"I WILL SMASH YOU!"

Silver ducked as the hand flew out-faster than it ever had before-to throw him into the side of a building. Somehow that fist managed to look much larger, and much more threatening, even as he felt the renewed strength rushing through him. The suit was good at keeping up, but Smash and Acid seemed to be getting stronger every time he saw them. 

Crowds of people were being held back by officers around him, extra force members attempting to jump in and help Silver, but most stayed reluctantly back, keeping the viewers at bay. Some of them looked towards him sadly, wishing they could help while knowing that nothing they did would really aid, while others gave him sharp glares, tired of watching him do what they believe they should be able to do.

Blaine frantically looked around, his eyes scanning the area for anything that could help. Smash was lifting his hand, and in an instant it was falling towards him. He reached up and braced himself, arms held bent over his head. The impact nearly sent him into the ground, but the suit was pulling together, calculating the weight, and in a moment he could throw Smash's hand away, setting him off balance.

It was always the back and forth game of him testing his strength and then running off. To where though? 

"STAY STILL!" he shouted angrily.

"I don't think that's the best plan," Silver replied smoothly, jumping out of the way of an airborne fist. "I prefer the not-to-get-hit method."

Smash growled and grabbed for Silver, who leapt back. His hands stopped before they reached him though, and one fist was able to push him backwards, right into the brick wall behind him. Even as he stumbled back the suit thickened the metal behind his skull so that the impact on his head was light, but it was enough to shake him still.

Blaine blinked away the black spots clouding his vision. Smash was running at him now, and he needed to be out of the way-fast. He sprinted away so Smash stumbled forwards, too slow to catch him.

As he ran he caught glimpses of the world around him-the ordinary world. It passed by him like he was watching through a screen, almost like they weren’t real. People trying to push forwards and help, angered faces, faces streaked with tears, curious eyes dancing with light, Kurt and Sebastian-Blaine nearly froze, feeling the shock of actually seeing Kurt through the black tinted lenses of the suit. He knew that when his head was turned ever so slightly, Kurt could tell exactly where he was looking. 

"Quite the crowd he manages to gather," Sebastian muttered. 

Kurt didn't reply, his eyes trailed on Silver-or, well, on Blaine. It was still kind of strange thinking about it that way. His head was tilted just so slightly in their direction, and Kurt knew that he could see him through the dark lenses that covered his eyes. He bit down on his lip, lifting his eyes quickly to the advancing form of Smash, and Silver was on his feet again, bolting forwards to fight.

"Mmm," Kurt mumbled in response, not really sure what Sebastian was saying.

Sebastian glanced over at him, looking bitter and bored. That wasn't too unusual for Sebastian, but there was something glinting behind his eyes. Something distracted and suspicious. It was something worse than the usual distaste. Whatever it was, it wasn't something good.

"They all come out here to watch him-but for what?" Sebastian continued, sneering at Silver. "To view his honourable acts?" he said, spitting it out sarcastically. "To see him conquer the same stupid villains over and over?"

"Well aren't we extra grumpy today," Kurt said under his breath.

"Maybe I'm just sick of this," Sebastian said, crossing his arms. "Maybe I'm sick of searching for Silver."

"It's our job," Kurt said carefully.

Sebastian looked down at him. "I'm getting tired of Silver."

Kurt's heart raced. It wasn't just an insult, something thrown out that meant nothing-it was almost a threat. There was a darker intent behind his words, like shadows lingering on the edge of his breath. Sebastian wouldn't stop Silver on his own, though? So maybe he wasn't the nicest guy but he wouldn't be crazy enough to do something like that-would he? Kurt gnawed on his bottom lip, watching Silver so that he didn't have to look at Sebastian. That something was back, that dark, twisted something that definitely was bad.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kurt asked slowly.

"It's taking a while and we're getting nowhere," Sebastian said, his voice eerily calm. "We're being soft on this guy. He's only brought trouble since he showed up and here we are watching him and waiting for something to happen." His eyes didn't move from the battle going on in front of him as he spoke. His voice was soft and serious. "We’re showing too much mercy on this guy. We need to use what we've got, and do what we need to do. I'm getting tired of watching the show he's putting on."

For a second, Kurt just stared at Sebastian, trying to gather his thoughts. Sebastian glanced over at him and then went back to watching Silver. There was something of a grin playing around his lips.

He was talking about doing more...hurting Silver? Hurting Blaine? Kurt couldn't think straight.

"We're not trying to hurt him or anything," Kurt hissed.

Sebastian shrugged. "We're not trying much of anything."

"Sebastian-"

He spun towards Kurt, staring right into his eyes with a fierce intensity. "Maybe you're happy sitting around watching but I'm sick of it," he whispered, keeping his voice steady and venomous. "Our job is to find out who he is and stop him and we need to do that. No matter what kind of force it takes, the most important thing is that we get this done."

"We're trying to help-"

"We're doing nothing," Sebastian snapped. "We're looking over the same stuff and standing around like that'll help but we need more."

"It's our job to stop him from helping, but it's not our job to hurt him," Kurt replied coolly.

Sebastian turned away, his eyes dark. "Our job is to find out who he is so that we can find him and stop him from messing up our image," he said, meeting Kurt's tone with a voice so icy and determined it sent chills up Kurt's spine. "There weren't any other specifics, just get the job done no matter what it takes. You've gotta grow up and face the fact that life isn't always nice."

Blaine's head felt like an earthquake was going on inside his skull. His head pounded and his arms throbbed. 

When his phone went off the sound seemed to be louder than normal and he answered it quickly so as to not have to listen to it ringing. "Hello?" he answered, pulling himself together enough to sound less exhausted than he felt.

"Hey," Kurt's voice greeted from the other end. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Blaine said, slipping his hand into his pocket. He was just a block away from home by now, and it was getting darker outside. Cars shot past him and streetlights flickered on slowly. Coop wouldn't be too worried, probably thinking that he was just with Kurt. "What's up?"

"We should talk," Kurt said. His voice was calm but Blaine could tell there was more for him to say.

"Now?" Blaine replied, pausing in his walk. 

There was a slight silence, then muffled voices. "...In a bit," Kurt finally said. "I just...I need to finish up with...uh work." More muffled voices. Blaine knew what Kurt meant by work, and the thought of what they were doing still hurt. "My house in an hour?"

"Sure," he said, starting to walk again. 

"...Are you sure that you're alright?" Kurt asked with concern.

Blaine sighed. "Yeah, just a bit tired."

"Right," Kurt mumbled. "I'll see you around then?"

"In an hour," Blaine replied, smiling to himself. "Good luck with work."

Kurt laughed lightly. "Yeah, thanks."

The phone went silent and Blaine put it back into his pocket, running a hand through his hair. Kurt could've been anywhere-back at his house, meeting with his boss, over at the place where Silver and Smash had just fought earlier. Yet anywhere he was, he was with people trying to find out who he was-and to stop him. Kurt was one person, but what if there were several others trying to stop him? Sebastian was still out there, doing his best to hunt him down. Even with Kurt trying to slow them down, how long until they did find something?

Or would Acid and Smash beat them to it?

Blaine shook the thought out of his head and hurried home, hands in his pockets, trying to figure out just when his life began to get so complicated.

Kurt pulled the door open before Blaine even had a chance to lift his hand and knock.

"What's wrong?" Blaine asked immediately.

There was definitely something putting Kurt off. His brow was furrowed and his eyes were full of worry. His quick and nervous movements seemed jumpy and he rushed Blaine inside, biting down on his lip.

"Kurt?" Blaine asked again, "What's happened?"

When the door was clicked shut and the lock put into place Kurt turned around, shaking his head. "It's Sebastian," he said quietly. "Today...he was talking about how slowly things were going with the Silver case and he was saying that he was getting sick of waiting for something to happen and..."

Blaine crossed the room quickly and set a gentle hand on Kurt's shoulder. "What? What did he say?"

"He wants the job done faster...at any cost."

"What kind of cost?" Blaine asked, feeling a little frantic. 

Kurt shook his head again. "The weapon I showed you, I think he was implying that we use that and hurt...hurt Silver." He swallowed and Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt, arms winding around his stomach. "He won't though," he continued, his voice muffled by Blaine's shoulder. "I wouldn't ever let him hurt you."

"Well he still has nothing, right?" Blaine asked slowly.

"Nothing on you at least," Kurt said. He pulled away and made his way over to the coffee table. There was a closed folder on the table, not very thick, and he flipped it open. "We found some new info today, though" Kurt said, lowering his voice. It wasn't shaking at all now. "There were a few samples of DNA that we've found from Acid and Smash."

Blaine hurried over, looking down at the folder. "And?"

"Can't track down personal records, the make's been altered," Kurt sighed. "Except something about both seems similar-like they've got the same blue print. We figure that wherever they came from, they were human's genetically altered and they got their changes at the same place."

"Anything about the make?" Blaine asked curiously.

Kurt shrugged. "Not really, just your basic human altered DNA."

"No clue as to where exactly someone could've done this?" 

"Nothing, just the familiarity," Kurt said. "They're trying to find some sort of match somewhere to track down the source but no luck yet." He sighed again and looked back at Blaine. "There's nothing on anything except the basics still for Silver Spark, though."

"That's good then," Blaine said. 

Kurt searched Blaine's eyes, chewing on his bottom lip, arms wrapped around himself. "They won't find out."

"I know," Blaine replied steadily.

"We won't let them."

"Of course not."

"I won't let them."

Blaine looked up at Kurt. He could see how much Kurt cared about him, written plainly all over his face. There was something about having someone know who he was, know all of who he was, that was like being able to finally breathe normally. There didn’t have to be any secrets between them. They would keep each other safe. "Thank you."

Kurt grinned and bent down to press his lips to Blaine's. Blaine let his eyes flutter closed, let his mind wander and pretend that the life he lived was just a story, all make believe tales on crisp white pages. In Kurt’s arms, it felt like things could be so simple. In Kurt’s arms he was just Blaine, with his puppy eyes and his tangled curls and clumsy words. He could pretend that Silver was just a story and all there was was Kurt.

He had to open his eyes eventually though, because you can't go through life with your eyes closed, pretending that the world isn't real and living in your head. Sometimes, you have to face reality, even if reality isn't the nicest thing to see.