A/N: This story will be based on the most recent episode and will be angsty, dramatic, and eventually romantic. I'm taking the shooting to a much more serious level here and it will probably be multi-chapter. Don't know yet. We'll see. This story definitely contains spoilers for Shooting Star so do not read it if you haven't seen the episode yet. Also, with the seriousness of the story, I recommend not reading it if it triggers you. I have experienced a lockdown at school due to the threat of a weapon on campus when I was a high school senior so I understand the level of seriousness and this will not be taken lightly. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not now, nor have I ever owned Glee.
It seemed as the though the clock was ticking away both very slowly and very quickly. How much time had passed?
Blaine distinctively raised his head to look at the clock on the wall in the choir room. Had really only two minutes gone by since the last time he looked at it? It seemed like ages ago. Of course, Blaine had his cell phone but he didn't dare pull it out, for fear that it would go off, alerting the shooter to the presence in the choir room.
Most of New Directions were crowded in there with him, accompanied by Mr. Schue and Coach Beiste. But there were two people missing. Brittany was apparently in the bathroom and it took all of the two teachers' strength to keep Sam from going after her. Tina…well Blaine didn't know where his best girlfriend was and he'd be lying if he said he was scared shitless for her safety.
The Cheerio tensed suddenly as his phone buzzed in his pocket. He wanted so bad to know who it was and let them know that he was okay. But he was afraid to pull it out. What the shooter had good hearing and heard just the rustle of clothing through the locked door as Blaine reached into his pocket to pull out the phone? That was extreme thinking, he knew but right now, Blaine was way too frightened to think rationally.
But he was holding up a very convincing calm demeanor.
Suddenly, there was a pounding on the door. "I know you're in there you mindless drones of overjolly jinglers!" spat a voice that was obviously disguised. Whomever the shooter was, they were going to great lengths to keep their identity a secret.
The handle of the door jiggled, the shooter testing the lock. When they found the door wouldn't give, a moment of silence passed and Blaine found himself hoping that they had given up and walked on.
No such luck.
Only a moment later, the sound of yet another gunshot, followed by the shattering of glass rang out through the choir room. Blaine stared in horror as a hand shot through the now broken window of the choir room door closest to him, reaching in to turn the lock.
And then the door was kicked open and the masked shooter barged into the room, gun pointed in front of them.
"Nobody move, or I'll shoot!" the figure shouted, voice still disguised. But Blaine heard the distinct speech impediment and noting the shooter's small squat stature, was able to put two and two together and realization went off in his head like a lightbulb.
Becky.
Becky Jackson was the shooter.
The senior stared at her, completely frozen but not in fear. He was frozen in complete confusion. Whatever had happened to Becky that she thought she had to result to this? Had Coach Sylvester put her up to this? Blaine shook that thought immediately. As vicious a woman as Sue Sylvester was, he knew she would never encourage a student to threaten the lives of others.
Becky turned her head in the direction of Blaine, noting Sam and Artie sitting closest to him, all three gathered on the floor behind the piano, with Blaine resting against it and Sam and Artie against the wall opposite him and the piano.
Momentarily, the shooter shot her gaze past the three of them, still holding the gun pointed ahead of her. A little further down that wall in the choir room, were Marley, Jake, and Ryder. And in a far corner across the room were Kitty and Wade.
Becky's gaze drifted back to Blaine and out of the corner of his eye, Blaine could see Mr. Schue and Coach Beiste in their spot next the door Becky had just come through.
"You!" Becky spat, turning her gun directly on Blaine. Blaine gulped, eyes staring unblinkingly down the barrel of the gun in her hand. "Come with me!" Blaine knew he didn't have any choice. When in a potential hostage situation or a robbery, the safest course of action was to follow every one of the suspect orders without complaint. It gave you the highest chance of survival. Never try to play the hero. That was the stupidest thing you could do.
Blaine started to shakily get up as his phone buzzed in his pocket yet again. Sam reached out a hand and grabbed a hold of Blaine's wrist, intending to stop him.
"Blaine, don't," the blonde boy pleaded and Blaine could see he was shaking. Blaine moved to gently pry Sam's hand from his wrist, opening his mouth to say something to him. But Becky cut him off, hastily turning the gun on Sam and firing. The shot narrowly missed his arm, lodging the bullet into the wall just centimeters from him. Cries rang out in the choir room and Sam sat frozen in fear, shaking uncontrollably, knowing he had nearly been shot.
"Next time," Becky spat, "I won't miss." And Sam didn't doubt that for a second. He dropped his hand from Blaine's wrist and curled in on himself. "Come on! Now!" Becky went on, turning her attention back on Blaine.
Swallowing heavily, the Cheerio stood completely and shakily moved to stand beside her. She shoved him behind her.
"Don't you think taking a personal hostage is a little extreme?" Mr. Schue tried to reason. Obviously, as smart as he was about this situation so far, even the choir teacher couldn't think straight. Without a second thought, Becky pointed the gun at him and fired, the bullet making contact with Mr. Schue's shoulder and causing people in the room to scream and the teacher to collapse to the floor, clutching his shoulder.
"Anyone else wanna play the hero?" Becky snapped, pointing her gun around the room. No one moved. But she seemed to have another moment of sudden decision and the barrel of the gun landed on Marley. The sophomore shook with fear and tears. When Becky spoke again, it was to Jake beside her. "Come with me if you want her to get out of this unscathed," she spat.
It took Blaine only a moment to realize what this was about. He might have been a random choice, he wasn't sure yet. But Jake was not chosen at random. Jake was Puck's younger brother and Puck had kindly escorted Becky to the senior prom the previous year. He'd treated her the best any guy ever had. She must harbor some sort of resentment for it not going anywhere after that.
Jake didn't need telling twice and he certainly did not want Marley's life in danger. He quickly scrambled to his feet and moved to stand beside Blaine behind Becky.
Becky began backing up, pushing the two boys behind her out the door. As a last act of insanity in the choir room, she suddenly went trigger happy and fired off several bullets in all directions. Blaine and Jake both heard screams of terror and shrieks of pain and Jake's initiative was to run back in and try to stop it, but Blaine grabbed a strong hold on the younger boy's arm.
"Don't. Playing the hero is the easiest way to get yourself killed," he said. Once again, his phone was buzzing in his pocket. Once again, he didn't dare pull it out to see who it was. There was no telling what Becky would do.
And then she was there, shoving the gun into the back of his head. "Walk," she said coldly. Blaine swallowed and did as she said. Jake didn't take any chances. The gun may not be pointing at his head but he knew fairly well that if he made one wrong move, it very well could be.
Kurt paced the apartment, cell phone in his hand as he dialed and redialed Blaine's number. Santana and Rachel both sat on the couch watching him with identical expressions of worry. The TV was on in the background, a live news coverage on the screen. The headline captioned across the bottom stated "School shooting in progress at McKinley High in Lima, Ohio". Kurt had never been more scared in his life.
Blaine was there. Blaine was in the midst of all that. When searching the crowds of students that had safely evacuated the school, the only one of their friends they had seen was Tina. And she confirmed that the rest of the Glee Club had to be inside the school still, after a brief interview with a news reporter.
Blaine was still inside. Blaine was at the threat of a shooter. Blaine was not answering Kurt's calls or texts. Blaine could be hurt. Or worse, dead. Kurt didn't want to think of that. He couldn't.
"Blaine, please pick up," he mewled out in a worried tone as he redialed Blaine's number for what felt like the hundredth time. He was shaking. Tears were welling in his eyes as he feared the worst. What if Blaine was gone and Kurt never had the chance to tell him that he really did mean everything to him and he couldn't live without him?
Kurt suddenly dropped the phone as realization hit him like a tidal wave. Blaine was it for him. He couldn't be with anyone else. And it had taken the threat of Blaine's very life for him to make that connection. Now, it might be too late. The only one of their friends they knew was safe for sure was Tina. There was no words on the others.
"Kurt?" Rachel asked quietly. His head turned sharply in her direction and he finally allowed the tears to fall, pushing their way out of his eyes and down his cheeks. Rachel stood up and pulled him into a hug. Kurt clung to her as he sobbed into her shoulder.
Santana didn't hesitate as she stood and enwrapped both of them. "It will be okay Kurt." Now you knew the situation was bad when Santana Lopez was actually calling you by your name instead of one of her infamous nicknames. Her voice trembling though as she said it and Kurt knew that she was just as worried about Brittany as he was about Blaine.
Kurt did everything he could to try and think positive, try and hold himself together, but it was the hardest thing he had ever had to do. He pulled out of the hug and bent down to pick up the phone. With trembling fingers, he dialed a familiar number and shakily pressed the phone to his ear.
"Hey kid," the voice on the other line picked up, sounding rather solemn instead of cheery as he usually did.
"Dad?" Kurt questioned in a trembling voice.
"I take it you know what's going on at McKinley," Burt Hummel stated, voice still solemn.
Kurt nodded before remembering that his dad couldn't see him. "Yes." There was a pause in which Kurt broke down again. "Oh dad, Blaine's still in there and I can't…I just can't!" he cried. "He's not answering his phone and…" He trailed off as he dissolved into tears over the phone.
Burt let his son cry for a few minutes before he spoke again, trying to keep his voice calm and trying to be reassuring. "He'll be okay Kurt. Don't jump to conclusions. They already have a swat team scouring the school." Kurt took a few deep breaths and shook his head violently, biting his lip and missing the knock on the front door.
"I know, but…" he started, not sure what else to say. His dad was right. He needed to stay positive but it was so very hard.
"Kurt?" said a voice and he turned, hand still holding the phone to his ear. Adam was standing just inside the doorway, Rachel having apparently let him in. For the first time, Kurt felt the strong urge to tell his current boyfriend just to go away. He didn't want to see him and this wasn't any of Adam's business.
"Dad, I'll call you back later," he croaked out into the phone. Without waiting for a reply from Burt, he hung up and narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing here Adam?" he said, surprising himself and everyone else in the apartment at how cold his voice sounded.
Adam was taken aback by Kurt's sudden coldness. He swallowed a lump that started to form in his throat and took several cautious steps toward him. Kurt held his ground, eyes narrowing ever more as Adam came closer.
"I heard what was happening and thought you could use some comfort," the British man replied. Kurt just stared at him. Adam swallowed again and went on. "McKinley, it was your high school right? I know you didn't have the best experience there but you still have friends in that school so I figured…" He trailed off, biting his lip and shaking just slightly. He hadn't expected this kind of response from Kurt.
Kurt was still clutching the phone in his hand. He sighed heavily, shutting his eyes for a moment. "I appreciate the concern Adam," he said finally. "But if I'm being honest, this thing, us," he went on, gesturing between the two of them. "Isn't working out. I'm sorry, but I can't do it. I think you should leave."
Rachel and Santana exchanged glances with each other and Adam looked slightly defeated.
"It's Blaine, isn't it?" he asked quietly.
Kurt didn't even hesitate. "Yes. I tried to move on from him Adam. I really did. But I can't. He's my soulmate. And now…I might lose him." His voice was very quiet by the end, dropped low to a whisper.
It was clear that Adam was hurt, but always being the sweetheart he was, he carefully approached Kurt and drew him into a friendly hug. Kurt didn't pull away but allowed himself to sink into Adam's embrace. It was like kind of a good-bye.
"I understand Kurt," Adam said when he had pulled out of the hug. "You will have him back. Blaine loves you if any of the things you've shared with me involving him are any indication. He won't let himself get hurt for your sake. He'll be okay," he told him.
Kurt sniffed and nodded his head. "Thank you," he whispered. Adam reached out and gave his hand a squeeze before turning and walking back toward the door. "Adam?" Kurt spoke up, causing the British man to look back at him. "Can you stay? For moral support?" Adam gave him a soft smile.
"Of course Kurt." A tiny smile flitted across Kurt's face before he lifted his phone and redialed Blaine's number yet again.
Becky forced them down the hall and into the auditorium, where she made them walk up the stairs and congregate backstage. She directly them onto two chairs, all the while keeping the gun pointed at the back of Blaine's head. It was as she was beginning to tie them up that Blaine's phone went off again.
"What's that?" Becky spat, dropping the rope she had been using to tie Jake to the chair.
"M-my cell phone," Blaine replied, trying to keep his resolve. Becky raised the gun and pointed it at him again.
"Answer it," she ordered. Blaine stared at her in surprise. "Answer it!" she repeated, cocking the gun and preparing to pull the trigger. Blaine swiftly pulled the phone out of his pocket and briefly glanced at the caller ID, feeling all the color drain from his face as he realized who it was.
With shaking hands, Blaine tapped the accept button and brought the phone to his ear.
"Hi Kurt."
A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger but it needed to happen to keep you all on the edge of your seats! This is my take on if Becky had been serious about using that gun in a shooting scenario and the cause of the first gunshots to not have been accidental. This will be serious so please do not read if you don't feel you can handle it. Reviews make me smile! Happy reading!
