Author's Note: Wow, sorry that was such a long break! Thanks for still reading! There are two more chapters after this one. Now, let's get James out of this horrible mess!

Penny led the way into the back entrance, using the instructions given to them by Spencer, the carny who'd been hospitalized. Without his instructions, they definitely would have been caught by the automated all-terrain rolling guards who patrolled the castle grounds, or sighted by the security drones carrying goo guns or would have stepped on a concussive confetti mine buried along the back patio.

Carlos voted to set off a confetti mine for fun, and he was so pitiful limping in his boot that Kendall promised to let him set off one on the way out, once they had James with them.

"That's even better because James will want to see them, too," Carlos whispered.

Kendall could only nod.

"Follow me," Penny mouthed. It was also a great thing they had a British secret agent with them. Normally, Kendall could figure things out for himself and do whatever needed to be done, but he was far from his best today. His whole body felt weak and jittery, as if he'd had no sleep and four cups of coffee. The real fear on Spencer's face as he'd spoken about Anton the clown and his evil games had brought some of Kendall's worst fears to light. James had been missing all night...

A kind, bracing hand clasped his shoulder and Carlos whispered, "James is going to be fine."

Kendall nodded, refocused and prepared to follow Penny inside the building. Spencer had given them the door code, which made everything simpler. Moon's love of technology and apparent distrust of people meant they hadn't seen a single person yet. It was so weird. His automated rolling guards had faces that kind of looked like Moon if he was a cartoon character and had no hair. Or was that swirl of machine gray on top supposed to be hair?

"It's a garage we've entered into, just like he said. Stay quiet," Penny whispered, leading the way with her stun gun out. Kendall felt silly not carrying a weapon, so as they passed by car lifts and shelf after shelf filled with machine maintenance equipment, he snatched a tire iron. Carlos hmmed in agreement and swiped an abandoned aluminum Yeti cup. When Kendall stared at him, he said, "Have you ever dropped one on your foot? They hurt!"

"You're going to hit one of Moon's goons with a cup?"

"Well, it's not like I have a cool ray gun this time!" He looked accusingly at Penny.

"Sorry, but I don't carry around an arsenal. I'm in training, remember? Now, are we ready to move on?" She raised an eyebrow at them and they both nodded sheepishly.

"Sorry," Carlos mouthed.

Kendall pushed ahead in answer but as he passed another row of shelving, something caught his eye. He jerked to a halt, staring, and held up a hand, his heart thudding loudly.

"Kendall?"

He shook his head. There was a shrouded figure lying in the corner. Moving closer, he could see...yes, that's a dead body...hidden under a sheet, with just a little bit of brown hair showing at the top. James. That could be James... Blood stained the sheet in such violent slashes of red that Kendall couldn't breathe as he slowly fell to his knees.

"James?" Kendall looked up to see Carlos, both hands clapped over his mouth, eyes fixed on the body on the ground.

"It's not James," Kendall said, his voice tight. Penny sidestepped Carlos and moved past Kendall to reach the body. Kendall watched her, unable to do anything more than shake his head. It's not James; it can't be James.

Penny reached out and firmly tugged away the corner of the sheet. Carlos gasped. Under the sheet was a young man, stripped and slashed bloody, left here to stare vacantly at the ceiling; but it wasn't James and Kendall could breathe again.

Penny swallowed hard before reaching out to gently close the man's eyes. "This was the EMT who helped me with James. He was taken from the mall, too."

Kendall felt white-hot rage run through him. It wasn't James - thank God it wasn't James - but this man had helped him and this was his reward?

There was quiet sobbing behind him and Kendall stood, moving to pull Carlos into a hug. "It's not him."

Carlos nodded and buried his head in Kendall's chest. Both of them were cycling through a horrible mixture of relief, fear, anger, grief and horror. But there wasn't any time to waste.

"We have to hurry, Carlos," Kendall whispered softly. His friend nodded and moved back to the body quickly. "Carlos?" But the boy bent his head and closed his eyes, saying a silent prayer. Kendall bent his head, but inside that jittery feeling was taking over again. They needed to find James now.

When Carlos was done, Penny exchanged a glance with Kendall, whispering a terse, "Let's go."

Moving together, the boys picked up their weapons and followed her through the door. They came out into a hallway that didn't look like a hallway. "Is this a...dungeon?" Carlos whispered.

"This is Catgirl's doing," a familiar voice thundered from a nearby room. "Check him! Is he breathing?" There was a pause. The three of them exchanged looks. That was Moon's voice, but who was he talking about? "He's dead, isn't he? My clown is dead! What am I supposed to do now? Well. So. She's taken my captive and killed my clown; I have never in all my days been this disappointed by a sidekick. Find her and find that boy!"

The three ducked back into the garage as footsteps headed in their direction. Penny eased the door shut behind them and carefully locked it. "Hide," she said noiselessly.

Carlos shook his head and hissed, "I'm not going back there!" Immediately, his eyes went wide and he clapped his hand over his mouth, quickly followed by Kendall's and Penny's. Then they froze and listened to the footsteps and muted voices walking by the door. Someone tried the door, jiggling it.

"It's locked," a deep voice said from right outside. "Should I break it down?"

Carlos shook his head as much as he could with three hands over his mouth.

"No," a voice called from farther down the hallway. "There's blood on the wall going up. She must have taken him that way."

"Okay."

The three lowered their hands and exchanged looks of relief and worry. James was bleeding but alive and had been rescued; Anton the horrible clown was dead; Catgirl had gone rogue. All they had to do was find her and they would have James safe, finally - plus another greatly needed ally.

Catgirl was near the end of her strength. James had been clinging to consciousness for the last half hour, slurring out apologies and forcing her to heft a large part of his bodyweight down the hallway and into the guest bathroom. That might sound like a mistake, but it was actually the Super-Secret entrance to Moon's Super-Luxurious Nuclear Fallout Shelter.

She moved James into the large shower, closed the door and hummed the Secret Security Song ("Bad Moon Rising," currently Moon's theme song). The tune triggered a mechanism which opened the wall, revealing a large glow-in-the-dark slide that ended at the shelter in the basement.

At least the sliding part was easy. Then she pulled James once again to his feet and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "'m sorry," he apologized for leaning on her so heavily.

"It's fine. We're nearly there."

It was easier from that point since the doors were automatic, opening and then closing right behind them. It was a quick three-minute walk to the back bedroom and the large bed there. She helped James move painfully onto the bed, where he fell back and lost consciousness instantly. Catgirl sighed before sitting down, pulling off her mask and gloves and resting her face in her hands.

What was her next step? Though her life as Camile was hazy right now, she knew she'd had some First Aid training in the past, strengthened by a month preparing to audition for a medical drama. Right. She hadn't gotten the part, but it had helped her take care of James when he had lost his Swag to Logan. The memory made her smile.

This, of course, was far more serious: James' painful wounds needed to be cleaned and wrapped. He probably needed an I.V. for dehydration and a shot of antibiotics. And water. And food. And pain meds. Moon would have all of that, since he was just as fastidious a doomsday prepper as he was a megalomaniac.

For just a moment, she let her mind wander to Logan and how much she wanted to see him again. Maybe she could visit him at the hospital before she took off the catsuit for good. Logan would love the catsuit. Plus, he'd be thankful and probably a bit stunned that she was the one who had rescued him.

A groan from behind her caught her attention. Right. Blood and bandages. James looked pale and exhausted and only stirred a few seconds before falling unconscious again. She needed to do this before he woke up.

Fifteen unpleasant minutes later, Catgirl sat back and let James rest. His ruined t-shirt and sliced, bloody jeans were in the corner of the room and there was now a pile of bloody cloth beside the bed. Above him hung an IV bag giving him liquid nutrients through a line. His wounds were cleaned and covered, plus she'd given him a necessary shot of antibiotics. There were a few places he probably needed stitches, but that's where she drew the line. Blood had gotten all over the comforter, but she simply didn't have the strength to move him.

After washing up, she covered James with a clean blanket and turned her attention to her own wound. Anton's blade had pierced her left shoulder armor. The wound was uncomfortable and deeper than she'd let on, but it was easy to treat. James' cuts had been long slices that bled more because Anton had been a sadistic, evil bastard. But. He was gone now.

Once she had on her mask and gloves, she stalked over to survey the bank of security cameras. To her shock, the camera in the dungeon hallway didn't show Barney the loincloth guard on his rounds. Instead it showed Kendall, Carlos and Penny Lane creeping up the stairs, heading toward the main floor.

Catgirl jumped into action, rerouting the camera feed and fixing it on a loop so that the group wasn't seen by anyone else checking the feeds. Hopefully, she'd been quick enough. Now, she could intervene and try to figure out what they thought they were doing.

"Hey! Up here!"

Kendall, Carlos and Penny jumped at the sudden voice coming from over their heads. They looked up to see a camera pointed down at them.

"Are you talking to us?"Kendall asked hesitantly. The camera nodded. "Oh...okay."

"You're heading directly into a trap," the voice hissed. "Turn around and go downstairs and I'll get you to the fallout shelter."

Penny stepped forward. "Excuse me, but why should we trust Moon's camera operator?"

"Because it's me, you idiot - Catgirl!"

"Oh. Well, carry on then."

"Thank you. You should be glad I'm still on your side, spy girl."

Penny put both hands on her hips. "Oh really?"

"Yes! I sent you to rescue James while I rescued Logan. And then remember - you didn't do it? Did you just forget?"

"No! No, not at all! I did rescue him but - "

"Really? Then why did I hear him screaming downstairs at seven - "

"Hey! " Kendall yelled. "Can we do this later? And not in the fucking hallway?" He was trying and failing to get hold of himself. Don't imagine James screaming - don't do it. But it was in his head now. He squeezed his eyes shut.

Carlos asked in a small voice, "Is James - is he okay now?"

The voice sighed. "He needs a hospital; he's lost a lot of blood."

Kendall rocked back a step, suddenly unsteady on his feet. Carlos took his arm, whispering, "He's okay. He's fine."

Kendall nodded and looked up. "Just tell us where he is."

"Please," Penny said.

There was a pause that made them all nervous. "Fine. We're in Moon's Super-Luxurious Nuclear Fallout Shelter and James is asleep in the back room. Get here as soon as you can and follow my instructions exactly. Because of course, Moon set booby traps."

Kendall was first inside the Super-Luxurious Nuclear Fallout Shelter, waiting only for Catgirl to point before rushing past her; she expected nothing less. But when Penny Lane entered, Catgirl stood in her way.

"Explain," she said curtly, "how Anton got hold of James."

Penny's face crumpled. "I did help James; I promise. I untied him and lowered him down. He was being seen by an EMT when Anton reappeared. He'd been there once already but I didn't realize he was targeting James. I thought - I - well. I got shot with another dart. James was still unconscious when Anton took him. Believe me, I couldn't feel worse about it."

"Tell that to James when he wakes up," Catgirl said flatly.

Carlos limped through the door last. "He's not awake?"

"Not yet."

Penny heard a soft noise from the back. "Is James there?" she asked Catgirl. When the girl nodded, Penny headed in that direction, desperate to see James and to apologize. There had to be a way to make it up to him, to all of them.

But Carlos had frozen, a look of concentration on his face. "Wait - Penny!" He stopped her just as she reached the doorway. "Don't go in," he whispered. Something about the intensity in his big brown eyes made her obey.

"What - " she started to ask, but Carlos pulled her away until she finally shrugged him off.

Catgirl was watching them curiously. "What's up, Carlos?" she asked.

"I heard Logan's voice in my head. Like...I know he's not here, but if he was, I know what he'd say. He'd say not to go in there." Carlos explained.

"Understood. But why - "

A thin wail of anguish stopped them cold, followed by harsh, smothered sobs that in no way sounded like they came from Kendall Knight. Carlos' eyes filled with tears and he tugged at the girls until they followed him back to the main room.

It still wasn't far enough away.

James first registered nothing but pain, overwhelming pain from so many places that he couldn't think. But a sound was pulling at him, begging him to focus on it...a familiar voice - was that...Kendall?

But he was sobbing, apologizing with broken words. Why? James couldn't think. What had happened?

"...should've... been there...didn't...protect you...so sorry..."

Ohhh.

This, James understood. He groaned first because moving hurt, but he did it anyway. Opening his eyes to slits, he reached out and found Kendall's shaking frame on the bed beside him. "No...no, Kendall, stop," he whispered, trying to pull his friend closer.

Kendall was stiff and unyielding at first, still shaking with sobs. "I thought- I - you -" he said, clutching at James' arm.

"Please. Stop." James pulled at Kendall weakly until he relented and shifted forward, letting his forehead rest on James' chest. His shuddering slowed and he sucked in a few rough breaths, one hand clutching at James' side.

"There was a dead body...downstairs," Kendall said finally. "I thought we were too late."

James grimaced. He couldn't imagine how awful that had been. "'s okay. I'm here," he said, patting Kendall's back with one hand. "I'm f-f-fine."

"No. No, you're not!" Kendall said instantly, sitting up, his eyes red and watery. "I just looked!"

"Okay, but...I'm going to be fine." James' eyes slipped shut again, after he caught Kendall shaking his head in disagreement. There was a heavy silence.

"What did he do to you?...James?"

James blinked his eyes open and wished he'd kept them shut. As soon as he heard the question, it was like he was back in that room again. He could see the horrible clown over him with the blade and the hate in his eyes. "He tried to kill me," James whispered, his eyes going glassy. "He wanted to but...but Catgirl... "

It was a long moment before Kendall could say anything in return. "James?" He pressed a hand to James' shoulder and waited until those wide, hazel eyes were focused on him again. "He's gone. He's dead. And I'm here now, okay?" James nodded. "I'm here. Just...rest for a bit while I figure out how to get us out of here." James sighed and let his eyes fall shut again in relief.

Kendall held himself together for another minute with intense concentration while James fell back asleep. Even with the blanket pulled up, there were obvious handprint bruises on James' neck where the fucking clown had apparently tried to strangle him, and a wide array of dark marks scattered across his shoulders and around his arms and wrists. Those looked similar to Kendall's, the ones he'd gotten from being tied up for hours. Hidden under the blanket James also had seven bandages on his abdomen and one long, thick bandage on his right thigh.

For some reason it was that injury that made Kendall grind his teeth until he lost it again.

Penny kept silent as long as she could while pretending not to listen to such a private moment. It made her intensely uncomfortable and sad. But eventually she had to ask, "Is this...normal?"

"No! He doesn't...that's not normal. At all. It's just..." Carlos shrugged. "Logan says you have to give them space sometimes when they're being...intense. Even if it's because they're fighting. Even if you're just trying to help - you shouldn't. It can make everything worse."

From the back continued a horrible mix of Kendall's soft sobbing and James' pained but reassuring voice. So Carlos found himself talking more, explaining things he'd never tried to put into words before. "Kendall's really strong - so strong that he can't look weak or feel weak. And something about James being hurt...it just..." He gave a fleeting uncomfortable smile. "I mean, there was this one game where a guy on the other team slammed James into the boards so hard that he broke three ribs and got a concussion. He had to go to the hospital in the middle of the game and Kendall just sort of stood there with the most horrible look on his face. Logan couldn't even get him to talk.

"And as soon as the game started back up, he went for the guy that did it and had to be dragged off him. He got put in the penalty box but as soon as he timed out, he went for the guy again. Coach was so red in the face and yelling and everybody was telling Kendall to stop but he wouldn't listen. They had to wrestle him off the guy to put him back in the box."

"And he didn't stop that time, either, right," Catgirl said with a smirk.

"No," Carlos agreed. "But this time he waited until the game was over. And as soon as the buzzer sounded, he smashed the guy into the boards at full speed. WHAM! And then the other team jumped Kendall, so we all jumped in and started brawling. It was kind of fun, but we got in so much trouble, especially Kendall. Coach made him do extra laps every practice, and thirty community service hours and demoted him from Captain for four games. But he didn't care. He wasn't sorry, not even when Mama Knight grounded him for two weeks. No one messes with James, not when Kendall's around."

"That's sweet," Penny said.

Carlos frowned at her. "No, it's not. You've never seen it. It's scary. And something like this...it's Kendall's worst nightmare."

Penny studied the floor intently. This was new information. Really, she should consider Kendall a ticking time bomb. Moon had attacked the boys several times over the past weeks and now, James was seriously injured and Kendall had just confronted that fact.

The voices from the back were quiet now and Carlos figured that was long enough. "Hey. Give me a minute, okay?"

Both of the girls nodded and Penny gave him a soft smile as he hurried off. Truly, it was touching how close all the boys were - in that very American, demonstrative way - and it was obvious that Carlos needed to be near them now, alone.

Carlos wasn't surprised to see Kendall sitting on the bed by James' side, sobbing silently into his hands. He was torn over who to go to, but figured Kendall wouldn't want anyone watching him. So Carlos moved to the other side and fell to his knees, torn up to see how pale and still James was against the covers. Slowly, he moved in and buried his face beside James' shoulder. "Jaaaaames...are you alive?" he sobbed out.

James stirred and cracked his eyes, smiling when he saw Carlos. "Buddy! You're here!" He reached down to help Carlos come in for a hug, though he did suck in a breath of what sounded like pain. Carlos ignored it, so glad to hold his friend, even if James smelled more of blood and disinfectant than his normal warm, spicy scent.

"James?" Kendall said, sitting up, sounding alarmed.

"'s fine," James said.

"Carlos, back up," Kendall said not unkindly, helping him ease off of James. Carlos felt bad and then worse when he saw how red Kendall's eyes were. Should he have waited longer?

"'S fine, 'los," James insisted in a quiet voice. "Hugs are good for me."

"It's not fine, James," Catgirl said from the door. "You have to be careful."

"You did a good job. I'm fine," James insisted. "Really, Carlos," he added, since his friend looked like a kicked puppy.

Kendall narrowed his eyes. "Fine? Then what's under the bandages?" he said, an undercurrent of fury lacing his words.

Carlos exchanged a quick look with Catgirl, who ignored his laser-warning eyes and said, "Anton and his blade got hold of James this morning, sliced him pretty good. But I think the bleeding has stopped."

James' eyes fell shut. "Shit," he whispered under his breath.

Kendall's eyes had gone wide and he was suddenly vibrating with anger. "Anton the fucking clown did this? He tortured him?" he bit out.

Catgirl nodded, a little less casual this time when she said, "Which is why I killed him with one of his own blades."

Kendall's fierce gaze met hers and after a tense moment, they seemed to agree over something. Kendall broke away and turned to sit on the edge of the bed, visibly shaking. James reached out a hesitant hand and rubbed his back.

"Can someone get me some water," James said vaguely. Catgirl nodded and walked off. "Kendall, it's all over now. Please calm down. Carlos?" His gaze wandered until he finally found his friend. "Hey. Where's Logan?"

Carlos sighed. "He's still at the hospital with a cast on one wrist and bandages on the other, plus a sprained ankle. They had just given him pain pills before we left and he was so loopy he wasn't making any sense. So, we had to leave him. He's going to be so pissed when he wakes up."

Logan's whole body felt heavy and slow when he awoke. He really would have rather gone back to sleep, but there was an annoying noise breaking into his cloudy thoughts, like a rhythmic snap. What was that?

He finally managed to coordinate his attempts to turn his head and saw a blurry figure sitting in a chair by his bed. It was Mama Knight, and her attention was fixed on a magazine she was flipping through with a viciousness that sent alarm bells going off in Logan's head. Why are we at DEFCON 2?

Before he could speak, the empty bed behind Mama Knight caught his eye. Why was there an empty bed in his hospital room - wait! He whipped his head around and found another empty bed on the other side of the room. "Wait," he said, holding out both his hands and getting momentarily side-tracked by the cast on one wrist and the bandages on the other. He quickly reshuffled his memories and understood. "Wait," he repeated even louder and then found the control for the bed and angrily pushed it until he was sitting up.

Then he turned to Mama Knight, who by now had stopped flipping pages and was waiting for his question. "Did I dream that Kendall and Carlos have taken off with Penny Lane, the British secret agent, to go and rescue James from Atticus Moon? I mean, it had to be a dream, right? Because that makes no sense at all!"

Jennifer nodded at him, "You're right. It makes no sense at all. But that is exactly where Kendall went, according to his note!" She tossed a note on the bed and Logan grabbed it, reading it frantically.

Be back soon with James. Tell the cops to interview the guy in room 223. He has some information on Moon and we may need back-up. Logan, you know why we left you. See you soon.

love, Kendall and Carlos

"What?! That's it? Did you call the police?"

"Of course I did," Jennifer said loudly. "But they're relying on the local police in Savage where Moon's mansion is and they just got on duty a few minutes ago. They'll send someone over 'soon,'" she snapped, putting up air quotes as sarcastically as possible.

"Soon? SOON!? The man has James and a sadistic clown. You put those two things together and bad things happen!"

"I know!" she yelled, throwing her magazine to the floor. "And by now he could have Kendall and Carlos, too! And do you know what I can do about it? Nothing! Not a damn thing!"

Logan shook his head in horror. "I'm going to kill them," he said venomously before crumpling the note up as hard as he could and throwing it down with emphasis.

"Hey Logan, you're awake," Katie said as she walked in the room, noticeably cheerful. Logan and Mama Knight exchanged suspicious glances.

"Why aren't you worried? Why are you so cheerful? Are those M & Ms?" Logan interrogated her.

Katie smiled, but Logan could see the worry underneath. "Sure, have some." She tossed him a bag. "They help a lot, actually. This is my fourth bag! But also, I feel better now that I placed a certain phone call." She sat down in a vacant chair smugly, putting more candy in her mouth.

"Katie," Logan said, one eyebrow raised.

"What did you do," her mom continued, scrutinizing her carefully.

"I just called the bomb hotline and explained exactly what Atticus Moon has hidden in his stronghold: guns, bombs, missiles and my brothers," she ticked them off on her fingers.

"Clever. How do you know all of that information?" Logan asked.

"Well, while you were sleeping, I snuck into the hospital room of that carny that Kendall talked to. He told me everything." She frowned. "And then I told the hotline operator whatever I needed to in order to get them to take me seriously. They'll send a bomb squad in about fifteen minutes." She tossed a few more of the candies in her mouth. "They'll probably send a SWAT team, too, now that they know there's hostages. Moon's not going to know what hit him."

"Katie," Jennifer said, "I have never been more proud of you than I am at this moment."

Kendall was shaking under James' hand. He couldn't stand it. He couldn't stand the weakness in James' voice, the blood under the covers and the fact that his best friend had been tortured. They all had in some way, all four of them.

And the worst part was that Moon had gotten away with all of it - the attack of the rats, the purple goo and the darts and being kidnapped and tied up for literal hours. It had all worked perfectly because they had played right into his hands. They'd been so stupid. Of course Moon wasn't going to be satisfied with a prank like sending rats through a concert venue. Kendall should have seen it coming; he should've protected his friends - should have fought back or figured it out and showed up on Moon's doorstep a long time ago.

Atticus Moon didn't care that Logan could have died in that elevator shaft or that Kendall could have broken his back or that Carlos could have been cut just as badly as James if that carny hadn't stopped Anton. And James - James could have ended up like the EMT, slashed bloody and lifeless and wrapped in a -

No. Kendall was up and moving out of the room. Moon is going to fucking pay.

"Kendall - don't!" James called after him helplessly. "Carlos - " But Carlos was already out the door, too. James sighed. "See? This is why we need Logan - to go after Kendall," he said to the empty room. "And then it all works. Because then Carlos would be here to help me up."

But as he laid there, a figure stepped away from the shadows, someone he'd last seen in his dreams. James blinked several times as she approached, expecting her to vanish...but she was still there.

"...Penny?" She smiled at him, tears in her eyes. "Wait, how are you here? Am I dying? Oh my god - is my life flashing in front of my eyes?"

Penny took his hand in her very real ones and sat where Kendall had been minutes ago, calming him immediately. Her hands were warm and soft. "No, I'm real, you silly American."

"I thought you were...weren't you in training?"

"Yes, but then I heard Moon got out of prison and I had to come help. I was just a little too late. I'm so sorry."

"For what? I mean...you aren't too late. I still need you. My best friend just stalked off to find and destroy Atticus Moon with only Carlos to stop him and here I am, pretty much useless. Would you mind helping me up?" James raised his eyebrows, looking charmingly embarrassed for a moment.

"Of course I wouldn't mind," Penny said softly, caressing his cheek before leaning down to place a gentle kiss on his lips. "That's why I'm here," she reassured him. It was hard to ignore how pale he was, but she managed it. "I do think it's going to hurt, though."

"Definitely," Catgirl agreed, walking in from the hallway, "and since he weighs approximately the same as a Volkswagen - get ready."

"Hey," James said indignantly, "it's not my fault. Muscles and awesomeness just weigh more."

"I've definitely seen the statistics on that," Penny agreed.

Catgirl tilted her head. "Boy, someone's been drinking the Kool-aid. But, I guess, for a guy, he's not too bad. C'mon, lover-boy," she stepped up to the other side of the bed and took his hand and shoulder to ease him up. James grimaced as both girls pulled him into a sitting position.

"I think...on another day, I would really be enjoying this," he admitted, sucking in a pained breath as hefted his legs to the side and prepared to stand. Catgirl moved around the bed to get under his left side as Penny took his right.

James groaned as he stood, resting his arms on the shorter girls and trying to blink the spots and tears out of his eyes. "He's lost a lot of blood," Catgirl said in a low voice to Penny. "He needs to move slowly." James seemed not to hear; he'd gone a shade paler.

"That bad?" she asked him.

He nodded, his eyes closed. The girls exchanged worried looks. How were they going to get him out of here?

Kendall was muttering to himself as he strode forward. "I will find a way to crush him and I won't stop until he's begging for mercy. Begging for mercy!" he announced to the empty atrium he'd somehow ended up in. "Where the hell am I? Is this still the Fallout Shelter? Carlos?" He spun around to find his friend just behind him. "Are you seeing this? It's completely- "

"...awesome," Carlos breathed. "Look! It's a -"

"Bowling alley?" Kendall asked in amazement. "You've got to be kidding me! He has his own bowling alley in his fallout shelter? Who the fuck has this much money?!" He moved on, but Carlos was transfixed.

It looked like someone had sliced four lanes out of a regular bowling alley and somehow laid them here. It was coming alive as he watched, slices of neon color lighting up the walls along with a huge moon and stars. Music filled the space along with the sounds of a few video game machines somewhere out of sight. Man, did he want to go try it out!

But he needed to stay with Kendall, so he pulled himself away only to stop in stunned amazement again twenty feet away. Kendall was there, already staring in disbelief. "He also has a McDonald's in his fallout shelter," he said tonelessly.

Carlos knew that was a bad sign, but he just couldn't take his eyes off all the chrome and the McDonald's menu and the ball pit and the -

"Wait, there's no people, but look - it's all ready. I bet he has robots! I bet there are robots who make the food! Remember, we didn't see a single person outside?"

"Yeah, I guess," Kendall said, following him in a few steps despite himself. There was no one manning the counter, but the menu overhead was lit up and ready. Several beeps came from different directions as Carlos reached the counter and stepped into the red circle on the floor. The song "Moonlight Sonata" started up on the jukebox in the corner.

"Strange choice, but whatever," Carlos summed it up. "Hey, can I get a Big Mac and fries and a Coke? To go?"

A robotic voice repeated back, "One Big Mac, one large fries and a large Coke to go?"

"You got it right! Yeah," Carlos agreed. "But I should get one for James, too! He's gotta' be starving! Hey, can you double that? Kendall, you want anything?"

"No," came the answer in a tone that made Carlos wince.

"Okay, so just double the order then."

"You want two Big Macs, two large fries and two large Cokes to go."

"Yes, please. And do you, like, let people go back in the kitchen? I just wanna' watch! I won't get in the way or anything."

"No. You may not watch the food being prepared. This kitchen is not safe for human occupation," the voice answered.

"Aw, man," Carlos said disappointedly. "But are there robots back there?"

"There are."

"Aw, cool!" Carlos tried to peer through the delivery window, but there were only a few robotic arms moving and lifting things while whirring and frying sounds came from somewhere in the back "But I can't even see them from here. Kendall, are you sure you're not hungry?"

"Oh, I'm sure," he said loudly, swinging a golf club into the jukebox with an almighty CRASH!

Moonlight Sonata paused, but kept going, a little stretched out and warped-sounding. "Dude!" Carlos said. "Do you hate the song that much?"

Kendall's answer was to rear back and hit it again and again and again, until the music stopped. Carlos, who had somehow forgotten that he was out here to calm Kendall down, stood off to the side, disappointed in himself.

His friend glared. "Moon doesn't get to have all of this stuff after what he's done." Carlos nodded vehemently and felt relieved when Kendall stalked off to the bowling alley next. Part of why he was good at distracting people was that he was honestly good at getting distracted himself. Sometimes, it was a problem.

When a robotic arm slipped two fries into a bag with two burgers and slid it on a tray, Carlos moved quietly to the side of the counter that had a PICK UP sign overhead. The sound of soda being put into a cup came from below the counter and a robotic arm lifted two drinks up and placed them on Carlos' tray.

"Cool," he said quietly to himself. "I'm gonna' go find James...and...eat this." He practically tiptoed away. He knew why Kendall was angry. Carlos was angry, too. Moon was a horrible person who had done nothing but make their lives miserable since the tour had started. So, really, Carlos shouldn't be excited about eating these fries and a Big Mac from Moon's own private McDonald's. But...the fact was that he was really hungry. And he was pretty sure James was, too.

He scooted out of the McDonald's and headed for James' room, wincing as the sounds of Kendall smashing more things came from behind. The smell of hot fries wafted up into his face and tempted him beyond what he could bear. Balancing the tray on his left arm and under his chin (yes, he'd done this before) he used his right hand to grab a fry out of the bag.

It was hot, as was to be expected, but so what? Carlos balanced the tray between both hands again and bent his head down to get the fry in his mouth. Then he closed his eyes to savor the salty, hot amazing taste of potatoes and grease and salt. It was heaven as he bit through the crispy outside and into the soft interior of the fry. A groan of contentment left him and he rushed to find a table to set the tray on.

Of course, by now he was back in the living area of the shelter but he ignored that and stuffed more fries in his face. They were so good, in fact, better than any fries he'd had in a long time. Hang on - was it possible...did robots make better fries than people? Carlos stood straight up and turned to see that Kendall was heading into the McDonald's, golf club raised high.

"No!" Carlos said, racing to stop his friend, then turned back to grab a few fries before heading to stop his friend once again. "These fries are perfect!" he said, falling to his knees in front of Kendall, who had frozen in shock.

"What did you say?"

Carlos sucked in a breath. "These fries are perfect and you can't destroy a McDonald's that makes perfect fries! Just try them, you'll love them, I promise."

Kendall hesitated. "I don't care, Carlos. Those are Moon's fries and he's evil. He doesn't deserve to have hot fries whenever he wants them!"

"You're right," Carlos admitted, jumping to his feet. "But he's not getting these fries. They're mine. And he owes us fries, Kendall! Like a ton of them as...repairment for all the stuff he's done to us."

"Reparation?"

"Right. He owes us fries, Kendall, you know he does."

Kendall's stomach growled loudly. "Yeah, okay." He took a fry. It was actually...magnificent.

By the time James and the girls arrived, Kendall had calmed down and was sitting at a table with Carlos eating...McDonald's?

"James! Look- I got you a Big Mac and fries!" Carlos beamed as he jumped up and pulled out a chair for him. "Are you hungry?"

Slowly, James smiled.

Author's Note: There, see? He's smiling and he's almost safe! Almost.