SIX MONTHS LATER.

Blaine does get that promotion. He becomes one of the youngest agents in the Bureau to ever reach the position of an Assistant Special Agent in Charge and to run the White Collar Division, and it's... It's a lot. It's basically Peterson's job because Peterson himself moves to an even higher position, something that as far as Blaine knows involves nothing but paperwork and signing permits and sitting behind a mahogany desk.

ASACs aren't supposed to be that active in the field either, and Peterson hadn't worked on cases like that for years – but from early on Blaine makes the decision not to give up on the practical side of crime-solving. He likes working in the field, and even if Sam is running his team now, he still likes to be involved in the cases as much as possible. He's going to be a different ASAC, and so far no one has complained about it.

Still, there are nice perks that come with the promotion – a bigger office with a nicer view, better parking, a chance for more flexible hours, no more derisive comments about his sexuality from the higher-ups because he is one of the higher-ups himself...

And best of all, the access to several top-secret federal databases he couldn't use when he was just a regular agent.

He sort of brings it up late one night when he's watching television with Kurt, or at least pretending to watch it. Kurt is going through his latest column for writing mistakes, even if Blaine already told him that it's perfect and everyone will love it, and Blaine himself has a few case reports on his lap, waiting for his signature and approval.

They've been quiet for a long while, just working silently with nothing but Perry's snoring, the muted voice of the television and the rhythmic tapping of Kurt's fingers against his laptop keyboard as the background noise. Blaine averts his eyes from the case reports and turns to look at Kurt, feeling a familiar smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. He feels like smiling every time he looks at Kurt; every time he drops Kurt off at the Vogue offices or comes home to find him sketching at the dining room table, every morning when he wakes up and every night he falls asleep, Kurt's face being the first and last thing he sees every single day.

It's better than Blaine could've ever imagined. It's more, the way Kurt seems so much more content and himself when he gets to work with something that truly interests him, not just something that he feels like he has to do to keep going. Kurt smiles more, laughs more, talks more – everything about him is more, and Blaine feels almost blinded by him, by all the greatness that had been hiding underneath that con-man exterior for years.

His eyes move from Kurt's profile to the simple silver ring on his left hand, the one they picked out together five months ago when Kurt officially asked him to marry him, and Blaine can feel his lips turning into a full-blown smile. He has a similar ring on his own finger, except his is a bit darker shade of silver. Kurt thought it would look better against his skin tone, and he was right, obviously.

"You're staring," Kurt points out all of a sudden, not looking up from his laptop. There's a small smile playing on his lips in any case.

"Sorry," Blaine says sheepishly, moving the reports from his lap to the sofa table. "I... actually had something I wanted to ask you."

Kurt does look up then, blinking his eyes a few times. "What about?"

"I... Um." Blaine hesitates. "I don't want you to take this the wrong way or anything –"

"Blaine," Kurt interrupts, setting his laptop aside. "I know you, and you know me, and we've been studying each other for basically over a decade." He grins at that, his nose scrunching up, and Blaine can't help but smile back. "So even if we've misunderstood each other in the past, I think we've been over that stage in our relationship for months now." He lifts his left hand and wiggles it in the air. "Fiancés, remember?"

Blaine lets out a laugh and reaches out to take Kurt's hand, stroking his thumb over the ring. "Of course I remember. I just..." He pauses, arranging his words as carefully as he can. "I was wondering if you or Finn have found out anything new about your parents?"

"Oh." Kurt's shoulders tense for a quick moment, the previous happiness instantly disappearing from his eyes. He looks down at his lap, starting to fiddle with them hem of his shirt, the way he always does when he's upset or nervous.

Blaine waits, tightening his hold on Kurt's hand almost unconsciously.

"We haven't," Kurt says quietly after a moment. "I mean, Finn tried asking about them from the police again and we've searched as much as we've could but it's... It's been over ten years," he says, looking up at Blaine. "We're not giving up on hope, but ten years is still a long time."

"I know," Blaine assures him. "I know. I'm sorry I asked – I was just curious, I suppose."

Kurt takes a deep, shuddering breath. "It's okay. I mean, I still hope we're going to find them one day, and I know Finn feels the same way, but I guess we're both also starting to accept it as well. Or at least accept the chance that we might not ever get them back."

Blaine closes the distance between them and pulls Kurt against him, pressing a kiss on his temple. "I'm sorry," he whispers again, but this time he's not sorry just for asking that question. He's sorry for everything else as well, for bringing up bad memories and for Kurt having to live through those memories in the first place.

Kurt nods, shivering against him. Blaine can feel him choking back tears, and he knows he has to do something.

He doesn't do field work the next week, even though his old team – Sam's team now – is working on a pretty interesting bond forgery case. Instead he spends most of his working hours sitting in his office, browsing through every single database he now has access to, calling in a few favors from other departments and even asking help from a few law enforcement officers he knows outside of the FBI.

It requires a lot of effort, a lot of charming (he learned from the best) and a lot of promises of returned favors, but after almost a week it all finally pays off when he gets through the last obstacle, thanks to a cooperative WITSEC agent who promised to help out an ASAC. If Blaine was just a regular agent, he would've never gotten that last favor.

His new position definitely has good perks.

He leaves work early that day, knowing that Kurt is working from their apartment for a few days. When he gets home and closes the front door behind himself, he practically runs into Kurt in the hallway, their chests bumping together. Blaine lets out a yelp, stumbling back in surprise.

"Easy there, tiger," Kurt laughs, reaching out to pat his shoulders. "You have good timing, I was just about to call you and ask if we should order in Chinese or Indian tonight and... Blaine? Is everything alright?"

Blaine swallows. "I think you should sit down for this," he says, directing Kurt to their living room. Perry waves her tail in greeting from where she's lying almost halfway under the sofa table, apparently so comfortable that she doesn't even bother getting up.

"You're starting to scare me," Kurt says, half-jokingly, but then he glances at Blaine's face and his smile falls away. "Blaine, seriously. What's going on?"

Blaine guides him to sit on the couch and sits down next to him, placing his messenger bag – a gift from his old team – on his lap. "It's not... It's not anything bad, I promise," he assures Kurt, shrugging out of his jacket. "It's just surprising. And big."

"Not exactly helpful," Kurt points out, narrowing his eyes.

"I know, sorry." Blaine throws his jacket on the armrest and opens his bag, pulling out a thin case file before he looks at Kurt. He really hopes what he did is okay. "I, um, did some digging, thanks to all this power I now have as an ASAC, and I... I found your parents."

Kurt doesn't say anything, just stares at him in confusion.

"Um, they..." Blaine continues, suddenly feeling a lot more nervous. "They're in Seattle."

"What?" Kurt whispers, his voice small.

"Seattle," Blaine repeats, softening his voice. Kurt is still staring at him, disbelieving and almost a little lost, so he explains more. "I found a small hint about them in the WITSEC database, and after I pulled some strings they were willing to tell me that Burt Hummel and Carole Hudson-Hummel have been in the witness protection program for over ten years. Your dad owned a garage, right?"

Kurt nods mutely, something wet shining in his eyes, and Blaine pushes on, even if the whole moment feels incredibly fragile.

"Apparently one of your dad's regular customers was a big-time drug trafficker who had been hiding in Ohio for years," Blaine continues. "Your dad was working on his car one day and saw something incriminating – not really sure what, the WITSEC agent refused to give me all the details about the case – but it was enough for your dad to call the police. And the next day, he and your step-mom were taken into protective custody and relocated to Seattle. To keep them safe."

Kurt blinks, taking a deep, shuddering breath. "What are you... Are you saying that we haven't been able to find them because..."

"Because no one was supposed to find them," Blaine finishes gently, reaching out to take Kurt's hand and lace their fingers together. "And they weren't allowed to contact you or Finn because that could've put you in danger as well. That's why it looked like they had completely disappeared. But, Kurt, the thing is..." He fumbles to open the file and holds it out in front of Kurt. "The case against that criminal is almost done. After all these years. And in exchange for this information I promised to loan a few of my best agents to work on the case with the other agencies, and your dad has apparently been wreaking havoc to finally get the chance to get in contact with his son again and I..." He smiles reassuringly. "We probably have to wait a few more weeks, but I did get their contact information."

Kurt's eyes slide down to the file in front of him. It's open on a page that has an address and a phone number, along with a few other tidbits of information Blaine managed to get from the WITSEC agent. Kurt blinks slowly, reaching out to take the file, but his hand stops just a few inches from it, trembling nervously.

"Please tell me this is for real," he whispers, his voice breaking. "Blaine, please. Because I can't..." He trails off, closing his eyes for a moment, a lone tear escaping from the corner of his eyes and rolling down his cheek.

Blaine nudges the file against Kurt's hand. "It's for real. I promise. I checked and double-checked and triple-checked everything, and I would never, ever, lie to you about something like this."

He shifts closer to Kurt on the couch, pointing at the case file when Kurt's eyes flutter open at the movement. "See, it says here that the case against that criminal is expected to be done by the end of this month – maybe even sooner, now that they have more manpower from the FBI – and then, after the matter is settled, you can get your parents back." He places his other hand cautiously over Kurt's, feeling the tremors against his palm. "The case they have is infallible. I checked. There are no what-ifs, not this time."

"And I can..." Kurt starts, his eyes blinking more rapidly and his breath stuttering in his throat, "I can go see them? I can have them in my life again? This is not some sort of a temporary solution?"

Blaine shakes his head. "No, nothing temporary about it. I promise." He withdraws his hand and places the file gently on Kurt's lap. "It's over now, Kurt. For good. You made it."

Kurt starts crying in earnest, tears pouring down his face, his shoulders shaking and his cheeks turning blotchy. He keeps staring at the file even though he probably can't see that much, not with all the tears blurring his vision. His hand is trembling in Blaine's grasp, but Blaine keeps holding on to it, blinking back his own tears. God, he can't even imagine how Kurt is feeling, can't even try to understand what must be going through his mind at this moment.

But he will keep holding on.

"How did you..." Kurt gasps out after a moment, lifting his eyes from the document to Blaine. He stops, taking a few deep breaths before disentangling their hands and wiping his face with the sleeve of his shirt. "I can't... You just got your promotion and you're already doing something like this, something that basically goes against the FBI rules and takes time away from your own work, and you did all this for me. Blaine, you already found Finn, you didn't –"

"Hey, hey, Kurt," Blaine interrupts, lifting his hand to cup Kurt's face and looking into his eyes, seeing the tears still pooling in them. "The whole point of being an agent is to help people get closure. That's what we do. And I'd be a pretty lousy agent if I couldn't do that for the love of my life, right?" He gives a hesitant smile.

"T-thank you," Kurt sniffs, smiling back at him and then turning his head to press a small kiss on the inside of Blaine's wrist. "I just... I just sort of wish I had been the one to find them," he mumbles. "Don't get me wrong, but they are my parents, after all." He looks back up at Blaine. "Is that weird?"

Blaine immediately shakes his head. "No, definitely not weird." He leans in to brush his lips over Kurt's. "Besides," he continues, "in a way you did find them. I would've never even looked for them if it wasn't for you or if you hadn't told me about them. And you helped me get this promotion in the first place, by helping me clear that impressive conviction rate and by pushing me to be a better agent." He smiles. "So you did have a role in all this. Absolutely. You just don't have the same security clearance as I do, so you couldn't take the last step on your own."

Kurt captures his lips before he can lean away again. The kiss tastes salty, like tears and desperation, but Blaine can feel Kurt smiling into it, can feel the upward curve of his mouth against his own, and he knows that now, at last, things are okay. Or at least almost okay. When Kurt finally gets to see his dad and step-mom again, that's when they'll be completely okay.

Kurt laughs suddenly, breaking the kiss and shaking his head. "I– I have to go call Finn right now," he says, pushing himself off the couch with a watery smile. "Just... Thank you. I... We can't thank you enough."

Blaine smiles back at him and shrugs. "They would've contacted you in a month or two anyway. I just sped things up a little."

"Still," Kurt insists, standing up next to him. "Thank you."

Blaine looks up at him, his heart thudding against his chest from all the feelings he has for this brave, beautiful and exceptional man. "I wanted to do it for you," he says softly. "Because I didn't just catch you that day in that empty apartment. You caught me as well."

Kurt smiles, his eyes full of love. "God, you are so cheesy," he teases quietly, leaning down to kiss Blaine's lips one more time.

---

A few weeks later Blaine stands under an umbrella – because of course it's raining in Seattle, it's Seattle – and watches as Burt Hummel and Carole Hudson-Hummel pull their sons in for a desperate hug, all four of them crying and laughing at the same time. Kurt clings to his father, his other hand wrapped around Carole's neck, and Finn has his face buried in his mother's shoulder, his fingers fisted in the fabric of Burt's coat. They are barely under the roof of the porch they're standing on, but none of them seem to mind the pouring rain.

Blaine has witnessed both happy and unhappy endings during his life, and this is definitely the best he's ever seen.

He's not going to interrupt the moment, but after a long while Burt Hummel suddenly lifts his head from his son's shoulder and meets Blaine's eyes, his forehead creasing over in confusion.

"Wait, who's this guy?" he asks, pointing at Blaine, his voice still thick with emotion.

Blaine blinks in surprise before straightening his back and stepping forwards. "Special Agent Blaine Anderson, sir," he introduces himself, extending his hand to Burt with a polite smile.

Carole and Finn turn to look at him as well, Carole looking politely interested and Finn giving Blaine a smile, even if they are both still obviously overwhelmed from everything, their eyes shining with tears and their hands holding on to each other. Burt himself shakes Blaine's offered hand, his other hand still wrapped tightly around Kurt.

"Agent?" he repeats, almost a little distrustful. Blaine swallows nervously. His higher-ups have nothing on Burt Hummel's intimidating eyebrow raise. "What are you –"

"Dad," Kurt laughs, his voice choked and watery. He takes a step away from Burt, reaching out to take Blaine's hand. "He's not just some agent, he's my– Blaine's my fiancé, dad." Kurt lifts his left hand to show the ring to Burt and Carole, a breathless smile practically breaking his face in half.

"Fiancé?" Burt exclaims, looking between them in bewilderment.

Kurt lets out a laugh and shrugs, and Blaine just ducks his head with a smile. Not exactly how he imagined meeting his in-laws, but he'll take it.

"Jesus," Burt mutters, scratching the back of his neck. "My kid is engaged. And to a G-man at that. How the hell did this happen?" he asks, staring at them both, but Blaine can see the smile playing on his face.

Kurt squeezes Blaine's hand and grins. "Well, that's kind of a long story," he says, "but I suppose we've got the time for it."

The End.