As Men Strive For Right

Chapter One: This House

“Blaine is missing.”

The words swept through Kurt like a slow, burning freeze, numbing him as they went and leaving him completely barren.  It was the most terrifying feeling in the world.

“We’re still looking, Kurt, we won’t give up!” Tina tried to reassure him, sounding not a little desperate.

He looked up at her, registering the pity on her pretty face but unable to bring himself to care.  “I’d like to be alone, please,” he said with as much politeness as he could muster.

“Kurt…”

“Tina, let’s give him some space,” Mike said seriously, considering Kurt sadly and nodding, once, before placing a hand on the petite woman’s back and guiding her towards the door.

“Your dad…”

“You can send him up when he gets here.”  Kurt stared down at his hands as they left, gazing blankly at the name that was permanently etched into his palm.  He didn’t look up until long after the door had clicked shut.

*******

Kurt hadn’t moved much fifteen minutes later and didn’t notice someone entering the room, but felt the gentle hand touching his shoulder and looked up to find Burt standing at his bedside.

“Dad!” he exclaimed, sitting up abruptly to launch into his father’s arms.

“Kurt,” his father clutched him tightly.  “You had us so worried!”

“Us?”

“Me, Carole, Finn… all of Blaine’s friends…”

Kurt tensed at the mention of Blaine, but shook it off.  “Who are Carole and Finn?”

It was only then that Kurt noticed they were not alone.  A woman stood in the doorway.  She looked to be about his father’s age, maybe a few years younger, with shoulder-length auburn hair and a concerned expression on her face.

“Carole,” his father said, gesturing to her. 

She stepped forward and stopped at Burt’s side.  “Hey, Honey,” she said, smiling down at him sadly. 

“She’s a nurse, can she take a look at you?” his dad wanted to know.

Kurt nodded, eyes locked on his father’s as the woman—Carole—set about poking and prodding him, checking his pulse.  “Why do I get the feeling there’s more to this than you’re telling me?” he asked after a moment.

Carole and Burt exchanged a look that only served to confuse Kurt further before Burt finally spoke.  “With all that’s happened… maybe it’s not the best time, Kurt.  You—we should focus on finding Blaine.”

“Dad,” Kurt said stubbornly, his eyes narrowing slightly at the older man.

But to both their surprise, it was Carole who caved.

“Honey,” she started, resting a hand gently on his arm to get his attention.  “Your father and I, well… we’ve bonded.”

Whatever Kurt had been expecting to hear, it was certainly not that.

“But… mom was your soulmate!”

“Yes, she was,” Burt said patiently.  “So is Carole.”

“I was a no name,” Carole broke in, no hint of shame in her voice.  “I’ve had your father’s name for years, now, but we only just found each other.  I guess you could say it was you that brought us together, sweetie.”  She patted Kurt’s arm, a hopeful smile on her face.  Kurt resisted the instinct to pull away.

“I know this is sudden, Kurt, but as they say here… you can’t fight the Source.  I will always love your mother, but I love Carole, too.  She’s made me very happy these past few days.”

Kurt merely nodded, unable to summon the emotional energy to fully process the situation.  “Congratulations,” he managed weakly.  “I’m sorry, it’s not you Carole… I just can’t…”

“That’s alright,” Carole said, tears shining in her eyes.  “I understand.”

And Kurt knew that she did.

“Finn…” Kurt began, suddenly remembering the other name his father had mentioned.

“Is my son,” Carole supplied.  “He’d very much like to meet you, when you feel up to it.  And…” she paused, looking to Burt, “we’d like to help.  In any way we can.”

Kurt almost smiled.  Given an appropriate amount of time and better circumstances, he thought he might come to like Carole very much, indeed.

*******

Carole left shortly after that, but Burt stayed behind with Kurt as his son curled up into a fetal position on the bed, clutching at his father’s hand as though it were a lifeline.  Maybe right now it was.

“You can cry if you need to, Kurt,” Burt told him softly after what seemed like hours of morose silence.

“I can’t.”

Burt sighed, shuffling closer in his chair to smooth back the hair from his son’s face.  “You should eat something.  We’ve kept you hydrated but it’s been three days.”

“Tomorrow,” Kurt said hoarsely, barely responding to his father’s touch.  “I just want to sleep.”  I just want Blaine.

“They’re going to find him,” Burt swore with forced bravado.  “We’re going to find him, I promise you Kurt.”  He tried to stand, intending to pull the blankets over his shaking son, though both men knew he wasn’t shivering from the cold.

But Kurt tightened his hand to a vice grip, refusing to let Burt go.  “Please stay,” he pleaded weakly.  Please don’t leave me too.

“Of course,” Burt said, squeezing back and situating himself more comfortably in his chair. 

It took a long time for Kurt’s face to relax, for his breathing to settle, for Burt to be certain that he was finally asleep.  And still he remained… until his sleeping son’s whimpers and soft cries of “Blaine” became too much for a father to bear.

*******

A knock at his door woke Kurt the next morning, and Mike didn’t wait for an answer before entering the tiny room, a neatly arranged breakfast tray in his hands.

“Breakfast, from Tina,” he said, sitting it down beside Kurt on the bed even though Kurt himself still had yet to move or acknowledge his presence.  Mike took the chair, unfazed by his lack of response.  “You need to eat,” he said in a tone that booked no argument.  “And we need to talk.”

Kurt blinked, frowned but nodded, and sat up a little begrudgingly, reaching for the tray.  He would be of no use to Blaine dead.  “Thank you,” he said quietly, picking at some bacon.  “Any news on Blaine?  I’m feeling better today, so I should be able to help…”

“No, but that’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about,” Mike cut him off.  “I don’t know what’s happened to Blaine, we’re still working on that.  But I have my theories.  You probably aren’t going to like them.”

Kurt’s eyes fell closed as if to shut Mike out, but it was only a moment before he took a deep breath, sat a little straighter, and opened them to stare directly into Mike’s.  “I’m listening.”

“You probably already know about why Blaine was in The New World, and his brother’s involvement in him getting caught?”

“I know enough.”

“Right…” he looked like he wanted to say more but was reconsidering, and when he continued the subject change caught Kurt off guard.  “So I’m assuming Blaine told you a little about the barrier, how it works to keep us safe?”

“Of course.”

“Well, did you consider that maybe Blaine wasn’t able to get through the barrier?”

Kurt’s brow furrowed and his eyes darkened, anger welling up within him before he could stop it.  “Are you suggesting that Blaine had some sort of devious intent in bringing us here?  He would never keep something like that from me, he would never be capable of something so hateful, Blaine is the kindest…”

“Woah!” Mike held up a hand to stop him.  “I know that Blaine would never do anything to hurt you, we were best friends.  You don’t need to convince me that he’s a good person.  But that being said—and I mean no disrespect—you have no idea what Blaine is capable of.”

Kurt studied him for a moment, lips pressed tight to bite back a further stream of anger.  As much as it stung, he knew on some level that Mike was right.  “What did you mean then?” he asked finally, tone clipped but restrained.

Mike sighed, breaking eye contact for the first time to study his own hands.  “I would imagine, knowing what I know of Blaine, that he is feeling very angry and conflicted towards Cooper.  Probably far angrier than he’s admitted even to himself.”

“Angry enough, on some level, to want to hurt him,” Kurt finished.

“I’m not saying that Blaine is prone to violence…”

“It’s ok.  I don’t want to think that, but you’re right.  You’ve known him a lot longer than I have.”  Kurt shrugged, looking a little defeated.

“Hey, I may not have seen you two together, but I don’t have to to know that you mean more to Blaine than anything in the world.  He loved you long before he knew you.  Which is why it pains me to mention my other theory for Blaine’s absence…”

Kurt smiled at him weakly.  “Shoot.”

“Well… I think it’s possible that Blaine never intended to come across the barrier with you to begin with.”

Kurt gasped.  “You think he lied to me?”

“I think that it’s possible that your safety meant more to him than honesty.  And I know that Blaine was very dedicated to our mission.  He may have had some unfinished business…”

“I can’t believe that,” Kurt cut him off.  “But regardless, that doesn’t really tell me what I want to know the most.  Where is Blaine now?”

“Well, if he stayed behind intentionally he could be anywhere in The New World right now… but it would mean that he’s probably safe.”

Small comfort, Kurt thought.  But then, small comforts were all he had.

“If he didn’t stay back on purpose, and the barrier kept him out… well, he’d have been knocked unconscious, just like you.  It took over a day for us to get over there to search and we didn’t find him anywhere, which means…” he paused, looking pained.  “I’m sorry Kurt, but if that’s the case, the authorities over there probably caught him.  They would have gotten to him before we could.”

Kurt forced back the dread that was slowly consuming his body, forced out the words.   “What would they do to him?”

Mike reached out to take his hand, and Kurt didn’t even try to pull away.  “They don’t take kindly to second offenses, Kurt.  What he did was bad, but running away… there’s more than one reason there aren’t a lot of violent crimes in the world.  People don’t usually start with violent crimes and… the government doesn’t usually let it get that far.”

“No,” was all Kurt could say, shaking his head and yanking his hand away.  “I won’t… I can’t believe that.”

“Then don’t believe it.  Fight back with the rest of us.  The resistance has been moving towards taking a better stand against the prejudice and hatred in The New World for a long time, and we all think this is the perfect opportunity.  With your blessing, we’d like to send the cavalry in to look for Blaine… and when we find him, to take a stand once and for all.”

“You don’t need my blessing,” Kurt said, a bit of old fire creeping into his voice.  “I’m going with you.  But there’s something I want to do first.  I want to talk to Cooper.”

“Of course,” Mike said, his face darkening a little at the mention of the man.  “You’re still a little weak, but build up your strength today and I’ll take you tomorrow, first thing.  It will take us that long to prepare, at any rate.”

He stood, and turned to go. 

“Mike…” Kurt called out to him, and he paused in the doorway.  “Thank you.  For everything.”

Mike smiled.  “Rest up now.”

Kurt sat back, gathering his strength for a moment before turning back to his breakfast, forcing himself to take a real bite.  It was too early to feel hope, too much right now to feel anything but the bleakness of the lack of Blaine’s presence, the emptiness in this place that was his and the wrongness of being here alone.  But tomorrow was a new day and if there was nothing more he could expect from it, it at least held the promise of purpose.  Kurt Hummel had never been one to back down from a challenge.