-Amherst, Colorado-

"What are you doing here, Dad?" Blaine's voice came out harsh. He glared at his father.

Michael Anderson was an imposing figure. He was taller than Blaine, slightly taller than Kurt, with broad shoulders and short dark hair and hard hazel eyes. Blaine felt his body instantly straightening: head up, shoulders back, spine rigid. He never felt smaller than when he was under his father's gaze.

Kurt put a hand of his shoulder and squeezed comfortingly. Blaine was grateful. He sucked in a deep breath and tried to beat his tension back. For Christ's sake, he was twenty-two. His father should not be able to have this effect on him anymore.

Michael didn't answer right away, but his eyes flickered between his son and Kurt. "Who is this?" he asked with his commanding voice.

Blaine stiffened and grabbed Kurt's hand. "This is my boyfriend. Kurt Hummel."

They stood in the motel room, staring at each other silently. Blaine shook with the effort to not give away that he was terrified.

It wasn't that Michael Anderson was a bad man. On the contrary, he did the best he could to do right by Blaine. He just didn't approve of the boys or the love of music. Blaine knew this, but it still hurt when his father always looked at him with disappointment.

"Pack your bags, Blaine. We're leaving." Michael didn't take his eyes off of Kurt, who stood proud with his best fuck-you face.

"What? No, I want answers!" Kurt squeezed his hand, but Blaine's mouth kept running. "You can't barge back into my life and order me around! You lost that right when you left me seven months ago with fifty dollars and a car!" Blaine realized he was shaking and tried to calm himself down. He couldn't explain what happened to him when his father was around. For some reason, the presence of the older man just put Blaine on edge.

Michael drew himself up to full height, fixing his hard, dark eyes on Blaine's. Blaine swallowed hard. His father didn't take well to being yelled at. Blaine stood his ground.

The explosion never came. "There's a war coming." Michael said.

Blaine furrowed his brows at the topic change. "Yeah. We know."

Michael just nodded. "We need to prepare. Your mother is waiting for us. Go get ready." Blaine didn't move. He needed to know if…

"He can come too." Michael flicked his eyes over to Kurt.

"Yes, sir." Blaine said, instantly. "Just do what he says for now," Blaine muttered to Kurt. "He'll explain eventually." Kurt frowned and glared at the man standing by the window, but let go of Blaine to comply. Blaine saw Kurt wince and touch his side when he bent over and he rushed over to help. Kurt just waved him away and hoisted the bag over his good side.

He glanced at his father, who just stood with his arms crossed and a distrustful look at his face. He knew his father didn't like that fact that he was gay, but Blaine always hoped that he'd at least treat his future boyfriends with respect.

And not look ready to maul him every time said boyfriend touched Blaine.

"Kurt, put it down. We have to fix your side first." Blaine gently tugged the bag off Kurt's shoulder, not particularly liking how gray Kurt's face had gotten.

"Your dad wants us to leave. I can wait." Kurt said, but his breathing had turned harsh. He met Michael's gaze evenly. "I'm fine. I can handle it."

Sometimes, Kurt was so stupid that Blaine wanted to smack him upside the head. Blaine stepped closer, ignoring his father behind him. "You don't need to prove anything to him," Blaine muttered.

"Yeah, I do," Kurt didn't drop his gaze. "I worked in a garage most of my life. People like your father make snap judgments about others and I'll be damned if he sees me as weak."

Kurt was right. Michael was never one for ignoring stereotypes. And Kurt looked gay in a way Blaine never would. With Blaine, Michael could ignore that part of him and pretend he was straight. But no matter how much dirt was caked in under Kurt's fingernails, no matter how many leather jackets and ripped jeans he wore, Kurt was gay. And Michael couldn't overlook it.

He shot a glare at his father. His boyfriend shouldn't have to suffer to prove a point. But then Michael surprised him.

"Blaine, start packing the car. I'll take care of him." Michael shrugged out his jacket, draping it over the bed.

What his father was playing at, Blaine couldn't figure out. He glanced at Kurt, who seemed equally shocked at the sight of this huge man unpacking a first aid kit and clean towels from one of their duffels.

When Michael saw that neither of them had moved, he chuckled dryly. "Well hurry up, Blaine, your mother is waiting a state over. And Lord knows you can't stitch in a straight line to save your life." He grinned wryly.

Blaine's father had a point. But he still didn't want to leave his boyfriend alone with his father. Embarrassing stories aside, he didn't trust his father to do something to Kurt. Not kill him per se, but hurt him. So he stalled, until Kurt shoved him off gently.

"We'll be fine. Do what he says." Kurt said quietly. "I didn't want to scare you before, but I'm kind of bleeding a lot and I'd rather get this fixed sooner than later." He pressed a quick kiss to Blaine's forehead and squeezed his hand.

Blaine bit his lip and looked at his father. "Just be careful," Blaine whispered.

Kurt smiled at him. "You're just scared he'll tell me silly stories about what an adorable little kid you were," Kurt teased, lightening the mood.

"You got me," Blaine laughed. He grabbed a few bags and walked to the door. Just before stepping out, he glanced back to see Kurt stripping his shirt off and his father waiting with antiseptic and towels.

He really hoped this wasn't a mistake.

Kurt sat down on the edge of the bed, masking his pain. The wound looked ugly and still oozed rivulets of blood. There go another pair of jeans, he though sadly. Hunting was not conductive to fashion. Michael frowned as he inspected the bite.

"Let's move this to the bathroom," he sighed. Slightly worried, Kurt followed. He sat of the edge of the tub, chest bare and pants low on his hips. Michael perched on the toilet seat, laying the towels and bandages on the floor. "Lean over the tub," he instructed.

Wincing as the movement jarred the wound, Kurt did so by lying back, bracing himself on the wall behind him. The cool tile felt wonderful on his skin, and Kurt closed his eyes briefly. This was such a weird day.

"I'm going to rinse your bite with the antiseptic. It might sting a little." Kurt just nodded, biting back a yelp when the cold liquid splashed on the bite. Sharp pain flared up and reverberated throughout his body, but Kurt kept stubbornly silent. He needed to impress Mr. Anderson.

Michael rinsed the antiseptic off with lukewarm water from the faucet, pouring it gently over Kurt's side and letting the pink runoff fall into the tub. He patted it dry with a clean towel. Without the blood, the wound was smaller, though still deep. Teeth marks made a wide circle that stretched from Kurt's hip to just below his ribs as well as touching on his front and backside. Michael frowned as he studied Kurt's injury.

"I'm not sure if we have enough gauze," he muttered, eying the pile of bandages. "Each tooth mark is too small for stitches, but they clearly should not be exposed." Kurt just shrugged, figuring he should keep silent. He made a mental note to go over first aid with Blaine. How could he survive this life without even knowing how to dress a wound? "I'm going to have to wrap it. Alright, sit up." Michael waited for Kurt to be upright before ripping several gauze packets open.

"Dad?" Blaine stopped at the door. "The car's packed up." His eyes flickered over to Kurt for a second.

Michael nodded and held the gauze against Kurt's body. The blood immediately was soaked up, and he pressed firmly. "Hold these," he told Kurt, who did so. "Blaine," Michael said while he readied the medical wrap, "I need you to go in my car. There's a medical kit—"

"—Under the driver's seat." Blaine finished. He half smiled. "You haven't changed much.

"Clearly not," Michael muttered. He tossed Blaine the keys. Kurt held the end of the wrap and he began winding it around Kurt's body to hold the bandage in place. "Get the antibiotics out. Just in case." Blaine nodded and left, though not before shooting a loving look at Kurt.

The bandages pulled tightly and firmly around his side, though the pain had faded to a dull ache. Kurt was grateful. Michael clearly could have been a lot rougher, but he had cared for Kurt as well as he would have for Blaine. Kurt watched the older man tie off the bandage.

Michael resembled Blaine. They had the same hair and the same skin, even the same color eyes. But while Blaine's could be laughing with joy, deep with love, or wide with terror, Michael's were hollow. Filled with pain.

Kurt wondered why.

"I don't like you with my son." Michael sighed.

"Why not?" Kurt braced himself. The reasons were endless: too flamboyant, not a real hunter, not a girl…

"You're dangerous." Michael stood up and faced Kurt. He voice was flat. Just laying out the facts.

Kurt thought for a second. He was dangerous. He knew that, even more so than Blaine did. Sebastian had hinted as much. And it seemed like Michael knew more about Kurt than he was letting on.

"Do you know who I am?" Kurt asked quietly, not daring to drop his eyes. His heart thudded in his chest.

Michael crossed his arms. "You're Kurt Hummel. Every hunter knows who you are because every demon in the country is looking for you." Kurt suddenly felt cold. "The most dangerous demon out of hell at the moment is trying to find you. Sebastian. And he won't stop until he does. That demon will destroy anything to get to you. Including my son." Michael's voice broke slightly on the last sentence.

"I know," Kurt whispered. It was hard to breathe. "I know he's looking for me. I don't know why he needs me." Lie, his mind supplied. You know. At least part of the reason.

"If he finds you, he will kill Blaine."

"He won't find us."

"I found you."

Kurt fell silent. He was putting Blaine into danger. He knew. But he couldn't stop.

"Blaine made his choice." Kurt took a deep breath. "He chose this. He chose me. And he knew the risks. I can't leave him. Blaine is all I have now, and I love him. I really, really love him, and I can't leave him." Kurt felt his eyes burning with unshed tears but he pushed them away. "Blaine saved me in more ways than one. He's…amazing. You should be proud of him. And I hate that I put him in danger and I hate that he could be used against me, but Blaine deserves to be respected. I can't control him. And neither can you." Kurt kept his gaze steady as he stood up. "Thanks for wrapping me up," Kurt muttered as he pushed past Michael to find his shirt.

Michael grabbed his arm. "You're going to destroy the world. And I don't want my son involved. Don't use him as a shield." Anger flared in his eyes.

"You don't know me." Kurt hissed. He ripped his arm away and left Michael kneeling in the bathroom.

He almost ran into Blaine. Without a word, Kurt snatched the antibiotics from Blaine's hand and stalked out to the car, leaving a confused Blaine in his wake.

They could pack up their own damn stuff.

Blaine followed his father's car towards Missouri. Kurt was curled up in the seat next to him, staring out the window and generally not talking. Blaine silent cursed his father for not being able to keep his damn mouth shut for five seconds. Sonic Youth's Teenage Riot echoed from the speakers and Blaine tapped the steering wheel to the beat.

The chords calmed him, and Blaine nodded along to the song. There had to be a way to talk to his boyfriend without pissing him off even more. It wouldn't be easy, though.

"Kurt?" Kurt blinked and looked at him. Blaine sighed. Kurt was royally pissed. "Look, I'm sorry about anything my dad said," he started, but Kurt was shaking his head.

"You don't get to apologize for that asshole," Kurt glared at the car in front of them. He didn't talk for a while. Then, in a soft voice"He accused me of using you. For protection."

Blaine almost crashed the Mustang. "He what?" Blaine considered ramming the Mustang into his father's car. How dare he? Kurt was the best thing to ever happen to him no thanks to his father who just up and abandoned him without so much of a goodbye.

He took deep, even breaths, counting between them. It didn't help. Blaine still wanted to punch his father.

Kurt eyed him, obviously worried. "Blaine? Please calm down, I don't want you and your dad to get into a fight over me."

"He insulted you." Blaine clenched the steering wheel.

"He was worried about you." Kurt sighed when Blaine rolled his eyes. "I'm not saying I'm his biggest fan, but he's just trying to protect his only son. And…maybe he has a point." Kurt bit his lip and became very interested in the window view.

No. Blaine had to consciously make sure he didn't crash the car that time. "No." Blaine glared at the back of Kurt's head. "No, he doesn't have a point. We're done talking about this." He would not consider losing Kurt. Not when he just found him.

They were silent until the motel.

-New York, New York-

Rachel Berry was not having a good day.

She was in a basement with her hands tied to a pipe overhead, gagged with a dirty cloth, hadn't eaten in several hours, and was covered in dirt and grime. Plus, the warehouse was grungy and smelled like the inside of Finn's gym bag, which meant the air could not be good for her lungs and that was just tragic. As a highly famous Broadway star, Rachel needed her lungs to belt out Barbra-esque notes. A few high, broken windows let in just enough moonlight to see around the dilapidated and empty warehouse, and Rachel could swear she saw a rat hiding behind that creepy altar thing in the corner. She thought she could hear the sound of running water outside. Rachel yanked on the rope, wincing as the movement jarred her sore arms. The pipe didn't budge.

What had she gotten herself into? Rachel pulled on the rope again, but it remained tight and unyielding. She wished she could put her arms down.

She shouldn't be here. It was no place for a star. Tear welled up in Rachel's eyes. The very last thing she could remember was going to meet Jesse at his (and Kurt's) old apartment and then…nothing. Just blackness until she woke up here.

She wished she could sing, but whoever had taken her had taken care of that as well. The gag dug into her cheeks and effectively blocked any and all vocals. Well, he had to show up sometime. And then Rachel would give him a piece of her mind, maybe threaten him with her boyfriend or her fame. People had to be looking for her. Broadway stars didn't just disappear like this, right?

What if this is what happened to Kurt? Rachel went rigid at the thought of her missing friend. No one knew where Kurt had gone. After his dad died, he'd vanished. He wasn't answering his phone or emails and he hadn't logged into Facebook for months. Rachel had launched a huge campaign to find him, but it hadn't led anywhere. Kurt was gone.

There was that one report about the FBI thinking he teamed up with a murderer, but Rachel had dismissed that as a case of mistaken identity. Kurt hated blood and cared about his clothes too much to be caught dead with a gun or a knife. Although that Anderson boy was pretty hot for a criminal.

But now was not the time to be thinking about Kurt Hummel. Rachel had to be prepared to be rescued. Because surely she would be. Rachel thought about the inevitable interviews and books and potential movies based on her ordeal.

Rachel was in the middle of a fantasy about crying about her imprisonment on Oprah when heavy footsteps caught her attention. A voice was talking, sounding bored yet nervous. And familiar.

"He'll come, don't worry…yes, I know I screwed up before…we have his best friend, the boy won't leave her. He's too much of a goody-two-shoes to let her suffer in his place." The door in the fair side of the building opened and a tall, lanky man with wild brown hair came in view of the moonlight. Rachel's eyes widened and she struggled against her bond. The man chuckled.

"Careful sweetie, don't want to bruise your wrists," He winked at her and refocused on the cell phone attached to his ear. "Just give it a few days. He'll show up. Meanwhile, I'm going to have some fun." The man ran a finger up Rachel's outstretched arm and smirked.

When his eyes turned black, Rachel screamed.

-River Falls, Utah-

Kurt knew he'd have to meet Blaine's family at some point, but he hadn't thought it would come down to this. He sighed and picked at the threadbare comforter on the bed as he sat in yet another nameless motel. The Andersons yelled at each other, and Kurt figured he'd have to calm his boyfriend down soon, though privately he thought Blaine had the right to get this out of his system.

Being abandoned by his parents affected Blaine a lot more than he let on, Kurt knew. Burt may not have been always perfect, but he loved Kurt. Kurt was thankful for that.

However, the yelling was going to have to stop because Kurt did not look forward to hearing damage in the near future. He pulled his eyes away from the blanket (and honestly, five loose threads?) and studied the bickering family in front of him.

Michael Anderson was his normal imposing self, looming over Blaine and trying to intimidate his son into backing down. Blaine, surprisingly, held his ground and shouted right back. But the real surprise was Blaine's mother.

Clara Anderson was a small woman with fierce green eyes and wild black hair tied back in a long plait. She dressed like most hunters, with a huge knife holstered at her waist and black combat boots. Her eyes flashed with passion and rage and Kurt was on the receiving end of the worst glare he'd ever faced when she opened the door and saw him standing next to her son. Immediately, she'd launched into a mixed Filipino-English tirade, screaming at Kurt and Blaine equally until his husband attempted to intervene, then she turned her sharp tongue onto him as well.

"Blaine, he is dangerous, why can't you get that through your head!"

"Because I LOVE HIM, Mom! You don't get the right to tell me what to do! Not when you left me!"

"Blaine Michael Anderson, you will not talk to your mother that way! We did what we had to keep you safe—"

"Yeah, 'cause I've been free from danger ever since you left," Blaine scoffed. "He saved my life more times than I can remember, and he NEVER abandoned me or made me feel like shit!"

Alright, Kurt had to admit that Blaine sticking up for him was really kind of sweet. But then Clara's face turned a dangerous shade of red and Kurt figured now was as good as any to intervene. Plus the shouting was giving him a headache and the pain meds for his side were not nearly as powerful as he'd hoped.

"Alright, enough! Shut up, all of you!" Kurt barked. Shocked, the Andersons fell into silence, though Blaine still glared mutinously at his parents. It would have to do. "I think we need to talk about this calmly and rationally," Kurt said, trying to ignore the hate practically pouring off of Blaine's mother. "We all care about Blaine," a scoff from Clara made Kurt rethink his stance on hitting parental units but he refrained, "and we should be able to settle this without ripping each other's head heads off." He patted the bed next to him and motioned for everyone to sit down. They obeyed, though with some grumbling. Kurt fought the urge to hide a smile. Who knew living with Rachel Berry for two years and placating her diva tantrums would actually be beneficial.

Blaine scooted next to Kurt and squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry about this," he muttered. "I have no idea what's gotten into them. I know they don't like the fact that I'm gay, but I thought they'd treat my boyfriend with at least some respect." He glanced at his parents, who were conversing furiously with each other in hushed whispers.

"Blaine, I don't think this is completely about you being gay," Kurt eyed Clara nervously. Blaine had said his mother hadn't had nearly as much of a problem with his sexuality as his father, but right now Kurt was pretty sure she hated him more than Michael did.

The Andersons and their secrets were starting to piss Kurt off. Not to mention how fucking cryptic Michael had been back in Colorado.

Michael sighed loudly, getting their attention. "Look, Blaine," he started, rubbing his face tiredly. "We do what we have to in order to keep you safe."

"I'm an adult, Dad, you don't have the right to make decisions for me anymore." Blaine's hand was cutting off Kurt's circulation but Kurt gritted his teeth and dealt with it.

Waving his hand, Michael continued. "We know. But. Your mother and I both feel that with the world being what it is, it's not safe for you to be around him." His eyes flickered to Kurt.

Blaine stood angrily before Kurt yanked him back down. "How dare you! You better have a fucking better reason than that if you're going to convince me to leave the best thing that's ever happened to me!" Blaine seethed, ignoring Kurt's soothing rubs along his back.

"Language!" his mother interrupted, but Blaine just rolled his eyes.

"Kurt's had to deal with a lot of shit in his life, and he doesn't deserve your judgment. I'm gay, and I love him. You can't change that."

"He will get you killed!" Clara shouted, twisting away from her husband's hand. "That thing will destroy the world and I will not have my son as another casualty!"

It was like all the air in the room got sucked out. Kurt dimly heard Blaine blow up next to him and shout at his mother, but the rushing in his eyes drowned everything out.

Memories flooded back. Of being in Lima, standing in line at the grocery store as the local minister continuously muttered under his breath behind him about eternal damnation and hellfire; awful phone calls at all hours whispering horrible things to thirteen-year-olds; three-letter-words painted on his locker.

Why did the whole world hate him?

"Kurt? Angel?"

Kurt blinked and Blaine's concerned face floated into view. He took a shuddery deep breath. "Yeah. I'm fine." He wrapped his arms around himself unconsciously.

"Bullshit, you're shaking like a leaf."

Kurt pushed Blaine's hands away and turned his view towards Blaine's parents. He had to find out if they knew something more about him. About Sebastian and his "plans."

"What do you know about me?" he asked. Blaine sat down and put a hand on Kurt's shoulder, looking relieved when it wasn't shrugged off.

Michael exchanged glanced with his wife before fixing Kurt with a tired look. "Look, son, I'm sure this isn't your fault. You seem like a nice kid."

"Cut to the chase and tell me why I shouldn't be with Blaine." Kurt cut in quietly. Michael seemed a bit startled by Kurt's interruption, but kept on talking.

"Clara and I were exorcising a demon several months back. A low-level one, barely worth the effort." Blaine's hand tightened on Kurt's shoulder. "He let slip something about a war coming and how we hunters were going to get ours soon. After more interrogation, we managed to piece together the demons' plans."

"Did the possessed live?" Blaine cut in harshly. His nails dug into Kurt's flesh and Kurt reached up and took his hand in his own, rubbing the knuckles.

Michael glanced at his son. "No," he said finally. "The interrogation was too much for the body to handle." He met Blaine's angry glare with a calm one, until Blaine dropped his gaze. "Anyway, we asked around, found out the demon's story had some substance. Things were going to get very bad very fast, and we knew we'd be on the frontlines. So we left you, Blaine. To spare you for a few months."

"It was for the best," Clara picked up. "The demon talked about a human that was born twenty-some years ago; one that had the power the open the gates of Hell and unleash evil onto the world like never before. The demons were looking for the child and they were ready to let it realize its true potential."

Kurt felt the walls closing in again, but he fought the panic down. "That doesn't mean me, though," he said aloud. "I'm just some kid from Ohio who was making dresses six months ago."

Clara actually looked somewhat apologetic. "We didn't know it was you either until Sebastian turned up. He's been on the warpath, tearing America apart for you. You're in every post office, both of you. They have your face being broadcast on every news station from here to DC. Most Wanted Men in America. They even have a story, thanks to you, Blaine." Blaine had the grace to flush. Oklahoma was still following them, it seemed like. "All demons have standing orders to find you and bring you to him. And to take Blaine as well." Clara's eyes watered up.

Sebastian wanted Kurt.

And Blaine. Kurt had a fairly good idea why. Nausea churned his stomach. He couldn't let Blaine be hurt like that.

"So what's your course of action?" Blaine cut in harshly.

Michael eyed his son. "Take him to New Directions and have Schue guard him."

Blaine nodded to himself. "Right. Well, we're leaving." He stood up and yanked Kurt to his feet, pushing him towards the door.

"Blaine, wait!" Kurt fought off Blaine's hold and took a step back. "Maybe they have a point—"

His words died in his throat when he saw Blaine's face. It was a heartbreaking mix of fury, betrayal, and fear. "Don't you dare, Kurt. We're in this together. I won't let them lock you away like—like some animal!" Blaine shot a look of hatred at his parents and stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Kurt jumped at the sudden noise.

Michael spoke first. "Kurt, I know this isn't ideal—"

"It's not." Kurt clenched his jaw shut to stop himself from screaming at him. He wiped at his eyes, hoping he could keep it together for a few more minutes. His head ached and his side pounded and all Kurt really wanted was to curl up next to Blaine and fall asleep in his arms. But he had a few things to take care of.

Michael and Clara stood side-by-side, twin expressions of determination on their faces. Fuck. Hurt hoped they wouldn't hate him too much.

"I told Michael before. I won't leave Blaine." Kurt nodded slightly at Michael. "He means too much to me. But I can promise you this." Kurt took a deep breath as he made his decision. It may not be the smartest, but it felt right. "I will protect Blaine with my dying breath. I won't let anything happen to him. I'd die first."

With that, Kurt turned his back on Blaine's parents and put a hand on the doorknob. He was about to leave when Clara spoke, voice thick with tears.

"You're making a mistake. Give us back our son!"

The words cut deep. Kurt could see it from their view, could see they felt like Blaine was slipping away from them forever. And it was true. Blaine chose Kurt over his family.

"I'm sorry," Kurt whispered. He opened the door and left, leaving the Andersons behind. Blaine was leaning against his car, wiping at his eyes.

He smiled when he saw Kurt, though. Kurt loved that about him. Even when Blaine was upset, he still looked at Kurt like he was the world. Blaine barely let Kurt take two steps before wrapping him up in a tight hug.

"I thought you were going to leave me," Blaine whispered into Kurt's shoulder.

I should have. Kurt tried to push those thoughts away, but they refused to leave. I don't want you to die. He clutched Blaine tighter. "Let's just go," Kurt smiled weakly.

-Holyoke, Pennsylvania-

A bored waitress plopped a stack of pancakes in front of Blaine and a fruit salad in Kurt's general direction. "Enjoy," she drawled, wandering back over to the counter to flirt with a sleazy truck driver.

Kurt eyed his fruit suspiciously. "I used to say that it was impossible to mess up fruit salad, but I'm rethinking that stance," he said, poking a dry melon chunk.

Blaine shrugged, already stuffing his mouth with pancakes.'Astes 'ine t' me," he said around the food. Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Remind me again why I'm dating someone with horrible manners?" Kurt schooled his face into a disapproving look, but the corners of his mouth twitched. Damn.

"'Cause I'm adorable and you love me." Blaine grinned. "Also, sex."

Kurt snorted and threw a napkin at Blaine's face. "Having syrup smeared across your mouth like a five-year-old is not sexy." He saw Blaine's eyebrows wiggle mischievously. Ok, time to head off that train of thought. "I swear to God, Blaine, if a sexual innuendo comes out of your mouth, I'm making you walk."

Blaine pouted, but kept quiet. He worked through the pancakes, though halfway through he began running his foot up the inside of Kurt's leg. Kurt glared, but Blaine just smiled innocently. Hiding a smile in his coffee, Kurt couldn't help but feel sort of happy. Meeting Blaine's parents hadn't gone well, but Blaine seemed to be recovering.

His parents must have done a number on him over the years. Kurt couldn't believe how much more free and relaxed Blaine had become over the last few days. Maybe soon, Blaine would talk to him about his past. After all this business with Sebastian and demons.

Meanwhile, though, he had a boyfriend to tease.

The way Kurt was eating his fruit was massively unfair.

As were the moans of pleasure and lip-licking. Blaine knew for a fact that the fruit was not that good, and yet his boyfriend was practically making out with a strawberry right in front of his face. Blaine groaned to himself and moodily stabbed a syrup-soaked pancake piece. Kurt should not be allowed to make those noises in public.

"You alright, Blaine?"

Blaine glanced up. Oh, he thinks he's being all innocent with those big blue eyes and oh god he's licking his fingers. With his tongue. And his lips are all red from the strawberry. Alright, he has to be doing this on purpose because he knows what that does to me and oh god…Blaine shifted in his seat and tried not to look at Kurt. "Check, please?" he called out, suddenly sweaty and hot in the stuffy diner. The waitress strolled to the cash register with a bored expression.

"Is this payback for the foot thing?" Blaine hissed at Kurt.'Cause this is just cruel." Kurt wasn't paying attention to him though. He looked above Blaine's shoulder, eyes wide and scared. "Kurt?" Blaine turned around.

There was a TV behind the diner's counter, turned to the news. It was too far away to hear the reporter, but the picture was fairly obvious.

A photo of a young woman with long brown hair and brown eyes was flashed. Blaine scanned the caption. MISSING BROADWAY STAR PROMPTS CITY-WIDE MANHUNT.

So she was missing in New York. Kurt must have seen her on Broadway. But he seemed more worried than he should be about a stranger.

"Kurt?"

Kurt dragged his eyes away from the screen. "Her name is Rachel Berry," he said, still in shock. "I…we went to school together at first. Julliard. Then I transferred to FIT, but we shared an apartment sophomore and junior year. I only moved out because of Jesse…" Kurt voice trailed off. "Oh my god, Finn must be going crazy." Kurt suddenly dug for his phone. "I-I-I got to go, be there for him, try to find her, it's only been a few days, she might be okay, where the fuck is my phone?"

Alarm bells went off in Blaine's head. It was too much of a coincidence. Hunters hated coincidences. He put a hand out on Kurt's arm. "Stop. Wait." Blaine said sternly. Kurt huffed, but thankfully obeyed. "Are you planning on going to New York?"

Kurt's eyes flashed and Blaine was reminded of why he didn't piss Kurt off any more than necessary. "Of course I'm going to New York," Kurt said, voice icy. "My best friend goes missing and you think I'm going to just sit around?" he glared before ripping his arm away from Blaine and hunting through his pockets for his phone. He must have kept his contacts when Blaine made him switch numbers.

"Kurt, stop. I don't like this." Blaine declared. "This too random. Sebastian is tearing apart the country to find you and then your best friend from before goes missing? No way. I'm not letting you leave." He crossed his arms. Tough love. Kurt would thank him one day.

Or not. Kurt leaned over the table with a very scary look in his eyes. "Blaine Anderson, you listen to me." His voice was low and dangerous. Blaine swallowed. "Rachel Berry was my best friend. If something happened to her because of me; because it's my fault? No." Kurt shook his head. "I can't leave her. I won't do it."

"Fuck." Blaine breathed. Blaine knew Kurt was loyal to fault, but this? He reached across the table and grabbed Kurt's hand. "Kurt…it could be a trap."

Kurt lifted his chin defiantly. "Let him try. He can't touch me. He can't touch us. Or what we have." He squeezed Blaine's hand, eyes proud and confident.

Oh God, this was such a bad idea. But Blaine didn't really have a choice. Not when Kurt looked at him like that.

"Guess we're going to New York." Blaine tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach.

Please don't let me regret this.

-New York, New York-

Being back in the Big Apple was weird.

Like Kurt was two different persons.

On one hand, a design student back from an extended break, ready to start the new semester fresh. A familiar coffee shop beckoned to him with memories of spending hours at the little table tucked in the back next to the window and the chair that creaked unless he sat in a certain way and the blushing barista that always had his mocha ready by the time he got to the front of the line. The same townhouses he walked past every day to class, the same crowded sidewalks, the same screaming taxi cabs. Like he'd never left.

But Kurt saw the world with new eyes now.

Every darkened alley was a potential ambush, every stranger a possible enemy.

Everything was the same, but shifted.

Even Rachel's apartment.

The landlady knew Kurt, so he waited outside while Blaine talked to her. Kurt wasn't positive if he was an FBI agent or a state trooper this time. He hadn't paid much attention to anything every since the news broadcast and RachelRachelRachel.

He pulled the coat around him tighter and tugged his knit hat down lower. It was supposed to be for a disguise. Kurt used it to hide. He kind of wanted to throw up.

Rachel could be dead or dying and it was entirely his fault.

Kurt thought about just turning himself in to Sebastian. To protect the ones he loved.

Like Blaine.

Blaine would kill him if he tried.

Kurt shivered in the cold December air.

Maybe not yet. He had to focus on getting Rachel back first. Kurt was almost positive this was due to Sebastian, His stomach lurched again and Kurt swayed a bit before he caught himself.

"You ok, dude?"

Oh shit.

Kurt's head whipped up at the familiar voice before he could think better of it.

"Oh my…Kurt!" The tall man in front of Kurt let his mouth fall open and he almost dropped his bag of groceries. Kurt caught them on reflex, mind whirring at a million miles a second.

Letting Finn Hudson see him was definitely not part of the plan.

Finn had a dumbstruck look on his face for a few seconds before breaking into a grin and launching himself at Kurt, bags forgotten on the sidewalk. "Kurt! Oh my god, you're here! You're back!" Finn wrapped his huge frame around Kurt's and squeezed tight. Against Kurt's better judgment, he relaxed, hugging Finn back.

"Missed you, Frankenteen," Kurt mumbled into Finn's shoulder, eyes leaking and smiling sadly. Finn was one of his best friends, and it had hurt to give them up to go with Blaine all those months ago. He pulled away, wiping at his eyes and getting a good look at Finn.

Finn was still freakishly tall with sweet brown eyes and messy brown hair. He still had an easy smile, but it was slightly worn and his eyes were tired. Kurt saw signs of sleeplessness: dark circles under Finn's eyes, shoulders hunched as if the effort to hold them up was too much. Kurt's smile slipped.

"I…I heard about Rachel," Kurt said, not liking the way Finn instantly deflated. "How are you holding up?"

Finn just looked at him before slumping down on the apartment building steps. Kurt sat next to him. Hiding his face in his hands, Finn didn't answer. Kurt didn't push it, but rubbed his back with one gloved hand. Finn had a big heart; which meant he felt things more than most. After a minute or so, Finn gave a great sniff and shot Kurt such a tortured look that Kurt felt his heart break and a stab of guilt shoot through his body.

"We got back together a few weeks after you vanished." Finn choked out, not looking at Kurt. "She took it hard, by the way. All of us did." He glared at Kurt before studying the sidewalk again.

"I'm sorry," Kurt whispered. He wrapped his arms around himself. Blaine would be back soon.

"Um, yeah. I'm still pissed at you for that." Finn wiped his nose with his sleeve and glared at Kurt again, as if daring him to say something about it. The old Kurt would have. "Rachel's been different. I can't figure it out. Right after we started going out again, she got a uh, a lead. In some play…something about directions?"

"'West Side Story'?"

"Yeah, that one!" Finn smiled. "Didn't even audition, the guy picked her out from the streets. She was really excited that first night. And it went really well and then she had a bunch of offers from a couple other plays and she sang like, all the time in the apartment which was really annoying but nice, you know? She was so happy all her dreams were coming true and everything." Finn's voice trailed off. "She didn't come home after rehearsals on Thursday." Kurt watched as his friend seemed to get smaller right before his eyes. "Like, it wasn't that out of the ordinary. She'd been staying out late a lot and not getting in until like three, but she always came home." Finn voice broke and Kurt's arms were around him in a flash.

As he comforted, Finn, something felt off to Kurt.

Rachel was talented. Unbelievably so.

But she was still in college and hadn't quite learned how to balance projecting and overacting. Kurt had spent many nights with Rachel sobbing into his shoulder after yet another failed audition and soothing her feelings when some director tore her to shreds. And landing Maria without an audition on Broadway? That was just unheard of.

Rachel, what were you into?

Kurt's phone rang and he nearly dropped it as he struggled to get it out while holding onto Finn. Blaine. Kurt hit accept, confused. "Yeah, Blaine?" He saw Finn's eyebrows rise but ignored him.

"Kurt, I think you need to come up here." Blaine's voice was serious. "Your friend …just come up here."

Something was definitely off. Poor Finn probably had no idea. Speaking of… "Blaine, I, um. I have Rachel's boyfriend with me."

Pause. "Rachel's boyfriend?"

Kurt made a noncommittal noise.

"You were friends with him." It wasn't a question, so Kurt said nothing. Blaine knew anyway. "Dammit, Kurt, we said no one else!"

"Look, I didn't plan this, ok?" Kurt snapped. Finn stared at him with wide eyes. "They weren't together when I left. But this is his girlfriend; Finn can tell us what he knows. He won't get involved."

Blaine let out a huff of air. "Just get up here. You need to see something."

"I'm sorry, Blaine."

"No, I'm sorry I yelled. Just…get up here. I don't like this." Blaine hung up.

Kurt pocketed the phone and nudged Finn. "Come on. Let's go see Rachel's. And yours, I guess."

Finn eyed him strangely, but got up and opened the building's doors without a word.

Blaine stood by the door when Kurt and Finn entered. Kurt was hit with a wave of nostalgia as he passed through the door. He spent a lot of time in this apartment. He shared it with Rachel for two years before moving in with Jesse. Rachel had kept most of his decorations. Kurt absently brushed his fingers against the dark blue vase on the countertop.

The apartment itself was fairly neat. Little splashes of Finn popped up, from the coat thrown over the couch to the dirty dishes in the sink.

"I was gonna get those," Finn muttered, blushing. He noticed Blaine. "Who're you?"

Blaine glanced at Kurt for a second before holding out his hand. "Blaine. I'm Kurt's…um, I'm a friend of Kurt."

"No." Kurt said suddenly. Finn and Blaine looked at him. "Finn, he's my boyfriend." He didn't miss Blaine's face lighting up. God, the boy was such a sweetheart. Finn narrowed his eyes and Kurt hurried to cut him off. "Anyway, Blaine, what's going on?"

Blaine sobered up quickly. "Right." He muttered. "Finn, right?" Finn nodded, still suspicious. "Do you…have you noticed Rachel acting strangely lately?"

Snorting, Kurt rolled his eyes. Honestly, Rachel was always strange. Full of superstitions and bizarre rituals. Like the ice bath for her face and how she had to have a triple whip soy green tea latte before every audition. From this one coffee shop in Brooklyn.

"Kind of?" Finn said, confused. "Like I told Kurt, she sorta became a star like overnight and then she started staying out really late." He frowned, pulling his eyebrows in tight. "And she won't let me in her closet, but I thought she was just getting like Kurt, 'cause he wouldn't let me near his closet either. Wait, how'd you get in my house?"

"That's because your big hamburger hands don't have any reason to be anywhere near my vintage Marc Jacobs." Kurt said, ignoring Finn's last question. Then he paled. "Oh please tell me my clothes are alright." He'd left Jesse in such a hurry he'd left most of his closet behind. Oh God. What if Jesse threw them out? Or sold them to Goodwill? After raiding it for himself, the greedy fucker. He probably stole that little red scarf with black skulls and gold detailing.

Blaine's hand on his shoulder interrupted his thoughts. "Calm down, tiger," Blaine grinned.

Kurt smacked his hand away. "Shut up. Why did you call us up here anyway?"

Blaine waved Finn over. "I found out why she didn't want you looking in her closet." Blaine led them to Rachel's room. The closet doors were flung open and inside…

"Oh my god," Kurt breathed.

A small black altar was nestled among the clothes. Kurt stared at the large, decorated gold bowl and piles of dried herbs and half-burned candles as Blaine carefully lifted a thick black book from the top. Faded gold Latin script sat on the cover around a strange foreign symbol. Finn just gaped, completely lost as to why his girlfriend would hide such weird things in her room.

"What the fuck is that, Blaine?" Kurt couldn't take his eyes off of the book. It felt wrong.

Blaine sighed and opened it, thumbing through the yellowed pages. "It's a spellbook."

"A spellbook?"

"For witches."

Finn snapped out of his daze at that. "Rachel's not a witch!" he interjected angrily.

Shrugging, Blaine closed the book, but didn't put it down. "Maybe not, but she's pretending to be. This explains her meteoric rise to fame, though." Blaine sat on the edge of the bed, taking in Kurt and Finn's twin confused looks. "Some witches get their power from demons. It may not have been intentional," Blaine hurried to cut off Kurt. "But the power of the spells lies in demon magic. If Rachel used the spells in here, she could manipulate fate in such a way that she would get a huge break. Like landing a lead in a major Broadway play."

Kurt's mind reeled. He knew Rachel was ambitious, but this seemed a little much. Black magic? Christ, Rachel…

Finn shook his head. "No. Rachel is not a witch. She's not! I may be dumb, but I'm not stupid. Witches aren't real."

Blaine looked pained. "Finn, I know this isn't easy to hear, but—"

"No! Shut up!" Finn yelled. He glared at the altar through his tears.

"Finn…" Kurt started, moving closer to his friend. "Finn, Blaine knows what he's talking about. Rachel …"

"Get out. Both of you." Finn said calmly. It sounded out of place coming from Finn's mouth. "How dare you show up after four months after disappearing without a word and start accusing your best friend of something like this?"

Kurt fell silent at the intimidating look on Finn's face. Blaine touched his shoulder and Kurt followed him out of the apartment without a word. At the door, he turned back for a second. "I'm really sorry, Finn." Kurt said, voice trembling. "I'm going to get her back." He left Finn in the empty apartment, feeling like shit.

"It's gonna be okay, Kurt," Blaine pulled him into a tight hug on the steps. "It's just another job. Remember that."

"But it's Rachel." Kurt shook with the effort to not fall apart. This is my fault.

Blaine shook his head. "No. This is a job. An overzealous girl who dabbled in black magic and got overwhelmed. So we have to put things right. Right?" He gripped Kurt's shoulders until his boyfriend nodded. "Ok. So what do we do next?"

Kurt looked at a long crack in the wall behind Blaine. No amount of plaster could fill that. What would he do next? If this was some faceless stranger?

"Talk to the cast of the play." Kurt breathed out. "I'd talk to the cast. She was last seen with them."

Blaine broke into a wide grin. "Yeah. We'll make a hunter out of you yet." He took in Kurt's long look at Rachel's closed apartment door and lowered his voice. "Finn will come around."

Kurt shrugged. "I don't really deserve anything from him." He said sadly.

The play director—a small man with a large bald spot and a sad penchant for enormous purple bowties—kept eying Kurt and Blaine suspiciously, but seemed to accept their cover story of FBI agents. Stanley Towalski had a short temper and a mean bark, but deflated at the first mention of Rachel.

"She was a gift," he sighed, guiding the agents through the set designs to the stage. "Her understudy has been going on, but the girl's an understudy for a reason. No passion. No fire!" Towalski snapped his fingers dramatically.

"Rachel always was a diva," Kurt muttered to Blaine. "These two probably got on fabulously."

On the stage, the cast was engaged in various stages of stretching. They clustered in groups, talking quietly amongst each other. No one was alone. The instant the cast spied Towalski, they abandoned their conversations and flew back into stretches and vocal exercises.

"Back to work! I ain't paying you worthless lot to sit around!" Towalski shot an intimidating glare at a small girl, who squeaked and ran back to her group. Stereotypical director.

Seeing the dancers stretching and the singers warming up by the piano, Kurt had a sudden urge to jump in. But his dreams of Broadway had died long ago. The fact remained that he simply did not fit any current parts, and the bills couldn't be paid with hope. But they could with fashion.

Still, his fingers twitched when the piano began playing. He hoped Blaine hadn't noticed.

Then he saw it.

A head of dark hair, even curlier than Blaine's. The man was tall and thin, and even with his back turned Kurt knew.

"Oh, fuck."

Maybe Jesse wouldn't see him. Maybe he'd just stay over there and flirt with that blonde chick. Kurt pressed closer to Blaine, ducking his head. Blaine shot him a weird look, but continued interrogating the director.

Kurt tried to calm his breathing. It had been months, why the hell was he so freaked out now? It should not hurt like this to see him. Not after throwing him and his current girlfriend out of his dad's house before the service. Blaine hadn't even met him yet. Maybe he never would. He chanced a quick look at the man and then almost died. Jesse was walking towards them, a big smile on his face.

Oh no.

He quickly schooled his face into impassiveness.

"Mr. Towalski! Jen over there has been smoking behind the building for last few days, so if you want a singing Anita, I would go stop her." Jesse flashed a winning grin as the director scowled and marched off, hollering for Jen. The girl in question paled and ran. Blaine let his question die on his lips and glared at Jesse.

"Who the fuck are you?" Blaine crossed his arms. Next to Jesse, who was tall and skinny, Blaine looked like an annoyed, fluffy poodle. This would not end well.

Jesse flashed his brightest smile—his "curing cancer" smile, as he called it—and stuck out a hand. "Well, Kurt, I see you've moved on," Jesse winked at Kurt. "Still a fan of curly hair, I see."

Blaine narrowed his eyes but shook Jesse's hand apprehensively. "You know Kurt?"

Kurt sighed. "Blaine, this is Jesse St. James." Kurt rocked on his feet and bit his lip. "My…ex-boyfriend."

Jesse slid an arm around Kurt's waist tugging him flush against his body. "Oh Kurt, so direct!" Blaine just stared, as if trying to comprehend the sight of Kurt and Jesse together. Jesse eyed Blaine's body hungrily. "I must say, you have many flaws, but taste is not one of them. What do you say we all go back to my place and swap stories and drink until we fuck or pass out? Oh Blaine, wait 'til you see, Kurt loves it when you take your tongue and Jesse's hand wandered down to Kurt's ass.

Rolling his eyes and blushing dark red, Kurt shoved Jesse away and darted next to Blaine, eyes promising pain. Blaine looked torn between fury and disgust.

"Hmm. Figures. You always were a prude, China," Jesse scoffed. Kurt tensed, gripping Blaine's arm tightly. "Why are you here anyway? Oh," Jesse's grin got wider. "Little Miss Rachel Berry? Come to find our very own missing Barbra?"

"You were friends with her too," Kurt said icily. "What do you know?"

Jesse changed his face to one of wide-eyed innocence. "Nothing. She was here one day, and gone the next. So tragic." Jesse pouted slightly. "So young and so much to live for. But we got free publicity so there's that. All the better to help me play a heartbroken Tony," He shrugged.

Blaine's mouth hung open and Kurt nudged him to close it. "Was there anyone in the cast she was close with?" Kurt asked. He felt Blaine's eyes on him, practically screaming You dated this guy? but there wasn't time to deal with that yet. Later.

"No. Most of the cast wanted to kill her after the first week," Jesse said casually. "Too bad she's gone though. Finn must be out of his mind." His mouth quirked up in a smile.

Kurt narrowed his eyes. "Those are our friends you're talking about," he growled, stepping forward. "How dare you."

He got a shrug and a smirk in return. "Well, kitty is showing his claws." Jessed drawled. "Here's hoping you and Fluffy here can save poor Rachel." With a wink, Jesse sauntered away, leaving a frazzled Kurt and annoyed Blaine in his wake.

"Better find Rachel soon," Jesse called out suddenly. "She probably misses her books and the spotlight!" He waved and vanished backstage.

Blaine wrinkled his nose in disgust. "I still can't believe you dated that," he muttered.

"I got an upgrade," Kurt replied absently. Something Jesse said was off. "Blaine," Kurt said slowly, "How did Jesse know about the books?"

Blaine stared at him for a second then sighed. "Oh no."

Her voice gave out a long time ago. Rachel wasn't certain how long she'd been taken since she was certain she'd passed out at some point and she was fed at random intervals.

The ropes dug into her wrists. Rachel blinked away tears at the pain, having given up escape days before. She wondered if anyone missed her.

The warehouse was silent except for a few water drips and snuffling in the dark corners. She let out a small, muffled whimper.

"Hello there, Rachel."

Rachel squeezed she eyes shut at the voice breathing in her ear. No.

"Oh now don't be like that, sweetheart. We've been having such fun together!" A hand caressed her face and slide down her side. Rachel twisted violently away, but the hand clamped to her side with an iron grip and held her in place. "That was rude, my little diva."

She opened her eyes to glare at him. How she ever trusted him, she'd never know. How Kurt ever trusted him. That spellbook was the worst idea she'd ever had. Next to him.

He'd shown up one night after another rejected audition with a bottle of rum and then he was telling her about this book and how to work it. Finding her the bowls and candles and herbs. And then she was the star of Broadway.

And now he held her in the boondocks in some old building, starving her and scaring her.

She'd though he was her friend.

Jesse smiled and ran his fingers through her knotted hair. "He's back, you know. I was so close, too." Jesse's eyes got a faraway look in them. "He was right there. Letting that hunter run his hands all over his body. I wanted to rip that boy's skin off and eat his heart in front of him. But I had to be patient." His voice turned hard. "He's looking for you. I'm sure he'll be able to work it out and then? He'll be mine again," Jesse giggled and leaned close to Rachel's ear, holding her still. "I must say, I missed that perfect body of his," he whispered.

Rachel fought the urge to throw up. Jesse straightened and backed off, slapping Rachel's face. "So just sit tight. I'm sure you'll be 'rescued' soon." Jesse smiled and left Rachel with her stinging cheek and terror.

Who was looking for her? Who was Jesse talking about?

"Kurt," Rachel breathed. She couldn't believe it. There was no way. But it made sense.

She was going to be saved soon. Kurt would find her.

But suddenly, Rachel sort of hoped Kurt would stay away from Jesse. Those black eyes meant nothing good.

Something twisted in Kurt's gut. It was like all of the pieces were right in front of his nose, but for some reason, they wouldn't click.

He and Blaine had asked around after Jesse left and the general consensus was that Rachel usually went to Jesse's place after practice before going home to Finn. And if that wasn't weird enough, all of the girls (and a few guys) turned bright red at the mere mention of Jesse's name.

So he and Blaine were camped out in front of Jesse's apartment building, watching. Kurt hadn't spoken much. New York was bringing back a lot of memories.

Like where he would be if he hadn't met Blaine. Probably would have gone back to Jesse.

Rachel and Finn. Safe and happy.

What his life would have been like.

That one gave Kurt pause and he lowered the binoculars. His dad would still be dead. The nightmares would have gotten much worse much more quickly. Sebastian would have found him. Easily. And used him.

No, Kurt Hummel was never destined for a mundane life.

But a slightly less exciting one would have been nice.

"I used to live in that apartment. Third window up, two over from the right." Kurt said quietly. "It's strange to be back here. I never thought I'd see this place again."

"Do you regret it?" Blaine's voice was quiet.

"No." Kurt said honestly. He didn't. Blaine was worth it, even if he didn't believe it. "Any sign of Jesse?" he whispered.

Blaine shrugged in response, still staring resolutely at the old apartment building. He hadn't spoken much since the theater either.

"Are you mad at me?" Kurt asked in a small voice.

"No." Blaine sighed. He turned around, studying Kurt. "It's just…I've never been anyone's boyfriend before. And I've never had to meet the exes either. And then he shows up and starts talking about you in front of me and I can't…" Blaine clenched his hand to stop the shaking. "I just wasn't expecting that," he muttered, turning back the building.

Kurt nodded slowly. "You know, Jesse wasn't always like that. Crude, I mean," he said. Blaine just shrugged. "I mean it. He was a little full of himself and had an ego the size of the Chrysler building, but he was never cruel like he was today. I don't know what happened." Kurt trailed off, watching the third floor window over Blaine's shoulder. He hadn't seen the inside since before finding Jesse with that girl in their bed. Kurt wondered if they were still together. He doubted it.

They sat in silence.

It was almost three in the morning before anything changed. Blaine had long since fallen asleep against the window and Kurt hadn't had the heart to wake him after the rough week he'd been through. The building was mostly dark except for the lobby. Just after three, though, Kurt saw someone moving in front of the doors.

Kurt elbowed Blaine quickly, rolling his eyes at Blaine's sleepy grunts. The figure was at the door now, and Kurt caught a flash of familiar curly hair. "Shit, it's Jesse," Kurt hissed and yanked Blaine below the window and out of sight. "What the fuck is he doing out this late?" Kurt felt sick at the thought of his ex-boyfriend actually being involved with Rachel's disappearance. Wisely, Blaine stayed quiet. After a few seconds, he peeked outside.

"He's looking around. Now he's getting into a car. You wanna follow him?" Blaine glanced at Kurt, who nodded. Blaine swore softly. New York may be the city that never sleeps, but trailing someone at three in the morning was still difficult. Their street was mostly deserted, which meant he had to give Jesse a good head start. But then he ran the risk of losing Jesse in one of the million side streets New York had to offer.

Well, no point in worrying. "Text Finn." Blaine said as he sat up. He kept his eye on Jesse's dark sedan, letting it get to the end of the block before turning his own car on. "Tell him that we might have a lead on Rachel and that if we don't show up by morning he needs to call Santana." Kurt raised his eyebrow, but obeyed.

Blaine didn't like the feeling growing in his stomach as they followed Jesse farther and farther out of the city. Jesse wasn't even taking any precautions. As far as Blaine could tell, the actor was taking the most direct route possible to his destination. Whatever it was.

Kurt frowned next to him, chewing on one fingernail. He just shrugged at Blaine's attempts at conversation, so Blaine let it drop.

They finally came to a large, old marina about twenty minutes outside the city and on the banks of the Hudson Rivers. The entire complex looked abandoned, with weeds growing through the pavement and half of the roofs caved in. Blaine hung back, flicking his headlights off and creeping forward slowly. Jesse drove to a large warehouse at the edge of the property. He parked, got out, glanced around, and slipped in through a side door. Blaine parked out of sight by a half-collapsed office building and shut the car off.

He glanced at Kurt. "I really don't like this," he admitted. Kurt didn't answer, but hauled the bag from the backseat up to the front and began picking out weapons. Two knives, a shotgun, a bottle of holy water. "Kurt—"

"I'm doing this." Kurt interrupted. He shot Blaine a proud look. "Rachel is my friend. I won't let her get hurt because of me."

Not for the first time, Blaine cursed Kurt's ridiculous hero complex. But he didn't argue and picked out his own weapons: another shotgun, extra casings, a container of salt, and bottle of holy water. "Remind me to stop by Matt's after this. We're running low on holy water."

Something was wrong about this situation. Blaine couldn't shake the weird feeling from the car as he and Kurt crept up to the warehouse. It wasn't protected at all. No booby traps, no guard. The warehouse loomed in front of them as Blaine marched to the door. Which was slightly ajar. They could hear Jesse talking about the play to someone.

No, something was definitely not right.

Could we be wrong? Maybe Jesse is just a freak. Blaine motioned for Kurt to stay behind him as he peaked though the door.

A short brunette girl was in the center of the mostly empty room, her arms above her head and tied to a pipe in the ceiling. A strip of cloth covered her mouth and wild eyes stayed fixed on the other man in the room. Jesse. He seemed even more intimidating in the moonlight, fingering a large knife and leaning nonchalantly against one wall. Blaine sucked in a breath at the sight of his eyes.

"Demon," he breathed, suddenly aware of exactly how unprepared he and Kurt were. Why hadn't they waited for morning? Finn probably wasn't even awake. He heard Kurt unscrewing the water bottle with the holy water. Maybe Jesse wasn't a strong demon. Otherwise the water would do little more than irritate the demon.

"Plan?" Kurt whispered.

Blaine thought quickly. They had surprise on their side. Jesse was still rambling to Rachel about the play she was missing, so he wouldn't be prepared for a sudden attack. Something nagged at Blaine.

This is almost too easy…

"We'll take him by surprise. Jesse is at two o'clock, Rachel at four. I'll hit him with the holy water then the salt shells. You go for Rachel. That's our first priority." Blaine whispered directly into Kurt's ear. Hopefully Jesse was too caught up in his voice to hear theirs. Kurt nodded, handing Blaine the holy water, Blaine could feel him shaking, though more from adrenaline than terror. With luck, it would stay like that. "Ready?"

Kurt squeezed his shoulder.

"Three. Two. One—"

Blaine darted around the edge, holy water ready to be thrown when a hand clamped around his neck and cut off his air.

"Blaine!"

He couldn't breathe. Jesse smirked and squeezed his throat harder. Blaine struggled to keep a grip on the bottle as the shotgun tumbled from his weakened fingers.

"Oh come on, Anderson, that was pathetic!" Jesse laughed. He backed into the room, dragging Blaine along ruthlessly. "Seriously, worst sneak attack ever. Kurtie, you're slipping, dear." He stopped next to Rachel, keeping Blaine in between himself and Kurt. Rachel stared at Kurt with wide, scared eyes, but otherwise didn't look too hurt. Just dirty and terrified.

"Don't call me that." Kurt gritted out. He had his shotgun raised, but Blaine was in the way. "Let him go."

Jesse shrugged, then released Blaine. Blaine sucked in a quick breath. He immediately coughed at the sudden rush of air. Then a tight pressure wrapped around his body and Blaine gasped in pain. Demon magic. Shit, he's powerful. Jesse twirled his finger, spinning Blaine around to face a furious Kurt. Rachel looked like she was trying to say something, but the gag was very effective and all she managed were some short and muffled grunts. Kurt risked a step forward.

Jesse held up a finger. "Take another step and I'll crush his chest." At his words, Blaine let out a sharp cry when Jesse's magic clenched his body tighter. Oh, but this was so bad. Kurt stopped, but his face darkened into a look of rage Blaine had never seen before.

Kurt's eyes kept darting from Blaine to Jesse to Rachel. Blaine could see the indecision. Shooting Jesse meant he risked hitting Blaine. Or Rachel. And Kurt had the buckshot gun, not the salt. Shit. Blaine struggled in Jesse's invisible grip. Kurt inclined his head slightly. What…?

Rachel suddenly kicked at the floor, sending up a cloud of dirt into Jesse's eyes. Jesse yelled in surprised, his concentration breaking as he wiped at his eyes. I can move. Blaine barely had time to think before he dumped half of the holy water on Jesse. The demon screamed as the water made contact with his skin. The acrid scent of burned flesh filled the room and Jesse stumbled backwards, smoking. Kurt wasted no time getting between Jesse and Blaine, shotgun raised threateningly.

Jesse glared from across the room. Steam rose from his body and the skin was an angry red. "That. Hurt." His eyes turned black. Blaine began untying Rachel.

"Don't you dare move." Kurt said, voice low and dangerous. Jesse held his hands up, but kept his eyes black. Blaine shivered slightly as he finally got Rachel's arms down. She almost fell onto him, legs wobbly after being on her feet for several days in a row. Blaine eased the gag off of her, whispering for her to stay quiet. Kurt snorted in front of them. "Rachel Berry does not do 'quiet,' Blaine," he muttered, mouth quirking up.

Rachel laughed quietly before sobering up. "Finn…"

Blaine put a hand on Rachel's shoulder. "He's okay. Just worried about you."

She sighed in relief, smiling. Her grin faded. "Kurt, this is a trap. We have to—"

"I know." Kurt interrupted. His voice was calm. "But I want answers."

Blaine could help but think that power suited Kurt. Even covered in dirt and sweat, he looked beautiful and terrifying.

"How long?" Kurt asked, voice hard. "How long has Jesse been possessed?"

Jesse leaned against the wall, inspecting his fingernails lazily. "Oh a few weeks after you met. Give or take." He flashed a brilliant white grin, laughing when he saw how Kurt trembled. "I was a great actor, wasn't I?"

Next to Blaine, Rachel gasped. "How could you! You lying, traitorous sneak, I trusted you!" For a tiny little thing, she certainly had some spunk. "And-and Kurt! How could you hurt him like that?"

Jesse rolled his eyes. "Uh, demon." He gestured to himself. "Kinda comes with the territory." His expression changed. "Enough. Kurtsie, put the gun down. We both know it's completely useless." Jesse's face turned confident as his eyes shifted to black.

To his credit, Kurt didn't move. "Don't call me that." He snapped. "Was any of it real?" Kurt's voice was so small and hurt and betrayed that Blaine wanted to touch his boyfriend and hug him and keep him safe. But he couldn't give Jesse any more ammunition. Like a relationship.

"Nope." Jesse flicked an invisible piece of lint from his shoulders. "Anyway, read y, sweet thing? I'll even let those useless humans live." Rachel bristled, but Blaine stayed silent. Fear crept up his back at Jesse's eagerness to claim Kurt.

For his part, Kurt kept the gun trained on the demon, but shifted closer to Blaine. "Why bother with a relationship anyway?" he barked out. Blaine glanced at Kurt and saw the anger thrumming beneath his skin. "If you wanted me, why string me along like that? What did it accomplish?"

"Had to keep an eye on our baby," a new voice drawled from behind them.

Blaine whipped around to see a tall, thin man with cold green eyes and a cocky grin leaning against the doorway. The man cocked an eyebrow.

"Long time, no torture, huh sweetie?" His smile turned cruel. The blood drained from Kurt's face, but Blaine had to admire how he kept his face expressionless. Jesse, on the other hand, instantly caved.

"Sebastian." Jesse swallowed nervously. "Y-you got here fast." When Sebastian turned a disapproving glare on the demon, Jesse straightened up, feigning confidence. "I told you the girl would work."

Rachel let out an indignant Hey! before Blaine elbowed her. Something was going on and he didn't completely understand it. But this was the demon that had been slowly driving Kurt insane for months and terrified his boyfriend to the point that Kurt sometimes still woke up screaming. His fingers itched to close around the meerkat-faced man and choke the life out of him.

Sebastian smirked at Blaine's dark look before focusing on Jesse. "Yes, the trap may have worked. But you are cutting it pretty close, Noodle-Head, and need I remind you that it was you who lost Hummel in the first place?"

Kurt frowned and narrowed his eyes as Jesse began protesting. "But it wasn't my fault! He wasn't supposed to come back early that day; I was supposed to have more time!"

Blaine wondered what day he was babbling about. From the way Kurt stiffened, he certainly knew.

The fear poured out of Jesse. "And he was supposed to be coming back to New York! How was I supposed to know about Anderson showing up and taking him away?" Jesse's eyes were wide and sulky.

Kurt stared at Jesse with a frighteningly blank expression. "You'd cheated on me before. That day was just the first time I caught you."

Unsurprisingly, Sebastian ignored Kurt's betrayed whisper. He sauntered over to Jesse, grabbing the demons thick curls and forcing his head back. Jesse swallowed. "You were supposed to keep him close." Sebastian's voice held carefully controlled rage. "You were supposed to keep him with you while we prepared him for his destiny by slowly chipping away his old life."

Blaine felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on him. Slowly chipping away his old life meant…

"The succubus." Kurt choked out. His grip on the shotgun turned white and he squeezed the cold metal. "That was your plan. You let that bitch out so she could murder my dad. So I wouldn't have anyone to go home to." He shook slightly, and Blaine risked a quick brush of his fingers against Kurt's hip. Kurt didn't react.

Rachel suddenly pulled Blaine down so she could whisper in his ear. "Kurt feels weird," she said.

"What?" Blaine tried to focus on Rachel but was distracted by the delighted look that came over Sebastian's face.

She humph-ed impatiently. "I said he feels weird! His...aura…is all off. It doesn't feel right." Rachel wrapped her arms around herself, shivering. "I'm a witch; I'm much more in tune with the spirit world than most. But Kurt feels different."

Blaine nodded, frowning. He could tell the atmosphere in the warehouse was strange. It felt like something was growing and building and the air practically pulsed with power. Kurt…

Sebastian cackled, a horrible sound. He clapped sarcastically. "Congratulations! Give the boy a cookie." He winked at Kurt, and Blaine barely had time to drop his weapons and wrap his arms around Kurt before his boyfriend charged the demon and got them all killed.

In his grip, Kurt struggled violently and let loose an impressive stream of curses that made Rachel blush and Jesse look almost impressed. Strangely, though, Sebastian didn't appear too worried about Kurt's outburst. Warning bells went off in Blaine's mind.

Kurt suddenly stopped and stood stock-still. He ignored Blaine's comforting strokes and soothing whispers. Blaine was scared. He'd never seen Kurt's eyes filled with that much hate before. It scared him. Kurt wouldn't even look at him. Sebastian wore a look of approval, as if the rage was his goal all along. Blaine brought his lips to Kurt's ear.

"Kurt…" No reaction. Blaine pressed on. "Kurt, baby, you have to calm down; don't give them what they want." He searched Kurt's face, but there was no change. But Kurt dragged his ice-cold blue eyes to Blaine.

"Blaine," he said, and Blaine kind of wanted to cry because this was not the boy he loved, "Shut the fuck up and let me go so I can rip his heart out with my bare hands." Even Rachel took a step back at the cold fury in Kurt's voice. Kurt glanced at the movement before hardening his face once more.

"Kurt, please," Blaine whispered. He knew Sebastian and Jesse were watching them, probably biding their time, but he needed this. "Kurt, please."

He glared, but Kurt's eyes softened. "Blaine—"

"Enough. I'm bored." Sebastian interrupted. He crooked a finger, and Kurt was torn out of Blaine's grasp and thrown into the wall with a sharp crack. Blaine yelled as Kurt collapsed in a heap on the floor, clutching his head. Blood trickled over his fingers. "Get the girl." Sebastian barked at Jesse, who crossed the room in two strides and caught Rachel before she could bolt. He twisted her arms behind her back, ignoring her cry of pain, and roughly gripped her hair to hold her head steady.

Blaine never felt more exposed. He couldn't even consider running, not without Kurt. Faced with two demons, one extremely powerful, Blaine suddenly realized he had a good chance of dying tonight.

Well. Better go down with a fight then. He readied himself, knowing hand-to-hand with a demon is about as effective as throwing a rock at an incoming wave, but he had to try. For Kurt.

Who was trying to stand up. Blood coated half of his face, but Kurt used the wall to get to his feet. Sebastian watched with amusement; Blaine with fear. Kurt took a shaky step forward.

"Oh now, none of that," Sebastian laughed. He waved his hand and Blaine ducked as the pipe Rachel had been tied to ripped itself out of the scaffolding. Kurt's eyes widened as the pipe curved into a U-shape and flew across the room, catching him around his chest and pinning his arms to his side. The ends buried themselves into the metal wall, effectively trapping Kurt.

Panic overtook the rage in Kurt's eyes as he struggled against the unmoving metal. "No Kurt choked out. "No!"

"Shut up!" Sebastian snapped. He turned his back on Kurt and stood in front of Blaine, running his eyes over Blaine's body. Blaine had the urge to curl up in a ball and hide. He'd never felt so exposed before. Sebastian reached out a finger and stroked Blaine's cheek lightly, humming in appreciation. Blaine fought down the urge to be sick. It felt nothing like how Kurt touched him. Then Blaine realized he couldn't move. Sebastian's smirk got wider when Blaine's muscles trembled with the effort to break free and get to Kurt. "What do you say, Kurt?" Sebastian gripped Blaine's chin and forced him to look at Kurt. "Shall we recreate some of the fun times we've had in your head?"

Turning that white could not be healthy. Kurt's expression turned dark and furious. "Don't touch him."

Sebastian trailed a long finger around Blaine's pulse point on his neck, caressing the skin. Blaine inwardly panicked. He remembered Kurt screaming every night and clutching at him; scared of waking up to find Blaine in a pool of blood.

Blaine wasn't afraid to die. He'd lay down for Kurt in a heartbeat.

But he couldn't let Kurt watch this.

"He's pretty." Sebastian traced Blaine's shoulder. Blaine sucked in a breath as Sebastian dragged a finger down the front of his chest. He froze in place and squeezed his eyes shut. God, if only he could move he'd kill Sebastian so fast that the vessel would be completely useless and he'd have to leave for a new one. But magic kept his arms tight at his sides and his feet cemented to the floor. Hands felt up his arms and trailed down his back, inching closer and closer to—

"Let. Him. Go."

Blaine let out a breath when the warmth of Sebastian backed away from his body, then opened his eyes at the cold tone in Kurt's voice. Rachel whimpered behind him, but Blaine stared at Kurt.

The air was even thicker; tenser, like a single spark would ignite it. Kurt's chest rose and fell heavily, and his eyes…

Blaine blinked. Kurt's eyes were still blue, but he could swear the whites were almost gone. There was no mistaking that look of fury, though. And his voice was deeper. Kurt…

Smile widening, Sebastian actually took a step closer to Blaine. "The little gayface is acting tough! Isn't that sweet, Jesse?"

Jesse nodded mutely. He looked nervous.

"I've got to get new help. No sense of humor." Sebastian shrugged and slung an arm around Blaine, pressing close to his side and throwing a quick look at Kurt. Kurt narrowed his eyes as Sebastian resumed feeling Blaine's body. "Oh, I knew you were hiding something under here," Sebastian crowed, running his hands low across Blaine's stomach muscles. Blaine squeezed his eyes shut, humiliated. How the hell could he get out of this?

"Kurt, he has a beautiful mouth. Are you well acquainted with it?"

No. Please no.

Blaine hadn't realized it was possible for someone's face to radiate that much hate. Sebastian didn't seem to care that Kurt looked like he was planning a long and painful death for the demon; he just pressed closer to Blaine in a sick kind of embrace.

"He's a little short for my tastes, but on his knees, he's the perfect height."

Don't let him know you're scared. Blaine stared over Sebastian's shoulder. When he felt Sebastian's hands wander south, though, Blaine couldn't help but send up a quick prayer. Please someone help us…

The atmosphere got thicker, rolled and churned. He could feel the rage, couldn't Sebastian, why wasn't he scared?

"I'm sure you know what I mean, though, right, Kurtsie? Oh yes, Jesse told me about your little nickname. But Blaine on his knees, oh, that must turn you on so much. How you can flip him over and shove in and fuck him deep and dirty. And he likes it, doesn't he? Blaine has cockslut written all over his forehead." Sebastian tapped Blaine's temple and grinned. Blaine concentrated on not throwing up at the awful things the demon was saying. Because he and Kurt loved each other, and Kurt would never treat sex like that, like Blaine meant nothing. They meant something. "Is he like that with everyone?" No, you bastard. "I think we should find out."

A sudden pressure on the back of his neck forced Blaine to his knees. Oh no no no I can't move help someone please—

Blaine squeezed his eyes shut at the sound of zipper being pulled down.

Then all hell broke loose.

"NO!" Kurt screamed, and then the pipe around his chest flew off, almost clipping Sebastian's head as it soared across the room.

"Damn…" Sebastian stared at the bent and twisted metal that finally landed thirty feet away.

Blaine couldn't take his eyes off of Kurt.

Blue. His eyes were completely blue and glowed. Kurt's fists were clenched and his body shook. Oh Jesus this was so not good.

Kurt had never really understood what they meant when people talked about "tunnel vision" until he saw Blaine on his knees in front of his torturer.

But that sight…Blaine's scared hazel eyes, how he couldn't move…

Everything else fell away.

Kurt's vision went blue.

NO

NO

Power surged through his body, shaking his bones and rushing out into the room in an unstoppable wave. He was free; he could move, though he didn't know quite where that pipe had gone. But Sebastian was in front of him and hastily backing away from Blaine, hands up in surrender. His face still held a triumphant grin, which was just unacceptable. Kurt fingers tingled and itched, and Kurt balled his hand into a fist. He glanced at Blaine, who looked even more scared than before.

Blaine, no, it's just me, but I can't help this I can't

That wasn't important. What was important was getting Blaine and Rachel away from Sebastian and his plans. He saw Jesse was long gone, probably teleported or something. Rachel had gotten Blaine to his feet, so Kurt focused on Sebastian.

"Don't ever come near him again." Kurt wondered briefly at his voice. It sounded deeper. Thicker.

"You ready to face yourself?" Sebastian smirked. "You belong with us, you know. With me. Not them."

It was hard to think with the rushing in his head. Kurt squeezed his eyes shut, pressing a hand to his forehead where a pounding headache began.

"This isn't your place," Sebastian said. "You don't belong here. Hear me, Kurtsie? You don't belong. And you never will."

"Shut up," Kurt whispered. God, but his head hurt. Someone was pounding a nail through his skull, and Kurt fell to his knees. "Stop it."

"Come with me, and I'll stop the pain."

God, that was tempting. But…

"Kurt!"

Blaine?

"Kurt, stand up!"

He tried, he really tried, but his legs didn't feel right, and he fell once, twice before he got to his feet. He couldn't see; who knew foggy vision actually meant "foggy" vision? Thick grey clouds rolled in front of his eyes. Sebastian laughed, high and evilly, and there was a shout and then Sebastian grabbed his arm.

Kurt barely thought before he brought up a fist and punched Sebastian in the nose. The arm disappeared, but he vaguely saw Sebastian fly across the room and crash into a pile of metal rods.

What…

The room fell silent. Kurt looked around, trying to see why, but the fog was getting thicker and his head pounded, and was that blood dripping out of his nose?

Kurt forced the pain back until his vision cleared enough to see Rachel next to Blaine, who was still collapsed on the floor and staring at Kurt with something a little like awe but a lot like fear and Kurt couldn't under why because he was still himself just more. The power rolled over and through him and Kurt stumbled from the sheer force of it.

A wall of air smacked into his chest and ground him into the ground, and Kurt cried out when he felt some of his ribs crack. Sebastian stood at the end of the warehouse, drenched in blood but still smiling, what the hell. His shoulder was lopsided. Kurt realized it was dislocated but that clearly meant nothing to the demon. The air pressed down harder and Kurt let out a whimper and coughed up flecks of blood.

"Kurt, come on!" Rachel's shrill voice cut through the haze of pain. The pressure let up somewhat, then he was being clumsily yanked to his feet. "You're more powerful than this, use it! Blaine, do something!"

God, his head hurt. Kurt tried to focus, tried to concentrate and control that weird power flowing around him but it just slid through his hands like water. He felt like screaming in frustration but he had to hold Sebastian off, had to protect Rachel and Blaine. Blaine, who was yelling something but it was so hard to hear and Sebastian laughed at his efforts, long and taunting and Kurt gritted his teeth and grabbed that damn power and caught it.

It rushed through his blood again and Kurt realized too late oh shit oh shit too much but he managed to focus it enough to shoot at Sebastian's rapidly fading pearly white grin. Then Sebastian was gone the fucker, Kurt wasn't done with him yet, how dare he vanish. The power left and Kurt pitched forward to his knees, head pounding and throbbing and his vision clouded over again and it hurt everywhere.

Blaine and Rachel were yelling at him and each other, but Kurt couldn't understand them. His ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton. His chest ached all over and he coughed, tasting blood. Then Kurt felt someone grab his hand and whisper that it was okay, that he'd be fine, but Kurt seriously doubted it with the way his head throbbed. A tall shadow stepped in front of him.

"Damn, dude, you really did a number on yourself, didn't you?"

The last things Kurt saw before he slipped into blissful gray were a pair of shadowy wings and a strange mohawk.

Waking up came slowly.

First, pain.

Everywhere.

His skin felt stretched too tight and he was sweating but so cold and all around Kurt felt too miserable to much more than let out a pained moan. A cool washcloth was laid on his forehead.

"Hey, baby."

Kurt couldn't resist a small smile. Blaine. He forced his eyes open, wincing at the bright light until Blaine's face swam into focus. He looked tired and drained, but grinned when he saw Kurt was awake. "Blaine," he croaked. Oh God, he even sounded awful. What the fuck had even happened?

"You've been out for a few hours," Blaine's soothing voice washed over him and Kurt shut his eyes again. It hurt too much to keep them open. "How do you feel?"

"Like shit," Kurt mumbled. He squeezed Blaine's hands, thankful for the familiarity of the gesture.

"You look like it too."

Kurt's eyes flew open at the strange voice. He tried to sit up, but his head suddenly exploded with pain and Blaine hastily forced him back down on the couch.

Someone smacked someone else. "Shut up, you brute!"

Rachel. Just the voice he needed when his brain felt like it was being ripped from his skull. He groaned again.

"Relax, Kurt, relax. We're at Rachel's and Finn's. And we sort of…picked up company in the warehouse."

This was too much information for just waking up. Kurt narrowed his eyes but turned his head to see Finn and Rachel together on a love seat. Sprawled on top of another chair, though, was a tall man in a tight white shirt and a short mohawk. And behind him—

"Why do you have wings?" Kurt couldn't look away from the black shadows coming out of the man's back. Blaine frowned but wiped his face off with the washcloth and glanced at the stranger. Rachel whispered to her boyfriend, but Kurt couldn't hear. He felt a spike of anger.

The man raised his eyebrows at Kurt's question. "Dude, you can see these?" He waved behind his back. When Kurt nodded slowly, the man looked impressed. "Damn, kid, you're just full of surprises."

It was all too confusing and Kurt barely remembered the warehouse past Sebastian showing up and Blaine on his knees. So many questions; and they all built up behind his skull, overwhelming him and screaming and Kurt brought up a hand and rubbed his forehead. "Christ," he muttered.

"It's a little overwhelming." The man smiled softly. "Ordinarily, I'd take away the pain, but I'd rather not mess with you right now."

"What?" Kurt tried to sit up again. With Blaine's help, he finally got upright. Finn was eying him weirdly, and Kurt snapped. "What, Finn? Why are you staring at me?"

Finn flushed at Kurt's harsh tone. "Nothin'. Just…your eyes are normal again." He paled when Blaine glared at him. "I-I mean—"

"Normal again?" Kurt stared at Blaine, then Puck. "What the hell is going on? Where's Sebastian?" His voice edged into hysteria and Blaine grabbed his hands, rubbing soothing circles on his knuckles. "Blaine?"

"Shh. We've been waiting for you to wake up so Puck can explain." Blaine said quietly. "Speaking of," his voice turned hard and he turned to glower at the winged man, "You want to start?"

The man held his hands up in surrender. "Chill, dude. I'm getting there." He stood up and walked over to Kurt, his wings rippling gently. "My name's Puck. I'm an angel."

Rachel's mouth fell open. "An…an angel? Angels are real?"

Puck smirked. "Hell yeah! First time in a couple thousand years we're allowed on board, though. It's been kind of awesome, actually. You know humans made like, games you can play on the TV? Totally cooler than heaven." Finn grinned at the mention of video games.

"While Puck may be an angel, we still need to know about Sebastian and Kurt." Rachel interjected. "Also, do I get to keep my magic? Because I really like being a Broadway star and I still need to hold a press conference and tell them I'm still alive and—"

"Rachel, shut up." Kurt interrupted, rubbing his forehead and ignoring how Rachel flushed in anger. Finn tried to calm her, but then she turned her loud voice on him, then Puck, and God, Kurt just wanted to go back to sleep.

Blaine had wrapped an arm around Kurt's waist during the bickering. "You can see his wings?" he asked.

"Kind of. More like…their shadows. They're wispy and smokey. And huge." Kurt couldn't take his eyes off of Puck's back. "You can't?"

Shaking his head, Blaine shrugged. "No. He just looks like a normal guy to me." He groaned. "Rachel and Puck aren't helping your headache, are they?" And Kurt's hesitant nod, Blaine stood up and separated the angel and witch. "Guys, stop. Focus. This is about Kurt." Once he was reasonable sure Rachel wasn't going to start yelling again, he reclaimed his place beside Kurt.

Rachel sniffed and flounced back to Finn. Puck just laughed at the whole situation, chuckling loudly.

"Damn, I love humans!" He winked at Kurt and leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees and adopting a serious expression. "Okay, so. Here's what's up. I can't tell you everything, otherwise the boss'll get mad." Puck ignored Blaine's protests. "Trust me, you don't want the boss mad. So. Kurt. What do you want to know?" He watched Kurt expectantly, eyes honest.

The truth. Well, a limited truth. But it would still be better than before. Kurt could barely think of where to start and his head still ached incessantly.

"What happened in the warehouse?" Kurt finally asked. When Puck didn't answer right away, Kurt felt nervous. "I remember bits of it. Sebastian was doing something to Blaine and I just got so angry. And everyone looked scared of…of me. Did something happen to my eyes?"

Puck laughed quietly. "Right for the jugular, huh?" Puck raised an eyebrow at Blaine, who remained silent. "Well, to answer your question about your eyes, yes. They turned completely blue. They faded pretty soon after I got you here, but you were drifting in and out of consciousness so Finn saw them too."

"My eyes?" Kurt repeated.

Puck rubbed his face tiredly. "How to explain this," he muttered. "Look, all I can tell you is that you can tap directly into magic without intermediaries like spells and plants and shit. Not angel magic or demon magic, but magic magic. The only thing is, your body isn't used to it, hence the epic hangover and why you passed out after scaring the shit out of that pansy-ass demon." Kurt was fairly certain he was turning Blaine's hand blue, but Blaine didn't so much as squirm. "And this is important," Puck continued, "because your kind of magic is powerful enough to do almost anything."

Kurt let it sink in. So he was…magic. And Sebastian want s him because he's powerful. "And that's why Sebastian wants me?"

"Partly." Puck winced. "It's complicated."

Blaine snorted.

"Why me?" Kurt asked slowly.

"Oh Kurt," Puck sighed, looking pained. "It's always been you." He stopped, thinking. "I'm not sure how much you're allowed to know. Um. It was your mom."

"My mom?" Kurt's throat constricted.

"When she gave birth to you, we all knew. And, I don't know; she vanished after that. Changed her name and yours and left California. It was only recently we were able to track you down. She must have married your dad and settled down. Never thought I'd see the day," Puck grinned fondly. "I was sorry to hear of her passing."

Kurt just nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Today was just full of secrets and truths. Who knew his life would wind up like this. He smiled when Blaine tugged him closer, grateful for the comfort. "What…what was her real name?"

"Elizabeth Campbell. You were Michael."

"Campbell?" Blaine interrupted, his eyes wide. "Like, the Campbells? The most famous hunting family in history; those Campbells?"

Kurt's mind reeled. "I have family?" he asked slowly, looking from Puck to Blaine. "Grandparents? Aunts and uncles?"

Puck shook his head. "No. Short Stuff's right; the Campbell's used to be a very famous hunting family, but the lineage died out. You're actually the last one."

"Of course," Kurt said dully. He felt Blaine rub his back. God, he just wanted to sleep and forget this ever happened. Magic and demons and angels and famous mothers…

What was he going to do now?

Somehow, Puck seemed to read Kurt's thoughts. "Look, man," he sighed, rubbing a hand over his short hair, "I know this has got to suck. You didn't ask for any of this."

Kurt shook his head. He stared at the ground, willing something to make sense.

"I'm assigned to keep an eye on you," Puck continued. "An angel bodyguard. To keep you safe from that sleezeball demon so he can't use you."

That sounded nice, actually. Sebastian certainly wouldn't take to having Kurt slipping through his fingers well. Again. But Blaine narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Why are angels getting involved in this?" Blaine tightened his grip on Kurt's hand. "Why now? It's been over two thousand years since you guys came down to earth, why are you suddenly interested in Kurt?"

Puck looked uncomfortable. "I can't tell you."

"No, you don't need to." Blaine's expression darkened in understanding. "It's so you guys can use him. Demons and angels; you both were trying to find Kurt so the other side couldn't. Like he's a weapon."

Rachel gasped dramatically, hand covering her mouth and eyes wide. Finn just looked confused. Kurt suddenly felt the urge to cry. I'm just a normal man, what the hell. I'm not a weapon. I don't want to be.

"Anderson—"

"No!" Blaine shouted, standing up. "Kurt's been through enough, he doesn't need to get involved with your stupid war too!"

Puck rose too, and Kurt let out a whimper at the way his wings spread threateningly, though the effect was somewhat lost on Blaine. But Kurt felt the power radiating from the angel, and it scared him. He had a feeling angels could be just as ruthless as demons. "Blaine…" he started quietly, but fell silent.

"Siding with the angels would be better then demons. We have God on our side." Puck began, eyes narrowing when Blaine scoffed. "We can protect him. And his friends." Kurt's heart plummeted. Puck had said the magic words, and he knew he was being manipulated. And judging by the way Blaine flushed, he knew it as well. "The demons will go after everyone Kurt has ever talked to until he joins Sebastian. We can keep them safe." Puck glanced at Rachel and Finn, who held each other close with scared expressions. "You want to keep them safe, don't you?" This time, Puck looked directly at Kurt.

Unable to keep an expression of fury off of his face, Kurt glared. "I hate you," he spat, but tugged Blaine back down. "But I know a threat when I hear one." Puck looked a little embarrassed, but sat back on his chair. Kurt sighed to himself, trying to think of how to protect everyone he loved. God, this was so not what he signed up for.

"I want guarantees." Kurt stated. "I want Rachel and Finn to be safe." Rachel opened her mouth to protest but thankfully Finn kept her quiet. "All of my friends in New York, actually. Rob, Angie, Victoria, Lindsey, Sammi, Alex. I assume you know who they are?" Kurt's voice was hard. Puck simply nodded. Kurt caught Blaine's eye. "And Blaine's friends. Santana and Wes and David. Sam. Britt and Artie." Blaine relaxed slightly and he squeezed Kurt's hands in silent thanks. Now the hard part. "I want you to let me and Blaine go."

"No." Puck's answer was instantaneous.

"Blaine was right, earlier. I'm not just some tool for you to wield whenever you see fit. Blaine and I are doing good things. We're helping people. I want to keep doing that. Besides, I'm sure you know of a way to keep an eye on us." Puck glanced away and Kurt knew he was right. "I want freedom until you need me." Kurt stroked over Blaine's tense knuckles with his thumb. There was no way this situation was ideal, but maybe it could work for a little while. He just needed time. "Please, Puck. The angels aren't ready for me yet, are they?"

They couldn't be. Otherwise, Puck would have whisked him away as soon as he found him. It was a gamble, but maybe…

"No, we aren't ready yet." Puck sighed again. "God, you make things difficult." He eyed Kurt's outstretched hand. "Fine," he shook Kurt's hand with a groan. "Go save the world, Mulder." Puck winked and vanished.

Blaine shook his head and muttered something about angels being full of themselves.

Rachel kept her eyes narrowed at Kurt. "Kurt, what are you doing? This is—this is wrong, you shouldn't have to bargain your life!"

"Like you did your soul?" Kurt snapped, glaring at her. "What the hell were you thinking, Rachel? Witchcraft? With Jesse? I thought you were through with those kinds of underhanded and dirty tactics after last year!"

She flushed. "I don't expect you to understand anymore. You left. But I'm a star. I just needed to a chance to prove it." Her voice edged towards sulky and Kurt resisted the urge to slap her. He would have been fabulous on Broadway had anyone bothered to look past his face.

"I help people now. Something you should try once in a while." Kurt glared. "You're welcome, by the way. Blaine? I'm done." Kurt stood up and almost fell over when the room spun again. Finn caught him before he faceplanted.

"Woah, dude, careful," Finn said. Once Kurt was steady, Finn stood awkwardly. "Listen, man, I…" He bit his lip before apparently deciding something.

Kurt had about two seconds of warning before he was wrapped in a tight hug. He coughed under the pressure, but smiled and patted Finn's back. "Thanks for bringing Rachel back," Finn whispered.

"I had to."

"I'll talk to her. And Kurt?" Finn pulled back, and Kurt was shocked at the amount of fear in Finn's face. "Be careful, okay? I don't think I got everything," he gestured wildly, "but it sounds dangerous so just…be careful? And take care of him." The last sentence was directed to Blaine. "He's special, you know?"

Blaine nodded, smiling. "Yeah I know. I will."

"Cool." Finn sniffed and wiped his nose. "Go…go kill some bad guys, okay?"

"Okay." Kurt felt his heart tug when Finn moved away. They really were friends. There had been a lot of drama the year before, but it all worked out and they'd been like brothers. And Kurt was leaving again.

Rachel suddenly burst into tears and nearly knocked Kurt over when she launched into him. "Kurt, please don't leave, I miss you so much," she cried, hugging him tight. Kurt met Blaine's eyes over her shoulder and sighed. He missed her insanity too.

"I have to go, Rachel. But you'll be fine. You don't need magic to knock 'em dead, right?" He fought back tears and smiled at the crazy girl. Her eyes were still red-rimmed, and Kurt wiped away the tears. "Come on. Where's the Rachel Berry I remember? That one that takes no prisoners?"

That got a laugh. "I'm right here." She grinned and swatted his arm. Her expression quickly sobered. "Thank you, Kurt. And Blaine."

"Don't mention it." Blaine held out Kurt's jacket. "You ready?"

"Yeah." The room seemed stable enough, so Kurt slid his arms through the sleeves. Nothing spun and his headache was fading, so hopefully he'd be alright soon. He turned back to his friends for one last hug. "Be safe. And call me or Blaine if anything seems strange alright?" They both nodded. :I mean it. Anything."

"We got it, Kurt." Rachel smiled shakily. "Go save the world with your hot boyfriend."

Blaine seemed pleased by that description, smirking and laughing at Finn's vaguely insulted face. He guided Kurt out of the building to the car, not complaining when Kurt leaned heavily on his arm to avoid falling.

When they pulled away, Kurt watched Finn and Rachel stand in the doorway of the apartment complex until they turned a corner and her lost sight of them.

Kurt really hoped he handled that right.

"Bye," Kurt whispered.

-Somewhere on 1-80-

They haven't spoken since leaving New York two hours before. Blaine took the wheel this time and watched Kurt curl up in the passenger seat, shoes kicked off and knees drawn up.

It'd been a rough week.

Blaine just drove and tried to get lost in the feeling of the road, of miles passing by and the radio crooning an old song. Bruce sang about New York as Blaine wished he knew just what the fuck he was doing.

Hey vibes man, hey jazz man play me your serenade
Any deeper blue and you're playin' in your grave
Save your notes, don't spend 'em on the blues boy,

In between words, Blaine heard it. A quiet sniffle. He glanced at his boyfriend.

Kurt had a hand wiping at his eyes and the other wrapped around his legs as he looked out the window.

"Oh, Kurt," Blaine couldn't help but reach out. He could only touch Kurt's ankle but maybe that was enough. Taking his eyes off the road was dangerous, but maybe it was enough for Kurt to know he wasn't alone. After a few seconds, he felt a hand slip into his.

"Hey, sweetie."

"Hi." Kurt's voice was raw, and Blaine knew his eyes would be red and puffy. Once they stopped tonight, Blaine would probably be sent off to find some specific moisturizer (and in all honesty, he'll be sent back a few times because that's not the not strength, Blaine, honestly but it might make Kurt smile and he missed that). "I, um. I'm sorry I'm such a mess right now." Kurt laughed weakly, but the way he gripped Blaine's hand betrayed him.

"Do you want to talk about it? Or I mean; I can put on the Beatles. I know you like to listen to them when you're upset." Blaine risked death and took his eyes off the road to see Kurt shoot him such a look of fondness and love that he felt like squealing into a pillow like a teenage girl.

Kurt found his iPod and slipped the converter tape in. A few minutes later, a familiar tune drifted out of the speakers.

There are places I'll remember
All my life, though some have changed

Blaine nodded in approval. "I like this album," he said. "One of my favorites."

"I know." Kurt whispered. He was silent for a while. "It's just…so crazy. Everything."

"But it's nice to know the truth, right?"

Kurt shrugged. "I don't know. Yeah. I just…I miss my mom and dad." His voice choked up, but then words began tumbling out in a flood. "I wish they were here because I literally have no idea what I'm doing. And I'm so scared, because if I screw up now, people are going to get hurt. I definitely don't trust demons after Sebastian tried to break me but I don't trust the angels either because they don't see me, they see a weapon. Puck might be different; I don't know. But his boss scares me. I just don't understand any of this, and I scare me because what the fuck? Magic? And then there's you. And I hate that your parents hate me, but they have a good reason, obviously, and they love you." Blaine scoffed, but Kurt cut him off. "They do. They love you, and I just ripped you away from them."

Blaine glanced at Kurt again. "We're in this together, Kurt."

"Yeah. We are." Kurt nodded like he was trying to convince himself. "I can't handle something happening to you. But I'm too selfish to let you go." He ran his fingers through his hair, and now Blaine was worried. "I just want everything to be ok."

Blaine didn't have an answer. He had a feeling they were in way over their heads with this whole angels and demons crap, but they were together. And that's what mattered. He rubbed Kurt's knee through his tight jeans, trying to send some comfort through the fabric. "I promise we can get through this. You're strong." Kurt shrugged but didn't speak. "And besides, when your eyes get all freaky I promise to be around to tell you when your shirt clashes with them." He laughed when Kurt let out an indignant noise and smacked his shoulder.

"Jerk."

"You love me." Blaine grinned at Kurt's exasperated smile. "No, Kurt, but seriously." He caught Kurt's eye. "I promise everything is going to be alright. All we can do is keep going, but it'll be alright."

Kurt smiled fondly. "One foot in front of the other?"

"One foot in front of the other."