Okay new sidestory! This is what my brain did when it was supposed to be finishing the next chapter of Hidden Angels. AA canon follows HA canon, so some things might make more sense if you read both.
Also: Cooper's bi and Isaac's heteroflexible.
1 - Ghosts on the Astral Plain
Cooper walked down the street, regretting telling his brother's boyfriend about Blaine's current status. No doubt he'd figured out where the kid was, without even bothering to tell Cooper.
He caught some sort of movement out of the corner of his eye—a flickering form trying to catch the attention of passers by. When he turned his head, though, nothing was there. Deciding not to risk leaving somebody confused and stranded, he sat on a park bench a few feet away and closed his eyes. He felt an uncomfortable tugging in his stomach, but dealt with it long enough to free himself from his body.
It was strange being on the Plain, because everybody looked through Cooper entirely. Only other spirits could see him.
"Hello!? This isn't funny; answer me!"
"They can't hear you," Cooper interrupted the girl, a petite blonde about fifteen years old. She turned and looked at him.
"What the hell's going on here?" she demanded. Cooper walked up to her slowly and rested a hand on her shoulder.
"What's your name?" he asked gently.
"Anna," the girl responded. "What's yours?"
"Cooper Lucas Anderson," Cooper responded easily. "My brother's name is Blaine Matthew Anderson. Our parents died in a car crash when we were kids."
"Why are you telling me this?" Anna asked. Cooper smiled.
"This is going to sound freaky, so I'll just show you. Look over there." Cooper pointed to his sleeping physical form on the park bench, flickering in and out of existence from their current angle.
"That's me. You know that car crash that killed my parents? It killed me, too, when I was six."
"Okay, fine, take me back to the nut house with you, but at least tell me the truth," Anna begged.
"It is the truth, " Cooper persisted. "People can't see us, but they sense us dully. They swerve out of our way. Give me your hand." Cooper took the girl's wrist gently once she offered it out to him.
"We aren't really here," he whispered as he pulled her hand gently through a tree.
Anna looked up at Cooper and cocked her head.
"Who are you?" she asked. "W-what are you?"
Cooper smiled and dropped her hand. "I'm Cooper. I'm an angel."
Anna gaped. "Well, what am I then? I don't remember ever being in heaven, so I'm no angel."
"You're a ghost," Cooper explained. "I'm here to take you to heaven. The only reason you're still here is because you're too attached to something here on earth."
"Emile," she said immediately. "My brother. I keep checking in on him, looking through the window and stuff, because he seemed pretty broken up about something. Now I guess I know why."
"When's the last time people… responded to you?" Cooper asked, for lack of a better term. Anna thought for a moment.
"A few days ago, I guess."
"Can you remember that for me? A happy memory, maybe the last time you spoke to Emile," Cooper suggested, sitting her down on the grass. Anna shook her head slightly.
"The last time I spoke to him I told him that I hated him. I told him to go to hell," she sobbed.
Cooper consoled Anna as best as he could. He felt a tapping on his shoulder and looked up to find Kurt standing over them.
"Hey," the younger boy greeted quietly, wiping a tear from his eye. "Who's this?"
"A-Anna," the girl stuttered. "How… what?"
"Anna, meet Kurt." Kurt waved. "He's an angel as well."
"If you're here to take me to heaven, then can you do something for me first?" Anna asked. Cooper nodded.
"Sure. What is it?"
"Talk to my brother for me," she whispered. "Tell him I'm sorry. Then I'll go with you."
Cooper thought it over for a moment. "Okay," he nodded finally. "Where does he live?"
"I'll take you."
Ten minutes later and with a lot of support from Cooper and Kurt's empathy link, they found their way to Emile's house.
"Cooper," Anna whispered, though she knew only Kurt could hear them. "Can–can you do this for me?"
"Of course." Cooper smiled and kissed the girl on her forehead. "What do you want me to say to him?"
"Tell him I'm sorry," she began. "Tell him I love him."
"Anything else?"
Anna thought for a moment and smiled.
"Give him this." She pressed a pocketknife into his hand. "I kinda stole it from him," she laughed.
Cooper laughed with her and disappeared. About thirty seconds later, he reappeared by the front door of Emile's house.
He knocked twice. "One minute," a voice called from inside. Cooper waited until a dark-haired nineteen-year-old boy not unlike Isaac in size opened the door.
"Hello," Cooper greeted. "Are you Emile?"
The boy nodded. "And you are…?"
"Cooper. I'm here about your sister."
Emile paled and fiddled with the recording headset he was wearing. "Uh, sure. Would you like to come in?"
Cooper smiled and nodded. Emile guided him to a messy living room, scattered with recording equipment and video game controllers.
"Ignore the nerd stuff," Emile muttered, sweeping a pile of Wii games into a pile on one end of the couch. Cooper took a seat across from him.
"Do you believe in God?" he asked seriously. Emile raised an eyebrow.
"Of course," he replied, fingering the necklace he was wearing—Cooper noticed a silver crucifix hanging from the chain.
"Okay. This might be a bit easier to explain, then," Cooper laughed. "I'll get to the point here. I'm an angel. I was sent to take Anna to what you'd call Heaven, but she was too attached to something here. Namely, you."
Emile thought for a moment. "Okay. So why are you here?" he asked. "What do you need from me? I'll give anything to be sure my little sister's soul is at peace."
Cooper smiled. "She asked me to tell you something. She's sorry, and she loves you, and she said not to worry, that you'll get along fine without her."
Emile sniffled and looked down at his lap. "Thank you," he muttered.
Cooper's eyes flashed down to the boy's necklace again. "I'm sorry, but where'd you get that necklace?" he asked. He was sure he'd seen it somewhere before.
"My granddad gave it to me. Said it needed a good home after he had it in the war."
"Which war?" Cooper asked.
"World War II, he was forced to guard a concentration camp when he was my age." Emile leaned forward and the necklace flipped over. Engraved on the back of the cross were the initials INH.
"I've got to get going, but you might expect me back very soon. Oh, and here," he tossed Emile the pocketknife, which had reformed into his hand, as he made his way to the door. "She wanted me to give this back to you."
"But…" Emile trailed off, looking at the knife. When he looked back up, Cooper had disappeared. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an exact copy of the knife, though this one was caked with dried blood. He'd found it in Anna's bedroom a few days ago, beside her mangled body. He hadn't had the heart to clean it off. Emile took the two knives and chained them together by their key rings, then stuffed them into his pocket. He rubbed the back of his neck and thumbed the necklace he was wearing.
"God," he began quietly, closing his eyes and putting his head down. "Thank you for sending that angel. Your gift has been greatly appreciated. Thank you for letting me know that Anna's soul is at peace." He paused his prayer for a moment. "The angel, Cooper? I sense some sort of connection to him." He opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. "My necklace, it gets warmer, and I can feel a sort of… raised heartbeat. Like anticipation. But it's not my heart. Could you please explain it to me?"
~o0o~
"Why are you so infatuated with that necklace?" Kurt asked as soon as Cooper reappeared in front of him.
"Later," he brushed off. Cooper turned to Anna, who was smiling and sitting cross legged on the ground.
"Thank you," she beamed. She got up and stepped forward, then hugged Cooper over his shoulders. "I can leave now," she whispered into his ear. Cooper hugged her back, and her spirit dissolved into gold dust.
"Never gets old," Kurt laughed. Cooper made a face at him.
"Can we talk at my place?" he asked.
"Why me?" Kurt questioned. "Why not your boyfriend?" He said the last word teasingly, dodging Cooper's swing at his head.
"Isaac is not my boyfriend," he insisted, though his broadly grinning face said otherwise. "And besides, this is a secret to him."
Cooper flashed to his house, Kurt showing up a few seconds later, rolling his eyes.
"Aww, have you finally—"
"Don't even finish that sentence," Cooper interrupted, holding his fist an inch away from Kurt's face.
Kurt held his hands up in mock surrender. "Jeez, I was just kidding," he laughed. He flopped onto the couch. "So. What's this about?"
"The necklace…" Cooper thought aloud. "It had the initials I-N-H on the back of it."
"Isaac Nolan Harlett," Kurt remembered. "Do you really think so?"
"Well his grandfather got it guarding a camp in the forties. It's entirely possible." Cooper sighed and fell beside Kurt.
Neither of them knew when they fell asleep, but the next thing he knew, Cooper woke up leaning against Kurt's back. The younger boy was asleep, so Cooper shuffled onto the floor carefully and checked the clock.
"Eight thirty?" he sighed. "Really?" He prodded Kurt's shoulder. "Dude. Wake up."
Kurt swatted Cooper's hand away feebly, still mostly asleep.
"Get lost," he muttered.
A/N: Please give me feedback! I don't know how far I'll go with this, but we'll see! :D