The Source of Our Power: Chapter 11

Blaine paced the living room, wringing his hands nervously.

It was a good thing things couldn't possibly get any more awkward between he and Kurt, or he might actually be worried about the conversation they were about to have.

Because things really couldn't get any more awkward.

Oh, god...could they?

Blaine felt his entire body go rigid as a car pulled into the driveway, followed by Kurt and Finn's animated voices.

"Seriously though Finn, what did you do last night?" Kurt was asking as they proceeded through the front door. "Attack a bull-dozer?"

Finn groaned, rubbing a palm gently across his somewhat mangled face. "Apparently I challenged Puck again. I don't know why, I don't even care about being Alpha."

"Well obviously some part of you does," Kurt responded, hanging up his coat and walking into the living room. He swallowed hard when he saw Blaine and gave him a nervous smile. "Hi, Blaine," he said, his voice just the slightest bit too high.

"Hi," Blaine murmured, trying not to let his nervousness show. Finn followed Kurt into the living room and flopped onto the couch with an intensely vocal groan, seeming oblivious to the tension in the room.

"Have you considered the possibility that it might have something to do with Rachel?" Kurt asked, perching himself on the arm of the couch. Finn opened a puffy, bruise-ringed eye. "This need to prove yourself, I mean."

"Rachel wasn't even there, Kurt."

"No, but hasn't she gone out with Noah a couple of times?"

Finn's expression darkened. "Yeah," he muttered gruffly.

"Well, and we all know about your issues with Rachel being stronger than you..."

"She is not stronger than me!" Finn protested.

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?" He asked.

"Well, I mean, maybe when I'm just...me she is, but when I'm a wolf..."

"...she's still stronger than you," Kurt finished for him in a bored voice, inspecting his nails.

Finn sighed. "I'm not trying to be, like, sexualist or anything, but isn't the guy supposed to protect the girl?"

Finn was looking straight at Blaine, as if he expected him to sympathize with Finn's predicament.

"Well, first of all, Finn, I believe the word you were angling for there was sexist, and that is exactly what you're being," Kurt snapped. "And why should it matter that Rachel's stronger than you? She obviously likes you."

"It's just kind of...I don't know. It's just kind of immaculating, that's all."

"emasculating," Kurt and Blaine corrected him simultaneously. Blaine shot Kurt a shy smile, and Blaine was positive that Kurt blushed slightly in response.

"And Noah Puckerman obviously doesn't think it's emasculating, does he?" Kurt continued. "Rachel deserves someone who isn't threatened by her strength, Finn. If you can't give her that, I can guarantee that becoming Alpha wolf won't impress her one bit."

Finn looked at the floor. "I guess..." he muttered, his brow knitted in thought. "Hey!" he brightened considerably, looking up at Blaine. "You know, I bet Slayer strength is fucking awesome for sex, isn't it?"

"Uh...yeah," Blaine agreed, glancing at Kurt out of the corner of his eye. "It kind of is."

Kurt's face was absolutely scarlet. Blaine couldn't suppress a small smirk.

"You know, it was the last wolf moon last night," Finn said thoughtfully. "You think Rachel might want to hang out tonight? Like...maybe we could all hang out, you know?"

"I don't know," Kurt murmured. "Seeing as how we've continued our unbroken pattern of not finding Dave, Quinn and Tina up until now, it probably isn't a good idea to-"

"Oh come on, Kurt," Finn whined. "Rachel's your friend. If you're there you can stop me from saying something stupid. And besides, you'll have two Slayers with you. It's safe. We can go play pool or something. Pool's awesome, and we haven't done anything fun in forever."

"Well, I supposed we have earned a night off," Kurt conceded, looking at Blaine.

Blaine smiled back nervously. "Oh. Um, good. Because I was going to ask you...I mean, I was going to ask you if it was okay if I took tonight off. But I'll have to take a rain check on pool with you guys because I sort of, uh, have plans."

"Oh?" Kurt asked, his eyes over-bright and a terrifyingly wide grin on his face. He flinched slightly at how shrill his voice came out.

"Y-yeah. I, um, have a date."

"Oh. That's...that's wonderful, Blaine," Kurt said tightly, his eyes unreadable.

"Yeah. You already found a gay dude in the fold besides Kurt and you've only been here a couple months? Damn. Kurt hasn't even found anyone since-"

"Shut up, Finn," Kurt snapped. "So who's the lucky man? Anyone we know?"

But Finn's words were some distance ahead of his brain as usual. He finished his sentence just as Blaine was giving his answer.

"Jeremiah," they both said.

All three men stared at each other. After a moment Finn emitted a low whistle.

"Harsh, dude," he muttered, shaking his head at Blaine. "Harsh."

It was just past noon when Brittany woke up screaming.

"Bloody h-"

"Shut up, Willy. Britt, honey, what is it?"

"No," Brittany whispered, clutching at her head. "No, no, no. We have to go. We have to get to them, we have to tell them."

Spike managed to maintain his look of irritation even while a look of concern spread across his face.

"What are you prattling on about now?" He muttered.

"They...it's Kurt. We have to warn Kurt. There's a fox in the henhouse and we have to warn Kurt."

"What?" Spike demanded, exasperated.

"I don't know!" Brittany screamed, clutching her head, her face twisting in pain. Her eyes were glazed and she was breathing hard and fast.

"Don't be an idiot," Santana snarled. "She's saying there's someone Kurt trusts that's going to betray him."

Brittany looked up, finally seeming to take in her surroundings. "They're going to kill him," she whispered. "They're going to kill him and the world will suffer. Santana, we don't have time. We have to go now."

"I know you want to, but Britt..." Santana made a helpless gesture toward the heavy curtains blocking out the midday sun. She sighed and looked at the girl beside her, tears streaming down her lovely face, and briefly considered allowing herself to burst into flames so that Brittany could have what she wanted.

"Surely a quick phone call from the front office..." Santana murmured, knowing it wasn't really an option.

Spike shook his head. "There's no way to make a call without getting traced, especially when we're so close. I used to just smear black paint over the car windows, but it's not the kind of thing a bloke can just get away with these days." Spike sighed and gazed at the wall, murmuring something to himself about the nineties.

Brittany stood up, sliding her jeans on.

"Britt, what are you...?" Santana allowed herself to trail off as it became completely evident just what it was that Brittany was doing.

"I'll meet you there," Brittany said as she tied her shoes, her voice a bit calmer.

"No," Santana said firmly, standing up and grabbing Brittany's arm. "It's not safe. People are looking for you and-"

"Santana." Brittany's voice grew soft as she fastened her hair into a ponytail and pulled on a hooded sweatshirt. "No one is going to catch me. And if they do, you'll just have to rescue me." Brittany cupped Santana's chin in her hand and leaned in to plant a swift kiss on her lips.

"Okay?"

Santana stared at her, stunned, barely able to manage a nod. And with a radiant smile and a squeeze to her hand, Brittany was out the door at a run.

Santana didn't move an inch for at least a solid minute.

Behind her, Spike snorted. "And you say I have a Slayer fetish? Please."

Santana merely glared at him.

It wasn't luck that had brought them to this place, but it sure as hell felt like it. It had been ages since Quinn had had a proper soak in a jacuzzi, had slept the day away on cool silk sheets with thick velvet drapes blotting out the sun and casting the room in a lovely red glow.

It had been ages since she'd felt this relaxed, this utterly satiated. She'd had two full girls to drink, and she was fairly sure at least one of them had had some serious benzos in her system, which only made everything feel more dreamy and delicious.

The only thing that could have made her day complete would have been some really great sex, but she was frankly not in the mood to move for anyone or anything.

No, it wasn't luck. It was Jesse St. James that had brought them to this place. Quinn lazily debated keeping him around for a little longer than originally planned. He was definitely irritating, but he had definitely also come in handy.

The house was supposed to be empty; the spoiled brat that had lived there had gone off to college in the Eastern States and her parents had left early to spend the winter in Europe. The brat had flown some of her preppy friends home for a secret drug-and-sex-filled weekend.

All it took was a wink and a charming smile from Jesse, and the girl had let them all in the door.

No one else knew that the girl and her friends were there. The Estate was large and isolated, so no one had heard them scream either.

Best of all, there had been plenty for everyone. After years of careful rations while they crept from place to place, trying not to leave too many bodies and thus call attention to themselves, the experience of absolutely gorging herself on healthy young blood had been an utterly mind-blowing experience. Two floors below, Quinn could still make out the faint sounds of tortured screaming. While Quinn had taken her fill fast and hard, Dave had spotted a particular boy the second they walked into the house. A pale boy with very pretty features.

The kind of boy that Dave liked to take his time enjoying for hours and hours on end.

Quinn felt her fingers creep between her legs as she listened to the screaming and remembered her own feast. It had truly been the most glorious night-into-morning that she had had in a very long time. Quinn sighed dreamily as she began lazily stroking herself. Nothing could ruin this perfect, beautiful moment. Absolutely nothing.

"That has got to be the absolute stupidest plan I have ever heard!"

"Calm down. How can you call my plan stupid when you don't even understand what it entails?"

"Well as far as I can tell, all it entails is playing with the love lives of boring human children. This isn't some little Shakespearean farce, Jesse, if we don't get the kid-"

"We'll get the kid."

"Bullshit. Give me one good reason not to kill you right now."

"Well, I did bring you to this beautiful house full of beautiful boys and girls. So ungrateful, Tina..."

"Try again, blood puppet. We're already in the house, which gives you exactly zero leverage."

"The...the boss won't be happy if you..." Jesse's voice was starting to waver nervously.

"The boss will forgive me." Oh, fuck. That was Tina's pre-bite seduction voice. Quinn knew that voice like the back of her fucking hand.

"Why can't I have nice things?" Quinn muttered irritably to herself as she pulled the covers back and jumped to her feet.

Quinn burst into the hallway to find Jesse backed up against the wall and producing erratic silver sparks instead of a barrier in front of himself, nerves obviously disrupting the spell. Tina was in full vamp face, inching slowly closer, drinking in his fear like it was precious nectar.

"Not so cocky when when you don't have some big entrance planned, hmmm? You know, I'm actually not even all that hungry, but your neck is just-"

"Tina!"

Tina flinched and whirled around to face Quinn. "What?" She demanded, her voice etched with irritation.

"Leave him alone. We still need him."

Tina snorted. "Oh, please. Have you heard his big amazing plan to get the kid? He's basically setting the kid's Slayer up on a blind date and then messing with him." Tina rolled her eyes in disgust, her voice taking on a deeply mocking tone. "My god," She gasped dramatically, hand clutching her breast, "how can something with a soul come up with such a nefarious scheme?"

Quinn cocked her head to the side. "Is that true, Jesse? Because if it is, I must say that I'm fairly inclined to agree with my friend Tina here."

"Look," Jesse said nervously. "I know it might sound silly, but please just...just trust me on this one. I know Kurt Hummel. I've known Kurt Hummel for a long time. And I know exactly how he handles heartbreak." Jesse pushed off the wall, seeming to gain back a bit of confidence. "Believe me, ladies," he added with a wink. "Kurt Summers-Kalderash is as good as ours."

Kurt stared at his reflection in the mirror.

He had absolutely no idea what he was feeling anymore.

"Kurt, I didn't know. I swear I didn't know that you two had a history. Look, if you want me to call it off right now-"

Kurt sighed and smoothed the sloughing serum over his face. What did it matter anyway? He had actually thought Jeremiah had changed, that maybe he wouldn't instantly try and get into Blaine's pants just because he could.

"Kurt, please just talk to me. You said I should date, I was just – I was just doing what you told me to do."

Kurt moved to the next step in his regimen, fighting back tears. He was enraged at himself for feeling them start to prickle at all, enraged at himself for these feelings that kept forcing themselves on him whenever he thought about Blaine.

"Is it because you're not over him yet? Is that it?"

For all Kurt knew it wasn't even Jeremiah that had initiated this at all. It could just as easily have been Blaine. After all, Blaine was gorgeous, and so was Jeremiah. Kurt stilled his hands and really looked at himself.

"I just really don't want you to end up hurt."

Who was he kidding? They were both out of his league. Maybe Blaine had only kissed Kurt because Jeremiah had turned him down. Maybe Jeremiah only agreed to go out with Blaine after Blaine had persisted. Maybe Jeremiah had changed, and they were going to be happy together and move to the Eastern States and get married and be the most powerful and beautiful couple in the world while Kurt muddled along in Ohio as a barely competent Watcher whose youth – the only thing that distinguished him in the field – had long since diminished, alone and unloved and–

"Dude!" Finn knocked perfunctorily on the door before barging in and throwing himself across Kurt's bed. "Are you seriously not coming out with us tonight? That sucks. And Blaine's not coming, so it's just me and Rachel. What the hell are we even going to talk about?"

"Well, what do you normally talk about?" Kurt asked, wiping his eyes discreetly before wringing out a warm washcloth and draping it over his face.

"I don't know. Her, mostly. She kind of likes to talk a lot, so mostly I just watch her say stuff."

"Don't you mean you mostly listen to her say stuff?" Kurt asked, his face slightly muffled beneath the cloth.

"Uh...kind of? I mean, sometimes. Mostly I just watch her. She's really pretty when she talks. She's really pretty most of the time, actually."

"Don't worry about it, Finn. You'll do fine. Just...pay her compliments every now and then and try not to say anything offensive." Kurt paused, considering. "Anything too offensive," he amended.

"But if it's just the two of us then it's like...a date."

"That would be the idea, yes."

"You sure you don't want to come? You deserve a night off too, you know."

Kurt sighed. "Finn, having a nice, quiet evening in is a night off. All I want to do is give myself a proper facial, which I haven't taken the time to do in months, and curl up with a cup of tea and the Lei-Ach Doxologies."

"That's one of those big old stinky books of yours, isn't it?"

"One of the stinkier ones," Kurt admitted.

"That really doesn't sound like a night off, Kurt."

Kurt peeled the washcloth off his face. "Is that what you're wearing on your date?"

Finn looked down at his bleach-stained T-shirt and worn jeans. "Uh...yeah? I mean, we're only playing pool, so..."

Kurt sighed. "All right, up." Finn ambled off Kurt's bed as Kurt stood up from the seat at his vanity. "Play pool if you must, but you are taking her out to dinner first. Your treat, since you're the one that asked her. You'll want to choose someplace with vegetarian options."

Finn groaned. "But Kurt..."

"No buts. If you want to actually date this girl, bringing your brother along on your first date is not the way to make a good impression. Besides," Kurt added with a smile, "I have it on very good authority that Rachel would most definitely enjoy an evening alone with you."

Finn perked up. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Kurt confirmed with a smile as they headed toward Finn's room. "Now let's go see if we can find something presentable in that closet of yours."

Kurt couldn't help but pause for a moment as he passed Blaine's darkened room. "Did Blaine...um...leave already?" He asked softly, trying to sound casual.

"Yeah. Jeremiah picked him up about half an hour ago. Can you believe that guy? After he-"

"Finn," Kurt said gently, "it's fine."

"Yeah, but-"

"Just let it go," Kurt said a bit more firmly.

"Yeah, okay," Finn agreed softly. "But Kurt, if you want to talk about-"

"What I want to talk about is making you look fabulous for your date. Now come on. Ms. Berry does not like to be kept waiting."

Kurt forced a smile as he strode into his brother's room, trying to ignore the worried look in Finn's eyes.

Blaine tried hard to look interested while Jeremiah launched into some story about a practical joke he and Artie had played on Jesse.

It wasn't that he didn't want to be here, not at all. He deserved a night off and Jeremiah was cute, and Kurt had told him he should date-

Kurt. He couldn't stop his mind from wandering back to Kurt.

Blaine pushed a bit of pasta around on his plate and tried not to sigh, tried to force himself to be polite and listen to what Jeremiah was saying.

Which at the moment, was nothing. Jeremiah had stopped talking, and god knows how long it had been. He was staring at Blaine with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh...yeah. Yeah, that's hilarious," Blaine stuttered, throwing in a forced chuckle.

"You have no idea what I just said, do you?"

Blaine sighed. "I'm sorry."

"You all right?" Jeremiah began buttering a roll, looking genuinely concerned.

"Did you use to go out with Kurt?" Blaine asked suddenly, before he could even consider his words.

Jeremiah's hand froze, buttered roll midway to his mouth. "Um, yeah. I thought you knew."

"Not until this morning. Finn sort of blurted it out," Blaine answered.

Jeremiah furrowed his brow. "Huh. But that doesn't make sense. I...I don't know. I guess I sort of got the impression that Kurt was okay with this, that it was all out in the open?"

Blaine remembered Kurt's look of genuine shock when Blaine had said Jeremiah was going to be his date. "How did you get that impression?" He asked.

"I..." Jeremiah gave a nervous chuckle. "I guess I don't really remember, to be honest. I'm sorry, Blaine, is this weird?"

"Kind of," Blaine mumbled. "But it's not your fault. I mean, I could have canceled. I wanted to come."

Jeremiah smiled. "I'm glad to hear that."

They ate in silence for a moment. Jeremiah looked thoughtful. "Blaine, does Kurt seem okay with this?" He asked.

"I...he definitely seemed caught off-guard. Did you...I mean, did it not end well?"

Jeremiah gave Blaine a level look. "You really don't know anything about this, do you?"

Blaine shook his head.

Jeremiah sighed and looked down at his lap. "Look, Blaine, I really like to think I've changed, but Kurt's your Watcher. I should probably tell you what happened before we take this any further."

"Okay," Blaine answered softly.

"It was...well, it ended over a year ago. Closer to two years, actually. We were together for about ten months. For the most part it was good, but..."

"But?"

"But when it ended...it was my fault, Blaine. I accept that fully now. I wasn't ready to be monogamous, and I..."

Jeremiah looked up and met Blaine's eyes. "I cheated on him. And it broke his fucking heart."

Kurt was roused from his absorption in the Doxologies (those Lei-Achs had some seriously fucked up religious views, even for demons) by the soft, rising melody of an incoming call. He slid his ear-clip in and quickly tapped out the sequence to accept the call.

"Hello?"

"Kurt?" The voice was full of laughter, words shouted out against the backdrop of a lively dance club.

"Speaking. Who is this?"

"Hey, Kurt, it's Jesse. Hold on, let me take this somewhere a little quieter."

Kurt let his eyes skim over the text in front of him while Jesse made his way to what sounded like outside.

"Sorry, I should have thought of that – your Slayer just asked me to call and I've had a few, so I wasn't really thinking-"

"Blaine asked you to call me? Why? Is everything okay?"

Jesse barked out a laugh. "Oh man, that would be an understatement. Who knew he and Jerry would hit it off so well, huh?"

Kurt felt like all the air had been knocked out of his lungs. He couldn't even bring himself to formulate a response.

"I mean, I thought when Jerry told him what happened between you two he'd bolt for sure, but he just said that everyone makes mistakes and everyone deserves a clean slate, and then – my god, Hummel, you should have seen it. They were all over each other."

"Oh?" Kurt managed to ask, trying to concentrate on breathing. Just breathing. So they were having a good time. So Blaine didn't care about the fact that Jeremiah had cheated on Kurt. They were probably just having fun, that was all. And why did it even matter? Kurt had been over Jeremiah for a very long time, and Blaine was free to date whomever he pleased.

"Oh, shit. I'm sorry. Look, Kurt, I'm drunk, so my filter is totally non-operational tonight. It didn't even occur to me that you might still have feelings for Jerry-

"No...I...no..." Kurt answered weakly.

"Oh good. And look, you don't have to worry, he really has changed. Blaine wanted me to call and let you know he's staying at our place tonight so you shouldn't worry when he doesn't come home. But I don't think they're even planning to do anything, you know? They were talking about taking it slow, and just holding each other. It was so sweet I kind of wanted to puke. Blaine even said he'd never felt this way about anyone before and he didn't want to screw it up by-"

"I have to go," Kurt blurted out. "I-I'm sorry, I just...thank you for calling."

Kurt disconnected the call and finally allowed himself to burst into tears.

He couldn't handle this. He couldn't. If they were just having sex it might not really mean anything, but-

Kurt didn't even understand what was happening inside of him. He couldn't breathe and he couldn't think and the walls were closing in around him and all he wanted to do was the same thing he always needed to do when his heart got ripped open, and he wasn't even really aware that he was actually in the process of doing it until it registered that the cold autumn air was biting into his skin through the thin material of his pajamas, and thank god he had at least put shoes on because he wasn't going back – not for a coat, not for proper clothes, not for anything. He was barely holding himself together at all, and he just needed to get there more than anything.

He just needed her.

"Hurry up!" Brittany screamed at the man driving the car. He raised his eyebrows.

"Now, sweetheart, the speed limit around here is-"

"I don't care, we don't have time. I have to get there. Just...I'll do anything."

"Anything?" The man's face spread into a lascivious smile.

"But no sex stuff," Brittany amended. The man deflated considerably.

"I won't kick you out of the moving car, though," Brittany added cheerfully. "Which is actually better than sex stuff if you think about it."

The man looked skeptical so Brittany sighed and ripped his rearview mirror out without so much as flexing a bicep. She looked at him with a smile. "Could you tell that was as easy as picking an apple for me? Because it was."

The man drove faster.

Angel swore to himself as he watched Kurt's pajama-clad form hurl across the lawn and into the wooded area across the street. He didn't know what had set it off, but he knew exactly where Kurt was going.

He hadn't even reached the property line when he found his path blocked.

"Well, well, Quinn purred, crowding into his personal space. "Long time no see, dreamboat."

"Yeah," Tina added, moving smoothly to the side to prevent his escape. "We have so much catching up to do."

"I'm not saying that people can't change, Jeremiah, I just...you cheated on Kurt. I just...I don't think that's something I can get past. I'm sorry."

Jeremiah sighed. "Yeah, I guess the idea that this might work out was just wishful thinking. I just...I like you, Blaine."

"I like you too. But I...my loyalty has to be to Kurt. I hope you can understand that."

Jeremiah smiled wistfully. "Of course I can. He's your Watcher."

"Maybe...maybe we could be friends, though?"

"Definitely," Jeremiah enthused. "So...are we cool, or should we just call it a night?"

Blaine reached across the table and squeezed his hand. "Let's finish eating. Friends eat together, right?"

"Right."

It didn't take long for them to fall into a fairly comfortable rapport, and Blaine briefly considered not even answering his phone when the familiar melody started up.

"I'm sorry, Jeremiah, I don't mean to be rude, it's just that this is Burt's ring and something might be-"

Jeremiah waved his hand dismissively at Blaine's apology. "By all means."

"Blaine?" It was immediately evident that something was wrong.

"What happened?" He asked.

"It's Kurt. He...we lost him. He's out there on foot all alone, and Jesus, Blaine, I'm sorry to call you on your night off, but I don't think he even brought any weapons, and-"

"Burt. It's fine. I'm on my way."

Blaine disconnected the call and started to pull his jacket on. "Jeremiah, I'm sorry, it's just...I think Kurt might be in trouble."

Jeremiah nodded and began putting his jacket on as well. "I'm coming with you."

Kurt barely even noticed the cold anymore when he arrived. All he could perceive was the recently-full moon casting cool light on the clearing before him, on all the other stone structures, on her.

Kurt sank to his knees in front of the headstone, tears nearly freezing to his hot cheeks.

"Mom," he whispered. "I need you."

Kurt curled into a ball on the mound of grass and earth that covered ashes of the vampire she had been and a few select mementos of the woman she truly was. It wasn't much; wasn't even a real grave really, but it was the closest thing he had. It was all he had.

Kurt sobbed, because it wasn't fair; he had tried so hard to keep his heart safe, to keep something like this from happening to him again. He hated how little control he really had over his emotions. He hated how little control he really had over his life. He hated how hard he loved and how easily he broke.

"Damn. You crying on your mother's grave like this might just be the hottest thing I've ever seen, Hummel."

Kurt stiffened, his eyes flying open in horror.

Dave chuckled softly as he strolled closer, hands in his pockets. "Sorry. Kurt. I keep forgetting to call you that. Really, though. You look so fucking beautiful right now, you probably have no idea."

Kurt scrambled to his feet, limbs stiff with cold. "Just stay the hell away from me, Karofsky!"

Dave smiled, continuing to advance. "Hey, now, no trying to seduce me again, Kurt. You saw the kind of trouble you got me into the last time."

Kurt tried darting to the side, but before he could even start to run Dave was beside him. He grabbed Kurt's chin roughly. "You little fucking tease, trying to make me kill you fast. Well, not this time."

Kurt spit in Dave's face, which only made him laugh, seemingly with delight, as he pulled Kurt against him and kissed him hard while Kurt struggled to break free. When Dave finally did pull back, gasping and in full vamp face, he glared at Kurt.

"This time, Hummel, you're coming with me."

And with that, Dave grabbed Kurt by the throat and smashed his head into his mother's gravestone.

Kurt crumpled to the ground and Dave smiled as he lifted his unconscious body and slung him over his shoulder.

Dave jogged over to the spot where he knew the car would be waiting. It roared to life as he approached.

"Excellent," Jesse murmured from the driver's seat as Dave carefully deposited Kurt in the back seat. "No problems?"

"Nope," Dave responded, closing the back door and slipping into the passenger's seat. "Looks like Quinn and Tina kept Angel occupied, and I didn't see any Slayer bitches around either."

Jesse smiled and tapped his ear-clip.

"Hey boss, we've got him," Jesse announced proudly.

The familiar voice in his ear took on an all-too-rare tone of satisfaction.

"Outstanding," was her reply.