The next day at work, both Kurt and Blaine arrived at their desks with two cups of coffee in hand.

“Kurt, I…”

“Westerville, there you…”

They both noticed the extra cups simultaneously.

“Oh.”

“Oh.”

Blaine slowly grinned up at Kurt, who responded with a small smile.

“Um, I got you your mocha this morning, but I guess…”

“Yeah, I had the same idea. I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I was short with you for no reason.”

“No, it’s fine, I wanted to apologize, too. I shouldn’t have thrown that thing with Jeremiah in your face. Actually, I sort of called it off anyway.” Blaine said with a shrug.

Kurt felt himself smiling and tried to stifle it. “Oh? Well, that’s too bad. Rachel will be crushed. Anyway, here’s an extra drip for you, Westerville. I even got it with cinnamon, like you like.”

Kurt dropped the cup on Blaine’s desk, grabbed the mocha from his partner, and turned quickly to his own workspace, not noticing Blaine’s shocked expression or growing grin.

Kurt began typing at his computer, and without looking up from the screen said, “Um, Blaine?”

Blaine looked up from his own desk. “Yes, Kurt?”

“I just… I wanted to say… well, I was a jerk yesterday. It wasn’t anything you did. That Rachel gets on my last nerve and she was butting into your life and making snide comments about mine and… Well, their our lives and I think we’ve done really well for ourselves. And anyway, I don’t want us to fight.” Kurt looked over at Blaine. “You’re, you know, one of my best friends.” He then added quietly, “maybe my very best friend…” Kurt cleared his throat. “So, I just… yeah. No more petty fighting between partners, got it Westerville?”

Blaine’s could barely get words past his ear-to-ear smile. “Of course, Kurt.”

“Good.” Kurt looked back to his computer. “Now, how many C’s are in ‘acceptable’?”

******************************************************

Blaine went off to patrol the city that day in a good mood. Things were going well with Kurt, he loved his job at the Planet, and after all this time he still got a kick out of being able to use his powers out in the open and save lives.

Blaine knew that people thought he was too optimistic. Cooper, and now Kurt, constantly teased him for acting like a puppy, for constantly seeing the good in people and for always having a smile on his face. But that was because it would be easy for Blaine to focus on the bad in the world. When you can hear and see all the bad things that people try to hide, it becomes far too easy to let yourself become pessimistic and cynical. Blaine had always been proud of his ability to see the bright side. Of course, ever since meeting Kurt it hadn’t been difficult for Blaine to find a reason to smile.

Blaine’s thoughts were broken by some far-off sirens. He changed his flight path to check out their source, feeling unsurprised as he made his way towards Suicide Slum. Blaine seemed to spend most of his time as Superman in the lower class area of Metropolis near Hob’s Bay. Today, he thought with a sigh, was no exception.

Blaine found the source of the siren: an ambulance and a police car were parked in front of hole-in-the-wall bar that had a car halfway through the front wall. What Blaine assumed was the driver of said car was being put into the back of the ambulance when he arrived, a neck brace firmly attached.

Thank goodness, looks like a few injuries and no fatalities.

Blaine landed in front of the bar besides a police officer taking notes, and was about to ask if he could help when a voice called out to him.

“Superman! Hey Superman!”

Blaine turned to see a man run out of the doorway of the bar. He was tall, with broad shoulders and a short Mohawk, and was followed by a larger woman with a disinterested expression.

The man ran up to Superman, a huge grin on his face.

“Superman! So glad you’re here. The name’s Puck, this is my place.” He motioned to the bar behind him and a small sign the read Ace of Clubs above the door. “It’s a good thing you’re here, dude.”

“What seems to be the problem, Mr….Puck?”

Puck laughed. “Puckerman. But dude, you gotta call me Puck. And you know, you’re totally my fav’rite.”

The woman behind him finally spoke up. “Favorite what?” she asked with a roll of her eyes.

Puck turned around. “You know, Lauren, fav’rite… guy. Super guy. Hero guy. Badass guy!”

Lauren sighed and shook her head. Puck turned back around.

“Anyway, Superman. This guy, he just totally drove right into my bar, man. It was so not cool. Good thing Lauren made me get insurance. But yeah, the dude was like, one of those coma guys. He was passed out at the wheel.”

Blaine was suddenly intrigued. “Coma guys?”

“Yeah, you haven’t heard?”

Lauren interjected, “Of course he hasn’t heard. Nobody cares what happens down here in the Slums.”

Blaine frowned. “I care.”

Puck’s grin grew. “See? Anyway, for the past few days these guys around the neighborhood, they just, you know, drop. I think they get sick first, and then they go into comas. Hospital’s full of them. Nobody knows why. It’s like… a plague or something.”

Blaine’s concern grew. “How many people are sick?”

“A lot.” Lauren answered. “And more everyday. Only a matter of time til the rest of us get it.” And with that melancholy note, she walked off back into the bar.

“Listen, Superman, you can come by my place anytime, the drinks’ll be on the house. Seriously, dude, come by, we’ll play pool or something.”

Blaine smiled. “Thank you, Puck. Now how about I get that car out of your wall so that you can get back to work soon?”

After Blaine made quick work of the Ace of Clubs wall, he began flying through Suicide Slums as his worries grew. Now that he was paying attention, he realized that things were not right in Metropolis. There were ambulances patrolling the streets and one x-rayed peek at the hospitals showed they were full of coma patients. How had he not known about this? And how could he fix it?

Blaine stopped on a rooftop and took his cell phone from his belt pocket.

“Hey Kurt, it’s Blaine.”
“Westerville. What’s up?”

“I was just wondering… have you heard anything out of Suicide Slums? Anything… odd?”

“Why, have you heard something? If there’s a story brewing then I want in.”

“Not sure yet. Have you heard anything, though?”

“Not much. An awful lot of shady things happen in that part of town, Blaine. I’ve heard some rumors of a flu epidemic or something, but nothing newsworthy yet. Wait, hold on, let me check the wire.”

Blaine waited while Kurt did some digging.

“Huh. Seems like epidemic is the right word. Looks like a ton of people are getting sick down there. And… it looks like it’s spreading.”

“What?”

“Yeah, there’ve been cases as far north as mid town. Wait, Blaine, where are you? If there’s something going around you should head home. Superman might be able to save me from a hail of gunfire, but none of his super abilities can stop the common cold.”

Kurt’s words sunk in as Blaine realized just how right he was. “Alright Kurt, I’ll head home. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

“Good. I’m going to start some research from here; this could be something. Thanks for the scoop, Westerville. I’ll try to keep you in the loop.”

Blaine couldn’t help but chuckle. “Thanks, Kurt.” He hung up the phone with a heavy feeling in his gut. Something was happening in the city that he couldn’t help, and it was getting worse.

In general in his day-to-day life, Blaine tried to keep his abilities reigned in. He worked hard over the years to maintain a level of control and to keep his sense from overloading. But now, with this unknown threat on Metropolis, he let everything loose.

Standing on a roof near Hob’s Bay, Blaine took a deep breath and let go. He was immediately overcome with the sights, sounds, and smells of the city. Once he acclimated to the chaos, he tried to focus through the sensations. It took a moment, but then he found a rhythm.

Suddenly Blaine could see it. All over the city people were falling where they stood. He started to panic as he saw men, women, even children succumb, and not just in Suicide Slum. Kurt was right: whatever this was, it was spreading. And as the dread grew within Blaine, he realized that no matter how strong or fast he was, there was nothing he could do about this.