The second Blaine's plane touched down in LAX, he pulled out his phone and turned it on. He was expecting a text from Tony or Pepper about a ride, maybe a message from his mother wishing him a happy holiday break, and something from Cooper reminding him that even though Blaine was visiting his father, he still had to come see the older Anderson boy.
Instead there were about twelve texts from Sam in his inbox.
Blaine opened them trepidatiously.
(From: Sam, 11:42 am) DUDE. CALL ME ASAP.
(From: Sam, 11:46 am) SERIOUSLY. THIS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING RIGHT NOW.
(From: Sam, 11:51 am) ARE YOU ALREADY ON THE PLANE?
(From: Sam, 11:53 am) FINE. WHATEVER.
(From: Sam, 12:34 pm) BLAINEEEE ANSWER ME!
(From: Sam, 12:55 pm) OKAY, I CAN'T WAIT.
(From: Sam, 12:56 pm) YOU SAID YOU'RE VISITING YOUR DAD IN LA FOR BREAK, RIGHT?
(From: Sam, 12:57 pm) HE'S NOT TOO FAR FROM MALIBU, RIGHT?
(From: Sam, 12:58 pm) TONY STARK JUST ANNOUNCED HIS ADDRESS ON THE NEWS.
(From: Sam, 12:59 pm) DUDE, IRON MAN LIVES IN MALIBU.
(From: Sam, 1:00 pm) IF YOU DON'T GO THERE AND GET A PIC OF HIS HOUSE FOR ME, I'LL NEVER SPEAK TO YOU AGAIN.
(From: Sam, 1:03 pm) OKAY, THAT'S A LIE. BUT SERIOUSLY. PLEASE, MAN?
Blaine's jaw dropped in shock. He knew his dad had been … off since New York. He and Pepper had held several late-night conversations when Tony couldn't sleep and thought Pepper didn't notice him leaving the bed. But this was just … crazy. Giving out his address was just stupid.
Tony wasn't stupid, right?
But as Blaine walked through the airport, he caught glimpses of the various television screens, all tuned in to different news stations. All reporting live images of Tony Stark's house.
Shit. The Malibu Mansion was on TV, and everyone knew where Tony lived.
Blaine finally stopped to watch a full news report and was horrified when he saw the video of his father that had started all this.
He was basically inviting a highly dangerous and sadistic criminal into the house. The very same day that Blaine was supposed to arrive.
(To: Sam, 1:45 pm) I'll try to get a picture, but it looks pretty swamped. Plus, I don't know if dad'll let me go chasing superheroes – he only gets me for a couple weeks, after all.
He decided that would be enough to satisfy Sam, so Blaine hitched up his backpack and headed to pick up his bag at the baggage claim.
Blaine was shocked that when he finally exited the terminal at LAX, Jace, a new Stark security guard, was the person who stood waiting for him.
"Hiya kid," he said before engulfing Blaine in a bone-crushing hug.
"Where's dad or Pepper?" Blaine asked.
"They're dealing with … stuff in Malibu and asked me to pick you up. I'm taking you to your brother's place in LA, and they'll meet us there so we can regroup."
"Is this about dad giving out his address?"
Jace shifted uneasily. "You heard about that?"
"My best friend is a huge Iron Man fan. He asked me to get a picture of the house for him."
"Ah. Well, in short, yes. I already called Cooper and he seems thrilled to get to see you and Pepper. He doesn't seem too keen on Tony, though."
"Yeah, well Cooper's never liked the man who knocked mom up only a few months after her husband died."
Jace laughed. "Well, he's probably the only one of us who's got the right read on Tony then. That man is a walking disaster."
Blaine followed Jace to the car and tossed his suitcase in the trunk. He was content to sing along to the radio while Jace concentrated on the road, but after a few minutes a nagging thought rose to the forefront of Blaine's mind.
"No offense, Jace, but why are you here? I mean, I know Happy recommended you highly when he took the new job and everything, but I never got the impression that dad really trusted you that much."
"I thought you said you'd heard about what happened?"
"Yeah, I mean, I saw dad's invitation to the Mandarin or whatever. Is Happy with him at the house now?"
"There was another Mandarin attack last night, Blaine," Jace said in a soft voice. "Happy was there."
"He – what? He's not -"
"No, no, he's not dead," Jace assured Blaine quickly. "But he hasn't woken up yet. He's pretty bad off kid. That's what set your dad off against the Mandarin. That's why Pepper sent me to get you. And that's why they're meeting us at Cooper's place later."
Things began to fall into place in Blaine's distressed mind. Tony was still in a very bad place mentally. He might have forgotten about Blaine in the distress over his friend – something Blaine wouldn't take offense to. Pepper, who was much more reasonable than Tony and therefore trusted Jace, would have sent him while trying to calm Tony down. It all made sense.
But poor, poor Happy.
Blaine tried to ignore as a flurry of images flashed across his eyes – Happy driving him around Malibu while his father was off being the playboy that he used to be so proud of, Happy buying him ice cream when he fell off a playground swing, Happy doing everything he could to protect both Stark men.
For a while, Happy had been more of a father figure to Blaine than Tony had been.
They fell back into silence as the car moved slowly through the LA traffic. Blaine went back to singing along to the music, but still noticed when Jace stiffened from the seat next to him. Almost imperceptibly, Jace sped up, taking a different route to the apartment.
"Is something wrong?" Blaine asked.
"No, things have just … sped up," Jace said.
Blaine knew he was lying.
Cooper was nervously pacing the sidewalk outside his apartment when Blaine and Jace pulled up. The moment Blaine jumped out of the front seat, Cooper pulled him into a tight hug.
"Thank god you're alright," the actor muttered.
"What do you mean, Coop?"
"Let's get inside, boys," Jace said, looking down the street shiftily. "It might not be safe out here."
Blaine turned to face both men before him and refused to move. "No," he said. "I'm not moving until someone tells me what's happened. I know it's more than dad just baiting the Mandarin or whatever. Unless … did the Mandarin show?"
Cooper and Jace exchanged worried glances.
"We'll tell you inside, B," Cooper said. "Just listen to Jace, now, okay?"
Noticing just how serious both men were, Blaine nodded and turned toward the steps, not failing to notice the relieved sighs that followed him.
Cooper's TV had been blaring in the living room, but he turned it off with a panicked look the second Blaine entered the room.
"Come sit with me, B," Cooper said, patting the couch.
It was a testament to how tense the room was that Blaine didn't immediately start teasing his brother.
"You guys are starting to freak me out," Blaine said slowly. "What's going on?"
"You know how your dad basically invited the Mandarin over for tea?" Cooper started out. Blaine nodded. "Well, he showed up."
Jace took over at this point. "Pepper called me on the way over. The house is completely demolished, but she's on her way over here now."
"What about dad?" Blaine asked, already dreading the answer.
"He didn't make it."
No one batted an eye when another woman showed up with Pepper, especially when the woman mentioned that she had hooked up with Tony once thirteen years ago. Cooper had offered to let them all stay in his apartment, but it was determined to not be safe enough. After a long afternoon, Blaine, Pepper, Maya, and Jace left to go to one of Tony's safe houses.
Late in the night, while Blaine was curled up on his bed sobbing, Pepper came to comfort him.
"I know I'm not who you need right now," she whispered, "but this is all I can do."
Blaine hiccoughed lightly as he wiped his eyes, but said nothing.
"Your dad left a message in the Stark Secure Server."
"Before he – he …" Blaine couldn't say the word.
"No," Pepper said. "Two hours later. He's alive, Blaine. And he's okay, but he needs to stay away for a while to clean up his mess. He'll be back, don't worry."
Blaine wanted to believe her, but the news wasn't helping much. All reports focused on Tony Stark's unfortunate demise and the destruction of the Stark house. Most of the reporters seemed to be of the mind that the Mandarin had won.
Blaine had already spent quite a few hours on the phone with his mother, and exchanged a few texts with Sam, who was thoroughly disappointed that his hero had died. But sleep still wasn't coming, so Blaine called the only person he could speak to candidly.
"I know it's really late, and I know I'm the last person you want to hear from," he spoke quietly to the answering machine, "but, Kurt, I'm sure you've seen the news. I don't know how I can deal with all this. Please, please call me back. You can go back to hating and ignoring me when this is all over, but I need you right now."
In New York, Kurt was with Rachel and Brody at Callbacks when the news broke. Instead of singing loudly however, everyone was deathly silent as they watched the news reports from California.
Rachel could tell that Kurt's stress levels were increasing as each image flickered across the screen, but she couldn't understand why. Finally, at ten o'clock, Kurt got up and said that he was going to bed.
Kurt woke up at four in the morning. At first he had no idea why, but then he saw the flashing light on his cell phone and realized that someone must have texted or called him.
Kurt dialed his voicemail and gasped when he heard the broken voice over his speakers.
I know it's really late, and I know I'm the last person you want to hear from but, Kurt, I'm sure you've seen the news. I don't know how I can deal with all this. Please, please call me back. You can go back to hating and ignoring me when this is all over, but I need you right now.
Blaine. Kurt had been so worried that Blaine had been in the house when it had been destroyed, but the boy was alright – physically, at least, it seemed. But the news about Tony Stark's death couldn't have been easy for Blaine. Although he'd had a rocky past with his father, Blaine and Tony had finally connected and built something really special in the past few years. Kurt couldn't begin to comprehend what losing a father might be like.
Without even thinking about the time or how they weren't talking, Kurt dialed the familiar number. It rang once … twice … three times, and Kurt was about to hang up when it clicked as the person on the other line picked up the phone.
"Kurt?" Blaine asked. He sounded tired but relieved.
"How are you?" Kurt asked.
"I'm – I don't really know. I mean, everything just happened so fast and – I just don't know."
"Is your mom flying out to be with you?"
"No, they said it was too risky. I'm with Pepper at a safe house right now. We're just waiting to hear from my dad again."
Kurt froze. Had Blaine deluded himself into thinking Tony was still alive? "Um, Blaine, the news – everyone – says that Tony died in the attack."
Blaine did the last thing Kurt expected. He laughed. "Kurt, my dad is Iron Man. He's not that easy to kill. He's just lying low for now. But you can't tell anyone any of this. National security and stuff."
"Right," Kurt replied faintly. "So you're not hurt, your dad is still alive, and you're safe?"
"Yes."
"So why'd you call?"
"Because I just don't know how to deal with any of this. Because you always seem to be able to calm me down."
"Okay. Talk to me then."
"Well, I'm here with Pep, Jace – you remember him, right? - and this woman who knew dad ages ago. Apparently she'd just gotten to the house when the Mandarin attacked. I think she knew something about the Mandarin's bombs or something. At least, I think that's why Pepper's keeping her around."
"What about Cooper? Why couldn't you stay with him?"
"His place isn't secure enough, and he has to keep working so as to not arouse suspicion. I really wish he could be here though. Even though dad didn't actually die, it's still really … I don't know. I mean there were a good couple of hours when I thought he was dead."
"I'm really sorry, Blaine. I mean, I can't even begin to imagine how hard this is for you."
"It's … I mean, I just – wait, Kurt!" Blaine exclaimed, as if he had only just realized who he was talking to. "I'm sorry, I feel like such a jackass. I swear, I'm not trying to make you feel sorry for me or anything. You really don't even have to talk to me now. I was just in a bad place earlier, but I'm better now."
"Blaine, calm down," Kurt instructed, his voice soothing. "I want to help you right now. No, I haven't totally forgiven you for what you did, but I still want to be your friend. And since I'm the only one who knows who your dad is, I'm more than happy to be the friend you turn to right now."
Blaine took a deep breath. "Thanks, Kurt."
In the room next to Blaine, Maya and Pepper were deep in conversation. Maya was explaining why she had gone to the Stark house earlier in the day while Pepper got more and more concerned. The moment Killian's name was mentioned, Pepper flashed back to the meeting they'd had the other day. His product could be incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands, and if he was working for the Mandarin … well, those were definitely the wrong hands.
Tony Stark broke into a small shed in Nowheresville, Tennessee praying that Jarvis wouldn't be too damaged. The shed seemed to be more than adequately stocked, which really pleased Tony. Moments after he set to work, the door opened and a small boy – probably only 10 years old – entered with a potato gun.
Immediately, Tony flashed back to the time he'd given a nine-year-old Blaine a top of the line super soaker (with certain Stark modifications, of course) as a gift. The boy had spent the next few hours stalking Tony and Happy around the office, trying to soak them.
The more Tony talked to the kid, the more he realized how much he'd left Blaine alone as a child. Sure, he had been there. But he'd barely been any more present than this kid's dad for so much of Blaine's life.
"You remind me of my kid," Tony let slip without really thinking.
"Huh?" Harley asked.
"Sorry," Tony shook his head as he looked back down at the supplies that Harley had gathered. "I was just thinking that you remind me of my son when he was your age."
"I didn't think you had a son," Harley replied.
"I do. I just don't tell the press about him. He deserved a normal childhood, so he spent most of his time with his mom. I just wish I could have been there for him more."
"As long as you don't go to get a scratch off and never return, I think you'll be fine," the young boy replied sadly.
Blaine almost fell asleep on the phone with Kurt. The older boy had to finally force Blaine to go to bed with his most persuasive voice and a promise of future communication before Blaine agreed to hang up. But just as Blaine was drifting off, he heard a muffled crash as the front door of the safe house opened.
That was not a good sign. Pepper or Jace would have told him if someone was coming. Suddenly wide awake, Blaine crept out of bed and down the hall. He peeked out the front window, and the sight that he was faced with froze him in place.
Lying on his side, a deathly pallid color, was Jace. There was a stream of blood puddling around a wound in his chest.
Blaine gasped and crouched down behind a table as three unfamiliar men walked past the entrance to the room and headed toward the living room, where Pepper and Maya were sitting.
Killian walked through the door just as Maya was about to reveal something important, or that's what Pepper assumed. Both women froze in fear as the man's voice boomed through the room.
"Killian," Pepper growled.
"Pepper. Yes. I had been hoping I wouldn't have to resort to this. I do quite like you, after all. But you didn't agree when I asked nicely, so I had to send Maya to do some more convincing."
"M-Maya?" Pepper asked.
Maya shrugged from across the room, still looking distinctly uncomfortable.
"Although," Killian continued conversationally, "I think we're still missing someone. Where oh where is little Blaine?"
From his hiding place across the hall, Blaine shivered.
"Leave Blaine out of this, Killian, he's got nothing to do with any of this!"
"He's Tony's kid, Pepper. He's more involved than you might realize. Yes," Killian added, noting Pepper's shocked expression, "I've known about Blaine for a while now. Tony didn't do as good of a job hiding the kid as he thought he did. You -" Killian snapped his fingers at one of the men who had followed him into the safe house, "find the kid and bring him to me. I can take care of Pepper on my own."
Blaine was frozen in place. He had no idea what to do. Could he run for it? Chances were that there were more men outside, and they might not be so gentle if he tried to get away. Blaine was saved from having to make a decision when a large hand clamped down on his shoulder and pulled him to his feet.
He and Pepper were restrained and led out to a truck. They drove for over an hour before reaching a small jet on a private airstrip.
"Wh-where are we going?" Blaine asked.
Killian looked at him and chuckled. "It doesn't really matter to you, kid. You're not going to be leaving there."
A feeling like ice made its way through Blaine's stomach.
Kurt tried calling Blaine back around noon the next day to check and see if the boy was alright. Blaine's phone rang and rang before finally going to voicemail. Five times.
Pepper was led to Killian's office when they arrived in Miami, while Blaine was escorted to the basement of the facility by two burly men.
"See, originally, we were going to use you. It'd just be too much fuss to take the kid from Ohio. But this has all worked out quite well," Killian explained. "I never wanted to hurt you, and now that the kid was conveniently tagging along with you, I don't have to. You'll just wait here until we see if the kid survives. Otherwise, we might need you."
Pepper struggled, but her restraints held.
In the basement, Blaine was strapped to a machine. It looked like a metal stretcher, but it was held up vertically, and had metal restraints across his arms, chest, neck, and legs.
"Now, Blaine," Killian said with an eerie smile across his face. "This is going to hurt quite a bit."
He set up a video camera before walking towards Blaine with a syringe of glowing red liquid. Blaine struggled against the metal holding him down, but he was powerless.
By six in the evening, Kurt gave up on calling Blaine's cell phone and decided that something hadto be wrong. Quickly, he rang Cooper.
"Hello?" a voice asked at the other end of the line.
"Cooper? Have you heard from Blaine today?"
"Wha – Kurt?"
"Yes, it's me, now answer the question!" an exasperated Kurt responded shortly.
"Um, no, I guess I haven't. I should probably call him so-"
"He hasn't answered once today."
"What?"
"I've called him at least twenty times since noon, and he hasn't answered once," Kurt said, a note of panic entering his voice.
"That can't be right," Cooper said. "Maybe his cell died. I can try the safe house."
"Thank you," Kurt said. "And please, let me know, okay?"
Kurt paced nervously for about three minutes before his phone began to ring.
"Cooper?"
"Yeah, it's me."
"Did you – did you get him?"
"No."
Kurt nearly dropped his phone. "N-no?"
Cooper took a deep shuddering breath. "The phone just kept going to the stupid fake message that Tony recorded, even when I put in the Stark access code."
"Could they have just moved to a different safe house?" Kurt asked hopefully.
"No," Cooper replied. "Not without telling me or my mom at least. And she'd have told me if they moved."
"So what does this mean?" Kurt asked, scared of the answer.
"I don't know."
From her seat in Killian's office, Pepper could hear a sudden spurt of gunfire coming from somewhere down the hallway. Moments later, the Mandarin came running in the room.
But he was so unlike the Mandarin from the television. First off, he had a british accent. He also seemed to be incredibly high. Or drunk. Or both.
"They wanted me to tell you that he's arrived," the man slurred. "And he was quite rude, too, if I might add."
"Thank you, Trevor," Killian said, shutting the man up quickly. "I'm sorry, Pepper, but I'll have to leave you for a bit."
"I'd be more than happy to entertain her," Trevor replied, looking greedily at Pepper. "Hello love," he introduced, holding out a hand. "I'm Trevor Slattery. You may recognize me from my role asThe Mandarin." He laughed slightly.
"Out, Trevor," Killian barked.
Trevor looked surprised and a bit scared at the rough tone, and he quickly left the room.
The sight that greeted Killian when he entered the lower chamber was a beautiful one. There, vulnerable and broken, was the great Tony Stark, chained to an old metal bedframe and unable to save himself.
"I'm never going to help you, Killian," Tony shouted. "I don't know why you'd think I would."
"Because, Tony, you already have figured out how to fix the little self-destruct problem. Or, at least, you almost did all those year ago."
"So?" Tony demanded. "That doesn't change anything. You have created a weapon here. And I'm not going to help you perfect that."
"Let me tell you something, Tony," Killian said. "Thirteen years ago, when we first met, I learned a little something about desperation. I was desperate for your help, your approval. And when you left me on that roof, there was a moment when I considered taking a shortcut to the ground. And then my desperation flared up again. But this time I was desperate to show you up, prove you wrong.
"Tonight, Tony, I am going to teach you a little something about desperation. Because if you don't fix the flaws in Extremis, you're going to lose your boy."
He pressed a button and a hologram appeared in the middle of the room. Blaine was there, struggling against metal restraints, crying out in pain as the evil red of Extremis boiled under his skin.
"Right now we're waiting to see if the Extremis will even accept him. If not, I always have another bargaining chip. Although it'd be a shame to do that to poor Pepper too…"
"Damn you," Tony growled, low and menacing.
"So, think about my offer, alright, Stark? It'd be a shame if little Blaine accidentally blew up his school."
Killian left the room, and Tony struggled desperately against his restraints. Last he'd checked, Harley had said that Jarvis and the suit were pretty healed up. So why wasn't it coming now?
And then it came crashing through a window in the ceiling – one of the gloves. As soon as it made contact with Tony's skin, he began shooting at the two guards around him.
In no time at all, Tony was free and in the suit.
Blaine was in agony. He was at once burning up in a million fires and freezing in the Antarctic Ocean. It felt like small needles were piercing every inch of his skin. His body was tearing itself apart from this inside. There was a red fury rising inside him.
He had no idea how long he'd been there or where he even was. All he knew was that he wanted it all to end.
Tony ran from the basement chamber and met back up with Rhodey outside the complex.
"What's going on in there?" Rhodey asked.
"He's turning Blaine," Tony gasped. "I've got to save my son!"
"What about Pepper?"
"She's in there somewhere, I'm not sure where yet."
"Okay, Tony, here's the plan. You're going to try to get Blaine. I'll find Pepper. Sound good?"
"Yeah," Tony said, already about to spring into action.
"Wait – do we have any back-up or anything?"
Tony grinned, and Rhodey caught a flash of the Tony Stark he knew. "I've called in my suits."
Blaine was slowly gaining consciousness and it seemed like the pain was fading away. But there was still a red-hot fire burning beneath his skin.
From above, he could hear crashes and bangs, explosions, shouts and shots.
Dad, he thought happily.
Blaine became faintly aware that he was still restrained within the metal contraption. But now when he fought against the bars that were holding him down, they melted away at his touch.
The whole building seemed to shake and tremble with another explosion, and Blaine had to steady himself on his feet.
What was happening? Why did he feel so … strange?
Blaine barely had a moment to gather himself together when the ceiling crashed down, metal support beams giving up, and debris flew everywhere.
Blaine ran, or at least he tried to. But a beam hit him square in the back, and it should have snapped his spine clean, but Blaine could feel a bubbling and boiling beneath his skin, as if his cells were repairing the damage like it was nothing more than a small scrape.
More pieces of metal and concrete rained down on Blaine, and he fought against the weight, but it soon became too much and he grew tired.
That was when Iron Man landed in the middle of the room.
"Dad!" Blaine called, surprised to hear how weak his voice sounded.
"Blaine, kid, I thought you were – god, I'm so happy to see you, kid."
Blaine tried to smile back at his father, but the pain was growing more intense.
"Don't worry, I'll get you out of here," Tony said in a gentle voice.
He began to shift a support beam, but more debris fell in its place. Blaine could feel the vibrations in the floor and knew – he had no idea how – that it would give away soon.
"Stop!" he cried desperately.
Tony dropped the bar he was holding like it had burned him.
"You've got a smart kid there, Tony," Killian's voice rang across the room as he entered. "Have you thought more about my offer?"
Tony shot at Killian without even answering, and the two men began a loud and violent fight. No matter what Tony did, however, Killian couldn't seem to die.
Until Tony summoned one of his suits and plastered it over Killian. He hit self-destruct, and it seemed that Killian was gone for good.
The explosion from the suit, however, was too strong, and the entire floor collapsed. Blaine, Tony, and the flaming suit that encased Killian began falling through the air.
By some miracle, Blaine managed to avoid the inferno that was burning below and he fell through the floor. He was still caught in a large piece of metal that seemed to have pierced his body, and was stuck in the slowly falling debris.
Tony fell to a platform below Blaine, unable to fly. He stretched as far as he could and held out his hand.
"Come on, baby boy, take my hand!"
"I can't, dad!"
"Please, Blaine, I won't let you fall! Just let go and take my hand! I've got you!"
Blaine choked back a sob as he looked around him and to the burning ground below. He took a shuddering breath and was about to push himself toward his father when the whole structure shook. He was pushed, and fell toward the ground.
Tony could feel his fingers just barely graze the thin fabric of Blaine's t-shirt as the boy fell to his death.
"No!"
Tony was in a daze. He met up with Rhodey. Pepper was safe. They freed the president. They destroyed more of Killian's super soldiers.
Blaine was dead.
It seemed like the fight was almost over, so Tony left the rest to Rhodey as he jetted down to the smouldering remains of the fire that had consumed his son.
He touched down and could feel a few tears stinging the corners of his eyes. "Blaine. I'm so sorry."
Suddenly, there was a blow from behind. Tony toppled over and turned around to see a burning shape that was slowly healing and returning to the form of Killian.
"Isn't this sweet," Killian said as he dodged a hit from Tony. "The great Tony Stark has come to die with his poor son."
"Shut up, Killian," Tony warned, aiming another hit at the man and actually connecting for once.
They both fought violently and desperately. But no matter how many times Tony shot a powerful burst of energy into the other man, Killian could not be destroyed. Instead, Tony could feel his own power weaning.
Finally, with one powerful blow, Tony was knocked to the ground. He could see Killian hovering above him, ready to deal the final, fatal blow -
But Killian was knocked out of the way by a metal pipe. A figure charged forward and began to fight with a desperate ferocity stronger and more powerful than Killian.
And then the figure turned its head.
Blaine.
Blaine was alive. The Extremis must have somehow saved him after the fall. And he was alive.
Blaine forced Killian further and further back, and the older man's reflexes slowed as he grew weary. With a strong blow, Blaine finished the man for good.
Tony pulled himself to his feet and met Blaine's gaze when the boy turned around.
"Dad," the boy gasped, tears threatening to fall.
Tony surged forward, ready to pull the kid into a tight hug, but Blaine stepped back. "I'll burn you," he whispered miserably.
"It's fine, Blaine. It's all going to be fine," Tony muttered as he ignored his son's feeble protests and puled him into a tight hug.
When they finally pulled apart, Blaine looked up into Tony's eyes and revealed his deep fears.
"Daddy," he whispered, "I'm scared. What's going to happen to me?"
"I'm going to fix this," Tony said firmly. "I already had it almost figured out, and that was when I was drunk. I won't let this get you, baby boy."
Blaine nodded and sobbed wetly.
Tony carried a collapsed, sleeping Blaine to the jet that Rhodey had called in. Onboard, Pepper and Rhodey waited nervously. They both jumped to their feet when Tony entered.
"What happened?" Rhodey asked.
"Is he okay?" Pepper added.
Tony shook his head. "I will make sure that he is."
After depositing Blaine in a seat and draping a blanket over the small form, Tony found a phone and began the calls. It had only been a few days, but still so much had happened. After finishing what he had to do, Tony took the seat next to Blaine and stroked the boy's curly hair.
Blaine stirred slightly and blinked sleepy eyes at his father. "W'as goin' on?" he asked blearily.
"We're off to Stark Tower in New York," Tony explained. "All my equipment in Malibu was destroyed, but I have more than enough stuff there to fix you up. You're going to be okay, baby boy."
Blaine nodded and was quickly asleep again. He didn't wake until the plane landed on the roof of Stark Tower. Still being partially supported by Tony, Blaine descended the steps of the plane. He froze when he reached the concrete of the landing pad.
There, standing on the roof and looking incredibly worried, were Cooper, Jane Anderson, andKurt.
Everyone was still for a moment before Jane let out a sob and ran forward. "Oh, Blainey," she cried.
Tony allowed Jane to take over supporting their son once Cooper arrived to share the weight. Kurt stood a few feet back, hovering on the edge of the scene.
"Go on," Tony offered, nudging Kurt forward.
Kurt smiled faintly, not letting Tony Stark intimidate him, before taking another step to Blaine.
Cooper noticed, and pulled his mother back to give the two boys a moment together.
"Hey, honey," Kurt said in a soft voice.
Blaine tried to smile weakly as more tears leaked from his eyes. "Kurt," he cried.
Tony had quickly left the emotional reunion scene on his rooftop, choosing instead to head straight to his lab to begin working on a cure for Blaine.
Pepper joined him after a while, bringing a pot of coffee and a plate of Jane's coffee cake.
"You need to keep your energy up," she explained quietly with a kiss to his cheek.
A few hours later, he'd worked out the equation. As Tony began mixing chemicals, he thought about his son.
Kurt, Jane, and Cooper kept vigil around Blaine's bed. Pepper and Rhodey checked in periodically, but left them alone for the most part.
When Blaine woke up, he huddled in the corner of the bed, as far from the others as possible.
"What's wrong, squirt?" Cooper asked.
"I don't want to hurt you," he whispered.
Cooper winced. Blaine hadn't snapped about the nickname; he couldn't be feeling well.
"How would you hurt us?" Jane asked softly.
"They – they changed me," Blaine whispered. "Extremis. That's what went into all the people who … blew up. All the Mandarin's bombings. I can't control it."
The three people surrounding Blaine gasped.
"But Tony … he'll fix you, right?" Cooper asked.
Blaine shrugged.
"Blaine, your dad is an arrogant asshole. But he's also one of the smartest men in the world right now. He'll fix you up in no time," Kurt said, speaking for the first time in a few hours.
Despite his family's assurances, Blaine still wouldn't touch any of them.
Tony came charging upstairs about 18 hours after first entering the lab, carrying a syringe of ice blue liquid. When he burst noisily into the room, he woke all the occupants.
"Dad?" Blaine asked unsurely.
"Told ya, kid," Tony said. "I told you I'd fix this."
"You – you mean … is that?"
"The cure to Extremis? Yep. Now, I don't know how exactly this will affect your body, but it'll probably knock you out for a while. But the faster I get it in you, the faster the Extremis will be neutralized."
Blaine nodded. "Okay."
Tony rolled up the sleeve of the sweatshirt that Rhodey had forced the boy into on the plane. He gasped slightly when he saw the wound where the Extremis had been injected. It was larger than a normal needle prick, and it had burned the skin around it. He pulled the sleeve back down before anyone else could catch sight of the wound, and took Blaine's other arm.
"You'll be okay, Blaine," Tony whispered.
"I love you, Blaine," Jane whispered.
Cooper's grip on his brother's shoulder tightened, and Kurt leaned over to kiss Blaine's hairline.
"Here we go," Tony said, before stabbing the needle into Blaine's vein.
Hours later, Blaine was shivering and curled up on his bed, but deeply asleep. Jane and Kurt had piled blanket upon blanket on the boy in hopes that he would warm up, but the shivers never ceased.
After a while, Pepper forced them all to come to the kitchen to eat and get some rest. That was when Kurt remembered that he hadn't told Rachel where he was going.
"Kurt! Where are you? Where were you last night?" Rachel demanded the moment she answered the phone.
"Sorry, Rach, but a friend had an emergency, and I had to help him out. I'll probably be back home for a while tomorrow."
"No, Kurt, you have to get home right now," she threatened.
"What? Why?"
"Because your dad just called the apartment to say that his flight's landing in about an hour and I am not entertaining him on my own! He's your father, and what if he hates me for Finn?"
"He doesn't hate you, Rach," Kurt said. He began to think deeply. Blaine was still asleep now, and Tony had said that he probably wouldn't wake up for at least another day. "I can be back to the apartment in a bit – less than an hour, don't worry," Kurt assured when he heard Rachel begin to make a noise of protest. "I'll suggest he stays at a hotel, though, because I'm going to need to come back here later to check up on my friend again."
"Who is it, by the way?" Rachel asked, finally having calmed down.
"A guy from work," Kurt lied swiftly. "He called in sick and Isabelle asked me to look after him. She's letting me work from his place for a few days – it's pretty bad."
"Oh," Rachel replied. "Well, as long as it's not contagious, hurry back!"
When Kurt hung up the phone, Cooper was staring at him accusingly. "What?" Kurt demanded. "I can't very well tell Rachel that Blaine's here because then I'd have to explain why. Plus, as far as anyone knows, he and I haven't talked much since October."
Cooper nodded. "You still better be here when my baby brother wakes up. Or else he's going to have some serious abandonment issues."
Kurt smiled a bit. "I wouldn't dream of being anywhere else."
Burt knocked on the apartment door only about ten minutes after Kurt returned home. It had been enough time for the boy to pack a bag for a few nights at Stark Tower.
"Dad!" Kurt exclaimed, even happier than usual to see his father after the events of the past few days. "I've missed you so much."
"Hey, kiddo," Burt said affectionately, a bit confused by Kurt's exuberant show of affection. "Hi there, Rachel. How's it going?"
"Great, Mr. Hummel. Did Kurt tell you that I won the Winter Showcase at NYADA?"
"He did. Congrats. Now, I don't mean to be rude, but where's your bathroom?"
Kurt giggled as he led his father across the loft.
Rachel had left about an hour ago to go out with Brody. Kurt decided it was the best time to broach the topic of a hotel.
"So are you staying at a hotel, dad?" Kurt asked tentatively.
"Well, I had been hoping my son might let me stay with him, but if he doesn't want me around…"
"No! It's not that, dad. It's just – a friend got sick and I promised I'd stay with him. It just might be weird if you stay here with just Rachel."
"Him?" Burt asked suspiciously. "Anyone special, Kurt?"
"No, dad. He's just a friend."
"What about his family? Can't they take care of him?" Burt was obviously noticing more of the flaws in Kurt's story than Rachel had.
"They're there too, I just … I want to be there for him."
"Kiddo, it's not your duty to be there constantly. I love that you're such a caring person, but you can't work yourself so hard that you get sick too. Maybe go see him for a while and then come back here?"
"Dad, I can't," Kurt said, getting desperate. "I wish I could tell you, but it's really serious."
"What can't you tell me? What's going on, Kurt?"
Kurt paused and looked everywhere but his father's eyes. Finally, in a very small voice, he said, "It's Blaine."
Cooper had passed the phone on to a rather disgruntled Tony who had been oddly accommodating. Kurt had then passed the phone on to his father, who seemed to think the whole thing was some sort of a practical joke up until he actually heard Tony Stark's voice over the line.
"Yes – uh, th-thank you, Mr. Stark," Burt said as he hung up the phone.
Kurt watched bemusedly while Burt sank into a chair. "You wouldn't happen to have a beer in that fridge, would you?" Burt asked weakly.
"Dad, you know we're underage," Kurt joked.
Burt's eyes flashed, gaining back a bit of energy. "I also know that you're young kids living in the city."
Kurt laughed. "No beer," he stated. "I think Rachel has a wine cooler in here, though."
Burt made a face as he shook his head.
"I didn't think so," Kurt said.
Burt was silent for a moment, then finally he decided to begin the conversation. "So. When were you planning on telling me that your boyfriend's dad is Tony Stark?"
Kurt groaned a bit. "It's top-secret. Tony wanted Blaine to have a normal childhood. Blaine took ages before he even told me."
"Have you ever met Stark before?"
"Only once before today. Over the summer, he flew into Ohio and took me and Blaine out for a day."
Burt nodded, vaguely remembering his son returning home with a dazed look on his face one time over the summer.
"And he's sick now?"
"You saw the news about Iron Man's house being destroyed and then destroying that complex down in Miami?" Burt nodded and encouraged Kurt to continue speaking. "Well, Blaine was there, too. From how I understand, he was kind of used as … bait to get Tony to work with this scientist guy. So they infected Blaine with this stuff. Then Tony blew everything up and brought Blaine to Stark Tower to work on the cure. It's rough, but Blaine should hopefully be awake and fine in a few days."
Burt let out a long, low whistle when Kurt finished up his story. "I'm guessing you want to head back over there?" Burt asked.
Kurt nodded.
"I guess I'll drive."
When the Hummels arrived at Stark Tower, Pepper was waiting to bring them back up to the living areas.
"Is he doing any better, Pepper?" Kurt asked.
"No change. He's still sleeping, but Tony seems to think that the Extremis is almost all neutralized. Right now it's mostly Blaine's body catching up after all the strain it's been subjected to over the past few days."
Kurt nodded.
Tony was waiting for them when they stepped off the elevator. "Congressman Hummel!" he exclaimed, hugging Burt as if they were old friends. "So nice to meet you. It's really great to see where Kurt gets that ass that Blaine's always raving about."
Both Kurt and Burt blushed slightly at the statement as Tony simply laughed.
Jane Anderson stepped out from behind the larger man and Burt smiled – finally, a familiar face.
"Jane," he said quietly, "how are you doing?"
"Not too bad, I suppose, all things considered," she replied. "I have to say, it's wonderful that Kurt could be here. He's really helping Blaine."
"Yeah," Burt agreed with a smile. "I don't really think there is much that could keep those two apart."
Burt, Jane, Tony, and Pepper continued to chat while Kurt and Cooper headed back towards Blaine's room. Tony's cure had only been given to Blaine about 20 hours ago, and already there was a huge change.
Blaine's skin was no longer hot and flushed, and his breathing was much more even. It now looked like he was merely sleeping, rather than recovering from a deadly poison that some madman had pumped him full of.
Kurt and Cooper both ended up spending the night at Blaine's bedside, and when they woke the next morning, Christmas Eve day, it was to Tony declaring that the Extremis was no longer dangerous and Blaine would likely be waking soon.
Kurt bustled around between the kitchen and Blaine's bedroom for a few hours, helping Jane prepare dinner and checking on Blaine constantly. Around noon, Blaine began stirring, and he was fully awake by four.
He was slightly confused when he woke up and saw six faces hovering over the bed.
"Good to see those eyes again," Tony said gruffly, trying to hide the moisture building in his eyes. "How do you feel, kid?"
"Cold," Blaine answered with a shiver.
"Makes sense. We basically had to freeze the Extremis in your system," Tony explained while Cooper ran to get another sweatshirt. "But you should be totally normal in a couple of days."
"We're so glad you're okay, honey," Jane said.
Blaine looked over to Kurt, who could only nod and slip his hand into Blaine's.
Cooper carried Blaine into the living room so he could eat dinner and watch It's A Wonderful Lifewith the others in front of the warm fire.
By eleven, Blaine was almost falling asleep again, so Kurt helped him up and into his room. Once the two boys were alone, Kurt could suddenly feel a tension in the air that hadn't been present before.
"Thanks for being here, Kurt," Blaine said in the middle of a yawn.
"There's nowhere else I'd rather be," Kurt said truthfully.
"You know, Kurt, I really am sorry … for everything."
"I know," Kurt replied. "I missed you, Blaine."
Blaine blinked up at the older boy.
"I hated not being able to talk to you or text you whenever I wanted – even though I know I didn't do that nearly enough before. And there's something about almost losing you for real just now that made me realize just how much I need you."
"What are you saying, Kurt?" Blaine asked as he sat up, all sleepiness gone from his voice.
"I'm saying that I don't want lose you, Blaine. I love you."
Blaine's eyes widened in shock. "I love you, too, Kurt."
Blaine healed nicely over the next few days. By the time Burt had to return to Lima on New Year's Eve, Blaine was walking around the apartment and had even convinced Tony to distract the others for a few hours to let him and Kurt go to Rockefeller Center to ice skate and share their annual Christmas duet.
His flight was booked for January 3rd, so he and Kurt spent every minute that they could together. They also decided not to make their new relationship public just yet. They wanted time to be together alone. They also didn't want to deal with the New Directions' reactions.
While Kurt was checking in with Rachel at his apartment one day, Tony came up to Blaine with a stack of papers.
"What's this?" Blaine asked, thoroughly confused as he read over the complicated equations, large words, and odd diagrams that littered the pages.
"Another Christmas present for you," Tony said.
"Um … thanks?"
Tony laughed. "Let me explain. I know how much you worry about me doing the whole Iron Man thing. And after seeing you like that … I couldn't bear to leave something so harmful in your body. Well, that made me realize how much of a hypocrite I've been, leaving this shrapnel in my chest for the past five years. So, I worked some things out, hired a few of the country's best surgeons, and in about a week, they're going to remove the shrapnel and the arc reactor."
Blaine didn't know how to respond to his father's declaration. So he hugged the man tightly, trying to convey all his emotions through the simple gesture.
Kurt accompanied Blaine, Cooper, and Jane Anderson to the airport on the third. While Cooper and Jane checked their bags, Blaine and Kurt said a silent goodbye.
"I'll see you soon," Kurt promised.
"So," Sam said when he and Blaine met up in the hallway before school on their first day back after winter break. "Did you ever get a picture of Iron Man's house?"
"It was destroyed before I even got home from the airport," Blaine said truthfully.
"Oh," Sam said, looking incredibly sad. "I guess I'll get another chance to meet him eventually."
"Yeah," Blaine said faintly, thinking back to the surgery his father was going in for that very afternoon. Could he still be Iron Man without the arc reactor?
"Anyway, how was your break? California must have been nice," Sam said.
"It was pretty boring, honestly," Blaine said. "I mean, my dad had to work a lot, so I hung out with his girlfriend. Thankfully she's pretty cool. I did get to see Cooper, though!"
"That's cool, man. Hey, did you hear about what Iron Man did in Miami? He basically blew up this giant warehouse thing with all these super-soldiers or whatever. Apparently that's what the Mandarin had been doing."
Blaine nodded absently as his friend relayed Iron Man's latest escapade.