Fic: Big Time Cowboys 1/?

[youngeratheart.livejournal.com]

Big Time Cowboys
Chapter One
Word Count: 2,560
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Kendall/Jo, Logan/Camille, Ty/Amy, Lou/Peter (but don't expect that to last, I chose this setting for a reason), Lou/Scott, and possibly a bit of Jack/Lisa.
Disclaimer: I'm never going to grow up. That means... I'm not legally responsible for anything, right?
Summary: Four teenage boys. Two weeks. One ranch. Who will survive?
Spoilers: Nothing past Eye of the Wolf for Heartland, season 2 of Big Time Rush
Author's Note: I know I already have one story in the works. That's more than enough, usually. I'm starting another one for a few reasons. First, I told myself I wanted to be more active in contributing to the lb_heartland  community (I created it, I should do more for it) and supportive of Heartland in general. Second, I realized in rewatching Eye of the Wolf just how much I wanted to do a story where Lou split from Peter and got back with Scott. Third, I managed to hook my nephew on Big Time Rush, and I thought it would be nice if I had a story he could read for a change.

So the story starts just after the Ty and Scott were rescued from the plane crash, though I don't have anything quite as specific for BTR. I guess after Green Time Rush, just to be safe.

---

The Set Up

 

"Okay, where in our contract does it say we have to do this?" Kendall asked, looking at Gustavo in disbelief. He was not going to do this. They were not going to do this. Since coming to LA, they had done a lot of things that they would never have done in Minnesota, worn clothes that they would never wear back home, almost lost their identities several times, and almost been known as space matadors with fluffy puppies, but this... this was unbelievable.

"Right here," Kelly said, pointing to the section, in the small print, and he winced as he exchanged looks with the other guys. It was in the contract. This was not good. They'd need Katie and a team of lawyers to get out of this. Kendall needed more time to plan, but he wasn't sure he could pull this off. "You did read the contract, didn't you?"

"Of course I did. Then I made Logan translate it. Katie read it to make sure we had the best deal," Kendall said, turning to his friends again. Logan shrugged.

"I could have been wrong about the translation?" Logan suggested, willing to take the blame. It wasn't his fault, though. This was Gustavo's idea, after all. "Or... Katie could have wanted to stay in LA so much that she didn't tell us the truth."

"With her love of money?" Kendall asked incredulously. He knew his sister, and he knew that she would never have let them sign a contract that didn't give them the best of all possible options. She was demanding and ruthless. He loved her for it, really. "Why would she lie about this?"

"To see us humiliated, maybe?" Logan shrugged helplessly, looking at the others. He shook his head. "Because we will be by the time this is over."

"Not to mention that the cowboy look does not suit me," James added. He gestured to his complete ensemble. "This is what suits me. I look awesome."

"This is an amazing opportunity for us, guys. You need to do this," Kelly told them. She smiled, and it was clear that she believed it. Sometimes it was easier if they had her on their side, but they worked around her enough to know it was possible to do it without her. If Kendall could come up with a plan, that was.

He looked at her. "Have you seen the script? You do realize that we have a part in this so-called movie that is less than five minutes long, and yet you want us to go off to cowboy camp? For two weeks?"

"You dogs cannot afford to embarrass me," Gustavo said, pointing to all of them. "It doesn't matter how small a part this is. The movie is being backed by our corporate sponsors and filmed by a big time director. Getting a walk-on role in one of his movies launched the career of some of the biggest stars around."

"Uh, and the fact that his last ten movies have been flops and the critics call him a has-been has no meaning for you?" Kendall asked, shaking his head again.

"This movie is his big come back, and with Big Time Rush on board, it is going to be great," Kelly insisted. She glanced at Gustavo. "You are already a part of a huge come back. You boys think you can do it twice?"

"We can," James agreed, striking a pose. Kendall looked at him. "Kendall, we are going to be in a movie. A movie. Who cares what it is? We will be on the big screen."

"It wasn't enough to be on the walls of millions of girls if we were going to be space matadors with fluffy puppies," Kendall reminded him, and James winced. Kendall knew his friend wanted to be popular, to be a star, and he was willing to do almost anything to get there. James was driven. At least the rest of them weren't that crazy.

James adjusted his jacket. "I can pick my own wardrobe, right?"

"There is a ninety percent chance that if this movie fails, our popularity will go down with it," Logan added. Kelly took away his calculator. He frowned, his lip quivering a little.

"Carlos, you haven't said anything," Kelly began. "What do you think?"

"I'm gonna ride a horse!" he cried happily, getting out of his chair and bouncing around. "Horses are cool."

"You won't think so when it throws you off," Kendall told him. Carlos tapped the helmet and kept bouncing.

Gustavo glared at them. "Carlos, stop bouncing. All of you, out of my office. You leave for the cowboy camp tomorrow, and there is no way you're getting out of it, so don't even bother trying."

They filed out of the room, and Logan turned to Kendall. "Please tell me you have a plan. Do you have any idea the kind of injuries we could get while riding horses? Those things are... big."

"I know," Kendall assured him. "I'm working on it."

---

"Absolutely not!" Amy protested as she dropped her fork. Her sister had just dropped one heck of a bombshell on them this breakfast. "I am not doing that again. Lou, the last time was a disaster. How could you do this? We are not taking on a team of teenage boys and teaching them to ride."

"This is different," Lou began, and Amy started to shake her head again. Lou held up her hand. "Let me finish. I am not talking about one pampered starlet who did, as you will recall, endorse Heartland in the end—and no, I am not saying that excuses what she did to Pegasus or the grief she caused you, but we are not dealing with her."

"No, just four teenage boys. Are you crazy?"

"No, I'm not and if you would quit interrupting me, maybe I could explain why I was willing to agree to this—and it is not just about the money. Actually, they didn't want separate rooms, so we're not making great money at the Dude Ranch, but we are going to have a chance to teach an up and coming band about horses. They're not spoiled. They're four boys who played hockey until last year and are now a band. They just had their first tour. Something like this, at the start of their career, is good for all of us. We get the exposure for helping them learn their part in a big movie, one that is supposed to be the come back movie of the year, but we also don't have to put up with any spoiled stars."

"Just four teenage boys," Jack grumbled. "Lou, I wish you had talked to me about this. I don't like this idea."

"I know, and I'm sorry, but I didn't have a chance to talk to you before it was all resolved. The boys' producer is not exactly someone who takes no for an answer, and I think we may have been his last resort."

"Great! That makes it even better," Amy said, getting up and going to the fridge. She needed to cool off for a minute. "Why are we the last resort?"

"I'm sure it's just a distance thing. The boys have been living in California for the past year, and Alberta is not exactly next door."

"It's a whole different country!" Amy reminded her, shaking her head. "If there is no dude ranch within the United States willing to take these guys on, shouldn't we be worried? What is wrong with them?"

"They're teenage boys," Jack said. "That's all the answer you need."

"Oh, come on, Jack, we grow on you," Ty said with a grin, coming into the kitchen. Amy smiled when she saw him. She had been worried about him after all that happened, with the plane crash and everything. She really needed a chance to talk to him and see how he was doing. "Right?"

"One was bad enough, but four?" Jack asked grumpily. "I'm too old for this kind of stress."

"It will be okay, Grandpa, I promise," Lou began, but before she could say anything else, the phone rang. She got up and answered it. "Heartland. Lou Fleming speaking. Oh, yes, Kelly. Really? I wasn't aware that—oh, no, two more should be fine. No, I'm sure it won't be a problem. I can easily accommodate them. They won't have a problem with the natural facilities? Good. Then we'll see you all tomorrow."

Amy looked over at Ty and Jack, silently begging them for help. Lou had just agreed to two more boys coming? Was she crazy? No, Amy already knew her sister was, but this was worse than usual. "Lou?"

"Before everyone panics, I did not agree to two more teenage boys."

"Well, that's something, I suppose," Jack began.

"It's two teenage girls," Lou finished, and everyone stared at her. "Kendall, the unofficial leader of Big Time Rush, has a girlfriend who's an actress on New Town High, and she was just cast for a role in the same movie along with another girl. They're joining the boys here at 'cowboy camp.'"

"Lou, you have got to be kidding."

"Did I hear right?" Mallory asked, bursting in the door. "You have Big Time Rush coming to Heartland? Really?"

Jack groaned. "This is a disaster already."

Mallory straightened up, pulling on her shirt and trying to look completely casual. "I mean, it's not like I like them or anything. It's just that they're celebrities, and maybe I could get their autographs?"

Amy glanced at the magazine in her hands. The band was on the cover, billed as the next big teen sensation and someone's big come back. "And the fact that they're four cute guys has nothing to do with it, right?"

Mallory blushed. Ty grabbed the magazine. "Cute? You think they're cute?"

Lou had disappeared in the middle of the commotion, and Amy heard the door slam shut as Grandpa went outside. She sighed. It was going to be a very long two weeks.

---

"Quit glaring at me," Kendall said from the back of the van. "I tried. You have to admit, I tried. I got us blacklisted from all of the ranches in the continental US. That alone is pretty darn impressive."

"But we're still going to cowboy camp," Logan said. "There are... horses there."

"Admit it, Logie, you're just afraid of making a fool of yourself in front of Camille now that she's going to be there," James said, leaning over the back of the seat. "And the reason that Kendall didn't find a way out of this Heartland place is because his girlfriend is going to be there."

"That is not true. The last thing I want to do is look like an idiot on a horse in front of Jo," Kendall protested. "I did my best. I thought I'd managed to get Lou or whoever she was talked out of the idea. I went on and on about hockey and the kind of pranks we pulled, and it didn't seem to phase her. Then someone shouted something about this search and rescue team, and she said everything would be fine and hung up. Come on, I did get cowboy camp delayed for almost three weeks."

"But we still have to go. And we're going to have to make up all the class work for school, too," Logan said, thinking of the stacks of work their teacher had prepared. The only time it had been worse was when they'd gotten back from their tour. "It's a lot of work."

"Don't worry, Logan. You don't have to do it in one day, and not for all of us," Kendall promised.

"Though you could do mine," James offered with a bright smile.

"No."

"Horsies!" Carlos cried, pointing out the window, his face up against the glass. "Look at them, guys! They're so... so..."

"Big," Logan finished with a moan, looking at one that would have rivaled the black stallion. He winced. This was going to end badly and in a lot of pain. He didn't need any math to tell him that. Kendall gave him a look of pity as the van pulled to a stop in front of the house.

"Hey, look at the bright side," Kendall began, but his smile wasn't convincing. "At least there's no Gustavo for the next two weeks."

"Yeah, and that's about the best part of this," Logan muttered.

"No, the best part is the horses," Carlos cried, jumping out of the sliding door as soon as he had it open, running towards the field.

"He's gonna get—" Logan began, and the other boys all winced as Carlos hit the fence. The black horse whinnied and ran off in the opposite direction. "—hurt."

"Come on, we better go get him," Kendall said, moving from the back seat to climb out of the side door. "Logan? Future doctor? We need you."

He nodded reluctantly. He didn't want to go anywhere near that horse. Oh, he'd ridden a horse, once, but it was James and Kendall pretending to be a horse, and that was not the same thing. It hadn't been a very long ride, either. He followed the other boys over to where Carlos was, helping him to his feet. "Next time, wait for someone to open the gate."

"I just need to jump higher," Carlos insisted, looking a bit dazed.

"Boys!" a voice called, and they turned around. Logan felt his mouth drop open. He wasn't the only one, either. They were staring at two very beautiful women. One was older, must have been the one that ran the place, but the younger one was blonde and hot and wearing a tight blouse and even tighter jeans.

"Holy cowgirl," someone whispered.

"Hello there," the taller, older brunette began. "I'm Lou Fleming, and this is my sister Amy. Amy's the horse expert who will be helping you four with your riding."

"Really?" James' voice came out kind of high on that one. He put on his I'm about to impress a pretty girl face and smiled. "I mean, of course you are. And it is going to be one amazing education, I'm sure."

"And I'm Ty," a deeper voice said, and they turned to see a tall, dark haired boy in dark clothes standing to the other side. There was Gustavo's bad boy right there. "I'll be showing you where you're staying."

"Cool," the boys said in unison.

"And I'm Amy's boyfriend," he added, causing the four of them to cringe. Despite the somewhat constant nature of time—it was only the perception of time that changed— Logan knew that this was going to be a long two weeks.