AN: So, um, going into this chapter, I wasn't really sure where I was exactly going with it, and I think it shows. Nonetheless, everything is now set up for the NEXT chapter, which is going to be a doozy. Very excited for that one! I will say the one scene immediately prior to the girls seeing the music video was one of my favorites of the whole story so far.

The song used for ABCD in this chapter is I'm Okay by SKYES, which definitely sounds like an earlier BTR song to me which is why I used it. As always, I hope you enjoy!

When the girls were ushered into Gustavo's office, they were more than a little anxious. They hadn't had a scheduled meeting that day, they were supposed to be working on what Mr. Roque himself deemed "filler tracks" for their album. However, upon arriving to Roque Records, instead of heading into the recording studio as they'd done every day for the past three days, Kelly instead pushed them into a board room. Gustavo was there, as was a woman who Kelly identified as Karen Anderson, alongside a bunch of other random middle aged men in suits. As they filed in, giving each other, and Gustavo and Kelly, confused looks, Karen smiled "Glad you could join us, ladies."

All four girls looked to her, Delia smiling and nodding, Brooke offering an awkward smile, Callie still sporting a confused look, as Auden asked "And what exactly are we joining you for?"

Karen smiled, clicking the power point projection clicker in her hand to demonstrate a graph on the screen behind her. "We released your Christmas video last week and you've already received two million hits. I'm Okay has been making good radio airplay, which means it's time to talk about your next music video."

"So our first music video?" Auden corrected "Since the first video we were in was actually released under the Big Time Rush Vevo."

Eyebrows lowering as she glared at the girl with dyed green hair, Karen conceded "That's correct."

"Speaking of them," Callie then asked "Are they going to be in this video, too? Or…?"

"Absolutely not." Karen replied almost automatically. "This video is not only focusing on you alone, but each of you individually. You won't even be in a shot together."

"Doesn't that seem counterproductive?" Auden questioned "Aren't we supposed to be all girl power friendship blah blah blah?"

Karen sighed, rubbing her temple. "It's to highlight who you are as individuals. It will make the general populous more familiar with your individual faces, rather than grouping you together, making you indistinguishable from other girl groups."

"I suppose that makes sense." Callie had nodded in agreement. Auden still looked miffed, but she was usually miffed about something, so everyone decided to ignore her.

Looking towards Gustavo, Karen instructed "Have the girls be in wardrobe for 8AM tomorrow, we start shooting at 10."

As she strode out of the room, heels clicking on the tiles until she reached the carpeted hallways, Gustavo turned to the members of his girl group. "So, I didn't exactly get that much creative control this time around. But I'll still be on set to make sure she doesn't totally ruin the image we've been creating."

"Which has been what, exactly?" Auden asked, tilting her head to the side. "Big Time Rush with vaginas?"

Gustavo didn't even answer her directly, opting instead to ignore her and keep talking. "The idea for the video is to have the four of you each dressed up as a pop princess from the past four decades and recreate scenes from her most iconic video. You can decide amongst yourself who will be posing as who." He explained, before throwing four pictures onto the table.

"Oh, this is so me." Callie gasped, picking up the 80s headshot.

As Delia lifted up the photo of the 90s singer, she beamed "She's still my idol. It would be an absolute honor to pay tribute to her."

"Not going to lie," Brooke smiled, picking up the headshot of the 2000s singer "I loved her, and this outfit and persona would be so much fun."

Auden rolled her eyes, muttering "And I mean, I've already got the funny colored hair so…." As she picked up the last of the photos on the table.

The next morning, the girls all arrived at 7:55 at Kelly's advice. Apparently Gustavo was in enough hot water with Karen Anderson that the last thing he needed was for the girls to arrive late. As they sat in four wardrobe chairs next to each other getting their hair and makeup done, Kelly was prepping them on the shooting schedule. "After wardrobe Brooke and Callie will be shooting first. Brooke will shoot on the soundstage while we get outside shots of Callie. The dancers come in at twelve so we'll shoot Callie's scenes and Delia's scenes back to back, and then they're off at four so we'll get Delia's alone shots after that. We also have a second soundstage to film Auden's scenes and anything that we need if we run over on time."

"So wait," Auden asked, "You mean to tell me I didn't have to be up this early?"

With a slight shrug, Kelly let out a happy sounding "Nope! I guess not! Once Delia gets into wardrobe the two of you are free to do whatever you want so long as you stay on property."

Auden mumbled "You got to be fucking kidding me" under her breath while slinking farther into her chair, causing the woman who was doing her hair to let out an exasperated sigh.

About an hour later, Delia and Auden had headed off, though neither Brooke or Callie could quite remember where to. Not that it particularly mattered, anyhow. Both girls had just gotten the finishing touches done to their respective hair and makeup and were already in wardrobe, Callie just pulling one of the long gloves on and up over her elbow.

Glancing around to ensure that they were, in fact, alone, Brooke spoke up, softly, as she asked "Can I ask you something?"

"You just did." Callie smirked into the mirror, before turning around to face the blonde, questioning "What's up, buttercup?"

Brooke's eyes glanced to the floor as she started "So, um, you know how Carlos and I have kind of been dating or whatever?"

"Kind of dating or whatever?" Callie repeated, a soft giggle on her lips "He's absolutely crazy about you and it certainly seems to me like it's mutual." With a shake of her head, black curls bouncing lightly, she then corrected "But I'm sorry, I didn't answer your question. Yes, I do know. What about it?"

"He…sort of…mentioned having sex. And I've only ever done it with one guy, who was my high school boyfriend and we'd been together for two years before we did so is this too early? Like I don't have a normal gauge on this sort of thing and I know he's never done it either which makes it even more confusing and…" the more the blonde spoke, the faster and more frantic the pace of her words became.

Callie quickly placed her gloved hands on Brooke's shoulders. "Look at me. Breathe. Okay? Are you breathing?" Brooke nodded, and Callie continued "Good. And I'm really not a relationship expert by any means, but the fact that you're getting so worked up about this tells me that you're not ready for this kind of step. And that's okay. Carlos is a good guy. If you don't feel comfortable yet then he'll understand. And if he doesn't then he's not good enough for you in the first place."

Brooke let out a soft chuckle as she admitted "If anything I'm the one who's not good enough for him."

At this, Callie frowned "What do you mean?"

"He's just…" Brooke looked up to the ceiling, as if for inspiration for the right words "…the total ideal. He's so sweet. And respectful. But he's so funny and so easy to talk to, too, you know? And of course he's so good looking and talented and I don't know what he's doing with a girl like me. He's the best of the best and that's what he deserves."

Callie shook her head as she tightened her grip on Brooke's shoulders. Looking the blonde in the eyes, Callie asserted "Brooke. You are the best. He deserves someone like you who thinks the world of him. Just like you deserve someone as wonderful as him. Don't ever forget that." Brooke nodded, but Callie persisted "I'm serious! You are a beautiful, interesting, talented young woman who deserves someone as good as him. Never settle for less because you think you don't deserve the best."

As Callie and Brooke shot their scenes, Auden and Delia were both milling around the building in full wardrobe. Auden had taken this time to go through Gustavo's office and see if she could find anything about Delia possibly being a robot while Gustavo was busy with the video shoot. Naturally, she knew she couldn't complete such a task alone, so she called in reinforcements. Specifically, Kendall and James, as they were the only ones who believed her theory.

After about an hour of casually snooping on her own – you can't fully snoop around without a lookout after all – the boys were supposed to have arrived. She'd gotten the text from Kendall that they'd made it into the building, but they still hadn't made it up to Gustavo's office. Deciding it best to meet them in the hallway to make her work look less suspicious, she exited the office. After a few moments, she did see them come out of the elevator. And while James had seen her and was started to head in her direction, it seemed as though Kendall's attention was being pulled to other things, as he yanked James by the elbow over to where he was headed.

And where he was headed happened to be towards Delia, as his voice was suddenly very loud as he asked "Delia, hey, you look cold, are you cold?" as he began to take off his hoodie. "Maybe you should put this on. And zip it up." Kendall was met by confused looks by both Delia and James, but that didn't stop him from babbling "Or you know maybe someone has a long, long winter jacket that we could bundle you up in. Or snuggies! I hear those are nice!"

"I'm actually fine, but I appreciate your concern…" Delia spoke tentatively, an underlying sense of caution evident in her tone.

This didn't stop Kendall's persuasions "Are you sure? I mean…" he glanced around, finally noticing Auden standing further down the hallway. He blinked, having temporarily forgot why he came by so early anyway. He reasoned Auden would understand the hold up. "…Auden's got one of those nice housecoats and she looks so cozy, are you sure you don't want one?"

"I just want to reiterate that I'm fine, thank you." She tried again, before adding "In fact, if anything, I have found it particularly warm. I was honestly considering taking off the cardigan until I had to be on set…"

She had started to take the sweater off, but was stopped as Kendall latched onto her forearm letting out a sharp "Nope! Don't! Do that! Not a good idea!"

"Okay, what is going on?" James finally asked, tired of being totally lost as to why this was happening.

Still latching onto the redhead's arm, Kendall turned around and hissed "Dude, help me out."

This only confused James more "With what?"

Delia had cleared her throat, regaining the boys' attention. "Would you be so kind as to let go of my arm?"

Kendall narrowed his eyes at her "I don't know, are you going to keep your sweater on?"

"May I inquire why this seems to matter so much?" she asked, her tone echoing his almost exactly.

With an exasperated sigh, Kendall admitted "I just don't think it's a good idea for you to be walking around with all these guys like…this…" he gestured to her after finally dropping his grip on her arm. "You're my friend and I don't want anyone getting the wrong idea."

Her eyes narrowed as she responded "In all fariness, this is the most you've ever spoken to me so I wouldn't consider us friends. And furthermore, I'm older than you, and James, and Auden, and everyone else in both bands. And you seem to have no problem with the way anyone else dresses."

"But…it's just…"

"Is this because I'm virgin?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"No!" he cried, eyes wide "It's because you're tiny! People probably think it's easy to overpower you and I'm not sure you could fend off unwanted attention!"

"I've fended off James haven't I?" she quipped.

"Hey! I'm standing right here!" the taller boy cried, before he added "And what do you mean 'unwanted'? I'm a catch, thank you very much."

Ignoring James, Kendall sighed again "With the weird pink scrunchies and everything it's just…you look way too much like some dude's sick fantasy and I don't want you to have to deal with that kind of asshole."

Smiling diplomatically, Delia replied "As much as I appreciate your concern, I can handle myself perfectly well. I'm only dressed like this for the video regardless. And Auden's actually naked under her bathrobe, and she'll be appearing naked in the video, so perhaps I'm not the one you should be concerned for?"

At the mention of Auden being naked, both James and Kendall immediately stiffened, whipping their heads around as the whispered a low "Oh really?" in unison.

Delia rolled her eyes, muttering the word "Men" under her breath.

The boys, meanwhile, had beelined over the young green haired woman. She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms as she chastised "So you only care about me when I'm naked?"

Kendall rolled his eyes "Don't be like that."

"I don't see what the big deal is," Auden shrugged "It's nothing that you haven't seen before."

"But we haven't seen yours!" James argued, as though he was making an infallible point.

Once again, Kendall opted to ignore him. "Look, she may be a robot but that doesn't mean she's not our friend. I was worried about her."

"She's a grown ass woman, or robot, or whatever," Auden rolled her eyes again "She can take care of herself."

"And she's not even your friend." James reminded him. "She just told you so."

Auden rolled her eyes "Anyway, about why I called you both here." This seemed to get both boys' attention back on track. "I found absolutely nothing. Which is good."

"Nothing?!" James cried, lowering his voice as Auden and Kendall both hushed him "How is nothing good?"

"If you would let me finish," Auden glared at the tallest of the three, before continuing "I was able to find stuff about me and Brooke and Callie all in a folder in his filing cabinet. But there was nothing about Delia. I'm starting to think that maybe Gustavo's only the middle man. It's probably way above him."

Glancing around, James then asked "Like these dudes in the suits?"

Auden nodded "I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't go straight to the top. So I say we don't risk our jobs yet, and focus on finding out what we can about Delia. If we can just prove she's a robot, the rest should open up like my legs after too much tequila."

Hours later, the shoot was finally finished. The next day, the girls were all brought into Gustavo's office, finally dressed and made up like themselves again. "Well," Gustavo began, shoving a laptop towards the spot where the four girls were – Delia and Brooke were seated as Auden and Callie peered over their shoulders. "It's just a rough cut. But I thought you might like to see it."

Hesitantly, Brooke brought a finger to the trackpad, gliding it so that the cursor hovered over the play button. She bit down on her bottom lip, and glanced at the others quickly, before turning her attention back towards the laptop and clicking the button.

As the sounds of heavy synthesizers, processed guitars and drums faded in, the four empty sets were shown. Eventually, it zoomed to an exterior shot of Roque Records, Callie driving up in a red convertible. Dark curls covered in a pink hair wrap, she took off large sunglasses as she walked onto an all orange set. As she disposed of the wrap, the rest of her outfit became obvious, as she was mimicking the look of Madonna in her Material Girl video. As several male dancers dressed in tuxes danced around her, she sang;

"I can feel them get close
But it's alright
They tryin' to make me sweat
I don't care like,"

The scene then changed to what looked like a greying high school hallway, with Delia against the lockers, her red hair in braided pigtails, mimicking Britney Spears' Baby One More Time video. The camera angled her face as she sang;

"La di di da
Di di da da da da
La di di da
Do do do do ya?"

The scene then changed to a pink and black stage with a full band playing. As the chorus started, it revealed Brooke with fake pink streaks in her hair, wear a white t-shirt, a blue and black plaid skirt, fishnets, tube socks, heels and lots of eyeliner, in homage to Avril Lavgine's Girlfriend video

"I'm okay
Cause I don't back down
I'm okay
When I work it out
I'm okay
Cause I won't back down
I'm okay
Cause I work it out"

As the lyrics changed, the scene moved to Auden, green hair softly curled as she wore nothing but a cupcake headband lying in a cotton candy cloud, much like Katy Perry in her California Girls video as she sang the rest of the chorus

"Play it cool yeah
When it feels fine
They'll be coming for me dead or alive
Play it cool yeah
When it feels fine
They'll be coming for me dead or alive"

The scene cut to Delia once again, in the school hallway set doing the same choreography from the Baby One More Time Video. It then jumped to Brooke, who was mostly flinging herself across the makeshift stage spastically while tossing her hair. The scene finally went back to Callie, being lifted into the air by the male dancers as she sang

"I hear them turning it up
But it's my line
If they gonna get loud
I'll drown em out like"

The scene went back to Delia against the lockers as the redhead sang

"La di di da
Di di da da da da"

It cut Auden kicking her feet back and forth on the cloud, and then to Callie dancing with the men in tuxes behind her, before back to Delia as she sang

"La di di da
Do do do do ya?"

As Brooke's section of the chorus started up again, it mostly remained on a close up of her face, though it did cut back and forth to Callie and Delia's choregraphy

"I'm okay
Cause I don't back down
I'm okay
When I work it out
I'm okay
Cause I won't back down
I'm okay
Cause I work it out"

The camera panned from Brooke's face to her guitarist as the music became louder, before cutting back to Auden

"Play it cool yeah
When it feels fine
They'll be coming for me dead or alive
Play it cool yeah
When it feels fine
They'll be coming for me dead or alive"

The video had cut back to Delia's choreograpy, before jumping back to a closeup on Callie's face as she sang

"They'll be coming for me dead or" and the video jumped quickly between close ups on all four girls' faces as Callie's voice shook with autotuned "a-l-i-ive"

It cut to Auden, stretching and posing seductively on her cotton candy cloud, then to Brooke flipping her hair with all the professionalism of a trained Rockstar, back to Callie and her backup dancers, before focusing on Delia against the lockers again for her line of "They'll be coming for me dead or alive"

As Delia and Callie's voices could be heard going "Oh oh oh oh" in the background, the video went back to Brooke as she belted "Dead or alive – dead or alive"

While Callie and Delia's back up vocals still rang, the video returned to Auden on her cloud as she belted "They'll be coming for me dead or alive"

The video then proceeded to jump between all four girls, as Callie and Delia could still be heard in the background, and Brooke sang "I'm okay cause I don't back down" as Auden belted "I'm okay I'm alright" over top of Brooke's vocals.

"I'm okay
I'm alright"

"I'm okay cause I don't back down"

It cut to just Auden again as she sang "They'll be coming for me dead or alive"

And then back to just Brooke as she echoed "Dead or alive"

Finally, the video closed on Callie getting back into the car and driving away as Brooke and Auden sang "Dead or alive" in unison.

All four girls looked up from the laptop, and up to Gustavo, who'd been watching them expectantly. "So – not terrible right?"

"Not terrible at all!" Brooke grinned, already wanting to replay the video.