It was already dark by the time Kurt and Sebastian returned to Kurt’s office. Kurt had spent the rest of the day with his other patients and Sebastian had clients he had to visit too. They both only realized they had time to work together again after almost colliding into each other in the hospital’s hallway. They had made the decision then that it was time to work on the Lopez report.

“So…” Sebastian said as they settled into Kurt’s office.

Kurt already had his Mac open and was furiously typing away the notes he had brainstormed this morning, his fingers flying all over the keys.

“Hmm?” Kurt asked, not bothering to look up. The photo of Santana seemed to be staring at him from within the manila folder and he was glad it was safely in there. As professionally permitted as possible, he had genuinely given all his attention to his other patients without distraction - but that hadn’t stopped him from thinking of Santana all day.

“What do you think, Doc?” Sebastian asked, “Is she a lost cause?”

Kurt actually had to pause what he was in the middle of so that he could answer this question properly. He still wasn’t quite looking at Sebastian though.

“She’s a mess,” Kurt confirmed, ignoring the way Sebastian’s body seemed to grieve at the result, “But not a lost cause.”

Sebastian nodded, relieved at Kurt’s confidence which in turn was making Kurt feel a little uneasy. “No one is a lost cause, Sebastian, no matter how much of a mess they are.”

Thankfully, Sebastian seemed to agree. “Hey, I get it! And I completely trust that you know what you’re doing. I would have bought some other shrink in here if I didn’t have so much faith in you.” As he said this, Sebastian took out his own laptop from his briefcase. “Doc, what’s your wireless password? I need to start downloading files from the firm.”

Kurt handed him the paper with the code silently and the two men worked in peace. The only noise that could be heard was the rain that had started to fall outside and was now beating down against the roof and horizontally at the windows. It had been doing that since mid-afternoon and did not look like it was going to clear up anytime soon. As it was both December and the beginning of winter time in Lima, it was also coincidentally the wettest month of the season and was being uncharacteristically more ruthless tonight than last month in November. That didn’t hinder Kurt from his work though.

“Done!” he exclaimed out loud when he was happy with what he had produced, “How are you getting along?”

“On the Lopez report? Oh, I finished that ages ago. I’ve been doing some research.”

“On?”

“Manhattan… chances are, if we win this case Hummel, we could join forces and take over New York. People would be lining up to pay us. Manhattan is crawling with types just like Santana Lopez.”

Kurt rolled his eyes, “Really? You’re seriously going to start on that again? I’ve already turned down several job offers, FYI. I’m staying here.”

Sebastian sighed. He looked frustrated but he was clearly not ready to give up just yet. “Is this because of Blaine? He’s holding you back, you know.”

“I’m not talking about this!” Kurt said flatly holding his hands up in protest and was grateful when Sebastian agreed to let it go. But if Kurt was being honest with himself, working in New York would be… nice. The thing was, he was too comfortable here in Lima – though he’d never thought he’d admit it - and he was never stuck in one place too long anyway, providing him some sort of freedom from monotony.

He listlessly distracted himself from his thoughts by checking the time. It was getting late. And speaking of Blaine, it was becoming impossible to get in touch with him. Blaine wasn’t on Google chat. He wasn’t picking up his cell when Kurt tried to use the office phone to call him. Kurt didn’t even have any idea if he had got his message this morning because his own cell had no reception inside the hospital so he couldn’t check if Blaine had replied to it. At least he knew Blaine was safe because when he had called Blaine’s work to speak to him, they had asked to take a message because Blaine was busy.

Blaine was always busy.

Kurt knew he would be hypocritical to judge Blaine for it but it felt like high school all over again – almost like Blaine was avoiding him and keeping distant.

The lights flickered dangerously on and off inside the office which prompted Sebastian to look up and notice Kurt’s unease.

“You okay?” he asked gently.

“Yeah,” Kurt answered, lying. “It’s just the power keeps going off in the west wing a lot.”

Sebastian had to hold himself back from grinning. “So you’re confessing to what? That you’re afraid of the dark? That’s not very shrink appropriate.”

“My confession is I don’t want to have to claim insurance because a power outage corrupted my computer. Everyone’s afraid of something. Except maybe you. Lawyers don’t have souls after all…”

“Ooh, that’s a little harsh, Hummel! Even from you.”

“Well, I’m an honest person; can you blame me for speaking the truth?”

A page from Kurt’s director to meet him in his office ended the light teasing with Sebastian.

“You might as well come with,” Kurt insisted, “I’m locking up now.”

They made their way to the next office down the hall where Dr. Schuester was on the phone to his wife. He smiled brightly when he saw both of them and gestured Kurt and Sebastian to sit as he held the call.

“I won’t be long Kurt!” he said, “Emma just wants to know when you and Blaine will be coming over for dinner.”

Kurt smiled, a little smug at the suggestion. Will might have been his boss but the man and his wife were also both family. How many people could say that about the people they worked for?

“To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure when we can both make it, Dr. Schue. Blaine’s had to attend a lot of meetings lately. But if dinner with you guys means you’ll let me out early so I can go to yours and help Emma cook, I’m sure we’ll be able to find time for you. Blaine loves my cooking – he won’t say no to that.”

“How’s next Wednesday?” Will asked. “And don’t forget, I have a meeting with the directors from New York this Friday.”

“I haven’t forgotten,” Kurt said, “Though with all due respect Dr. Schue – I’m not transferring.”

It was only a very brief one, but Kurt was quick to notice the look that Schuester and Sebastian had shared with each other when he said it. Not wanting to press the matter further, Kurt chose to ignore what he had seen.

“And Wednesday’s fine, I’ll just check with Blaine.” Kurt stood to leave, “I’ll see you later Schue, I’m sure Blaine’s waiting for me and it’s going to take a while to get home as it is in this kind of weather.”

Schuester waved at him as Kurt turned to Sebastian. “You coming Smythe?”

He only asked the question because some alone time with Sebastian right now to pick his brains on the Manhattan transfer was a good idea. He had a feeling even though Schue had prompted it, that Sebastian was behind it all. But as Blaine was waiting for him it was probably a good reason that Sebastian declined or he and Kurt would be talking about the situation for hours on end if Kurt had a say in the matter.

“I have to stay in here and follow up some things with Schue…” Sebastian ended up admitting - and then he saw the look on Kurt’s face. “Look, I know you’re upset about the New York thing but we wouldn’t even be suggesting it if you didn’t have such a brilliant mind.”

“Thanks for the compliment,” Kurt acknowledged, “But I’m still not going. I’ll see you later.”

Sebastian winked, “Yes you will. Just drive home safely, okay? The rain looks like it’s picking up.”

Kurt exhaled, a little exasperated, but gathered his things and signed out for the day. When he got to the front to show his badge to be authorized out, the guard standing at the door had to hold back from laughter.

“Oh, Dr. Hummel! I know it is procedure but I think we’ve both been here long enough to know who exactly you are!” He waved him out without the formalities that usually came with signing out. “Drive home safely!”

“Thanks Figgins!” Kurt said, opening his umbrella as he left the hospital’s doors. “You be careful too, the rain looks relentless!”

Sebastian wasn’t joking about the rain picking up. It almost seemed torrential. Kurt might have had a good umbrella but he was almost soaking wet by the time he reached his car. He had parked here before making his way over to Sebastian’s office earlier that day and welcomed the warmth in his vehicle that was waiting for him.

He hadn’t driven for very long when he was forced to slow down by a patrolman standing up ahead. As he got closer to the flashing lights that were indicating the traffic detour, he noticed that a large telephone poll had fallen to the ground and was blocking the road. Emergency vehicles had parked at the scene too. He immediately recognized the Sheriff who asked Kurt to pull down his window.

“Wes!” Kurt exclaimed. “Is anyone hurt?”

“Not tonight, fortunately! But I’m afraid you’re going to have to take the long way home, Kurt. It’s going to take us a while to clear this up.”

“Of course, Sheriff.”

He was getting ready to make a u-turn when Wes called out to him. “And tell that husband of yours he owes me a phone call! I can’t remember the last time I heard from Blaine!”

“Will do, Wes! Thanks! Bye!”

Kurt continued along with ease around the longer route, making his way to the road less travelled. It was the one near the old McMahon Bridge that Kurt avoided at all costs. It wasn’t that it was unsafe – there was just something creepy about the place. Suffice it to say, Kurt wasn’t the only one who avoided it.

“Hey, it’s me, can you hear me okay?” he asked speaking into his cell phone, “Are you finished yet? Wonderful. I might be a little longer than I expected, I had to detour—”

A sudden bump in the road caused Kurt to drop his phone. He ducked down, pausing to pick it up, still a bit shaky from the sudden jerk, his eyes away from the road for only a split second.

“Sorry about that, I just dropped my—”

As he raised his head again, Kurt froze. His sight level again with the dashboard, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing - but he didn’t have much time to react. There was a young boy standing in the middle of the road. Kurt swore and swerved to avoid hitting him but the roads were so wet and slick he didn’t make it in time to avoid hitting the railing along the side of the road. He heard the metal screech as the car halted but thankfully he was okay when he finally stopped. Staring into his rear view mirror, he saw the same boy standing there, wearing only thin clothing, in the freezing rain. He couldn’t have been any more than eight or nine. Something wasn’t right.

“Stay on the line,” Kurt instructed gripping his cell even tighter, “The weirdest thing just… Hello? Hello?”

Kurt stared back at his phone. It was dead.

“Great.” He said aloud. It was the fallen telephone pole. It must have affected the service.

Forgoing his useless phone, Kurt tossed it aside on the passenger seat and went out in the rain towards the boy. He had his back turned towards Kurt and there was no reason why he should be out here in the dark waiting in the rain by himself. Kurt was trained in the profession of what was rational and saw no cause of reason to the sudden situation he found himself in.

“Hello?” he called out to the boy, “Are you hurt? Hello?”

The boy didn’t say anything. He didn’t even turn around. As Kurt approached closer, he was immediately saddened at the discovery of small purplish welts along the boy’s pale skin of his back and neck. Everything about this situation was wrong. Clearly, something horrible had happened to him.

“It’s going to be okay, I promise. I can get you help, I’m a doctor. My name is Kurt Hummel…”

At the introduction, the boy finally turned around. He was even worse for wear than Kurt had imagined. His lip was bust and he was crying. Kurt flung his coat around him.

“Hey, sssh. It’s okay… it’s going to be okay! I’m going to take you to the hospital. Can you tell me your name?”

Suddenly, with wide tear-filled eyes, the boy gripped Kurt’s arm tightly with both his hands. His touch burned Kurt’s skin like fire and the rain was only making it worse. How was this happening?

“What are you doing? I’m trying to help you! I’m—”

The boy opened his mouth and let out an eerily piercing scream. It echoed off into the night, through the trees, beyond every road that Kurt had ever been on. It was filled with so much turmoil, and so much hurt. It reached through every fiber of Kurt’s being, right through to his bones, right down to his very core. The boy held onto Kurt, his mouth wide, his screams continual, and within seconds Kurt had passed out onto the floor mostly in shock, but also in silent wide-mouthed pain.

*