Remind me who I really am

Chapter Three

First off, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited this or is following this. You are all awesome, you make me so happy to open my mailbox!

Well, this chapter came out a little later than expected; I caught a bad case of the cold, twas not pretty ;) Let's just say I knew how Blaine was feeling in last week's episode…lol. But (un)fortunately I don't have a creepy best friend who rubs vapo-rub on my chest while I sleep ;P

For the contents of this chapter I feel I must explain that I am neither a law expert nor am I a cop. All my knowledge of the American Law system comes from watching (way to many) cop shows, so I apologize beforehand for any mistakes.

Well, on with the show, I hope you all like this chapter :D

The night had been a short one, when the alarm on his phone pulled Blaine out of his sleep once again. He wasn't sure Sebastian had even slept at all, as he had heard him moving about in Cooper's room, as he himself lay awake too. But the other boy looked as stylish and perfectly coifed as ever, making Blaine feel like a hobo next to him; as they stepped into the police-station at nine o'clock in the morning. The heat and noise inside hit their senses, a great contrast with the cold and quiet outside; as they walked towards the reception desk.

Two officers were sitting behind the desk, talking animatedly to each other as they approached. Sebastian seemed to hesitate for a second, but Blaine placed his hand on the small of his back and gave him an encouraging push. They waited patiently for a few moments to be noticed, but after a quick glance at them, the two on the other side of the desk kept their conversation going. Blaine could almost see Sebastian's mood changing at this and decided to intervene before the situation got out of hand. "Hello? Excuse me?" He asked politely, leaning forward over the desk, moving himself slightly in front of the other boy. The two officers ended their conversation with a barely concealed sigh and eye roll. "Yes, can I help you?" the youngest officer asked, hands poised over her keyboard. Blaine felt himself tugged backwards by Sebastian's hand on his shoulder as the taller boy stepped up to the desk. "My name is Sebastian Smythe. Detective Vasell asked me to come in for a line-up, so how about you go get him for us." Blaine tried hard not to laugh at the look on the officer's face as the full force of Smythe attitude was unleashed. He only succeeded partially, resulting in a smirk from Sebastian and a glare from the receptionist. After typing for a few seconds, the officer turned her attention back to them, smiling her no doubt sweetest smile. "I've paged Detective Vasell; he'll be out shortly to collect you. You can wait for him in there" She pointed to a closed door with a sign that said waiting area. Sebastian turned and walked briskly away from the desk. Blaine, startled by the sudden action, hurried after him after stuttering out a 'thank you' to the desk-officer.

As soon as the door was closed behind them, they were engulfed in the silence of the empty room, the bustling in the reception area sounding muted. Blaine sank into a chair, his eyes following Sebastian as he paced through the small room. Several minutes passed before Blaine got tired of it. He got out of his chair and stepped in front of the other boy, who seemed startled at finding him in his path. "Seb, come sit down for a sec, you're making me dizzy" Blaine said softly, grabbing the other boy's hand and gently tugged him towards one of the chairs, pushing him in it, earning him a raised eyebrow for his troubles. Releasing Sebastian's hand, Blaine was surprised when the other boy did not let go too, instead even increasing his grip. Looking up to meet the other boy's eyes, he was surprised by Sebastian again as he slowly rubbed his thumb across Blaine's palm. "Thanks for coming with me today, Blaine. It really means a lot to me." Tears clung to long eyelashes under green eyes and Blaine felt his own mist up too.

Suddenly the door to the waiting area opened and a tall blonde man entered. After giving Blaine's hand another squeeze, Sebastian turned his attention to the new arrival, who was leafing through what seemed to be a case-folder. Closing the folder, the man looked between the two of them. "Sebastian Smythe?" he questioned. When Sebastian rose out of his chair, the man extended his hand for him to shake and continued. "My name is Joe Vasell; we spoke over the phone yesterday?" Sebastian nodded and the blonde detective motioned a hand towards the door. "If you'll follow me, I'll explain the procedures once we're in my office" Sebastian nodded again and started to follow the man. Blaine hesitated, not knowing if he was included in the invite. A few moments passed after the other two men had excited, before Sebastian's head popped back around the corner of the door, eyebrows raised as he stared at Blaine. "Need a personal invite, Anderson?" Sebastian smirked. Blaine could feel the heat rising to his cheeks and he fought the urge to stick out his tongue at the taller boy, before following Sebastian into the hallway were the detective was patiently waiting. Following the detective through the hallways, they arrived at his small office. Blaine could not help but being shocked at the sight in front of him, used as he was to order in his own room. Files were stacked everywhere, from the overly full bookcase to the desk where an old computer was sat. Mixed in between were many mugs, filled with what Blaine guessed had been coffee, and bags of take-out meals. Even Sebastian seemed to be taken aback by the claustrophobic feel of the room, if his rising eyebrow was any indication. The detective placed himself on one side of the desk, after shoving some files to the edges to create some space. They sat down on the other side and the detective looked at Sebastian with a calculating look in his eyes. "Okay, so this is what's going to happen next. After our little chat here, we'll be going to another room where the line-up will be done. You'll be on one side, then we'll bring in a row of men and then it's up to you to see if you recognize one of them as the person who beat you up…" Out of the corner of his eyes, Blaine could see Sebastian start to shift ever so slightly in his chair. His straight posture and the cold stare in his eyes showed nothing, but Blaine noticed the knuckles of his clasped hands turn white where they lay in Sebastian's lap.

"…You can see them, but they can't see you. If you recognize someone, we'll ask you to say that out loud, so everyone in the room is a witness to that afterwards. You understand all of this so far?" Sebastian nodded, exhaling somewhat shakily. Or at least that is how it sounded to Blaine; he doubted the detective had noticed anything. "Okay then, when you're ready we can go. Just take your time, there's no need to rush anything" So maybe he did notice Blaine conceded, sending the detective a grateful smile on Sebastian's behalf. It took about half a minute before Sebastian stood up, addressing the detective. "Let's get this over with" The detective nodded and walked to the door, holding it open for them. "This way, gentlemen."

After passing many doors again, the hallways lead them to the back of the building, where they were ushered inside a small room with on one side of wooden table with chairs. In the back of the room a smaller desk was placed, on which a monitor stood. The left side of the room consisted off a large window that covered almost the entire wall, giving them a view into the empty white room next door. Another officer took place behind the monitor, nodding briefly at them as they entered. "This is Jaspers, he'll be recording this, so your identification can be used in court if necessary" Detective Vasell explained. Turning back to Sebastian, he gestured towards the see-through window. "If you're ready…" Sebastian inhaled deeply and looked at Blaine, who smiled back at him encouragingly. Squaring his shoulders, Sebastian walked up to the window, staring into the other room. As the detective turned off the lights in their room, he clarified one more thing. "Since there were three men who attacked you, there will be three different line-ups" Sebastian nodded in response to his, but the detective interrupted him. "You have to say your answers out loud; we can't see you nodding on the camera now that it's dark." "Okay…Yes, I understand. " Sebastian sighed, facing the window again. The detective turned towards the intercom system on the right side of the window and pushing a button, he contacted the officer who had walked into the room on the other side and had been waiting there. "Bring in the first guys" The officer nodded and moved towards his left, opening the door before leading the men in, in a neat row.

Blaine kept an eye on Sebastian as the men started to enter one by one. When the fourth man was led in, he heard the other boy's sharp intake of breath and saw him take an involuntary step backwards. Sebastian's hands clenched to fists and his breathing audibly became ragged. As the men were instructed to step forward one by one, Sebastian took another step back, tucking his trembling hands under his arms. When the taller boy failed to respond to the detective's question if he recognized any of them, Blaine slowly moved forward. The light from the other room falling through the window illuminated Sebastian's pale face, highlighting the fear in the other boy's wide green eyes. Blaine noticed that his eyes were shifting from side to side, but always fixating again on the man wearing a black number 4 on his chest; his breath hitching every time they did. Sebastian's lips were forming inaudible words and he hunched in on himself even more. Slowly stepping in front of him, Blaine softly called out to him. "Seb?" But the other boy was too caught up in what Blaine presumed to be memories of the attack on that morning, to notice him. Slowly reaching out, he placed his hand on Sebastian's. He had half expected the flinch that followed as his hand contacted Sebastian's, but not the strangled cry that escaped the taller boy's mouth. Feeling tears well up at the sight of the once so strong boy now being so afraid of one man, Blaine steeled himself. "Hey…Look at me, Seb….look at me. It's going to be okay, I'm here to help…please look at me…" He kept up his litany, his voice soft and he hoped soothing, gently squeezing the other boy's hand until finally, tear-filled eyes settled on his face and recognition started dawning in them. Grasping Sebastian's other hand too, he squeezed them gently. "It's okay, Seb, you're safe. I'm here, see? He can't hurt you anymore." A mix between a sob and a sigh escaped Sebastian's lips as he nearly folded into himself, his upper body gravitating towards Blaine, who quickly enveloped him in his arms. He settled on holding the boy close, murmuring nonsensical words in the other boy's ears, rubbing soothing circles on his back until he felt Sebastian's breathing even out and the shaking of the taller boy's body slowly subside. They stood like that for a long while, having forgotten all about the world around them, only focused on each other, until a gentle cough pulled them back to the other people in the room. Seemingly embarrassed, Sebastian scrubbed at his face, the shutters on his emotions almost visibly falling back into place, a blank look replacing the haunted one from before. Straightening up, Sebastian turned towards the detective, though he did not let go of Blaine's hand.

Softly, the detective repeated his question. "Is there anyone you recognize?" Blaine squeezed the other boy's hand, whispering 'you can do this' to the back of his head. Squeezing back, Sebastian turned to stare man number 4 straight in the eye. "It's number 4, he's the one who beat me up and insulted me!" Blaine smiled proudly at Sebastian, as the detective asked if he knew that for sure with a smile of his own. "Yes" Sebastian answered. "I do"

TBC…

I originally had a bit more after this, but after rereading it, I felt that it was a more powerful ending this way. Please let me know if you agree, reviews make my day :D

Next chapter will be up next week :D