"Carole? A word?"

Carole looked up from the last of her paperwork. Janice, the head nurse on her floor, was watching her. In her hands was a thick, golden envelope and immediately, Carole stiffened. The results on her search for Lee Atkins. She'd put in a request weeks ago after talking to Janice, but she hadn't expected answers so quickly. Getting anything before Blaine left would have amazed her.

"Yes, of course." She finished the last check off and tucked the paperwork into the right slot.

Janice led her down the hall to her little office, shutting the door behind them. "We got the information on Lee Atkins you requested." She slid the envelope across the desk as Carole sat down. "I have a few questions, though. You said it was for your stepson's boyfriend?"

"Yes, Blaine and his brother have been looking for him," Carole answered. It wasn't entirely a lie. There was a connection between the two, but it still felt like an awful lie that squirmed in her belly.

"About that," Janice began and Carole swallowed at her tone. She'd figured something out, realized she was lying or worse. "In their search they also brought up criminal records and newspaper searches. They found a boy with the same name as Blaine from then. I thought it was curious."

She didn't want to lie, didn't like the idea of keeping secrets with Janice. They'd known each other for close to twenty years, had become good friends in those years, but this was so unbelievably complicated there was no real explanation to give.

"It's complicated, Janice," Carole said. "There's nothing dangerous or illegal going on, I promise you, but this is so beyond me that I can't really explain it because I don't understand it all myself. But it's important for Blaine to find him."

Janice nodded as she looked her over. "You know I trust you, Carole. I just wanted to check in first. Anything negative would come back to us. I trust your judgment. If you need anything else..."

"Thank you," Carole said in relief. "You've been wonderful to get this so fast. Kurt will be thrilled that we could get anything. He's been looking for more recent information so Blaine can see him."

"Everything's in there on his current information," Janice said kindly. She stood up and smiled. "Just keep it safe, okay? For whatever reason he doesn't want the majority of his records out for the public."

"Of course, it'll only be the boys and myself." She carefully picked up the envelope, thanked Janice again, and headed back to the main desk hub to check out and head home. After grabbing her sweater and purse from her locker, Carole tucked the envelope into her bag and made her way out to her car. Normally, she'd head straight home, but with this she couldn't wait. Kurt would be thrilled, and now maybe she'd be given more answers. She only hoped Blaine would be as happy as Kurt to find this man, but something told her otherwise. Something said that this old man had been a violent boy Blaine wanted to forget.

A quick stop for take-out burgers from Tito's and then she was bustling inside with food, her work bag and purse, and the envelope she hoped meant something good. From upstairs she could hear water rushing through the pipes in the walls and downstairs–

"Fuck, do that again–"

"Oh! Blaine's that's–"

"Boys, dinner's here!" Her holler was followed by her toeing Kurt's door closed. Another twelve hours and they'd be on a bus to New York City with the Glee Club. As much as she adored the pair, she'd be glad not to have to walk into those sounds for a bit. Finn's cleats thundered across the upstairs hall and met her in the kitchen.

"How many times have I told you to take those off at the door?" she demanded. He grunted and swiped the first take-out bag off the counter and started digging in. "Finn Christopher, you take those cleats off at the front door or so help me–"

" A'ight, 'om," Finn sprayed the table with cheeseburger, then swallowed and used his sleeve to wipe it up. He clomped away to the front door, cheeseburger and bag of fries in tow.

Carole shook her head as she started pulling the rest out of the other bags and setting them out on the table. She was halfway through her own meal when Kurt finally appeared, his cheeks an embarrassed crimson as he sat down with her. It wasn't the first time she'd walked through the door to hear things, but it was certainly the first time she'd called them out on it.

"Blaine'll be up in a bit," Kurt mumbled, his cheeks darkening. "We, um, sorry about... that."

"Nothing to be embarrassed about, but I will say, despite your Dad's stance, that if you two are going to be loud or do more than kiss, to close the door, okay?" Carole told him. "Saves you and me and Blaine a lot of embarrassment."

Kurt nodded and sat down at his cheeseburger. "Okay. We weren't planning on– okay."

Carole smiled. "It's rarely planned at your age, dear. Oh, I have some news, too." She reached down into her bag and pulled the envelope out. "The information on Lee Atkins came in this afternoon."

Kurt spluttered cheeseburger over the table, too. Carole groaned as he snatched the envelope out of her hand. Boys were so messy sometimes. At least Kurt paused long enough to grab a few napkins and wipe up. She never had to worry about his sleeves being stained with food or drinks or snot.

"Is he still alive? Or around here? Where–"

"I haven't read any of it yet," Carole said as Kurt nearly ripped it open. "I actually wanted to ask you more about who this man is before you and Blaine do whatever with this."

Kurt looked up and he suddenly looked scared. Carole couldn't help the tangle of anxiety that twisted in her stomach. Blaine didn't know about this still, and for that reason alone, she pulled the envelope away and set it down.

"Kurt, who is he and what does he have to do with Blaine's past?"

Kurt swallowed and stared down at his burger. "They were friends when they were kids," he said after a moment. "But then, when Blaine came out–was outted–he turned away from him. Like, they tried to stay friends, but it just didn't work and then Lee was... He was his best friend, Carole, and he stood by and watched. I don't know if he'll even want to see him, but I wanted to give him a chance to have that closure. Maybe it's part of all of this or maybe it isn't, but Blaine needs this. I can tell."

"What do I need?"

Carole looked up as Kurt swiveled around. Blaine was in the doorway, his eyebrows flattened and curious as he looked at them.

�

"But he's so close!"

"Doesn't matter," Thomas said. He chuckled as Cameron glowered at their shared screen. "Look, he might go tomorrow or he might not. I don't know any better than you do."

"But if he goes tomorrow then–"

"Are you two still watching Blaine?" One of Cameron's other agents, Anita, edged through the door and waved a bowl of popcorn at them. "I know food is sort of dumb here, but if you're going to watch for twelve hours straight..."

"It's only been," Cameron glanced at the clock on his wall and winced. "All right, eleven and a half hours is pushing it. Did you read over your file for next week?"

"Yeah," Anita said. Her nose crinkled up around the edges. "What's that Soulmate marker thing for again? This is all so weird."

Thomas pulled out a seat for her. "So you know if they have any potential matches around or who to look out for. That's what we use it for mostly, but it's entirely out of our control. This first short mission won't use it at all for you, I believe. It's just good practice to start memorizing all of that information for later."

"Right, right, it's a lot to keep in my head, I guess."

"First missions are the hardest, but it's only for an hour. It'll get easier," Cameron said, staring intently at his grandson in the Hummel's kitchen with Carole and Kurt. "Just say yes Blaine. Please, say yes."

"Does he do this for everyone's mission?" Anita asked uncertainly. "It's a little creepy having invisible cheerleaders."

"That," Thomas said, pointing at Blaine's bow tied neck on the screen, "is his grandson. Afraid you won't get to meet him. There's a lot you could have learned from him. Best of the lot. Top five on my list for all the divisions around here."

"Doesn't seem that surprising if his grandfather's head of the division," Anita remarked as she scooped up some popcorn.

Cameron frowned back at the screen. "He didn't learn it from me. Everything he is is all him. He beat me here by more than a decade, you know that? I've never really talked about what our lives were like before this. Not with anyone here if I didn't have to."

"Really? But he's so young," Anita said in surprise. "I mean, I'm twenty-three, but he's like sixteen. I thought most of the younger kids didn't make it here."

"Blaine did," Thomas said as Cameron looked back at the screen. "He's a tough kid. A lot stronger than anyone thinks he is. There's a lot more to him than many of the other people around here."

Anita frowned at his cryptic words. "You both know I hate word puzzles."

Cameron chuckled softly. "We can't really say, but there's a lot of special circumstances with him. Partly because of how young he was, and partly because of why that happened in the first place."

"Have you checked on Cooper recently?" Thomas asked. He kicked his feet back as Anita rolled her eyes at their vagueness.

"This morning, he's leaving Friday," Cameron said nervously. "If they wait–"

"It'll be fine, all right? If he takes more time, then he takes more time. He's got plenty left," Thomas assured him. He glanced at Anita. "Cooper's his other grandson. Blaine's older brother. He's a withered old man now."

"Lovely," Anita remarked. "Am I free for the day then? I'm getting bored with all the cryptic gibberish you two keep sprouting."

"Yeah, get out," Thomas decided. He nudged her gently as she stood up. "You're working with me tomorrow morning. Ten sharp, okay? Another set of basic jumps to keep you in practice for next week."

Anita grimaced, said her goodbyes, and left Cameron chanting at his screen and Thomas watching his sadly.

"It's nice to see you finally rooting him on," Thomas said after the door clicked closed. "You feel more... human lately. If that makes sense."

Cameron paused in his whispered encouragement and sat back some. His vision blurred and he blinked a few times to clear it. For weeks now, he'd been actively watching Blaine's progress, even more so than he had before. Karofsky was mostly off their radar, Kurt and Blaine were in a wonderful place at the moment, all that reminded was what Blaine had held on to for fifty years.

"I think I'm ready," he admitted. "I don't know exactly what I'll say or how I'll say it, but I think I can now. I want him to move on from here. After everything I put him through and everything else he's been through he deserves to make peace with his troubles. As scared as I was, I'm looking forward to seeing him again."

Thomas nodded and flicked the screen off. "Good, because I think you're ready, too."

"I was watching–"

"He's got a handle on it, Cameron," Thomas said as he stood up. "Let him have room to get there on his own, okay?"

Cameron swallowed as Thomas forced him to his feet. It was hard to give in to those words, to continue some part of what he'd been doing for a life-time. Before now he'd let his own children and grandchildren fend for themselves completely. But since he'd arrived here, it was harder and harder to not want to be involved.

"I don't want to shut him out again," he said quietly as they headed out of his office. "Not like I always did."

"You don't want to be so overbearing he kicks you in the face six weeks from now either," Thomas reminded him. "Relax, breathe. Blaine is almost there, and Kurt knows it as well as we do. He's got everything he needs with that boy and then some. Now come on. Let's grab some dinner and then sleep. Tomorrow's a busy day for all of us."

Cameron paused outside his shut office door as Thomas walked on. It was hard to not turn back, to not keep watching Blaine get closer and closer to puzzling himself out. But figuring out that he had to let go after he'd finally latched on was even more difficult. Saying goodbye before saying hello wasn't right. That was one thing he and Kurt had in common, but it was the one thing he wished they didn't.