta find someone that'll make you happy, and I'm not sure that this is the right place for someone like you to be getting numbers…" Sage gave a skeptical glance around the club. It wasn't as crowded as it could have been, plenty of room to move around the edges because of the elite guest list but still full enough to give it a busy atmosphere; one that was made up of mostly Hollywood hotshots that had been living the lifestyle, or trying to live it, for years. Carlos couldn't keep up with replicas of Arielle, it wasn't the type of girl he needed by his side. She needed to be more mellow, good-humored and relaxed like him. "Maybe we could try an amusement park," Sage suggested, thinking there would be more normal types for Carlos to meet there. He brightened at the idea, rocking forward and then back on his shoes and not protesting when Sage balled up the napkin.

"Can we go tomorrow? I'll need wingmen- or women- 'cause apparently I can't spot the bad ones," Carlos shrugged with his hands in the air and jerked his thumb in the direction of the girl he had solicited; she was now giggling flirtatiously at the DJ.

"As long as security is okay with it, we can all go; make a day out it. Sounds like fun. Right, James?" Sage turned to the quiet third of their group.

"Yeah, yeah; Ferris wheels and roller coasters," James waved his hand dismissively and then crossed his arms. "I'm still stuck on this guy calling my relationship with Camille solid. He's more insane than we thought," he scoffed at Carlos, who shook his head with a grin.

"You and Cam don't call each other boyfriend and girlfriend, but that doesn't mean you aren't together," he claimed with conviction. James and Camille were the same as they were months ago, close and bonding but just a tad more delusional about whether or not they should "date".

"Yes, it does!" James argued vehemently, louder than he meant to and getting attention from bystanders. He was used to it, though- the four rambunctious members of BTR often drew eyes- and he took a deep breath and lowered his voice. "We aren't a couple; we don't kiss or anything," he sputtered and ducked low after spotting Camille close by, dancing with a few of her cast-mates.

"No one is stopping you, though. The two of you are totally free to do whatever you want, but neither of you have chosen to go out with anyone else…" Sage took Carlos' side in the matter, both of them not pushing too hard for James to ask Camille out anymore- his continuously frustrating refusal got old- but they didn't fear pointing out the obvious again and again to him.

"Exactly," Carlos agreed merrily, bumping his fist against Sage's.

"You know, I liked this conversation a lot more when it wasn't about me," James murmured and then he sat forward. "Carlos, why don't you go give…" he snatched the crumpled napkin out of Sage's hand and smoothed it to see the name and number scrawled down, "… Melissa a second shot and stop bothering me so-"

Sage stopped him, ripping the napkin away and back into her own hand. She rolled it into an even tighter ball and then put it on the bar behind them. Carlos looked humored.

"He only gets this pissy when I hit a soft spot…" he informed Sage in a sweet voice, raising his arm to make a move to squeeze James' cheek only to get swatted away. James almost smiled fully before he remembered to glare.

"Stop it," he ordered Carlos, pointing a strict finger in his direction until the brunette held still with his hands up. James appeared satisfied, but then Sage came from the side and gently poked his cheek with a glossy nail. He smirked darkly and hopped out of his seat, grabbing her waist and chuckling along with Carlos. "I hate you both," James maintained. "Now you have to dance with me. No arguing!" he pulled Sage toward the edge of the dance floor closest to them, planning on keeping her near the crowd and not suffocating in the middle of it, as one of BTR's songs began to blast through the speakers. She was dragging her feet, heels scratching the floor, but not as much as she could have been. "Next one's yours, Carlitos! Prepare to be dazzled!" James shouted and shook his fingers in front of his face, grinning when his best friend rolled his eyes.

"Sure, thanks for making my dreams come true!" Carlos yelled above the opening notes of the song and waved him off.

He spun around after James and Sage were out of earshot and picked up the drink they left on the counter. He analyzed the blue liquid before shrugging and sipping on it. His face scrunched at the warm, sweet taste as he began walking forward, and then he put the glass down on a tray of a server strolling by. Looking through the crowd, he spotted where Logan and Kendall were sitting across the room with a few unopened beers in front of them, deciding he'd like that better than an unnamed alcohol. He moved towards them between the mass of bodies, staying close to the wall, but he was suddenly yanked sideways as he passed the entryway to the bathrooms and the kitchen.

Carlos immediately thought it was James messing with him.

"James, I don't think I'm gonna get girls by dancing with a g-guy…" he trailed off, eyes widening after adjusting to the shadows of the hallway. "Elliot…"

The word tasted like sand in his mouth, all wrong and unpalatable, and the image in front of him wasn't helping the discomfort. Elliot, who was considerably taller, had his hands on both of Carlos' shoulders, holding him still against the wall so he couldn't get anywhere even when he shoved his whole weight forward. The man smiled down at him, dark and almost friendly, making Carlos' stomach churn, and he finally spoke after he was sure that Carlos was paying attention.

"I'm assuming you know who I am now…" he chuckled like it was a game or as if he was busted pulling a prank; like he didn't understand how much Carlos' world was being spun off its axis. In that moment, he was almost glad that Elliot was holding him in place because he was sure he'd be stumbling to stand on his own two feet otherwise. "It's nice to see you again."

"You're not supposed to be here," Carlos hissed bravely, hardening after getting over the automatic shock despite the fact that he continued to struggle but got absolutely nowhere farther than shuffling his feet.

"Hello to you too," Elliot grinned and tilted his head as if the boy was the crazy one for not being polite.

Carlos ignored him, vision darting behind the officer's shoulder and then to the left and right to look for help. Not much was visible beyond the closed doors around them, but he could just spot the back of James' body past the open archway to the main area of the club.

"Nope," Elliot jostled him, pulling his body forward then pushing it back to see him wince. "James can't help you; don't do anything stupid." He kept one hand firmly at Carlos' collarbone and used the other to raise the bottom of his own dress-shirt.

The trapped teen stiffened at the sight of a handgun tucked into the waistline of Elliot's jeans, but he didn't recoil; he stood his ground and glared back up at the sinister cop, waiting for more while praying for a way out.

"I want to talk to Sage," Elliot announced confidently, voice never rising or falling but staying completely steady. It was Carlos' turn to laugh.

"Fuck, no." He shook his head wildly, wishing he could cross his pinned arms just to strengthen his stance. It didn't matter that this man was the devil, that he had killed a woman and wound up torturing her daughter. He wasn't going to let Elliot intimidate him into allowing him to see his sister.

"I wasn't asking," Elliot snapped. The change wasn't obvious to the casual observer, but Carlos could hear it in the harsher tone of his voice just at the end of his sentence and feel it in the way his fingers dug into his shoulders enough to make the skin ache and burn beneath his jacket. His wrath was subtle but somehow epically stronger than a man foaming openly at the mouth, but Carlos wasn't prepared to back down.

"You're not seeing her unless you kill me first, you sick fuck."

Elliot rolled his eyes and then shut them tightly. Sage was right there, literally yards away, and he couldn't do anything until they were alone. Being so close yet so far was torture. His heart thumped in his chest and his breathing grew labored with anxiety and discontentment.

"Listen," Elliot barked, making Carlos flinch before the man smirked again and spoke lower, "stop being dramatic and giving ultimatums; that's my job." He smiled widely when Carlos' eyes ceased being hard and instead flickered a bit with his favorite emotions, fear and curiosity; they always got him everything he wanted. "Go get Sage and bring her outside, or I'm going to show you what drama really looks like when I open fire in here. I should probably start with Miss Wyatt, don't you think? She is tonight's star…" he informed him with extreme control, so smooth that every blink seemed calculated while his eyes traveled to the dance floor past the doorway.

Carlos couldn't hide his terror then. Elliot wasn't bluffing. From what he knew of the man, he never did.

He stared back into the crowd, everything visible and the brightness contrasting with the little to no lighting in the hallway. He could see James dancing with Camille now. He held the girl close and they talked as they swayed to a slower song, both smiling; content and flirtatious with each other like it was their second nature. Carlos couldn't see Sage and assumed she had left the "couple" to be together while she returned to Kendall and Logan, who were all likely having a good time as well. The mood was high, having a night of fun intertwined with so many full of anguish. He didn't know what would happen if he got Sage and brought her to see Elliot like he was ordered to, but what Carlos did know for a fact was that innocent people, like Camille, could die if he refused. He was damned if he did and damned if he didn't, but he also knew what Sage would want him to choose. She wouldn't want anyone to be sacrificed for her sake.

"What's it gonna be, Carlos?" Elliot wondered. The boy's eyes snapped back to the figure directly in front of him. Elliot had spoken softly, almost as if he felt sympathy. It disoriented Carlos, and then he started to understand; that was how Elliot did it. That capacity to call upon the right emotions at the perfect time was how he got into Sage's head. Carlos couldn't imagine experiencing that attitude coming out of a monster's body for even a full day let alone a full year like his sister had. He couldn't understand how she made it out sane.

Carlos opened his mouth but couldn't speak even though conversation had come so easily months earlier when he had no clue who Elliot was.

"You have one minute to bring her to the alley on the side of the building," Elliot instructed, jerking his chin to the glowing "Exit" sign on his left. "You can all come, I don't care. Just bring Sage," he breathed heavily, eyes traveling as if he could see the girl in the crowd again, then he straightened and dug his hands more harshly into Carlos' shoulders. "And if you call my brothers in blue, I will go down swinging," he reminded the boy of the gun at his waist by glancing downward and then back up, looking right into Carlos' wide brown eyes with warning. It wasn't actually visible anymore, but Carlos could see the gun perfectly; the idea of it going off filling his head with intense volume and panic.

Elliot didn't wait for a response, he just shoved away from Carlos using the teen's body as leverage and stalked fluidly towards the exit without looking back.

"Fuck…" Carlos whispered after regaining the ability to breathe.

He repeated the curse loudly and spun around and away from the wall to rush back into the club on shaky legs, ignoring the few people staring at him as he bumped and jostled bystanders on his way to James; the closest member of his family in sight.

"James!" He grabbed the dancing boy's arm and forced a smile when Camille looked at him curiously, trying to remember not to draw extra attention. The instinct to scream his lungs out was pulsing in his veins, but the mental image of the beautiful actress in front of him bleeding and dying from a gunshot wound kept his mouth shut.

"Hey, man! You wanna dance with me, don't you?" James assumed haughtily, wiggling his upper body and then looking at Camille, who was amused by his antics. "I knew he'd come crawling."

"What do you need, Car?" Camille shook her head at James and leaned closer to the other boy, knowing he couldn't possibly want to cut in on their dance.

"Um…"

What was he supposed to say?

"Emergency family meeting!" he announced with a bright smile, as if that could ward off any apprehension on Camille's part. James stopped dancing in his own little world and stared at his best friend oddly, looking for a deeper meaning, and Camille shrugged and waved them off easily; it wouldn't be the first time they ran away to do something crazy.

"I'll talk to you later. Save me another dance..." She reached out to hold James' hand, caressing the back of it with her thumb. He smiled at her, momentarily forgetting Carlos standing rigid beside him.

"Definitely," James agreed, grinning and letting a joy-induced boldness take over as he bent forward and kissed his crush's cheek. "You look beautiful tonight, Cam…" he murmured in her ear and then stumbled back from the flustered, but flattered, girl when Carlos tugged his arm again.

He felt awful for interrupting the moment, but James' timing was just terrible.

"Sorry!" Carlos apologized to Camille, yelling as he pulled James through the crowd towards Kendall, Logan, and Sage; unable to wait any longer. He was terrified that Elliot's "one minute" was going to be an exact limit and he was already pushing it too close.

"Dude, what the hell? I was finally making a move on-"

"This is serious, James," Carlos told him, breathing heavily and feeling James' resistance in his hold stop at his tone; Carlos was rarely lacking positive energy, but now he appeared amped up with a negative aura and a load of nerves shook his spine.

"What's serious?" Logan yelled over the music, having heard the tail-end of their conversation as they approached the sitting area. Sage was nestled between him and Kendall, curled into her boyfriend's side. She sat up when James and Carlos got closer; James looking confused and disturbed, and Carlos looking frazzled and frantic.

"I- Uh…" Carlos mentally cursed again at being in a similar position that he was in months ago; he had to be the bearer of bad news. He wished he never met Elliot, wished that they never had a concert in Vermont.

"Carlos?" Kendall spoke his name like a question but it was firm, almost knowing. Carlos looked at him, then Logan, then James, and then he finally but reluctantly put his eyes on Sage's.

"Elliot wants to talk to you."

The music was blasting but, just for a second, every sound went mute for the family. Everything was still and quiet and cold; like death.

"Where is he?" Kendall got up, putting his beer bottle down and detaching himself from Sage before moving quickly towards Carlos in anticipation of an answer.

"Kendall…" Sage called out to him, but she was either too faint or he wasn't listening. Logan took her hand.

"Where is he, Carlos?" James asked that time, looking almost as murderous as Kendall.

"He wants her to go outside to the alley…" Carlos pointed unsteadily. It didn't appear as if he thought telling them was a good idea. "He has a gun!" he hissed lowly, hoping that it would keep them from moving too fast, but Kendall was already pivoting on the heels of his Vans as soon as Carlos gave him direction, and James was plastered beside him; both of them moved as one through the crowd, but the groups of people were slowing down their progress.

"Kendall! James! Get the fuck back here!" Logan hopped up, pulling Sage with him and trying to stay calm because the two angered boys were still close, not making it through the partygoers too fast for the others to catch up. "We should call the police…" he told Sage and Carlos, speaking carefully and deliberately as if to give Sage an example of how to behave; she was already shaking and had fallen silent despite the fact that Kendall was gone. She stared at Carlos but it was like she saw nothing.

"We can't! He said he'd start shooting if we did something stupid," Carlos argued, shifting backwards to go after his two bloodthirsty brothers, who were halfway to the door.

Logan chased after him, dragging Sage along both by instinct and because she didn't seem to be even considering letting go of his hand. Her grip was crushing. Carlos was a bit ahead of them and he was quick enough, adrenaline driving him forward, to grab Kendall's arm in hopes of keeping him back. It stopped him on the edge of the dance floor, and halted James as well, but Kendall only stared at his friend for a second and then yanked out of his grasp.

"Stay here, Sage," Logan ordered softly once they were in the connected hallway, regrettably removing his hand from the girl's. He had to help Kendall and James. Both he and Carlos wouldn't hesitate to jump into a scuffle with them, even if it was fatal and idiotic; it was just what the family did. They protected each other blindly.

"Logan!"

By the time he looked back over his shoulder, Logan could see Carlos standing at the exit with the door wide open. He peered out and then back in quickly, panicking and waving for him once he could no longer see James and Kendall advancing into the shadows of the alley.

Sage let Logan turn around to run, her lips still pressed shut, but she seemed to be jolted into action when he was about a foot away. She reached out and tugged on the fabric of his vest to make him face her again.

"He'll kill him…" she whimpered, voice cracking and eyes blinking several times in shock.

Logan didn't know if she meant Elliot would kill Kendall or that Kendall would kill Elliot. Either way, it would end badly; with Kendall in a grave or in jail.

"Logan, I can't see them anymore!" Carlos shouted over the music, his frame swaying in and out of the door like he wanted to go outside but not without Logan's help; thinking he'd fail to do anything sane under this much pressure.

"Please, stay here, Sage…" Logan plead for her safety again, but this time it was desperate, like he knew it was fruitless, and then he rushed away after Carlos and the others just hoping she had listened.

He could see Carlos just going out the door to the alley by the time he sped up and made it through himself. Once he was out there, he stopped. It was darker compared to the inside of the club and filled with much less noise, making all of his senses quake for a moment before he followed the sound of footsteps on his left. A large dumpster beside the door blocked his view, but as soon as he sprinted around it he saw what they had all dreaded. Elliot was leaning against the brick wall of the adjacent building with his arms crossed, and Kendall was striding towards him with James right behind. Carlos ceased his movements when he was about halfway there, unsure of what they were supposed to do or what would happen.

"Hey, Kendall. Long time no see…" Elliot greeted the boy with a smirk that didn't fade even when Kendall stepped into his personal space, pulled his fist back, and struck him hard across the jaw.

The sound of knuckles connecting with bone and skin was both sickening and satisfying for Kendall. He had wanted to beat the man for years, wanted to watch him bleed and see him crumble just like everything he touched did; he wanted to destroy him like he destroyed them. The way Elliot spit crimson fluid onto the pavement after the punch actually made Kendall smile right before he struck the man in the ribs and then again on the other side of his face, images of Sage crying and shaking flashing behind his eyes driving every anger-fueled hit. He felt James' protective presence beside him the entire time, moving with him whenever he'd go back or forward as if they were attached, and maybe, mentally, they were; they both not-so-secretly wanted Elliot's head on a platter. James fully supported the violence occurring in front of him more than anyone, taking pleasure in watching and waiting if Kendall needed him but still allowing the boy to have his deserved moment.

Elliot didn't really fight back, only leaning away from the blows when he could manage and smiling almost the entire time; showing his teeth even when blood continued to drip from his mouth. Once he seemed to have enough, he pulled the gun from his waistband as Kendall was smirking at his own handiwork and shaking his fist out for the next strike.

"Kendall, he's got a gun!" Logan yelled, remembering that Carlos had warned them but not fully processing it until he actually saw the weapon. He ran for his brother along with Carlos, but James wasn't moving; he watched Kendall hit Elliot in the face again without the slightest hesitation at the reveal of the firearm.

"Stop!" Carlos screeched, reaching to grab any part of Kendall he could when Elliot took the safety off on the gun after another punch was delivered to his abdomen.

"You had your fun, Knight…" he chuckled and spit more blood onto the pavement, and then he pressed the gun into Kendall's chest.

Kendall glared at him, gasping for air and shrugging Carlos off of him, which was easy to do because they were so different in size and Kendall had his fury to aid his strength.

"This isn't gonna be fun until you stop breathing!" he snarled and lunged at Elliot again, running right into the gun.

"James!" Logan cried for help, making the boy snap out of his homicidal daze and suddenly snatch Kendall, using his slight height advantage as leverage to tug him back and away from the fatal weapon. If he hadn't done it, Kendall would have happily walked into his death without even thinking.

"Gotta say, I missed you, kid," Elliot admitted with delight, pointing the gun in the foursome's direction and rubbing at his jaw while looking to Kendall, who was still struggling against James', and then Carlos', hold. "And I kind of had that coming, so no hard feelings," he assured him like they were supposed to be friends as he wiped a trail of blood from his chin with his sleeve.

"Let me go," Kendall seethed, wriggling and never taking his cold stare off of Elliot.

"You're going to get yourself killed. You can't do that to Sage," Carlos yanked him harder backwards to increase their distance from Elliot. Kendall seemed to calm at that, blinking and moving more slowly as his brain began to work again.

"Where is she?" Elliot gazed at Carlos with exasperation when he couldn't see the mentioned girl. "I told you to bring one person out here, and you brought me three duds. You are the dumb one, aren't you?" he taunted, lowering his gun to chuckle but immediately putting it back up when the entire group tried to inch towards him again. "I'm guessing Sage has told you enough about me for you to know that I'm not afraid to use this," he warned, deliberately waving the gun in all of their directions.

"I heard you were kind of soft…" Logan countered. He smirked like Elliot had, relinquishing his hold on Kendall and crossing his arms in defiance. Elliot glared at the boy, who was attempting to use every weakness Sage had divulged about him to their advantage.

"You don't wanna play that game with me. I can flip my emotions on and off like a fucking switch; I'll win every time. I have the control," he insisted smugly, and the quartet looked like they believed him.

The funny thing was that Elliot was a complete liar. He didn't control his emotions as easily as he claimed. They all mixed viciously, and that was his weakness in some aspects and his strength in others; he had a fire and fury hidden beneath an eerie capability to filter it and display only what he intended. That didn't mean part of him was cut off, though. All of him was always there, the good and the bad feuding on the inside and reaching a boiling point.

"Now…" Elliot began, rolling his shoulders, "… if someone doesn't tell me why Sage isn't here in two seconds, I'm going to unload a clip into one of-"

"Don't," Sage murmured, trembling and standing back behind the group of boys after having gotten enough sense to go outside even though Logan told her not to. She stood shifting from one leg to the other and her arms were wrapped tightly around herself. "Don't…" she repeated, begging Elliot not to hurt her loved ones now that he was looking at her.

The instant their eyes connected, it wasn't as if the world stopped; it was like it began spinning in the opposite direction. Time rewound speedily, making her sway and lose her balance and sense of real and fake. For a second, it felt like she was back in Ramsey and nothing had ever changed; she never stood her ground. She never got the upper hand. She never got out.

Elliot gave her a soft smile, a genuine one that only she ever saw. It made Kendall rage, tugging his arms even though he was firmly held by James, who, along with Logan and Carlos, watched in bewilderment at the shifting display. One second Elliot was menacing and insane and in the next he appeared human and affectionate, like the sight of Sage made his heart go from black to red.

Ignoring a curse from Kendall, Elliot made a step for Sage once she had slunk towards the group, but she stepped back just as fast. He stilled then, hurt flashing across his face at her open refusal to be near him. Clearing his throat, he widened his stance and didn't make another move for her.

"You're still so beautiful… but different," he sighed and scanned her appearance appreciatively, turning himself into a twisted picture; holding a gun at four innocent boys with one unwavering hand and wiping his other hand nervously on the thigh of his jeans.

Sage was aware of her protectors' presence beside her even when she stared at the ground, feeling the warmth coming off of James, Kendall, Carlos, and Logan, none of whom were moving for her due to the gun, but she still shook like a leaf because Elliot outweighed everything in that moment. She didn't have to look to feel him, feel his eyes on her- in her- as he dragged his gaze up her body; starting with her heels, up to her short black dress, which she suddenly felt self-conscious in, and then onto her downturned face shadowed by her long hair.

"But you're the same too…" Elliot added after some thought and Sage exhaled painfully.

She didn't want to be the same; she didn't want to be who she had been with Elliot over two years earlier. But that helplessness, the worthlessness and stillness, was sinking back in the longer he watched her. The feelings begged her to just give in and wait to see what would happen if she cowardly stepped out of her own body; the only place she used to be safe.

"Sage…" Logan called out to her gently, the old therapist position in him surging forward at the sight of her letting herself fade and Kendall unwilling to take his eyes off of Elliot enough to look at her; thinking the man would be in the wind again if he wasn't watched.

"No speaking unless you're spoken to, Logan Mitchell," Elliot grinned and aimed the gun more deliberately at him, the officer's darkness edging back in once the trance broke with Sage, who also, thankfully, seemed to snap out of it as well; glancing up and becoming more aware of her surroundings.

Logan glared at the firearm, the only thing keeping his instinct to lunge forward at bay. He remembered the time where he couldn't even defend himself enough to get bullies off of his back without help, fearing the conflict, but now all he wanted to do was fight.

"I'm not sure if I like you enough to hear you blabber on and on yet…" Elliot mused, tilting his head dramatically in thought. "I like Carlos, though; we're old friends! Got anything you wanna say, buddy?" he turned to the boy beside Logan still holding one of Kendall's arms.

"You're an asshole," Carlos snarled and tightened his grip on Kendall, not because he was struggling too hard but because he was honestly thinking about letting him go just to see what he'd do to Elliot.

"Original," Elliot teased. He almost looked amused, like he really did enjoy Carlos' company.

"Enough bullshit. Why are you here? What the fuck do you want?" James asked venomously, looking as if he was having just as much trouble as Kendall staying in one place when he kept glancing at Sage to see how off she looked; how unreal she appeared. It was like she was made of paper or glass instead of flesh and blood as she curled in on herself and squeezed her arms around her body when she had just been relaxing, joking, and dancing only minutes before.

Elliot paused at the inquiry, his arm with the gun at the end swaying out of its rigid position for a second. He struggled for an answer; the reason that drove him for days, for months, to lead him to this point rather than staying in his new home in Vermont. All the answers seemed crazy to even him now; he always noticed too late.

"I wanted to see Sage again…" he announced and swallowed thickly at his own words, sounding inadequate in his ears, but he wouldn't take them back. Whenever he made a mistake, he dedicated himself to going with it instead of turning around and restarting.

"She left you. It's over," Kendall spat, his body jolting again; all of his muscles were moving involuntarily now, screaming at him to choke the life out of his girlfriend's abuser.

"No one was talking to you, Kendall!" Elliot yelled suddenly, everyone in the alley flinching backwards; the boys moved as a group only a bit, but Sage took a whole step. "That's your problem; you shove your way into places you don't belong," he hissed, his grip on the gun tightening like he was debating whether or not to pull the trigger.

Kendall technically ruined everything for him when he came to town and "took" Sage away. He made things more difficult, made all of Elliot's plans alter and become unpredictable in spots even though he had thrived on the strict order of them for years after he encountered Sage and Julia in that diner. At times, Elliot respected Kendall's love for Sage; for him, it was something they shared, but things always boiled down to one emotion in the end: resentment. He resented Kendall for getting what he had waited years for so easily; so effortlessly. Elliot had to battle personal demons and throw so many of his instilled morals out of the window in preparation for getting Sage only to have to force her to be with him.

"I missed you, Sage... Come here…" Elliot softened again, faintly calling out to Sage, who jumped at being addressed through the fog that kept trying to take her over. Her head snapped up and her bones ached in protest, but she went forward like a moth to a flame, all the while staring wide-eyed at the gun pointed towards Kendall and her brothers.

"Don't listen to him, baby. Just come over-" Kendall began, nearly calm now that he really focused on her and begging for her to be near him so he could feel her, soothe her, but Elliot interrupted him.

"Hey!" he shouted, stepping closer to the group of guys so that the gun was more prominently aimed at Kendall's chest and his proximity to Sage increased too. "I let you out here because I was trying to be nice…" he reminded them.

They knew he meant nice to Sage, not them. And the fact that he knew she would only be comfortable with Kendall and the others should have made him stop before acting, but it didn't; it never did.

"Don't abuse the privilege," Elliot smirked and raised his eyebrows. He tried to be intimidating, but Logan was still pissed, and his brain worked faster than Elliot was used to when it came to keeping people out of his way.

"Oh, you mean like you've abused everything and everyone you've ever encountered?" Logan snarled at him and grinned.

Elliot's jaw tightened. He was tired of playing; Sage knew the look well. His once relaxed arm straightened with intent and the gun was pointed right at Logan's chest. The boys' eyes widened and they all moved in Logan's direction as if any one of them were going to take the bullet for him, but then Sage finally made a strong move.

"Stop…" she whispered shakily and walked forward to Elliot, too close for her liking but unable to think of anything else to do.

She placed a hand on Elliot's arm; she made the first contact. He seemed to emotionally tailspin after that. He stared at her hand on the skin of his wrist, and then he was frowning, pained as he lifted his free arm and tugged her into an embrace. She stopped breathing, her eyes snapped shut with a pitiful whine as she tried and failed to push his strong body away from hers. It felt like she was being stabbed, like the knife he used to hold was cutting its way through her insides.

"That's it, you're gonna have to shoot me." Kendall's composure broke again, its composition resembling that of a twig at the sight of Elliot touching Sage.

James even let him go, and Carlos and Logan didn't look like they were going to interfere; gun or no gun. They each bravely, and stupidly, charged forward a single step, but then they froze at the faint clink of metal and at the scene before them changing. Elliot put the gun against Sage's neck, just beneath her chin.

"You've had two years with her," he told Kendall, behaving as if he lived by a sick notion of them sharing her. "Don't ruin this for me…" he spoke sternly, pressing his front more along Sage's as the girl pulled her head back as far as she could, but she still felt the chill of the gun on her skin. "Or you'll spoil the whole party…" Sage shut her eyes when the metal was pushed even harder, refusing to have Elliot as the last thing she ever saw if she were to die, and the possibility was definitely there. He had threatened her life before, but never like this; never so that Sage truly felt he meant it.

"Wh-What do you w-want?" Sage repeated James' earlier inquiry, knowing Elliot enough to think that there had to be a clearer answer if he had come all this way. Her voice cracked, not feeling like her own, when she opened her eyes reluctantly to look at her tormentor.

"I want-" Elliot spoke but stopped, shutting his mouth. "I-" he tried again. "I want you to love me like you used to," he admitted confidently. The gun never moved off of her neck even as she shook her head from side to side.

"I didn't-"

"They why haven't you turned me in?" he snapped back, anticipating her denial.

Sage hushed. She couldn't answer; it wasn't that simple. Her fractured mind wasn't easy to decipher.

"'Cause you fucked with her head," James insisted darkly, the only thing keeping his feet in one spot being the gun at his sister's throat.

"Son of a bitch," Carlos added under his breath and stared at Elliot in disgust.

"Shut the peanut gallery up," Elliot ordered Sage lowly, bending down so his breath ghosted over her face. Her stomach revolted and her nails dug into the skin of his wrist she held, not fighting but struggling to stay still. Elliot continued when no one else spoke, focusing his full attention on her. "I wanna go back home," he begged, sounding sad and young; like a lost child. "It was easier there. You understood me…"

Sage looked up at him with more sorrow than fear; he was just as fucked up as she was. He ruined both of them.

"That's not our home anymore, Elliot. You know that."

She recognized her voice that time; it was the one she used when she lived with him and she went along with his game of domestic-bliss. It was full of compassion she didn't know she could muster up for him. It just poured from her, melting out between the fright and anxiety so she could cope and shut the bad parts off.

"No!" Elliot protested, eyes shimmering with emotion. "I don't know that, Sage! What the fuck changed? Everything was fine!" he yelled, on the verge of crying as he pulled her away from him to see her more clearly. He waved the gun out of her space for a second, but she didn't even seem to register it anymore.

"It was a lie! It wasn't real!" she broke and shoved him away. Her arms were weak, and he only winced back at the force; he found the pain more emotional than physical, like she had struck his heart. Sage stared up at him with fury and agony bleeding through the once-crippling fear. "You held me hostage. You raped me."

"You chose to stay…" Elliot denied the accusation of kidnapping right away and ignored the charge of rape altogether; he never wanted to think about that. Murder, beatings; those he could cope with, but wrecking the girl he loved was too much for the spark of goodness left inside of him to face.

His head shook vigorously and he wouldn't look her in the eyes.

"Only after you killed me enough inside to make me believe it was the only choice I had."

Kendall, James, Carlos, and Logan cracked a disbelieving smile at the bite she was showing him, at the turn the confrontation had taken, but the joy couldn't be full; they knew she only possessed it because she and Elliot had a relationship way beyond perpetrator and victim. They knew each other more intimately.

Elliot flinched at her words again, bending forward slightly as if the air was knocked out of his lungs. He had been right the first time; she was different.

"N-No…" he protested again, desperate and delirious. "No. I made you happy… We were happy… We were fine. Everything was perfect; it worked… Everything was worth it," he told himself, not looking at her for a few seconds. Then his vision focused. "We could have it again…" he insisted softly, touching her face.

"The hell you can!" Kendall attempted to go forward but Carlos and James pulled him on instinct. Elliot didn't even seem to notice the commotion that time.

"Come back with me… I'll be good. I won't hurt anyone, I swear," he requested, gazing at Sage like she literally held his heart in her hands.

She was silent, thinking of what to say, but to Elliot's hopeful eyes it looked as if she were considering his offer.

"We don't belong together, Elliot. I told you that before…" she sighed and almost moved away from him, but her internal fright kept her still when his hand never left her cheek. "Why didn't you just stay away?" she whimpered, tears threatening to fall.

She really did wish he had just stayed gone, that they wouldn't have had to do this, but she should have known it wasn't over when she left Ramsey like she did. She was stupid for even thinking it was a possibility, and the consequences of her actions were right in front of her now.

"You're wrong… You're wrong…" Elliot mumbled forlornly and slid his hand further back, pulling her in. He pressed his forehead to hers, their lips too close.

Kendall growled, and James actually loosened his hold on him, but Logan stepped past a panicking Carlos and put a hand on Kendall's chest.

"Let her do this," he implored quietly. Kendall looked down at him, right at him, and his eyes were glassy and wide. His anger was powerful, but he listened to Logan and didn't rush forward; choosing to watch Sage carefully instead.

"I showed you before; I made you see it…" Elliot murmured like he forgot everyone but Sage was there.

His hand holding the gun slid to her neck again, prodding at the sensitive bare skin. He leaned away, and Sage thought he was looking at her pendant. It reminded her of the night he first saw it; bringing her back to the dim hallway at the top of the stairs she wound up being thrown down. But Elliot moved the necklace aside with the muzzle of the gun and used it to trace the scar there.

"I made you see it…" he repeated, with more pain that time. It almost looked like regret as he stared blankly at the blemish his knife had carved into her.

Taking a deep breath, Sage slowly linked her fingers around his forearm and pulled his hand away from her clavicle. He stared at her. Everything was silent again; everything was still in the narrow walls of the alley.

The door to the club suddenly creaked on its rusty hinges, breaking that unnatural silence. Everyone jumped; everyone but Elliot.

"Are you guys out here? Carlos? James?" Camille called out for them. Her heels clicked on the cement twice, as if she put her shoes on the pavement in front of the door and no further. Her view of the group was blocked by the dumpster and the fact that they were closer to the street.

Elliot stiffened, looking at the boys and shaking his head in warning, and then he brought his attention back to Sage. He looked her in the eyes and cupped her cheek, rubbing his thumb along the bone; wordlessly telling her to stay quiet, to not let him get caught. She stared back, swallowing a lump in her throat at the feeling of the gun against her shoulder and his hand on her face; the skin tingled in revulsion. She glared at his brown eyes and opened her mouth right as she heard her best friend's shoes click two more times and the door squeal again as if she were going back inside.

"Camille, call the police!"

The boys all exhaled at once, astonished at Sage's bravery, but she herself froze after sounding so assertive.

It was only a matter of seconds, but it felt like an eternity when Elliot searched her eyes with his own hurt and betrayed ones. There was such honesty in his features, but then the raw emotion and vulnerability faded away and a storm rolled in; his lips turning down into a snarl and his gaze narrowing sharply on her. He grabbed her by the arms and growled, shoving her roughly away from him so that her body collided with the opposite brick wall, and then he ran off down the alley and towards the street.

Camille emerged in a hurry from the other side of the dumpster, looking wild and frantic when she spotted the figure running off and Sage slumping towards the ground on weak legs. James and Carlos sprinted after Elliot while Logan and Kendall rushed to Sage, both taking an arm and pulling her upward as Camille stood in front of her and pushed the hair out of her face.

"Are you okay, honey?" she asked, feeling stupid because everything inside her told her the blonde wasn't. Her own hands were shaking and Sage's face contorted in pain as she hunched forward after Kendall and Logan got her upright. Her head hadn't hit the brick but her shoulder blades collided roughly with it. The skin burned where it had been scraped open and blood bubbled to the surface to meet the chilled air.

It may have hurt, but she didn't protest a single bit when Kendall tugged her in for a hug.

"Sage…" he heartbreakingly mumbled her name again and again into her neck, holding her and feeling her hands grab at his clothing to pull him against her even though they couldn't get any closer. She could hear her own heartbeat pounding in her head and everything got louder; she hadn't even realized how out of it she had been until things were getting clearer.

"Shit!" James yelled at the end of the alley. They all squinted to see him and Carlos hurrying back.

"He must of had a car or something; we lost him," Carlos panted angrily but he softened when he and James met up with the others. Kendall and Sage were solidly attached, and the rest of them stood close too, like they couldn't work right unless they were connected.

Logan scratched the back of his head and looked around the alley in thought and panic, breathing heavily.

"We need to go to the cops…"

Each and every one of them- besides Kendall because he still had his face pressed tightly into her neck- looked to Sage. She had herself burrowed as far into her boyfriend's embrace as she could get and he could allow. Her forehead was against his chest, and her eyes were shut, but she gave them an answer very different from the one she did when she first showed up at apartment 2J long ago.

She nodded.


Kendall pulled his shirt over his head and threw it to a corner of the bedroom with a sigh. The sun would rise soon and they hadn't slept at all yet. After Elliot ran, they called their security and went right to the police station to make statements, with Camille faithfully tagging along and effortlessly ignoring the fact that she was missing out on her own party. They stayed there for hours, talking to cops and explaining who Elliot was and how he had threatened them. They were thrown question after question, and they were all placed in separate rooms. They kept their stories straightforward, knowing they had enough to do something just with the fact that Elliot had waved a gun in their faces. It was up to Sage to do more.

She tried, she thought about admitting the rape and imprisonment, but she didn't make it very far. She shut down soon after she explained who Elliot was to her, and that he was a cop; that information made the officer speaking with her harden and stare more skeptically. She curled in on herself then and stuck to the facts about the alley and the gun, feeling like if she accused Elliot of rape no one in the station would ever believe her. So, they made a report about Elliot's threats, saying they would bring him in for questioning, and Sage knew that meant that extreme action, the action he deserved, wouldn't be taken against her stepfather.

Sage stayed quiet the whole ride home, trying to smile only when James, Carlos, and Logan told her to get some sleep and that they'd talk more about their options in the morning. Kendall didn't push her too hard, he just led her to their room and let her go into the bathroom without a word as he changed out of his clothes. He unzipped his jeans but kept them at his hips while he opened a drawer and pulled out a T-shirt. Right before he pushed the drawer closed, he sighed again in hesitation.

Reaching his bruised and battered hand further back into the compartment, wiggling his fingers past various articles of his clothing, he closed his palm around something solid. He withdrew the object, a small box, and studied it in the low light coming from the lamp beside the bed before cracking it open with a gloomy expression.

The diamond on the engagement ring caught even the faintest rays of light, filling his eyes with a shimmer as he twisted the box just so.

"The perfect moment," Kendall chuckled humorlessly to himself and snapped the box shut, blinking at the loud sound it made through the quiet room.

He wanted it to exist, but Logan was right; it didn't and it couldn't. Logan knew that right from the start. He even warned a peppy Kendall when he had gone with him to purchase the ring four months ago. They were in NYC, right after they left Vermont- when all but Carlos were unaware of the hell creeping into their blissful world- and Kendall and Logan had snuck away from the group with excuses of getting takeout for them all, leaving Sage, Carlos, and James at the hotel. Security was lighter back then as long as they weren't at a stadium, so it was easy for Kendall to drag Logan out the back entrance of their temporary home with hats and sunglasses; moving sneakily through the narrow alleys so they wouldn't run into the paparazzi in front of the hotel before catching a cab to a jewelry store Kendall had spotted while they were on their tour bus.

He bought the ring as soon as he saw it, thinking that it was just right; it wasn't too extravagant but it was solid and bright and strong, a polished diamond on a silver band.

Logan was the only one who knew about Kendall's plans to propose soon. They were going to clue the other guys in eventually, but not until the time was getting near because James and Carlos had difficulty keeping secrets due to their excited nature. Everything was going so well.

It was tragically ironic how the day after Elliot had already unknowingly started to trash their lives again, Kendall had felt happy enough to purchase a ring that symbolized the beginning of the rest of his and Sage's eternity, which was now murky and bloody.

Kendall thought so much about just asking Sage to marry him in the last four months, thought about just opening his mouth and saying the words. But the undercurrent of depression that continuously surrounded them always stopped him. Even subconsciously, Elliot always knew just went to step in and sucker punch him.

Grinding his teeth, Kendall shoved the ring box back into the drawer, burying it deep and into the corner where Sage couldn't find it. The dresser slipped shut with a jut of his hips and he was going to continue to change, but he froze in the process of putting on his shirt when he heard a strangled sob come from the bathroom. He frowned, almost crying himself with an immediate sting in his eyes, and dropped the shirt to the ground before walking over to the door.

He opened it slowly, unsure if his nerves were prepared to handle what he'd see after the night they had, but the sight of Sage relaxed him even if it hurt him. She would have almost looked pathetic if she wasn't so sad. Sage braced her hands against the sink, bending at the waist as if she could fall as she cried relentlessly. She had only made it out of her dress far enough for the fabric to pool at her ankles, still leaving her in her undergarments and heels as her spine shook with every sob. Her black clothing matched the remnants of mascara running down her face, all of it contrasting with the paleness of her skin and the lightness of the walls and tile around her. Her shoulders were a nasty red, the small scratches from the brick inflamed and burning Kendall's eyes. She hadn't been hurt in so long, and, for a second, it was as if they were sixteen again; him with fresh sadness and her with fresh injuries after a day or two with Elliot.

Kendall watched her cry, unable to move further past the doorway. He hadn't seen her tears fall that freely in weeks, not even flowing that way after a nightmare or when she first got the news of Elliot approaching Carlos in Vermont. She tried to shift her stance and nearly collapsed under her own light weight, and Kendall shot forward abruptly, capturing her around the bare waist and tugging her against his smooth chest. She cried a little softer then, pushing her battered shoulders into his warmth and reaching to burying her hands in his hair as he nuzzled and kissed her neck; listening to her unsteady breathing subside.

They both looked up into the mirror in front of them after several moments, and their wet eyes met in the glass. Kendall moved her backwards slowly when he couldn't stand the sight of the broken figures anymore, gently settling onto the cold floor and bringing her into his lap. As she quivered against him and found solace in the sound of his heart against her ear, Kendall wanted to blurt out his proposal; wanted to slide the ring on her finger right then, tears and all. But he couldn't. Maybe it wasn't possible, but perfection was what they deserved in such a time, and he was determined to get much closer to it than this.

"Ssh… It's okay, angel," he cooed, throat scratchy from the earlier yelling and crying as he ran his aching hands through her hair.

"You all could have died tonight, and it's my fault…" she whispered, wiping at her tears as she looked up at Kendall and sat sideways more securely on his lap with his arms linked around her.

The way Kendall, Carlos, Logan, and James all attempted to risk their lives for her was loving but stupid. The threat to their existences made her heart clench.

"Our lives getting threatened by Elliot is run of the mill for us…" Kendall forced a tired grin and moved a strand of Sage's hair away from her damp eyes.

"Not for them," she protested softly. "It shouldn't be for any of you."

"Us… any of us," Kendall corrected her firmly, worried that she seemed to think that her life was less important than theirs.

Sage looked away instead of responding, reaching out for his arm with the tattoo to focus on and cradling it like a precious gem.

"What do you think we should do now?" she wondered, sniffling and clearing her throat.

"What do you want to do?" Kendall asked and wiped at the mascara on her cheeks.

"Shower," she frowned but cracked a little smile when he did.

"Then?"

"Cuddle."

"Sounds good. What comes after that?" he rested his head against the wall and pulled her closer as she placed her cheek on his shoulder.

"Sleep."

"Awesome," Kendall whispered, still grinning and running his hand up and down her back.

"Then we'll get up and meet with Gustavo and Kelly…" Sage's voice wavered a bit and she shifted on Kendall's lap.

"And what do you want to happen there?" Kendall didn't get an answer, he just felt Sage exhale unsteadily against him. "Are we gonna file for a restraining order this time? Press charges?" he asked, still not wanting to push her but also dying for an answer.

"Yes…" she answered faintly, but he could hear her clearly in the surrounding silence.

"You'll have to see him in court…" Kendall told her carefully, keeping his eyes shut and his head against the wall while crushing her ribs in his grip comfortingly as she dug her nails into his arm and nodded beneath his chin. She'd never truly involved the authorities in her situation with Elliot before, not in a way that turned out positive for her, but things needed to change; more of the same would get them all killed. And this was bigger than her now. She had people she needed to look out for.

"I want a new lawyer, though" she announced firmly but softly. Kendall opened his eyes and pulled her back to see her face as she spoke. "I want a new one- a better one. I want someone who thinks they can win against him when the rest of us don't…" She bit her lip and blinked slowly before caressing Kendall's cheek. "This time, we have to go after him before he comes after us."


A/N: There is obviously more drama/angst to come because… you know…Elliot's still breathing lol, and he just exudes chaos everywhere he goes :) I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'm really excited about my plans for the next :D

Please REVIEW and let me know what you thought of this chapter :D As usual, anonymous reviews are enabled :) I appreciate any feedback and I love meeting fellow readers/fans of BTR. Don't be shy :)

See you next time! :)