Blaine strained against his bonds until they cut into his skin and stretched it until it tore apart millimeter by millimeter, eyes glued to the hairy Other who jumped down easily after Kurt and scooped him up into his massive arms with equal ease.  The white-eyed Other babbled in their language towards his compatriot, who merely grunted in response as he carried Kurt's limp form over to the posts and dropped him there unceremoniously.

“Kurt… Kurt… please…”  Blaine begged, ignoring the dark red that was pooling over the edges of his shackles as he pulled his body as close as he could.  Relief consumed him with a tremble when he saw Kurt was breathing still, and Blaine's body went lax as he saw that no bones were sticking out at odd angles, nor was there any massive blood stains.  

A set of shackles was brought out of the old restaurant, once known as the ‘Lakeside Grill' according to the weathered sign hanging over the entrance, by the hairy one who chained Kurt to his own post not too far from Blaine, but still too far for him to touch Kurt.  All Blaine wanted to do was pull Kurt into his arms, kiss him, apologize, and tell him he didn't care what he was.  He just wanted him safe.

But this situation was far from safe.

The Halfling returned, spinning the shaft of her blade and flicking spots of red in a patterned splatter that fell along the pavement and even up into her shockingly white hair.  It was then that Blaine remembered Pudding, and how she had led off the half-blooded woman so Kurt could try and deal with the other two.  

“Human domesticated dogs… so simple minded.  Like their creators.”  She mocked, kneeling over Kurt's fallen form and toeing her boot to nudge him him in the side.  Between realising that the woman had killed his dog, and that she was now able to touch more of Kurt than he was, Blaine's rage was elevated higher than it had ever been before.

“Get the hell away from him!”

Violet eyes snapped onto Blaine and the Halfling smirked.  “Is this why your aura was the strongest?  He's your match?”  She again nudged Kurt with her toe, though her eyes were stuck to Blaine awaiting his reaction.

“Yes!  YES!”  Blaine cried, willing to agree to anything if it meant he could somehow help Kurt.  He was pulling against the chains that held him in place once more and his hands were numb from his earlier tugging, so it was easier to force himself ahead even though there was still only much give his body would allow for.  “Let him go!  Leave him alone!”

She laughed.  It wasn't hearty or calming, but dark and diminishing.  So hollow in its sound that it made Blaine's heart go weak in anticipation of what was to come next.  “He was your power source?”  Again she nudged her boot against him with a dismissive snort.  “Pathetic.”

“He's a Halfling? Really?”  Jeff asked quietly, reminding Blaine that it wasn't just him, Kurt, and that bitch in his realm of existence.

“Well obviously.” Santana huffed.

“He stinks of human.”  The Halfling asserted and wandered back towards her Other friends.  “He's definitely not on par with me.”

It wasn't the relief Blaine had hoped for when she said it.  In this moment, he wished Kurt was a Halfling - if only to be able to have a chance at fighting back and being able to save himself.  Blaine knew he didn't have a shot if he was merely a human.

“Sorry about your dog man.” Sam said softly when the Others and the Halfling busied themselves with discussion off to the side, glancing over at their captives, Kurt in particular, from time to time.  

Blaine shook his head, tears he didn't even know he had being slung off his his face to the ground with the motion.  “I… I don't want to think about it now… thanks Sam.”  

“You should probably give your wrists a break though…. your hands are turning blue.”

Blaine looked down at himself, seeing it for himself.  His hands, so numb, were a tye dye of blue and purple while the top of his wrist was red, crusting over with dried blood that mixed with fresh blood creeping over the bronze.  “I… I need to get to him.”

A groan caught all their attention then as Kurt shifted and drew a hand up to his head, waking quickly when he realized his hand was bound and he was in unfamiliar territory.  

“Kurt!”

His lover's eyes snapped Blaine's way as Kurt sat up and tugged experimentally at the shackles holding him in place, “Fuck… fuck!”

The Halfling only looked over for a moment when Kurt's voice rose up before turning back to her conversation.  Clearly they weren't worried about his waking.  

Like Blaine, Kurt tugged and fought against his restraints, swearing up a storm as he did and looking in all directions as he familiarized himself with his location.  

“Where's the dog?”

Blaine bit his lower lip and dropped his head down.  Sam supplied Kurt with the answer.

“White haired halfling killed her.”

That sent Kurt into a flurry of new curses and insults - some of which Blaine didn't even know and must have been learned from the locals given that they had both established they had come from the same general location growing up.  

When Kurt had calmed down, or as calm as he ever got, chest heaving up and down and mouth open as he breathed deeply, Blaine hazarded speaking.

“Why'd you come after me?  You needed to watch the kids -”

“Mad at you.  Not talking to your dumb ass.”

Blaine snapped his mouth shut, ignoring the snickers behind him from his friends as he kept his gaze on Kurt who was glaring at the pavement.  If looks could kill, that pavement in front of him would have melted already.

“I'm sorry… I wanted to help.”

“Well you didn't!” Kurt spat, turning to look back to Blaine, fire ablaze in his eyes.  “You left me to play house husband while you ran off to save the fucking world!  You didn't consult me at all!  Mercedes knew that Sam was going, but you couldn't even be bothered to tell me save for a crappy ass letter!  You asshole!”

Blaine wished he could shrink into himself, or at least maneuver himself enough to hide behind something.  Kurt was a terror to cross, he knew it, and that's why he thought it was better to ask forgiveness than permission when he planned this escapade.  Of course, that was when Blaine thought he would be coming back with all their missing people.  

“Uh… guys… maybe this could wait until -”  Sam started, but clammed up the instant Kurt's eyes set on him, just as infuriated.

“And you!  You're in my house everyday!  I watch your girls!  You didn't think you could let it slip that my dumbass husband was going on a suicide mission?  Why the hell are you here anyhow Sam?!  You have a wife and two daughters to think about!  At least Blaine doesn't have kids to account to!  You're an even bigger asshole!”

“I… ah… er…”

Sam was never very good at dealing with Kurt when he was furious.

“Leave Sam alone Kurt… please… you're mad at me… you're mad that your plan… whatever it was… didn't work…  Sam left with Mercedes blessing.”  

Stormy blue eyes were cast back onto Blaine, still beautiful despite all the ire within them, “Your damn dog wouldn't stop following me when I left either!  Now she's dead too because of your idiotic run.”

Blaine gulped as the guilt swarmed over him.  Brittany, the people the Halfling killed, Pudding… would there be any end to things he was at fault for?  “You had the quad… you could have outrun her… she would have gotten tired eventually.”

“Yeah.  Except she didn't.  She kept going.  Everytime I stopped to piss she caught up.  Finally gave up and put her on the damned thing with me halfway here.”

“How'd you even know where to go?”

Kurt blinked a few times, face softening as Blaine watched him access his memories.  

“I just… guessed.  I don't know…”

“Yet you're not a Halfling?” Santana grumbled, “Well you're certainly not normal - though that was already decided awhile ago.”

Kurt looked over at the latino girl, and as his eyes widened, Blaine saw Kurt recognize that, on a miniscule level, Blaine's rescue mission had been a success.  Kurt hadn't noticed anyone beyond Blaine and Sam up until that point, too engrossed in being angry.

“You're alive…”

“Yeah.  Alive and chained to a post.”

Kurt looked over the rest of the community members that were there, counting them off under his breath, “What about… -”

“She killed half of them.”

Kurt swallowed deeply, looking back towards the tall threesome of overpowered creatures.  “Why?  What do they have to gain by killing more of us?”

“You.” Santana spat.

“What?”

Blaine sighed, again pulling against his restraints as he tried to get closer to Kurt.  “They think that you're, maybe, some kind of power source that's prevented them from getting to the community…”

“I… don't understand…”  Kurt looked from Blaine to the other captives, eyes flickering with question.

“Yeah.  ‘cause we do.”  Santana grumbled with no shortage of sarcasm.

“Blaine.  Explain.”

Blaine frowned, looking, as he constantly was, at Kurt and trying to determine how to explain to him that those creatures thought he had some special power to protect and keep them away.  He scarcely understood it himself.

“They think you're a source of power… somehow there's a radius around you that you keep safe the people within it… and keep them out.”

“But they're in it now…” Kurt mused, glancing back at them and then back to Blaine.  “How the hell would I do that anyhow?”

Blaine shrugged, “I don't get it… but… I think there is maybe something to it.  They did this thing where they made us all glow based on the strength of our connection with the power source and I… well I glowed the most, and the one's they didn't kill….”  He looked back towards what was left of the group.  “It's all people that you have relationships with to some degree.  Everyone they killed are people that have been… snubbing you.”

“That doesn't mean anything…”  Kurt huffed, leaning back against the pole as he sat.  Blaine could see by the way Kurt's head tipped back and his eyes shut that he was trying to process the information he was getting.  God, he knew Kurt, and he knew that this knowledge couldn't be easy for him to take in.  He didn't want the responsibility of their deaths on him - even if it was because they had chosen to alienate him and whatever protection he offered.

“They said the power source was moving towards them… and then you came… and the creepy pale, bald one with white eyes wasn't able to use it's powers anymore when you got close.” Blaine continued, hoping Kurt might know why it was happening.  Maybe he had something on him that was really the source of power.  Maybe it was an object.  Maybe… just maybe, there was another explanation.

Kurt shook his head, “I don't… it doesn't make any sense….  I'm not doing anything to do that.”

“I know Kurt…”  Blaine said weakly.  He did.  He had never seen Kurt do anything more than what any other human did - aside from coming back from the dead and taking down a dozen bad apple Warblers….

“I am sorry about Pudding… I know… she was special to you.”  Kurt offered quietly, drawing in a breath.  His rage from before had subsided, though Blaine knew that he'd still be begging forgiveness when they got out of this mess.  If they did.  And if they did, he'd mourn Pudding then.  Grief wasn't conducive to escaping.

They were quiet for a moment, just soaking in the information and letting their emotions settle.  Santana was the one to break the silence, asking the question she always did.

“How's my Eugene and Brittany?”

“He's a perfect angel.  She's… doing better.” Kurt offered, not opening his eyes or moving as he supplied the answer.

“I wish you would've stayed and taken care of them…”

Kurt lifted his head back up then, opening his eyes to regard Santana, “I'd rather you do that.”

“But now… they're unprotected…”

“You really think that's because of me?”

Santana shrugged, Blaine just watching it all, “I don't know… but I know we were happy and safe there.  I was stupid to leave.”

“It was my fault… I should have checked the supplies…”  Blaine countered.

“You're all idiots.”  Kurt asserted, mouth snapping shut the instant he saw the threesome walk towards him.  

“Leave him alone.”  Blaine pleaded as the Halfling came close enough to hear him.

She ignored him, looking Kurt up and down and then looking to the side at the white-eyed one who babbled something to her.

“No.  I'm not.”

All eyes snapped onto Kurt - human and Other as he responded to the words being said in that foreign language.  Again the white-eyed one said something that sounded like gobbledygook to Blaine, and again Kurt answered.

“Yes.  Why?”

Blaine's jaw dropped.  All reservations he had about Kurt being something less than special were completely gone as the exchange continued.  The white-eyed one would speak incoherently and Kurt would respond in plain English.  Back and forth like that for several minutes until the Halfling glanced back to Blaine and smirked.

“Looks like not killing you paid off after all.”

Blaine had no way to respond to that, letting his jaw hang as he watched the interaction continue until Kurt seemed to realize how all the community members eyes were trained on him and he stopped speaking with the white-eyed one to look to Blaine.  “What?”

“You can… understand them?”

Kurt blinked a few times, “Yes… You can't?”

Blaine shook his head slowly.

Kurt was good at remaining reserved.  He could keep his body still and stoic and completely unresponsive to the insults shot at him in the community.  He could pretend to ignore hateful words with ease.  Blaine knew him though.  He knew that no matter what Kurt's body language said - or didn't say for that matter, that his eyes would betray him, and in this moment, his eyes were just as transparent as always.  He was obviously confused at first, and then the clouds lifted in his eyes and Blaine could see recognition.

“It's innate.”

“What do you mean?”

Blaine watched as the Others just watched the exchange.  The Halfling wearing her amused smirk, the hairy one looking bored, and the white-eyed one watching with interest.  

“The language… it's innate.  If you have Other blood, you understand it… no matter what language you happen to be speaking.”

“I don't…”  Blaine began.

“I knew it!  I knew you were one of those creepy pointy eared bastards!”  Santana snapped, interrupting Blaine.

Again, Kurt was still, though his eyes clouded back over and Blaine could see the pain in them.  “I'm…”

“He can't be.”  The Halfing assured them all.  “He's clearly not a pure blood, and he is definitely not of my stock.  Somehow he's a human that has accessed magic.  He will tell us how.”

The white-eyed one chipped in its two cents, even though Blaine couldn't ascertain what that was.

“What was it asking you about?”

Kurt tipped his head just a little to the side as he looked to Blaine, “If I was a Halfling, if I understood their words, how I knew where they were, why I attacked them, what I knew about them, what I knew about the circle….”

“I knew I heard the word circle!”  Jeff piped up excitedly.

“Shut up.”  Several of them directed back to him.  This was not the time to celebrate knowing one word of their language - seeing as how it was innate anyhow.

“How do you have magic?” The Halfling asked then, glowering at Kurt as she stepped in front of him.

“I don't.”  Kurt said stiffly, eyes set back on her, just as challenging.

Her sword was pulled out of its sheath, still stained by Pudding's blood along the edge.  Blaine strained against his bindings to move closer, still unable to move any closer despite how much he wished it.

“Try your answer again human.” She sneered, pointing the end of the blade an inch away from Kurt's face.

Blaine watched the tiny twitches of Kurt's brow, the way his pupils flitted inside his eyes.  He was playing chess.  Once a week, they would play chess together.  Blaine only occasionally beat Kurt - and it was because of dumb luck.  Kurt would look over the board when they played, with the same look he had on his face now.  He was considering possible moves, and the potential outcomes of those moves.  Each choice he made had a string of results that could follow from it, and he needed to be ready for each of them.  

When Blaine won, it was because he made a move that Kurt had always determined was “too stupid for anyone to make” because it seemed suicidal for the piece involved, and therefore Kurt hadn't plotted out the trajectory of that move - opening himself up to an unplanned end.  He had gotten better about planning around those “dumb moves”, but he still didn't understand why Blaine made them, often telling Blaine about the ways he could have better moved after the game was finished.

Blaine just never thought ahead that much.  He enjoyed the process of playing the game.  He didn't understand how Kurt enjoyed it knowing what was going to happen.  The joy for Blaine was in the surprise.

“I don't know.”  Kurt again said, drawing out each word with a breath.  Move made.

“Wrong answer.”

She stepped to Blaine then, and he held his breath as the blade was tucked under his chin and the cold metal pressed into the soft spot above his adam's apple.  He tried not to react, tried to be brave, but he couldn't help but hold his breath.  If he breathed too heavily, he was afraid of piercing expanding skin on the blade.

Again Kurt's eyes belied calculations in his head, along with panic.

When the blade was pressed harder, it drew a wince out of Blaine as his skin was cut and a trickle of blood trailed down his neck.  All Kurt's attempts at being thoughtful went out the window with that.  “My mother was a Halfling!”

Everyone else's eyes, Others included, stared at Kurt, who was now straining against his shackles as he tried to reach for Blaine.  The blade was removed and Blaine lifted a hand as he gasped for breath and pressed his fingers against the cut.  

“Impossible.  Halflings do not procreate.” She stated plainly, stepping back in front of Kurt even though he was now pulling against his bonds to try and get closer to Blaine and check on him.

“She did.”  Kurt insisted, still working on trying to maneuver to Blaine and swearing as he found himself unable to make the connection he wanted to.

There was a murmur between the Others and then the Halfling explained.  “Halflings, while powerful, do not breed.  We are like mules - the best of a horse and a donkey combined, but unable to create new life from within us.”

Kurt was more interested in getting to Blaine and less interested in the reasoning the Halfling was giving him as to why his answer was faulty in her mind. Blaine had drawn his hand back as the cut, smaller than he thought it was, clotted.  “It's okay Kurt…”

“It's not!”  Kurt stammered, looking back then at the Halfling, “I don't care if it's not possible.  That's all I know, and I didn't even know it until a few years ago!  Let him be!”

She snickered, and the fleeting toss of pupils in Kurt's eyes told Blaine that he regretted showing his concern.  Now she knew exactly where Kurt's weak point was and how to get the information from him.  “Quarterlings do not exist.  You will have to try again.”

More babbling from the white-eyed one, drawing the attention of both the Halfling and Kurt.  

“I don't know dammit. ”  Kurt snapped in response to whatever had been said to him.  “I was shot, I had a vision of my mother… she told me she was a Halfling… then I woke up without any wounds.”

More indiscernible speaking, and then the white-eyed one went into the restaurant while the hairy one and the Halfling wandered off to speak quietly.

“I'm going to kill that bitch…” Kurt growled, chains clattering as he pulled again to try and get close to Blaine to inspect him.

“Get in line.”  Santana huffed.

“Don't Kurt….”  Blaine nodded down to his wrists.  “They don't give at all… you'll just hurt yourself.”

“I don't fucking care!  We need to get the fuck out of here!”

“Is that really what happened with the shooting?  With Sebastian?” Sam asked quietly.

“Yes.  Fuck.  Can we discuss it later?  I really don't feel like dealing with my genealogy here and now.”

“Oh I think we should have the discussion.”  Santana pitched in, sitting up and glaring towards Kurt.  “Because I don't think that you should be going anywhere but six foot under if you're really one of them.”

“Are you joking me Santana?”  Blaine snapped, twisting his head and flinching as he reopened the fresh cut with the movement.  “He's clearly no friend of theirs!  And whatever power they think he has is what has protected you, Brittany, and Eugene!”

“But how far does that loyalty extend now that he's in contact with his own kind?”  Karofsky spoke up for the first time in hours, brow furrowed.  He didn't look as accusing as Santana was, but he was obviously concerned.

“They are not my own fucking kind!”  Kurt snapped.  “I grew up human!  I always thought I was human!  I fucking died and found out, surprise!, I'm only about seventy five percent human!  That's still a shitload more than Other… and I don't consider myself one of them for a second.”

“Well you don't now… but what about later?  What about when you have questions?” Karofsky asked, still focused and thoughtful.

Kurt wasn't having it though.  “I don't have fucking questions except for how the hell to get out of these things!  Are you people insane?  Are you really worried about me when those three are probably contemplating how to kill us?”

“You're the one who understands what they're saying.  Why don't you tell us?” Santana hissed.

If it hadn't been for the bonds, Blaine was sure they'd be at each other's throats.

“This is ludicrous!  Calm the hell down.  Santana, Kurt saved your and Brittany's life a few years back and he had made sure Eugene has been healthy and cared for while Brittany went loopy.  Karofsky, he saved your ass too - not to mention Kitty.” Blaine spit backwards.

“Well of course you'd stick up for him.”  Santana stated plainly with a roll of the eyes.  “I'm sure that Other blood in him gives him a tall dick.”

“Fuck off!”
“Shut up!”

Both Blaine and Kurt snapped at Santana at the same time, both with eyes ablaze.  This was ridiculous, Blaine thought to himself, these people are insane.  Why did he bother to seek them out and try to bring them back to the community?  Kurt had never, ever, done anything but try and help them and all they did was find issue with him.  It shouldn't matter what he was or wasn't.  He was Kurt.  He protected them - purposefully or innately.

There was no continuation of the argument though, as the white-eyed one returned from within the building and held out the same token that had been directed to Blaine during his interrogation, complete with foreign words.

Kurt understood though.  He took the offered token and made a small wince and gritted his teeth when he did, letting the little thing fall to the ground.  Blaine saw why immediately.  A pin had ejected from the little device, pricking Kurt's finger and drawing his blood over it.

“Fucking… fuck… fuckers….”  Kurt growled, cradling his pierced finger within the palm of his other hand.  “He just told me to take it so he could check out the authenticity of my story… Asshole.”

The white eyed one seemed unphased by Kurt's duress, picking up the token and slipping it into a rectangular white box which began to light up as soon as the token was submerged into it.  There was a hum, then a light shone up and out of the box, like something Blaine had seen in those sci-fi movies he watched as a kid.  Within the light was a small image of a person.. an Other?  It wasn't clear enough that he could tell from his vantage point.

“That's… my mom..”  Kurt choked out when he saw it, and Blaine squinted at the projected three dimensional light figure.  It was a woman, tall and slim, with Halfling ears.  Still, she had Kurt's colouring - or rather he had hers, and the same ever expressive blue-green eyes.

Kurt never spoke much, if at all about his mother.  She was only ever mentioned in passing and Blaine had always assumed it was because the memory was still too hard and too fresh in Kurt's mind no matter how long ago it had been since she passed away.  Clearly though, there had been other reasons he didn't speak her name.  

“Human name Elizabeth Hummel… Mmm.. called away as we all were twenty years past…”  The Halfling mused as she came up alongside the white-eyed one, reading what Blaine at first had thought was just distortion on the light image, but must have actually been some kind of written language. “Powers of temporal healing…. interesting…”

Kurt sighed and turned his head back down to the pavement, as if looking at the generated image was too hard.  Maybe it was.  Halfling or not, it was his mother, and even though Blaine couldn't figure out how Kurt hadn't realized that until a few years ago given how the image was so clearly of a Halfling, he still understood the pain of loss.  Everyone did.

“Temporal healing?  Isn't that what… Wolverine has?” Sam perked up.

“No you dummy.”  Jeff huffed.  “Wolverine has regenerative powers.  Temporal healing is like… Raven right?”

“Fuck no.  Marvel all the way.”  Sam huffed back just as indignantly.

“No way!  DC!”

“Shut up both you idiots!  Comic books are totally irrelevant right now!” Blaine spit.  Really, he loved comics.  Everytime they'd do a run Blaine would happily stock up on comic books, claiming they were for the library even though they'd end up on the bedroom floor long before they made it to Trent.

The Halfling merely let her eyes jump from person to person, amusement stretched over her face as the tension that built from what appeared to her to be a simple concept.  “Temporal healing would explain this one coming back from the dead… and his existence in general… His mother could have effectively ‘healed' whatever part of her was unable to bear children and thus this… Quarterling was born.”  As she said it, her nose turned up.  The Halfling certainly took issue with someone like Kurt existing.

“She called me her miracle…”  Kurt murmured quietly, looking out towards the lake absently.  

God, Blaine just wanted to be able to hold him.

“Should be fun to determine the limits of a Quarterling's power's though…”  

Blaine's eyes snapped up towards the Halfling woman, eyebrows quirked together.  What did that mean?

He didn't have to wait long to find out.  The hairy one lumbered forward swiped a claw over Kurt's cheek suddenly.  There was no warning, no reasoning, just a few steps and then Kurt yelping out as his head whipped to the side with the motion and a spray of fresh blood splattered in front of him.  Whatever calm Blaine had managed to find was gone in a flash as he once again fought against his bounds and screamed murder at the beast.  Near him, Kurt was also defensive, arms up and head bowed to protect himself against whatever they intended to do next even though the beast was stepping back.

“Oh calm your weak human blood down.”  The Halfling admonished towards Kurt, ignoring Blaine completely.  “We want to see if you possess any healing powers of your own.”

Kurt lowered his protective arm, though kept his eyes on the Halfling warily.  His cheek was gashed and dripping with fresh blood.  It definitely showed no signs of healing up the way it would in the superhero comic books Blaine read, and it made Blaine furious.  It was cheap.  They attacked him when he wasn't able to defend himself.  Like the people in the room below the water.  They had absolutely no sense of honor or fairplay.

The white-eyed one said something and the Halfling nodded, “Yes.  Unfortunate.  Maybe some other tests?”

Things got worse from there.

The hairy one unlatched Kurt's chains from the post and led him over to the field aside the parking lot where Blaine could only watch in horror and cry out until his voice left him as Kurt was beaten before his eyes.  They punched him.  They slashed at his legs.  They did everything they could to hurt Kurt while keeping him awake and alive to suffer through it, and all Kurt did was let out the odd groan and gasping breath, taking it all because he had no other choice but to.

Eventually, they decided their hypothesis was flawed and the Halfling and the white-eyed one returned to play with the little box that had Kurt's mother hovering above it still in suspended light.  The white-eyed one pressed buttons Blaine couldn't see out of his tear glazed eyes and another image was brought up, this time of a male.  The image seemed to surprise them though, both of them taking a step away and looking for a moment before the Halfling mumbled.

“Finavarr…  Well… that explains the innate negation.”

Both glanced over at Kurt, laying on the ground, catching his breath, and looking towards Blaine quietly.  Words unspoken floated between them, ones that made Blaine's heart crumble in his chest.

“Testing to see if he has an innate healing power is clearly futile.  Perhaps we should see if he has an active healing capacity….”  She glanced towards Blaine.  “On someone he may be inclined to use it on.”

Blaine did not like the way that sounded.  Less so when he heard Kurt cry out “No!” from where he was and trying to dredge himself up from the ground, wrestling the chains that bound him to the hairy Other who just held him in place without so much as flinching.

The sword was once again pulled free and directed towards Blaine's face as his breath caught in his throat.  It was hard to see anything else but the reflective tip of metal directed between his eyes by the Halfling, who was paused as she listened to the nonsensical words of the white-eyed one.

Then Blaine saw a flash of metal move before his eyes, and the cry of not only Kurt, but his fellow captives filled his ears before they ran red hot and his own voice joined the fray.  His hand felt like it was burning and when his eyes, spilling over with involuntary tears, looked down, he saw his own blood pooling in the palm of his hand.

“Bring him over now Bruno.  Let's see if he shares any special traits his mother possesses.” The Halfling said, sheathing her blade again and stepping away from Blaine as he tried to choke back the pain shooting up his arm from where he had been sliced from palm to inner elbow.

Kurt was led over by the hairy one, though it was more of Kurt running forward and the hairy one limiting his ability to get to Blaine as fast as he wanted to by trudging along at a gingerly pace.  The instant Kurt got close, he dropped to his knees where his own clothing had been sliced open and cuts were scabbing.  Bruised hands tore a strip off his shirt and quickly bound it over Blaine's arm, the press causing Blaine to gasp and gag as the pain had no where else to go but through his vocal cords while Kurt gently shushed him and held the cloth in place.

All this while the Other's and the Halfling observed.

“Did she cut anything major?” Jeff asked somewhere off to Blaine's side.

“I don't know… I don't know….”  Kurt said weakly, looking around frantically to try and find something, anything that could help.  With nothing available to him, he looked squarely at Blaine and pressed his forehead to Blaine's.  “Shh Blaine… it'll be okay… it'll be okay.”

Blaine was still howling in pain.  Everytime the pain seemed to subside it flared up again the next second.  He wanted to wrench his hand from Kurt's hold and tuck it against his chest and curl up over it.  Kurt's words, while well intended, were not exactly helping him feel better.

“Well… perhaps he's just not a healer.”  The Halfling said, humor in her tone.

“Fix him… please…”  Kurt pleaded, looking back at her.

“I'm not a healer.  My gift isn't remotely supportive in function at all.  Bruno is a shifter… and Ilu… well… their kind just dabble in the sciences.”

“Then get some bandaging… some water so I can clean it… anything…” Kurt's face was turned away from Blaine as he begged, but Blaine could hear the waver in his voice.  

She snickered and shook her head.  “No.  Perhaps another test though… just to make sure…”

“No!”

There was the sound of metal on metal,  a breath taken in, and Blaine winced his eyes shut as he prepared for another hit.  Nothing came though except cursing from the woman, and when Blaine opened his eyes again, he saw Kurt and only Kurt.  His lover was wrapped around him protectively, and the Halfling was bumping her sword in the air where it seemed to keep hitting some kind of invisible barrier.  Somehow, Kurt was protecting Blaine from further harm.

“Well.  That's intriguing…”  

Kurt kept holding on, face buried in Blaine's shoulder and oblivious to what everyone else was seeing.  

“Well holy shit.”  Santana said, watching the scene unfold and drawing Kurt's eyes up, followed by his head, as he looked over Blaine to ensure he was still alright before looking back to see why the Halfling was holding back from the attack he had been prepared to take for Blaine.

“Some kind of protective trait…”

Blaine was greeted once again by blue-green eyes staring at his when Kurt turned his head back.  “Are you alright?”

Blaine nodded.  Truthfully his arm was still on fire, and he felt like his might pass out at any moment from the blood loss, but at least Kurt was there in front of him.  If he died then and there, at least it was in Kurt's arms.

More babbling from the white-eyed one, a grunt from the hairy beast, and the Halfling snorted in turn.  “Water activation.  Indeed.”

Kurt nibbled his lower lip, one hand still held firm against Blaine's arm to stem the bleeding while the other lifted to stroke over Blaine's cheek.  He replied to whatever had been said, though kept his gaze on Blaine.  “I did drown… it was when I was shot….”

Blaine winced, the memory of seeing Sebastian kick Kurt into the drainage ditch flooding through his mind.  

“Bruno.  Take him to the waters.  Before we take him with us, we will see the true extent of his powers.”

So much of what the Halfling woman said didn't work for Blaine, and even though he was sure he could drift off to sleep right there, he pushed himself to sit up straighter as Kurt was pulled away from him by the beast, dragged towards the water's edge even though he was fighting to get back to Blaine with each step backwards.

“Kurt…?'  Blaine whined softly, leaning his body forward and trying to reach out to Kurt with his good arm.  Everything felt foggy and imbalanced, like the world was off center below him, and all he knew of to do was try and anchor himself with the one person he knew could make it happen but that person was being pulled away.

“Oh shit… they're going to hold him under water….”  Karofsky's voice sprang up like punch to Blaine's gut and he held his hand out as far as he was allowed to reach it, croaking as he repeated Kurt's name over and over in a desperate plea.  He could see Kurt being dragged into the shallow end of the water, the hairy beast on one side of him and the Halfling on the other.  He cried and cried out as he watched them force his husband's head down, watch them hold him back below the surface despite the frantic flailing of his arms and legs, watched the bubbles burst on the surface above him, and then watch everything go still.

Including the beating in Blaine's chest.