Chapter Three: The Promise

Kurt spent much of the rest of the day mercifully alone, save for another visit from his father.  He slept a lot and ate every bite of every meal, wanting to be at full strength as soon as possible.  He’d need it to confront Cooper and to prepare himself to join the resistance. 

After having some time to think on it, he found it rather odd that they had been content to leave Blaine in prison the first time, but now seemed concerned enough to rally their troops to go after him.  What about the situation, from their perspective, had changed?  Surely it wasn’t merely Kurt himself—that Blaine now had a soulmate, someone to make his life matter.  That Kurt’s life, too, now mattered in a way it never had before.  He mentally added this to his list of things to ask Mike about.

But when the other man appeared to fetch him the next day, he seemed oddly tense, and Kurt decided to save those questions for later.  They walked the short distance to Mike’s car in near silence, save his brief inquiry as to how Kurt was feeling. 

Eventually, though, Kurt’s anxiety became too much to bear and he gave in to his curiosity.

“How far is it, to Cooper’s place?”

Mike’s hands tightened around the wheel.  “It’s on the edge of town, but not too far.  Maybe half an hour.  He used to live closer, before…”

“Before?”

“Before he betrayed Blaine.  As you can imagine, we were all rather disgusted by what he’d done,” he all but spit the word out.  “Needless to say, we no longer keep in touch.”

“What’s his story?” Kurt had been wondering this for a while, but it seemed such an upsetting topic he’d not pushed Blaine much on it.

Mike shook his head.  “You’ll have to ask him that.  None of us were feeling quite safe enough to really hear him out, after his initial confession that he’d let Blaine go to jail.”  He paused for a moment, then “he has a soulmate… Molli, I think her name is.  She teaches at the primary school with Tina.  Nice enough woman.  From what Tina tells me they’re friendly, but she’s never tried to mention Cooper.  It’s a bit of a mystery.”

“Well,” Kurt said, straitening up in the passenger’s seat, chin lifting a little in determination.  “He’s going to explain himself to me.  I think I deserve the full story.”

Mike didn’t answer, and their silence resumed for the remainder of the ride.

After a short time, Mike pulled up in front of a small but neat looking brick house.  It appeared almost too homey to belong to the man Kurt was going to see, with a loopy, cheerful “Welcome” sign posted on the front door and baskets of wildflowers hanging from the roof of the tiny porch and sitting in the windows.  Must be Molli’s influence, Kurt thought to himself, more curious now than ever about the people he was about to meet.  He didn’t hesitate, pushing open his door the moment the car stopped and climbing up the little set of stone stairs, Mike trailing more hesitantly behind him.

There was no doorbell, in its place a more old-fashioned knocker, and Kurt reached for it immediately before pausing, looking back at Mike. 

“It’s the middle of the day, are you sure they’ll be home?”

Mike gestured towards the car parked in front of his and shrugged.  “It’s Saturday, they should be.”

Kurt nodded and, turning back to the knocker, slammed it neatly three times.

After a short wait the door swung open to reveal a pretty woman with dark hair and bright green eyes, who offered him, and then Mike, a curious smile.  “Yes?  How can I help you?”

Kurt swallowed thickly, briefly glancing towards Mike for guidance.  It didn’t appear he would be getting any.  “Hello, umm… my name is Kurt Hummel.  I was hoping to speak with Cooper Anderson?”

The woman frowned as if confused by something, turning back into the house.  “Coop!” she called out.  Almost immediately a handsome man appeared, flashing her a dazzling smile and kissing her briefly before turning his attention to their guests.  “Mike,” his face fell when he saw the Asian man.  “What…?”

“Dear, this is Kurt Hummel,” Molli told him softly, and Cooper’s blue eyes landed on his, his mouth opening in an actual “O” of surprise for before falling again.

“Kurt,” he breathed, stepping forward and then stopping himself.  “I don’t understand…”

“Neither do I,” Kurt said a little coldly, finally finding his voice.  “But I’d like to.”

“Of course,” Cooper said, briefly bowing his head before looking back up at him.  “Please, come in.  Molli,” he said, turning to his mate.  “Could you please fix some tea?”  He glanced back to Kurt, “or would you prefer coffee?”

“Tea is fine.”

Molli nodded and left, trailing a comforting hand along Cooper’s arm as she did so.

“Right,” Cooper considered Kurt again.  “Follow me.”

Kurt moved to do so, then paused and turned back to Mike.

“I’ll wait in the car,” the taller man said stiffly.

Kurt nodded and followed reluctantly after Cooper, soon finding himself seated on a couch in a cozy living room.

“So, what would you like to know first?” Cooper asked, settling himself into an armchair to the right of Kurt.

Kurt’s head buzzed with a million and one questions, but they all boiled down to one.  He glanced around the room for a moment without really seeing it before finally turning to the man beside him, the man who looked nothing at all like Blaine but had apparently broken his heart and left him to rot. 

When he met Cooper’s eyes, he could feel his own projecting every bit of his resentment.  “I just want to know why.”

“Blaine and I… I don’t know how much he told you, Kurt, but what we did was dangerous.  We were given tips from anonymous sources to check out certain people that might be sympathetic, and our job was to approach them and feel out where they stood.  Delicate work, pushing little by little, until you either won yourself an ally or you got the hell out of there as fast as you could.

“We’d received a tip-off about the Smiths—Miranda and Thomas—and so we went to their house one night.  I don’t remember what our cover story was, but they let us in, no problem.  Things were going well, or so we thought.  We had just decided to go in for the kill, reveal ourselves, our real names and… why we were there.”

Cooper stopped as Molli entered the room, placing a steaming cup of tea in front of Kurt with a gentle smile and handing one to Cooper, kissing his cheek before leaving the room.

Both men took a long sip, and Cooper continued.  “As soon as the words left our mouths, it all went to hell.  It was a trap, you see, and I don’t know how but they had people on us, just like that.  We were nearly to the door when there she was.”  Cooper paused, closing his eyes as if lost in the memory.  “She was so beautiful, standing on the stairs looking frantic.  Screaming out my name—screaming out hers.  I hesitated just a moment too long, and they got us.

“You have to understand the position I was in, Kurt, and how difficult it was.  Now that I had found her, I couldn’t leave her there for years with such terrible people.  I knew her parents wouldn’t react well to learning who I was.”

“So you sold out your own brother,” Kurt’s voice was cold and bitter, unforgiving.

Cooper winced.  “I still regret it every day, wonder if there was a better way… but it was the only way I could think of at the time.  So I fed them some story—a watered-down version of the truth—and led them to believe that Blaine was the one in charge.  I knew that he wouldn’t give anything away; he’s too good for that.  It worked.  They let me go.  I went back to the Smith’s house the next day, snuck in and got Molli, and we got out, came back here.  Blaine went to prison.”

“And you just left him there?” Kurt demanded.  “You never tried to go back and get him out?”

Cooper hung his head.  “It was too dangerous.  I’m brave enough to risk myself, but I couldn’t risk her.”

“He doesn’t even know why you did it,” Kurt said incredulously, struggling to stay calm.

“No,” Cooper answered honestly.  He looked up, met Kurt’s eyes.  “He’d have done the same for you.”

Kurt broke the gaze in favor of studying his own hands, uncertain as to what to say next.

“So…” Cooper started, sounding more hesitant than he had yet.  “I know I have no right to ask, but about Blaine… you speak as if you’ve met.  Why didn’t he come here himself?”

Kurt sighed, forcing himself to look up again, resolutely setting his face.  “I suppose I can tell you the full story, since you can’t really hurt him now—“ Cooper winced again, and Kurt couldn’t even bring himself to be ashamed at the tingle of satisfaction he got from the older man’s reaction to his barb—“Blaine and I met when I took a job at the prison he was in.  We managed to carry on a relationship in secret, and as soon as we could arrange it he ran.  We were going to come here together, but…” he trailed off as he felt the tears beginning to build in his eyes and furiously tried to blink them away.  “He didn’t make it across.  That’s all we know.”

Cooper gasped and reached out as if to touch him, concern evident on his face, but seemed to think better of it and sat back.  “I’m so sorry, Kurt.”

Kurt scoffed.  “I can’t see why you would be.  At least this time it isn’t your fault.”

“No,” Cooper shook his head, this time showing no visible reaction to Kurt’s insinuation.  “But it is more dangerous for him, surely they’ve told you that?”

Kurt shuddered at the reminder, but nodded.

“So I guess the real question is… what are we going to do about it?”

“We?” Kurt was legitimately taken aback.

It was Cooper’s turn to sigh, though in the back of Kurt’s mind he noted that he did so a little over-dramatically.  “If you’ll let me, Kurt, I want to help.  I’ve spent so long hating myself for what I did.  I can’t… no, I won’t let him down again.”

This time when their eyes met, Kurt took the opportunity to study the other man’s—digging within them for what, he wasn’t sure. 

After a long while he nodded once before looking away.  The resistance was going to need all the help they could get, and Cooper was already trained.  As for forgiveness—well, that would be Blaine’s to leave or to give.

*******

After Kurt finished with Cooper, Mike took him on a tour of Dalton school, where a meeting was later being held for the resistance to plan their big move.  Kurt was nervous at the prospect of meeting so many new people, but Mike informed him that they weren't as large of a group as Kurt had anticipated—only fifty or so members, and only thirty of those would be leaving on the mission.  The school also served as an excellent distraction from Kurt’s growing anxiety.  It was grand in that glamorous sort of way that hinted of eras passed.  Unfortunately, his mind constantly conjured up images of Blaine, smiling and laughing and learning with friends throughout the beautiful halls, and it only served to deepen his sadness.

Just before the meeting, Kurt remembered his earlier question for Mike.  To his surprise, the taller man looked a little sheepish when asked why, exactly, going after Blaine was so important this time when they'd never bothered before.

"Well, to be honest, it's really more of the excuse that we've been looking for to make our move.  Elections are coming up, and we've got a few candidates that are leaning towards our side, but none of them are very powerful.  What we really need is a big gun, so to speak—a shoe-in that the people already love who's willing to back our cause.  There are a couple of people we're working on, so if we can convince one of them, that's for the best.  But regardless of how solid we are politically, many of the people aren’t going to like what our candidates have to say.  None of us want to see it come to violence, Kurt, but if it comes to that we’re prepared to make a stand.  This practice of rehabilitation, this prejudice… it’s simply gone on too long.”

Kurt was impressed—and surprised—with how sincere Mike was, how passionate he seemed to be about the cause.  But then again, he didn’t know Mike well, but being a member of the resistance in and of itself should have said a lot about his character.  He was seeing more and more that being a part of this group was no small sacrifice.

Mike sighed, then continued.  "But also, Kurt, a lot of us here really care about Blaine.  We were his friends, and he was one of our best men.  It was one thing to know that he was safe in prison, however unpleasant that circumstance may be.  But wherever he is now, whatever's going on - well, the unknown is not a good thing."

Kurt nodded, accepting this for what it was.

“Blaine and I were roommates in college, and when Cooper talked him into joining, I went too.  Did he tell you that?”  Mike looked a wistful and a bit uncomfortable, as if this was more than he had been planning to say but he couldn’t stop himself.

Not wanting to discourage Mike from sharing more, Kurt quietly shook his head in response.

“He was my best friend there, and he and Tina got pretty close, too.  He was my best man at our bonding ceremony.  When the two of us dropped out of school to join, he lived with us for a a few months, until he and Cooper got situated.”

Mike fell silent, and Kurt continued to watch him expectantly.

“I’m sorry,” he said finally, “I don’t know where I’m going with this.  I’m not very good with words, but I guess I just want you to know that Blaine means something to us here, Kurt.  Especially to me.  We won’t let him go without a fight.”

Kurt reached out a little tentatively to squeeze the taller man’s shoulder.  “Thank you,” he said sincerely, meeting Mike’s eyes.

Mike nodded, and a moment later the meeting was starting.

The meeting was very informative, but at its conclusion less was set in stone than Kurt might have liked.  Apparently, the resistance had a safe house to operate from in The New World—huge, and only recently established— where members would be staying.  Getting everyone there seemed to be the main problem.  They had decided to leave in small groups, and Kurt would be going the next day with the first group.  More than one member was unhappy with this as Kurt was untrained, but fortunately the majority were firmly on his side.  Mike would be going with him, along with Finn (whom Kurt had yet to meet and was surprised to learn was also a member of the resistance,) a girl named Sugar who Kurt secretly thought didn’t look particularly fierce and Sam, a Son of the Source.  He wasn’t in attendance and Kurt still wasn’t sure what a Son of the Source was, but apparently he would lend them additional protection as well as easing their way back across the barrier through his manipulation of magic.

Kurt still felt a little baffled about how, exactly, they planned to go about rescuing Blaine, but if these people felt it prudent to iron out the details once they got there, well, he would do his best to trust them.  It’s not like he had any better choice.

Cooper would be included in a later group, something that Kurt had awkwardly fought to make happen at all, and he was more than grateful that they wouldn’t be forced into each other’s company any more than absolutely necessary.

He was forgetting his troubles a little in a rather enjoyable if confusing conversation with Sugar about her past mishaps with the resistance (which were doing very little to boost his confidence in her, but she seemed not to notice,) when strong hands suddenly clasped around the back of his shoulders and spun him around at dizzying speed.

More than a little startled, he looked up… and up… into a smiling, unfamiliar face.  “Hey dude!” the man proclaimed excitedly, still holding onto his shoulders.  “I hear we’re bros now!”

Kurt blinked.  “You must be Finn…”

“Oh yeah, sorry, Finn Hudson,” he finally let go a little too hastily, jarring Kurt forward, and stuck out his hand.  Kurt shook it politely.

“Kurt Hummel, it’s lovely to meet you,” he offered.

“I’ve never had a brother before!” Finn declared, sticking his hands into his pockets.  “Or a dad, but Burt’s pretty cool.  I’m glad they found each other.”

“Yeah,” was all Kurt could say, still trying to process Finn’s exuberance.

Finally taking a moment to study Kurt’s face, Finn’s own soon fell.   “Hey, I’m really sorry about Blaine and all.  I didn’t really know him because I didn’t join until after he was… gone… but I’ve heard stories, and he sounds like a really cool dude.  I’m glad I can help you find him.”

Kurt relaxed a little at Finn’s sincerity, and he managed a small smile for the taller man.  “Thanks, I appreciate your concern.  I’m sorry if I’m not at my best right now, but once all this is over,” he waved his hand towards the room, “I’m sure I’ll really enjoy having you as a brother.”

Finn’s smile returned as Mike made his way over to them, stepping forward and about to speak when the banging of the door startled all three men—in fact, the entire room—and Kurt looked up to find a man who appeared to be around his own age standing in the doorway.

His presence was striking, to say the least, but Kurt found immediately that he didn’t like him.  The man was handsome enough—tall, well-dressed, stylish hair—but his face presented a smirking arrogance that made Kurt’s stomach turn.

“Sebastian,” Mike was saying, stepping towards him but stopping short of a full approach.  “You’re back.”

“Yes,” Sebastian grinned cockily.  “With news.”

“Please then, enlighten us,” Wes, a friend of Blaine’s from Dalton who now held a leadership role in the resistance, was approaching from the back of the room.  Kurt recalled meeting and liking the man earlier, and now felt some satisfaction at hearing the distaste in Wes’s voice and reading it on his face as he addressed Sebastian.  Apparently they shared in good judgment.

“Blaine is alive,” Sebastian informed the room proudly.  “And I know where he is.”