Author's Notes: Juicy Fruit

"I'm gonna watch a movie," Kurt wasn't like he was inviting Blaine to watch the movie with him or anything like that; he was just letting him know what he was going to do because Blaine was in the room. It was the logical thing to do, right? Letting the boy he shared a room with know that he was about to watch a movie, especially because his headphones weren't working…

"Oh." Blaine sat on the edge of his bed. "Really? I bet you're going to watch some chick flick," He teased, the corner of his lips tugging into a half-smirk.

Kurt raised an eyebrow."A Chick flick?Really, Anderson?Misogyny? That's the best mocking remark you could think of?" He retorted, grabbing from a pack of Juicy Fruit, his favorite gum, from his pocket.

Blaine stood up and gave him a smirk."You're going to watch one of those movies that are based off of Nicholas Sparks' books, aren't you?" he said, making Kurt blush, because that was exactly what the android was planning to do.

"Shut up!" Kurt laughed, focusing his attention on his laptop screen.

And then suddenly, Blaine sat beside him on the futon.

"What?" Blaine bumped his shoulder against Kurt's, laughing softly before fixing his eyes on the screen. He never said he didn't like chick flicks.

*****


"Hey Penny," Walter said and smiled, supporting his phone between his chin and shoulder.

"Walter!" Penny practically jumped off her chairas she answered her phone."Did you interrogate Caleb?" she rushed, chewing on her pen nervously.

"No, I'm just calling, as I promised I would.I just arrived at his house," Walter explained, getting out of his car and locking the door. "Hey, can you stop by my apartment and check up on the boys for me? Things have been a little off between them lately…And also, can you give them some food?"

Penny looked up from her desk, torn between the delight of doing anything that distracted her from the paperwork Walter had given her to do and the slightly sick feeling she got from dealing with reports about illegal forms of technology being confiscated. It made her sick."Sure thing, I can check up on them, but I'm warning you, I'm a terrible cook. I don't even know how to boil water."

Walter laughed. He really honest-to-god belly laughed. "Okay Penny, I'm sure you and the boys will figure something out," he said, fixing his hazel eyes in the old and quite trashy house in front of him Walter wasn't sure if he could even call it a house. It had this dark, dreary atmosphere; the paint was peeling, the walls seemed to be soaking, and the plaster was crumbling… It was a horrible place.

"I have to go now, we'll talk later," he said, ending the calland shoving the phone in the pocket of his trench coat as he walked through the junk and debris in the house's yard. He rang the bell twice before a tallolder man with tired green eyes, small lips and short blond hair answered the door.

Caleb looked at Walter, narrowing his eyes. "Can I help you?" He asked, his voice marked by a discernible hoarseness, which couldonly be accomplished after almost 40 years of smoking and 3 packs of cigarettesa day.

"My name is John," Walter lied. He wouldn't give this guy his real name because this wasn't an official investigation, and if Caleb Thompsonstill had a connection with someone related to the Project Metempsychosis,Walter wouldn't want to risk revealing Kurt's location. "I work for the FDCT-"

"Why do I have the oddest feeling that you're lying, and that John's not your real name?" Caleb pointedout, interrupting Walter.

The corners of Walter's lips were pulled into a smirk. Two could play that game. "Because I am lying, the same way you've been lying for the past 3 years about what you saw in the Angelus Complex on October 24th."

Caleb green eyes widened. "I-I don't know-"he tried speaking, but Walter held his hand back up, cutting him off.

"Don't even try,Caleb. You know exactly what I'm talking about, so why don't you make things easier for the two of us and invite me in so we can have a nice little talk," Walter said and smiled, his hazel eyes sharp as he watched how Caleb swallowed hard to force down the urge to take a lunge at him.

Caleb clenched his jaw. "Is this an official-"

"No, this is not an official investigation," Walter cut in. He couldn't allow Caleb to talk or even think. He had to intimidate the older man, disorient him, and scare him. "I'm not from the FDTC's Internal Affairs department. If I was, we would be having a completely different conversation. For starters, you would be handcuffed, because what you did wasn't only an infraction of the code, it was a federal crime."

"Why you are bringing this back? I'm retired!" Caleb cried, running a hand through his short blond hair. "I-I spent my youth serving this country," he pleaded, his green eyes huge and watering.

It almost moved Walter, almost."Look, I just want know what you saw and why you lied. I have no interest in bringingthis to public knowledge," He said, putting on his good cop fa�ade."So why don't you invite me in, tell me what happened, what you saw, and I'll leave you alone."

Caleb looked up at him, his eyebrowsfurrowed together. "How do I know if I can trust you?"

"You don't, and you can't." Walter lunched his shoulders. "But I'll tell you this, if I leave this place without answers, I assure you Caleb, the FDTC's personal affairs department will hear about how you lied. And you, a man who spent his youth serving this country, will spend your last days in a Federal Prison. Is that what you want, Caleb?"

Caleb didn't answer but made room so Walter could enter his house.

"We received a call. My partner was out sick so I went there alone," He blurted out as soon as he closed the front door. "The complex was supposed to be inactive, but part of it wasn't."

"And what did you see?" Walter asked,grabbing pack of nicotine gum from his pocket.

Caleb looked away, turning his back to Walter. "Not much, I swear-"

"It was enough for someone to suborn you," Walter pointed out, chewing his gum.

Caleb sighed heavily, sitting in an old armchair. "They were covering an endoskeleton with what I swear seemed to be real flesh, I don't know how- but it wasn't that silicon crap that was used in the 182717 series," he said, before burying his face between the palms of his calloused hands.

"How many people were working there?" Walter asked, raising his left eyebrow."I want names and descriptions…"

"There were only two people," Caleb cut in.

Walter snorted. "Don't bullshit me, Caleb."

"I swear, there were only two!" Caleb cried, throwing his arms in the air. His round, sweaty face seemed startled."There was this woman; she was dressed like a surgeon and was wearing scrubs, glovesand stuff like that. She was brunette and white. She had short hair and grey eyes. I don't know her name. I didn't even talk to her! This long haired guy grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the damn room… And then he asked me how much I wanted to keep my mouth shut about what I saw."

"Names Caleb, I want names," Walter pushed, looking directly at Caleb.

"I don't remember," Caleb murmured nervously.

Walter sighed, grabbing his phone of his pocket. "Maybe talkingto someone from the Internal Affairs department will refresh your memory…" he said, typing in a random number on his cell phone but not tearing his gaze from Caleb's.

"Gunter Schneider! Gunter Schneider!" Caleb shouted, standingup. "That's what was written on the name tag," he said.

Walter smiled, deliberately putting his phone back in his pocket extra slowly."He worked with Avalon industries?" He asked.

"I guess…" Caleb trailed off, pressing his lips in a thin line for a moment. "I think he was using the Angelus facilities illicitly. I don't see a reason why the Avalon industries would spend money on a project like that. Maybe that was why he paid me, because if someone found out, he would lose his job and access to the facilities."

"And be arrested," Walter completed.

"Y-yeah, and be arrested," Caleb repeated quietly.

"How much did he pay you?" Walter inquired, once again crossing his arms over his chest.

"Fivethousand," Caleb confessed, closing his eyes for a second. "I had a gambling problem and I owed money to some dangerous people. That's why I accepted the deal, only because I didn't have any means to pay my debts," he said.

"He gave you five thousand dollars in cash?"

"No, he asked formy bank account number and transferred the money," Caleb explained tensely.

"Caleb… Caleb…"Walter uncrossed his arms and shrugged, standing a few inches away from Caleb and looking down. Caleb slowly lowered himself back into the armchair. "Why do I have the feeling that you're hiding something for me?" the federal agent asked, making a face.

"I'm not!" Caleb looked up, glancing at Walter anxiously."That was what happened. I was monitoring the levels of energy in the area. I saw something unusual on the Angelus Complex, and I went there to check it out. When I got there, I noticed something was off, but I thought it was just a sale of illegal models. But then I entered this place, this lab, and I saw a woman covering a metallic endoskeleton with something that really looked like real flash and then this German guy showed up, pulled me out of there and offered me money to not tell anyone what I had seen, and I like I told you, I had debts to pay,so I agreed."

"And you didn't ask for more money?" Walter shrugged "I mean if he was willing to pay five thousand…" he trailed off, studying Caleb.

"No!" Caleb cried, as if offended by Walter insinuation. "I'm an honest man! I just accepted the money because I owed a lot todangerous people."

Walter sighed. "I still have the feeling you're lying to me…" he grabbed his cell phone.

"I'm not! I swear!" Caleb assured him."Please don't give me away to internal affairs! I can't go the jail, I'm only an old man…"

Walter sighed, putting his phone back in his pocket."Alright Caleb, I'll trust you on that. But don't think if I find out you lied to me that I won't come after you," he threatened.

"O-okay." Caleb nodded nervously. "Thank you, John, thank you so much," he cried, holding Walter's hand between his sweaty ones.

"You're welcome. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go." Walter let go of Caleb's grip. "Don't leave the city. I'll be in touch," he warned, walking out of the house, leaving the older manlooking at him wide eyed.

*****


"So is that what you dream of,Kurtie? An epic kiss that fades away as the closing credits slowly began to appear?" Blaine mused, lips lifting up into a smirk.

Kurt face hardened. "No," he murmured, closing the laptop and putting it away.

Blaine furrowed his eyebrows. "Really? Because I could've sworn I saw you tear up a bit when the guy made that speech about the girls eyes and how he could never forget them-"

"Can you just drop it?" Kurt stood up. He didn't want to talk about how he would never get romance or speeches about how his eyes were beautiful. Happy endings weren't an option for him; no one would want anything to do with him after knowing what he was. Even if he found a guy that didn't care, Kurt wasn't sure if he would be willing to risk someone's safety.

"That's just not for me," He said and scoffed "Silly romances? Stupid promises of loving someone forever? No one will ever want any of that with me…"

Blaine stood up, looking confused. He didn't know what to say or do. Kurt did want to be loved; Blaine could tell. He had seen it in Kurt's eyes and the way they had sparkled when the main couple finally kissed. He wanted the slow dance and the holding hands with someone. So why was he acting like that, as if there was something wrong with him, something that made him unworthy that kind of devotion? Kurt of all people should be dreaming of romance.

"Y-you shouldn't talk like that." It came out of Blaine's lips before he could even register what he was saying, and then he was stepping forward, looking into Kurt's eyes and reaching up to his arm.

"Don't-"Kurt stepped back, his blue eyes filled with tears. His voice was breaking, and his head was spinning.A humorless laugh slipped through his lips. "What? Are you going to tell meto not give up love and convince me that I'll find a guy that'll actually want someone like me? Really Blaine? You?"Kurt couldn't help but let his pain and hurt show. Blaine didn't have the right to saying anything, not after what happened on Santana's balcony, and not after behaving as if being with Kurt was something to be ashamed of.

Blaire stared at Kurt and at the android's hurt blue eyes. He only saw pessimism and self-depreciation. Kurt believed in love, he just didn't believe that someone could love him.

This is it, Blaine thought as Kurt's words echoed inside of his mind. This was the moment where Blaine could step back, where he should step back and walk away from Kurt. He already did it once, he could do again. It would hurt, but Kurt would survive it and maybe even be stronger for it. And no matter what Kurt said or thought, he deserved romance, long speeches and epic kisses under the pouring rain. And he would have that, Blaine knew it, because if someone like Kurt didn't, then no one else deserved to. And Blaine would learn to live with that feeling, with the butterflies in his stomach every time he saw Kurt, maybe it would never quite go could choose that, choose to step back, turn around and leave Kurt alone. He didn't have to be the one that would prove to Kurt that he was wanted. Blaine should've left that for someone better, someone that Blaine probably would end up envying and probably resenting his actions a little bit, but that would still be better than the broken and useless brat Blaine had become.

Blaine should have step back.

God, he should have walked away.

But he didn't.

Instead, he took a few steps forward, gripping Kurt's arms and pushing the androids back against the wall. And Kurt let him. His blue eyes were wide and he was holding his breath, but he didn't push Blaine away as the boy invaded his personal space.

"I'm not afraid of you," Kurt murmured, and Blaine wished he could pretend he didn't understand what Kurt meant by that. He wished that those whispered words didn't make so much sense, and that they didn't unlock so many feeling inside of his chest.

But they didn't scare Kurt, and neither did his whole bad boy fa�ade, his behavior or his piercing. Kurt saw through all that. He saw who Blaine truly was and all the damage and darkness, and he wasn't scared.

Fuck, this is it, Blaine thought. He could feel himself trembling, his heart slamming against his ribcage and the air turning ridiculously heavy, so tense that it seemed impossible to even breathe properly. He placed a hand on Kurt's cheek, while the other came to rest on Kurt's neck, his thumb caressing Kurt's collar bone.

But it was only when Blaine had his face only a few inches away from Kurt's that he felt the other boy tentatively bringing his hands up, gripping the material of Blaine's leather jacket between trembling fingers. Kurt's blue eyes were so wide, so fucking terrified of rejection, but they were getting closer and closer…

Blaine let go of all his fears and ignored all the voices in his head saying that what he was doing was stupid and that he didn't deserve that. He leaned forward, closing the distance between them and pressing their lips was trembling when he pressed his mouth to Kurt's and he meant the kiss to be chaste, but it quickly turned desperate and frantic and imperfect and in the end Blaine didn't care. Kurt was kissing him back, actually kissing him back, blue eyes closed and eyelashes fluttering, holding on to Blaine as if that kiss was the first good thing that had happened to him in the past months. And maybe it was, and Blaine probably should be worried about that, but he just couldn't bring himself to care, not when Kurt's lips were on his and he could feel the heat of the boy's skin under his fingertips.

Blaine broke the kiss for a moment."Y-you can have it," he murmured, breathless.

"W-what?" Kurt frowned, not tearing his gaze away from Blaine's lips.

Blaine shook his head, chuckling against Kurt's lips. "The romance, the happy ending, y-you can have it, all of it," he whispered. He knew what he was implying, the unspoken promise he was making, but he didn't care, because at that moment, for that fraction of second, he could see it coming true.

*****


Looking around at the familiar and drunk faces of a place called Rose's Bar, Caleb pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

"Shit," he murmured, throwing the pack was empty.

As if his day couldn't get any worse, now he was out of cigarettes.

He buried his face between his handsand groaned. What was he going to do now? Someone inside of the FDCT knew what he had done. He could end up in a federal jail.

Caleb Thompson locked up.

The thought made him close his fingers in a opened it and closed it again, pushing his nails into his skin, hard enough to draw was not letting that happen.

He could runaway. Maybe he could go to Mexico? Yeah, that seemed like agreat idea. After all, he loved Mexican food; tacos and stuff. He just needed some money. He had lost most of his savings in a poker match last week.

Caleb inhaled deeply, trying to get ahold of himself, and then he stood up from his table and asked Lucas, the short and bored looking bartender, where the phone was. Lucas made a face and pointed towards the left side of the room. There was a small booth in a dark took the last sip of his beer and got inside the small both, looking for change in his pockets before dialing a familiar number.

It rang twice, and then the secretary picked up.

"Tell your bossthat Caleb Thompson needs to talk to him now," Caleb said nervously.

The secretary didn't seemto hesitate and in a matter of seconds Caleb heard a familiar voice that always made his skin crawl."This better be important. I was about to-"

"I need more money," Caleb interrupted.

"You've already received your payment this month-"

"I want more," Caleb said and gritted his teeth, looking around, "I need more."

"And why I would give you more money?" the man replied, confused.

"Well, if you don't give me more money, let's say 15 thousand until the end of the day, I'm going to call up some old buddies of minefrom the FDTC and tell them what I saw in the Angelus Complex that day," Caleb statement was complete bullshit. He didn't have any buddies in the FDTC… everyone there pretty much hated him.

"You'd end up in jail."

"Not if I make a deal with them… C'mon Adrian, I'll be giving them a big fish like you, and just as I said, I still have friends there. I'll probably just end up doing some community service," Caleb responded.

"You don't want to do this, Caleb."

"Oh Adrian, believe me, I do," Caleb said. He needed the money. He was tired and wanted to run away from this shit and never look back. He just wanted the sunny beaches and tacos.

*****


Supporting his forehead against Kurt's, Blaine looked down at their intertwined fingers, gliding his thumb along Kurt's hand. Both boys were breathing heavily, and Kurt's lipswere swollen from kissing and Blaine's were curls messy from where Kurt had been tugging only a few seconds ago.

"Your lips taste sweet, like juicy fruit," Blaine murmured, his voice hoarse.

"My favorite gum," Kurt said and giggled. Blaine smiled before cupping Kurt's chin and leaning in again, kissing Kurt's bottom lip before licking along his top lip and slowly slipping his tongue back into Kurt's mouth. He couldn't help but smile as Kurt moved one arm around his back and under his leather jacket, clenching his shirt and the other behind his head, his pale fingers in Blaine's curls as hepulled him in closer.

They were lost in the kisses when suddenly they heard a female voice coming from the living room.

"Hey boys!"

It was Penny.

"Fuck," Blaine murmured with his eyes wide as he stepped away from Kurt and stumbled on the futon. He fell flat on his ass and Kurt would have helped andreached out for himif he wasn't stepping away as well.

"What's up guys?" Penny's smiled, entering the room.

They boys looked up at laid down on the futon, holding a Vogue magazine, and Kurt awkwardly sat on the bed.

Penny raised an eyebrow. "Is everything alright?"

"Y-yeah," Kurt answered nervously. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Yeah, totally." Blaine shrugged, still hiding behind the magazine.

"I didn't know you were into Vogue, Blaine," Penny pointed out,looking at the boy.

"I-I don't. I'm just looking at the hot models," Blaine lied, pointing to a picture of a shirtless dude wearing leather pants.

Penny shrugged. The guy did look hot, even though she still preferred them a little older. "Walter's stuck with some reports to finish, and he asked me to come here to check up on you guys. Do you wannaorder some Chinese food?"

"Can you order noodles with sweet sauce?" Blaine asked, before glancing up at Kurt and smirking. "I really like sweet things."

*****

Caleb opened his eyes. His head was killing him. He didn't even remember getting back home. He groaned into his pillow before turning around and facing the window. It was raining and it was dark.

He didn't like the dark.

He never even if he didn't think it was a little pathetic, he probably would sleep with a light since his ex-wife had made fun of him the first time they slept together, Caleb came to conclusion that he was a little too old for that crap. There weren't bogymen inside of his clothes or under his bed.

Monsters didn't exist.

He heard a noise. Glass shattering. He huffed. "Damn cat!" he grunted, standing up. Caleb reached out for his baseball bat; this time he wouldn't let that damn cat escape. That little demon had been getting into his house and trying to kill Caleb's bird for months. That was enough.

With tentative steps, Caleb went downstairs. He flicked the living room lights on.

That was not a cat.

"What the Hell!?" He screamed, almost stumbling backwards.

Standing in the middle of Caleb's living room was a boy. He couldn't be older than 19 and was dressed in black, the hood of his sweatshirt thrown back, revealing pale skin and the sharp lines of his collar bone. Long waves of tousled, ginger hair framed his face, wafting around his shoulders like fire, its tendrils curling and moving of their own volition due to the chilly wind that invaded the room through an open window.

A window that Caleb didn't open.

"Who are you? What're you doing in my house? I'm gonna call the cops!" Caleb screamed, tightening his grip on the baseball bat in his hands.

The boy looked up at the older man, his brown eyes staring off of a soft face. He appeared completely unafraid and there was something in his stare that made Caleb feel utterly terrified. It didn't made sense. From what Caleb could see, the boy wasn't carrying anything in his hands. Caleb was the one with the baseball bat. He shouldn't be feeling like that, frozen under that boy's stare.

But he did.

"T-THIS IS TRESSPASSING! I'M GOING TO CALL THE COPS," Caleb threatened, but the boy remained immobile.

Suddenly, words broke from the boy's full lips. "My name is Azrael," he said quietly, so quietly that Caleb barely heard him.

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE BEFORE I SMASH YOUR HEAD," Caleb shouted and gritted his teeth. His muscles were tenseand his jaw was clenched so tightly that it hurt a little.

They boy approached movements were precise and perfectly balanced unlike any teen Caleb had seen before. Someone as young as that boy shouldn't havebeen walkinglike a wild predator being held in a cage too small for it. He should've be bouncing around, full or energy and unwariness of his own body.

"Step back or I'm gonna have to hurt you!"

"Azrael is the name of an angel." Azrael put a lock of hair behind his ear. The sight of the black leather gloves he wore sent shivers down Caleb's back. "In some cultures, he's seen as messenger. For others he's the angel of retribution…"

"K-kid you, don't want me to hurt you," Caleb murmured, his eyes filled with tears. He would have to do it. He would have to smash the kid, Azrael's, head if he got any closer.

Closing his eyes, Caleb swung the bat towards Azrael.

Smack.

He felt his bat colliding with something, but what made him open his eyes was the metallic sound that followed the impact.

He looked up. Azrael was only a few inches away from him, holding the bat with one of his gloved hands. His eyes were emotionless and his mouth formed a smirk.

"What the fuck are you?" Caleb screeched in a moment of hysteria, his chest filled with fear. The boy had stopped the swing of a baseball bat with a single hand. He didn't even flinch. He just held out the bat as if it didn't hurt…

"And in other cultures…"the boy spoke again, his voice now assuming a disturbingly playful tone. "Azrael is the angel of death," he concluded, snapping upwards and taking advantage of Caleb's shock to press him against the wall. Crouching over him like an animal, a growl rumbled deep in his throat as one of his gloved hands latched around the man's throat.

"P-please d-don't, I-I, glarph," Caleb choked out, the words barely escaping his mouth and tears burning in his eyes.

"Why didn't you just keep your mouth shut, Caleb? Greed is such a horrible sin," The boy said calmly and smiled, bringing his free hand to his own mouth and biting the edge of the leather glove, removing it slowly and revealing a metallic hand.

*****

Azrael closed his eyes, savoring the silence.

Such a precious thing, he thought, taking a deep breath as if somehow he could inhale it and absorb the silence.

Nothing made Azrael happier than that, when he finally, finally, stopped people's screams. For him, there wasn't no better feeling than achieving silence after hours, sometimes days, of unstoppable screaming, begging, crying and, "please just kill me already!"

His cell phone rang, ruining the silence. He opened his eyes, and raspy breathing escaped his blood splattered lips.

"It's done," He said as soon he had answered the phone.

"Great," Adrian rushed before the line went silent.

Azrael smiled.

Silence.

He enjoyed the silence.

TBC...