A/N: WOW you guys! Your reviews were CRAZY awesome! I feel kind of bad, though, since most of this fic was already written and I'm scared you might not like how this chapter came out. :P

This chapter is dedicated to BigTimeRush-BTR, whose review made me laugh so hard I snorted milk out of my nose. Or I would've, if I were drinking milk at the time. xD

Enjoy!

…

"You!" Rick pointed at the clerks behind the desk. "Out. Now. And don't even think about pushing the panic button."

The clerks raised their hands and moved around the counter. There were three of them in all, counting the ones in the back room that were forced out at gunpoint after two men went in there. Carlos watched as they were led to the "adult" side of the room. He scanned his eyes over the wall opposite of him, eyeing the people.

There were eight adults—six men and two women. Two of the men carried suitcases and looked like they belonged in a court room instead of a bank. One of the women was the mother of the little girl he was holding. The other woman and two of the men worked at the bank, and the last man was dressed normally, like he was just in for a Sunday deposit.

The kids, on the other hand, were all dressed the same. Counting himself, Kendall, Logan, and James, there was the little girl and two preteen twin boys. They all hugged close to the wall, eyeing the five men as they grouped in the center of the room, some even lounging on the couches set up for customer comfort.

It made Carlos' blood boil. He fingered the cell phone in his sweatshirt pocket, hoping he looked inconspicuous as he pressed the 9 key. Using the screen to steer him, he pressed the 1 key twice, and then hit send.

Just as he did, one of the men—whom Rick called Max—stalked up to the kids' wall and stopped at the twins, holding out his hand expectantly. "Cell phone."

They fumbled for a second but each pressed a cell phone into the man's hand. Giving a satisfied grunt, Max moved on to James.

Carlos slipped the phone into his left hand and looked at the little girl in his lap. "Can you hide this for me?" he whispered.

Her eyes were wide, glittering blue with terror. But she nodded jerkily and grabbed the phone. Carlos watched as she thought for a second, and the dropped it into her jacket's hood.

Carlos had to smile. Smart girl.

"Phone."

He looked up as the man held out his hand to Kendall. The blonde glared and didn't move. Max didn't seem amused.

"Give me your phone, kid."

"You can have it. And while you're at it, why don't you shove it up your—"

Without warning, the man leaned down and grabbed the front of Kendall's jacket, hoisting him to his feet. James was standing in the next instant, fists clenched.

"I wouldn't," Max advised, lifting his gun until it nudged Kendall's temple. James glared so hard at him that Max might've been incinerated if James were Superman. But he slowly sat back down.

"What's up?" Rick called and Max tugged Kendall over to him.

"Kid's mouthy," was Max's explanation.

Rick sighed. "I can see you're going to be a handful."

Kendall didn't say anything, but crossed his arms over his chest when Max let go and came back to the kid's side, standing expectantly in front of Carlos. "Phone."

Carlos ripped his gaze from his friend for a second to look at Max. The man towered over him, dressed head to toe in black. In front of him, Carlos felt the little girl shrinking further into his chest. As she did, Carlos heard the operator's tinny voice asking questions he couldn't make out from the tiny speakers.

"Why are you robbing the bank?" he demanded—louder than necessary, but that's because he wanted the operator on the phone to hear him.

Even though he wore a ski mask, Carlos could see Max's face darkening. "None of your business," he snapped. "Cell. Phone. Now."

Carlos matched his glare. "I don't have one."

"Really." Max reached over and grabbed the hood of Carlos' sweatshirt, but Carlos was ready for it and rose by himself. It still chafed his neck, though, as the robber jerked him closer just to be intimidating.

"Don't lie to me, kid. I'm not in the mood."

"It's not a lie!" Carlos said defensively. "I broke it, like, a week ago."

Max didn't even seem to hear him. He raised his gun and brought it down hard on Carlos' head, sending the Latino boy crumpling to the ground. Pain exploded from behind his eyes and he twisted on the floor, clutching at his head as he whimpered quietly into the crook of his elbow.

"Stop it!" The cry came from Logan, surprisingly. But a well-placed glare kept him from protesting further.

Apparently that wasn't the case for Carlos' new friend. The little girl screamed and jumped to her feet, having been thrown from his lap as he was yanked up. Carlos twisted onto his stomach and reached out a hand to her.

"No," he gasped, knowing she was about to give up the phone in her hood.

She burst into tears as Max hauled Carlos up again, shoving him over to the wall and giving him a rigorous pat-down. Carlos stood as still as possible and tried not to shove him away as he rifled through his pockets.

Finally, Max gave a satisfied grunt and took a step back. "Yeah, okay." He motioned with his gun for Carlos to sit down and Carlos was all too happy to comply. He dashed to Logan's side and gathered the little girl in his arms again, shushing in her ear gently as she gripped his sweatshirt and cried.

"Carlos," she hiccupped. "Please don't do that again."

"It's okay," he soothed. "I'm fine, okay? Hey, what's your name?"

"Rebecca," she sniffled. "But you can call me Becky."

"Becky," Carlos nodded. "Cool name."

Kendall was led back over to him and the blonde sat down, crossing his arms angrily.

"You okay?" Carlos asked him, worried.

"Fine," Kendall said sarcastically. "But he made a show of smashing my phone to pieces with his boot."

Max had moved on after gathering Logan's phone, dumping them all on the ground outside of the bank. Rick then had the female bank manager lock the front doors and back doors.

"What are they doing?" Logan whispered to Kendall. "They said they were robbing the bank."

"They are robbing the bank," James hissed.

"Then why are they locking the doors?"

Carlos' eyes widened. If they were locking the doors, how were they supposed to escape? Wasn't that counterproductive?

The other customers shifted anxiously, obviously noticing the same thing. "I thought you were leaving?" one of the men with the suitcases called.

Rick looked over at him and raised the gun threateningly. The man didn't say anything again.

"Now," Rick said, turning in a circle to survey the customers. "Here's how this is going to go. You're going to come up here, one at a time, and give me your wallets and anything valuable you might have in your pockets." He pointed at the woman who'd just locked the doors. "You first."

She looked trapped and terrified. Carlos watched as she warily took a step towards Rick, who redirected her to "his good friend David," one of the other robbers. This went on with three of the other adults, leaving two of the robbers to keep an eye on the rest of them.

Carlos took his opening and grabbed the phone hidden in Becky's hood. The operator wasn't talking anymore, but the call was still running.

"You there?" he whispered, trying to look inconspicuous.

"Hello?" the operator demanded. "Where are you? Tell me what is going on."

"The Bank of America is being robbed," Carlos said quietly. "I think."

Kendall looked over at him curiously, eyes widening when he spotted the glint of the cell phone hidden in Carlos' hands. He caught the Latino boy's gaze, and then quickly looked away.

A sudden grin lit Carlos' face at the trust Kendall was placing in him.

"What's so funny?" Max asked, taking a threatening step closer to him.

Carlos' grin dropped and he ducked his head, resting his chin on Becky's dark-haired head. "Nothing," he mumbled.

"That's what I thought."

When Carlos was sure Max wasn't paying attention to him again, he uncovered the speaker and told the operator, "Can't you, like, trace the call or something?"

"We can, and we have."

Carlos let out a sigh of relief. "Kay, good. Well, there's five bad guys. They're wearing masks, but the leader is Rick. Or something like that."

"How many hostages?"

Carlos had to look up to count. "Fifteen."

"And what's your name, sweetie?"

"Carlos Garcia."

"Alright, Carlos, I need you to stay on the line—"

That was all she got out when the phone was ripped from Carlos' hands and thrown across the room. Carlos looked up, startled, and yelped as Rick snatched his arm. Fingers dug painfully into his skin as he was yanked to his feet.

Rick didn't even look angry. He looked strangely pleased. But his gun came up to rest against Carlos' forehead, and Carlos froze as he stared into the robber's cool blue eyes, hardly daring to breathe.

"Got ourselves a hero, do we?" Rick said, sounding amused. The room had gone dead quiet, robbers and hostages alike fixed on the scene in front of them. "Not gonna lie—I expected the men to do that. You're just a puny little thirteen-year-old kid."

"I'm sixteen," Carlos said hotly, without thinking.

"My apologies," Rick said sarcastically. "You're just a puny sixteen-year-old kid."

"Put him down," said one of the men—the one dressed in the bank's custom uniform. He stood but eyed Rick warily, not wanting to piss him off. "He's just a kid… Rick."

"Right, right," Rick said, nodding. He released Carlos and shoved him back down before pointing the gun at him.

"No!" Kendall, Logan, and James shouted.

Rick paused, seeing their determination to protect their friend. "See, here's my problem, boys," he said. "You all seem determined to make me mad, and when I get mad then someone's gotta be punished. But you all seem to think that it shouldn't be yourselves. So who gets the bullet, huh?"

They said nothing, stares alternating between his masked face and the gun he held.

"Alright then." Rick swiveled the gun to point at someone and pulled the trigger.