The binding had to be tight. That was the only way Kurt could be sure everything was kept in. Every day seemed harder when it came to binding. It seemed like he needed to pull tighter and use more of the fleshy colored elastic fabric to hide his deformities. Just last month he had custom made a corset for himself. It hurt, of course. Those things on his back would feel numb once he was done wrapping them away, and he spent most of his day trying to ignore the tingle along his back and legs as the blood had to force its way through the constricted parts of his body.

Really though, Kurt just wished they would die and fall off of him. The deformities had started out small, like little pimples on his back, but now they were the same size and weight of the rest of body, and still growing. He had been told by the health nurse at school that puberty was a difficult time for all young men as their bodies changed, so he felt especially irritated that he had this other thing to deal with on top of it.

"Need some help there kiddo?" Burt asked, peering in from the doorway with the same eyes that Kurt had. The eyes were always a dead giveaway to how he felt, and Kurt had had to work hard to develop his acting skills in order to overcome how they always seemed to reflect his emotions and the truth of his words. He couldnt be caught after all, not with those things on his back. His dad was the only other person that knew the truth about Kurt, and had sacrificed a budding romantic relationship with the mother of another student at Kurts school when it was clear that if things escalated between them, Burt and Kurt would have to tell both the woman and her son the truth about Kurt.

It couldnt be risked.

Kurt nodded his dads way and turned his back towards him. It was habit at this point in the morning, when Burt was finished his breakfast and wanted to make sure Kurt got off to school before the bell went. Kurt wasnt even sure why his dad always asked if he wanted the help with binding since it was becoming more difficult to tie them back tight enough with only Kurts own hands.

They worked in silence as Kurt held his breath in while Burt made the knots on his back before moving to Kurts legs to each bind up the ends of his deformities along each leg. It made his movements stiffer, but it kept things hidden. While Burt worked on binding to Kurts legs, Kurt grabbed the hard nail file off the desk and began rubbing away the small amount of nail that Kurt had grown since the last night. He couldnt let them get too long or people would see the deformities in his finger nails as well. He did his toenails at night.

"Homeschool Kurt... its going to be the only way soon..." Burt finally said softly as he stood back up to full height, pulling his cap off and rubbing the back of his arm over his forehead to brush off nonexistent sweat. It was an anxious gesture, the same one Kurt had witnessed when the damned things started growing on him, and one that Burt always made whenever it seemed he really had to think about the way they were affecting his son.

"Homeschooling is the most suspicious thing I can do dad. Every time you hear a news story about a kid getting picked up, its noted that they were being homeschooled to hide their defect. I cant risk it..."

"But youre not going to be able to tie these things back anymore soon Kurt..."

"I can pull them up front... make a bag. Itll look like Ive got a gut... an eating issue or something. Ill make it over the next summer break so it wont be suspicious. Ill have to take out all my clothing..." Kurt hummed thoughtfully as he looked towards his well used sewing machine, "... Or just start making all my own clothing from scratch. That might be the way to do it actually. Then I can make the clothes with hiding the problem in mind..."

"Honestly kid... hiding one problem with another?"

Kurt shook his head as he looked back towards his dad, seeing the worry as clear as day, "Hiding a problem that would get me arrested with one that will just make me less socially acceptable. Its a matter of degree dad."

"Maybe we should see about getting you to Canada... or -"

Kurt cut him off before anything more could be suggested. "Or nothing. I dont want to be away from you dad. Plus, you read the news just as much as I do. You know it doesnt matter anymore. There is no safe havens left for people like me... the United Nations is going to pass that act and thatll be it. Theres no reason they wouldnt. Hell, if I hadnt started growing these things, people like you and I would have agreed with the act."

"Youre not going to burn down buildings, or steal money out of vaults, or threaten to expose secrets though Kurt... youre not the same as the rest of them... Youre not a level five..."

"No. But Im definitely not a level one either, and no one is quite clear on the differences between two, three, and four. Im just as likely to end up under house arrest as I am to end up being sent off to that island of freaks."

That ended the conversation. Neither of them wanted to talk about the details any more. They had exhausted that particular line of conversation over and over, and had come up with nothing new. Nothing that would stop the inevitable anyhow. Kurt was ultimately just buying time. He knew it couldnt be hidden forever, but he would keep them out of peoples eyes for as long as he could. Whatever came after that he had accepted - death, imprisonment, being banished to the island, or any other consequence for the thing he couldnt control.

"Better get off to school son." Burt said finally, forcing out the choked on words with the underlying message being: I love you.

Kurt nodded, pulling on a loose, but stiff, shirt that would keep its form and not show that he was hiding anything underneath his clothing. The same happened with his jeans - loose and belted at the waist. He longed to wear clothes that would showcase the small amount of muscle he had, but it was definitely not an option since it would showcase so much more than that.

His dad received a quick peck on the cheek as Kurt grabbed his bag and left, calling back, "Ill see you at supper. My turn to cook remember!" I love you too.

School was a predictable cycle of note-taking, avoiding bullies in red letterman jackets, and feigning interest in whatever the small circle of pseudo-friends he had were talking about at lunch and on breaks.

They werent bad people. It was just the only reason Kurt associated with them in the first place was because they were losers like himself. Mercedes was a busty, black woman who stuck out in an otherwise very white community whose only interaction with black culture was the stereotypes doled out in the media. Mike and Tina were both asian and faced similar institutionalized racism in the community, despite the fact that Tina had been adopted by a white, Jewish family and Mike was on the football team. Rachel was just... hard to handle. She had big dreams and an even bigger personality that weirded out a lot of "normal" people. Then there was Artie, cursed to sit in a chair for the rest of his life after living through an automobile accident in his youth.

All of them were high achievers in school, and all of them had been tossed in dumpsters, had their heads pushed into toilets, and been teased by the popular kids at school. It was for those reasons that they banded together. Not similar interests or a kin-like connection, but because it was better to have someone to sit with at lunch than sit by yourself. Kurt doubted he would make much of an effort to keep in contact with any of them once he was done high school.

If he finished high school that was.

There were others that he got along with beside the main group of losers, rather, people he had silent mutual respect with. Finn, his almost step-brother, Brittany, who was too oblivious to care about social status, and Sam, who followed his heart and did what was right in the face of opposition. These were people who had made a point to interfere in the bullying Kurt and the group faced. They had good hearts, but fit in with the athletic, white, crowd and therefore had some social standing.

"So..." Mike began that day at lunch, jabbing his fork outward as he spoke towards those around him. "... Nightbird was seen again last night. Broke up some kind of fight at a bar in the parking lot of west Lima."

"Urban legend." Mercedes huffed dismissively with a shake of her head before shovelling the special of the day into her mouth. Probably something potato based, Kurt thought to himself. Mercedes loved anything made of potatoes.

"What kind of name is Nightbird anyhow?" Artie chimed in, as Kurt was thinking about the shaky video footage hed seen posted online of the guy who wore black with blue striping and seemed to have a superhero fetish. "He doesnt even do anything remotely bird like."

"Thats true." Tina noted, finishing chewing her food and swallowing before she continued the train of thought. "No flying, no bird noises, no feathers, no talons... what is his power anyhow?"

"Dont call it a power..." Rachel hissed in a whisper towards Tina. "You know the government doesnt want people treating those... those... "things" like they have gifts."

Kurt swallowed deeply and looked down at the mash on his plate which resembled nothing that looked at all like any food he knew. He hated these kinds of conversations, the ones that were about him even if the others would never know it, yet he had to contribute or risk suspicion.

"Fine." Tina grunted, directing an eye roll towards Rachel. "Afflictions then. What is Nightbirds "affliction"?"

Mike shook his head, "All sorts of theories on the online meta-boards. Ow!"

Rachel had smacked Mike in the side with the mention of meta-boards. She was the last person who ever wanted to do anything to get in trouble, and so was the one who ensured every stayed in line, no matter how minor the situation. Online speculation boards were actually quite rampant, and most people their age belonged to them. Even Kurt trolled boards online to see if there was anyone afflicted with the same problems he had. So far, no luck.

"Like what?" Artie asked of Mike, shooting Rachel his best threatening glare to try and convince her that he needed to know this kind of information come hell or high water.

"Some people figure its telepathy because of how he knows whats going on... or at least some kind of foresight... others are convinced that maybe hes a speedster because of how quickly he moves... and this one guy has the idea that hes a shapechanger."

"How do people even try to figure out what his affliction is without there being any concrete evidence of his existence anyhow?" Rachel snarled around the leaves of her side salad.

"Its something to do..." Kurt offered with a slight shrug.

"Hes part of the new breed." Mike said with an insistent wave of his fork in the air. "The ones who wont comply with the regulations on meta-humans. Hes trying to show the world that metas arent just trouble, that they can help others with their afflictions."

"Ridiculous." Rachel retorted. "All it takes is a pretty girl or a stack of bills to make him turn and regular humans cant hope to defend against them. Youve seen the news. They can freeze people. They can draw the blood out of others. They can make the ground fall out from under you. They need to be regulated for our survival."

To say that the conversation made Kurts stomach turn was an understatement, and he did more looking at his food than eating it. These were the people he considered as the best option for friends, and yet they either didnt like the idea of his kind of people or had put them up on a vigilante pedestal. He just wanted to be a normal human. Thats all he wanted. He was sure it was what anyone with an affliction wanted.

"You okay Kurt?" Mercedes whispered over, looking down at his plate and then up at his face.

Kurt nodded, "Yeah... just... you know I dont like the cafeteria food..."

She snickered at that. It wasnt a lie, just him restating a problem hed had for awhile and turning it into an excuse for his paleness. The food truly was terrible. "I dont know how you keep the weight on since you barely eat and cant participate in gym class."

His father had forged a document from a doctor to get him out of gym class. That way he didnt have to worry about the issue of changing around anyone else in a locker room. The excuse? A rare allergy to sweat. It had raised the eyebrows of both the gym teacher and the principal, but they didnt have the time to call and confirm with a doctor, so it had been accepted and Kurt had been given a reprieve from something else that would have caused him endless stress.

"I eat a lot at home... where I know what Im cooking with and where the food came from." Kurt insisted, though the reality was that his deformities being bound against him made him look heavier than he actually was.

"Mmm hmmm..." Mercedes said, either disinterestedly or somehow knowingly - Kurt couldnt decide, and given that the end of lunch bell went off then, he didnt worry over it, taking his lunch tray and dumping the contents into the trash as he made his way to his locker where he found Finn waiting.

"You look tired." Kurt said by way of greeting Finn who had dark circles under his eyes and had been rubbing them with his fists as Kurt approached.

"Sorry... studying all night..."

"Dont apologize. I get it. Mr. Peters is killer with those chemistry tests right?"

Finn nodded and leaned his head against the locker, watching Kurt collect his things. "Hey Kurt...?"

"Mmm?"

"Ive been meaning to ask you..." Finn stood up a little straighter as Kurt looked towards him, closing the locker.

"Yeah?"

"Your dad and my mom… I mean… they were good together right? I wasnt just imagining things? I mean… I didnt like it at first cause I was used to being the man around the house… but your dad… he made my mom happy..."

Kurt sighed, looking back into the dark locker. They had been good for one another, and Carole had made Burt happy… truly happy. Burt had always told Kurt not to take it as his fault that he had broken it off, but telling Kurt that and forcing Kurt to feel that way were two very different things.

"They were… but I dont think my dad was ready yet."

"Really?"

"Yeah Finn… Really."

"But its been like…." Finn counted on his fingers for a moment and Kurt allowed him that time. "Eight years since your mom died?... sorry."

"It has…." Kurt said, voice dropping as he thought about how hed now lived without his mom as long as hed lived with her, yet it still seemed like yesterday that they were lowering her in the ground.

"... okay man. Fine. I get it. Our parents are a mystery. I just thought Id see cause… you know… she really missed him. Doesnt say it to me, but I can tell."

Kurt didnt, couldnt respond to that, and Finn left then, allowing Kurt to close up his locker with a heavy sigh and amble towards class where his thoughts were clouded with everything but the English he was supposed to be studying. How much more would he and his dad have to give up to hide the stupid things on him? What would happen to his dad when Kurt was ultimately discovered? What would happen to him….

"Shit man! Look outside!"

The cry from one of the students at the window drew everyones attention to the other wing of the school where flames were jumping out of one of the class windows and up along the wood panelled windows. On cue, a fire alarm rang out and the class quickly rushed out of the room in complete pandemonium while the teacher urged them to stay calm and orderly to no avail. Lazy thoughts were abandoned as Kurt tried to figure out which of the rooms was affected by the fire, confirming that it was a science classroom once he was outside and able to see despite the hoard of students packed together on the field.

Someone cried out, and though Kurt couldnt understand the words he felt drawn to the sound, pushing his way to the front of the student group who were being poorly contained by teachers a dozen meters away from the school edge. Here Kurt could understand the panicked cries. A teacher who had been in one of the classes beside the one on fire was adamant that a couple students were still in there. The boy in the wheelchair hadnt gotten out, nor had the quarterback.

Artie and Finn.

Without thinking at all, Kurt burst away from the perimeter of teachers around the student area and rushed towards the flames. Why wasnt anyone else doing anything? Surely they couldnt just be waiting for the firefighters to come and save the day? What if it was too late then?

Heat pooled off the blaze, which was spreading rapidly in the old, dilapidated building, and Kurt had to bring an arm up to his eyes to help block the smoke as he dove into the open door and into the hallway, ignoring the calls of the teachers and students he had left behind that didnt even care enough to try and hold him back. It only got hotter as he moved closer to the starting point of the fire, but that was where he could hear yelling. Artie and Finn both crying out that they were there and, please, please, come get them out.

It urged Kurt forward, rushing through short flames until he came to a doorway where the door had fallen off its hinges and blocked the way out. He couldnt see his friends through the orange waves and black smoke, but he knew he was close because he could hear them both coughing.

With whatever adrenaline he had in him, Kurt kicked the burning door away from the frame and followed the fading sounds of coughing into the classroom. Artie and Finn were beside a window which had several large cracks in it where it looked like they had tried to bang it open but were now both fading fast as coughs rattled through their bodies which were both slumped over upon themselves.

Behind him, the fire roared like a triumphant devil, and Kurt knew that it would be blocking the way out like the menacing beast it was. He climbed up on the countertop, right into the smoke and began to kick at the window again and again until it felt like he would topple over from the lack of air. Thats when the window broke with a sharp clatter, and he could faintly feel shards of glass scratching his ankles. He knelt back down, grabbing Finn by the shoulders first, who was limp now, and handing him out the window to a fireman who was trying to say something to Kurt that his brain couldnt process. Then he pulled a similarly droopy Artie out of his chair and handed him out the window as well.

The adrenaline that had been fuelling his effort seemed to be fading, because Kurt found himself closer and closer to falling flat on his face with the dark fog that had taken over his head. Something on the shelf beside him caught fire and made a large crackle which spooked him into jumping backwards, away from the window and the hope of escape. He had too little energy left, and no clarity left in him to figure out which way to move - even if that way was back onto his feet. He should have paid more attention in that fire awareness class back in elementary school.

There was another clatter of glass, and he could hear a single voice. Strong arms wrapped up under Kurts neck and his knees to pick him up like his father used to when he was a child. Kurt felt himself being lifted away and the air becoming cooler around him. He had been saved. Or he was dead and there was an afterlife of some sort after all.

The coolness of grass touched his back and he whined sharply, realizing that he was in fact alive and in pain. There was a numb feel around his left ankle, a burning over much of his torso, and an awful ache in his head. To say that everything hurt was putting things lightly, Kurt had to wonder how he was even conscious to experience the horror his body was going through.

"Hey… hey… you alright?"

He knew that sweet voice. He didnt remember from where or when, but given that he barely could figure out his own name in that moment, he didnt force the thought out. Cracking his eyes open, Kurt found that his vision was clouded and that some unknown pressure in his face limited them to opening in slits. It wasnt someone he knew though looking down at him though. Amber eyes encircled in a black mask greeted him instead, and Kurt thought he was dreaming until he took in the rest of the image of the man he had only ever seen in shaky video footage before. This was Nightbird. Limas vigilante metahuman had gotten him out of the fire... but then... the voice...

"Im..." Kurt began, but broke into a fit of coughs as the attempt to talk made his lungs flame up. He tried to bring a hand to his mouth to cover and limit the coughing, but like his leg, he found it numb and couldnt get his brain to control it. So he coughed and coughed and coughed, making the itch in his throat worse with each spasm of his lungs. He glanced at the costumed man before him between his pressed in eyes while he coughed, trying to figure out what had just happened and what he had just done without thinking, and then it registered.

"Oh no..."

Nightbird was looking over the rest of Kurt then with wide eyes, and the murmur he was only just registering from the student crowd somewhere behind them had risen to calls and screams and babbling floods.

"He has wings!"
"Hes a meta!"
"Holy shit!"
"Are you filming this Lauren?!"
"How did he hide those things?"
"Maybe they just grew now!"
"Oh my god!"

There were already fire truck sirens screaming in the background, but now the distinctive tones of ambulance and police sirens followed. Nightbird looked up from where he had been staring at Kurts back and Kurt could only watch the hesitation in his eyes as they darted between the coming authorities and Kurt laying on the ground below him.

"Go..." Kurt wheezed, staring up at him. He knew he couldnt move right then, and he knew his secret was exposed through what had to be burned clothing, but that didnt mean they had to catch Nightbird too.

"I… you..."

"Go." Kurt insisted with gravel in his throat, prompting him to cough again, but not before spitting out one last thing.

"Get out of here Nightbird. Before they get you too."

It was the last thing Kurt registered before the smoke trapped in his lungs took over his mind as well, beckoning him to the darkness.