"State your name for the record, please."

"Kurt Elizabeth Hummel."

"Mr. Hummel, do you understand why you're here today?" "I do. You basically want to know if I've earned my freedom."

"Exactly. Now, you've already served eighteen months of your four-year sentence under the supervision of Special Agent Blaine Anderson. While confined to a tracking anklet, you've helped Agent Anderson clear a very impressive conviction rate. The best in the New York office, actually."

"We work well together."

"I can see that. As I'm looking at all the cases you've solved together, including catching Langdon Davies, one of FBI's most wanted, it seems to me that you are the poster-boy for reform, Mr. Hummel."

"What can I say, ma'am, I've tried my best."

"The question before this board is to determine whether you have truly changed. Over the next few days we'll be interviewing some of your colleagues and closest acquaintances. Agent Anderson will also give his own personal recommendation, but today we would like to interview you, Mr. Hummel. Do you think you deserve to be free?"

"That's not really my decision, is it? What I say here won't change your minds. If something has the power to actually make you see that I've reformed, it's what I've done during these eighteen months, not what I say. You already mentioned how I've helped Bl– Agent Anderson in his work, but I'd also like to point out that during my time with the FBI I have never relapsed back to the life of crime. That's because I'm done with it. For good. I don't want to be that person anymore. It's not who I am, it's not who I want to be. I... I became a criminal because I thought I had nothing else left, but these eighteen months have showed me that I still have a life. That I can be someone else. That I have the potential to do something other than just con people and live a lie, and that doing that would actually make me a lot happier."

"What would you do with your freedom, then, Mr. Hummel, if it was granted to you?"

"Um. I... I don't know, really? I'm pretty content with my life as it is right now, so even if I wake up in a few days and the anklet is still there, I wouldn't... I wouldn't be that disappointed. I have a nice job, I have friends, I have a life that I enjoy and someone who... who makes me happier than I've ever been before. I can definitely live like this. But to be free – to finally get the chance to be the person I've always wanted to be and to not be defined by my past anymore, to have the chance to be with the person... um, I mean, the people who mean the most to me, without my past getting in the way – it would... That would mean the world to me."

"But what would you do with that freedom, Mr. Hummel?"

"Oh. I'd probably... go home? And make that home an even better one. You know, someone that means a lot to me once said to me that I should stop feeling like I don't matter because of my past. That I am better than those lies and cons I came up with to get by, and maybe... If I was free, maybe I could finally be that better person in every single way. In every aspect of my life."

"Thank you, Mr. Hummel. We'll give you our answer by the end of this week."

"Thank you."

---

It turns out that four weeks really isn't that long a time. At first Kurt is still riding high from Davies's arrest and trying to actually understand the reality of his commutation hearing, and then there are new cases to work on, paperwork to write and evenings to spend together with Blaine – and before Kurt even has the chance to realize it, before he even has the chance to talk about the whole thing with Blaine, the four weeks are up and the U.S. Probation Office starts the interviews to decide whether or not he gets to go free.

It's one of the biggest decisions of his life, and it's all happening so fast, much quicker than Kurt ever anticipated. He thought he still had more than two years left on his deal, all that time to figure out what he wants to do with his life when it's completely his again. Of course there's still the chance that the commutation hearing won't pay off and he won't be set free. For the first three weeks or so he's actually one hundred per cent sure that the hearing will end up being nothing more than a nice gesture.

Of course he wants to be free; he wants to get rid of the anklet that still makes his skin itch when he has a bad day, wants to walk around New York City without thinking about the three-mile radius, wants to hold Blaine's hand in public without being worried about running into someone from the office.

He wants to be free, he wants everything that comes with it, but when has life ever given him exactly what he wants?

He even tells it all to Rachel and Santana one night when Blaine has a late-night stake-out and the three of them take over his loft for a celebration. There's wine and some weird vegan snacks Rachel has made, and for a few moments it feels just like old times. Santana gets too drunk, like she always does, and keeps asking about his and Blaine's sex life while Rachel tells him with a very serious expression that she was right all along and he should've already thought more about his future, and then Kurt finds himself letting it all out – all of his pent-up frustrations and wishes.

Kurt doesn't see himself as a pessimist, but he doesn't believe in rose-tinted glasses either, not after his mom, not after his dad and Carole, not after the years he spent on the run and on erasing almost everything that was left of him. He desperately wishes he could think differently, but the weeks rush by and he keeps on believing that the commutation hearing will be nothing more than just a few interviews that will change nothing, and then his life will continue the way it has for the past eighteen months. Anklet attached.

But then one morning, two days before his own interview with the Probation Office, he's sitting in the conference room and talking about their new loan scandal case with Blaine, when Blaine suddenly stops in the middle of his sentence and looks at him, his eyes holding so many emotions that it would take a lifetime for Kurt to figure them out.

He would gladly spend a lifetime on that, and sometimes the thought scares him a little.

"You know," Blaine says, tilting his head as if he's considering Kurt, "I think you're going to get your sentence commuted."

Kurt shrugs, smiling a little self-deprecatingly like he does every time the commutation hearing comes up these days. "Maybe. We'll just have to wait and see."

"No, Kurt, I really mean it." Blaine puts down the file he's holding, focusing all of his attention on Kurt. "You're not... I remember what you were like when I was trying to catch you for the first time, and you're not that person anymore. You're yourself now. Sometimes I look at you and I feel like I was waiting all those years for this moment, for the chance to see the real you, and now it's as if you've given me the honor to see you like this. As the person you would've been if life hadn't let you down so many times." He smiles, small and tender. "And I can't be the only one who sees it. That's why I think you're going to get your sentence commuted."

Kurt can feel his cheeks flushing, and he looks away from Blaine's earnest eyes. Words like that are usually said in the privacy of their apartments, late at night or early in the morning, but somehow the fact that Blaine said them out loud at the Bureau, in the one place they can't usually be completely honest, makes them even more meaningful, and Kurt can feel something warm curling around his heart.

God, he loves this FBI agent so much.

He glances around, making sure there aren't any other agents lingering around the conference room, and leans over the table. "You do realize the people who decide whether or not I go free are not in love with me, though?" he whispers with a grin. "You are a bit biased, Blaine."

Blaine lets out a laugh. "True, but I don't have to be in love with you to see how much you've changed or how much you deserve this. If someone doesn't see it, they must be as blind as a bat."

Kurt blinks. Blaine sounds so honest, so absolutely sure and convinced, and when Kurt looks at him he feels a sudden ache inside his chest, the ache to shake away the last remains of his old life and start anew, with Blaine by his side – and god, he really does want to be free. He wants his sentence to be commuted. He wants it so much; he wants to be his own person and decide for himself again, wants to know that he survived and got away from the con-man life that could've destroyed him. He wants it so badly. More than anything. And Blaine obviously wants it too, Blaine who has supported him through everything, who has believed in him when no one else did and showed him that he can change if he wants to, and –

Blaine is the one thing in his life he wanted and got as well, and maybe that has changed his luck for good.

Two days later, when he's sitting in front of the board in his best suit, consciously keeping his hands still against his thighs, his hair impeccable as always, he remembers what Blaine said and lets the words pour out of his mouth.

He wants this. He deserves this.

---

"Agent Cohen-Chang, we understand that you've been working with Mr. Hummel ever since he started as a CI, is that correct?"

"That is correct, yes."

"And how has it been working with him, then?"

"Well, I must admit that when Agent Anderson first told me that he was going to make a deal with the Kurt Hummel, I thought he had lost it. I was so sure that Kurt was conning Blaine or that he was going to take the first chance and disappear. But he didn't. He stuck around and he helped us solve cases. He's a great asset to the Bureau, and once I got over the initial distrust, it's been great working with him."

"So do you support his commutation?"

"Like I said, he's a great asset. I even consider him a friend, and I do think he's changed. But that... That doesn't change the fact that actions have consequences. He was convicted for four years and he has only served eighteen months of those four years so far – and you know, his deal has been very generous. Personally I think he should finish out his time with the Bureau and only then be allowed his freedom. That's what's right by the system."

---

"Agent Evans, how has –"

"He's earned this, you know."

"Ex– Excuse me?"

"Kurt. He deserves his freedom."

"We haven't even asked you anything yet, Agent Evans."

"I know, and I'm sorry for interrupting like that, it wasn't very cool – but Kurt? He deserves this more than anyone I know. Look, I've known Blaine ever since Quantico, and when he suggested the deal, I knew that he knew what he was doing. But then I met Kurt himself and I worked with him and, man... That guy is awesome. And he has completely reformed, even I can see that."

"So you think his sentence should be commuted?"

"Absolutely. It would be a crime not to commute it. ... Ma'am."

---

They're reading in the living room the night after his interview when Kurt finally gets the chance to talk about his commutation with Blaine. They haven't exactly been avoiding the issue – or maybe Kurt himself has, because just a few days ago he didn't really believe it was an actual possibility – but they have been busy at work, finishing up old cases and taking on new ones, and it has just been easier to talk about something easier and lighter when they finally have time for themselves. Something that doesn't involve so many what-ifs and uncertainties.

Kurt is lying on the couch with his legs on Blaine's lap as he flicks through the old issues of Vogue he found at his favorite thrift store earlier today, but his mind is still going over his interview with the probation board. He went to the thrift store because he wanted to think about something other than the facial expressions of the board members and to stop second-guessing his own words at the interview, but apparently even vintage Vogues won't ease his mind. He honestly has no idea how his interview went – he was as honest as possible, he really tried to let it show how desperately he wants his freedom, but maybe it's still not enough. Maybe the board members just saw a criminal and nothing else. There were no comments to indicate what the interviewers thought about him, and it's driving him crazy.

He huffs, giving up, and puts down the magazine in his hands. "Blaine?" he ventures.

"Hm?" Blaine doesn't look up from the case file he has been studying for the last hour, but he strokes his hand down Kurt's leg to show that he's listening, the concentrated furrow between his eyebrows softening with the movement.

"If I..." Kurt starts and then hesitates, straightening up on the couch. Blaine lifts his head and turns to look at him, curious and expectant. Perry is sleeping on the floor in front of the sofa table, her paws twitching every now and then as she dreams, and Kurt turns to look at her when he gets the rest of the sentence out. "If my sentence does get commuted, what happens then?"

Blaine blinks, slowly setting the case file aside. "Whatever you want to happen. You'll be free, Kurt. That's the gist of it."

"I know, but... Does my deal with the FBI still stand even if my sentence is commuted?" Kurt tries again, turning to look back at Blaine. They have sometimes talked about Kurt's future, but it has always been in abstracts terms, in the distant future, but it's not so abstract anymore, and Kurt can feel his hands twitching in his lap in nervousness. "Does the FBI expect me to still work as a CI, or is that deal terminated as well?"

Blaine shifts on the sofa, turning to face Kurt. "Well," he starts, "Peterson told me that if you want to continue working with the FBI, your consultant job will be waiting for you whether or not your sentence gets commuted. But if it does get commuted, you can obviously choose to do whatever you want, and..." He tilts his head, squinting his eyes a little, as if he's considering Kurt. "I'm kind of getting the feeling that you don't want to work for the Bureau anymore if you go free?"

Kurt looks away again, biting his lower lip, his hands twisting even more nervously. "I... Maybe?" he says carefully, worried about how Blaine will react.

"Hey, hey – Kurt." Blaine reaches for his hands, taking them into his own and stroking his thumb over Kurt's knuckles. "I don't expect you to work for the FBI if it's not what you want. I really don't. You have to know that. I'll support you whatever you choose to do with your life – as long as it's legal, obviously," he adds with a lopsided grin, and Kurt snorts out a laugh, giving Blaine's thigh a gentle nudge.

"Thank you," he says after a moment, squeezing Blaine's hands. "I just... It was never my dream to work for the FBI, you know?" He glances up at Blaine, encouraged by the open expression on his face, before looking back down at their hands again. "I know it's your dream and I love how passionate you are about it, I love all the agent-like traits you have and how you believe in setting things right and solving the puzzles, but... It was never something I wanted." His head snaps up abruptly, words rushing out of his mouth in alarm. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed working for the FBI, I really have, and I've loved working with you especially and I'll be forever thankful for this deal in more ways than one, but it just keeps –"

"It keeps reminding you of the person you were," Blaine finishes for him, smiling gently. "A con-man."

"Exactly," Kurt breathes out, relieved that Blaine gets it. "I mean, yes, I'm solving crimes, but if I work for the FBI, I'm still somehow inside the criminal world in one way or the other." He shrugs his shoulders. "I guess I could consult on cases occasionally if I could be of any help, but I want to do something... different. Something that's just me. Not the person I became to survive."

Blaine starts blinking his eyes quickly, averting his gaze and taking a deep shuddering breath. "Y-you have no idea how amazing it is to hear you talk about your future like that, Kurt," he says. "You've come so far, and you seem so much happier than I've ever seen you before."

Kurt blinks his own eyes, trying to clear away the sudden tears in them. Blaine sounds so touched, so proud of him, and Kurt just has to cup Blaine's face with his hand and tilt it up so he can close the space between them and press his lips against Blaine's. Blaine latches on to him immediately, his hand rising to Kurt's bicep and holding on tight. Kurt keeps his own eyes open, watching the way a few stray tears trickle down Blaine's cheek and get stuck on his eyelashes. Kurt strokes his thumb over the wetness, and he can't almost believe that Blaine is crying for him, because he's so happy for Kurt, and it's...

It's everything. Kurt is going to be forever grateful that his case file ended up on Blaine's desk all those years ago, that Blaine was the one who kept pursuing him until he was caught, that Blaine was the one who somehow saw behind the con-man exterior and decided to give Kurt a chance. He could've ended up with any agent, with someone who didn't give a damn, and the whole story could've gone in a number of different ways – but somehow he got Blaine.

Blaine, who breaks the kiss, gasping for breath and leaning away until he can brush the tears away from his face with the back of his hand. "S-sorry." He gives out an overwhelmed laugh. "I guess I got a bit emotional there."

"It's okay," Kurt assures with a soft smile. "I love you," he adds, just because he can and wants to.

Blaine looks up, his lips turning into a smile. "I love you too." He blinks the last tears away from his eyes and leans his arms against his crossed legs in expectancy. "So... If you don't want to work for the FBI, what do you want to do then?"

"Oh god, that's what I've been thinking about ever since my interview." Kurt throws his head back and stares at the ceiling. "They asked me what I would do with my freedom, and I had no idea what to say. I've talked about it with Rachel a few times, but I always thought I would have all the time in the world to figure it out and now it could all happen in a few days, and –"

"What about something with fashion?" Blaine interrupts, glancing pointedly at the old issues of Vogue piled on the sofa table. "You obviously have the talent for it."

Kurt looks back down, frowning in thought. "Maybe. It was one of the paths I was considering before everything happened, but... I don't know, I really don't."

"You don't have to decide right away," Blaine rushes to say, reaching for his hand again and squeezing it reassuringly. "You can take time to figure it all out when your sentence gets commuted. It's a big decision, Kurt, and it deserves to be thought through."

"I know," Kurt sighs. "I just spent so many years ignoring everything like this that I'm suddenly feeling a little overwhelmed by all the possibilities."

Blaine smiles, tugging at his hand. "But all those possibilities are a good thing."

"They are." Kurt stares at their joined hands, lost in thought. "I guess I could take the time to travel as well? I've been confined in the same city for years, and it'd be nice to see life outside of New York again. That way I could also take care of some things and properly say goodbye to everything in my old life..."

He has a few stashes and hide-outs outside of New York, and he needs to figure out what he should do with them if he goes free and how he should deal with all the savings and profits left from his criminal days. He's so concentrated on solving that issue that he completely misses the way Blaine's hand twitches against his own, doesn't notice how Blaine's breath catches in his throat and how Blaine averts his gaze.

Kurt doesn't notice how Blaine looks forlorn all of a sudden, and when he finally does look up, shaking his head to clear his mind, Blaine has already schooled his expression into a supportive smile.

---

"How long have you known Mr. Hummel, Ms. Berry?"

"Oh, we've been friends since high school! Or well, there have been times when we've been more frenemies than friends, and then of course we had a falling out when he started running cons and I was busy with my career on Broadway and all that, but – You're not really interested in all that. Sorry."

"It's alright. So you knew Mr. Hummel even before he committed his first crime, is that correct?"

"Yes, that is correct. I've known him since we were sixteen or something like that. He's my best friend, and I'd... I'd trust him with everything."

"Do you think he has reformed?"

"Definitely. No question about it. Actually, I don't think being a criminal was ever a permanent solution for him. It was more like playing a role that didn't quite fit, and now he has the chance to shake that role off for good. I mean, ever since we reconnected some months ago, I've seen the way he has changed, the way he acts so differently and seems so much happier now than he did all those years ago, and I... Yes, I think he has reformed. And I don't think he's going to go back to being a con-man ever again. If there's something Kurt is absolutely not, it's stupid."

"So you think he has earned his freedom?"

"Yes. He has."

---

"Agent Peterson, as we understand you are the Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's White Collar Division in New York. This means you are the supervisor for Agent Blaine Anderson's team as well – the team in which Kurt Hummel has now worked for eighteen months."

"That is my job description, yes."

"What is your opinion on Mr. Hummel?"

"Look, like you said, I'm the ASAC for the White Collar Division. I supervise all the teams, but I don't necessarily work with them on every single case. I know that Hummel is a great asset to the Bureau, I know he and Anderson work together extremely well, and I know that the very few complaints I've ever received about Hummel have turned out to be irrelevant and false, and –"

"There have been complaints?"

"Yes, from agents who are apparently incapable of working with criminal informants in general. They had nothing to do with Hummel in particular. And as I was saying, that is all I really know about Hummel. I don't know him that well, and I know you're going to ask me if I think he deserves his freedom and all that – but the only person who really knows whether or not Kurt Hummel should be set free is Blaine Anderson. You should ask him."

"We are going to interview Agent Anderson tomorrow before we make our decision, Agent Peterson. But what about your own –"

"Whatever Blaine says, I'll agree with him. If he says Hummel's sentence should be commuted, then I think his sentence should be commuted. I trust him. I trust him to know Hummel better than me. Most likely better than anyone else."

---

Kurt doesn't notice it until the evening before Blaine's interview with the Probation Office. Blaine's is the last one, scheduled right on the same day as the board is supposed to make their decision, and he has been exceptionally supportive and gentle these past few days, always ready to remind Kurt that he can do what he wants to and that he has a real chance of getting his sentence commuted. It's nice, of course it is – Kurt's own mind is a whirlwind of different emotions and half-made decisions, and it's nice to feel like Blaine is the one constant he can always rely on.

But then it's the evening that could be Kurt's last night on the anklet if the Probation Office decides to set him free, possibly his last night as a CI and a con-man. There are messy, open-mouthed kisses and clothes dropped on the floor of Blaine's bedroom as soon as they get home, Kurt's tracking anklet getting caught on his underwear and Blaine's hands easing the shirt from his shoulders, trembling almost unnoticeably against the fabric while Kurt's fingers map the muscles on Blaine's back. Blaine doesn't let go of him even when they fall on the bed, as if every inch of his body is desperate to stay connected to Kurt.

There are more kisses, slower and more tender this time, and the feeling of Blaine's naked and sweaty skin pressed against Kurt's own. Blaine's fingers dig into Kurt's shoulders when Kurt preps him, and his legs immediately fall open when Kurt's done, giving him more space. Blaine doesn't say anything during all of it, just breathes heavily and lets out small whines and moans, all of them a sign of him letting go, like he always does with Kurt, and forgetting to be the put-together FBI agent for a while. It's probably one of Kurt's favorite sounds and sights, and he loves it when they have the time to have sex like this, all the way and face to face.

Blaine's mouth drops open in an inaudible gasp when Kurt pushes inside of him, his eyes screwed shut so tightly that even his forehead is furrowed. Kurt pauses for a moment when their bodies are completely connected, focusing on just breathing and on the tight, almost scorching heat around his cock, and then he shifts his hands on the bed on either side of Blaine's body, trying to lift himself into a more upward position.

Blaine's fingers immediately scrabble against his back, pulling him closer. "D-don't go," he breathes out, his eyes snapping open. Kurt can see how they're shining in the bedroom's soft lighting, and he stops, staring into Blaine's eyes and forgetting everything else for a moment.

"Blaine?" he asks worriedly.

"J-just..." Blaine wraps his legs around Kurt's waist, crossing his ankles over the small of his back and pushing him closer, keeping his hands securely on Kurt's shoulder blades at the same time. "L-like this. Can we do it like this? I want... I want to feel you close."

Something tightens around Kurt's heart, and he leans down, sealing his lips over Blaine's.

"Of course," he whispers breathlessly into Blaine's mouth. He winds his own hands under Blaine's hips, pulling him as close as possible and looking into his eyes even though Blaine's eyelids are already fluttering closed – in relief? – at the movement.

Kurt pulls out and then pushes back in again, keeping his movements slow until he can feel some of the tension in Blaine's body melting away. The previous rush and desperate movements are forgotten for now. Kurt keeps a steady pace as Blaine starts whimpering, rocking against Kurt's thrusts as well as he can in their position, until Kurt moves his hand from Blaine's hip to his cock, stroking it fast and hearing the way Blaine practically sobs with pleasure.

Blaine comes first, and Kurt follows soon after, his body tensing up as he gasps out something unintelligible against Blaine's shoulder. For a moment all he can feel is Blaine, the world narrowed down to the rumpled sheets and the warm body against and around him, and he just breathes it in, not letting go of Blaine.

They stay like that for a long while, just holding each other while they come down and the rest of the world starts to come back to focus, Kurt's face buried against the curve of Blaine's neck and Blaine's fingers trembling on Kurt's back. Kurt only pulls out when his heartbeat finally starts to slow down back to normal, and then he flops down on the bed next to Blaine, staring at the ceiling and listening to the way their heavy breathing echoes around the room.

Blaine shifts on the bed after a moment, lazily reaching out for the tissues on the bedside table to clean them up. When he's done, Kurt speaks up, feeling like he finally has enough air in his lungs for words.

"You're worried that I'm going to leave you if my sentence gets commuted, aren't you?" he asks quietly.

He can feel Blaine freeze next to him, but then he obviously forces his body to relax again, taking a deep breath before answering. "I said I'm going to support you whatever you decide to do," Blaine says, and Kurt can hear how carefully he's arranging his words, "and if that includes you traveling around the world or settling down somewhere else, I'm still going to support you."

Kurt rolls over to his side and looks at Blaine. "That's nice, Blaine, but it doesn't really answer my question."

Blaine huffs, resting his hands over his stomach. "I don't expect you to stay just for me. You're going to be free, Kurt, with the whole world open at your feet. You can live anywhere you want to, but my... My life is here, in this city." He pauses, blinking his eyes quickly. "So of course I'm worried. Of course I'm wondering what this whole commutation could mean to us. I can't exactly follow you anywhere you go and –"

"And I would never ask you to," Kurt interrupts, reaching out and squeezing Blaine's bare shoulder. "Your job and life is here, Blaine. I could never ask you to leave it all on hold because of me. Besides, you have to understand – this is something I need to do on my own. I need to take some time for myself to figure out what I'm going to do with my life and to let go of some of the things that have been holding me back."

"I know that," Blaine says, lifting his hand and running his fingers through his hair, the gel he put in it in the morning almost gone already. His hand stops mid-movement. "Actually, I have... I have something for you that's kind of relevant to that."

Kurt sits up and watches curiously as Blaine suddenly pushes himself off the bed, not even pausing to put any clothes on as he walks to his dresser and pulls the top drawer open. He rummages through the contents for a moment until he finds what he's looking for – a case file with light blue covers that looks a bit thicker than any of the ones Kurt's seen before – and then moves to sit back down on the bed, still completely naked like it's the most natural thing in the world, holding the file carefully in his hands.

"This is the file I started on you when your case first landed on my desk," Blaine explains. Kurt looks down at the file, feeling his own eyes widening in surprise. "I've never shown it to anyone else," Blaine continues, tugging the blanket over his lap, "mostly because it just had my own speculations and because I had the habit of collecting all sorts of irrelevant evidence and –" He lets out a laugh, his nose scrunching up. "That probably sounds a bit creepy?"

"It really doesn't," Kurt assures him with a small smile.

Blaine smiles back. "Good. Anyways, I hadn't looked at this file in years, but then you... Um." He hesitates, looking down and turning the file over in his hands. "Then you told me about your family," he says carefully, and Kurt's shoulders immediately tense up. "And I just felt like I had to do something, I had to at least try to help you in some way," Blaine continues, the words rushing out of his mouth, "so I went through every database I have access to and even pulled in some favors to check the ones I'm not authorized to use, and I... found this."

He pulls out the top sheet from the file, extending it towards Kurt.

Kurt swallows roughly and looks from the paper to Blaine and back again. "What is it?" he asks, trying to ignore the way his voice shakes.

"I was going to give it to you when your sentence was commuted," Blaine says, nudging the paper against Kurt's leg, "but well, who am I kidding, of course your sentence is going to be commuted, so I might as well give it to you now." He looks down, obviously worried about Kurt's reaction. "I'm the only one who knows about this, and I... I really want you to have it."

Kurt reaches out his hand and takes the paper from Blaine, turning it over so he can read what's on it. There's not much – just a few markings in the top margin indicating where and when it was printed and by whom, and then, almost in the middle of the page in the neat typing Kurt has come to associate with official FBI papers, a name and an address in Cincinnati.

Finn Hudson.

Kurt's fingers start to tremble, the paper shuddering in his grasp. He suddenly feels choked up, like there's something huge lodged inside his throat. "Is this –" he croaks out.

"It's his current address," Blaine answers quietly, searching Kurt's face. "He had covered his tracks pretty well, but not well enough for the FBI. He, um, he's working in a small garage that's just around the corner of that address." Blaine gestures at the paper and shifts nervously on the bed. "I found out that he's living in Cincinnati before we caught Davies, but I didn't tell you then because you were still tied to the anklet and I didn't want to give you any false hopes when you were not even allowed to leave the city. Obviously I was going to tell you, but then your commutation hearing came up and I thought now you could actually go find him – I mean, only if you want to, of course – and if you're thinking about traveling anyway, maybe you could –"

"You went through all this trouble for me?" Kurt breathes out, interrupting Blaine's nervous rambling and moving his eyes away from the words on the paper to look Blaine in the eyes.

"Of course I did," Blaine says, tilting his head in confusion. "I just hope I wasn't overstepping or anything? Or, I don't know, withholding information? Because that wasn't– mmph!"

Kurt interrupts him again by surging forward, pressing his lips against Blaine's and closing his eyes to stave off the sudden tears he can feel gathering in the corners of his eyes. Blaine sways backwards from the force of the sudden kiss and grabs a hold on Kurt's arm to keep himself from falling over. Soon he's responding in kind, though, making a small noise at the back of his throat and moving their lips in a better angle.

Kurt sucks Blaine's lower lip into his mouth one more time and then lets go with an audible smack, leaning away and trying to catch his breath.

"You..." he whispers. "You found my brother. I can't believe you actually found Finn."

Blaine strokes his hand down Kurt's arm with a small smile. "Honestly, it was the least I could do."

Kurt lets out a breathy laugh, shaking his head. "God, now I really need to get my sentence commuted so I can go see him and try to set things right." He looks down at paper once again, reading the words over and over again, hardly believing them to be true. "I... can't believe I could actually get my brother back after all this time."

"You will," Blaine stresses, sounding much surer than Kurt himself feels like. "You will get your sentence commuted and you will go see your brother and travel the world and figure out what you want to do. You're going to be free, Kurt."

Kurt exhales shakily, brushing away the tears on his cheeks and setting the paper aside. He doesn't want to wrinkle it – he wants it to stay as legible and clean as possible, because of several different reasons. Blaine's hand is still stroking his arm in slow movements, reassuring and gentle, and Kurt looks down at it, feeling a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Sometimes he really feels completely overwhelmed by the strength of Blaine's love, by all the things Blaine has done for him and continues to do every single day. It's so easy to love him, so natural and simple that Kurt doesn't even have to think about it; he just feels it, deep inside his heart and body and mind, a warm and exciting sensation that makes him feel like things are as they're meant to be. It's almost like breathing, like the beat of his heart, something unconscious but still so important.

A few years ago, when Kurt was running more cons than he can remember, never stopping to take a breath even for a moment, he thought that stability was something he could never have in his life – that he was just going to keep moving and changing himself for as long as he could, that there was no reason to tie himself down to anyone or anything when he would just change his mind the next day or the other person would disappear completely. There was always a new crime, a new city and a new hide-out waiting for him, another narrow escape and another successful con, another way to run away from everything else in his life.

But when he looks at Blaine, he wants to stop running. When he looks at Blaine, he feels like he's looking at forever.

Kurt gives another laugh, shaking his head. "You really are something, Special Agent Blaine Anderson," he says.

"What?" Blaine asks with a grin.

"You just... You make me feel so connected and safe and loved," Kurt says, looking into Blaine's eyes, "and I didn't think I was ever going to find someone who would make me feel like that. I didn't think I was ever going to find someone like you."

Blaine's smile softens into something gentle and happy, something that Kurt has only ever seen aimed at himself. "I could say the same thing about you, Songbird," Blaine says, his eyes shining again, and suddenly Kurt remembers what they were originally talking about.

"And I promise you," he starts fervently, reaching for Blaine's hand and holding it tightly in his own, "that no matter where I go or no matter what happens with Finn, you aren't going to lose me. I'm not letting go off you, Blaine, especially not if my sentence gets commuted and I can finally be with you without all this secrecy and hiding."

Blaine inhales shakily, and Kurt squeezes his hand, leaning closer to him on the bed. "My life is in New York as well," he continues. "This is my city. I just need to take care of some things before I can come back home again for good. But I will come back, I promise."

"I don't want to hold you back, though," Blaine says, looking up at Kurt through his lashes.

"You won't," Kurt swears, leaning in and giving Blaine's lips a small kiss. "You never could. You're the one who helped me be free."

---

"Please state your name and your relationship to Kurt Hummel for the record."

"Special Agent Blaine Anderson. I've been Kurt Hummel's handler at the Federal Bureau of Investigation since his release into our custody. For eighteen months, to be exact."

"As we understand, you're the one who caught him."

"I caught him twice, ma'am. And I think you should know that the last time I caught him, those eighteen months ago, he was standing in an empty apartment, looking more lost and alone than I've ever seen him. He didn't have anything. He wasn't happy. I could see that the second I stepped into that apartment."

"And what about now?"

"Now Kurt has a life. He has friends, he has a home, and he has hope. He's happy. As you've most likely heard during your interviews, there are a lot of people who see Kurt as more than just a criminal, and I'm definitely one of them. It's one of the reasons I suggested this deal for him in the first place. I wanted to give him a chance, and he... He sometimes bends and stretches the rules, I can admit that, but it's always for a good reason and it has always paid off in our investigations. And ever since he started working for the FBI, he hasn't done anything illegal, and I honestly think he never will."

"Is that your professional or personal opinion?"

"Both. I think he has completely given up the life of crime. When I was first chasing him, I once told my superiors that every single new alias Kurt Hummel makes is complete reinvention of the previous ones, with almost nothing surviving of the original. Kurt is the master of reinvention, but I think he has now reinvented himself for the last time – into the person he himself wants to be, not who he needs to be for a con."

"So you think Mr. Hummel has reformed?"

"Of course he has. I see it every day. Ten years ago he was just another case file that got dropped on my desk because some other agent was busy, but now Kurt is... Somewhere during all this time I've known him, he has become my best friend. My... very good, amazing friend. He's brilliant and kind and brave, and he has a wonderful heart he's been hiding for years underneath that con-man persona. I know it probably sounds weird to you, but Kurt is the most moral, compassionate person I have ever met, and now he's finally letting all that shine through for the whole world to see. And if he could do that as a free man, if he could really let go of his past and move on... That's all I want for him."

"I guess we already know the answer for this one, but just for the record: Do you think Kurt Hummel's sentence should be commuted, Agent Anderson?"

"Yes. Yes, absolutely. Kurt should be free."