Kurt Hummel was an incredibly busy man. Having spent two weeks in Milan for fashion week he had got back to Paris just to have a repeat of the circus. He felt like he hadn't slept in years, his fingers sore from all the typing and he was certain he had got his first grey hairs. At least he wasn't going bald like his father.

It didn't help that in the back of his mind the questions kept piling up and he wasn't sure if he wanted the answers or not. That day back in January seemed surreal now, and if it wasn't for the yellow post-it in his nightstand drawer he would have believed that he had imagined the whole thing.

It had not taken Kurt long to figure out that the note had been left by the man when he had been in the bathroom. He had also reasoned that this was something the man had done so that his partner wouldn't know, which probably meant it was against some kind of standing order. Kurt wasn't an idiot. He might have had doubts about Blaine's identity after seeing him in the café, but the two people showing up in his apartment had confirmed that he was right. You could say that their action had been counterproductive since their visit had left Kurt more curious than ever.

He wasn't one hundred percent sure what he was dealing with here, but he was pretty sure his visitors had been government agents of some kind. So Kurt did what came natural to him, he called his Dad.

Now that had been an awkward phone call. 'Hi Dad! You remember my ex-boyfriend Blaine? Well I think he is a secret agent and two people came to warn me off, so could you use your political contacts to do exactly the opposite of what they told me and dig around a little?' To say that Burt had been surprised was an understatement.

Kurt had talked to his father after that, but Burt had nothing new to report. He said he had asked some questions and put some feelers out, but so far nothing had surfaced.

Kurt couldn't let it go though. It was like he had been transported back to his high school self when he had spent every second of every day thinking about Blaine. In high school he had worried about Blaine from time to time, the lack of parental supervision in his boyfriend's life had left him tossing and turning some nights, like that time Blaine had come down with the flu and Kurt's father had been adamant that he was under no circumstances allowed to spend the night. (To be fair, Kurt hadn't told him Blaine was ill, because Blaine hadn't wanted Burt to make a fuss.)

What he was feeling now though, was a hundred times worse. Bring on the flu or teenage arguments; he would prefer them to this. Because knowing that something was going on, something potentially dangerous, but not really knowing what, was pure torment.

He had tried to not care, he really had, but there was no way he could not care about Blaine.

Kurt was coming up from the Metro when his phone buzzed in his pocket alerting him to an incoming text. He climbed the stairs up to the street level, the sound of the traffic on Place Léon Blum meeting him halfway up and only growing as he stepped on to the pavement. Extracting his phone from his inside pocket he shuddered as a gust of too fresh spring air made its way in to his skin. The text was from an unknown number and he rarely got texts from people that he didn't already know. He stepped up to one of the advertising signs to keep out of the steady stream of people going home for the evening. Looking down on his phone again he opened the text; La rue Montorgueil à Paris, fête du 30 juin 1878 10 am tomorrow. That was it, no signature, no explanation. Kurt just stared at the screen for a moment before he pulled up the number and pressed call. The number you have dialled cannot be reached at the moment, please check the number and dial again. 'Well wasn't that just great'. Kurt pulled up the text again and tried to make sense of the information. Sure, there was a Rue de la Montorgueil, but the rest made absolutely no sense, unless...

Kurt googled the information in the text, leaving out the time given at the end and sure enough, there was his solution.

Even though he had been early Kurt barely made it through the ticket and security check at Musee d'Orsay in time for his mystery meeting. Not bothering with the lift he hurried up the stairs to get to the right exhibition before ten. Moving through a gaggle of Japanese tourists he found the painting he was looking for, praising himself silently for being prescient enough to check the motif online before leaving home. He stared at the scene unfolding on the canvas for a moment before he turned and looked around. There was a steadily growing stream of people making their way from painting to painting, but the person Kurt searched for was nowhere to be seen.

Had he been wrong in his assumptions? Was this not what he had hoped, and just some practical joke some of his work friends had set up? He turned to take a last look at the painting and there he was. Kurt only saw him because a couple stepped out of the way, leaving his line of sight open. It was difficult to believe that this was the same man that he had seen almost two months ago, but now at least he was the boy in Kurt's memories. As if on cue, the man turned his head and smiled at Kurt. A careful smile, but one filled with secret knowledge. It made Kurt's heart beat faster and he wanted to throw himself around Blaine in an embrace, but before he could move Blaine turned and started to walk towards the exit, glancing once over his shoulder as if to see if Kurt was following him.

Blaine didn't stop walking until they crossed the road outside the museum and reached the stone barrier by the Seine. They stood in silence for a moment, Blaine looking out over the river, Kurt studying him. He looked older, but that was no surprise seeing as the last time Kurt had seen him he had been nineteen and you tended to age at least a little in ten years. His face was the same though, the same profile, the same lips, easier to see now that he was clean shaven,hishair slicked back. His skin was a lot more tanned, Kurt noticed, as if he had spent all winter in a sunnier climate than Paris, and maybe he had. Blaine looked good and he seemed calmer, more grounded. It was as if he had grown into the dapper façade he had worn when Kurt had first met him at Dalton, and now what had once been a persona was the real Blaine. There was something else too, something Kurt couldn't put his finger on, but that really didn't matter because Blaine was standing not two feet away and now he turned and looked at Kurt.

"Hi."

It was such an understated beginning that Kurt had to laugh. "Hi yourself," he managed to get out. "I can't believe you're actually here. That we are here... it's surreal."

"You look good, Kurt."

Kurt felt a familiar swooping feeling in his chest. "You too." He didn't want to think too much about what he was feeling right now; he just wanted to be, live in the moment.

"You know, you really should try and heed the advice people offer you. I wasn't there, but I am pretty sure that my colleague didn't say 'Please call your former congressman father and beg him to dig around.' I love you Kurt, but you have always been too curious for your own good." Blaine smiled that little smile of his again.

"Oh no, did I get you into trouble? I didn't mean... wait! You love me?" The realisation of what Blaine had said hit Kurt mid ramble.

"Of course I do. You were my first boyfriend Kurt, there will always be a part of my heart that belongs to you." Blaine pulled him into a hug and Kurt melted into the familiar sensation of being held by Blaine. Too soon they were moving apart, his body instantly missing the warmth from being pressed up against Blaine.

"Walk with me?" Blaine raised an eyebrow in question and Kurt nodded, falling into step next to his ex.

"So what's going on, why all the cloak and dagger stuff?" Kurt had to ask even if he wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer he might get.

"I can't tell you specifics Kurt. In fact, I shouldn't tell you anything at all. Even meeting you here today would have been frowned upon had anyone known what I planned. The thing is," Blaine sighed, "I work for the government, in an... ehm agency, that I obviously can't talk about. And you have to promise me that you won't talk about this either, for your own safety."

'So, definitely in the category of I wish I hadn't asked because I don't want to know then.' Kurt thought. "So that's a big no on discussing your work then," he joked satisfied when he got a more genuine 'Blaine smile' out of the man walking next to him.

"So what's your life like, Kurt? Have all your dreams come true?"

Kurt thought for a minute before answering. "Yes and no."

Blaine looked like he was trying hard not to crack up. "Always so ambiguous. Let me rephrase the question, are you happy Kurt?"

Like that was any easier to answer.

"I guess." Kurt stopped, making Blaine stop as well. "I love my work, but it can be a bit stressful sometimes. I love my friends; I still keep in touch with Rachel and Mercedes by the way. So yes, I am happy."

Blaine looked up at him. He had the same way of gazing up through his eyelashes that had driven Kurt wild when they had been together.

"No significant other?"

"Not at the moment, no." Kurt felt slightly self-conscious admitting his lack of a love life.

"Me neither. I mean, it's not like I can just date whoever I like in my line of work."

He really shouldn't be happy that Blaine was single, but he was.

"That sounds complicated."

"Believe me, it is. Most people only date within the agency, but if you meet someone outside... Let's just say you know most of your potential boyfriend's secrets before the third date. It makes it awkward and frankly takes away some of the allure of meeting someone new."

They had ended up by Pont de la Concorde by now and Kurt took a deep breath. "So can I take you out to lunch? For old times sake." He wanted to keep talking, preferably for the rest of the night.

"I can't."

Kurt felt like a ton of bricks had just landed in his stomach. Blaine must have read his disappointment on his face.

"It's not that I don't want to, I do, more than you could possibly know. It's just that I have to catch a flight in two hours."

That at least made Kurt feel a little better until he got the answer to his next question. "Going anywhere exciting?"

Blaine looked up at him. "You know I can't tell you that, Kurt."

Before he knew what was happening Kurt was enveloped in a hug.

"I've missed you so much." Blaine whispered in his ear, his warm breath giving Kurt a thrill he hadn't felt in years.

"I've missed you too," Kurt murmured back, god he was getting misty eyed.

"I'll call you when I get back in the country. We can make plans then, have a proper catch up."

And with that Blaine Anderson was hurrying away from him across the bridge towards Place de la Concorde. Kurt stood there, watching him go, taking in the expensive coat and suit properly since he met Blaine earlier. 'At least he is not going in to a warzone looking like that.' He felt a sharp pang in his chest and let himself take in what he was feeling. It was like he was sixteen again, watching Blaine striding self assured towards the Gap and utter catastrophe, only worse. He hadn't known what it was to be in love back then. Sure he'd had crushes, but it was only when Blaine and he had become a pair that he truly understood what it was to care so much about another human being that it hurt. It hurt now, but that was just too bad, because Kurt Hummel would never ever let Blaine Anderson out of his life ever again.