Aug. 17, 2013, 8:16 a.m.
Leap of Fate: Chapter 4
E - Words: 4,344 - Last Updated: Aug 17, 2013 Story: Closed - Chapters: 10/? - Created: Jun 29, 2013 - Updated: Aug 17, 2013 195 0 0 0 0
"Whoa." Blaine flipped his hands over, still astonished.
"You're a jumper." Kurt whispered.
"Whoa." Blaine says again, turning his hands and examining them. Shaking a little; because he did hear Kurt's hushed statement, and it did send a bolt of panic through him, but the knowledge that he just fired some sort of flaming energy through his hands was taking over his coherency.
This wasn't normal.
And though he wasn't 'normal' to begin with, this was abnormal even for the already abnormal, if you could fathom that.
Of course the flames, or whatever the hell they were, were now gone but that didn't seem to deter him. He had no idea how they came or how they went.
"You're a jumper." Kurt said clearer this time.
"Yeah, you said that already." Blaine replied, trying but failing to be nonchalant, pulling his hands to his side in an attempt to make himself look as non threatening as possible.
"You're a jumper... with freaky hand powers." Kurt stated bluntly now.
"Yeah, that's new, don't know what the hell that was." Blaine replied honestly. A little tense as he waited for what Kurt said to really register. This is it; he was going lose the best thing about his existence right now.
A silence fell over them as they stared into each other's eyes. Forgetting completely about the boy lying more than a couple feet away from them. Blaine trying to not chant 'please don't freak out' aloud. Kurt trying to sort the different emotions running through him; realization, confusion and may be a little fear of the unknown. Because holy fuck, Blaine just blasted Peter away with stuff from his hands. As for the fact that Blaine was a jumper...
"I knew John didn't suit you. You might as well have said 'Hi, my name is Fake Name McMade-this-up." Kurt smiled warmly.
Blaine was sure that if his face weren't frozen in shock, he'd be smiling too. And maybe a little squee would come out without his permission.
Kurt was smiling. Despite the fact that the guy he's going out with just jumped in front of him, and just emitted some strange energy from his hands.
Blaine felt his body moving without conscious thought as he enveloped Kurt in a crushing hug. Kurt chuckled, held him close and put his head in the crook of Blaine's neck. After relaxing a bit, letting the left over adrenaline drain out of him, Blaine both heard and felt Kurt whisper in his ear; "I understand, that you had to protect yourself, but I don't want you to ever think that I could dislike the person you are, the person you were meant to be."
Blaine's breath hitched as he took in Kurt's words. His whole life he'd been told he had to hide who he was. For his safety, because the world could not understand persons like him, the world could not accept him. But now, with Kurt in his arms, telling him that it was okay just to be him? He wanted to say; hey world, screw you. Kurt likes me anyway. I like me anyway. He couldn't stop a tear escaping even if he tried.
"Hey." Kurt eased from the embrace to look at Blaine's face. "Shh, no crying. It's fine. Everything is fine." Kurt said.
And Blaine had to marvel at how he was taking this. For all intents and purposes, the comforting should be the other way around. Blaine should be telling Kurt that everything was fine, and not to cry. And assuring Kurt that he wasn't dangerous and he'd never hurt him. Instead Kurt had his arms around him, hand coming up and down the length of his back in soothing strokes. All while Blaine was trying but failing to control the shake in his body, and the tears running down his cheeks.
Kurt came out of the embrace and wiped the wetness from Blaine's eyes. Then he opened the classroom door behind them. He ushered Blaine in with a flick of the lights. Blaine went and sat on top of the teacher's desk. Kurt pulled a chair in the front row up and sat in between his legs.
"So much for our coffee date." Blaine pointed out, his voice surprisingly steady.
"We could still make it, if you want to?" Kurt said, laying his head on Blaine's thigh innocently, looking up at him through his eyelashes.
And that just wasn't fair. How did Kurt expect Blaine to think when he looked at him like that? How could he expect a coherent answer other than the word "guh"? Blaine had to shake his head a little.
"No. We have to go to my house." He knows this is the right decision. Cooper has to know what's happened and it's the best place to go to try and find out what the hell was up with his hands. Plus he's not too keen on letting Kurt out of his sight too much now that he knows for sure that Peter is a danger.
"Why Mr. Carver, I'm not that kind of guy!" Kurt chuckled; though he did blush a little. It was only then that Blaine registered what his statement must have sounded like. "I mean," Kurt continued, "I didn't even get the chance to ask you to be my boyfriend, this is a whole lot of jumping the gun!" he joked.
Blaine smirked at him. "If it helps, I was gonna ask you today, on our coffee date." Kurt's smile was radiant. Blaine continued. "I was also gonna tell you about this. About me. But probably a little later down the line, after I've worked on ways to not make it seem so bad."
Kurt lifted his head to rest his chin on Blaine's thigh and look him right in the eye. "It isn't bad Blaine, it's you. It's something you had about as much control over as the color of your eyes. It isn't bad."
The only thought Blaine could register as he stared back at Kurt was how the hell he got so lucky, to even know a person like Kurt Hummel. A slow smile crept on Blaine's face.
"You wanna jump with me?" He asked.
Kurt's face was a little alarmed. "Umm... It doesn't... Does it hurt?" He hesitantly stuttered.
"My bro says it's fine." Blaine assured.
"What about my car?" Kurt questioned, the alarm seeping out of him through Blaine's assurance.
"I'll ask Hunter to come get it. He already drove mine home for me." Blaine answered, making the quick decision. He eased Kurt's head off his thigh and slid from the desk unto his feet. "Are the keys in there?"
"Yeah." Kurt said as he stood up from his seat and let out a breath. "What should I do?" He asked, unsure.
"Just hold unto me. You'll be fine." Blaine said. As Kurt stood in front of him, and wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck, he smirked. "I could get used to this." He breathed into Kurt's ear.
"Me too." Kurt replied with a smile. He rested his head in the crook of Blaine's shoulder and burrowed himself there.
"Oh, and Kurt?"
"Mhmm?"
"My last name is Anderson, not Carver."
"Blaine Anderson." The last name rung a bell with Kurt, he just couldn't place it right this minute. He filed that info away for later. He had to admit though, the name just sounded...right? Yeah, it suited Blaine. "See that's more like it. Who the hell came up with the fake names anyway? I mean I understand the need, but yeesh."
"That was entirely my brother's doing." Blaine chuckled.
"So I'm guessing his name isn't Peter."
"No it isn't." Blaine couldn't stop grinning.
"Well that's a relief. There's already a Peter around and as you could see, he's an asshole."
"Right you are." Blaine agreed. He wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist and took a moment to revel in how right he felt there. "Hold on tight." He whispered into Kurt's ear.
The two boys disappeared with the faintest pop.
"Where are your sons, Mr. Anderson?" A deep voice echoed around the enclosed room.
The man was in shadow, Brighton couldn't see him. He couldn't see anything but the white of the lights shining directly at him. He could only sense this man's overwhelming presence. But really, who were they trying to scare? He's been over this and over this all morning. He said it while hooked up to machines and while overwhelmed with truth serum in its gaseous form. That's something that was illegal to do, but they do it anyway. The gas is colorless and tasteless and virtually undetectable to any average human. But Brighton was no average human.
He knew this day was coming. He knew it the moment his young son jumped from his cradle to his mother's arms at 4mths, instead of crying or stretching to be held like a 'normal' kid. He planned for it meticulously, with the help of his mother while she was still with them. Scheduled it out so that either he or his wife could truthfully say;
"I don't know."
Brutally honest and glad to be so.
"Curious thing, disappearing like that, isn't it? No trace at all. I wonder why that could be..." The voice continued as the man started to pace. Brighton saw a sliver of naturally tanned skin from a hand.
"Yes, very curious." He replied dryly.
"You do know that we have ways of finding out whether or not you are telling the truth, don't you, Mr. Anderson?" The man tried his damndest to be conversational, but Brighton sensed the very real threat underneath.
"Oh yes. I'm well aware of that. You don't miss that kind of thing when you move in the circles that I do. And I'm pretty sure I was exposed to some of those methods earlier, was I not?" It was always good to remind these jerks that if they went too far, there will be repercussions. His parents didn't have that privilege when his father was taken. His mother however, made damn sure he did.
The man stopped moving for a long while. He had to tread softly with Brighton Anderson. He wasn't just another ignorant civilian.
The man then leaned forward. His face was cast in sharp relief then. He had fine silver hair dotted with brown, a strong jaw line and piercing brown, almost black eyes. He looked like he could be Middle East Asian.
"Oh this is just routine, Mr. Anderson. Surely you know this as well." The man said with a deceptively polite demeanor.
"I'm sure it is. Though I've never heard of any innocent being severely interrogated in this way." Brighton replied.
"Innocent." The man tried the word out on his tongue. "I'm not so sure of your so called innocence, Mr. Anderson." He revealed.
"Oh?" Brighton raised his eyebrow. "Can you prove that there is any discrepancy in what I have told you here today?" He questioned with a little smirk.
The man said nothing, he just observed Brighton curiously. After a couple of minutes he said "You're absolutely right, Mr. Anderson. You're free to go."
"Oh don't be silly, I was free to go from the moment I was asked to come here." Brighton couldn't help but sass. "I just wanted you people to know explicitly that neither I nor my wife has any information on our sons. Our youngest is 18, he can live his own life if he so chooses. And our eldest has been living on his own for a while now, so we definitely don't know what he gets up to. We do not know where our sons are. However, we are very glad that they seem to be nowhere near this facility and nowhere near you."
Brighton took his jacket from the back of the chair and shucked it on. "Good day to you, Mr.- I'm sorry, what was your name?"
"Spektor." The man said. "Mr. Spektor."
"Yes well. I'm sure everything is in order, Mr. Spektor. I will be taking my leave now." Brighton started walking out.
"Of course." The man said. "I'll be seeing you soon, Mr. Anderson."
Brighton froze for a millisecond at the statement and then continued to stalk out the doors.
The man, Spektor watched him walk out, his eyes lingering on the doors for awhile after Brighton Anderson exited. A short shuffling man came up beside him.
"I know what the tests say, but are we sure he knows nothing?" The shorter man grunted.
"I think he made sure he knew nothing." Spektor replied. "It won't be easy to find these boys; we knew that."
"Are you gonna tell Smythe that he was here?" The shorter man questioned.
"No. What Smythe doesn't know, won't hurt him... At least not yet." Spektor said with a smirk.
"So you think he could really help us with this code sequence? You're sure about that?" Cooper asked intrigued.
For the last hour Hunter had been telling Cooper about Kurt's prowess in the Bio lab and his idea to ask him to decode the sequence for them.
"I'm positive. The guy's a genius. And he's on our side, I mean; his dad is on our side. I've seen him argue our rights with teachers for over a year." Hunter stressed.
"I know, Blaine tells me the same thing. I just hope it's so. Blaine was gonna ask him today." Cooper admitted.
"Finally!" Hunter exclaimed. "They were beginning to drive me nuts!" He chuckled. "I hope it went well."
A second later with a familiar faint pop, Blaine appeared... with Kurt's arms and legs entwined around him, his breathing sharp and his eyes trying to look in every direction at once.
"Wow." Kurt breathed into the air.
"Well that certainly looks like it went well." Hunter commented dryly.
"I didn't think you were gonna tell him everything today Blaine. Are you crazy?" Cooper said, a bit agitated, a lot worried.
"I didn't have a choice." Blaine answered resignedly. He pulled Kurt's arms from around his neck and tried to get him to sit on the sofa and collect his bearings. Kurt smiled at him shakily.
"Wah? What do you mea- Okay explain." Cooper couldn't help but sputter.
Blaine launched into telling Cooper and Hunter exactly what went down in the school hallway; all while making coffee to help settle Kurt. The first time tag jumping is known to be disorienting; Kurt was still looking a little dazed. At the end of Blaine's story, Cooper looked thoroughly confused and Hunter's jaw hung so wide it was in danger of falling off.
"So what you're telling us is," Hunter was the first to recover, "Somehow, some form of energy got emitted from your hands and helped you knock another person out? Shit B, and I thought all I had to watch out for was your mean right hook."
"Yeah, that's seems like a good description." Blaine said as he handed Kurt his mug (they finally got some) of coffee. Kurt took the coffee gratefully; he seemed steadier, clearer.
"And he saw it all?" Cooper indicated to Kurt. Blaine looked at Kurt who was quietly sipping the coffee and nodded his head.
"It was unavoidable."
"How did he take it?"
"Surprisingly well."
"I knew it!" Hunter suddenly exclaimed, "I told you Coop!"
Cooper still looked a little skeptical. "Even with the freaky hand thing? Cause I'm your brother and even I am having trouble comprehending the freaky hand thing."
Blaine chuckled. "Trust me, I'm freaking out as much as you are. And he called it exactly that himself."
"Actually, I have a theory on that... I think." All eyes turned toward the couch at the sound of Kurt's voice. He looked a lot more alert, a lot more like himself. Like he'd get used to tag jumping in no time. Blaine smiled at the thought.
"It would involve telling you things I didn't think I'd tell you just yet, Blaine. But you've trusted me beyond anything I could ever dream of. And that should go both ways."
"Have I mentioned that I like this kid?" Cooper piped up.
"No you haven't." Blaine smirked at him, "But that's awesome to hear."
"He already has a theory, Cooper what did I tell you? He could definitely help us with the code!" Hunter's face was alighted with 'I told you so!' glee.
"What code?" Kurt asked a bit puzzled.
Blaine walked over to take the mug from Kurt and sit down next to him.
"Don't worry about that right now. Just tell us what you need to. Whenever you're ready." He said to Kurt quietly.
Kurt took a deep breath and started talking about his Mom, and their loss, and the pain he and his Dad went through of not knowing where she went and how she was doing. Blaine took Kurt's hand in one of his and used his other to rub circles on his back in an effort to soothe. Kurt took another breath and went on. He talked about his father investigating, and speaking to government officials. And of when, after much digging, his father found the doctor.
"Dr. Clarington helped us a great deal and taught me everything that I've used to come up with this theory."
At the name Clarington, Hunter let out a little gasp and Cooper's eyes widened. Blaine gripped Kurt's hand for his reassurance as much as Kurt's. Kurt went on, chalking up their reactions to the overall sadness of the story
"I think he would be our best bet at getting some sort of proper explanation. I haven't spoken to him in years though. I tried to get in touch a while back, but came up empty. The board is so corrupt these days that I hardly think a good soul like the doctor would stay on."
"You knew Dr. Clarington." It was a statement, Kurt had just said it. Hunter just thought saying it out loud would make it more real. Because this was unbelievable.
"Yes. Wait, what do you mean 'knew'?" Kurt's face fell into a bit of a panic and Blaine squeezed his hand a little tighter.
"Dr. Clarington is dead." Hunter whispered. "He was killed in his house a couple years ago, because he wouldn't give his research to person or persons unknown. He... he was my father." The little spiel seemed to have taken a toll on Hunter and he sat down in the nearest chair.
"I'm so sorry for your loss," Kurt said, he couldn't stop the tears trickling out. "He was a wonderful man. Brilliant." And it was the truth; sure, he didn't know the doctor all his life, but the short time he had known him, showed Kurt all he needed to know.
"I wish I could say its fine, but I'd be lying." Hunter sighed. He turned to Kurt. "I appreciate your sadness for what I went through... What I'm still going through... But you shouldn't be sorry for what you couldn't control, for what some fucker did to my family. What you can do is help us figure all this out. We don't have my dad anymore, but we have you. Please..." By the end, Hunter was all but whispering.
Kurt could see how earnest Hunter's plea was, the hope on Cooper's face and the complete trust on Blaine's. If he was ever planning on saying no, the faces alone would move him. Good thing he wasn't. "I'll help in any way I can." He said.
"Yes!" Hunter hissed as a smile of disbelief came over Cooper's face. Blaine lifted the back of Kurt's hand to his lips in a gesture that made Cooper feel like he shouldn't be in the room. Hunter looked like he wanted to go get the video camera more than anything else. Blaine only had eyes for Kurt.
"Thank you." He whispered into Kurt's fingers.
Kurt blushed and smiled. "Did you want me to get started now?"
"Do you want to? You've had quite the information overload in the past 3 hours." Blaine stated.
"I can do it, its fine." Kurt reassured. "I need to do it while this theory is still fresh in my head."
"What are you thinking exactly?" Hunter asked as he went over to the sofa, took Kurt's hands from Blaine and led him to the computer chair. Blaine chuckled and muttered something about having to watch his boyfriend around Hunter now. Cooper hung back a bit, mostly just to watch Hunter's 'wonder boy' theory in action more than anything else.
"So I was bouncing some ideas around." Kurt was in his critical analysis mode. Blaine recognized it anytime Kurt picked up something to read. He always got this tiny furrow in the middle of his forehead. Just adorable. Blaine couldn't help but smile.
"Your father told me about this second mutation usually found in humans that already have the gene for jumping, latent or not." Kurt said. "He named it Mutation 2.0, because he didn't really know exactly what it did yet. The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning toward the conclusion that he did find out what it did, and that's the reason they came after him.
My mom was taken because she had both genes. The thing is, I think it is still rare among jumpers, even though jumpers are the only humans with the capacity to have it. I think Blaine has this gene, and that it's no longer latent."
The room was silent a Kurt's declaration. Hunter, who was trying to get the genetic code up on screen, stopped immediately. Cooper started intently at his brother, as if he could see the gene just by looking. Blaine just stared at Kurt. If Kurt was right, it was yet another thing screwy with him. Why wasn't Kurt running for the hills yet?
"Of course, it's only a theory." Kurt hastened to add as he felt the tension in the room. Then Hunter finally got the screen he wanted.
"There! See if you recognize this."
"I do." Kurt said immediately. "This is the double helix of Mutation 2.0."
"Speak the Queen's English Kurt. We are not all brilliant biologist." Hunter joked, but was completely serious.
"It's the sequence of the gene. It has a specific one, just like everything else in nature." Kurt responded.
"So you can put in the parts that are missing?" Cooper finally spoke up.
"Sure." Kurt said and started typing right away. Blaine drew his stool nearer to watch him work. Literally two minutes later the sequence was finished and a whole slew of information was now opened up for them.
"You're amazing. Do you know that?" Blaine said what he had been itching to say since he brought Kurt home. Hell, he's been itching to say it ever since the day he met Kurt. These turn of events just proved that he was right all along, Kurt is pretty damn amazing.
Kurt grinned at the screen and turned to smirk at Blaine. But the way Blaine was looking back cleared every snappy comeback out of his head. Every theory, every equation went through the window. He forgot where was and who he was with, because Blaine was looking at him like he hung the moon and every single star in the sky.
Everything ceased to be, except Blaine. Blaine's kind face and his sparkling eyes, and his quirky eyebrows and his full lips, which are incidentally, moving closer and closer towards Kurt's. His eyes closed instinctively, his breath hitched as he felt a feather light brush against his own lips. Then a more purposeful press which he immediately responded to. His heart felt like it would beat right out of his chest, and his whole body tingled, just from the small contact with Blaine's lips. He opened his eyes when he felt the touch retreat, to see Blaine look just as dazed as he felt.
"Wow." Blaine breathed.
"Yeah, wow." Kurt whispered. He wasn't sure his voice was working properly at the moment.
"I think they've completely forgotten that we're here." Cooper stage whispered to Hunter.
"Good! That means they won't realize it when I set up the cam recorder; they're so cute!" Hunter whispered back.
Kurt chuckled at Hunter's statement as Blaine launched from his stool to playfully beat Hunter into submission. Cooper was laughing hysterically at Hunter's protests and Blaine's responses.
Kurt spun around towards the screen, still smiling so hard his face hurt, until he started reading the info on the screen. The more he read, the wider his eyes got, and the harder it was to believe. And that's saying something, given all he found out today.
"Blaine." He said. But they hardly heard him. The boys were still rough housing and Cooper was now the referee.
"Blaine!" Kurt called louder than before ensuring he was heard over the hubbub. Blaine stopped wrestling with Hunter immediately and looked over at the paler than normal face of Kurt. He felt the shift from joy to fear in Kurt's posture. Cooper and Hunter registered it as well.
"I think you should take a look at this." Kurt whispered. The house was so quiet though, that it sounded so much louder than the average whisper. Blaine hurried over to his recently vacated stool beside him. Cooper and Hunter huddled around the computer as well.
"This is you Blaine. These are your physical traits, at least at the age of sixteen they were." Kurt pointed to the information that clearly had Blaine's name on it. "These are your stats, your genetic information. See this sequence right here?" Kurt pointed to the strand of DNA, "According to the info, that's your DNA. And this section right here?" Kurt pointed to a part of the double helix. "That's Mutation 2.0."
Cooper's eyes were wide, and Hunter's face was troubled. Blaine was blankly staring at the computer screen.
"This section here," Kurt continued, "sorta proves my theory. The doctor thought that Mutation 2.0 gave the bearer of the active gene a range of extraordinary traits. Traits that could be used as weapons."
Blaine shifted uncomfortably on his feet. Kurt continued. "If the doctor is right, then you are the only person, at least in this generation of jumpers, for which the conditions in your body was right for the Mutation to become active."
Blaine's hands became tight fists. There were tremors running through Cooper and Hunter had to sit down because his knees were about to give out. They were all coming to one conclusion. And Kurt was about to say it out loud, making it real. Kurt gulped.
"If this is so..." Kurt whispered. It would mean that Dr. Clarington died to protect this information, to protect you Blaine. And that means, the people that killed him, are actually looking... for you."