Kurt was alone in the conference room, staring out the window with his arms around himself. He felt cold despite the warm June evening. In that same moment, two agents were in his apartment in the Lower East Side, going through his closet and stuffing whatever they considered necessary into a bag so Kurt could take a bit of his old life into this new, crazy one. But Kurt was reassured by getting to keep some of his own stuff around. He was actually freaked out that so many people had invaded his privacy, his safe haven, so many times in the past few hours. First a murderer who seemed to have some kind of vendetta against him, and now the FBI, forcing him to leave everything he loved and everything he had…

“Are you okay?”

Kurt startled. He had been on his own since Finn had been taken home a couple of hours ago. Saying goodbye to his brother hadn’t been easy, either. He understood why Finn couldn’t go with him, but that didn’t mean Kurt wasn’t going to worry himself sick until he got to see his brother again. If something happened to Finn…

Agent Anderson was standing at the door, watching him with a slight frown. Kurt hadn’t noticed until now just how tired the man looked. He had removed his jacket at some point during the day, and rolled up his shirt sleeves. His tie was looser around his neck, and he looked like he needed a good night’s sleep.

When Kurt didn’t reply immediately, Agent Anderson made a grim gesture. “Stupid question, I know,” he murmured, walking into the conference room.

“I figure when people ask that question, what they want to hear is a positive answer,” Kurt said tiredly. “I don’t think I have enough energy left to lie like that now.”

“I’m the kind of man who prefers the truth, no matter how bad it is,” Agent Anderson replied, leaning against the table. “That’s the only way to know what I’m dealing with.”

Kurt sighed, glanced out the window again and followed the contours of the New York buildings with his eyes. The city is beautiful in the spring, he thought. But then again, New York was the kind of city that looked lovely no matter what season it was. It was just one of the many reasons he had fallen in love with it. “I’m wondering when I’ll be able to come home, where I’m going now, and if my brother will be okay. I’m scared that I’ll lose everything I worked so hard for only because I was stupid enough to step into a dark alley in the middle of the night instead of…”

“You weren’t stupid,” Agent Anderson interrupted gently. His honey-colored gaze fell on Kurt. For a moment, he felt enveloped by warmth, as if he was suddenly under a cozy blanket. “You were very brave. You thought you could help, so you put your own safety aside to do it. You had no idea just how bad things were…”

Kurt shrugged. He wasn’t feeling particularly brave right now.

“Now, I can’t tell you exactly when you’ll come home, or what you’ll find when you return,” Agent Anderson continued. “But I can promise you this: your brother will be okay. Agent Berry is one of my most trusted teammates. She’s fierce, responsible and dedicated…”

“She’s also tiny,” Kurt said, biting his lip. He didn’t mean to be insulting, but she looked like a little porcelain doll next to Finn…

To his surprise, Agent Anderson chuckled under his breath. “Don’t let her size fool you. She can handle herself just fine. I would trust that woman with my own life.”

Kurt only nodded, not wanting to offend Agent Anderson. He was about to leave the state with this man, after all. It wasn’t a good idea to get on his bad side. Which brought him to his next question. “Can you tell me where we’re going?”

Kurt must have sounded just as pitiful as he felt, because Agent Anderson looked truly sorry.

“Not yet,” he said softly. “But we’ll be leaving in about an hour, I’ll tell you once we’re on the road.”

“Do I need my passport? Because I didn’t tell your agents where to look for it.”

“We’re not leaving the country,” Agent Anderson answered, and then stood straight and walked towards the door again. Kurt guessed the conversation was over. “I have to check everything’s in order. Do you need anything?”

“Besides going home to my own bed and pretending this never happened?” Kurt asked sarcastically. “Nope, I think I’m good.”

Agent Anderson smiled sadly, gave him a short nod, and left the room. Kurt turned back to the window. He had to memorize the view in case he never got to see New York again.

*

Finn Hudson owned a two-bedroom apartment in Greenwich Village. Back when he was a teenager, living in the suburbs in Ohio, he had never seen himself as a big city man. He had imagined he would stay near home, maybe take over his stepfather’s business, marry a nice girl and have a couple of kids. He imagined an ordinary life. But then his career in football had taken off, and he knew he was meant for bigger things. He knew he wasn’t supposed to settle with a small town life.

Still, no matter how good Finn had become at dreaming, he would have never imagined going through something like this.

Agent Berry followed him into the living room. She was carrying a small duffle bag and Finn could see the outline of her gun under her jacket. It was certainly unnerving.

“Uh, make yourself comfortable. There’s plenty of food in the kitchen, but if there’s anything you want that’s not there, let me know and we can get it,” he said awkwardly. He wasn’t sure what the right thing to say or do was in a situation like this. He had never had a bodyguard before. And if he would have ever needed one, he probably would have chosen someone that resembled more a gorilla. Rachel Berry looked like a big-eyed ballerina.  

“Thank you,” she replied with an equally awkward smile. “I’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry about me.”

There was a particularly long silence, and neither seemed to know how to fill it. She shifted uncomfortably on her feet, and then looked pointedly down at her bag.

“Oh! Let me show you to the guest room,” Finn exclaimed, and immediately headed down the hallway. “It’s not perfect, but you should be comfortable. I never finished setting it up. Kurt’s more into decorating than me. I didn’t have the time to do much, so…” he stopped talking when he realized he was practically babbling. What was it about this woman that made him so nervous? Finn figured it had to with the gun, mostly.

“Like I said, I’ll be fine. As long as there’s a bed where I can sleep, I won’t complain,” Agent Berry said.

The room wasn’t very small, but it looked like it was because Finn had been using it mostly as a storage room over the past couple of months. He hadn’t been living there for long, and there were things he hadn’t gotten around to unpack just yet. He began moving a few boxes around to make a clear path to the bed.

“I’ll put the boxes somewhere else tomorrow, I promise,” he said apologetically. He cleared his throat and looked at her, but then looked away. His palms were sweaty. What the hell? “I’ll go get you some towels and clean sheets. Please, make yourself comfortable.”

He heard her quiet thanks as he closed the door behind him. He was just tired, that was all. He needed to sleep. Things would be much easier in the morning…

Finn thought of his brother, and hoped Kurt was handling the situation a lot better than he was.

*

If he had been perfectly honest, Blaine would have preferred to take a helicopter. He and Captain Jones had considered the option and realized it would catch unwanted attention. So Blaine was stuck behind the wheel for the next four hours.  

He reached for the travel mug on the cup holder and took a sip of lukewarm coffee a little too greedily. The coffee was as awful as usual, but he hoped it would keep him awake for the rest of the drive.

Blaine had imagined Mr. Hummel would fidget on the seat besides his all the way to Maryland, asking questions that Blaine wasn’t sure how to answer yet. But Mr. Hummel must have been a lot more exhausted than he had been willing to admit, because he was fast asleep before they were even out of Manhattan.

Despite everything, Blaine was glad for the sudden quiet it provided. He hadn’t been exactly eager to follow Captain Jones’ orders, and if it wasn’t because he had to keep Mr. Hummel safe, he would have turned the car around and gone back to the office. He needed to work with his team, to search for new evidence, to get this bastard. Blaine had been after him for ten months now, and he had never been this close; he had never had as many clues as he did now…

Blaine wasn’t desperate to be open and honest with anyone else, but it was time to admit it to himself, at least. It wasn’t just that he wanted to get his job done. He didn’t want to leave New York because he hadn’t been back to Maryland since before everything had happened the previous year. He wasn’t looking forward to the memories. He wasn’t looking forward to having enough silence and time to think about that night…

Before the images could flash before his eyes like a horror movie, he reached for the radio and turned it on. A mindless pop song filled the car, and Blaine quickly adjusted the volume so it wouldn’t wake Mr. Hummel. It was better to let him rest.

*

Kurt opened his eyes, and immediately felt slightly disoriented. It took him a minute to remember why he was on a car. As he stared out the window, he only saw darkness and fields that stretched as far as he could see. When he turned his head, he saw Agent Anderson driving, both his hands on the steering wheel and his eyes fixed on the road ahead. He seemed tense, and Kurt wondered if he was worried he would fall asleep while driving. He didn’t look very good.

“Where are we?” Kurt asked in a sleepy voice, as he sat up.

Agent Anderson seemed startled to hear his voice, like he had forgotten he was there at all. “Oh, hey. We just entered Maryland.”

“Maryland?” Kurt repeated. He rubbed his eyes and looked out his window again. “How long was I asleep?” But before Agent Anderson could reply, Kurt asked another question: “Do you want me to drive? You look like you could use a nap. Just tell me where we’re going and I can take it from here.”

“No need,” Agent Anderson replied. “We’re almost there.”

Kurt arched an eyebrow, and took a third look around. Almost where? He couldn’t see anything that could even suggest a destination. He squinted his eyes, trying to figure out what those shapes in the distance were. Oh… could those be…? “Are those cows?”

Agent Anderson glanced at him and frowned before focusing back on the road. “Yes? Have you never seen a cow before?”

“Of course I’ve seen cows!” Kurt exclaimed, a little irritated. “What I mean is… are we staying in some kind of inn? A hotel in a little town, maybe? You’re not going to make me camp in some field in the middle of nowhere, right? Because I’m not an outdoorsy man. I don’t like bugs. Or tents. Or the lack of bathrooms.”

For a moment, it looked like Agent Anderson was amused, but then he went back to having that tired air he had been carrying all day. “No, I’m not taking you camping. But we’re also not going to a hotel or inn. We have to go as unnoticed as possible. Checking in a hotel could be risky, even if we used fake names.”

Kurt sighed and let his head drop back against the seat. “Right. I almost forgot we’re in an episode of Criminal Minds here…”

“Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll be comfortable where we’re going.” Agent Anderson took a turn into a dirt road. Kurt liked this less and less with every second.

“And will I get to know exactly where we’re going at some point?” Kurt asked. He wasn’t a very patient man when he was running on a combination of lack of sleep and lack of caffeine.

At that very moment, Agent Anderson stopped in front of a wooden gate. There was a sign next to it, but it was too dark for Kurt to read it. The fence seemed to surround a rather large property, and if Kurt wasn’t mistaken, he could see a house not too far from there.

“We’re here,” Agent Anderson announced. “Welcome to the Anderson ranch, Mr. Hummel.”

Agent Anderson got off the car and headed for the gate. He extracted a set of keys from his jacket pocket and opened it. When he began to drive the car down the path towards the house, the headlights fell on the sign. Bahay Ranch.

Once Agent Anderson had parked the car in front of the house, Kurt opened the door and descended, happy to be able to stretch his legs. He was suddenly aware of the silence that surrounded him. The sound of Agent Anderson’s footsteps as he walked towards the back of the car to retrieve their bags from the trunk seemed to echo loudly in the distance. Kurt felt compelled to shushing him, as if scared he would wake up the entire state. But it was hard to worry about that, because right there, in the middle of the night, with no other houses visible in the distance, they could have been the only two people in all of Maryland.

“Shall we?” Agent Anderson muttered, nodding towards the front door.

It was a one-story house. There were three steps leading up to a porch that was surrounded by a wooden banister. The two front windows were big, but closed tightly, as if no one had been there in a while. Agent Anderson used his key to open the door, and stepped inside, immediately finding the light switch. Kurt found himself standing in a small dining room slash living room. Everything around him was wooden, from the furniture to the walls. Despite the rather warm temperature, Kurt felt like he had stepped into a cabin made for a winter wonderland – the temptation to sit in front of the fireplace with a blanket and a good book was almost too hard to resist.

Agent Anderson dropped their bags on the big beige sofa. It wasn’t stylish in the slightest, but it looked comfortable. Kurt watched as Agent Anderson switched a few more lights on, and then went into the adjacent kitchen. He opened a few cabinets and the fridge before facing Kurt again.

“There isn’t much food, but we’ll get some tomorrow,” he explained. “Feel free to use anything you need.”

“I would love a shower, if that’s possible?” Kurt asked a little shyly. He had been wearing the same clothes for over a day, and if he couldn’t shower and change into clean clothes soon, he would go insane.

“Of course,” Agent Anderson nodded immediately. He grabbed Kurt’s bag from the couch and made a gesture for him to follow. “Here, let me show you where the bathroom is.”

The house wasn’t very large. They went down a short hallway with three doors in it. Agent Anderson showed him the bathroom and then pointed at the door next to it. “This is will be your bedroom. I’ll check if there’s clean sheets while you shower. If there’s anything you need when you’re out, I’ll be in the living room.”

Kurt was about to thank him when a yawn interrupted him. He covered his mouth a little embarrassed and looked at Agent Anderson apologetically. “I think I’ll be going straight to bed, if that’s okay?”

“That’s fine, Mr. Hummel,” Agent Anderson answered gently. “It’s been a long day.”

“Yeah, you can say that again,” Kurt smiled at him, but there was nothing happy about the gesture.

“Let me know if you need anything,” Agent Anderson said, and after Kurt nodded his agreement, he walked away.

Despite his nap in the car, Kurt realized he was still exhausted. He stepped into the shower and almost moaned in pleasure at the perfect pressure of the hot water against his back. He could feel some of the tension he had been carrying around all day wash away.

When he went into the bedroom, he didn’t even bother looking around. His eyes immediately found the bed and his tired feet led him straight to it. He lifted the blankets and slipped into it, not caring that his hair would be a disaster the next morning because he hadn’t bothered drying it first. As soon as his head touched the pillow, Kurt was asleep, eager to leave that day behind.

He wasn’t sure what the next would bring, but it couldn’t get any worse, right?

*

When Blaine heard the bedroom door closing, he knew he wouldn’t see Mr. Hummel until the morning. He removed his jacket and folded it over the back of the couch, before unhooking the gun holster and putting it carefully on the coffee table. The house was as quiet as a cemetery now.

For once in the past few months, Blaine was happy to be dead tired. He allowed himself to fall onto the couch, the cushions molding around him as if they were getting ready to swallow his entire body. He grabbed a throw pillow and slipped it behind his head. He looked up at the ceiling for a moment, letting the situation sink in.

He had no idea how long they would have to stay there. Blaine had been with the bureau long enough to be realistic – finding a suspect wasn’t the kind of thing he could schedule. He knew they could find the killer in a week, a month, a year or never. Maybe everything could be resolved in the blink of an eye. Or maybe the case would eventually go cold and the bureau would move onto something newer, something more urgent. Blaine didn’t like it when that happened, but he knew how things were. You couldn’t be stuck in just one case forever. There were new cases on his desk on a daily basis. The world didn’t stop for just one criminal.

But Kurt Hummel’s world had stopped for this killer. And so did all the other victims’ worlds.

His eyes fell on the framed picture sitting on a shelf. The four smiling faces in it talked of a different time, a different life all together. Blaine also knew what it was like for your whole world to stop, he thought bitterly.

The silence and the exhaustion finally lulled him to sleep. He had no idea what the next day would bring, but whatever it was, Blaine hoped it would be good.

*