He must have blacked out from the pain jolting through his back with each pounding step of the horse's hooves, suddenly finding himself being awaken as the horse was brought to a sudden, but controlled stop. Kurt slowly raised his head, blindly looking around, wondering where he was.

"Welcome back, my brethren!" a deep, unfamiliar voice boomed. "I see that you all have returned safely! I trust that everything went well?"

Kurt wished that he could see who was speaking. He hated feeling so helpless.

"Yes, everything went well... for the most part," Wes replied slowly. "We ran into... a slight complication."

"What kind of complication?" the other man asked, his voice stating that he was not pleased. The horse beneath Kurt suddenly started to move again, most likely bringing them before the man that he guessed was most likely the boss.

"What is this?!" the man cried, clearly outraged. "You were supposed to get on the train, get the treasure, and then get off! Not take prisoners!"

"He is the treasure!" Wes sighed. "That boy is none other than Kurt Hummel, Governor Hummel's son." Everything fell silent at his words, the only sounding being what Kurt assumed was a sharp gasp from the man he had now assumed to be the boss.

"Hummel's son," he repeated, his voice sounding thoughtful and intrigued. "Yes, this could work. Montgomery, with me." Kurt listened to the sounds of two people walking away, the ground thumping quietly beneath their feet.

As soon as they were gone, Trent shifted behind him, quickly sliding down off the horse and starting to work at the knots holding Kurt to the horse. The knots were quickly undone and suddenly he was being manhandled down off the horse.

Loud shouts of anger burst from somewhere nearby, but the sound was muffled slightly, as if the person was inside a building or a tent or something. After a couple of minutes, the yelling subsided.

"Take him to the pit," the boss' voice suddenly announced right next to him, making Kurt jump.

"Yes, Sir," one of the men holding him said and suddenly he was being turned around and led away to... the pit?

That doesn't sound appealing, Kurt frowned to himself, thinking about what it would do to his clothes. Though it's not like they aren't already ruined...

It seemed to take a long time for them to get to this so called pit, but finally they stopped moving and the ropes on his wrists were cut. He reached up to take the blindfold off but was quickly told off and backhanded across the face. His wrists were suddenly grabbed, which made the cuts there cry out in pain, and then he was being lifted off the ground and slowly lowered down into what he assumed was the pit.

As soon as his feet brushed the ground, his wrists were released and he collapsed to the ground, the impact making the wounds on his back flare with pain. He let out an inaudible gasp of pain before quickly reaching up and ripping the gag out of his mouth. He didn't care if he got reprimanded for it now. Everything just hurt too much to hold it all in.

A sob ripped from his throat as he laid on the ground panting in pain. He laid there for a while, quietly sobbing before he heard it.

"Hey," the voice was soft and sounded kind. Kurt slowly tilted his head up, carefully reaching for the blindfold as he did so, but someone else beat him to it. As the cloth slid away from his eyes, Kurt found himself staring up into the eyes of an angel.

"Are you okay?" the golden eyed creature asked him. Kurt found himself at a loss for words, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, with no sound coming out as he stared at the dark, curly haired man before him. His gorgeous eyes lit up brightly, sparkling with laughter, as a smile spread across his face.

"I'm Blaine," he said. "What's your name?"

"K-Kurt," he finally managed to sputter.

"That's a nice name," Blaine smiled. "Do you have a last name, Kurt?"

Not thinking, Kurt slowly nodded and replied with, "Hummel."

Blaine's eyes widened with surprise.

"Hummel as in Governor Hummel Hummel?" he asked, his triangular eyebrows raising.

"Y-Yes," Kurt nodded again. "I-I'm his son."

"Is he coming for you?" Blaine asked eagerly, suddenly grabbing Kurt by the shoulders. "Is he coming to rescue you?"

"No," Kurt shook his head sadly. "He doesn't know where I am. I don't even know where I am." Blaine let out a heavy, disappointed sigh as he let go of Kurt and fell back onto his bottom.

"I thought that maybe I finally had a chance of getting out of here," he whispered softly, a tear running down his cheek. "I'm never going to get out of here!"

"Yes, you will," Kurt said, crawling over to him. For some reason, he felt a strange urge to hold him and comfort him. He gently wrapped his arms around Blaine, being careful as to not stretch his back to avoid provoking his wounds.

"When I get home, I'll get my dad to pay whatever ransom these men want for you," Kurt promised.

"You'd do that? For me?" Blaine sniffed, looking up at Kurt as he pulled away from him. "How do you know he'll do it?"

"My dad loves me," Kurt replied, attempting a smile. "He'd do anything to make sure that I get home safe and if I tell him that I have a friend still trapped here, he'd do whatever he could to get you back safely too."

"Thanks, Kurt," Blaine smiled. "You have no idea how much your words mean to me." He suddenly threw his arms around Kurt in a hug, his arms slapping hard against Kurt's back and making him cry out in pain. Blaine quickly pulled away, a look of shock and worry plastered across his face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, worry lacing his voice as well. "What did I do?"

Kurt took a deep breath to control the pain before he replied.

"It's not your fault," he said, turning slightly to show Blaine his back, the red welts showing through the tears in his shirt. "I tried to run and was caught." He heard Blaine's sharp inhale as he looked at the marks.

"They look worse than they actually are," Kurt continued, trying to calm Blaine. "I was supposed to get twenty but only got ten." He turned back to look at Blaine whose face was red with anger.

"Who did this to you?" he asked, his voice low and full of rage.

"Blaine, it's fine-" Kurt started to say.

"Who did this to you?!" Blaine repeated, his voice rising as he cut Kurt off.

"T-The leader," Kurt replied, his eyes widening in surprise at Blaine's reaction. "W-Wes." He saw Blaine's eyes flash with recognition and suddenly, he was up on his feet and over at the side of the pit.

"Let me out!" he yelled at the guards above.

"Blaine, I don't think that-" Kurt started to say before the trap door at the top suddenly opened and a rope dropped down. Blaine slid his foot into the loop at the bottom, his hand locking securely above a knot halfway up the rope. Blaine gave the rope a short, hard tug before turning back to Kurt and smiling.

"Thank you so much for your help, Kurt Hummel," he grinned, giving Kurt a mock bow. "It was greatly appreciated."

And then he was gone, having been quickly pulled up out of the pit. Kurt sat in place, stunned for a couple of minutes, before the realization of what he had done slowly dawned on him.

Blaine was one of them.

And Kurt had just told him that his father would be willing to do anything to get him back.