Chapter 23 – Part 1

“Blaine? Blaine!” Kurt shouted but nobody responded.

He heard another crash. Blaine’s phone was shattered. Kurt couldn’t say another word. He was shocked. He couldn’t even cry.

Finn was quickly by his side. “Kurt, relax. Deep breaths, okay? I heard what happened I will call Tom. Just try to calm down.”

Kurt nodded absentmindedly. It couldn’t be happening, he told himself. All his fears were coming true at that very moment. He didn’t even notice that his phone was still by his ear, pressed so hard that it hurt but he didn’t care.

“Kurt?” Finn shook his shoulder. Kurt looked up at him. “Did you hear what I said?”

Kurt shook his head a little. Finn sighed.

“I talked to Tom but I assume you didn’t hear that either,” Finn said. “He will call soon. We need to make sure Burt or mom answers. He will say he is professor Koester from the university. Apparently you messed up a project or whatever and if you don’t come back immediately you will have to repeat the year. I know it doesn’t make sense, because it’s only the first semester but our parents don’t know how things work in the universities in England. I will tell them that things like that are normal. Then we will go to the airport. We will take one of the C.A.T. planes because they are faster and we can leave immediately. We are doing this because Tom thinks it’s better for you to be in the base now. Otherwise you can give yourself away to our parents. Maybe he has some other plans as well. I don’t really know why exactly he wants us back. I mean, if it’s about saving Blaine, he would ask for me only or send people who are in the base right now rather than waiting for me to come back. Anyway, I don’t care about the reason. So, now I want you to go downstairs with me and be all cheerful. It’s Christmas, so don’t forget how you are supposed to act. Then, one of our parents will tell you about the university thing. You will freak out. You will be nervous; it won’t be difficult given the situation. I will tell them that I don’t want you to fly alone so we will leave together, okay? I will ask them not to go to the airport with us. Does the plan sound good? Kurt?”

Kurt nodded silently. Finn wasn’t sure if he had heard everything.

<~*~>

“Who are you working for?” someone asked.

It was too dark in the small room to see anything; it had no windows and the light was off. Blaine was sitting in the middle of the room on the ground, his hands and legs were tied up with a thin but strong rope.

“I told you, I work for your boss just like you. I’m one of his bodyguards. What the fuck is going on here?” Blaine asked, his voice angry.

“You must be very well trained,” another voice said. “We will see about that.”

<~*~>

You can do it, Kurt, for Blaine, Kurt thought while going downstairs with Finn. He had no idea if he could convince his parents that he is perfectly okay and ready to celebrate Christmas. However, he didn’t need to do that for long time because he heard his father’s voice:

“Yes… I understand… But it‘s Christmas… Sounds important, I know… Okay, I will let him know… Yes, he will come back as soon as he can…”

“Hey, Merry Christmas!” Finn shouted cheerfully and went to hug Carole.

They all exchanged hugs as they would normally do. Kurt couldn’t wait for Burt to say something about the phone call. Once they exchanged the gifts and went to eat breakfast he couldn’t help but ask.

“What was that phone call about? It’s an early morning and it’s Christmas…”

Burt frowned. “Apparently, British don’t care about it.”

“What do you mean, dad?” Kurt asked feeling nervous.

He heard Burt saying that he, Kurt, would come back as soon as possible but his dad could pretend that tomorrow or a few days after tomorrow was ‘as soon as possible’. They needed to leave right about… now.

<~*~>

“Okay, I will ask you again,” one of the men said. Blaine felt dizzy; his head had been hit too many times. “Who are you working for?”

Blaine spat some blood on the floor. “I told you, I have no idea what you are talking about. I’m working for your boss!”

“I don’t think the normal beating is going to work on this one,” he heard his boss’ voice. “Take him to the basement, gag him. Take his clothes off and leave him there for… a few hours. Oh, and some freezing water would probably do wonders. Just check on him every now and then to see if he is still alive.”

Blaine felt himself being dragged by strong arms.

<~*~>

“Do you know professor Grimsted?” Burt asked.

Kurt looked at him confused. Finn held his breath. “No. Why?”

“Nothing. How about professor Koester?”

Finn seemed to relax a little bit. Kurt knew that his brother thought he would fall into Burt’s trap.

Kurt nodded playing with his food. “Yes, he was responsible for my project of the semester. What about him?”

“He called this morning. Apparently, there was something wrong with it. Well, they can’t find it.”

Kurt’s fork fell on the plate. “What do you mean they can’t find it? It’s a set of ten different outfits! I worked so hard!”

“Kurt, relax. He knows that but apparently he wants you to come back as soon as you can to deal with this problem,” Burt said thoughtfully.

“What do you mean?” Carole interrupted. “He can’t just want him to leave now; it’s Christmas after all!”

Finn cleared his throat. “That’s the thing with universities in England – they can. If Kurt doesn’t come back to take care of it, he may need to repeat the year. It’s stupid, I know, but it’s how it works. And if they lost what Kurt had created, he may need to redo it.”

“What?” Kurt raised his voice, out of shock.

“It’s how things work. I think Kurt should go,” Finn said with finality.

Burt nodded. “Finn is right. Your education is the most important now. It hurts me to say, but after the breakfast you will need to go look for a plane ticket to England.”

<~*~>

Blaine was dragged to another room, now in the basement. It was light but he preferred the other one because at least it was warm in there. This one was cold and damp, it had two small window type holes but they had no glass. He was in the basement. In the room with two holes instead of windows. In the end of December.

The person who dragged him there pushed him hard and he fell on his right side. Soon the same person took a knife and started ripping his clothes off. Once he was left in his boxers only, he felt something being pushed into his mouth. His own sock. The person laughed as Blaine started to choke and placed some tape over his mouth.

“Have a Merry Christmas, rat,” he laughed and left.

Blaine started to shiver. It was cold, even the ground had frost on it. He tried to imagine Kurt’s arms wrapped around him under a blanket. Kurt. He must be worried. God, he must be freaking out, Blaine thought. If only he could comfort him in any way. But he couldn’t. He was tied up miles away.

He didn’t hear someone coming in. He just felt some icy water being poured over him.

<~*~>

After breakfast Kurt went upstairs to look for a flight. At least that’s what he told everyone. He knew he would be leaving that day so he started packing instead. Finn, however, stayed to help Carole to clean up. He had to convince her that–

„I know you were planning to fly back to England in three days. And you know how much I miss you and want to spend as much time as I can with you. And I have no idea why Kurt is so worried about that project thing but I know that he needs his brother. I don‘t want him to fly alone,” Carole said looking at her son, a hope clear in her face.

Finn nodded quickly. “Of course, mom. I actually wanted to ask you if I can go with him. I don’t want to leave just yet but Kurt seems to be so lost about the whole situation… ”

<~*~>

Jeff: My room. Now.

Jeff sent the message to a few people who were staying in the base for Christmas. He was thankful that there were a few of them. He needed to talk to someone. He needed to plan something. He couldn’t just sit and wait like Tom had told him.

“Finally!” he snapped when he opened the doors to find Mike, Tina, Santana, Noah, and Sugar.

They were laughing. He couldn’t believe that they were laughing. He couldn’t understand how anyone could be happy at that moment.

“Merry Christmas to you too,” Sugar laughed as they all went in and sat down.

“Throwing a party?” Mike grinned.

Something is wrong. Very wrong, Tina thought looking at a very pale Jeff.

Noah looked at the boy with concern. “Jeff?”

Jeff inhaled deeply and opened his mouth but nothing came out.

“Jeff, you are scaring me,” Santana frowned. “Tell us what’s going on.”

“Blaine got caught,” he whispered and sank into the chair.

<~*~>

“Everything packed, boys?” Carole asked when they were putting the coats on. “Do you have your passports?”

Finn nodded. “We have everything, don’t worry,” he said and hugged his mom. “I already miss you.”

“Do you really not want us to give you a ride?” Burt asked hugging Kurt.

“It’s okay dad. I already ruined this Christmas enough. Just stay home and relax,” he managed a smile.

“Have a nice flight then. I will miss you both. Write, text, call, skype, okay?” Carole demanded.

Kurt kissed her cheek. “Of course.”

Burt opened the doors. “Go on, you don’t want to miss your flight.”

“Bye! We will call you once we land,” Finn promised as they loaded their suitcases into the car.

Once they drove away, Carole sighed. “I hope they will be okay.”

Burt put his arm on the shoulder and led her inside. “They will be fine. Tom will take care of them.”

<~*~>

Once the car was out of his parents’ sight he started to sob. Finally he was allowed to let it all out. He didn’t care about Finn in the car. He didn’t care how weak he looked like. All he could think of was Blaine. What was he doing right now? Was he hurt? Was he still alive?

“Kurt, I know what you are thinking,” Finn said gently when Kurt’s sobs became a bit quieter. “Blaine is alive. They never kill before…”

Finn didn’t finish but Kurt didn’t need him to. He knew that Blaine wouldn’t be killed until those people got the information they wanted. Blaine was trained really well, he was a fighter; he wouldn’t tell anything. Which meant that he would be–

Kurt started sobbing again.

He just wanted to be with the boy he loved.

<~*~>

He just wanted to be with the boy he loved.

He wanted to inhale Kurt’s smell. He wanted to kiss his soft cheek. He wanted to see him smile. He wanted to wrap his arms around the boy’s waist. He wanted to see that sparkle in his eyes. He wanted to whisper ‘I love you’ to him.

<~*~>

“What’s the plan?” Sugar asked standing up.

Jeff shook his head and she sat down confused. And it suddenly hit her – if there was a plan Tom would have contacted them. Because obviously, the ‘purples’ should be involved.

“Jeff, pull yourself together and talk!” Noah insisted.

“Tom said we would need to sit and wait. He doesn’t want anyone to do anything. There are more agents in that place so apparently they are supposed to help him or whatever. But I think he just wants to give them time to get some more evidence about their illegal actions.”

Santana looked furious. “Are you saying that he is going to leave Blaine to be tortured and killed just for some evidence? We have to do something!”

“Santana, calm down. It won’t help us if we freak out,” Mike said.

“You look pretty calm yourself. Do you even care about Blaine?” she snapped at him.

“Of course I do. But we need to stay calm. Only then we will be able to figure something out,” he answered.

Jeff nodded. “Finn and Kurt are coming back soon. Mike, Tina, you are the best strategists so you stay here and, I don’t know, think of something smart. Sugar, contact Lauren. She can get anything. You know, any stuff that we may need. Noah, go and try to get as many guns as you can. Santana, I will need you to distract Tom. I will try to break into his personal computer in his office. I have a feeling that we will need to act on our own so we need to be ready by the time Kurt and Finn come back.”

“It will take forever,” Santana protested.

“It won’t. They are taking one of the C.A.T. planes, right?” Noah asked and Jeff nodded. “It won’t take long. And we need time to prepare. If we need to do this on our own.”

“Okay, let’s not waste more time,” Jeff said and opened a drawer. “Here are the keys of my apartment. Everyone take one. Bring all the stuff here. In two hours I expect to meet all of you here, understood?”

Everyone nodded.

“Just be careful. If anyone suspects what we are planning to do–”

“We will be careful,” Noah promised leaving the apartment. “In no time our friend will be with us again.”

<~*~>

ACCESS DENIED

“Shit,” Jeff cursed silently.

He was in Tom’s office, trying his best to get into the system. He knew that there will be no information he needed in the main system that he had an access to.

ACCESS DENIED

He had been working on it for the past half an hour with no luck. He wasn’t really surprised. Tom had to be careful knowing that one day Jeff may need some secret information.

ACCESS DENIED

If only he could break that code…

ACCESS DENIED

<~*~>

“Kurt, wake up,” Finn shook his shoulder.

He slowly opened his eyes. He didn’t know where he was. It was all a blur.

“Finn?”

“Hey, we are landing,” he said.

Kurt looked around. Now he remembered, he was on a plane. He knew it had to be a long flight but he only remembered the plane taking off.

“You drugged me!” he suddenly realised.

Finn looked at him apologetically. “You needed to rest. We have no idea what is waiting for us when we get to the base.”

Kurt just nodded as suddenly the worry and fear came back to him.

<~*~>

Finn: We will be in the base in 15mins. Tom is meeting us in the main hall.

Jeff received the text and showed everyone. After everyone came back they hadn’t said a word. They didn’t even ask Mike and Tina what they had planned. It was stupid; Jeff didn’t manage to get any information. So now any plan was useless. They had guns that Noah somehow brought; Lauren gathered everything Sugar asked for. But what was the point now?

“Let’s go,” Mike stood up. “We have to be there when they come back.”

They all silently got up and left.

<~*~>

Blaine didn’t even have energy to shiver anymore. He had no idea how long he had been like that. Minutes? Hours? Days? No, the boss said something about a few hours. It was already dark outside. It must be still light in Lima, he thought.

The doors opened. Every now and then it happened when someone came to check if he was still alive and kick him. Blaine closed his eyes but a kick never came. Instead of that the person poured a bucket of boiling water on him. He thought it was boiling. And it felt like it. But probably even lukewarm water would be burning his freezing skin.

<~*~>

“What are you doing here?” Tom asked when he saw them coming.

They stopped close enough for them to hear each other. “Finn and Kurt are coming. We wanted to say hi to them,” Sugar explained.

“Sure,” Tom said but they knew they didn’t fool him – Tom had to know that they wanted to corner him and demand to help Blaine. Anyway, they didn’t really try to hide it.

After a minute Finn and Kurt came in without their luggage which was left in the car.

“Tom,” Finn nodded his greeting. “What’s the plan?”

“No plan,” Tom said. “I wanted you here so I can know that you won’t do anything stupid.”

“Like what? Like saving Blaine’s life?” Kurt snapped. Finn took his hand and squeezed it.

“We wouldn’t be able to do much. We have no idea where he is. Now, if you tell us–”

“I won’t,” Tom deadpanned.

Finn tried to stay calm outside even though inside he was burning with fury. “Tom–” he began but Jeff cut in.

“Dad, please!” he whispered, his eyes watery.

Everyone looked at him with disbelief, forgetting what was happening for a moment. Nobody knew that Tom was Jeff’s father. They knew he was an agent but they had no idea that it was the head of the C.A.T.

“No, nobody is leaving the base. It’s my final decision.”

“But, dad, Blaine is my friend. Our friend. He is the best agent and–”

“That’s why he is capable of taking care of himself. Now, go to your rooms or whatever. I will let you know if I get any news about him,” he said and left them alone.

Nobody said anything. Kurt met Jeff’s eyes and they both started crying. After a second they were both in each other’s arms.

<~*~>

Tom came back to his office. He noticed that something was different. That folder had been half a centimetre to the right from where it was now.

Jeff, he thought. He knew his son. The boy would do anything for his friends.

He dialled a number and called someone. In minute there was a silent knock on his doors.

“Come in,” he said and Sarah came in.

“You wanted to see me?” she asked.

Tom laughed. “Well, I did call you.”

Sarah nodded. “And what did you want?” she asked sternly.

“You look tense,” Tom commented on her behaviour.

“Tired,” Sarah said simply.

“Sit down,” Tom suggested but Sarah didn’t move. “Okay, it won’t take long anyway. I want you to keep an eye on Jeff, the ‘whites’ and their supervisors. Oh, and Noah as well. I have a reason to think they may want to go save Blaine.”

Sarah frowned. “First of all, they have no idea where he is. Secondly, why is that a bad idea anyway?”

“It is,” Tom said and stood up. “I need to go now. Just take care of those kids.”

Sarah nodded and opened the doors to leave. “I will,” she whispered.

<~*~>

Tina couldn’t take it anymore. She took Mike’s hand and started to go somewhere. Mike was confused but didn’t argue.

“Guys? Let’s go,” he said and followed Tina’s quick pace.

Everyone followed. Kurt and Jeff were still crying; Mike, Noah, and Finn were much better at hiding their feelings; Santana and Sugar secretly wiped their tears from time to time. Tina looked determined.

They reached Jeff’s apartment and Tina unlocked the doors. Once they all came in and the doors were shut she turned around to face them.

“I know where Blaine is,” she said.