In the Nashville amphitheater, the lights are low and the stage hot as the boys move through their choreo for Show Me. They are seven songs deep into this concert and the energy from the crowd is insane. Upstage on the high back platform, Carlos is hitting his moves with neat, measured motions as Logan dances with cool aplomb. Girls are screaming lyrics back at them.

"Baby, Show Me by the way you hold me, way that you control me, speed me up or slow me..."

Downstage near the fans, Kendall is swinging his hips and smirking at the fans while James pushes out in a wide-legged stance that draws attention to his long, long legs. They can both see fans swooning and screaming at them, but their in-ears keep them from hearing much.

Well-used to seeing crowds in all manner of frenzy, they could both still pinpoint the exact moment when everything started to fall completely apart.

James stopped doing choreo the moment he saw a large group of fans turn away from the stage. It was too dark below to see much but it looked like there were people scrambling to get away. He kept singing in case it was nothing, but moved closer to Kendall. As soon as their equally concerned eyes met, James' fear doubled.

"What is it?" James asked, pulling out one in-ear to hear the screams changing from excitement to terror.

Kendall shook his head. "I don't know."

"Guys?" Logan said through the in-ears. "That doesn't look good." He pointed vaguely to the chaos in the crowd.

Carlos was already down at the front, completely stunned. "What's happening?"

"Is everyone okay?" Kendall asked the crowd, pulling out one in-ear amid the screaming. Logan and Carlos did the same.

"Hey, stop the music!" James yelled. The instruments slowed and then stopped, making the screams suddenly very loud in the silence.

"Everyone, calm down!" Kendall said loudly, but no one was listening; they were too busy running and falling and doing...something.

"What's going on out there," the voice of the stage manager, Dave, came over the in-ears.

"We don't know." Kendall was transfixed by the crush of bodies heading for the doors in the half-light. "We can't see it. Is there a gun?"

"What are they doing?" James whispered, mystified as he looked up to check the ceiling. Was something falling on them?

"Oh my god," Logan said, kneeling. "Something's attacking them on the floor. Turn up the lights!"

"Turn up the house lights!" Carlos echoed. He could see it now, how something on the floor was moving and skittering around as the fans fled.

"What the hell..." Kendall said, edging closer to the stage.

"What is that?" Logan was peering down when a small brown body hit the stage and jumped at his leg. It grabbed hold and ran up so quickly that all he could do was yell "JAAAAAAMES!"

The house lights finally came up and James was already jerking Logan to his feet, shocked to see that there was a rat clinging to Logan's ear. "BEADY LITTLE EYES!" he shrieked.

"Get it! Get it, James!" Kendall yelled and Logan looked terrified, so James forced himself to grab the rat and squeeze.

Maybe it wasn't smart to assume that squeezing the rat would make it open its arms kinda' like one of those grabby stuffed animals that clung on things...but James assumed it would, anyway. And, well...it didn't work.

"Ahhhhh - no RODENT!" Logan screamed as the rodent bit him on the ear. "Ow, ow, ow!"

"Sorry! I can't get it to let go!"

"Back up, James!" Carlos interrupted in a serious voice that James found himself immediately obeying, releasing the rat. It hunched over menacingly, staring at them with horrible, evil red eyes from its perch in Logan's hair. "Logan - don't move!"

"Why shouldn't I move?" Logan asked in a high-pitched voice, trying to look over at Carlos but also trying to not move. "Carlos?"

"No, really - don't move!" James said intently. Beside him, Carlos was gripping a microphone stand like a baseball bat.

Kendall watched nervously, "What is he doing?"

"Saving Logan from the rat?"

"With a mike stand? No - wait!"

Carlos swung at the rat, connecting with a thud that sent it careening into the shadows off the stage.

Logan grasped at his bloody ear and shook, having heard the whiff of the microphone stand as it passed beside his head. "I'm going to kill you, Carlos."

"But I saved you," Carlos said.

"Guys," Kendall said quietly, "the rats..."

"It was a-"

"They're on the stage! Move! Move, Jay - now," Kendall grabbed the back of James' shoulders and used him to propel the other two forward. "Go!"

As Kendall herded them toward the wing of the stage, the small stream of rats from the stairs became a flood. Logan's complaints faded and he headed straight for Freight Train.

"Save me!" He yelled at the big man and then jumped up in his arms. Carlos did the same with a cry while Kendall jumped up on Freight Train's back.

James however, had grabbed a broom and started sweeping rats away from them. "Oh - this is so gross!"

"Everyone to the Green Room," the Stage Manager yelled in their direction. Dave was already on top of his desk on the side of the stage. "Go down now!"

"To the green room!" Kendall yelled, pointing for the stage door exit.

"Green room!" Logan and Carlos both yelled and pointed and Freight Train started moving.

"James?" Kendall looked back.

"Too many rats!" James yelled as he swept rodents backwards in quick, strong strokes. "I have to stay!"

"NO!" Logan yelled from within Freight Train's right arm, "James, 65% of the time, the guy who stays behind DIES!"

"He's right," Carlos yelled from the other arm, "remember? Like in Eaters of the Dead 2.0 and Zombie High! James, c'mon!"

"Can't!" James yelled as he swept four rats back and aimed at the next wave. "Just GO!"

Kendall finally agreed. "Go, Freight Train."

Logan whipped his head around to stare at Kendall with utter betrayal. "I thought he was your best friend!"

"I've got to get you guys out of here! Go Freight Train!"

"All right, if you say so," the big man said, moving for the door, pushing panicking stagehands out of the way. "Important people coming through!"

"See, he's fine," Kendall said, gesturing to where a stage hand had joined James to keep the rats back. "He's got help now."

"This is mighty messed up," Freight Train mumbled as he held the door open.

But at that moment, the rats got smart and clung to James' broom whiskers. He shrieked and tried to shake them off, but they were eeeevil and clung harder. Finally, he dropped the handle, but it was too late.

A rat had launched itself from the broom to James' shoulder and then skittered up into his hair, which...he now discovered, was actually his worst nightmare. He let out a high-pitched scream and started batting at it with his hands.

"See? You were wrong!" Logan yelled at Kendall.

"Oh shit!"

Carlos was already climbing out. "Freight, put me down! I gotta' help James."

"And I gotta help you all," the big man said as he fought to keep him up while propping the door open with one foot. "Tell James to come this way."

"JAMES! This way!" Kendall yelled pushing himself up higher on Freight Train's back, and James lurched desperately in their direction.

"It won't let goooo," he cried as he passed them, heading down the ramp. "Heeeelp!"

"Batter up!" Carlos yelled, fighting again to get down.

"No," Logan insisted from the big man's other shoulder, "no. You almost took my head off!"

"But I didn't! And I need to help-"

"Uh-oh," Freight Train interrupted. "I think one of the rats just ran up my -"

"Ah!" Kendall shouted, feeling little claws dig in his back. "Get it! Get it off! It's on my back!"

Freight Train let everyone down and Kendall swung around to show his far-from-tiny passenger to Carlos. "Get it! Get iiiiiiiiiit!" Carlos knocked it off with a thud and Kendall shuddered. "Thank you."

"I'm awesome at this!" Carlos said, grinning as he rubbed the handle of his cobwebby, wooden bat. "Now. To save James!" He sped off down the ramp and around the corner.

"Come on, Logan!" Kendall said.

"Where did Carlos find a bat?" Logan asked in amazement, but Kendall was already gone. There were rats scampering on the floor, and Logan did a hopping dance with occasional yelps to get away from them. But the rats didn't care; they weren't attacking. They seemed to be mostly heading for dark corners now. "Is it even safe to go down there right now?"

"Don't worry, Logan. I got you. Hop on up." Freight Train kicked aside a few stray rats and Logan quickly jumped back into his arms.

When they finally rounded the corner Carlos and Kendall were kneeling by James, who was sitting up against the wall, looking shaken. Logan saw there were no rats in the area and let Freight Train put him down.

"What happened?" Logan asked.

James shuddered. "Rat...tiny claws in...in my...my h-hair." Kendall put a sympathetic hand on James' knee.

"Yeah," Logan said quietly as he knelt by his friends. "I know exactly how nasty that feels. Is it gone now?"

"Not exactly," Carlos answered hesitantly. "I was too late to knock it off."

James shuddered. "It...went...went down...my shirt...on my b-b-back."

The boys exchanged concerned glances, Kendall's eyes open wide. "Is it still there?"

James nodded and started to tear up. "I didn't know what else to do. He was skittering his little claws all over so I...I threw my back up against the wall."

"I was here for that part," Carlos said ruefully. "It kind of...crunched?"

Kendall covered his mouth, instantly nauseous.

Logan raised his eyebrows. "So...where is the rat now?" he asked.

"Still. in. m-my shirt," James said, his breath hitching as he sat forward and turned a little to the side, revealing a little lump just above his waistline. "Can you...I think...it's stuck..."

"Nope. No way," Kendall said, standing and moving away.

"Some friend you are," Logan said as he joined him. He shrugged when Kendall glared. "Okay, okay...so we're both terrible people. But I've already been bitten once today!"

"Wimps." Carlos was disgusted by them both. "I'll get it out, James. Just...sit still."

James nodded and bit his bottom lip. "It's stopped moving."

"I'll bet," Carlos agreed. "Okay, here I go." He gingerly lifted up the back of James' t-shirt and immediately, a damp, furry, rodent fell out. "Oh yeah...oh, that's very...that's gross." He picked it up tail-first and headed for the trash can.

"You got it, 'los?" Kendall asked from a distance.

"Yeah. It's dead."

"I think it bit me." James looked up, so ashamed that Kendall had to move closer.

"Come on, stand up, buddy," Kendall said as he reached down. James stood unsteadily, shuddering.

"We should get him into the shower and clean that bite," Logan insisted.

"Let's go," Kendall said, taking James' arm.

"I can walk, you know," he said waspishly, pulling away and almost stumbling into a wall.

"Yeah, I can see that," Kendall said patiently as he opened the green room door. He would be just as grumpy as James in this situation. "Logan, you should clean up your ear first."

Logan agreed and Kendall led James into the green room.

"Carlos," Logan directed, "why don't you run back to the bus and get James' toiletry bag and a change of clothes. He'll definitely need it."

"You sure you're okay? Your ear looks pretty..."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll clean this up myself." Logan waved him on. "You need to wash your hands."

"Cool, yeah. True. Gross. On it!" Carlos agreed and he did so before following Freight Train back up to the stage.


The atmosphere had definitely changed since they had left the stage. The fans and rats were gone and the stagehands were back, discussing how to clean the stage. They were glad to see Carlos and hear that the boys were safe downstairs.

"Oh, thank God," Dave the stage manager said, "I'll let everyone know." He got right back on his headset.

Outside, the sun was fading as Carlos and Freight Train headed to the tour bus. "I just don't understand where they all came from," Carlos said, thinking out loud as he usually did. "And then where did all the rats go? Do you think they'll come back? I mean, they could." Freight Train shrugged. "Wasn't that probably like, a thousand rats or something like that? I mean, I think so. I can't believe I used to bug my parents all the time to get a pet rat. Yuck. Poor James."

As he got near to the reserved parking lot behind the theater, Carlos paused. There was a strange hissing sound. "Do you hear that?"

Freight Train nodded. "Sounds like a snake?"

"Yeah." When they rounded the corner, they saw that someone thin in black clothes and a black hoodie was spray painting their bus. "HEY!"

The figure took off running and Carlos was right after him...her...them? They pounded down the asphalt, Carlos yelling the whole way. "Stop! What were you doing?" Before he could catch up, the figure scaled the back fence that enclosed the parking lot like a ninja, flipped over the top and landed easily on their feet. Carlos looked up at the eight-foot fence in wonder. The mysterious figure snapped at Carlos smugly and he caught a glimpse of a black eye mask under the hoodie before they took off.

"Who are you?" Carlos whispered, watching in wonder as the figure turned to run across the road and into a spread of trees that obscured them completely. "Aw, man."

Freight Train came puffing up and put a hand on Carlos' shoulder. "Can't guard you from behind, Carlos."

"Yeah? Well maybe you should take up jogging," Carlos said with a grin. Freight Train smiled and put a large hand on his shoulder.

"Let's get back to the bus."

Carlos was back in record time running down the ramp, through the outer room and into the green room. Logan was there, freshly bandaged, and Kendall was there talking with Kelly, both of them looking grim.

"They've canceled the show, of course, and refunded tickets. Ambulances were called to deal with all the rat bites," she was saying. "How is your ear, Logan?"

Logan shrugged. "It's okay. I'm more worried about James' back."

"Yeah. It was bleeding a lot." Kendall took the toiletry bag and clothes from Carlos. "Thanks. I'd better get this in there. He'll be wanting his special shampoo just about now." Logan nodded and followed him into the bathroom.

Kelly turned her concerned gaze on Carlos. "Are you okay?" She waited for his nod and then closed in for a hug. "I'm so sorry this happened."

The hug made Carlos feel a bit better. "I don't even understand what this was...an attack? A plague? An accident?"

"We don't know yet. But we'll find out."

Carlos nodded. "I'm going to go check on James."

The large square room held a sitting area off to the left with mirrors and sinks and on the right were several shower stalls. The air was already steamy and damp. "Ow!" James was complaining from behind the curtain while his friends waited outside. "What the-arrrgh! This hurts!"

Kendall grimaced at Carlos.

"The rat must have scratched your scalp, too," Logan said. "Just rinse it off quickly. It's just gonna' have to sting."

James poked his head from behind the curtain, glaring while pointing at his half-soapy hair. "THIS is not STINGING! It's hurting like a-" James pulled his head back in the shower, continuing with such a blistering string of profanities that Kendall couldn't help but be impressed.

"Just rinse it off and it won't be so bad, Jay," Kendall tried.

After a few moments, James yelped and then whined more quietly, "But the water hurts, too."

Kendall sighed. "Do you need help?"

"No! I can do it. I just have to...owwwww!"

"James, hurry up!" Logan snapped. "Skip the conditioner for once!"

"I am!"

Carlos bristled at Logan's tone. "Hey, he got scratched and bit and had rat guts spread all over him! He has every right to complain."

"At least someone is paying attention!"

"Yes, it was horrible," Kendall agreed. "We get it. I only had a rat climb up my back and it-"

He stopped as the water cut off and moved to hold a towel through the shower curtain. "You okay, Jay?"

"Stop rhyming. 'M fine," James muttered, taking the towel and grumbling under his breath. "I hate putting on dirty clothes."

"You don't have to," Kendall corrected him, now handing clean clothes through the curtain. "Because Carlos is awesome."

"And fast," Logan noted.

"Anything for my roomie," Carlos grinned.

"Thanks, 'Los," James said, appearing after a moment half-dressed in jeans, his shirt in hand. He put the towel over the curtain rod. "It hurts too much to dry my back. So...how bad is it?" He turned his back to them and waited.

Kendall winced. There was a deep cut oozing blood between James' shoulder blades and another one on his right shoulder surrounded by a myriad of tiny scratches. He shook his head at Logan, gesturing at him to tell James.

"Kendall?" James asked shakily.

"It's not too bad," Logan said, stepping closer to look. "Mostly shallow scratches and one or two...yeah, that's two bites. Only one of them is deep, though."

"What?" James yelped, moving to catch a look in the mirror. He cursed as he caught sight of two bloody cuts. "Look at my back! It looks horrible!"

"Or super badass," Carlos pointed out. "You might even have to get stitches-"

Kendall punched him on the shoulder to shut him up as James gave a small shriek. "Stitches?! Is it gonna' scar?"

Kendall only stopped glaring at Carlos just long enough to offer a simple, "No, it'll be fine." Which would make James feel better if Kendall knew anything about medical stuff.

"I can patch you up with surgical glue, no stitches necessary. I tried it on my own ear first since I got bit, too, you know," Logan reminded him tersely.

"Yeah. I know!" James cursed under his breath. "That's half of why I'm so pissed off. I HATE RATS!" he said, pointing strongly for emphasis. "Ow!"

"Are you done now?" Logan asked. James nodded. "Then sit so I can clean you up." Logan used the towel to gently wipe the blood off James' back. Then he carefully started cleaning the scratches and bites. James jerked in place for a moment before cursing again.

"I used to like rats, but now I know they're evil," Carlos summed up, his eyes sad.

"Yeah, about that." Kendall looked over at his three friends. "What the hell just happened?"

James rested his elbows on his knees and said nothing.

"We just had to cancel a concert," Logan said, sighing as he bandaged the first of James' bites.

"For a legit reason: half of Big Time Rush got bit by rats," Carlos offered.

"And our fans got terrorized, too," Logan added. "It was just so...mean."

Kendall gave Logan a thoughtful look. "You think someone did this on purpose?"

"Yes!" James said, jerking around to point at Kendall before freezing. "Oww!"

"Stop moving," Logan warned him and James slowly twisted back around. "Great, more blood." Logan decided this smaller cut would be fine with just Neosporin and a Bandaid. Then he moved on to the deeper cut, cleaning off the blood again before saying, "Kendall, what do you mean 'on purpose?'"

"I don't know yet...but a swarm of rats the size of a biblical plague isn't natural. Someone did this to us," Kendall spat. "I just don't know who yet."

"Oh, that's right," Carlos said suddenly, remembering what he needed to tell them. "When I went outside someone was spray-painting the bus."

The other three stared at him, stunned.

"And you just now thought to mention it?" Kendall asked incredulously.

"Uh...yeah?" Carlos admitted with a shrug.

"Who was it?" Logan asked, his eyes wide.

"I don't know. They ran off and I couldn't see their eyes." As the boys kept staring at him, he offered the only other piece of information. "Because they were wearing a black eye mask. You know, like a robber in those old movies?"

"What did they paint on it?" Kendall asked intently.

"The mask?"

"No- the bus!" snapped all three boys.

"Well...it wasn't words, just a moon."

"Of course," Logan said, pausing his medical procedure. "Atticus Moon."

James' jaw dropped. "But we got rid of him!"

"Don't move," Logan reminded him.

Kendall strode to the door and opened it. "Kelly? Can you come in here?"

"Is everyone dressed?" she asked.

"Yep," Kendall assured her.

"Mostly. Come on in," James answered.

"Are you two all right?" Kelly said as she entered.

"Been better," Logan said. "I'm almost done with James' back. Stop moving," he told his injured friend.

"It hurts," James said and Kelly grimaced.

"So Carlos said that someone painted a moon on our bus," Kendall asked, his brows drawn low over his eyes. "Does that mean what we think it means?"

Kelly looked them over one by one before answering. "I was just informed about the bus and yes, it is a moon. We can only think of one person who would have the ego to do this."

"But he's in prison, right?" James asked. "For kidnapping Katie and taking the moon hostage?"

"He was imprisoned for his crimes...yes," Kelly informed them, a hesitant look in her eyes.

Kendall moved closer. "And he's still in prison. Right?"

"Actually...no," Kelly corrected with an uncomfortable smile. "He was let free two weeks ago."

"Oh no," Logan said, sitting down on the bench with a whump as James jumped to his feet.

"But he might go after Katie again," he exclaimed, exchanging a worried look with Kendall.

"I need to call my mom," Kendall said, pulling out his phone. "Does she know about this?"

"Yes. We've had a guard tailing your mom and sister whenever they leave 2-J and an extra guard in the lobby at the Palmwoods as well as one at Rocque Records. But we didn't tell your mom why until just a few minutes ago. She and Katie are fine."

Kendall frowned. "I'm still calling her."

"All I can say is I'm sorry, boys. They let Gustavo and I know right away, but we kept it from you because we wanted your focus to be on the tour."

"My family is more important than a tour," Kendall snapped.

"Right," the other boys agreed.

"Gustavo and I totally agree. But we assumed that Moon would come after you, not Katie and your mom. Just think, even if you had known before today, how would you have stopped a rat attack?"

The boys all thought this over. "There's no way we could have prevented this," Logan summed up. "Since we don't even know what really happened."

James nodded before slipping a clean t-shirt over his head with a groan- stretching in any direction hurt. Carlos stepped over to help him pull it out and down over the bandages. "Thanks. Can we go now? My back is killing me."

"Yeah, come on, buddy," Carlos patted his uninjured shoulder.

"We'll both take some pain-relievers on the bus," Logan said placatingly.

"The ambulances are here to treat anyone who needs it. Do you guys want to go see them?"

"I'm good," James said quietly. They all waited for Logan to say the same before following Kelly out and up the stairs to the back door.

Kendall had gotten his mom on the phone and was updating her after making sure she and Katie were fine. James followed, automatically helping Kendall navigate as he focused on his phone conversation instead of their surroundings. There were a lot of questions clouding James' mind but he kept quiet.

How did Moon get out of prison? Is he trying to destroy Big Time Rush? What about my back? Will it heal without scars? But then if I have scars, will Lucy feel sorry for me and finally agree to go out with me? Or...maybe she'll think it's just gross that I was bit by a rat? Because rats are really, really so gross and I just killed one that was stuck in my shirt by squishing it.

James turned to Carlos. "Dude...you saved my life. Thanks, buddy."

"Any time," Carlos said, "I've always got your back."


Author's Note: Here we go! Another multi-chapter story with lots of action and angst! Hope you're ready!