Author's Notes: Divided we stand

Dragging Kurt outside, away from the loud music and the crowd dancing to it, Blaine asked Santana if she could find a cup of water, or at least something that wasn’t 38% alcohol.

“Luckily Lord Tubbington only drinks vodka when it’s mixed with diet coke,” Santana announced handing Blaine a can.

Kurt frowned as Blaine poured some of it into a red cup.“Britt gives alcohol to her cat?”

“Believe me, he would steal if she didn’t,” Santana assured them, and Quinn nodded. “She isn’t lying, that cat is evil,” the pink haired girl confirmed.

Swallowing generous sips as Blaine, Santana, and Quinn looked at him worriedly, Kurt tried to come up with a reasonable excuse for what had just happened. His skin felt warmer than usual and his head was still throbbing from the memory of the confusing voices that had been triggered by the unsettling pair of familiar clear eyes. Well, he had to think of something. It’s not like he could just go with: “Hey guys, guess what? I’m a robot, and one of my creators may have been at your party!”

He was sure that there was someone in that sea of twirling bodies who had been part of his past, and that was a dangerous thing, because until proven otherwise, everyone that had been a part of the team who created him was a potential suspect of his dad’s murder. So there was a huge possibility his father’s killer was, at that exact moment, lurking around in the shadows, just waiting for the chance to get their hands on him.

Kurt had to get out of there, but more importantly, he needed to get Blaine out. Just the thought of Blaine getting hurt because of him made Kurt sick to his stomach. He wouldn’t let that happen. Not to Blaine, his boyfriend of all people.

“Are you sure no one put anything in your drink?” Quinn insisted. She had already seen it happen before. After all, there were disgusting predators everywhere, especially in parties like these.

“No one put anything in his drink. He only drank what I gave to him,” Blaine cut in, squeezing Kurt’s shoulders, “And you know I wouldn’t do something like that to you, right?” he asked, looking at Kurt, hazel eyes wide and insecure.


“Blaine,” Kurt breathed, lacing his fingers with the older boy’s calloused ones. How could Blaine actually believe that such a thought would have even crossed Kurt’s mind? He wanted to kiss those worry lines away from the corners of the boy’s lips. “Of course I know you wouldn’t put anything in my drink. C’mon, it was just a hypoglycemia crisis. You guys don’t need to worry. Really,” he assured them, squeezing Blaine’s hand.

“Funny," Santana crossed her arms above her chest,“Usually people that have low levels of sugar carry something sugary with them, you know, just in case,” she trailed off, looking at Kurt’s skeptically.

Taken aback by her remark, which sounded a lot like a subtle accusation, Kurt fumbled for words. “I-I’m not used to it yet, it was recently diagnosed.”

Santana still looked at him with an unconvinced expression on her face, but to Kurt’s relief, she didn’t press any further.

“Do you want to go home?” Blaine asked, holding Kurt’s chin up and locking their gazes.

“Yeah,” Kurt bit his lower lip, "Sorry if I ruined your night.” he looked down, crumpling his red cup between his fingers.

“Hey, hey, you didn’t ruin anything,” Blaine assured him, caressing a loose strand of Kurt’s chestnut hair away from his forehead.

“You just scared shit out of him. I mean, one moment he was poking you with his boner, and in the other you were practically passing out,” Quinn said, causing Blaine to narrow her eyes at her in a stern look.

She giggled, “I was just kidding, God. There’s too much tension here," She stood up, “So are you guys really heading home?”

“Yeah.” Blaine gripped Kurt between his arms as soon as the android stood up.

“Text us when you get there,” Santana said, supporting herself against a wall, watching as the boys were engulfed by the darkness around the abandoned complex.

“You didn’t buy that story of Hypoglycemia did you?” Quinn asked, sliding a packet of cigarettes out of her back pocket. She handed it to Santana, who shook her head.

“Nope,” The Latina murmured, lightening up a cig, “He’s hiding something,” she said after the first drag, arms crossed over her chest.

“I know…” Quinn sighed leaning up to light her smoke against Santana’s, “And what are we going to do about it?” She asked, looking straight into her friend’s eyes.

“Well, that’s up to you,” Santana said contemplatively, taking a slow draw from her cigarette before blowing the smoke out of her mouth and nose, “After all, you’re Blaine’s best friend,” she said.

“Fuck,” Quinn murmured, bumping her head against the wall as the Latina’s high heels echoed towards the party.

What was she supposed to do now?


.oOo.


“Can you please stop staring at me like that?” Walter murmured, hazel eyes glued to the flat screen of his TV. He could feel Penny’s eyes on him, as well as see out of the corner of his eye the smirk tugging at his partner’s lips.

“I’m waiting for you admit that you had a good time and actually enjoyed watching Mean Girls,” Penny teased. “You don’t have to thank me. I mean it would be cool if you did because I did show you such a seventh art’s masterpiece, but no pressure.”

Walter bit back his smile and decided to not give in. He had a reputation to maintain, after all, “I don’t think you really understand what masterpiece means,” He mocked, trying his best to keep a straight face.

“Oh shut up! I know you liked it!” Penny pushed at his shoulder. “You even laughed! Yeah, don’t think I missed that, Mr. Grumpy-and-I-never-laugh-or-show-
emotions!” she giggled, pointing a finger in his face as she narrowed her brown eyes, "You totally cracked up!”

Walter sighed, rolling his eyes. “Alright, alright I’ll give you that. It wasn’t as bad as I had expected…”

“That’s It wasn’t as bad as I expected? Really Walt, really? You’re so frustrating!” She pushed at his shoulder once more, before crossing her arms over her chest childishly, “I honestly don’t know why I put up with you!”

“Well that makes two of us,” Walter murmured, looking down at his partner with a world-weary look on his face. Even the man's striking hazel eyes were dim. “Seriously, what are you even doing here Penelope? I bet you had better things to do with your Saturday night than spend it with a bitter old man.”

“See? That’s why you’re frustrating!” Penny muffled a breath, “You don’t allow yourself to have nice things! And you know what? You’re not that old. C’mon, you’re forty five, not seventy!”

Walter lunched his shoulders, casting his eyes downward. “But-”


Penny held out her hands, “No, you stop right there. I’m not allowing you to begin another speech about how much you suck. I know you been through a lot, and that you acted selfishly and hurt people, but you can’t just give up, because you know what? You are not going be able to make up for your mistakes if you are sulking in a pool of self-pity.”

“I guess you’re right…”


Penny arched an eyebrow, a smug expression taking over her delicate features. “Of course I am, the same way I was about Mean Girls.”

At that Walter laughed, loud and earnestly. “God Penelope, we were having a moment here and you just ruined it.”

Penny was about to make some teasing retort when the front door opened. Blaine and Kurt entered hurriedly, the latter white as a sheet of paper, which didn’t go unnoticed by Walter, who frowned. “Hey guys… Did something happen? I thought you would sleep over Sam’s?”


“Kurt had a headache so we decided to come back home,” Blaine cut in before Kurt even had a chance to explain what had happened. He obviously was still worried about what happened.

“A headache?” Walter scooted forward. “Do you want to go to Art- I mean, your doctor?” He quickly corrected himself. After all, Blaine was in the room. Penny nodded, gathering her stuff from the coffee table, “Yeah we could take you there.” she looked at her wristwatch, “He's probably still awake anyways.”

“No there's no need guys, it’s just a headache… I’m much better now,” Kurt dismissed them.

“Are you sure?” Penny pressed, and Kurt nodded “I’m fine, really.”


“But hey what are you guys up to? A movie night?” he changed the subject,hoping to avoid further explanations.

“We were watching Mean Girls!” Penny smiled, holding up the DVD cover.


“Penny!” Walter scolded, blush high on his cheeks “We agreed that if someone asked, we would say we were watching The Good, The Bad and The Ugly,” he murmured, eyebrows furrowed together.

Penny battled her lashes in fake innocence. “Oops”


“Don’t worry Walter, your secret love for teen movies is safe with us,” Blaine mocked, causing Kurt to giggle and Walter’s cheeks to burn into the deepest shade of red.

.oOo.


Sitting on the futon and smelling like fresh soap as some of his curls fell loose above his forehead, Blaine looked up at Kurt, features contorted in an upsetting edginess. “Do you think Walter is going to check up on us again?” he asked, looking at the door and then back at Kurt.

“I doubt it,” Kurt clenched at the sheets of his bed, before turning his back to Blaine. He couldn’t quite meet the boy’s eyes, not now, not when another of his lies was still so fresh, “He’s probably sleeping by now.”

“Great,” Blaine’s voice echoed before he climbed on the bed beside his boyfriend. Kurt froze and tensed up. “Hmm, do you mind?” Blaine asked hesitantly, and feeling Kurt’s anxiety he sat in stunned silence for a few moments only lowering himself onto the mattress when Kurt turned around to meet his eyes.

“No of course not,” the android said, reaching out to touch the boy’s face, more than enough of an incentive for Blaine to wrap his arms around Kurt’s middle, curling himself against his boyfriend by tangling their legs together.

For several minutes an uncomfortable silence stretched out between them, making Kurt consider pretending he was sleeping to avoid the questions he could tell were making Blaine sleepless.

It was really no surprise when Blaine broke the silence, “You really scared me tonight,” he murmured against the android’s skin.

Cold sweat broke out on Kurt’s brow and swallowing hard, he licked his lips, “I-I’m sorry.”

Blaine tightened his embrace, “If low levels of sugar in your blood make you sick, then carry a freaking candy bar with you,” he said but there was no heat in his words. There was something else though, something Kurt couldn’t quite put his finger on. It was almost as if Blaine could tell that there was in fact something wrong with Kurt and that he knew it had nothing to do with low levels of sugar.

Kurt felt numb and cold even though the room was perfectly warm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to ruin your night,” he said, hardly capable of forming words because of the lumps forming in his throat.

“This isn't about ruining my night,” Blaine sighed, “I couldn’t care less about missing that party… It’s just that I’ve already seen you at your worst, remember? Seeing you like that-” His voice cracked as he was suddenly taken by the memory of the day he found Kurt unconscious in their room, “S-so lifeless, feeling your skin so cold against mine, it terrified me, Kurt. I thought you were dead and I don’t want to feel like that again.”

“From now on I-I’ll carry a candy bar with me,” Kurt assured him, trying to keep his voice steady.

Blaine nodded against Kurt’s skin, incapable of bring himself to ask the questions tormenting him, “Great…it’s better if I go to the futon then,” he murmured, “I can’t be here in the morning, Walter could see us,” he said, not sure why he has giving Kurt so many explanations, or why he felt so compelled to justify his actions.

Sheepishly, Kurt tried his best to smile, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Goodnight.”

“Night.” Blaine bent down and placed a chaste kiss on Kurt’s lips, before curling into himself on the futon.

Kurt stared at the roof, clenching onto his covers for more than a few moments before allowing himself to finally let out a ragged breath. Only when Blaine’s breathing evened out the android finally closed his eyes, "I'll make everything alright," Kurt whispered into the darkness, unsure to whom he was speaking to, certain his boyfriend was asleep.

Blaine wasn’t.




.oOo.


“Blaine!” Walter greeted his son with a grin. “Guess who just made your favorite chocolate chip pancakes?!”

Blaine chuckled at his father, because seriously, sometimes the old man was such a child, “Let me guess, the only person in this kitchen wearing a ridiculous baby blue apron?” He teased, causing Kurt, who was sitting at the table, entertained with his own set of pancakes, giggle.

“Oh shut up,” Walter scoffed, “This apron matches my skin, doesn’t it Kurt?”

“Definitely,” Kurt nodded, “It also lights up your hazel eyes,Walt.”


“Oh, so now Ice Queen is giving fashion lessons during breakfast? Greeeat, but I’m afraid I’ll have to miss today’s tips on how look like a hot housewife. Quinn’s car broke and she just called me desperately asking me to give her a ride. Apparently she has to go to some country club shit to please her mother, otherwise that old hag won’t let her leave the house for weeks.”

“Blaine don’t talk about Mrs. Fabray like that, she’s your mother’s best friend,” Walter scolded his son, even if deep down he also thought that woman was an old hag.

“Whatever. Can I go?” Blaine asked, holding out his car keys.


“Sure.Tell Quinn I said hi!” Walter smiled, before turning his back to his son, giving him the opportunity to wink at Kurt as he walked away.

“See you later,” he mouthed, making the android smile.


“Lucky you, here have Blaine’s share.” Walter turned around and scooped more pancakes on Kurt’s plate.

Kurt bit his lip. “I’m not hungry anymore,” he said quietly.


Walter sighed. There was something wrong with Kurt, he could tell, “Is everything okay with you, Kurt? Are sure you don’t want to see Artie? You know, just in case?” he insisted.

Kurt took a deep breath before looking up. “Actually yes, I want to see Artie.” He had to take this opportunity; Walter and the guys needed to know what happened at Santana’s party.

“Alright then, finish your breakfast. I’ll call Penny,” Walter said, taking off his apron and putting it away. When he was about to take his phone out of his pocket, he felt cold fingers wrapping around his arm. “Walter,there’s a reason why I want to see Artie,” Kurt murmured, looking at up at Walter.

Walter frowned. “What?”


Kurt took another deep breath, he could do this. He had to do this, “I-I think I remembered something.”


.oOo.

“Blaine you’re a life saver! My mom would totally freak out if I didn’t show up to this stupid book thing,” Quinn grinned as she hopped into Blaine’s car. As usual, she was dressed in torn and tight clothes. It made Blaine wonder if Quinn’s mom didn’t secretly enjoy shocking the ladies of the country club. After all, she would always make a big deal of dragging Quinn to these occasions, even if Quinn made a point of dressing as “skanky” as possible.

“Look at you, all worried and excited to go to another meeting with Lima’s high society,” He teased, turning the key in the ignition.

“Fuck you Blaine,” Quinn retorted, “I’m just too tired and hungover to deal with my mom nagging about why I don’t enjoy our time together anymore.” She rolled her eyes before turning the radio on. Quinn would never understand why her mother’s concept of spending time together consisted of spending hours in a place where a bunch of snobby women would whisper about her disgraceful daughter.

“So how is Kurt?” she asked, blowing at loose strand of her pink hair that insisted on falling over her face.

Blaine cleared his throat, “H-He’s better.”


“Really?” Quinn asked, turning to him, her eyes narrowed.


“Yeah, totally,” Blaine stated, making a point of keeping his eyes on the road.


“And what was wrong with him? It was really a hypoglycemic crisis?” She inquired, eyebrow risen, lips pressed in a tight line.

“Y-yeah.” Blaine nodded nervously. “Just a hypoglycemic crisis, that’s all.”


“Blaine.”


“What?” Blaine tried to play dumb.


Quinn sighed. “You don’t really believe that crap do you?”


Blaine swallowed tensely. “And why would he lie to me?”
Quinn turned her eyes to the road. “I don’t know maybe-”


“Maybe what?” Blaine gripped at the wheel. Abruptly he pulled over, startling Quinn. “Maybe Kurt has some serious condition, maybe he’s dying? Was that what you were going to say Quinn? That Kurt maybe has some sort of serious illness and he's hiding it from me?” Blaine was visibly upset, voice hoarse and hazel eyes glistening with unshed tears.

“Calm down Blaine, I didn’t mean that-” Quinn tried to reach out for him, but he backed away from her touch.

“So what the hell do you mean then?” He retorted sharply. “Jesus Quinn,What do you want me to do? Drag him to a hospital and demand a full check-up?” There was so much anger in his words, and so, so much fear.

Quinn bit her lower lip. “Just ask him about it, Blaine”


Tearing his gaze from Quinn’s, Blaine gripped at the wheel. “I don’t know if I can…” he murmured, barely audible.

“Why not?”


“I’m too afraid of the answer alright?” He spat, still refusing to look into his best friend’s eyes. “B-because what if there is something wrong with him? What if he has some fucked up condition, then what am I going to do, Q? I can’t lose him, not after what happen with Cooper…I just can’t.”

.oOo.


“You have to promise you won’t be mad,” Kurt pleaded, blue eyes wide as he looked up at Walter.

Walter sighed, closing his eyes for a second. “Usually when a teenager says that it’s because they did something that will make adults mad, regardless of them promising they’ll not,” he said, looking at Kurt tiredly, “Does this have anything to do with the why you guys returned home early from yesterday’s game night?”

“Blaine and I weren’t at a game night at Sam’s place, but a party in an abandoned warehouse,” Kurt rushed as fast as he could, looking away the moment Walter’s eyes widened.

“You two did what?!” Walter gasped, voice strained. “God Kurt, I would expect something like from Blaine, but you?” He walked around the kitchen, running a hand through his curls. “What were you thinking? Do you know how much danger you put yourself into? What if something happened? I wouldn’t be able to even tell to the police where they should start looking for the bodies!” He snapped, all the memories of bloodcurdling cases involving teenagers and the type of parties Blaine frequented popping out in his mind, “I worked on homicides,Kurt! And let me tell you something: teenagers, abandoned places, and alcohol is hardly a combination that ends well!”

“I’m sorry Walter.” Kurt stood up, looking at Walter anxiously. “B-But you can’t tell Blaine I told you that.”

Walter shook his head. “Don’t think that because you confessed, I’m not grounding you both!”

“So tell him you found out because you heard me talking about the party on the phone!” Kurt cried, reaching up for Walter. “But he can’t know I told you otherwise he’ll want to know why!”

Still mad and quite disappointed at Kurt,Walter crossed his arms over his chest. “And why are you telling me?”

Kurt looked down at his shoes. “Because just like I told you, I think remembered something— someone.”

“Someone?” Walter arched an eyebrow “Who? How?”


“W-when I was at the party-”


“The one you went to without telling me,” Walter cut in.


“Yes, the one we went without telling you,” Kurt repeated. “Anyways, when I was there I felt like someone was watching me and I think it was someone involved in my creation, because when I looked up, I saw this pair of familiar eyes that made my head hurt and I think I remembered something,” the android said, trying his best to explain what happened, omitting, of course, details, such as the part where he was making out with Blaine which was exactly when he felt someone’s eyes on him.

With a thoughtful expression on his face Walter scratched his chin and walked around before grabbing his cell phone. “Don’t think I’m not disappointed in you Kurt, because I am,” He said as he typed Penny’s number. “But you’re right, we have to see Artie.”

.oOo.


“So you remembered something…” Artie took a sip of his coffee. He was still in pajamas and he had a bed head situation going on.

“I guess…” Kurt bit his lip, looking down at his lap. He felt uncomfortable—
everyone’s eyes were on him.

“That’s good right?” Penny cut in. “Not the part where you lied to Walter and went to a party in some abandoned warehouse-”

Kurt huffed a breath. How many times was he going to have to say he was sorry? “I already told you guys I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”

“I certainly hope so,” Walter gave him another stern look, “Otherwise I'll have to ground you boys for life.”

“Okay, okay, now that we’ve established that what Kurt did was wrong for the thousandth time, even though we all did similar things when we were his age-” Walter looked horrified to see Artie holding out a hand, “Don’t lie, I know you did Walt. Let’s focus on what’s important here. What exactly did you remember, Kurt, and what triggered such a memory?” He asked as the caffeine started to put his sleepy brain back on track.

“I was dancing, and then I felt that someone watching me so I looked up at the crowd and saw someone… it was dark and I couldn’t really tell if it was a man or a woman, I just know it was someone from my past because when I looked into their clear eyes I felt really sick and fell on my knees. My head throbbed and I remembered two people talking about a stereocilia that wasn’t properly working.”

Penny furrowed her eyebrows together. “What’s a stereocillia?”


“STEREOCILLIAS ARE A MECHANOSENSING PART OF THE HAIR CELLS, WHICH RESPOND TO FLUID MOTION IN NUMEROUS TYPES OF ANIMALS FOR VARIOUS FUNCTIONS, INCLUDING HEARNG AND BALANCE,” Eugene interrupted, entering the living room and placing a box of donuts on the coffee table. Artie winked at him, giving him a thumbs up before stuffing a donut in his mouth.

“So Kurt has those?” Walter concluded, his arms still crossed over his chest.


“Probably an artificial version of them,” Artie answered, mouth full.


Penny’s chocolate colored eyes went wide. “Does that mean he remembered something that occurred during his building?”

Artie nodded. “Most likely.”


Kurt’s head shot up, “So I was conscious during the process?”


Artie sat back at his chair with a thoughtful expression on his face. “Well, obviously not all of it, but probably as they made the final touches to make you the most humanlike as possible,” he said, adjusting his glasses.

“He might have memories of his creators then,” Walter said after a moment.


“Yes, it’s like when you erase a file from your computer, unless you use very specific programs you don’t really erase it… you just make it difficult to find them,” Artie explained.

“You said difficult,” Kurt said, looking up to meet Artie’s eyes. The android’s blue eyes were glistering with an unusual intensity.

“Yeah… That was what I said.” Artie wheeled back a little, eyebrow arched.


Kurt stood, holding a finger to his lips. “So it’s not impossible?”


“If those memories had been completely erased, you wouldn’t have remembered anything when facing this person, so yeah, you probably still have the memories somewhere, you just can’t access them,” Artie explained, afraid of where Kurt’s line of thought was leading him to. His heart raced as he waited for the other shoe to drop.


“But you could,” Kurt pointed out.


“What?” Artie gasped.


“Access the memories!” Kurt eyes were wide and he was obviously excited.

“Wouldn’t you be able to find them by accessing my system?”


Artie looked down. “I don’t know…”


“Why do you say that?” Walter cut in. It seemed the perfect solution. If Kurt did had memories of those who built him, it would be a lot easier to find whoever had killed Burt and was after Kurt. Damn, they could solve this whole thing if only they had some descriptions.

“Because I’m not entirely familiar with Kurt’s system, I could cause damage to him by trying to access such information,” Artie sounded exasperated but Kurt pressed on.

“Besides those who created me, you are the person who knows my system the best,” Kurt retorted. “And you're the best hacker in the country! If anyone can do this, it’s you!”

Artie shook his head. “Kurt, when I said I could damage you in the process, I meant really damage you, like screwing up with your system and its functions in irreversible ways.” He looked up, right into Kurt’s eyes. “You could end up damaged for good.”

“Well, I still want to you to try,” Kurt said definitely.


At that Penny stepped in. There was no way they would let Kurt take such a risk, “Kurt, that’s out of question. We won’t risk damaging you-”

“Maybe he is right Penny” Walter said to his partner's surprise, “Maybe we should try."

Penny gasped, “You can’t be serious”


“Penny, Artie, you guys aren’t seeing the big picture here” Kurt trailed off, holding onto the ginger’s shoulders, “Someone involved in my creation was watching me, and this person, whose intentions we don’t know, saw me with Blaine and by now probably already knows I live with Walter, and that you guys are hiding me,” He explained, “We don’t have another choice, but to try and access these memories. Because if this person was playing on our team they would already introduce themselves, or offered some sort aid when I was on my knees screaming in pain, so I think is only reasonable to assume whoever was watching me wasn’t up to any good,"

Kurt wouldn’t take the risk. He had once promised he wouldn't let anything happen to the people who were risking themselves for him, and now with Blaine in the picture, such resolution became even stronger. He had already lost his father. He would do anything he had to in order to keep his new family safe.

Penny's eyes filled with tears. “But Kurt-”


“Penny we know Burt’s killer was involved in Kurt’s creation. What if the person who was watching him at the party was the same person who murdered his father?” Walter said.

“Guys! I am working on the Prometheus database, I'm sure I'll have information that will lead us to those who involved in Kurt’s creation soon.” Artie tried to interject. It was slow process, with too much information to handle while the system was still on as he tried to not trigger the security system, but Artie was sure he would find something that would help them to figure out more about Kurt’s past.

“I am sure you will find something useful, but I am afraid 'soon' is not fast enough,” Kurt sat down, sighing heavily, “What if this killer decides to come after us? Or after Blaine, or-or even your parents Penny?”

Penny just couldn’t accept that, there had to be other way of keeping them safe besides putting Kurt’s life in danger, “We will find a way to protect them! We can tell them the truth, and we'll keep them safe!”


“And how are we going to do that Penny?” Walter fixed his eyes on her, “How we are going to keep them safe if we don’t even know who we're protecting them from? It could be anyone. The mailman, one of Blaine’s teachers; for all we know, it could be an old lady you helped across the street this morning!” The federal agent said, and he hated himself for it, but at that moment letting Artie try to access Kurt’s memories seemed the best way of keeping everyone safe, including Kurt. “We have no idea who this person is, but they know who we are. They know our weakness, and ,damn, at this point they may even know our routines, where you buy your green tea, and which comic store Artie goes every Friday”

“But there has to be another way! One that doesn’t risk Kurt’s life!” Penny shouted. She couldn’t believe Walter actually believed the words coming out of his mouth. After all they had gone through! It was like she was seeing the bitter man that had once wanted to shut Kurt down for good back before her eyes.

“There isn’t Penny” Kurt said resignedly. “I am not suicidal--far from it, believe me-- and I wouldn’t risk myself if there were any other way, but there isn’t, and I can’t allow any of you to get hurt, or worse killed, because of me. I already lost my dad to this monster, I won’t be able to live with myself if something happened
to you guys,” Kurt knew Penny had the best intentions. Her heart was in the right place. She loved him and wanted what was the best for him but her naivety prevented Penny to see that, unfortunately, putting his life at risk was the only way to protect everyone else’s.

“And do you think I'll be able to live with myself if you get damaged, or worse, if you die in this stupid experiment?” she snapped, not even bothering to stop the tears running down her freckled cheeks.

Kurt gripped the girl’s shoulders as he tried his best to sound assuring, “Artie is the best hacker in the country! If there is one person who can do this, that person is him. He already saved Eugene-”

“M-Maybe he is right Penny” Artie said to the ginger's further despair.


“Artie! You can’t be seriously considering to-”


“What if they come after us?” Artie said “They already damaged Eugene once. Obviously they don’t have a problem hurting innocent people if that means getting their hands on Kurt. I'll try my best, and if it gets too risky I will stop.You know I won’t push beyond his limits."

“I can’t believe you guys are actually okay with this madness!” Penny stepped away from Kurt’s reach, “You know what? I’m going to go now. It doesn’t matter what I say, you've already decided what you're going to do,” Her face grew more disgusted with every word, "But don’t expect me to sit here and watch as you two put Kurt’s life in danger, just because you're too damn scared!” She screeched before storming out of Artie’s living room.

Kurt stood, ready to go after her, when Walter grabbed at his arm, “I'll go talk to her,” he said as he followed his partner.

“Penny, wait!” He called out as she fumbled with the elevator buttons.


“How could you Walter?” She snapped, holding an accusatory finger in the man’s face, “Of all people, how could you agree with that madness!? Artie said himself he can’t guarantee he won’t damage Kurt!”

Walter sighed, “And what other choice do we have?”


“I don’t know,” Penny gritted her teeth, pushing against his chest, “But there must be another way of finding out who's after Kurt.”

“Don’t you get it Penny?” Walter grabbed her wrists, “There's a killer out there, and while we don’t know a thing about this person, they probably know everything about us. None of us is safe and neither are our families, at least until we find out who is after Kurt."

“So that's what this is about?” Penny spat, disentangling herself from Walter’s grip, “You're just trying to protect your family…”

Walter eyes widened, "No, Penny, of course-”


“You just don’t care about the price, do you?” She looked at him accusatorially, “Provided you aren't risking losing Blaine, you don’t care what happens to Kurt,” The sharpness of the ginger’s words cut its way through Walter’s heart, and he took a step back. She couldn’t possibly believe such thing, could she? “Penelope,you don’t know what you're talking about.”

“I know exactly what I'm talking about! You weren’t capable of protecting Cooper, and now you're too scared and, as usual, taking the easy way out!” Deep down Penny knew what she was saying to Walter wasn’t fair, but she was so damn hurt, so scared by the prospect of Kurt damaging himself, and knowing Walter wasn’t doing a thing stop, but was actually encouraging Kurt to do it made Penny unable to bring herself to care about how poisoned and destructive the words that kept coming out of her mouth were. “You're coward Walter! That's why you walked away from your family ten years ago, and that's why you are supporting Kurt in going through a procedure that may kill him!”

Walter’s blood boiled in his veins, his stomach tumbling in freefall, “Don’t you dare to bring Cooper to this conversation Penelope!” The man spat out, voice hoarse and barely audible, “You have no right! You didn’t even know him! So don’t you dare to use his death like that!”

Penny had no right. She had never heard Cooper’s laugh, or seen his blue eyes glistering with excitement. She didn't miss the way he would always point his finger when saying something important because he thought 'it made it more emphatic.' No one that hadn't seen Cooper smiling could possibly understand how painful it was to live with the knowledge that those perfect white teeth would never again be flashed, revealing the most adorable set of dimples.

“You can’t possibly understand what it feels like wake up every morning knowing your boy died alone, in dirty alley choked by his own blood, because you were too busy to pick him up. Do you know what my last words to him were? 'I can’t talk right now Coop!' Yes, those were my last words to my son! It wasn’t I love you, or I'm proud of you, so don’t judge me because I want to protect what
is left of my family.”

“Silly me,” Penny said bitterly, “I thought Kurt was family as well…”


“How can you even say that?! After all I have done for him?! Of course Kurt is family, and as such he is danger as well, and unless we can identify who's after him there is no way we can protect him!” Penny was too damn na�ve, she thought they could save the world, that nothing bad happened to the good guys. But she was wrong. Walter knew that. He had learned in the most painful way.

“I won’t be part of this” She said as the elevator in front of her finally opened its doors, “And, God, Walter, I hope you choose more carefully this time, because whatever you say to Kurt before he goes through this might be your last words to him.”

.oOo.


With gloved hands, Tina carefully placed seven pictures inside a medium, brown-colored envelope. She had picked up the pictures earlier that day, and after spending several minutes making sure they didn’t have any compromising digital trace on them, she certainly wouldn’t be stupid enough to lick it, so with a small brush, Tina added glue on the envelope.

While pressing her gloved fingers on it, making sure the envelope was sealed, she looked up at her clock. Walter would be home in few hours, and she had been told to make sure he had his hands on those pictures as soon as possible. She bit her lower lip. Couldn’t she at least give the Andersons one last peaceful night? One night before, just like a mean child who blows at a carefully built castle of cards, she exposed Kurt’s lies, destroying the trust of those who had been protecting him? She could at least give him that couldn’t she? A last taste of normality, before all the pain she was about to put him through? Nodding to herself, Tina let go of the envelope and stood up.

She could wait until tomorrow morning.


She had packing to do anyways.