After a successful meeting with the Chancellor at her main offices in Berlin, Kurt decided to play tourist for the rest of the day. His typical workdays were long and often involved intricate work so it felt good to be outside enjoying the fresh air. He loved the movie Valkyrie – well truthfully the image of Tom Cruise sporting an eye patch had played a major role in some of his alone time – so he decided to visit the offices of Colonel Stauffenberg, Bendlerblock, which had been turned into a museum. As he walked around the building he realized how close the July 20th assassination attempt on Hitler had come to succeeding. Here was a man that had tried to do the right thing regardless of personal safety. Things might have been different for millions of people had Col. Stauffenberg succeeded in his mission.

Although Kurt did not put his actions on par with Col. Stauffenberg he could relate to how meticulous one had to plan so that no one ended up in prison or dead. He walked from the museum to the main street to catch the bus to tour the Jewish Museum and he wandered around looking at the pictures they had detailing the atrocities the Nazis inflicted on their prisoners. He sat and listened to the recorded memoirs of survivors and their daily struggles even after the war. He didn’t have to imagine the guilt they suffered at having survived when most of their families had been murdered - he saw it on the faces of his friends. There was a chart listing the deaths in categories and Kurt was startled to see the numbers that were sent to the camps because their sexuality had been questioned. He knew that he could never pass as straight. He might as well have a rainbow colored sign tattooed to his forehead with the words “GAY” in capital letters punctuated with a smiley face – he was so obvious.

“I thought I had it bad,” he muttered to himself. At least the jocks in high school only threatened to kill him. The Nazis actually made good on their promises. He was just thankful he had not been born in Germany during Hitler’s reign. He finished wandering around the museum and left.

The day was a beautiful one and he decided to walk down the streets for a bit. He browsed around a few stores and bought some postcards to add to his collection. He liked to frame postcards of places he had visited to remind himself of the beauty he saw on his travels. He turned the corner and saw a portion of the Berlin Wall that had been left standing. It sat behind a fence so that it wouldn’t be picked apart by tourists and Kurt was able to see the graffiti and the desperate messages left there by the unknown faces that had lived this daily conflict. He saw how the city was working hard to heal itself as he meandered his way back to Alexanderplatz where he caught a bus back to his hotel.

Kurt decided that Berlin was definitely a city that you needed to visit when you had the time to truly discover the beauty that was hidden under its ugly history. He was glad he had walked around and visited the museums. Kurt was looking for and had found the validation for his actions and he felt blessed and lucky enough to have made a difference in people’s lives regardless of the fact that some faction of society would label him a criminal.

He managed to get back to his hotel and ordered room service before he got ready for bed. He would be flying back home tomorrow morning and he wanted to get a good night’s rest. He normally did well dealing with jet-lag but the stress of the last job and transporting the painting had taken a toll on his sleep patterns. He lulled himself to sleep thinking about this new thing with Blaine. He wasn’t even sure what this “thing” was but he was willing to explore the possibilities. They hadn’t spoken in a week and he wasn’t sure what was going to happen with Blaine but the last thing he thought of before he fell asleep were his warm hazel eyes.

w34;xxxxxxw34;

Blaine was glad it was Friday. His team had hit a brick wall as far as this case was concerned. They had all been excited about the surveillance tape and they had analyzed the hell out of it but they still had nothing. He slammed the file on his desk in frustration, “I can’t believe we aren’t any closer to solving this!”

“Don’t feel bad. No one has anything – not Interpol, not M16, the locals, the insurance agencies or any of the other ABC agencies out there,” said Wes trying to console his friend.

“Hell, no one is even sure it is the same group responsible for all the thefts,” chimed in David nudging Bob.

Startled Bob blurted, “Yeah, Blaine don’t feel bad – at least we are the first ones to get something on them.” Wes and David nodded their heads in agreement.

“Yeah, but still not enough. I really wanted to catch this guy.”

AIC Adams walked into their office and asked them all to follow him to the conference room. He had a picture up on the TV screen. “This copy of the Torah circa 1800’s was stolen from the British Library last night. It was used during special ceremonies at the Synagogue in Berlin. It was almost destroyed during Kristallnacht but the Rabbi was able to hide it away before he was brutally assaulted. It was eventually found and restored to its proper place once the Synagogue was restored. It was lent to the British Library for a few months as part of their Religions Across the World exhibit.”

“What is Kristallnacht and how do you spell it?” asked Bob already thinking about the research he would be doing.

“Kristallnacht was actually a 2 day event Agent Barley. From November 9-10, 1938 the Nazi’s led a series of coordinated attacks against Jews and Jewish businesses throughout Germany and Austria. Jewish homes and business were ransacked and all windows were shattered – hence the Kristallnacht nomenclature. Synagogues bore the brunt of the attacks and many of them were demolished.”

“Any idea who took it?” asked Blaine.

“No leads but the general consensus is that the same group that took The Girl in Red also took the Torah. There is nothing to specifically tie these two crimes together other than the fact that it fits the profile. The Jewish community claims it is a priceless artifact and they are demanding that the authorities put all their resources into finding the culprits who stole it and making sure they are punished for their crimes. We need to make sure the Brits get copies of all our data ASAP. The case now belongs to them. Agent Barley send all files electronically while the rest of you gather and package all hard copies and send them out by special courier.”

“So what does that mean? We just give up our case – just like that,” Blaine snapped his fingers.

“Agent Anderson, have you followed up every lead?”

“Yes, but…”

“Do you have anything new that might make lead to an imminent arrest?”

“No, but…”

“Then Agent Anderson, you have done everything in your power to solve this crime. Unless we get anything new that might lead to the painting or the Torah we must turn the case over to the Brits. This doesn’t mean that you give up totally – this just means that you keep working your open cases and someday hopefully we will get a break on this case. This is how we got the case remember? We must work with our intelligence counterparts to solve international crimes. In other words we need to learn how to play nice.”

“Ok but why do the Brits get the lead – the painting is just as valuable as the Torah?”

“At this moment in time the Brits are in the hot seat. It seems that the Synagogue originally wasn’t too keen on lending out their Torah but the Queen herself intervened with the Chancellor of Germany on behalf of the Library. The Chancellor managed to convince the Rabbi and he personally delivered it to the Queen. The Queen now finds herself in the unenviable position of having to explain how an important religious artifact was stolen while in her care. The Queen will always trump you Agent Anderson, every time,” the meeting was over as AIC Adams left the office.

“Well damn,” sighed Blaine as he followed everyone out of the conference room to their work area. Wes and David started making copies of all the files and packaged them up to send to England. Bob was busy sending off copies electronically and Blaine just stood there frustrated and pissed off so he decided to call it a day.

w34;xxxxxxw34;

Kurt woke up early and groaned. His dreams had been too chaotic and full of Blaine and had actually left him on edge. He was tired and grumpy and he had to catch his 11:00am flight out of Tegel Airport. He got dressed and ordered fresh fruit and yogurt before he headed to the airport. He wanted to just get on the plane and relax. He hoped the 11 hour flight went by quickly. He had a layover in London for an hour which would give him enough time to get some of the duty free colognes he loved so he felt a little better at the thought of some retail therapy. He finally boarded the plane and was actually able to work on some designs during the short flight to London. While in London he was able to pick up a couple of the scents he loved and he found cologne that reminded him of Blaine so he bought it on impulse. He couldn’t wait to smell it on Blaine. Kurt had never fallen in love before but he could feel himself falling for this person he had only known for a short time and that made him feel vulnerable, excited yet scared. It scared him because it was happening too fast and Blaine seemed too perfect to be true. He quickly stopped his train of thoughts as they started boarding his flight.

He boarded the plane and had just settled into his seat when he noticed that the empty seats behind him were being occupied by a couple of men. Each of the men held an identically beautifully dressed infant girl. They actually made a cute couple, thought Kurt. He started picturing himself and Blaine traveling with their children – hmmm probably just one baby not two at a time.

“What the hell am I doing? I have us married with children and I’ve only known him for 2 weeks!” he thought to himself. Hopefully the sleeping babies would stay asleep. He had travelled enough to know that most babies had a hard time adjusting to the altitude and the noise level on an airplane. Kurt was able to concentrate on his designs for a few hours and he had just about decided it was time to try and sleep for a few hours when he heard a whimper followed by a much louder whimper. Before he knew it there were two identically pissed off babies making themselves heard.

Kurt cringed and felt bad for the dads as he pulled out his headphones and put them on. He tried to sleep but he could still hear the screaming babies even through his headphones. Kurt sat there getting grumpier by the minute. By the time they were nearing New York Kurt had what felt like a full-blown migraine and it got so bad he actually felt like screaming right along with the babies. He wanted his blessedly quiet apartment, a shower, a glass of wine and a whole cheesecake. What he didn’t want was to be around anybody until he felt human again – he was starting to rethink the whole baby situation.

w34;xxxxxxw34;

It was finally Friday and Blaine couldn’t contain his excitement. He knew Kurt was flying in today and he couldn’t wait. As he lay in bed last night thinking of Kurt he decided he was going to surprise Kurt by meeting him at the airport. He knew his credentials would get him right through to the gate so he could surprise Kurt with flowers and hopefully convince him to go out to dinner with him. After all, he wanted to help Kurt overcome his jetlag and he knew that it was best if Kurt stayed awake as long as possible so that he could get used to the time difference. Blaine couldn’t wait until the next day to put his plan in motion.

The next morning he took his time getting dressed and stopped off at the florist near his office. He bought a bouquet of daisies. He had originally wanted to go with red roses but he didn’t want to scare him off – besides the daisies were cheerful and looked beautiful. He did feel silly walking into the office with a bouquet of flowers and hoped no one would notice.

“Blaine, you shouldn’t have,” said David as he tried to grab the flowers.

“I think those are for me David,” said Wes as he winked at Blaine. Blaine just smiled and looked at Bob waiting for his comment.

“What?” Bob was oblivious – it was good to know some things never changed.

“These are for Kurt, I decided I’m going to surprise him by picking him up at the airport.”

“What time are you supposed to pick him up? Do you need us to cover for you?” asked Wes.

Blaine’s shifty eyes couldn’t seem to focus on anyone in particular as he mumbled, “His plane lands at 5:30.”

His friends knew him too well, “Did you go look up his information on the arrival manifests?” Wes asked looking at him suspiciously.

“Yeeesss.”

“You used official resources to check up on your boyfriend? Are you crazy – you know that’s not allowed, right?”

“Actually I looked it up and no one will ever know I was in there,” said Bob not even looking up from his computer. “Blaine was trying to figure out their system so I just did it for him.”

Wes just shook his head and went back to his desk, “I hope Kurt likes surprises. You might not get the reception you are hoping for. It’s been a week since he’s been gone and you guys haven’t kept in touch. Are you sure you shouldn’t just wait for him to call you when he’s ready to see you? I know how….intense…you can get when you first meet someone almost dare we say…stalkerish. Maybe you should just lay low and let him come to you.”

“I like him why should I wait? What if I sit back and wait and someone swoops in and steals him away from me?”

“Huh – well I wasn’t aware he was “yours” officially.”

“Hey Wes – just leave him alone. It’s been awhile since Blaine has really been interested in anyone give him break.”

“Thanks David,” Blaine put the daisies in a glass of water making sure they wouldn’t wilt before he got a chance to give them to Kurt. “I need to leave the office by 3:00pm at the latest to make sure I get to the airport in time and cleared through security. Is that okay with you guys?”

“No problem – we got it,” Dave gave him a pat on the back as the men get to work.

At exactly 3:00pm Blaine hopped into a taxi and made the trip out to the airport. Traffic was bad and by the time he got through the traffic and showed his credentials to the TSA agents it was almost 5:15pm. He rushed to the gate just as the doors opened and the first travelers start trickling out. He positioned himself close to the doors so that he could spot Kurt as soon as he cleared the doors.

w34;xxxxxxw34;

Kurt had never been happier to see the seatbelt signed turned off that at this very moment. He jumped up and tried to grab his carry-on bag but he must have been moving too slow. The couple with the infants beat him to the aisle and he had to wait until they gathered all their baby paraphernalia before he could grab his bag. He was stuck walking behind them and by some miracle the kids had finally stopped screaming. They were just sitting in their father’s arms with no worries and smiling at the world. Meanwhile Kurt just wanted to hit something. As he followed them out into the airport one of the babies dropped her pacifier. Kurt leaned over to grab it before it hit the floor and as he straightened up he spoted Blaine a few feet in front of him. He handed the pacifier to the baby and hurtled himself into Blaine’s arms. He felt Blaine stumble a bit but then regain his footing as he squeezed Kurt.

“Hi. What are you doing here?”

“I came to pick you up,” he handed the bouquet of daisies to Kurt.

Kurt smiles as he takes the flowers, “Thank you.” His headache is suddenly gone and he can feel the adrenaline pumping throughout his body. He shyly reached up and put his arms around Blaine’s neck and drew him in for a quick kiss. “How did you manage to get past security? Don’t you have to have a purchased ticket in order to get near the gates? And how did you know what flight I was on?”

“Oh, I just showed my credentials and there were only a few flights coming in from Europe so I guessed,” Blaine was not going to tell Kurt that he had used FBI intel to get his information.

“Credentials? What credentials?”

Blaine reached into his pocket and flipped opened his credentials as he hands them over to Kurt, “I had to call ahead and get the airport security to escort me up here but I really wanted to surprise you.”

“FBI?” Kurt’s was too shocked to say anything else. He could feel the blood draining from his body and he actually felt lightheaded.

“Yeah – I thought I’d mentioned that I was an FBI agent. I’m part of the Art Crime Team – ACT for short.”

“I’m pretty sure I would have remembered that tidbit of information Blaine,” Kurt felt the panic setting in as he sat down on a chair. His legs gave out and he felt dizzy. Did Blaine suspect him? Was this the reason he was trying to hook up with him? Was he under surveillance and they decided to trap him by sending a hot, sexy, gay agent to get him to spill all his secrets?

“Kurt are you okay? You look really pale and shaky?” Blaine reached out to grab Kurt’s hand but was startled when Kurt snatched his hand away and started walking to baggage claim. Damn – Kurt had some long legs on him, thought Blaine.

He caught up with Kurt as he was wrestling his luggage off the carousel and heading outside to the taxi stand. He started throwing his luggage into the trunk of the first taxi without waiting for any help from the driver or Blaine. He needed to get home and as far away as possible from Blaine. He needed to figure out what was happening. He thought his past was over and done with and he had really been looking forward to starting something with Blaine. He was an idiot. No one that gorgeous would have been interested in Kurt Hummel. No Blaine was just interested in arresting him for his crimes. He just needed to get away. He looked up and saw that Blaine was standing next to him.

“Thank you for the flowers. I have to go. I will call you later. Bye!” Kurt jumped into the taxi and slammed the door giving the driver his address. He looked out the window and saw Blaine standing there with a totally confused look on his face. He couldn’t believe he was stupid enough to get sucked in by a pretty face. He couldn’t wait to get home to wallow in his misery and wonder how long until the FBI showed up at his door with an arrest warrant.

Blaine wasn’t sure what had just happened. One minute Kurt had been in his arms and the next he was zipping out of his life in a yellow taxi cab. “I should have listened to Wes – maybe Kurt doesn’t like surprises.”