Thirty minutes earlier:

"Could you please wake up? I only shot you once!" An irritated female voice said right over her head.

"Sorry...a bit jet lagged," Penny mumbled automatically. Wait- where am I ? Penny's head throbbed. She felt like she'd been put into the G-force simulator again...only she knew she hadn't. Drugs? Right then. They've got me. Vaguely she remembered being shot by a dart and tumbling down the stairs a bit before losing consciousness. That explained the bruises.

Quickly she tried to clear her mind, to prepare herself for dealing with the enemy. She had trained for this: had even been trained to endure torture. She'd never give up any information... not that she really knew anything at this point - just that the boys were missing. That thought made her finally open her eyes.

There was a girl in a cat mask and bodysuit kneeling beside her. She had a long red ponytail that hung over one shoulder and looked, well, fake. "Who are you?" Penny asked rather abruptly. "Did you shoot me with a dart gun?"

"Yes, of course I did - catch up," the cat girl said impatiently. "Are you here to help Big Time Rush?"

Penny was shocked and used the distraction of sitting up and facing the girl to put off her answer. "Are you working with Moon?"

"Yes. I - was. It's complicated," Catgirl finished up weakly. She looked back over her shoulder, where light filtered through the cracked-open door. Given the array of brooms and mops and cleaning equipment, Penny suspected they were in a janitorial closet. Time to take control. She jumped to her feet, whipping out her stun gun to aim at the girl -

who was no longer there, but standing in front of the door, wielding what looked like...

Penny blinked. "Is that a whip?"

The girl smirked. "And you thought I was just a one-trick pony."

Penny wrinkled her nose. "What does that mean?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "Brits. Let's get down to business: are you Penny Lane?"

"I...well, yes, but how could you possibly - "

"Inside sources. Call me Catgirl," she explained as she cracked her whip loudly before moving it to the side and looping it up. "But I'm putting this away, if you'll put yours away."

Penny watched her carefully before stowing her stun gun. "Is that better?"

"Yes." Catgirl hung her whip on her belt before licking her lips nervously. "I...think I've made a mistake and if you're here to help - "

"I am. What can you tell me about Moon's plans? Where is Big Time Rush right now?"

"Moon wanted them humiliated and hunted down and tied up. So far, it's all gone perfectly, except..."

"Except you," Penny said urgently, stepping forward. "You suddenly changed your mind about helping him. Why?"

Catgirl paused, sniffling messily. "Have you ever heard Kendall Knight scream?"

Penny bit back her gasp of horror. "Where is he? What have you done to him? What about James...and the others?"

Catgirl glanced over at the door again. "Kendall is fine, now, they've taken him down. And it's not me; I didn't set this up. Believe me, I had no idea what they had in mind. Moon brought in specialists. James is...okay, but he might need a hospital, I think. Carlos is in the main atrium with those freaks but I sent in a tip that will get him rescued. I'm heading for Logan now; I'll get him down."

The girl moved toward the door, but Penny got right in her face. "Why does James need a hospital? What have they done to him?"

"He's fine, I swear. I was just..." Catgirl said, sounding desperate, "just trying to keep him quiet because he's near a security station. I shot him with the darts twice and forgot he'd already been shot once. I may have overdosed him. He's in Sec Storage Six. Can you find it?"

Penny nodded, pulling out her GPS map. Instinct told her that this confused girl was telling the truth. Why did Catgirl care about the boys if she had been working for Moon? None of it made any sense, but Penny needed an ally badly. "And you're sure Carlos will get rescued soon?"

But the door opened, flooding the room with light and then Catgirl was gone. Penny went back to studying the map. She flipped it to another screen, finding the corridors crawling with security guards. Even though they were on the same team, she wanted to avoid having to stop for explanations if they noticed her .

She traced her finger across the second floor corridor and found it empty for the moment. "Got it," she whispered, moving toward the light. "Hang on, James."

Carlos was dragged into consciousness by the pain of his stomach churning. It wasn't a familiar feeling; he never got carsick or seasick or anything like that. But this was way beyond what he thought being seasick would feel like. It was more of a cramping than a...

Carlos lurched forward and threw up, sending people around him scattering.

"Aw, gross!"

"I told you not to swing him!"

"He threw up on my pants! And these are new boots."

Someone laughed. Carlos squinted his eyes at the blurry figures. Did he know them? Why was he here? Where am I? Before he could think another question, he was bending over again to spew more vomit on the floor below.

"Gross! Dude!"

"I'm not cleaning this up!"

Whoever these people were, they weren't even trying to help. That's how Carlos knew none of his friends were here with him. If they'd been here, Kendall would have taken him to lie down somewhere and made him comfy. James would have dodged vomit like it was lava, but he would've tried to help. He'd probably bring him a clean shirt and then Logan would put a wet rag on his forehead and a thermometer in his mouth. They wouldn't have just stood by and -

Carlos bent in half and heaved as his stomach tried to expel whatever it was that it didn't like. It hurt this time and he trembled his way through it. There were still mean voices around but he couldn't make out what they were saying; it was too hard to focus.

Afterwards, he laid back against the hard metal...thing he was on. Blearily he looked down to see that he was in a curved metal...thing. For some reason, there were ropes holding his legs in place underneath it, even his thighs were tied.

Carlos groaned and felt the metal contraption swing a little as someone climbed up on something just beside him. He looked over and froze, wishing that he hadn't. A clown was staring at him, leaning closer to push his bright red nose at Carlos.

"Go away," Carlos whispered, wide-eyed.

The clown smiled and it wasn't a nice smile.

Carlos closed his eyes, turned his head toward the clown and threw up right on that horrible plastic flower on his lapel that probably shot water. Everything went a bit crazy then. The clown jerked away, cursing, and left the metal thing swinging with Carlos inside. It did not help his stomach at all. He laid back and closed his eyes.

There was a lot of yelling, stuff being dragged and thumping...and then silence. He welcomed the dark. The metal thing had finally stopped swinging. Carlos was fading, and as he did, he remembered that his butt was probably still glowing and he smiled.

At some point, somehow Logan had fallen asleep, which he only realized now because he was suddenly awake. There was a new noise coming from below him. He tried to call out through the gag again, but his throat was giving out. Since he'd been here, the elevator had gone down and back up three times, but never high enough to squash him or for the people inside to hear his muffled yelling.

What is that?

Small sounds...like shoes on metal rungs. Someone was coming up...was he going to be rescued? Or was it one of them, Moon's goons who'd shot them in the dark? Logan looked upward at the stupid rope holding his wrists and tried twisting one hand out again. But like every time so far, it didn't budge and the pain sucked his breath away.

Below him, it was dark except where the elevator doors at each floor sent a strip of light across the way. In the light he could see a utility ladder on the wall across from the doors and in a moment, a small figure climbed into view. Was it a girl? She had a super long ponytail - a hot girl. Suddenly, Logan remembered Carlos' story of a slim figure in a hoodie that had painted a moon on their bus after the rat attack. Could this be that person?

There were voices farther down below and footsteps, then more distantly, a dinging sound and doors sliding shut. The elevator was coming. Logan squeezed his eyes shut. Please don't be coming to the top floor...

Footsteps were still coming up the ladder, but the figure had vanished into the dark again. So close and yet so far. Even if she was here to help him, it was too late. It was inevitable; the elevator was coming up all the way and he was going to get squashed like a bug. A bug!

Logan kicked his legs and started swinging one more time, causing his wrists excruciating pain. But this was his last hope: that his bodyweight might finally snap the stupid rope. For the thousandth time in his life, he cursed his slight frame. Why do I have to be built like a muppet?

The elevator was closer now. Surprisingly, it sounded like the figure on the steps was racing upwards, too. But it was too late to do anything - he was doomed.

Tears flooded his eyes because this wasn't fair! Why was he here alone? Why couldn't Kendall have been there, too, so they could at least nod goodbye if nothing else? And Carlos - Carlos would have broken free somehow and then saved both of them. And James? He would've become the completely illogical Bandanna Man and snapped the rope in like, two minutes and freed Logan! But no, I had to be here all alone. Brilliant plan, world! You finally got me!

The elevator was one floor down and still moving up. This is it.

Then he heard a voice shout, "I'm going to cut the rope! You need to hit and roll then lie flat. If you don't, you're dead. In three...tw0...one..."

SHHHiKKKKKK!

...and he was falling, kicking in the air, screaming silently...

...until he hit with a thump. One ankle popped before he fell to the side. Breathlessly, he rolled, feeling instantly stupid but that's what she said to do. Then something fell beside him.

It took him a few seconds to process that it was a someone beside him, an arm across him to keep him flat. The elevator kept climbing and didn't stop until there was only a foot of space between the top of the elevator and the ceiling of the shaft. Logan breathed in the musty air, relieved.I'm not dead!

"I'm so sorry," said the mysterious girl on top of him, then ripped the duct tape off his mouth.

"Ow!" Logan hissed as she giggled, moving away.

"You're so cute," she said. Was that a cat mask on her face?

With his still-tied hands, Logan wiped at his face and stared at her. "Why did you help me? Don't you work for Moon?" She whipped a knife out of nowhere and sliced at his bonds. "Owwww." He started pulling away the rope painfully. Up here, the glowing goo from one arm helped him see his wrists and the fibers embedded in his raw skin, mixed with dark blood.

"Why did I help you?" Logan looked up to find her nearly off the elevator, her forearms holding her in place. "I like to be unpredictable," she said, giving him a smirk before she slid all the way off.

"Wait!" Logan called after her. Did she just fall down the shaft? He slid awkwardly over to the edge on his stomach. She was gone. There was a rope attached to the utility ladder on the wall. She must have been tied to that rope. Right? Logically, it seemed impossible, but then she'd just done about four impossible things in a row.

Who is this girl?

Kelly was directed to enter a large elevator where there was an open panel in the ceiling. The elevator was crowded with people.

"It nearly scared the life out of me when I heard someone banging on top," a guy was saying. An EMT pulled him out of the way as Kelly walked up. Now she could see that the person who was the center of all this activity was lying on the floor.

"Logan," Kelly cried out, glad to see him awake. But then she saw that his eyes were glassy and unfocused. "Is he okay?"

The nearest EMT looked back at her. "Are you Kelly?"

She nodded. "Yes, this is one of my boys. Is he hurt badly?"

"Hi Kelly. I'm Aidan. Trisha here is checking Logan out for you."

A dark-skinned female in scrubs was kneeling beside him, listening to his heart through a stethoscope. After a moment, Trisha pulled it from her ears. "He's unresponsive so far, but his vitals are within a normal range. We'll keep an eye on that low blood pressure."

"But they heard him banging on the roof," she managed to say.

Trisha nodded. "Yes, but he went quiet pretty quickly and hasn't responded to us since we brought him down. The worst damage was done to his wrists. Judging by the rope found in the elevator shaft, Logan was hanging by his wrists for a long time before he somehow managed to cut the rope."

"He was alone?"

Aidan looked up at her grimly. "Yes. He must have fallen onto the elevator from a good height, which sprained one ankle pretty badly. It's probably not broken, but we'll check that. His wrists will need x-rays to determine if the bones were damaged as well. Other than that, the bruising and broken skin on his wrists look like they'll be the most serious injuries."

Kelly wiped her eyes, hating to think of gentle Logan being in so much pain, probably overwhelmed and frightened. Of all the boys, he was the least prepared for something like this, not that any of them really were. What had they been thinking to let the boys risk their lives for a concert?

"Thank you so much," she told them. "I've got to make a call." She needed to make a lot of calls. Focus. She shook her head and called Gustavo to get an update on Kendall and tell him about Logan. Gustavo sounded gutted, but at least he had good news: Kendall woke up as they were loading him on the stretcher and was asking about the other boys. Of course, that made him a very unhappy patient when he found out that two of them were still missing.

"If he were in better shape, he'd fight to stay and find the other guys, but he just can't, poor guy," Gustavo said, subdued.

Kelly's eyes once again filled with tears, knowing that being so helpless was probably the worst part for Kendall. As much as they fought among themselves, he was shockingly protective of the other guys. "Well, just keep him focused on Logan and the fact that he's fine. We found two of them in fifteen minutes. The others will be found soon. I'm sure of it."

"Sure. I'll tell him. You know, I...never mind. Call me if you hear anything and I'll do the same."

"I will. Hang in there, Gustavo," Kelly said, reading the fragility of his mood. "They're going to be fine." There was a silence and a pause before the phone was hung up on his end. Kelly sighed and moved to the side as two more EMTs hustled in with a gurney for Logan. Two down...two found...and two more to go. Kelly didn't think she could stand much more of this, but...she would just have to.

She rubbed her forehead, targeting the burgeoning pain there. "Can I get some water," she asked one of the guards and he pulled out his radio to ask for some. He received an answer and then paused as the voice continued.

Kelly watched him with bated breath. The large security guard looked directly at her. "Water is on the way. And...they found another one." Kelly didn't like the grimness of his tone.

"Oh thank god...but I can't leave Logan," she said uneasily.

"It looks like he's gone to sleep," Aidan said as he stepped out of the elevator. "His vitals are fine and he's heading straight to the hospital. He won't know if you're there or not."

"Okay. I need to...I have to go check on one of my other boys," Kelly said nervously and then paused. "You'll stay with him, Aidan?"

"All the way to the hospital. He'll be fine."

Kelly nodded, feeling guilty anyway as she watched Logan be carted off on the gurney. Tears started falling and she couldn't stop them. The guard gave her a sympathetic look, offering her a tissue. She took it gratefully and followed him down the hallway to find another one of her boys. Would it be Carlos or James?

A/N: Sorry to cut there, the next section is long and unwieldy! How are we feeling? Got two out of two rescued...yay...?