I have to take a moment to appreciate the people who make the effort to review for each and every chapter, because with more reviews come more reads, and because of them, Im getting more people on board with this.

So; poutyandweird, 333Abraham333/blainedirtydancing, SmokeyRoxy, VoyageAsia, lilyvandersteen, Charleygyrl, H.T. Elia, frumiousme, Jen, and sabbypandawan - You will all get cookies and pickles if you come to visit me!

Blaine didnt understand. The league members had seen them together for all of an hour, so how could they possibly decide that Kurt and Blaine would work well together? No amount of trying to read the colors springing off either of them had helped Blaine understand the comment either. They both exuded confidence, as they always did, and certainty in their comments. Kurt on the other hand was firing off bursts of blue and orange, basically screaming to Blaine how skeptical he was of it all.

And of course, Kurt acted on his curiousity.

"What do you mean wed work well together?"

Isabelle smiled that sweet, knowing smile once she was a master of, "Blaines abilities are all mental based, and while he has made the extra effort to train with weapons and learn some martial arts, to be able to use his powers fluently he needs to focus which means he cant always draw on his physical skills. Your skills on the other hand are all physical. You would balance one another out nicely."

"You havent figured out what all my powers are."

"Can you read minds, cast illusions, or decipher emotions?"

"No."

"Then your powers will be physical based."

"And thats assuming I even want to stay and play superhero with Blaine."

This is where Elliott chimed in. "Of course. Still your choice… ALWAYS your choice…. but Blaine is a level five… he needs protection. You and I, we get found out and we get shipped away or put in prison. Blaine… well were not sure what exactly they do with level fives - but we do know that no one hears from them ever again."

"I dont need a bodyguard Elliott." Blaine grunted, suddenly not as hungry as he had been a moment earlier.

"Youve said that before." Isabelle noted. "Wed still feel better if there was someone else around though."

"I do… like the idea of still being somewhat close to my dad…." Kurt said quietly, fingers overlapping again and again as he drew his hands together in an unconscious fidgeting move. "But I dont have the money to really… help. I dont know how Id make any either…. Im not exactly employable."

"You dont have to worry about that."
"I have lots of money already."

Isabelle and Blaine had spoken at the same time, but the message was the same - Kurt would be taken care of no matter where he went. He could leave with them and the league benefactors would ensure he was okay, or he could stay with Blaine and be taken care of as well. Money was not a mitigating factor.

"Once things cool down with the government and everything, your dad might be able to even come out to visit." Elliott suggested before finishing the last bite of his meal.

"Would you be okay with it?" Kurt asked as he looked to Blaine with those deep pools of blue.

It was the first time any of them had asked Blaine if he was okay with the idea. He was used to being alone, not having to deal with anyone elses schedule, not having to report to anyone. He didnt have to share his stuff or clean up after himself. How many teenagers were able to come and go as they pleased and do what they wanted? Blaine had it good.

But then… Kurt did have those wings…

And those eyes…

"Yeah. Yeah. Itd be fine. Wed need to set you up with your own room and all… but its okay."

Kurt turned back to Isabelle. "Can I think about it for a couple days?"

"Of course."

The slight kick of Elliotts foot against his own and then the smirk he got when he looked at Elliott in question told Blaine that he was as transparent as glass. Elliott didnt need to be able to read emotions to know that Blaine was smitten with Kurt, and Isabelle and Kurt might not say anything about it, but Elliott was going to bug him as soon as they were alone.

For someone whose power was deciphering peoples emotions, Blaine was never very good at hiding his own, and he knew that he was in trouble now. If Kurt decided to stay, Blaine would be living with someone he was already crushing on and had no idea of how to handle that.

After that, the conversation was diverted to Isabelle complimenting Kurts cooking and Elliott asking Kurt about where he was in school. Blaine had done his very best to wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen when everyone was done so Kurt could go with Isabelle and Elliott to the living room and get to know them better. The house being cleaned was definitely a wake up call for Blaine, who, up until that point, had never entertained guests. He should have thought to clean it up the instant he got the message that the league was sending people. Hell, he should have cleaned it up while Kurt had been sleeping during the day yesterday. He grew up in a family where having guests meant everything was spotless in advance, so when had he lost that knowledge that came with being a good host?

Kurt did look better and not just healed up either. It was as if the fire hadnt happened at all. When Blaine had come down the stairs that morning to wake Kurt to let him know he was leaving, he had been stunned by the change. Before him was no longer a wounded man, but an angel - complete with the wings. It had taken Blaine back to sectionals, and that moment when he couldnt keep his eyes off of Kurt when he had come on stage. Now he was having a hard time not looking at Kurt every time they were in the same room.

His mother would have admonished him for staring. That was DEFINITELY not part of being a proper host.

By the time Blaine finished with the kitchen cleanup and joined the rest of the group, Isabelle had clearly worked her magic on Kurt because he had an arm extended and a blood pressure monitor on his arm. Isabelle and Elliott had brought a veritable portable collection of hospital equipment to do tests on Kurt, and, as was procedure, they had started on the most mundane of those tests. Elliott was managing the device while Isabelle wrote notes and made sure the clipboard was visible to Kurt who kept glancing over at it. The spikes of yellow around Kurt told Blaine clearly enough that Kurt was nervous, but the wavering bits of blue also related that he was calm enough to be allowing it to happen.

"So, Elliott, Isabelle… Kurt wants to let his dad know hes okay…" Blaine noted as he sat himself down on one of the couches in the living room where they had settled.

"Oh!" Isabelle perked up and looked to Elliott, "We should do the Jehovahs witnesses routine!"

Elliott laughed and nodded, earning a confused look from Kurt who turned to Isabelle for clarification. Blaine was going to have to work on not being such a fanboy around Kurt if he expected Kurt to look at him like that.

"So Elliott and I pretend to be door-to-door missionary types, spreading the good word and all that. We dont actually ring the bells on any of the street, except for the person were trying to pass a message onto. We just stand at each of the doors and make it look like we rang the bell and no one answered so if theres an official watching the area, we look like legitimate god-pushers. When we get to your home, we do the act, but give your dad a brochure that includes a message from you inside and Elliott makes a little sparkle in his hand so that your dad clues in that were no ordinary missionaries. Then we go back a couple days later, do the same routine, and your dad can give us a message back the same way - though by pushing the brochure back at us like he didnt want it the last time. The instructions are in the brochure. Its so much fun to get dressed up and play the part… oh… youre not a Jehovahs witness are you?"

Kurt shook his head with a cute little grin on his face which Blaine committed to his memory. "No. Dad believes in some greater power but nothing specific. Never really went to church growing up. I dont believe in anything… at least not in that way."

"Ironic considering you could be the mascot for a great numbers of churches." Elliott noted with a nod towards Kurts wings.

Kurts sweet smile turned sour as the focus went to his wings, and Blaine observed how every time he or someone else had mentioned Kurts wings that there had been a shudder of black and green around Kurt. Self-hated. How on earth could he hate those things though? They were.. beautiful.

"So what do the different numbers mean? I never could figure out the difference between two, three, and four…" Kurt asked, adeptly changing the topic of conversation as he always did to avoid talking about the feathery appendages on his back.

"Well, level ones, like myself, can cause no damage to others or themselves, and dont have any abilities that could affect the economy or the security of anyone. I can change my hair color and eye color, but Im still recognizable as me. Whereas someone who could completely shapeshift into a total new form has the ability to compromise the security of a company by acting as a spy for example." Isabelle explained, nodding over to Elliott as she finished recording the numbers and he, in turn, took the monitor off Kurts arm. "Blood pressure is fantastic. Perfect in fact."

"I watch my diet carefully." Kurt said simply, eyeing up the stethoscope Elliott was now holding up to his chest.

"A level two meta has to work very hard to cause damage to anyhow. Elliott can shoot fireworks -"

"Plasmoids." Elliott insisted as he listened to the beat of Kurts heart.

"Whatever. He can shoot "plasmoids", but they dont hurt anyone save for some momentary blindness if he gets them near the eyes. Nothing lasting. But because it can cause a disruption and panic, hes given a level two instead of a one."

"And because of that, I would get shipped off to Tristan da Cunha, "Meta Island", and while its apparently quite beautiful there, I wouldnt be able to see my family or friends anymore. New York might not be tropical, but it is home, and I choose to be there."

Isabelle nodded and continued after Elliott gave her a thumbs up as he took the stethoscope off and proceeded to grab a tongue depressor and little flashlight so he could check inside Kurts mouth. "Level threes and fours are capable of more damage and interference, and are harder to contain. These are the levels youd find your fire throwers and shape shifters, and probably yourself. The difference between a three and a four is if what they can do can disrupt the economy as well. Theres a guy who can manipulate the earth, throw dirt with his mind, but he also has the ability to made dirt press until he creates diamonds from the pressure. Because he can make his own diamonds, he can screw with the economy. Thats enough for our government to bump him up a level."

Kurt was silent as a result of the depressor holding down his tongue, Elliott looking into his mouth and shaking his head. "Isabelle, come see this."

"-at?" Kurt asked with his open mouth, eyes darting down his face as if he could see into his own mouth by doing so. For the moment, Blaine stayed back. He didnt want to crowd Kurt, especially if they had discovered something beyond his wings.

"You dont have a soft palate…" Isabelle noted, grabbing the clipboard to write down notes as she examined the inside of Kurts mouth. "Interesting."

When the depressor was removed, Kurt looked between them all quickly, "Is that a good thing? A bad thing? I dont know what that means…."

"I dont know Kurt. I havent seen it before and Im not a doctor. I just document the stuff and then well look it up to see if it has any meaning." Isabelle offered, holding the clipboard out to Kurt again so he could read what she wrote. She was good like that, making sure everything was transparent so new metas were more at ease. No wonder the league usually sent her to meet new metas.

"Birds dont have the soft palate…" Blaine offered quietly, remembering a biology lesson a few years prior. "Your wings might be more avian and less angelical if thats the case…"

It was the wrong thing to say, and Blaine knew it the instant it had come out of his mouth because the shimmer of black and green bubbled up over Kurt again as he drew his wings in tightly despite the fact they were already bound by the belts. Shots of red also fluttered over Kurt as he looked back to Isabelle and spoke once more.

"And… level fives?"

"Level fives, like Blaine, have some kind of ability that deals with mental invasion. They go beyond the physical and into the mental. Mindreaders, those that can transmit thoughts, precognition, creating illusions… all of these have something to do with breaking through the physical barrier of humans and strips humans of the one thing they have always held dear - the ability to think whatever they want without fear of anyone else knowing. The ability to have secrets. Level fives are secret thieves. The government hates that anyone could take their secrets away from them.."

"I cant imagine why." Kurt drawled, the sarcasm dripping off him as he rolled his eyes and held an arm out without question as Elliott opened up a briefcase containing vials and hypodermic needles. "Im not going to look when you do this. I hate needles."

"Im surprised you didnt even question us on it." Isabelle said, taking Kurts other hand and squeezing it gently. She couldnt see it, but Blaine could. The instant she touched Kurt a purple spike erupted over him. Kurts exterior response didnt change with the touch, but Blaine could see that it affected him, though thankfully, in a good way.

"I considered it.. " Kurt winced then as Elliott poked the needle into his skin and began drawing blood for lab analysis. "... but Im at the point where I either dont care or just dont see the point in fighting."

"You still have the right to refuse Kurt. Were not the government. You always have a choice with us."

Kurt exhaled shakily as Elliott took a few vials of blood and then put it into a portable shaker to prepare it for testing. Then the needle was removed and covered with a cotton ball which Elliott expertly stuck down with medical tape. "All done with that one."

"I appreciate it." Kurt said in response to both Isabelle and Elliott before looking back to Isabelle specifically. "... and I guess Im just the littlest bit curious about what I am too, and am willing to let you poke at me a bit to help me figure that out."

The tests continued after that, with even more stunning results. An x-ray showed that Kurts bones were hollowing out, and when Isabelle and Elliott examined his hands and feets, he explained that the thick nails he had (which Blaine hadnt noticed until he pointed it out) grew into talons if left unclipped. Kurt had more muscle mass than his lithe frame suggested as well, and virtually no body fat despite arguing that he didnt exercise enough for that to be true. More testing revealed that Kurt had much larger than average lungs, much better eyesight than regular humans, and a blood type that wasnt consistent with any normal human type.

"So… better not go in for a transfusion huh?" Kurt had joked when Elliott had told him that, as if everything else that had come before wasnt even worth mentioning. It was his way of coping with the results. He had no idea he was so different. Kurt had only thought his wings had set him apart, when really, they were just the tip of the iceberg.

By the time they had gotten through all of the preliminary tests, it was close to midnight and everyone was exhausted. Blaine let Isabelle have his own bed and put Elliott on the couch before going downstairs to ensure Kurt was okay with sleeping on the mattress down there again.

"Where are you going to sleep?" Kurt asked, sitting on the edge of the bed after Blaine had approached him to ask if he needed any extra pillows or blankets.

Blaine shook his head, "I have an air mattress Ill pump up."

"And youll be okay with that?"

Blaine shrugged. In truth, he wanted his own bed, and his house, back. He liked having others over, liked being free to be open about his abilities around others, but with as tired as he was then, all he wanted was a good nights sleep and the freedom to sleep in the next morning. He knew he wasnt going to get it though.

"Why are you always staring at… the things on my back?"

The question perked Blaine out of the fatigued funk he was in, glancing away from the feathers that even he hadnt been cognizant of looking at and to Kurts eyes which glared at him accusingly. Kurt couldnt even say wings, and despite feeling judged for ogling them, Blaine had to wonder just how deep Kurts hatred of those alluring things had to go.

"I think your wings are beautiful."

Kurt snorted and looked away, wings tensing along with the rest of him. "Im not one of your superheroes. These things arent beautiful. Because of them I cant ever fit into society. I dont get to go home to my dad. I dont get to go to college. I dont get to walk down the street hand in hand with someone I love. I will never get to be the person I feel like I am inside because these things will always make people treat me different."

Blaine rolled his lower lip into his mouth, nibbling it gently as he considered Kurts words and the red and orange radiating off of him as he ranted in anger. "Youre right…"

Kurt looked back at him.

"But that doesnt make them any less beautiful. Maybe its cliched, but Ive always believed that what makes us different is what makes us special."

Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Good night Kurt. Sleep well."

It took longer than he anticipated to pump up the old airbed, and by the time he was done Blaine collapsed and fell right to sleep, because no matter how much he wanted to think about wings, his mind was done for the day.

The next morning, Blaine discovered he was the last one to wake, and it was to the smell of pancakes and coffee. He ate like a starving man, going for seconds and thirds when he got upstairs, and then thanking Kurt profusely for cooking once again. Kurt wouldnt meet his eyes though, still radiating irritation from the night before, and Blaine resumed ogling Kurts wings in the absence of being able to look into his eyes. Really, all of Kurt was nice to look at, but the wings gave Blaine the most cause to wonder and daydream.

Once everyone had gotten themselves ready for the day, a trek to the barn on Blaines property was taken. It was a place Blaine had set up with weapons and sparring dummies to practice with, but it also was big and wide enough for Kurt to spread his wings out to full span.

And when he did they damn near took up the entire barn. It was a sight to behold, a challenge to all the painters of the renaissance who tried to depict angels, and a testament to all that Blaine felt was right in the world. How Kurt could keep this things so tidily against his back, but be able to fill a barn with them defied Blaines knowledge of capacity. So many feathers… Kurt could make a few down quilts if he ever molted.

"We HAVE to see if you can fly with these things…" Elliott uttered as he and Isabelle recorded the measurements.

"I dont see how. I may have some bird qualities but that still doesnt mean Im a bird." Kurt insisted with a sigh as he pulled his wings back in against him once they were done.

"You could try though… start small. See if you could glide off the top of the slide. Whats the worst that could happen?"

"Uh.. I could break my neck?" Kurt supplied, shaking his head and rolling his eyes simultaneously as Isabelle just chuckled.

"Try?" Elliott pleaded, batting his eyelashes and offering Kurt the most pathetic puppy dog eyes Blaine had ever seen in his life.

Kurt rolled his eyes, as he had done so many times already in the past couple days since Blaine had saved him, and climbed up the ladder to the loft of the barn. "I really dont know why Im doing this…"

Elliott chuckled and watched in keen delight while Isabelle suggested Kurt try to glide near where there was a few mats Blaine had spread out for tumbling practice. Blaine, meanwhile, followed Kurt up to the loft to try and scope out the best way to test out those wings.

"You could go from the end… lots of potential to glide and the mats are right below if you fall…" Blaine pointed out to Kurt, whose anxiety levels were rising as he followed Blaines finger.

Regardless of how Kurt felt though, he was brave, and willing to try something new, and so Blaine watched as he stepped to the edge of the loft, looking down below at Elliott and Isabelle and gulping as he tried to get himself into the mindset to let himself fall. Thats where he froze, hovering between going and not. If he could fly, this would change what he knew about himself. He would be more than just a man with wings that interefered with his ability to do what he wanted. He would be a man with wings who had the ability to do what others couldnt.

If he couldnt fly though, Kurt would still be stuck in a body he hated.

Blaine glanced down at Isabelle, who smiled softly back at up him. Neither her nor Elliott pushed Kurt at this point. He had to make the choice now, and to bide their time, Isabelle pretended to look at the notes she had made and Elliott made rainbow sparks in his hand.

Kurt hovered where he was, every now and then shuffling a toe forward and then drawing it back as he mentally debated with himself. Blaine watched. He figured that if Kurt couldnt fly then he could put his gymnastics skills to use for once and do some parkour style jumping down to catch Kurt.

Except it ended up being Kurt who caught Blaine.

In his boredom, Elliotts personal fireworks show had increased, and one of the plasmoids he projected bounced off the back of Isabelles metallic clipboard and up towards Blaine where it flashed in front of his eyes. He hadnt been expecting anything, and had been so focused on plotting out how he could jump down that it had taken him completely by surprise, making him jerk in surprise. The small movement he made though had large consequences as a result of his being right at the edge of the floor, and before he even really registered that he had been shocked, he was falling backwards.

Thats when Kurt had acted, and as soon as Blaine took in a breath to try and brace himself for hitting the ground hard, there was a whoosh of air around him and arms catching under his back and legs. For a split second he was airborne, eyes going wide as they regained vision and settled on Kurt who seemed just as surprised as he was at this development, and then Kurt went from floating horizontally to standing upright as he landed gracefully and let Blaine down.

"That was fucking epic!" Hooted Elliott, clearly not concerned about how he had caused the whole ruckus.

Kurt tucked his wings back once more and blushed softly as he glanced to Isabelle for her reaction, a smile and a nod of approval. He joined her and together they looked over the clipboard as Isabelle spoke quietly to Kurt, whose colors were jumping all over the place from the excitement.

"Youre welcome." Elliott murmured over to Blaine.

Brow furrowed, Blaine looked back at Elliott, whose cocky smirk and highlights of yellow and green gave him away.

"You did that on purpose!" Blaine hiss-whispered.

Elliott just continued to grin, so satisfied with himself, as Blaine shook his head.

Once they had decided they were done in the barn, the group returned to the house where Kurt wrote a letter out to his father while Elliott and Isabelle got into suits for their Jehovahs Witness scam.

"Got that letter ready for your dad?"

Kurt nodded, handing it over to Isabelle who promptly put it into an envelope.

"Youre not going to read it?"

Isabelle shook her head, looking back to Kurt sadly, "I keep telling you… were not the government. Were not here to filter what you can and cant do or say… we just want to help. The league… all of us… we know how difficult things can be and we just want to make it easier for you."

Kurt nodded at that, Blaine watching the slight spike of purple that hovered over him as he watched Isabelle leave and Elliott go along with her.

"You trust her."

It wasnt a question, just a plain statement as Blaine watched Kurt for that moment, after which Kurt looked to Blaine for the first time that day.

"I can see why the government would be annoyed by mind readers…."

"Im not a mind reader…"

"You dont leave me with secrets though." Kurt huffed, moving to sit himself at a couch with his wings spilling out to each side.

"Im… sorry?"

To that, Kurt shook his head, looking down at the coffee table blankly. "Not your fault any more than these things are mine I guess. I just…"

"... wish you werent so pellucid to me?" Blaine sighed and looked off through the window at the car driving off his property. "Yeah. I get that a lot."

"Is it why your family doesnt live with you?"

Blaine just nodded once and Kurt, thankfully, asked no more about it, though that only left room for silence to fill the gap. How could they be expected to coexist with one another when they couldnt even have a decent conversation?

"They feel better… yknow…" Kurt murmured as he stared off into the window after Blaine had gone to collect his newest comic issues and had just begun to read them.

"What does?"

Kurt ruffled his wings up a couple times in response, speaking into his knuckles as he propped his head up on his fist while he continued to look out. "Ive always bound them so tight… They were always sore and probably healing themselves constantly because of how I treated them. Ive had them out more in the past couple days than I have since they appeared though, and they actually feel lighter when I let them loose than when I bind them back."

"Can I touch them?"

There was a long sigh, and Blaine was sure Kurt was about to tell Blaine exactly what he could go touch in the most explicit of terms, but then blue and green flooded over the red and yellow, and Kurt extended the closer wing towards where Blaine was sitting.

"Fine."

Blaine hesitated for a moment, holding his hand out just a hairs breadth away from actually letting his fingers graze the wing presented before him, wondering if this was a joke or a test, or something else to make him look like a fool. A quick glance up at Kurts face though, and the calm that surrounded him confirmed to Blaine though that he was truly being allowed to touch, and so he let his fingers down and held his breath on contact.

Nothing had ever felt so soft, so silken, so absolutely luxurious as the feathers under his skin. Velvet with cream were the only things that Blaine could think to compare it too. He let his eyes drop to where he was being allowed to touch and ran his fingers up and down a few times before releasing his shaken breath.

"... wow."

With each stroke, he got a little more brave, increasing the duration of the movement and putting the full width of his hand on Kurts wing, specifically the thick, muscled arm of the wing. How Kurt wasnt constantly touching his own wings was beyond Blaine then, because if he had something so sweetly soft to touch all the time, he would never come out of his room.

At the same time, Kurt had gone eerily silent, though his wing had become quite pliant under Blaines touch. It was when Kurt released a shuddering breath, not unlike the ones Blaine was making in his awe, that Blaine looked away from the wing and to the other man whose cheeks had gone red and whose aura had shifted to purples, pinks, and blues.

"Oh…" Blaines hand pulled away, his own cheeks reddening in blush. "I didnt know… I…. sorry."

Kurt took another ragged breath before his wing whipped back and away from Blaine to join its mate on Kurts back. Then the pinks and purples fell closer to his frame and were slowly replaced with yellows and browns. "No… no… I just.. I didnt know thats how theyd… or that theyd make me…."

"No ones ever touched them before?" Blaine balked.

"Not even myself… not like that anyhow." Kurt supplied, keeping his eyes away from Blaines as he spoke.

"Might be something to tell Isabelle and Elliott…"

"Yeah, yeah… anyhow… Im going to make supper." Kurt said abruptly, rushing off to escape. He didnt look back at Blaine once, so embarrassed by the automatic reaction hed had to having his wings petted.

Blaine guessed he should feel embarrassed too, but, for whatever reason, he wasnt. All he wanted now was to touch those wings even more, but all he could do was return to his comic books and wish things in real life went as easily as they seemed to for his idols.

When their colleagues returned, Blaine was not surprised when Isabelle had shopping bags in hand.

"Oh Kurt! I had a total creativity surge when we were driving past the fabric store in Lima and I had to stop!"

Kurt peered in the bags, eyebrows both shooting straight up as he looked at Isabelle as if she had lost her mind. "These bags are full of spandex…."

"Well if you can fly you need to be aerodynamic… "

Kurt looked like he was going to be sick as he looked back and forth between Isabelle, so eager and hopeful, and what was in the bag. Blaine just chuckled before sharing a knowing glance with Elliott. If there was one guilty pleasure Isabelle had, it was designing hero costumes - though shed never in a million years admit to it.

"This is… this is…. ah…" Kurt ended up shaking it off and looking towards Elliott for a change, "Was my dad there? Was he okay? Did he look upset?"

"Yes. He definitely picked up on the message, though he looked like he hasnt slept much lately."

"Poor guy… can you blame him?" Isabelle added with a small shake of her head. "Theres at least five pictures of you alone just in the entryway of your home. Clearly your dad thinks the world of you."

A sad smile was Kurts response, though hope was gushing over him at the news that his dad got his message. Somehow Blaine didnt think that Kurts father would ever forsake his son no matter what powers or abilities he had, and that made Blaine feel both happy and sad all at once. Kurt was lucky in his mind.