Blaine sat on a cinderblock at one edge of his rooftop pasture, stroking a hand over the wiry fur and knobby head of his goat. He was staring, fascinated, into the goat's rectangular pupils when he heard heels clicking against the pavement behind him.

“How long have you been home?” Tina asked as she crouched down beside him.

“Not long,” Blaine said, shuffling to one side to make room for Tina on the cinder block. “Maybe half an hour. I just wanted to see how this little lady was doing.” Blaine tugged gently on the goat's silken ear.

“I thought you were going to text me when you were on your way,” Tina said softly, reaching out a hand to pet the goat.

“Oh Tina, you're right,” Blaine said, clapping a hand to his forehead. “I'm sorry. I forgot. It was a pretty crazy day.”

“It's okay,” she said, leaning her head against his shoulder. “I'm sorry, too.”

“You don't have to apologize,” Blaine said. “I don't mind that you wanted to know when I would be home.”

“That's not – ”

“I think we should name her Nova,” Blaine said dreamily. “She represents a new beginning in our lives – a new, bright light. And it's even more appropriate, since she's out here under the stars every night. What do you think?”

“Blaine,” Tina said slowly, “I need to tell you something,”

“I have some news for you, too,” Blaine said. “Really good news.” He turned to look at her with a smile. Her gaze was fixed on the ground. Blaine reached out and stroked Tina's cheek before gently tucking her hair behind her ear. “I can finally give you something you've wanted for so long. We're moving to Mars.”

Blaine turned more fully toward her, resisting the urge to bounce up and down in anticipation as he watched for the delight to bloom in her face. But when Tina finally meets his eyes, her face is lined with worry. “Blaine, we can't. I can't – ”

Blaine grabbed both of her hands in his and jumped in with a rush of frantic words. “Of course we can. I know it's hard since we just got Nova, but I got a bonus at work. For retiring so many andys in one day. We can make all the payments. And I have a friend who can take care of her.” Blaine stood up, tugging at Tina's hands until she followed him to her feet. “I'm quitting my job. We'll move to Mars like you've always wanted. You'll be able to work again. Plenty of pregnant women on Mars and they'll need a midwife. It will be an amazing new beginning for us!” Blaine pulled her into a tight hug, lifting her a few inches off the ground and spinning her around happily. Finally, Blaine set Tina back on her feet and pulled back a few inches, peering into her face with a big smile.

A small smile tugged at the corners of Tina's lips. “Wow, Blaine. It's been so long since you've done that,” she said, her tone edging into wistfulness.

Blaine grabbed Tina's shoulders and said excitedly, “And we each get to have an android companion designed to our specifications.”

Tina's face fell. “I can't think of two people on Earth who should be less interested in androids as companions than us.”

Blaine froze for a moment, turned away to cough briefly, and schooled his face into a more sober expression. “Right. Well, they'll make us take androids anyway.” He clasped and unclasped his hands. “Might as well get ones we like.”

Tina reached for his hand. “Blaine – ”

“This is a dream come true for us, Tina.”

She tried again in a louder voice. “Blaine – ”

“I bet you can't wait to tell your parents.”

“Let me talk, Blaine!” Tina shouted.  Blaine's mouth snapped shut and he took a small step back. “Sorry,” she said immediately in a softer, sadder voice. “Blaine, honey. I really need to tell you something. Can we go inside?”

Blaine nodded silently and followed her to the elevator.

Fifteen minutes later, Blaine sat across from Tina at their kitchen table, an untouched cup of coffee cooling in front of him. Tina continued to talk and and gesture almost wildly, but Blaine was having a hard time focusing on her words. His gaze kept drifting over her shoulder to a stair step crack connecting the top corner of the kitchen door with the ceiling. Blaine wondered if it had just appeared in the past two days or if he had just not noticed it until now. “I'm so sorry, Blaine. But I think this is for the best,” Tina said, sitting back in her chair and watching his face expectantly.

“Wait – so you – you just…” Blaine's words trailed off and he forced his gaze off of the crack and back to Tina's face. “When did this happen?”

“Just this week,” Tina said, deep red blooming on her cheeks. “He works for the animal hospital.” At Blaine's puzzled look she clarified, “The false animal repair shop. The one you had me call the day Groucho malfunctioned.”

“The day before yesterday,” Blaine said softly. “The day I started looking for the Nexus-6 andys.” It felt like two lifetimes had passed since he was given the assignment.

“The repair didn't take long, so I asked him if he wanted to come in for a cup of coffee,” Tina said, eyes sparkling with the memory. “We talked for hours. We even danced a little. He's an incredible dancer.”

“I really don't want to hear this,” Blaine said, his eyes darting back toward the crack on the wall.

“Sorry,” Tina gasped, clasping a hand over her mouth. She lowered the hand slowly and said guiltily, “You're right. Of course you don't want to hear the details. And I'm so sorry to do this to you, Blaine.” She reached across the table and laid her hand on top of his, but he pulled out of her gentle grip and put both hands in his lap. Sighing, Tina leaned back in her seat and ran a hand through her hair. “You have to admit that we're not good together. Not as husband and wife. Can you even remember the time either one of us was happy – truly happy – without artificial brain stimulation?”

“I don't know,” Blaine said dejectedly. “I guess not.”

“We've always been better at being friends than we were at being a couple,” Tina said with a sad smile. “I think that's why I wanted gush over all the details with you.” Blaine's eyes flew open in alarm but she quickly continued, “I won't, though. I promise. I know that's not fair to you. But I can't go with you to Mars.”

After a long silence, Blaine asked, “What are you going to do?”

“Move in with him,” she said. “I can leave tomorrow, if you want. Maybe we'll end up going to Mars, too. Mike seemed open to the idea.”

“No,” Blaine said. “No, you don't need to leave. I'll be heading to Mars by the end of the week. He can – um – he can move in with you here. This is a nice apartment. A good part of town. Good neighbors. And you don't have to move Groucho that way. Or Nova.”

“You're still going to Mars without me?” Tina said, brow furrowed. “I didn't think you were interested in – ”

“There's not much left for me here, is there?” Blaine said sharply. 

“Okay,” Tina said slowly. “I suppose I deserved that. But you don't have to leave me the goat. She's yours. You picked her out and you named her. You paid for her. In fact, maybe you should sell her and make some money for your new start.”

“I don't want to sell her,” Blaine said dejectedly, tapping his fingers against the tabletop. “I want to know she has someone to take care of her.”

“Well, Mike and I are probably heading for Mars soon, too. We couldn't take Nova or Groucho with us. Maybe Finn Hudson would want her,” Tina said thoughtfully. “He takes really good care of his horse. And he's right here in the building.”

Blaine's fingers froze in mid-tap. “Right here in the building,” he repeated. “That is a good idea.”

“So, you're going to sell her to Finn?” Tina asked.

“I've got to go,” Blaine said, pushing the chair back from the table and rising to his feet.

“What? Where?”

“I just need to – process everything,” said Blaine, walking toward the door.

Tina jumped up and stood in his path. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” he said. “I mean, I will be. We both will.” He put his arms around her and pulled her toward him in a gentle hug. “You're right about us being better as friends.”

Tina squeezed him tightly, pressing her face against his shoulder and mumbling into it. “ – at me?”

“What?” Blaine asked, pushing her back gently.

Tina looked down at the floor. “So you're not too angry with me?”

“No,” Blaine said with a sigh. “How can I be? You smile whenever you think about him.” Tina looked up at Blaine, her eyes wet with tears, a wistful smile on her lips. Blaine added, “It's good to see. I want you to be happy.”

They hugged again and Blaine stroked her hair. “I'm going to go now,” he said gently and stepped away. “There's something I need to do.”

Blaine stooped down to grab his briefcase and stepped out the door. Feeling suddenly light, he bounded toward the stairwell and jogged down three flights of stairs, then up the hallway. He halted in front of apartment 15F and rapped his knuckles in a practiced rhythm on the door. “It's Blaine, open up.”

The door swung slowly inward. An overly large cat stood in the doorway protectively. Blaine side-stepped past it, smiling broadly at the woman closing the door behind him. “Brittany,” he said brightly, “how would you like to own a goat?”

“A real one?” she asked breathlessly.

“Yes,” said Blaine, grinning.

“Wait.” Brittany frowned in concentration. “You don't mean one of those adopt a goat things where you just get to see a picture of the goat, do you?”

Blaine shook his head slowly. “No, I mean a real, black Nubian goat. She's on the roof pasture right now.”

“Sweet,” Brittany said. “Of course I do, Blaine. That would be awesome.”

“Okay, hold up a minute,” Santana said, walking briskly into the living room. “How are we going to be able to afford payments on a goat? I can't even leave the house, let alone get a job.”

“Actually,” Blaine said, “the goat is completely paid off. I was able to get a nice bonus from my boss when I quit today, thanks to some very useful information from Kurt. You two can have my fake sheep, too. I can have the papers drawn up by the end of the week.”

“A goat and a sheep,” Brittany practically squealed, bouncing a bit on her toes and clapping her fingers together joyfully. “We'll be rich.”

“What's the catch, Mr. Assassin?” Santana said snidely. “Are you going to give us phony papers so you can call it in as a theft right before you get on that rocket? Send one of your cronies to kill me, like you killed my friends?”

“Actually, I got you something so you won't have to worry about that anymore,” Blaine said, reaching into his briefcase and pulling out a small plastic booklet. “It's your paperwork. I created an official, human identify for you at the station and got my boss to sign off on it. It has you classified as a special already – for diminished reproductive and mental faculties.” Santana opened her mouth to protest, but Blaine continued before she could speak. “It's better this way. If you're already classed as a special they won't test you at the roadblocks, they'll just send you on your way. That means less chance of discovery for you.” He hands the booklet to Santana, and she thumbs through it. “I have one for Carson, too. Where is he?”

“The idiot took off somewhere. Couldn't handle being a third wheel, I guess,” Santana said with a shrug.

“I guess we could have tried not to be so loud,” said Brittany.

“I like it when you're loud,” Santana said with a wink. “Especially when you – ” 

“I'll just hang onto this for when Carson gets back,” Blaine cut in brusquely. He cleared his throat and shifted awkwardly from foot to foot as Santana sauntered over to Brittany and snaked an arm around her waist. “So, you're free to stay here if you like. Or find another vacant apartment in the building.”

“This one is pretty good,” said Brittany. “But some of the furniture is already starting to kipple-ize.”

“Kipple-ize?”

“Decay,” offered Santana.

“Everything turns into kipple when there's no one here to take care of it,” Brittany explained. “But it's okay. Santana will go with me to the other empty apartments to find better stuff.”

“We can just wait a few days and move into his apartment when he leaves,” Santana said to Brittany. “I'm sure he has great stuff.”

“My wife is staying in the apartment,” Blaine said. “At least for a little while. You can move in or bring some of our stuff here after she and her – um –  boyfriend move to Mars, but I don't know when that will be.”

“Congratulations, Blaine!” Brittany exclaimed with a broad smile.

He stared at her dumbly for a few minutes, unsure what to make of her reaction. “W-what?”

“Congratulations,” Brittany repeated, grabbing and shaking his hand enthusiastically. “Now you don't have to worry any more about your wife being lonely while you're with Kurt.”

“I don't know what you mean,” Blaine said slowly, the blood draining from his face and leaving him light-headed.

“Oh please,” Santana scoffed. “We all know why you're going to Mars. It's the same reason you agreed to let me and Carson live. You have the hots for Kurt Hummel. Or maybe even had sex with him already, and you'd do anything for more.”

“I – ” Blaine stumbled backwards, reaching behind himself with one hand for the edge of the couch. When he reached it, he crumpled into a sitting position.

“We're not going to turn you in for crimes against morality,” Santana said. “And it's actually easier to engage in that kind of thing once you're on Mars. Society is a lot more permissive there. Not that I wouldn't get some satisfaction from getting you locked up before you ever get on that shuttle. Even if it won't bring back any of my friends that you killed.”

“I was just doing my job,” Blaine said wearily, cradling his head in his hands. “And I quit. All I want now is to go to Mars and start a new life.”

“You know he's just using you, don't you?” Santana said, a hint of a cruel smile on her lips. “Kurt is one hundred percent loyal to the Sylvester-Hummel Association. This whole ‘love and trust' schtick,” she gestured dismissively, “is just a ploy to get you out of the picture so you can't keep destroying the company's products. He's done it a dozen times before.”

“No, you're wrong,” Blaine said, carefully keeping his voice firm and steady. “I believe him.”

Santana perched, catlike, on the couch next to him and placed a hand lightly on his knee. The soothing gesture was in stark contrast to the contempt in her voice. “The world would be a much easier place for androids if more humans – especially bounty hunters – had such faith in us. Which is exactly why Kurt used you the way he did. He's a cold, heartless android, just like me.”

“But Santana, you're not like that,” Brittany said. “You're nice to me. Nicer than a lot of humans are.”

“It's different with you,” Santana said, her voice sweet and sincere. “We have a connection.”

Blaine pushed Santana's hand off his knee and crossed his arms protectively, pressing himself toward the corner of the couch to gain a few inches of distance between them. “A connection.” Blaine scoffed. “Perhaps. Certainly this arrangement is beneficial to you. And I know androids are nothing if not self-interested.”

“Don't listen to him,” Santana warned.

“It's okay,” Brittany said. “I know you're using me a little. But we both get something out of it.”

“Exactly,” said Blaine. “And that's how I know Kurt is coming back for me. It's a mutually beneficial arrangement.”

“Even if he does come back for you, how will you know it's really Kurt? The Association can whip up an exact replica in a matter of days. For all you know, they had one already waiting in the wings.” She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment and then laughed. “Although I guess you wouldn't care. We're all interchangeable to you humans. You won't even notice if it's not actually him. Not until the day the imposter gets rid of you by arranging a tragic accident.” She makes the quotations gesture in the air.

“You're wrong,” Blaine said with conviction, “about everything. No one could replicate Kurt. I would be able to tell in a second.” He settled in to wait, hoping he was right.