Pairing/Chars: Kadam
Words: 8000+ (6 chapters & epilogue)
Genre: romance, drama
Rating: PG
Summary: As Adam visits the hospital in Ohio, something happens that has never happened to the angel before; Kurt Hummel, a mortal man, looks straight at him. This story more or less follows the City of Angels plot and concept, reimagined with Glee characters. It will incorporate Finn's death (ch 6-7) and is not Blaine-friendly.

Chapter 1

2010

"Do you ever ask yourself if it's fair, Nathan?" he asked, looking at the crying boy holding on to his father's hand.

"It's life, Adam," Nathan replied neutrally. "It's neither fair or unfair, or both indiscriminately."

Adam frowned, still studying the boy. His bright eyes were red-rimmed, his perfect ski slope nose running, his fair skin splotchy. "But he's been through so much already. His mother…the way people treat him. Not even his friends respect the way he feels."

Nathan looked at him curiously for a moment but said nothing. Instead, he gently touched Burt's chest. The man took a deep breath and stirred, squeezing his son's hand. Kurt noticed, overjoyed, and started calling for a nurse.

"Thank you," Adam said quietly. Nathan did not reply, because it was not his gratitude to accept. His touch could have brought comfort or death, and he was not the one choosing. It had not been Burt's time, and Nathan's calling had been that of a guardian angel this time.

2013

Burt's first cancer treatment took place shortly after Christmas, and Kurt sat in the waiting room of the hospital in Westerville, listlessly leafing through an old magazine. A woman with a baby sat a few seats away from him. Unbeknown to them, two other presences waited with them.

Gabrielle was making cooing sounds at the baby that only the newborn could hear. It was staring at her and giggling, grasping the air with its little hands. The baby's liveliness cheered up the woman waiting for her husband even though she did not see or understand what her baby was laughing at.

"I love how we don't even need to show ourselves to the small ones," Gabrielle said happily, wiggling her fingers at the baby. "They are still unbiased and simply trust their senses."

Adam made a non-committal sound and continued watching Kurt Hummel. He had grown so much since the last time Adam had seen him. He was much taller. His shoulders were broader, his arms stronger. He wore his hair differently- he wore himself differently. Kurt had grown into a man, the visual equal to Adam…if Adam had been a man. Adam couldn't help but look at him and think, if perfection was what God intended, he had succeeded in Kurt Hummel. But besides Kurt's physical appearance, Adam had also noticed something else: the look in Kurt's eyes. It had grown more mature too, wiser, more aware- but at the same time much, much sadder. There was pain and fatigue, maybe even despair. Adam braced himself and opened his mind to Kurt's thoughts.

Please God, Buddah, Allah, Jaweh, magical teapot dwarf in the sky - whoever you are out there, don't let my father die. I need him. I need him so much. He is all I have left. Please. Don't let him die. I'll give up everything. NYADA, New York, if that's what you want. I just want to keep my dad.

Though Adam was there for Burt, the man's fate yet uncertain, Adam longed to comfort his son. He stepped up close, leaning forward to kiss Kurt's forehead and for one moment, empty his mind and fill it with grace. But then something happened.

Kurt looked up. It was as if he was looking straight at Adam, his large eyes filled with determination. Adam forgot to breathe. He wanted to speak, but just at that moment, Kurt looked away. A young man had come into the waiting room carrying two paper cups.

"Hey. I got you a coffee," the second man said to Kurt. He sounded soft, caring. His expression was a little anxious.

"Thank you, Blaine," Kurt said, accepting the cup and offering him a small smile.

Adam stepped back. He had never felt so conflicted. He was grateful for the man comforting Kurt, happy that Kurt had someone real to be with him at a time like this, but at the same time, he couldn't help but feel disappointed. Had Kurt really seen him? What would have happened if he had made himself known?

He was drawn to Burt's room and went reluctantly. He did not want to be the one to take Burt away, if that was the plan. Thankfully, his touch woke Burt from his medicated sleep. Adam hurried back to the waiting room and saw the doctor with them, conveying the news. Kurt let out a deep breath and nearly slumped into the other man's arms with relief and happiness. It was then that Adam heard it.

God, Kurt is so fit. Am I getting laid tonight? He'll have to forgive me at some point, right? I sat with him all morning. That's got to count for something. Maybe I can get him to celebrate with alcohol.

Adam looked at Gabrielle to see if she had heard it too. She just shrugged. Adam stared at Blaine for a moment, incredulous as to how the man- he was hardly more than a boy, really- could think to take advantage of Kurt's state of mind like that. Suddenly, the way he was holding him did not look comforting any more. Didn't Kurt notice Blaine's hands were mapping out his shoulders, inching down to his waistline?

With a sinking feeling, Adam realised that Kurt could not hear Blaine's thoughts, and to him, the hug was simply one of support and friendship. Adam wished he could warn him, protect him. Wasn't that what guardian angels did? But despite what the myths and stories said about them, the angels could not influence anything. They had no power over life and death, sorrow or happiness. They existed to guide the passing to heaven and remind the living of the good that was already inside themselves.

He stepped away, shared a look with Gabrielle, and they retreated, the soul of the baby's father between them.

Adam stood on the roof top of a tall building in Lima, his face turned to the sunset, catching the last beams of light on his face and listening to the melodies. Try as he could, he could not empty his mind to embrace the abstract beauty of the earth.

"You're still thinking about him, aren't you?" Nathan asked gently.

Adam kept his eyes closed. "You talked to Gabrielle," he stated.

"I didn't need to," Nathan said. "You have that same look on your face as you did back then."

"I can't help it, Nathan." Adam turned to face him. "I need to know if he's okay."

"I know. So go see him. Can you find him?"

Adam smiled. "He's somewhere in New York, at a place called NYADA."