Blaine had known that figure skating would take him places, he just hadn't thought that one of those place would be Greensboro, North Carolina. He and Kurt were at the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships so that Blaine could attend his first major skating competition and so that they could get a first-hand look at the teams they would likely be facing when they were ready to begin competing themselves.

As they stepped into the arena where the Short Program portion of the Mixed Pairs competition was due to be held later in the day, Blaine felt a rush of adrenalin shoot through him. He knew that he was nowhere near ready enough to be competing himself, but he was itching to step out onto the ice in front of the roaring crowd and looked forward to the day when he and Kurt would be in a similar arena for their own final practice instead of just being there to watch others.

Kurt had been nervous that morning about seeing his old acquaintances in the skating world again. Since the Olympics, he had mostly kept to himself in Lima and hadn't really spoken to any reporters or fellow skaters, except for those who'd auditioned for him. Blaine was sure people had heard about Kurt's new novice partner and this would be their first opportunity to see him, so he was definitely a little apprehensive, too.

They'd decided to attend the Mixed Pairs final practice session that day so that Blaine could see how things worked without having to worry about meeting other Similar Pairs teams right away. They had only been in the building for five minutes, though, when that plan was foiled. As they came around a corner, Blaine heard a high, nasally laugh and felt Kurt tense up beside him. Coming down the hallway, from the opposite direction, was Chandler Kiehl and a taller man that Blaine knew he recognized, but couldn't name.

"Well, well, well," Not-Chandler sneered at Kurt as they drew closer. "If it isn't our own little Goldilocks, returned to the fold after his exhaustive search for a partner that's just right." Not-Chandler turned to Blaine and ran his eyes up and down his body with an insulting thoroughness. "You look like you might be the perfect fit to me. And no, I don't mean skating."

Kurt fixed a look of disgust on him that was worse than anything he'd ever directed at Blaine. "No one thought for a moment that you did, Sebastian. After all, you've never met a double entendre that you didn't like and have never been one for originality."

"Yes, I'm quite the fan of the double…entendre," Sebastian winked lasciviously at Blaine as he paused and Blaine wasn't sure if he was flattered or a little wigged out by the attention. "You should come watch us practice tomorrow. See what some real skating looks like for a change."

"Don't you have a bathhouse or back alley appointment you're late for?" Kurt asked in an overly sweet tone that always served as a warning for Blaine when he heard it. "Or do the places you favor not accept reservations? Maybe you just take a number from one of those little red wheels and wait until your number is called." He smiled evilly and pitched his voice lower. "Number 384, your blowjob is ready now."

"Why Kurt, I'm surprised you even know such a naughty, dirty word. I thought that eunuchs weren't interested in such things." Sebastian looked over at Blaine when he gaped at the choice of words. "What, you didn't know? He has to be, right? It's the only explanation for that voice."

"Hey, if you guys really want to settle who has the biggest dick, I'll volunteer to hold the ruler," Chandler said from behind them.

Blaine looked at Chandler with a surprise that was mirrored by Kurt and Sebastian. He'd forgotten that the other man was even there, to be honest, and from Kurt's expression he could see that his response was probably a little out of character. He had to hold back his laughter at the innocent, helpful expression Chandler was sporting.

Kurt said a belated hello to his former partner and gave Sebastian the stink-eye as they passed each other and went their separate ways. Blaine didn't know whether to laugh, sink into the floor in embarrassment, or just give thanks that Kurt's ire was no longer aimed at him.

"Wow, you and that Sebastian guy really hate each other, huh?" Blaine asked as they settled into their seats five rows from the ice. "Did you guys used to date or something?"

"Oh my God. If you want me to keep speaking to you I suggest you never utter the words 'Sebastian' and 'dating' together in the same sentence ever, ever again. It makes my skin crawl just thinking of it." Kurt gave an exaggerated shudder as he sunk back in his seat.

"Come on, he wasn't that bad." Kurt side-eyed him hard. "Seriously, though, what's the problem between you two?"

Kurt clapped with the hundred or so other people in the building as the first group of skaters hit the ice to practice. "We both started competing around the same time, so we've known each other forever. About the time we hit the national level I caught Sebastian loosening the stiches in my performance costumer. If I hadn't caught him and fixed it I would have split my pants wide open in the middle of my routine. It was just one in a long series of sabotage attempts over the years, none of which, I'm proud to say, were successful. Then, last March he came sniffing around when it was leaked that Chandler and I had decided not to skate together any more. He'd just gotten dumped by his partner — they were dating and Raul caught Sebastian in bed with a sports reporter — and was desperate to find someone new. I turned him down and he had to settle for Chandler instead."

Blaine wanted to get more information on the sabotage — after all, what all could someone do to try and ruin a skater's performance other than club them Tanya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan style? — but his attention was diverted by a pair on the ice that performed a spectacular lift that had the woman being lifted up and tossed around like she weighed nothing at all. "Wow," he said as he nodded towards the couple, "I'm glad we don't have to do those. I think I'd need a couple more years to prepare."

"Hmm…Rachel Berry and Jesse St. James," Kurt said absently as he watched them do a throw jump that sent Rachel sailing in the air at least ten feet from her partner. "She's so tiny that they excel at the big throws and lifts. They don't do as well on the artistic side. They have so much naked ambition between the two of them that they often seem a little calculated. Their facial expressions are hysterical, though. Seriously, just watch them, it's like watching old time silent movies."

They snickered at the couple's overdone looks of pain and love for a few minutes before a pair of blond skaters caught Blaine's attention. "What about them?"

Kurt looked where Blaine was pointing and smiled. "Brittany Pierce and Sam Evans. Isabelle used to be their coach, but they wanted to move to California and she didn't want to go, so they parted ways. Brittany's got the best footwork of any female skater right now. Sam's not really on her level, but he's super strong, so their lifts are really amazing and intricate."

"Do you know anyone else in this group?" Blaine asked as he glanced at the other three couples on the ice.

"The pair in black is Tina Cohen-Chang and Mike Chang …"

"Brother and sister or married?" Blaine interrupted.

"Neither, surprisingly, but I'm sure marriage is coming soon. They've been dating for years. I don't know the other two couples. They must be new this year." Kurt leaned forward and laid his arms on the chair in front of him, signaling the end of their conversation.

They watched the skaters for a while and when they left the ice, Kurt suggested they go down to the skater waiting area and try to find Isabelle, who was down visiting with her old teams.

Kurt had managed to get them special visitor's credentials, so they were allowed past security to the backstage areas. As they walked in, Blaine was struck at how different it was from the hockey locker rooms he was used to. Instead of smelly jerseys and pads lying around, he saw sparkly headbands and chic warm-up jackets. Instead of bloody cuts and bruised noses, there were people practicing dance moves and doing the splits with their legs halfway up a wall. It was a different world.

They had only been in the room for a few seconds when Blaine heard a screech from several feet away. "Kurt Hummel!" A blur flew across the room and attached itself to Kurt's neck. "Did daddy get me another Christmas present that he didn't tell me about?" The blur, which Blaine now realized, was a girl with shoulder length brown hair, put a hand on either side of Kurt's head and smooshed his face together. He decided she must be either very brave or know Kurt a lot better than he did. "Look at that face! If only you weren't gay as Richard Gere's gerbil. What beautiful babies we would have made. Could still make, if you'd take me up on my offer. The money daddy offered you for your…help was very generous."

Kurt tried to talk, but Blaine couldn't understand him with his face still gripped so tightly. He finally got his hands around the girl's wrists and pried her hands from his face. "Sugar, I still haven't gotten over that disturbing offer enough to get to the flattered stage. Let's just drop it, okay?"

Sugar just shrugged and shot him a look that promised it wasn't the end of that particular discussion. Then she turned her gaze to Blaine. "Who's the man candy? Have you been holding out on us?"

Kurt glanced around the room to make sure no one else could overhear. "Sugar Motta, this is Blaine Anderson. Blaine, Sugar is a SP skater. She skates with Quinn Fabray over there." Blaine glanced around to see a cool looking, classically beautiful blonde sitting on a mat in the corner stretching her hamstrings. "Sugar, Blaine is-is my new partner."

"New partner!" Sugar screamed.

And suddenly everyone in the room was looking at them.

"Well, at least he's better looking than Chandler," a husky voice noted from somewhere behind Blaine. "Though that isn't exactly saying much, is it?"

Kurt looked over Blaine's shoulder and froze. "Santana."

"Kurt." Santana sauntered up and moved Sugar aside with just a look. "Still abusing the hairspray, I see. But it looks like Eugene here at least keeps you company while you shop in the hair care section."

Ah, yes, a comment about his hair. Kurt and Santana really were a lot alike. "It's Blaine, actually," he said with hopefully just the right amount of pleasantness in his voice as he looked at the woman in front of him. He would have recognized her anywhere from all the videos he'd seen of her performances and interviews, but he was shocked to see that she was even more beautiful in person. Her long, dark brown hair was pulled up into a high ponytail that emphasized the sleek lines of her face and her tight skating costume left little to the imagination. Blaine wondered how any of the straight guys in the room got anything done with her around.

"Not with that hair it isn't," she smirked.

"Santana, it's good to see you. It's been a while." Kurt crossed his arms protectively and looked at Santana with just a hint of wariness in his eyes.

It was very odd to see Kurt be the uneasy, uncomfortable one. He looked at Santana with barely disguised hopefulness and Blaine wondered if she missed their friendship as much as Kurt did. It'd been several years since they'd gone their separate ways, so surely she must be over her anger by now, right? Blaine hoped that there was a way that they could be friends again and thought about what he might be able to do to make that happen.

"Mmm," Santana responded non-committedly. "I'm surprised to see you down here with all us Mixed Pairs riff-raff."

"Hey!" Sugar protested, waving a hand to show that not everyone in the room was part of Mixed Pairs.

Santana eyed her dismissively before turning back to Kurt. "You'd better go find your other SP buddies. It's been so long since you've been around that you might have forgotten the secret handshake that gets you into the exclusive clubhouse. Oh, wait, it's just the leather bar down the street, isn't it? So maybe it isn't a hand that you'll be shaking." She touched her tongue to her top front teeth and waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Blaine was sure his confusion showed on his face.

"What, you didn't know that SP is the flavor of the month when it comes to the skating press?" Santana asked mockingly. "The rest of us are just considered the opening act for now. All the celebs and politicians want their pictures taken with the SP skaters. Most of the sponsors want them, too. That leaves the rest of us to pretend to be happy and grateful with the leftovers. Don't get too comfortable, though, Eugene. Once the novelty is over and people realize that you don't have the quads of the single skaters, or the big elements of the Mixed Pairs, they'll forget all about you and turn their attentions back where they belong. To those of us with actual talent. And then we'll see how long it takes for the defectors to come running back, crying and begging to their old partners like the bitches they are."

Okay, so maybe Santana was still a little angry.

Just then, an extremely tall man walked up and patted Kurt's shoulder hard enough to send him rocking back a bit.

"Dude, good to see you. Mom didn't say you were coming. Is your dad here, too?" he asked.

Kurt regained his balance and smiled up at him slightly. "No, it's just Isabelle, Blaine, and I. Blaine, this is Finn. He skates with Santana. Finn, this is Blaine, my new partner."

Finn reached out to shake Blaine's hand and said hello. Blaine thought he seemed like an okay guy, though kind of goofy and way too good natured to be paired up with someone like Santana. It would be like watching a lioness pounce on a baby water buffalo. An observation that was proven true just a minute later.

"Is that pizza sauce on your shirt?" Santana asked, staring at the fresh red stain on Finn's shirt.

"Uh…" Finn paused, his eyes darting guilty around the room. "Maybe?"

"And did you not, just last night, promise to stop eating crap during the competition season? If you gain one more pound they're going to have to start introducing us as 'Santana Lopez and Shamu, the amazing skating whale.'"

"I…forgot?"

Santana's glare would have frozen molten lava. "Well, you can forget whatever else you had planned right now and go run around the building ten times to work off all that fat and grease."

"But Puck and I were going to go around to the stage door and see if any rink bunnies were waiting to get our autographs," Finn protested. Santana stared him down until his shoulders slumped. "Fine. Ten laps."

He and Santana walked a few feet away while she continued to berate him and Blaine stared after them with wide eyes.

"What?" Kurt asked when Blaine let out a little snort.

"Nothing, just for a second there I thought it was Freaky Friday and that you and Santana had switched bodies. The personality resemblance is kind of uncanny," Blaine observed, shaking his head in amazement.

"Ha ha," Kurt's response was dry, but he didn't seem offended.

"So, that's Finn, huh?" Blaine asked. "The guy whose mom is dating your dad? You didn't mention that he was Santana's partner."

"He used to skate with Quinn, but when she decided to switch over to SP he needed a new partner and so did Santana, so… I'm not convinced they make the best partners, but they almost made it to the Olympics last time, so what do I know?"

The door flew open and the couples who'd been out on the ice earlier came streaming in. Blaine, who was still looking towards Santana and Finn, couldn't help but notice when Santana's eyes flew to the newly arrived people, zeroing in on the girl that Kurt had called Brittany. When Brittany stopped to greet Kurt, Santana abandoned her tirade mid-sentence and wandered over to stand next to her.

"Brit, I loved the new short program costume you wore at the Portland Invitational. You looked beautiful." Santana smiled at Brittany as she spoke and Blaine could have sworn that she blushed a little.

Brittany beamed and gave Santana a quick hug. "I know, isn't it amazing? It's a Blackbird. I was so lucky to get it."

Everyone nodded their agreement and Blaine felt like he had missed something. "A blackbird?"

"Blackbird is the hottest costume designer out there right now," Sugar explained. "Everyone wants a costume done by them, but there's a long waiting list and they're very selective about their clients. Even offering to pay twice the regular price hasn't put me higher on the list. And my daddy's not used to hearing 'no' from anyone."

The conversation meandered from costumes to the horrible trend that the European skaters had started recently of using electronic dance music in their routines. A few questions were directed Blaine's way, but Kurt did a great job of redirecting everyone's attention on to other topics. Not that Blaine would have minded talking about himself, but he knew that he didn't have the best answers yet for many of their questions and didn't want to embarrass Kurt or get into a discussion that would just expose his ignorance to everyone. There would be time enough later to talk more about his background and skating skills.

Finally, it was time for the couples to begin getting ready for their Short Programs, so Kurt and Blaine said their goodbyes and headed back towards their seats. As the skating started, Kurt performed a running commentary on the music, costumes, and skating, pointing out to Blaine when he saw things he should really pay attention to.

As they were waiting on the scores for the final couple, Blaine turned to Kurt. "You know, I think you were wrong," he said thoughtfully.

Kurt looked up at him with an absentminded frown, his attention still half on the scoreboard. "What about?"

"That Santana was your only friend in skating. From what I saw, Sugar, Brittany, and Sam definitely think of you as a friend." Blaine saw Kurt furrow his brow as he spoke. "Just something to consider. They seemed awfully happy to see you for non-friends. You could build something there, if you wanted."

He turned back to the ice, clapping softly as the final scores were posted. The evening ended with Santana and Finn in first place, a few points ahead of Rachel and Jesse, and Blaine knew that he wasn't imagining the glimmer of pride on Kurt's face when he looked at the reader board.

=^..^=

Kurt came through the automatic doors into the hotel lobby, back from taking a walk around the neighborhood. He'd come up with some new ideas for a costume while he was out and was anxious to get back to his room to put them down on paper. He had loved seeing Brittany in the outfit he'd designed for her and had had to bite his tongue from saying too much. He'd fought for too long to keep the fact that he was Blackbird a secret; he didn't want it to get out through an inadvertent slip of his tongue.

His designing career hadn't been anything that he'd planned. He'd designed a set of costumes for himself and Santana years ago and had been so scared to show her the drawings that he'd made up the name of a fictitious designer to attribute them to. They'd worn them for their first Nationals competition and afterwards had been swamped by people asking where they'd gotten the outfits. Suddenly, "Blackbird" was on everyone's lips and Kurt had enough requests to keep him busy for a year and enough money to carry him through the leaner times.

He never met personally with any of his clients and none of them knew who he was. He realized that some skaters would be reluctant to have another skater designing costumes for them. Competition was fierce and some, especially those in SP, would think that he had an ulterior motive. He also liked being able to shut that part of himself away and not be bothered with requests or pleas to be moved up the list whenever he was in the company of other skaters. Those weren't the real reasons he kept his identity a secret, though. Mainly, he was just afraid that if people knew that he was Blackbird they wouldn't want the clothes anymore. He had burned a lot of bridges over the years and knew that a lot of people would walk away, no matter how spectacular the outfit, if his name was attached.

The elevator doors opened and he stepped in, only to find that he wasn't alone. Sue Sylvester was already there and smirked at him in that irritating way she had as he reluctantly reached over and pushed the number of his floor.

"Hey quitter!" she said in a cheery voice that grated on his nerves. "I see you're back to torture yourself by watching actual skilled skaters. You should give yourself a break and get tickets to the Ice Capades instead."

"You know, you said something very similar to me the very first time I met you," Kurt watched as the numbers above the door lit up to indicate the glacially slow ascent the elevator was making. "You said that I had a lazy work ethic and no talent and that I was doomed to a lifetime of skating around wearing a Snoopy costume if I didn't decide to work with you. I think that was a month after my mom died. At least you're consistent."

The doors opened on Sue's floor and she stepped into the doorway to prevent the elevator from closing. "And I was right then, just like I'm right now. What's this I hear about you trying to bring a hockey player up to snuff for the next Olympics? Did you get hired to do some ridiculous 'triumph of the human spirit' reality show that I'm not aware of? Am I on camera right now?" she asked as she smoothed a hand over her hair and began to preen.

"No, I'm just training a new partner, nothing more than that." The elevator began to issue a warning buzz that Kurt hoped would convince her to step aside.

"Then you're even more pathetic than I thought. Listen there's only three ways this can possibly go." She lifted up one finger right in front of his face. "You'll spend another year waiting for the training wheels to come off your tragic new partner only to discover that he still doesn't know his axel from his ass." She lifted up a second finger. "You'll qualify for Nationals through some bizarre act of God — or of Congress, pushed through by your father, no doubt — and then go on to embarrass yourself on national TV, or," she lifted up a final finger, "you can retire now and maybe eek out a living making color commentary on Logo. Take the last option, kid. You have as much chance of making it to the Olympics again as Rush Limbaugh does of being named 'Gay Humanitarian of the Year.'"

"As much as your altruistic advice moves me, I think I'll pass, thanks. Blaine and I are doing just fine and I have complete confidence that when we're ready to compete we will wipe the floor with Chandler and Sebastian." The elevator gave up trying to warn Sue out of the way and the doors began to force their way closed, so Sue backed out, glaring at Kurt as she went. Just as the doors closed completely, Kurt couldn't resist adding one more little dig. "Enjoy this year as much as you can, Sue. We're coming for you."