“Without water, a man dies. A man's body makes water. His blood is water. A child is born in a rush of water. Water keeps us clean. It keeps us healthy. It keeps us alive.  It is when we are in water that we are closest to God. But… when a man stays took long in water, he dies..  When you touch water, you touch the Essence of God.” - Kristine Kathryn Rusch, The Fey: The Sacrifice

No amount of scrubbing seemed to get the dark soot completely out of Kurt's skin, much less his clothing which would have to be identified as black henceforth.  He did try using up the last of the shampoo that Blaine had gotten for him and that had helped his hair, but the rest of him was a write off.

And he didn't have time to make himself pretty.

After napping for three hours and washing himself down, Kurt returned to down, thinking he'd be able to get a couple horses for himself and Trent and begin their mission to find Blaine and the other Warblers.  Kurt wasn't expecting a full brigade though.

Gathered in front of the library, with Trent, was Sam and Mike, along with a wagon that had already been hitched up to some horses.  The wagon had a couple water barrels sitting in the back and Mercedes was giving orders to a couple workers who stood nearby while Sam watched her lovingly.

“What's all this?” Kurt asked of Trent when he reached them.

“If some of them are hurt you'll need me…”  Mike said, and Kurt saw then that his medical bag was also sitting in the back of the wagon.

“And Blaine is my buddy too man.  You're not going to do this alone.” Sam added.  “Mercedes just said we need to collect any water if we pass by any drainage ditches or ponds.  Kill two birds with one stone.”

Kurt smiled and nodded.  It would be better to have them.  If any of the Warblers were hurt, then they'd have the wagon to transport them easier… and Trent would do better riding in the wagon than on a horse anyhow.  

“I've got the positioning device ready to go Kurt.  It doesn't have a lot of power left so I suggest we only turn it on every hour or so.” Trent noted as he climbed up the wagon with Sam's help.

“Sounds like a plan.” Kurt agreed and thanked Mercedes as she brought him a saddled horse, noting it was the “fastest one they had” in the process.   The two workers also climbed up into the wagon, probably to help with any water collection they might have to do.  Goodbye's were said and then the pack of them were off, Kurt well in the lead as he mapped out the path to the place he had met Blaine in the fall.  He needed to get to him, and every minute that passed by made that need stronger.

For the first six hours though, there was nothing.  No water to collect, no Warblers to be found, and no calm in Kurt's chest.  He was about to ask Mike for something to calm his anxiety when they turned on the device in the seventh hour and picked up a red halo of activity ahead of them.  It wasn't close yet, but it was more than they had up until that point.

“If my scale calculations are right.. that's about another couple hours out… close to where you guys found us last year…”  Trent noted to Kurt who was already grabbing some coffee beans out of a bag in the back of the wagon and racing to get back to his horse and ride out.  That had to be them.

As fast as the horse was, it wasn't fast enough for Kurt.  He needed to turn those hours into seconds, but it wasn't happening and it wasn't until Trent's predicted two hours that Kurt and Sam, racing their stallions ahead of the group, reached an old farm where the red blur on the device indicated the activity was coming from.

“The silo.  There!”  Sam pointed out to Kurt ahead of them.  Beside the tall, cylindrical metal structure was parked a few quads.  Kurt turned his horse and had it run to the structure, nearly jumping off as he reached it.

“Hello?!”

Banging.  Banging and yelling from inside the silo started as soon as he reached it.  He ran around the base of it, looking for an access point.  There was one, but it had been bolted shut.  Shit.  

“It's Kurt!  From the community!  Is Blaine in there?!”

He heard some noises from within, a barrage of voices, several of which said “Yes” - though it was muffled.

“I'm going to figure out how to get you guys out.  It's bolted so give me a few minutes to figure it out.” Kurt yelled towards the structure.

There was more muted conversation and movement from inside while Sam, Kurt, and the others tried to figure out how to deal with the locked entryway.  It was Kurt, in his haste, that came up with the only thing they could do without bolt cutters or some kind of welding torch.

He grabbed an oversized, rusty metal shovel that was leaning against the silo, pulling it away from the growth that had been building up around it for years, and wedged it between the silo and the little access door, pushing with all his might in an effort to break apart the chains, even though they were in much better shape than any of the other metal around.

It wasn't the chains that broke though.  It was the access door.  The rust and age had caught up with the hinges on it and they broke apart, making the door snap back towards Kurt and then dangle from the chains still holding it onto the silo as a cheer went up from both outside and inside the silo.

Kurt didn't have time to celebrate.

He stuck his head into the dark, damp, and urine scented structure.  “Blaine?”

“He's here!”  A voice rang out and as his eyes adjusted to the dark, he saw a pair of faces, which he recognized from the autumn as those that initially greeted him, pulling up a limp and unconscious Blaine from the ground and carrying him towards the exit Kurt had made.  

“Oh…. Mike!”  Kurt snapped his head back to yell for the medic who was already coming up with his medical bag.  

Sam and Kurt took over carrying Blaine as he was lifted through the entrance and then brought to Mike.  Kurt watched with trepidation as Mike checked him over and found the source of the problem - a large bump on his head.

“He fought with Sebastian and Sebastian hit him across the back of the head when Blaine thought he had backed down… we think he has a concussion or something.”  One of the Warblers said as they started flooding out of the silo, stinking of dirt and piss.

Kurt knelt on the side of Blaine opposite to where Mike was checking him over.  “What can I do Mike?”

Mike didn't respond to him though, instead looking up at the nearby Warbler who had given him the other information, “Has he been awake at all?”

The man nodded.  “In and out.  Complaining of a massive headache whenever he has been awake and just making things worse by attacking the silo from the inside to try and get out and get to ….”  he looked at Kurt “... you I guess.  Wears himself out and collapses again.”

Kurt took a small, shuddering breath and reached for Blaine's hand while Mike mumbled to himself.  “Good.. that's good… probably no brain damage then.  Any other injuries?”

The man shook his head, “No.  Sebastian had guns… they made us go into their when we wouldn't go along with their plan to take over your village… did they?”

Mike shook his head, “No.  We have them all locked up.”

The man breathed out a sigh of relief, “I'm sorry… we… we tried to talk them down from it…. and Blaine… he didn't even care about the guns…. He was so worked up about it that he ran right into them all.  Took them by surprise and then Sebastian got him and… well…”

Mike shook his head, “The Tides didn't get rid of the morons unfortunately…”  He tipped Blaine's head to the side and pulled a needle out of his bag, injecting it into the swollen spot.  “I'm just reducing the pressure on his skull Kurt… He should be fine.”

Kurt nodded, squeezing Blaine's hand in his own.  God.  If Blaine didn't make it now, after all that….

But Blaine groaned then and his eyes fluttered open, “What…?”

“Hold his head still while I finish up Kurt.”  Mike directed, Kurt's hands flying up to hold Blaine's head in place while Mike finished up.

“Why does it feel like there's a needle in my head?” Blaine murmured, eyes jumping around until they landed on Kurt, “Kurt?”

Kurt offered a smile, his heart trying to smash through his chest as it grew exponentially within his chest, “Yeah… and it's because there is a needle in your head.  Mike is trying to help you out.”

“Oh.”

Blaine just kept looking up at Kurt, apparently unphased by the fact he was being worked on by Mike.  A smile flourished over his face and those honey eyes twinkled as they scanned over Kurt's face.  “You found me again.”

Kurt chuckled, “Yeah.  Seems like it.”

“There.”  Mike announced, pulling the needle away and quickly applying a gauze pad soaked in something that made Blaine wince and flinch.  “It's disinfectant.  You definitely don't want to get an infection that close to your brain.”

“I'll hold it…”  Kurt offered and his fingers replaced Mike's while Mike rifled through the medical bag until he came up with some wrap bandaging he started winding around Blaine's head.

“Sebastian?” Blaine asked then.

Kurt shook his head, “We lost a few buildings to the fires he set…. but we caught them all.  They're under guard at the community.”

Like his friend, Blaine breathed a sigh of relief and reached up to grasp Kurt's hands in his own, “My messages?”

Kurt smiled and squeezed back Blaine's hands, “I got them.”

“Okay Kurt, you can help him up and we'll give him some anti-inflammatories.” Mike interrupted.  

Kurt pulled Blaine by his hands up to standing, moving in quickly when it looked like the motion was going to make the curly haired man collapse again and tucking himself under one of Blaine's arms to support him.  “Come on.  You can sit in the wagon.”

“With you?”

“Sure.”

Kurt climbed aboard once he had Blaine safely loaded.  The other Warblers lingered around, looking lost and unsure of what to do until Sam spoke.  

“You can come with us.  Decide what to do about the other birds.”

That seemed to work for them, and they too climbed aboard the wagon, stopping only to grab things they might need from the cargo bins of the ATV's.

“Mercedes isn't going to be happy about me bringing back more people and no water.”  Sam grunted towards Kurt.

“Mercedes will understand.”  Kurt responded.

They set back off then, Mike now riding Kurt's horse while Trent took over leading the wagon and speaking to his friends.  

Kurt just reveled in his second chance.

“Are you alright?” Blaine asked of him after they had been back on the trail for a few minutes and Kurt had to stop himself from arching up an eyebrow.

“You're the one that was hurt.”

“But.. you said there were fires… and then you came out here…”

“Blaine.  I'm fine.”

“You always say that.”

“And this time, I'm being honest.”  Kurt said stiffly, reaching over to tuck a curl behind Blaine's ear.  The bandaging covered way too much of Blaine's head and his curls for Kurt's liking, but to have him again, living and breathing and right in front of him, was worth not being able to just comb his fingers through that hair like he wanted to.

“I tried to stop Sebastian.”

“I heard.”  Kurt said quietly, pulling Blaine to rest against him.  It would be a bumpy ride and the least he could go was let Blaine have his soft body to help absorb the shocks.

“I should have stayed.” Blaine said then, letting himself rest against Kurt and closing his eyes which allowed Kurt to mentally map out his face once more, ensuring everything was still there from the last night they had spent together.

“Yeah.  You should have.”

“Would you have been okay with that?”

“I was going to ask you to.”  Kurt admitted, looking up at the sky above them then as a crow flew overhead, “But you left before I woke up…”

“Nothing like the last minute huh?” Blaine murmured with a yawn following it.

“Mmmhmm… You can sleep.  I'll keep you safe.” Kurt said, winding his arms around Blaine then.  He didn't care about the other people in the wagon or what anyone else thought.  He had his second chance.  He wasn't going to blow it.

“Mmrrmm… okay…”

Blaine was out not second after saying it and Kurt spent the better part of the ride home rubbing his hand up and down Blaine's back, humming soft lullabies to him and ignoring the friendly questions from the other Warblers.  He only had interest in one person, and that person was in his arms.

When they got back into town it was the middle of the night but thanks to their radio transmissions, their friends and families were all waiting for them.  As expected, Mercedes playfully scolded Sam about the water before giving him a kiss, and Trent swept Kitty into his arms for a kiss as well before introducing her to all the Warblers who looked completely overwhelmed by the community they had found themselves in.

While they had been gone, it looked like there had been progress on the reconstruction.  A giant stack of lumber had been piled in the center of the street and a couple basic frames had been put up where the new homes were to be created. The town looked a lot less black from the ashes, even though the ground was still dark.

Mike directed Kurt to have Blaine check in the next day with him before leaving for the clinic.  While Mercedes directed her workers to show the Warblers where they would be staying and had other workers collect the horses and wagon, Kurt helped Blaine walk down the path to their homes, passing by Blaine's cabin in favour of his own, which he knew would have blankets ready at least.

“Pudding!”  Blaine cooed as the dog ran up and tried to jump on them both before Kurt held a protective arm out.

“Down!”

She complied, but follow the men in, tail wagging loudly as Kurt helped Blaine lie back in the bed and then set about not only changing his own clothes, but Blaine's as well.  That silo clearly offered limited space for bladder relief given how strongly all the Warbler's stunk and Kurt was sure the scent was locked into their clothing.  Blaine's clothing was tossed outside where it couldn't offend Kurt's nostrils any longer and he heated some water to wash over Blaine's body while the man just watched him from where he laid.

“I didn't think I'd see you again.”

Kurt huffed as he ran a rag soaked with warmed water over Blaine's chest and stomach.  “Neither did I… but here we are again.”

“I'm sorry it had to be like this.”

Kurt wrung out the rag and resoaked it before taking it to Blaine's legs, “I'm not.  Those homes were old and dilapidated anyhow.  No one was hurt and because of it all I have you back here.”

“So you want me to stay?”

“Of course I do you moron.”  Kurt sat forwards to run the rag under Blaine's neck.  “You're the only one I seem to be able to tolerate for any length of time.”

Blaine laughed at that and then winced, probably having shaken his head too much.  

“Just rest.”  Kurt coaxed.

“Yes Kurt.”

They snuggled up against one another that night, Kurt spending half the time in bed just looking at the man beside him in amazement and keeping his arms wrapped securely around his waist to ensure he didn't sneak away in the night again.  This time Kurt wouldn't let him get away.

In the morning, they headed back to town, hand in hand - Blaine dressed in some of Kurt's clothing since his own were somewhere back near that farm.  Kurt had to admit that flannel suited Blaine.

“Kurt!  Kurt!”  Quinn cried as she saw them approaching.  The woman ran up to them, hair wild and eyes distraught, “Beth!”

“Huh?”  Kurt looked at her intently, “What?  What happened?”

“They took her!  They…”  She turned to look at Blaine, her eyes going from sorrowful to enraged, “THEY took her!”

“Who Quinn?!”

“The guards were beaten… they escaped… those assholes escaped.  We should have killed them!” Quinn snapped, looking back to Kurt.

“And they took Beth?”

Quinn nodded frantically.  “Noah was watching them and Beth came to bring him breakfast… Noah said something happened then, faster than he could account for it and they overtook them before they could react.  One of them grabbed Beth and left a note.”

Kurt had gone from sedate to agitated within seconds and he followed Quinn to the sheriff's office, which did look like a small army had gone through it.  Kitty was checking over Noah and Azimio while Santana read over a piece of paper.

“They want us to bring them a full wagon's worth of food and water to a location… and Trent too..”

“No!” Kitty snapped, turning away from Azimio, “That's not happening!”

“My daughter is more important than your man Kitty!” Quinn snarled.

“Not to me!” Kitty yelled back, eyes narrowed and focused on Quinn.

“Why do they want Trent…?”  Blaine asked quietly, looking between the two women that Santana was now trying to get between.

“Probably because he effectively told them to go to hell the night they invaded the town.” Kurt offered, reflecting back on how angry Sebastian had been when Trent had rejected him.  

“There's no winning in that deal…”  Blaine mumbled.

“Not if we play out to their demands or ignore them…”  Kurt mused, glancing over at Santana who nodded in understanding.

“We set them up.”

“Precisely.”

Plans were outlined, roles given.  Blaine hovered nearby the whole time, but as much as Kurt wanted to just begin his life with the other man, he was needed.  Beth needed him.  Despite Kitty's protests, Trent agreed to be part of the plan as the necessary bait.  Weapons were sharpened and loved ones told not to worry as, once again, a group of them set off with the wagon.

Much as he tried, Kurt couldn't convince Blaine to stay back, and Blaine even managed to convince the rest of the group that him coming would be to their advantage, since he knew the other guys best and could try and reason with them.  Show them their attempt to lock away the dissenting Warbler's was as much a failure as their attempt to take over the village.  Show them that Sebastian wasn't fit to lead them, that his ideas were stupid.

And so they set off.

Kurt, Santana, Noah, and Karofsky were hidden under a cloth that in turn was covered with what might have looked like foodstuffs, making the cart look full when it wasn't.  Blaine, Trent, and Quinn rode up on the front of the wagon while Sam and a small crew of other guards followed behind.  They would flank Sebastian and his crew when they got closer to the meeting point.

They only had to ride for an hour before they slowed, coming up to the point on the map that Sebastian had marked for them.  

“Two of them are ahead of us…”  Quinn said quietly, so that Kurt and the group under the sheet could hear them and be ready for action.

“It's John and Flint.”  Trent added, as if that made any lick of difference.  

Beside him, Karofsky had a ready hand on his axe, while Santana had her short sword at the ready.  The group flanking had all the guns the community had saved up, leaving Kurt and his small contingent to rely on the element of surprise and their own skill.

“Hold!”  An unfamiliar voice called out and the cart lurched to a halt.

“You're alive Canary…”  Another voice said, half surprised by the tone.

“Yeah.  Those people you tried to burn out - they saved me.  You guys on on the wrong side here.” Blaine snapped back.  

“Where's Sebastian?  Where's Beth?” Quinn interrupted.  

“Oh… they'll be here… they're just taking care of your silly old time horse troops.” The first voice noted.

Kurt and Santana looked at each other wide eyed and then, as if on cue, shots were heard in the distance, along with the whiney of horses.  There was a cry of “No!” from Blaine and then the wagon shook and Kurt heard one of the men cry out with a thud.

They couldn't wait for back-up now.

He threw back the sheet and while Santana, Noah, and Karofsky jumped off and ran around to the front of the cart to aid Blaine who was laying punch after punch into a darker skinned man, Kurt aimed his arrow at the other man who looked like he was about to pull a gun out of his belt to help his friend.

Though as soon as he saw Kurt, he froze and held his hands up.

For the moment they had the upper hand, but there was only two of Sebastian's goons here, and that left eight more to deal with.

“Where the hell is my daughter?!”  Quinn snapped, getting right up into the face of the man that Blaine hadn't just pummeled into unconsciousness.  

“With Sebastian… he'll be here… he said he'd be here soon….”  The man stammered, glancing from the crazy woman in front of him and back to Kurt, still with his bow at the ready as he stayed positioned at the top of the cart.

“How the hell did you know about the plan?!” Santana asked then, adding her sword to the mix by prodding the man in the side with it threateningly.

“Ah!”  He stumbled in place, “Hunter… Hunter left a walkie on… hidden in the jail.  We heard everything….”

“Shit!”  Kurt looked out towards the forest.  This was bad.  Very, very, bad.  They were in an open area, right beside an old highway with thick forests blanketing the boundaries.  They were at a disadvantage here.  Noah, Karofsky, Santana, Blaine, and Trent were all walking targets, Quinn was emotional, and Kurt wouldn't be able to get a clear shot on anything in that forest - even if he could spot something from the distance he was at.  Sebastian knew their whole plan, including that they would hide in the wagon, and left two guys, probably expendable in his mind, to meet up with them while the rest took care of the group that was supposed to be their backup.

Shit-storm didn't even begin to explain how bad this situation was.

Santana was panicking.  She didn't like it when things didn't go her way, much less when it meant they could all be in imminent danger of dying now.  “Shit!  We need cover… we need -”

Crack! Ptafffff!

Kurt blinked.  Everything seemed blurry all of a sudden.. and as he glanced towards Blaine and the others from his perch atop the wagon, he felt suddenly overcome with dizziness.  He could see Blaine yelling out, Karofsky too… and then they became blurry for a moment before coming clear again.  

Something was wrong…

He stumbled back, his bow falling off the side of the wagon as he lost his grip on it.  Why couldn't he control his hands?  He looked down.

Oh.

A bright red flower was growing on his chest, soaking his clothing with his own blood.  

He had been shot.

Another backwards stumble and he was falling off the back of the cart, and even though he knew he should have been shaken up by hitting the ground so hard, he didn't feel a thing.  He was numb.

His ears began to work again though.  He could hear Blaine crying out, Karofsky too.  He could hear more shots, a child crying, then a laugh.

And while Kurt wish he could say the last thing he saw before he died was his lover's face, it wasn't.  Above him Sebastian loomed, looking down at what had probably been his own handiwork by the way he happily twirled the pistol in his hand.

“Thanks for the delivery.”

Then Kurt felt himself being kicked over, more cries from his friends, and then he was face down in the waters of a drainage ditch, the water replacing the blood he lost, and the air for that matter too.  He wouldn't just die of a bullet wound, but he would drown as well.  

At least he'd see his parents again Kurt thought to himself as he closed his eyes and allowed the darkness to take him over.