"I don't know how we're supposed to keep doing this," Blaine sighed tiredly.

Santana grumbled in response and took another large gulp of her coffee. After Blaine's near death experience, the two had quickly retreated back to the hotel and all but collapsed when they reached their suite. Santana had been unusually silent during the whole thing; making them both coffee and wrapping Blaine up in a wooly blanket. The entire time she had a look of concentration etched across her face.

After another minute of complete silence, Blaine sighed.

"What is it?" he asked. "You've got that look on your face, what are you planning?"

Santana faced him and tapped the bench, her fingernails clicking loudly against the surface.

"You're right," she stated. "We can't keep doing this. There's no way we can watch Kurt's back and ours at the same time."

"Yeah, thanks for pointing that out. It's not like I wasn't stressed enough already," Blaine grumbled and Santana whacked him sharply on the shoulder. "Ow!" he yelped and glared at Santana but decided to go along with it. "Yeah, I know but what are we supposed to do? It's not like we can make The Sins go away," Blaine reasoned.

"True," Santana agreed. "But who says we want them to go away?"

Blaine frowned at her in confusion and slowly raised his hand.

"Um, me" he murmured. "I want them to go away."

Santana rolled her eyes and leaned forward. "You're not getting it. Clearly, The Sins aren't going to leave us alone until they take us out, right?"

Blaine nodded, "right."

"So, all we have to do is take a stroll down the street, those sneaky ninjas will follow us and then BAM! We catch them and take them out!" Santana finished, grinning wildly.

Blaine sat back and held up his hands, trying to process all this.

"Wait a second," he began. "So, you're saying you want us to lure The Sins out by using ourselves as bait? Risking our lives?"

"Absolutely," Santana answered immediately with no hesitation. "It's the only way."

"I highly doubt that," Blaine frowned. "Can't we just ask Quinn for help, or something?"

Santana scoffed. "Screw Quinn! If we ask for back up, it'll take them forever to get here and we'll have to go longer staying in danger and so will Kurt."

Blaine stopped at that. He sat down slowly started to see where Santana was coming from. It wouldn't be his first plan of attack but it made sense. The last thing he wanted was for Kurt to get hurt. And if that meant putting his neck on the line, he was fine with that.

He looked up and saw Santana watching him expectantly. Blaine sighed and smiled.

"I'm in."

Santana gave a triumphant fist pump and grinned widely, throwing her arm over Blain'e shoulder.

"Great! So, you rest up, Frodo," she instructed, patting his chest, "and tomorrow, we hunt us some Sins."

Blaine shook his head but couldn't hep smiling softly.

"What ever you say."

At that moment, a light knock came from the door and Rory poked his head inside. He spotted Santana and instantly froze, his eyes growing wide and fearful. Blaine sighed and gestured for him to come inside. Rory, still eyeing Santana cautiously, edged his way from behind the door, carrying a large silver dome.

"Evenin'," he greeted, tipping his hat.

"Hey, Rory," Blaine walked to the kitchen an leaned against the counter. "What's that?" he asked, nodding to the dome.

Rory grinned from ear to ear and lifted the lid off the plate, revealing a platter of various crackers topped with salad and cheese.

"Left-overs," he explained brightly. "The chefs let me grab a plate ta eat. I thought ya might fancy one."

Blaine smiled, "thanks." He reached for a cracker only to have Santana slap his hand away. "Ow," he said, pointedly glaring at her but Santana didn't waver.

"Don't eat those!" she hissed. "What if The Si-" she cut herself off as she noticed Rory was still there, watching them. She cleared her throat and said more quietly, "what if one of them did something to those." She gestured to the platter.

A look of realisation dawned on Rory's face and he smiled, nodding.

"I know what ya mean," he said and span the plate around so other side was facing Santana. "We've got gluten-free ones to."

Blaine stifled a laugh as Santana gave Rory a 'look.'

"I'm goin to bed," she announced in a low tone. She then span on her heel and headed for the stairs, doing just that.

Blaine and Rory stood in silence until the sound of a door slamming shut echoed around the suite and Rory turned to him, looking blank.

"What's with her?" he asked, blinking in confusion.

Blaine let out a long breath, shrugging.

"We've just got a long day ahead of us."

----------

Artie tapped away furiously on his key board, his computer screens alternating between watching Blaine and Santana through the security camera and showing the fire wall he was currently hacking to keep watching them. After Blaine had explained Santana's plan, he was nervous. So much could go wrong but the two agents had insisted that for high risk there was high reward. So he had tapped into the security system - which was way too easy, by the way - and when The Sins appeared, they would be caught.

Santana had explained they would lure the Sin somewhere secluded and Artie could then electronically lock them in, trapping them like an animal in a cage. Then they would all be one step closer to figuring this all out. 

Quinn had been furious when they had discovered Moriyaki had miraculously escaped. She was now on full lock down. They had to find The Sins. They just had to.

"Ready, Artie?" Blaine asked, his voice coming out scratchy through Artie's speakers.

"Yep," Artie replied, watching them enter through the front doors of the mall. "I've got you guys. That Sin is going down!"

"Hell yeah it is!" Santana readily agreed.

Artie laughed and heard the doors open behind him. Spinning around in his chair, Artie saw Sebastian standing there, leaning against the door frame and staring at the glowing screens quizzically.

"Oh," Artie said in surprise. "Hey, Sebastian. What're you doing here? Don't you have criminals to cuff or people to annoy?"

Sebastian ignored him and stepped closer into the room until he was standing right in front of Artie's desk. He leaned forward and propped his chin up on his palm, his eyes never leaving the screens.

"What's all this?" he asked with a furrowed brow.

Artie sighed and span back around, his fingers skimming over the keys with speed.

"If you must know, we're about to catch a Sin," he smiled slightly to himself, watching Blaine and Santana casually stroll through the crowded shopping centre. "I wonder if this is what it feels like to be a pokemon trainer."

"Woah, woah," Sebastian held up a hand, eyes closed. "Hold on a second." He faced Artie with a raised eyebrow. "Catch a Sin?"

Artie nodded, "that's right. Santana and Blaine have got a Sin on their tale and - with the assistance of modern technology - we are going to trap it!" Artie took a deep breath and smiled. "This might just be my greatest moment yet."

Sebastian stood up and narrowed his eyes at the computers.

"So, Blaine's really trying to capture one of these guys. Knowing they've tried to kill him multiple times?" Sebastian gave a short laugh and let out a low whistle. "He's got balls, I'll give him that."

"Wait," Artie steered himself to look at Sebastian. "How did you know Blaine was getting attacked?"

Sebastian was silent for a moment before he shrugged and answered, "what can I say? Gossip travels." He turned on his heel and headed for the door, waving over his shoulder. "See ya, Artie. Tell Blaine I wish him luck."

"Will do," Artie watched him leave and faced the screens, shaking his head. Sebastian was really weird sometimes.

----------

"But why do I have have to be the bait?" Blaine whined as Santana pushed him through the crowds of people swarming about with plastic shopping bags hooked around there wrists.

"Because," Santana explained, "this was my idea and I say, you're the bait. Now, come on, we've been walking around here for half and hour. That Sin has gotta know we're here by now."

Blaine could feel himself starting to get a little nervous but shook it off. Everything would be fine. They would catch the Sin. They would hand him or her over to HQ and he, Santana, Kurt and everyone else, would be safe. They would be.

"Okay," Santana rubbed his shoulders like a coach prepping their athlete for a boxing match. "You ready?"

Blaine felt like shaking his head but instead let out a long breath and nodded.

"Ready as I'll ever be," he mumbled.

Santana gripped his shoulder tightly and whispered, "good luck," before disappearing.

Blaine looked around at all the people walking past him, completely oblivious as to what was about to happen. This really was a high risk move and since they didn't know anything about their enemies, other than that they were evil and had to be stopped, it was very hard to predict what they would do. They could very well be disguised a random person, walk up to Blaine and stab him and that would be the end of it. Blaine shook his head free of doubts, noticing that cold sweat had broken out on his brow. This would work.

A little unsure, Blaine began to wonder around the mall, his heart pounding in his ears. He entered some clothes shop and began browsing mindlessly through the rows of fabric. In the back of his mind, he wondered why he would ever have to go shopping anyway but hoped The Sins wouldn't think of that.

Blaine picked up a jacket and made his way to the changing rooms. He let himself into one of the small cubicles and slowly took the jacket off the hanger. His eyes darting from side to side, Blaine waited. After a few moments of nothing, he whispered quietly.

"Anything?"

"Nope," Artie replied, sighing.

Blaine's shoulders slumped as he left the jacket in the store and made his way to another. After browsing through a rack of jeans, Blaine turned and almost jumped out of his skin to see none other than Sam standing right behind him. 

Sam gave a stiff smile and waved.

"Hey Blaine."

Blaine nodded formally.

"Sam."

That seemed to be it as Sam gave him one last look and walked away. Blaine frowned after him, feeling suddenly very cold. He had to keep telling himself that, yes, that really did just happen. Shaking his head, Blaine made his way towards the dressing rooms. That guy was weird.

Blaine had no idea where Santana was. Maybe she had already caught the Sin herself. But he couldn't be sure until he saw it himself. So, he entered another store and another and then another. After his fifth shop and nothing happening, Blaine had grown frustrated.

"Where are they?" he hissed. "What more do I have to do for them to attack me? Do I have to stick an arrow above my head with a flashing sign saying 'please attempt to murder this man'?"

"It couldn't hurt," Artie groaned. "I'd be willing to try anything at this point."

Blaine sighed and swiped at his fore head, feeling annoyed and grumpy. Dragging a hand down his face, Blaine shook his head.

"I guess today's The Sin's day off," he spat. Blaine walked to the elevators and pushed the down arrow. "I guess I'll just go home."

The elevator dinged and the doors opened to reveal an empty space. Stepping into it, Blaine pushed the button for the ground floor and waited to make his five floor descent. 

Hardly two seconds went by when the elevator came to jolting stop. Blaine staggered and gripped the railing for support, frowning in confusion. The carriage dropped another few feet and Blaine's hand slipped, sending him sprawling on the floor. His senses started to kick in as he realised something was wrong. Jumping to his feet, Blaine steadied himself and ran to the the panel of buttons listing floor numbers. He jabbed at the emergency stop one but the carriage counted to sway menacingly.

"Artie?" he choked out, his breath coming out in sharp pants. "What's going on?"

"I have no idea!" he stammered. Blaine could hear the sound of his fingers typing furiously on his computer. "All my screens just turned to static! Someone must be high-jacking the system."

"Well, they've high-jacked this elevator to!"

That's when Blaine heard the loud thud! come from the roof above his head. There was loud tapping that Blaine quickly recognised as footsteps.

"Hey!" Blaine called out to the person. "Help! I'm stuck!"

The person didn't answer. They just stood there until Blaine could hear the buzzing of an electric tool coming to life. The screeching soon increased as small sparks of orange fell past the small window barred beside Blaine's head and down into the black abyss.

For a moment, Blaine thought they were trying to cut a hole for him to climb out of until, suddenly, the elevator shuddered and violently dropped a metre or two and tipped to one side. Blaine fell to the ground, landing on his side as realisation finally dawned on him. His entire body felt like it had been thrown into an arctic ocean as he realised this person was cutting the wires, holding up the elevator. They were trying to kill him. He had found the Sin.

"Let me out!" he yelled, slamming his fist down on the carpeted floor. 

He heard a low chuckle but the sawing continued. Blaine scrambled to his feet as the elevator continued to sway, his hands finding the cool metal of the supporting bar. It felt like boiling water was pumping through his veins and Blaine welcomed the rush of adrenalin. God knows he needed it.

Blaine looked up to where his stalker was literally cutting away his life lines. Meshed metal covered the ceiling and Blaine could see the emergency exit bolted into the steel netting. Thinking quickly, Blaine hoisted himself up onto the railing until he was squatting on it like a gargoyle and leapt upwards, his fingers curling into the mesh. He winced as the thin metal cut into his skin and forced back the pain as he swung his legs up and kicked against the opening, sending a loud bang echoing through the crevice.

The person turned from their sawing and looked down at Blaine sharply. From the shape of them, Blaine could tell it was a man of fit stature. His face was entirely covered by thin black fabric and Blaine couldn't see his eyes. He raised the saw above his head and swung it down. Blaine only had a second to realise what he was doing before he released his hold on the roof and fell to the ground with a loud grunt, the saw swiping at the metal where his fingers had been just a second ago with a hiss.

The black figure laughed coldly at him and in no time in finishing off another cable. Blaine's fingers dug into the carpet as the elevator tipped violently, sending Blaine rolling into the corner opposite him. He barely had time to hiss at the pain before the carriage dropped again, catching itself and swinging into the wall of the vertical tunnel surrounding it. 

Blaine's head hit the floor and when he opened his eyes, the Sin was staring right down at him. He chuckled darkly then gave a little wave.

"Bye, Anderson," he said, his voice muffled and low. "I'll see you never."

And with that, the Sn was gone. He gripped onto one of the cut cables and swung himself to the safety of the built-in ladder on the wall. He climbed with speed and ease and in seconds, had disappeared into the darkness.

Now, Blaine was alone in the suspended elevator carriage, with one cable holding him up. He was growing cold, panicked and desperate.

"Artie!" he yelled in fear. "Help me! Do something!"

"I'm trying!" Artie shouted back, sounding just as terrified and frantic as Blaine felt.

Blaine tried to climb back onto the railing but anytime he took a step away from the very centre of the floor, the elevator would tip dangerously, creaking loudly and the cable would begin to unravel faster. His eyes darted everywhere, looking to find something! Anything!

It was when he found nothing that Blaine realised it was over. This was it. He was going to die. The cable would snap, sending him falling to his doom and The Sins would get their way. What ever it was.

He would never see any of his friends or family again. He would never get to say good bye to Brittany, Quinn, Artie, Santana, or even Rachel and Mercedes. And Kurt. He had failed him. Failed to keep him away from The Sin's and safe. He would never get to see those blue eyes ever again. The one's he loved so much. This was it.

"Blaine!"

Blaine's eyes snapped open and he whipped his head up, seeing Santana dropping down and land on the roof of the carriage lightly. She looked down at him with wide eyes and didn't say anything as she raised her booted foot and brought it down on the small opening in the roof. It only took two kicks for the panel to come undone and clatter to the ground, Blaine just barely jumping out of the way in time.

"Santana!" he finally gasped. "You-you're here!"

"No time to talk!" Santana snapped and held out both her hands for Blaine to take. "Come on!"

Blaine quickly shut his mouth and gripped Santana's open hands. The latino grunted in exhaust as she hauled Blaine out of the death trap as quickly as possible. When Blaine was up to his waist, he let go of Santana and grabbed at the metal mesh until his fingers sunk between the cut out squares and pulled himself out the rest of they way.

The cable was peeling away quickly. With every movement either of them made, the metal would uncurl faster. Blaine's breath hitched as the tell tale signs of the metal wire straightening out into a thin line occurred before his eyes. He gave Santana one short, fleeting look before he threw himself off the roof of the elevator and grabbed one of the many dangling chains. The sweat on his hands made him slide down the chain a few meters and Blaine was terrified he was going to fall before he came to a stop. 

He felt something bump into his side and looked to see Santana, doing the same as him and looking very shocked, like she'd just woken up and found herself in this situation.

It was then that they heard the cable finally snap. Blaine watched on as the elevator that he was sure he was going to die in fell, its corners catching on the walls and sending flurries of sparks everywhere before it hit the ground at last. Blaine could no longer see it but he certainly heard the eruption of sound that filled the cavern, making the walls and chains all shake and vibrate.

Blaine knew that a lot of people must have heard that and pretty soon their would be maintenance all over the place.

"Come on," he said to Santana and began to make his way up the chain, trying to shake that unnamed shaking feeling inside him. Blaine decided to call it the feeling of almost dying.

----------

Burt Hummel sighed as he sat at his dining room table and waited. He had been sitting their, staring at the phone for what seemed like hours - and it probably was. He was completely alone: Carole was out getting the groceries and Finn was in class. So now, all he could do was wait.

All this stress was eating him up. When he had come home early from the shop one night and found his house completely trashed, his first thought was about Kurt. They were making a move. After all this time, they were finally reminding Burt that they were still here and meant business. What if something had happened to Kurt? He would never forgive himself if he let those bastards hurt his son.

If it were up to him, he be with Kurt in New York. But he couldn't just up and leave his wife and step-son without some questions being raised. So he stayed and prayed for the best. After all, it wasn't like Burt hadn't done everything in his power to make Kurt as safe as possible. He had even gone so far as to get outside help.

It was times like these, where Burt wished he could see his late wife again. Talk about everything and what she had been thinking before she had died. Burt had always thought the idea was crazy and while he still didn't entirely know everything he did know that none of it was good for Kurt.

At that moment, his phone finally rang. Burt lashed out for it and quickly brought it to his ear.

"Hello?" he asked hastily.

"Hi, Burt," the voice on the other end greeted.

"Is everything okay?" Burt panted, feeling his heart start to pump faster.

"Yeah," the guy said calmly. "Everything's fine. I think I'm finally on to something though."

"You mean you found those little bastards, at last?" Burt snarled, not to the man but at the thought of those scum.

"Not all of them," the voice responded. "Just one. Maybe more, I'm not sure. But this brings us one set closer to our goal, right?"

"Keeping Kurt safe," Burt whispered and sighed, scratching his head. 

"That's right," he said. "Don't worry, Burt. I made you a promise and I'm going to keep it. Nothing bad will happen, okay?"

Burt reluctantly nodded his head, even though he knew the other man couldn't see him.

"Yeah, okay."

"Good," the voice said. "Now, you get back to your life and I'll tell you if anything comes up."

"Thanks," Burt hummed and cleared his throat.

"Okay, bye."

"Bye."

With that, Burt hung up the phone. His shoulders immediately slumped and he fell forwards, burying his face in his hands. He wouldn't cry. He hadn't cried in four years, since Kurt had graduated high school and left for New York. He couldn't afford to lose it now. He had to be strong, for Kurt and Elizabeth.