Chapter 10

The next couple of days were spent formally going through every moment of the mission and analysing each and every mistake that was made. Of course their conversations would wander off to something off topic but overall they did well and quickly they were officially done with their first mission as the Black Squad. After the final meeting with Burt and Sarah the ex-‘whites’ felt really proud of themselves while the more experienced agents were glad that yet another mission was finished successfully. Out of all of them Jeff seemed to be the happiest.

“I’m so excited! My first mission is completed! Oh, I need to go see Ella and tell her that I’m done,” the blonde man said and left before anyone could say anything.

They were all leaving the conference room after the meeting with Burt and Sarah, relaxed but anticipating a new mission, preferably sooner rather than later.

“You know, if he wasn’t as excited as he is, I would think that this Ella does not exist,” Kurt said with a fond smile. “I mean, we still haven’t met that girlfriend of his.”

Blaine shrugged as they headed to the cafeteria. “Maybe he is ashamed of us,” he said jokingly.

“You must be right,” Kurt responded in a mocking tone. “I mean, he must be ashamed of the squad he brags about.”

Blaine laughed and they heard Sugar and Santana snort behind them.

“It’s impolite to eavesdrop,” Kurt shouted in a noisy corridor.

“It’s your fault you were talking so loudly,” Sugar retorted playfully and Kurt just shook his head.

He was about to say something in response but his phone vibrated in his pocket and he was too curious to ignore it. He heard Blaine say something to the girls but didn’t listen to their playful banter. He quickly unlocked his phone and found a new text message.

Wes: Hey, Kurt. How is it going?

Kurt was taken aback. He and Wes were friendly to each other but they weren’t exactly friends. At least not close enough to be text buddies. On the other hand, out of all former members of the White Squad he was probably closest to the man.

“I just got a text from Wes,” he announced to the group as they stood in the queue for lunch.

“What does it say?” Sugar, who was standing right behind Blaine, asked with a slight frown.

“Just asked how the things are,” Kurt said looking at the screen as if it would give him more information if he stared long enough.

“Why would he message you?” Sugar asked. “I mean, I was his supervisor…”

Blaine gave Kurt a gentle push as the queue moved but his boyfriend didn’t notice it. “I’m guessing he wants to know what it’s like to become an agent after a year of training. Maybe he regrets leaving,” he tried to reason.

“What do I say?” Kurt asked nobody in particular.

“You can say anything as long as it’s not against the privacy policy of the C.A.T.,” Blaine explained.

“And tell him I say ‘hi’,” Sugar asked as she saw Kurt typing a message.

Kurt: Hi, Wes! It’s been a while. Things have been a bit hectic lately but overall it’s fine. How are you?

Kurt: Sugar says ‘hi’.

“What are you eating, Kurt?” he heard Blaine ask him as he pocketed his phone.

“I’ll go with chicken.”

It didn’t take long for everyone to get their food and settle at their usual table. They chatted about their plans for the rest of the day when something clearly caught Tina’s attention.

“Aww, just look at them,” she said and gestured at the table nearby where five young people with white t-shirts were sitting. “Just a little over a year ago it was us sitting like that, not really sure what was going to happen next.”

“And we still aren’t,” Kurt joked.

“Oh, you know what I mean,” Tina pouted and stopped staring at the newbies. “When are they announcing the supervisors?”

“Well, they need to go through the two week training before that. So in a little over a week, I’m guessing.”

“Wait, but some of them arrived much earlier,” Finn frowned. “Why didn’t we think of it earlier? We could have asked Burt…”

“They are probably going to let the last person to catch up with the others,” Mike said after he swallowed a big bite of the fish dish he was eating. “Have you heard any rumours about who may be up for the supervising?”

“No clue.”

“No.”

After that they continued eating in silence, everyone lost in their thoughts and meals.

Kurt remembered his first day in the base when he woke up alone in the small room and was soon joined by Sarah. It wasn’t the nicest of the memories as he had been drugged and had a headache, not to mention he woke up in another continent, but nevertheless, it was the beginning of this great adventure. He smiled to himself but it wasn’t missed by his boyfriend who was sitting in front of him.

“Something funny?”

“No, it’s just what Tina said… I was wondering where I would be right now if I hadn’t accepted the offer to join. I wouldn’t know any of you so I’m just really happy I stayed.”

“Someone is getting sappy,” Noah laughed with his mouth full and got scolded by Tina.

Kurt didn’t say anything, just shared a loving look with his boyfriend and continued eating. He imagined himself in his smelly apartment with noisy neighbours, working his ass off in his classes just to be told he was useless only because his teachers didn’t like him. Worst of all, he imagined himself alone, without the love that Blaine gave him. He wondered if they would have met if Kurt hadn’t joined the C.A.T. Probably not. Overall, he was thankful for his new life.

“Hey, Blaine, have you seen Jesse St. James yet?” Noah broke the silence at their table.

“Um, what? Is he here?” Blaine asked nonchalantly.

“Yeah, I saw him this morning with two other ‘pinks’ but I didn’t have a chance to talk to him.”

Kurt cleared his throat. “The same Jesse St. James that Blaine used to have a crush on?” he asked with a fake smile.

At that moment Blaine started coughing loudly and it took Finn hitting his back a few times for him to stop. “What did you say?”

“I saw a guy in a pink t-shirt during the sorting and Jeff told me you two liked each other,” he explained, his mood dampening.

“I did like him but only until I saw what a jerk he was. He is full of himself and I quickly learned that he was bad news.”

Kurt blushed as he now felt embarrassed for being jealous but despite that he couldn’t help but feel insecure with the guy being back.

“Hold on a sec,” Santana cut in. “Are you saying that the Jesse St. James is here? Like, this very building?”

“Who the hell is he?” Kurt asked.

“Only one of the best singers in the country,” the girl explained. “He started in a boy band but then he began a solo career. I’m sure you’ve heard of him.”

“I don’t remember. I mean, he looked familiar but I just don’t know him,” Kurt defended himself against her accusatory tone.

“Well, later we can go on youtube and listen to a couple of his–”

“No, thanks, I’m good,” Kurt faked a smile and pushed his place away. “I’m done. I’ll see you later.”

They all sat there stunned at Kurt’s outburst, not sure what to say. Everyone thought the same thing but didn’t want to say it out loud. Blaine decided to give his boyfriend some time to cool off and then talk to him about this. He also didn’t feel hungry anymore.

When he was about to leave Tina broke the silence. “What are the ‘pinks’ exactly?”

“It’s a squad formed from famous people,” Mike explained. “Well, it’s not really a squad. They are just celebrities who know about us and the C.A.T. use them for their connections. Some of them like to drop by when they are in England. Jesse comes here quite common compared to others.”

“I hope I can get his autograph,” Tina said and Blaine left before he could hear anything else.

<~*~>

It wasn’t long after the scene in the cafeteria when he sat down on a bench outside that Kurt began to regret his actions. He knew he was being immature about it but he couldn’t help it with Blaine’s old crush back in the picture.

“Hey, Kurtie-boy,” he heard and turned around to see Jeff approaching him while munching something.

“How did you find me?”

“I have eyes everywhere,” the boy said and sat down next to Kurt. “Except my butt. I don’t have eyes on my butt.”

Kurt snorted and relaxed in his seat again, enjoying the warmth of the sun. “I don’t even know why I asked.”

They sat there silently for a couple of minutes, Kurt wishing he could be in some park where there would be no car noises and Jeff imagining what it would be like to have eyes on his ass cheeks. They didn’t bother each other’s thoughts until the blonde’s eyes started to water when he imagined what it would feel like if his boxer briefs touched his cornea.

“So, what are you doing here?” he finally asked.

“Jesse St. Sucks is here,” Kurt offered without another thought as if it explained anything.

“Oh, that jerk…” Jeff grimaced.

Kurt looked at him with curious expression. He didn’t expect Jeff to dislike that guy. “Why do think he’s a jerk?”

“He’s really obnoxious, that’s it,” Jeff said but Kurt didn’t buy it, just glared at him intently. “Fine, I don’t like gossiping but– Okay, I love gossiping but I don’t like people forming their opinions about other people from what I tell them.”

“Oh, I already have an opinion about him and I can say that I don’t like the guy,” Kurt said even though he knew it was childish to dislike someone without even knowing them.

“Good because there is nothing to like about him. He thinks he is superior to everyone and treats others like shit. He always tries to boss everyone around. Whenever he goes to eat, there would be some girl bringing him this and that since he would never stand in the queue and bring his own food. He’s vain and full of himself, you should have seen him eye-fucking himself in the wall mirror in the gym.”

“Do you think Blaine still likes him?”

“Did you not hear a word I said?” Jeff rolled his eyes.

Kurt sighed. “I’m being unreasonable, aren’t I?”

“Look, Kurtie, I may not be an expert of relationships… Oh, fuck it, I am since I’m in one. So I’ll tell you one thing – you are not being unreasonable. It’s a natural reaction. Like, the other day I sent this virus to Ella’s ex-boyfriend’s computer. Perfectly normal behaviour,” Jeff shrugged.

Kurt laughed and watched Lauren get out of her van in the parking lot. “I don’t know what I was thinking. Blaine loves me, right? There is no way he would be interested in that guy…”

“You can’t say he is not handsome though…”

“Jeff, not helping.”

“Sorry.”

“Yeah, there is no way Blaine likes him. And even if he does, I’ll make sure I’m the only man he thinks about,” he said with a smirk.

“Spare me the details, will you?” Jeff faked disgust.

Kurt opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself. He wasn’t sure he wanted to deal with more insanity in that moment. Luckily, their phones went off at the same time announcing a text message and they both read the same thing.

Burt: Conference room IX, in 10mins.

“What is that about?” Jeff asked Kurt expectantly.

Kurt stood up and pocketed his phone. “Just because he’s my dad doesn’t mean that I can read his mind.”

“Yeah but you could get some inside information,” Jeff smirked and they began to walk towards the entrance. “I used to know more than the others while Tom was the head.”

“I’m sure it had something to do with the fact that you are nosey and know your way with computers.”

“That may have helped…”

They both laughed and entered the building. When Jeff began his rant about lizards not being allowed as pets in the base, Kurt’s mind wandered off creating various scenarios in his head how he would apologise to Blaine for his behaviour and what he would say to reason it. All such thoughts left his mind though once he entered the room with Jeff behind him and saw Blaine sitting next to Jesse, the famous man whispering something into his boyfriend’s ear. The only two seats available were on the other side of the table and Kurt felt a pang in his heart as he realised that Blaine didn’t save a seat for him.

Just when Jeff and Kurt sat down, the door opened again and Burt entered with some files in his hands. “Good afternoon,” he greeted everyone.

“Hi.”

“Sup?”

Burt went to the end of the long table and sat down. “So, as you can see we have a guest here today,” he said.

Kurt looked up to see Jesse who was smiling broadly and actually waving at the girls. Not wishing to vomit, Kurt looked away and focused on Burt who continued talking.

“He is here for a reason. The Annual Music Awards take place this Saturday and it’s been known for a while that a few performers got death threats related to the event. Jesse is one of them.”

How convenient, Kurt thought before he caught himself. It wasn’t Jesse’s fault that his life was threatened but still the ‘black’ couldn’t pity him for whatever reason. And then Jesse gave him that reason.

“For a famous person like me it’s nothing new,” he said with a smile, either totally relaxed about the whole situation or acting like a pro, “but I’m a bit worried. Mostly for my colleagues though but Burt insists that I get extra protection as well.”

“Yeah, well,” Burt mumbled, clearly not impressed by being interrupted.

“It will also give me an opportunity to catch up with my old buddy Blaine here so I don’t mind. At least I’m hoping to get Blaine as my bodyguard.”

Kurt was about to object but his dad was faster than him. “Sure, that’s fine,” he looked through the files and handed Blaine two of them. “Here is all you need to know. One if about Jesse, his background and the threats. The other one is your cover story.”

He then proceeded to hand over the rest of the files and when Kurt finally got his papers, he saw his name written on one of the files and ‘Chandler Khiel’ on the other one. He really needed to listen to the popular music more often.

“You will have a few days to prepare so now listen to me,” Burt spoke and everyone closed their files. “Thank you. So, the guys are going to become bodyguards for their respective celebrities and the girls are going to be assisting them throughout the event.”

“Wow, that’s sexist,” Finn uttered.

“Yet, it’s more realistic. No offence, ladies, I know that you are just as good as the guys but this is the cover you are going to use,” Burt said in a voice that left no room for argument.

“Thanks god, at least we will get to wear nice clothes,” Sugar said excitedly.

“The Awards will take place in Los Angeles, the Staples Center. Your flight is on Friday and on Saturday morning you will arrive at the appointed place, whether it’s a hotel or someone’s house, and stay with this person until the day after. Your duties are explained in the file you were given so everything should be clear. Any questions?”

Mike raised his hand politely. “Yeah, are we the only ones from the C.A.T. working on this mission?”

“No, there are some local agents working there with lighting and sound, some are going to be in the catering during the after parties, several will be in the crowd pretending to be fans. Overall, there are a lot of agents looking out for anything suspicious. Though you are the only ones who are going to be this close to the possible targets,” when Burt finished everyone was silent and he looked up expectantly. “No more questions? Alright, read the files and if you have any question then, let me know.”

They all stood up chatting among themselves and Kurt wanted to ask Blaine to talk to him but Jesse beat him to it.

“Hey, Blaine, would you like to go through the files together? I feel like I need to know who you are going to pretend to be and all,” he spoke as they were about to exit the room.

“Sure,” Blaine said and they left.

Kurt sighed and watched them go, not noticing the look his dad was giving him. He felt Jeff pulling him and left the room. As he followed the blonde to wherever he was going to, the young man glanced at the name on the file again, not aware that soon this well-known man would cause more trouble than the singer who had just walked out with his boyfriend.