The boys stood stock-still, hardly registering that they were even breathing until someone finally broke the silence.

"What... What just happened...?"

It was Carlos who mumbled that along with a string of Spanish verbiage that his Papi wouldn't be happy about him even knowing, let alone repeating.

It was madness for the next few minutes as personnel scrambled around the boys mainly to clean up the mess.

The more mature two of the trio (if not by much) were so far gone that they had to be led around by the now frantic Latino as he dragged them over to the on-site hospital where not only their boss but a semi-conscious Logan awaited them.


When they got to the infirmary, Kelly was barely able to even look at them, let alone form her next sentences, as she doted on her now wounded boss.

"B-Boys...?"

Logan was little better off, though the facilities were helping with his recovery, he was still resting.

The remaining three envied him.

James had finally remembered how to speak, though his voice was chillingly fragile as opposed to the self-confident aura he prided himself on exuding.

"Is he...gonna be okay?"

The almost childlike fear in his tone nearly broke the assistant's heart in two, but she managed to get herself together enough to respond.

"He'll recover. The doctors said that he's very lucky that the slash only grazed his side. If things had been different..."

No one had the courage to finish that thought, as if they needed to anyway.

Silence reigned until none other than Ibuki walked in, possibly to check on Logan.

The girl looked completely different from back at the party or even earlier when she woke them up. A practiced mix of hardened features and concerned eyes gave off the impression of someone much older than the young adult before the group of foreigners.

She had seen conflict before.

Letting down her mask, she spoke. "What happened?"

Since Kendall hadn't so much as opened his mouth since the fighting stopped, it fell to Carlos and James to explain their side as best they could (with Kelly intervening when she could).

What the ninja girl picked up on as they were talking was the leader of the band finally mutter something.

"N-No..."

As Kendall began to shake his head in disbelief, Ibuki's features began straddling the line between wariness and concern. Something was wrong...

She was right, and luckily still in a position to catch him while he was unsteady on his feet before he could fall to the floor, passed out.

The terrified shout from the Americans was enough to jar Logan awake.

"KENDALL!"


Nobody had wanted to tell Logan about what had happened. That was more than clear enough from the apparent vow of silence that everyone had taken from the moment he'd woken up (except Ibuki, who was abruptly shushed before she could've said anything).

The smarter band-mate wasn't fooled, however. He took a look around the room at the simmering cauldron of grief, anger, and sadness and started to rattle off questions as his stress level rose.

"What...happened? Where's Kendall? What happened to Gustavo? Wait...if we're in an infirmary, then where are Mama Knight and Katie?!"

Many sets of eyes darted around the area, clearly expecting someone else to speak first. Kelly eventually did, dried tears evident on her face.

"Well...they..."

"They were taken. Kidnapped."

Everyone that wasn't the ninja girl jumped at what turned out to be Cammy walking in, face grave and composed.

Everyone except Carlos and James looked shocked as well as horrified.

As for them, the two exchanged a terrified, knowing look.

"That purple stuff..." Carlos started.

"...and the claw guy..." James continued.

"FANG and Vega, respectively," Cammy finished for them. "You're all lucky to be alive."

"Who are they, anyway?" It was Logan who spoke, his curiosity overpowering his fear and anxiety for the moment.

"Mercenaries. They work for a...certain orginazation." Cammy seemed to be choosing her words carefully. "Those two and that boxer Balrog were probably hired by FANG as a distraction to allow him to...abduct Katie."

Kelly couldn't help but burst back into tears at that. James and Carlos alike were fighting the urge to join in, and Logan was frozen in shock.

"Why?" Perhaps the bookworm of the band hadn't meant to ask aloud.

There was a very clear tone of vulnerability in Cammy's voice as her eyes went wide, and her mouth seemed to move unbidden. "To do horrible, unspeakable things."

No one dared raise the question of what said "unspeakable things" were. Judging by the traumatized look that the normally cool and detached blonde Brit had just given them, their worst fears probably wouldn't even compare to them...

"Doesn't matter. We're gonna go save her."

James shook his head slowly as he said it, something else besides fear and dread clicking in his normally appearance-obsessed brain.

Kendall, the boys' leader, was gone. He felt the instinctive need to step up. It was practically an unwritten rule in the dynamic of the group that was established well before they became a band.

They weren't just singers and hockey players, after all. They were brothers.

And this is what brothers did.

Cammy's mouth hung wide open for a second, taken aback by what the popstar just said before she fell back into a professional, stern glare. "You're daft if you think I'm going to let you do that…"

"You don't understand! That's Kendall's MOM and SISTER out there!" James shouted urgently.

To his credit, she did wince a little bit at this, particularly when the word "sister" came up. Her next words, while still firm, were still softer than previously.

"I… I understand your concern, but you still need to leave this to the professionals."

"Right. We'll handle this," Ibuki added, trying to be reassuring. The British woman rolled her eyes.

"I wasn't talking about you."

"What's that supposed to mean…?"

Ignoring her, she got out her phone and dialed a number.

"If you're done out there, you should come see us out in the infirmary. I don't think the boys have had a chance to actually meet you."


"I'm Agent Chun-Li. I work for Interpol."

The Chinese woman in the blue qipao took in the less-than-thrilled looks around her. After quickly getting their names, she parroted Cammy's resolve that they would handle this themselves.

Eventually, the obvious came up, thanks to Logan.

"Where's Kendall? Is he okay?!"

The woman's formal tone turned less comfortable. "Okay, yes…but there were…complications."

The smart boy was kind of afraid to ask, but… "What kind of 'complications'?"

"I take it Cammy told you about what we found? Well, your friend didn't take it very well…"

It was then that the group took notice of the slightly tattered state of the agent's clothing.

"Did you…get into a fight with him?"

She looked away ever so slightly. "It wasn't much of one. Kendall seemed pretty exausted from that battle with Shadaloo…"

"Where is he now?"

"In the hallway. That large man has him tied up just in case. I keep forgetting his name…"

"Birdie," the two standing boys supplied.

"Yeah. Him."

The two looked at Logan and Kelly, the former mouthing at them to "just go" as he looked back at Gustavo with concern and the latter implying the same with a sad yet serious look.


"Your friend, 'ere, he's really pushing it with me."

In the hallway not far from where their bosses and bandmate were, Kendall sat in chains, unconscious. Birdie was the one unfortunate enough to have to play warden to him, and on top of that, it was clear that for whatever reason, he didn't seem very happy to see Chun-Li, either.

The look on the Chinese woman's face made it very clear that the feeling was mutual.

Come to think of it, as far as the boys could tell, the large bodyguard looked a little roughed up himself….

"Sorry, Mr. Birdie, sir," Carlos went on, practically begging while trying to placate the man. "But this is why we need to go, and he needs to come with us! He's falling apart without his mom and sister…"

The large man shrugged slightly. "Hey, hey! I ain't gonna stop you. Thing is, it ain't my call."

James crossed his arms, antsy amidst his annoyance. "Let me guess. We'd have to clear this with Karin?"

"And those other guys… Your bosses."

The cop cleared her throat, drawing the boys' attention to her. "Don't forget about me and Cammy. How, pray tell, are you going to convince us to let you go?"

He raised a solitary pointer finger up before putting it back down again. "I...actually hadn't thought of that."

"Wait," Carlos pointed out. "We fought off those goons! C'mon, we can fight, honest!"

"The three of you also fought Vega, too. Tell me, do you really think that we'd be here talking right now if those two..."

"Gustavo and Kelly..." The taller boy supplied.

"...hadn't drawn his attention away?"

Neither the Caucasian nor Latino could say a word to that. Frustration was clearly bubbling underneath for both of them, though.

Her tone then switched from a more authoritative one to something more concerned and motherly sounding. "Look. I know that you mean well. And believe me, I know what it's like to have family taken by people like that. In a way, Cammy does too, but this is simply not safe for you. Please, just leave this to us."

James really didn't like that idea and was already running through ways to get around this in his head. There was absolutely NO WAY they were staying put. None of the four would be able to live with themselves if they just sat here while those monsters did God-knows-what to Mama Knight and Katie.

"W-What if we fight you?"

James just stared at his longtime friend. It may have been an idea borne from desperation, but it was the only one they had. Or at least, the only one that wouldn't most likely get them in some serious trouble...

If the woman wanted to laugh at him outright, she hid it well. She took a breath to hold back the smile forming on her face.

"I'm sorry, but you're not in either of our leagues. You really should just leave this to us."

"I'm serious," the tanned teen pressed, managing to keep up his uncharacteristically somber tone. "If we win, we... We can come with you."

"Are you mental, Mate?" Birdie asked, not quite believing what he was hearing, "She'll kick your ass! Believe me, I got experience…" He rubbed his backside unconsciously, as if making his point further.

The other three barely heard him as the officer stared at him for a moment, somewhat surprised that he was still so determined to go through with this before replying. "You two should try to get some rest. I'll...see what Cammy has to say about that, Carlos. James."

James couldn't help but be a little bit surprised. "You know us?"

For once, her serious demeanor dropped in favor of a giggle and something of a smile. "Yeah. James Diamond and Carlos Garcia of Big Time Rush. Even if Cammy hadn't briefed me after all the fighting stopped, I would've recognized you a mile away. A few of my students are absolutely obsessed with you guys!"

With a wave, she left, leaving the two flummoxed. They looked to Birdie and their captive friend.

"What?"

"Can we…take him now?" James uneasily asked. The large man shrugged and obliged.

"Your funeral, Pretty Boy."

After a hurried "thanks", they carried the now untied boy to an undamaged guest room, far away from the crime scene that was their other one.


Even later that night…

It had been a long night. After quite some time, Logan got the okay to get released, provided he stayed away from the physical stuff (which might have bothered him a touch had things been normal, even though he well knew why). The boys just wouldn't sleep without him, excluding Kendall, who was out like a light.

He, of course, had been absolutely flabbergasted when he learned what his friends had offered to Chun-Li.

"You're kidding, right?" He kept his voice low so as to not wake Ken. "We barely managed to beat Karin…combined! She would tear you apart, and you know it."

"Well, Jamie had another idea if that one didn't work…" Carlos trailed off.

"Like wh—" He stopped, his unseen eyes narrowing as reality hit him. "You're gonna try and sneak out, aren't you?"

The brunette was unapologetic. "What else are we supposed to do if we lose to her? Sit here?"

The answer Logan gave was matter-of-fact. "Yes. They're the professionals. We need to trust them to do their jobs."

"…and you'd be able to live with that?"

He paused. "I wouldn't…like it…"

"…and would you be able to live with yourself if we just left you here?"

James and Carlos didn't need to be able to see to understand that their brother was most likely face-palming.

" I hate it when you two do this…"

"…but you know we're right," the Latino added, finishing the thought with an uncharacteristic seriousness to his voice.

An exasperated sigh escaped his lips. He had to get better friends. " I don't know what I like less: you two getting your faces kicked in or you guys running off to God knows where with no idea what you're doing or even where you're going."

Carlos tilted his head in thought, though it was hard to see. A sly grin slowly appeared on his face. "How about we see what Kendall has to say about this?"

It took everything in Logan to keep himself from screaming. "Are you crazy? When he wakes up and remembers what happened, he'll attack us like a wild animal!"

The Latino shushed him before continuing on. "I didn't mean awake Kendall. I meant half-asleep Kendall."

The four of them all knew that the leader of the group when he was asleep was not to be violently woken up. Any attempt to do so would be met with death (or more accurately, a black eye and a few bruises). However, when he was only partially awake, he was often at his most rational oddly enough, probably because he knew that giving whoever was talking a straight answer was the quickest way to get himself back to dreamland.

"Fine. Just be extremely careful and don't say anything stupid…"

With the okay given, the Latino made his move slowly but surely rubbing his back, increasing in tempo just enough to get a response from a drowsy hockey player.

"What's it...going on...?"

The other two deliberately stayed quiet allowing the goofier boy to work his magic.

"Kenny... It's me."

His answer finally came from the band's leader, his voice heavy with sleep.

"Wha...'litos? Lose...helmet...again? Go get Logie."

"I don't lose it that often..."

Even in his current state, the blonde didn't miss a beat. "Yeah, you do."

Logan and James had to bite their tongues to stop themselves from chiming in with him. The former rolled his eyes regardless. It wasn't like Kendall or Carlos could see him...

He shook his head. It's not about that! We need your help deciding on something."

Kendall rolled over into a more comfortable position. "What…?"

The three awake boys took a minute or so to go through their options as quickly as they could.

"We're, uh, looking for someone."

"Who's… Should I be up for this…?"

In a desperate dance with his emotions, Carlos tried his hardest to strip the panic from his voice as the band leader almost woke up. "No, no! D-Don't worry, Kenny. We got this."

The boy yawned before continuing on. "'Kay. Just don't...wake up Katie or...Mom if you don't need to."

"Right..." With his guilt, the turning in the Latino's stomach escalated. He couldn't stop the next word from coming out. "Sorry..."

"For what...?"

Quickly realizing what he just said, he thought on the fly. "Uh, for waking you up and all."

"No prob..." For a second, it seemed like they were in the clear. Then, some more worried-sounding moans sounded from him.

"Check on Katie and Mom, please... Feel...worried about them for some reason."

The helmeted boy nearly had a heart attack when he heard that. He'd really thought he was awake there. Taking a deep breath to slow his heart rate, he let his next words out.

"We will. Night, Kenny."

He got a mumbled response that he couldn't quite make out before the sound of snoring took over.

They could hear Logan's exasperation clear through his whispering. "Well, that didn't help, did it?!"

"What was I supposed to say? The truth? I still wanna live, you know..."

The tonal change in his voice hinted at something else, despite his attempt at humor.

"I... I don't know what to do..."

Quiet reigned for what felt like hours.

"I can't believe I'm about to say this... But maybe we should sneak out."

This was the absolute last thing they'd expected to hear out of Logan's mouth. If this was some mere prank that they were getting ready for, James would have asked if the smarter of the bandmates was feeling okay and maybe

quipped about the other three of them being a "bad influence" on him, but now was not the time.

This was serious.

"You... You're not kidding, are you?"

"No."

"One problem: Kenny's still asleep!"

Carlos' point was a good one. Leaving him here simply wasn't an option, though. He'd tear the Estate apart!

"We'll have to take him. We'll find a way to break the news to him once we're on solid ground."

"Solid..." The black-haired boy's eyes widened. They wouldn't... "Tell me we're not going to steal one of Ms. Kanzuki's planes..."

Crickets.

"I..."

"Please, Logie? We need you! Mama Knight and Katie do, too."

"I know this is questionable man, but we don't have much time. I don't want to think about what those creeps'll do to them if we don't hurry..."

Eventually, the smart boy caved. This would not be the first time he reluctantly joined in with the boys to try and keep them safe even while they did something incredibly stupid, dangerous, and most likely illegal.

"Have I ever...mentioned how much I just hate you guys sometimes. I really have to get better friends..."

"¡Muchas gracias, Hermano! We'll have your back until the end!" After feeling around for a bit, Carlos managed to envelop him in a hug. They were broken up by Kendall stirring in his sleep.

They really needed to be more careful.