Chapter Two

He reached the docks before Kurt, standing at the entrance to the warehouses and shivering in the cold evening breeze until a black Navigator came roaring around the corner, squealing to a stop just in front of where Blaine was standing, rims spinning and catching the streetlights.

"Nice car," he called, stamping his feet and tucking his hands in the pockets of his coat, and Kurt barked a laugh and got out, his own heavy coat billowing around his body as he moved to the back of the SUV and popped open the hatch to grab what looked like a giant syringe.

"Is that..."

"Yeah, dinosaurs need something a little stronger than your average deer that gets into the city," he winked, brandishing the syringe and nodding at Blaine as they headed for the door. "Now, I don't exactly know what we're dealing with here, so let's be careful."

"Got it, sir," Blaine nodded sharply and Kurt gave him an appraising look before he yanked the door open, both of them looking inside and then just as quickly slamming it as a dark shape swooped down from the rafters of the warehouse and careened towards the door.

"Okay, then," Kurt laughed, leaning back against the building and sighing. "Always harder when they can fly, but we'll manage somehow. What do you think?"

"Pteranodon?" Blaine's heart was pounding, his breath shallow because he'd just seen a real live dinosaur and it was about the coolest thing that had ever happened to him. "I don't think they eat meat, so we should be safe. If we were fish, maybe..."

"Don't let it get into the harbour, then," Kurt grinned and looked at the door again. "Okay, I just need to get close enough so I can get it with this thing," he brandished the syringe once more. "So your job is to distract it," he clapped Blaine's shoulder with his free hand and looked to the door again. "Ready?"

"Ready," Blaine affirmed, feeling his stomach twist into knots but he was far more excited than scared right now, and this time when they burst through the door the creature had landed, swinging its large head around and squawking when it caught sight of them.

"Stay in front of it," Kurt murmured, suddenly far too close, and the heat of his body against Blaine's back made him shudder. "I'll sneak around behind, but just keep it occupied," he instructed, and Blaine nodded as Kurt slunk away, soundless even on the hard concrete floor of the warehouse.

"Um...hello?" Blaine tried, because the flying lizard looked intelligent enough, and the creature cocked his? her? head to one side before hopping a little closer, beak extended almost as if it were searching for something. "I'd have brought you fish if I'd have known what we were dealing with..." he dug in his pockets, coming up with nothing. "Or chocolate. Is chocolate good for dinosaurs?" he could hear his voice getting progressively higher as the Pteranodon hopped closer still, awkward and ungainly on the ground.

Kurt was close now, almost right on top of the creature, but at the last second it seemed to sense something and turned around, letting out an almighty shriek and flapping its giant wings as Kurt caught hold of its leg and was lifted up straight into the air.

Blaine took an involuntary step back, nearly tripping over his feet, and Kurt somehow managed to inject the syringe into the flying beast even flopping around in mid-air. It wasn't graceful, Blaine thought with a nervous laugh, but it got the job done, and he realized belatedly that the Pteranodon was going to fall asleep and if he didn't want Kurt to die again (he still had to ask about that one) he'd better do something.

He ran closer to the slowing creature, opening his arms as Kurt looked down and dropped, and the other man might not have looked heavy but he ended up knocking Blaine to the ground, both of them groaning at the impact. "Sorry," Kurt whispered, looking over his shoulder before he grabbed Blaine's arms and rolled them over, right as the beast crashed down in the exact spot they'd been lying.

Blaine didn't know who started it but soon they were both laughing, some strange combination of extra adrenaline and, for Blaine himself, the fact that he'd just gone dinosaur hunting when that very morning he'd thought he'd be working in a dingy tourist office for the next who-knew-how-long. And Kurt was...Kurt had been so serious all day, but his entire face lit up when he laughed and he looked even more beautiful, if it were possible.

Their laughter died out, both of them still panting heavily, and God, Blaine thought as he leant just a little bit closer, feeling Kurt's breath puff against his face and Kurt's hands still tight on his arms, their bodies pressed together, it would be so easy to give in and just...

But then Kurt cleared his throat and moved his head to the side a little and Blaine felt a surge of embarrassment go through him, because that would have been extremely unprofessional of him, not to mention he didn't even know if Kurt was...well, if he would be okay with another man kissing him, and Blaine scrambled to his feet and brushed off his coat, clearing his throat. "Well. That worked."

"Unconventional and a little sloppy, but yes," Kurt hopped up and walked over to the downed creature. "Well, let's get it into the SUV and I'll take it back to the base, and you can head home for the night," he busied himself trying to lift the creature, which looked easier than it would seem. "Hollow bones, they're like giant birds so it's all wings," he laughed and Blaine went to help, both of them managing to get the Pteranodon into the Navigator as Kurt closed the back door and rubbed his hands together. "Thank you for coming out, and I hope that I didn't scare you too much."

"No, not at all!" Blaine assured the other man, and it was true, although he didn't think 'getting some sleep' was something he'd be able to do very quickly, not with how wired he still was, and Kurt could obviously see that. He gave Blaine a knowing smile and headed around the vehicle to get inside, causing Blaine to reach out and grab his arm before he realized what he was doing. "Um..." he stammered, because he really didn't know why he wasn't ready to go home yet, "do you...can we get coffee, after you've dropped him...her...whatever it is...off? I mean, I don't think I'm going to be able to get any rest and you...said you'd answer my questions," he finished quietly, pretty sure that Kurt would shrug him off and tell him to go home, but the other man seemed to consider his offer before nodding sharply.

"That sounds fine, Blaine. Where should we meet?"

Blaine gave him directions to a place that wasn't all that far away, smiling nervously as he quipped, "The coffee might not be stellar, but it's open all night so at least it's something, right?" and Kurt patted his arm before finally getting into the Navigator and roaring away, leaving Blaine there with only his thoughts and his suddenly-shaking hands.

000

He ordered them both coffee, remembering Kurt's order from earlier in the day, and was sitting there with two steaming mugs when the man in question swept in, the waitresses on shift turning to look toward him and sighing audibly as he smiled at the room at large and went to sit beside Blaine.

"Do you...always have that effect on people?" Blaine asked, a little teasing, and Kurt raised an eyebrow at him and sipped at his coffee.

"Apparently," Kurt leaned forward, his smile fixed, and Blaine wondered if he was flirting or if this was just how he always was. He stuttered a bit before nervously returning the smile and Kurt laughed and sat back. "But enough about that. Where do you want to start?" he asked, closing his eyes and inhaling the steam from his mug.

"You being dead this morning and then...not," Blaine decided, because that was the thing he wanted to know the most about, and Kurt looked thoughtful before he set his coffee down.

"Usually my employees don't see that one for a while, but it was kind of unavoidable today. I can't tell you much more than what you already know, which is that I can't die. Or, I can die, but I don't stay dead. The worse the wound the longer it takes for me to come back, but I always do, and I'm..." he stopped and closed his eyes, and Blaine got the sudden realization that this wasn't the easiest thing for him to talk about. "It happened...in a place a long way from here and a long time from now, and I died. For real. But some friends of mine..." he paused again and closed his eyes. "Well, something happened that brought me back, but by the time I woke up everybody was either dead or disappeared, and I had just enough power left in this thing," he pointed to a band on his wrist that Blaine hadn't taken much notice of before, "to make one last leap through time and space. I ended up here, on Earth, early 20th century. And since then I've been looking for a way to fix this and find the people that left me behind," he ended his story quickly and went back to drinking, the smell of the coffee alone seeming to calm him down.

Blaine was trying to process this, but one thing stuck out in his mind, and he had to ask, "Wait, early 20th century? So you're..."

"Well, I was close to twenty-five when I died for the first time, so that would make me...somewhere over a hundred-and-twenty, I suppose," he looked completely unconcerned as he shrugged and Blaine had to remember to keep his voice down, because he doubted Kurt would appreciate the other patrons in the cafe hearing all of his secrets.

"So you don't age?"

"Nope," Kurt leaned back in his chair. "Don't age, can't die, it's like I'm just...stuck in time, somehow, and it's...hard, sometimes, knowing that I'm going to outlive everybody I meet, but after a hundred years you learn to cope," he suddenly looked straight at Blaine, and there was so much wisdom and unmentionable sadness in the swirling blue-grey-green of his eyes that it hit Blaine like a physical blow. Here he'd thought Kurt was barely older than him, and it turned out he was over five times his age, and he felt a little foolish for wondering if what had happened back in the warehouse was some sort of attraction on Kurt's part because there was no way Kurt would want to be involved with a mere child.

Blaine tried to collect himself, asking another question before the silence grew too long. "So you're not...from Earth, then?" he'd already come to terms with the whole 'intelligent life on other planets' thing as the day had gone on, but meeting an...well, an alien was a little staggering.

"No," Kurt laughed. "Although Earth is not the worst place to be. I come from a place called Boeshane, 51st century. I'm human, as far as I know, because I assume all of the other habitable planets were first colonized by people from Earth, but I grew up in a place that was close to being a desert, and I have to say, living where things are a little greener? It's much better," he looked down for a second and scrubbed a hand through his hair. "But enough about me, you'll find out more the longer you work for us. What about you, Blaine Anderson? Any family I should know about?" he smiled again, carefree and certain, and Blaine could tell that he wanted to change the subject.

"You tell me, Captain Hummel. You seem to know everything about me," he countered smugly, and Kurt barked a quick laugh before shaking his head.

"Smart boy, aren't you? I know enough, but nothing personal. Well, nothing too personal," he amended, and Blaine nodded.

"Well, I've got one brother...he just had his first kid, and we're all hoping it'll settle him down a bit, because he had dreams of being a big shot actor but if you want the truth...he's not that good," Blaine whispered and Kurt laughed again. "Other than that, it's just my parents, and I'm not...well, let's just say my...choice to major in music as opposed to 'a proper profession' only added to their...disappointment in me. I guess Cooper...that's my brother...could get away with an abnormal profession because he was straight, but..." he snapped his mouth shut, realizing, he might have gone too far, but Kurt made him feel comfortable and he really didn't have anybody else to talk about this with. "I mean..."

"Blaine," Kurt reached out and covered his hand, Blaine sucking in a sharp breath of air at the contact, and he stared into Kurt's eyes again as the older man continued. "Trust me, 3000 years in the future sexuality is a lot more...fluid than it is now, and people are accepting of almost anything. I prefer men to women myself," he added in an undertone and Blaine shivered at the words, even though he had to remind himself that no matter how attractive Kurt was, he was his boss first and over a hundred years older to boot. "So don't worry so much, okay?"

"Okay," Blaine sipped his coffee to hide the blush that was probably staining his cheeks, but before he could set the cup down again he yawned and reached a hand up to cover his mouth. "Sorry, I guess the high's finally wearing off..."

"You should go home and get some rest," Kurt patted his hand and finished his coffee, leaving some money on the table as Blaine did the same. "And maybe tomorrow we can take a look at that espresso machine...and see what you can do in the tourist office to make it look sort of up to date," he led Blaine out to the street, standing in the darkness and looking mysterious and captivating and yeah, Blaine was falling hard already.

"Of course, sir. I'll see you in the morning," he started to turn when Kurt caught his shoulder, squeezing gently.

"Thank you for helping out tonight. And for proving to me that we chose the right man for the job," he added, and Blaine felt his whole body warm with the praise.

"My pleasure, Captain," he returned with a nod before slipping out of Kurt's grasp and heading toward his car, weariness increasing with every step and he barely had time to strip his shirt and pants off once he'd gotten home before he was rolling into bed and falling asleep, his dreams full of Pteranodons and one unfairly gorgeous immortal man that he would never in a million years be able to get any closer to.