Kurt's eyes fluttered open.

He was currently in the back of a moving van, with his arms tied yet again. If his life were an action movie on tv, Kurt would have turned it off by now. The cliché bad guy and the constant kidnapping just did not seem realistic enough.

But unfortunately this was not a movie, and Kurt was actually trapped in the back of a musty van that smelled of wet socks and cat urine.

It was pretty dark in the back, and he could only see a few vague shadows. He couldn't tell if the shapes around him were people or simply outlines of random objects. He squinted, unable to discern their actual form. There was a tinted window separating the back from whoever was driving the vehicle. It was quiet save for the occasional cough coming from the front.

Unsure if Blaine was in the back with him, Kurt called out as quietly as possible. "Blaine?" He whispered.

There was no response.

Kurt sighed and tried to ignore the pit in his stomach. The first time he was tied up, everything was so confusing and difficult to believe. But now the danger was all too real. He'd seen Sebastian and Blaine, and how deadly this conflict could get. He didn't want to know what would happen if he was left alone with some like Sebastian, or worse.

A grunt came from the space directly across from him. He squinted, trying to make out a figure in the dark. It sounded like Blaine, but he couldn't tell for sure. Kurt stretched out his legs and tried to feel for Blaine's feet to tap him awake.

Finding no success, he resigned himself to sitting back and waiting for Blaine to wake up fully.

A few minutes and two left turns later, there was a cough and a sharp intake of breath.

"Kurt? Kurt!" Blaine stage whispered.

"I'm over here," Kurt responded.

"I can't see you, are you alright?"

"I think so. No cuts or bruises as far as I can feel; I'm just tied up again."

"Good, good."

"So… what do we do now?"

Blaine didn't answer, but Kurt could now hear his deep, steady breaths. After a long pause he finally answered.

"I—I don't know."

"Oh." Kurt bit down on his lower lip, unsure of what to say or do next.

Another silence.

"I'm so sorry Kurt," Blaine started. "I've never gone after someone on my own, and I'm not supposed to do any work without a partner. I've definitely never taken any of the Warblers on my own. I guess I just sort of got kind of cocky after I took care of Sebastian, and I made a bunch of mistakes. I just—they didn't want to interfere with you until they were sure our guys on the inside were safe and—"

"Wait, slow down. The Warblers?"

"Yeah. They're the 'bad guys,' so to speak."

"O-kay…" Kurt said. "So what exactly are you stopping them from doing?"

"Well, it's complicated. Way back when, they were the elite. The Warblers kept order in the city. They were the 'guardians.' Every city with a population over 1,000 has a group like them. I used to work for them until about two years ago. But…"

"You were one of the bad guys?"

"Yes and no. When I first started everything was fine, but someone planted a corrupt seed. They siphoned money, ignored their duty, and then there was the Chi-town incident."

Kurt stared in the direction of Blaine's voice. "Chi-town incident?"

"The specifics aren't important, but our leader was removed from his position. I was kicked out along with a few others. Those of us who could no longer call ourselves Warblers banded together to create a second group. It took two months until we were on our feet. Do you remember summer, two years ago?"

"When we couldn't go two days without hearing about an abduction or local bank robbery or a political scandal involving the city board and money? Yes."

"That was why. There was no one to fight against them."

Kurt pondered for a moment, letting the weight of Blaine's words sink in.

"So who are you?"

Blaine clicked his tongue, as if it were the last thing he wanted to hear. "Well, technically we're named The Company, but we many of us have another name you're probably more familiar with. The first word is an antonym for old and the second word rhymes with erections."

Kurt snorted. "Erections, Blaine, really?"

"Hey, I came up with that on the spot, you have to give me some credit."

He rolled his eyes. Old, new—erections. "The New Directions." Kurt deadpanned. "You run around the city in spandex with the rest of the Glee club? Why…? I go to school with every single one of you! Why doesn't anyone tell me anything?!" Kurt knocked his head back against the seat in exasperation.

He could almost hear Blaine wincing across from him.

"Please don't hate me. I didn't tell you because I wanted you to be safe. Besides, not everyone in Glee is in The Company, and vice versa. I just did a lot of recruiting there."

"Why not me? Why didn't you ask me?"

"I wanted to protect you."

"Like hell, Blaine! I can take care of myself."

Blaine didn't answer. He felt exceedingly uncomfortable and didn't know what to say to keep Kurt happy.

"I'm sorry," he finally whispered.

"I know, I know." Kurt closed his eyes for a moment. "Why Cooper?"

"What about him?"

"He isn't in Glee, he doesn't live here, and I love him, but isn't he a bit—"

"Self-absorbed?" Blaine offered.

"Well, yes."

"Between you and me, he doesn't actually do much of anything. I kind of let it slip one day, and he threatened to go public with the secret of our society if we didn't let him in. Now whenever he screws up it's automatically my fault because I'm the reason he's here."

"And the work he was doing when he spoke to you on the screen?"

"He presses three buttons to set up my scanners to the main server, then a fourth one to send me the more detailed results that come from the main computer. That's it."

"Huh," Kurt said. "I want in."

"Kurt I—." Blaine was cut off by a sharp left turn that elicited a bang from his side.

Kurt squinted in the dark. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just another bruise to add to my collection."

The car slowed to a stop, brakes squeaking and engine groaning. Almost immediately, Kurt heard the front door open and slam shut.

"There's something I need to tell you about Sebastian. He—" A violent bang came from the side of the car, cutting him short.

The back door opened a little, allowing a sliver of light into the car. Kurt could see Blaine's wide eyes staring at him.

"I love you, Kurt."

The door opened all the way. A handsome young man stood in the door way while the streetlight's bathed him in a soft, gold light. He wore the same blazer and tie combination Kurt had seen on Sebastian earlier, and looked rather unassuming.

"Hello there, ladies."