Dynamic Duets

Blaine, along with half of the New Directions, stared at the laptop screen as the pixelated man wearing the Dalton blazer laid out his challenge. The morning had started out reasonably normal (well, normal enough for anyone at McKinley really), with a meeting of the Secret Society of Superheroes club as Blaine aka. Nightbird introduced new members and deflected questions from Asian Persuasion aka. Tina about how things were going with Kurt. (Kurt had called a few times since the school musical, but things were still a little awkward as they adjusted to the new status of their relationship and he didn't exactly want to tell Tina that in front of the rest of the group.) But then Chai Tea had come in with an emergency and now Blaine stood here in front of a trophy case that was absent one Nationals trophy and a message from someone he didn't know from his old school, because even pixelated and their voice distorted, he was sure that he knew his old friends well enough that he would have recognised the person fondling that trophy.

Later during Glee club as Finn tried his hardest to be the new Mr Shue (right down to the sweater vest, which Blaine had no qualms with per se, but thought was a little weird considering in all the time he had known him, he had never seen Finn wear anything outside of football jerseys and loose shirts), it became clear that no one else was going to do anything about their missing trophy. Deciding to take matters into his own hands - (he was Nightbird, the Nocturnal Avenger, after all - Blaine left to face the Warblers and reclaim their trophy. He felt bad about being a little snippy towards Finn – he was trying after all – but considering all the bad blood between him and his old school now, he wasn't really looking forward to going back.

Blaine glanced around him as he descended the Dalton staircase. His swore his heart skipped a beat for a moment when he remembered that this was the very same staircase where just over two years ago he met the boy who would later become the love of his life. The fluttery feeling in his stomach quickly vanished when he spotted Sebastian at the bottom.

"Sebastian. Of course it was you."

"No it wasn't I swear. I've turned over a new leaf remember? No more bullying, blackmail or assault this year."

"That must be boring for you," Blaine said dryly as they walked in tandem down the hall, his attention straying as he remembered those terrifying two weeks where he wondered if he would ever see out of his right eye again. He tuned back into what Sebastian was saying when he mentioned that someone was waiting for him in the library.

"Who is?"

"The guy you're here to see - the captain of the Warblers."

Blaine's eyes narrowed in confusion. "I thought you were captain of the Warblers."

And that was how Blaine met Hunter Clarington the 'not remotely bi-curious' new captain. It was all very villainesque, with Hunter displaying a distinct Dr. Evil vibe as he gave his spiel trying to convince Blaine to return to Dalton. At first Blaine brushed it off with a roll of his eyes, but when Hunter mentioned Kurt and 'Blaine Warbler' he hesitated. Hunter wasn't entirely wrong – he had left Dalton because he had wanted to be with Kurt, and since he had joined New Directions a year ago, every now and then someone would refer to him as 'Blaine Warbler' (although more often than not that person tended to be Brittany and Blaine suspected that was because Brittany honestly believed that was his name).

Before he knew it he was surrounded by his former friends (he still wasn't sure if he could count them as such after the slushy incident) and Sebastian, all trying to convince him to return to Dalton and presenting him with a familiar blazer.

"That's not going to work on me," he stated with a tight smile.

"Then why be afraid to try it on?" Hunter asked, before Blaine felt the familiar feel of the blazer slipping over his shoulders.

He had done it because his intention had been to show the other boys how it didn't faze him, but then Sebastian was suggesting an impromptu song and before he knew it Blaine was belting out Kelly Clarkson's 'Dark Side', dancing with the Warblers and jumping on furniture like the good old days; where being in show choir didn't mean being at the bottom of the social heap, where everyone had embraced him as one of their own after fleeing his old homophobic school and where he eventually learnt what it was like to fall in love with the boy who was his best friend.

So when Sebastian said that his performance was flawless at the end of the song he almost jumped with how distracted he had been. He felt guilty at the thoughts that had been swirling around in his head, so he quickly turned and left the Warblers behind and headed back to McKinley.

It wasn't until he reached his car that he realised he was still wearing the blazer.

"Hey, you got a minute?" Blaine asked Finn as he strolled into the choir room.

"Hey dude, I was just gonna text you. How's Operation Rescue/Recovery going?"

"Well, I went back to Dalton. All those blazers and singing with the Warblers again…"

"Wait what?" Finn spluttered. "You sang with the Warblers?"

"It just sort of happened," Blaine said sheepishly. He tried to explain to Finn his current jumble of emotions by describing how it felt to be back there, being embraced as a brother, even throwing in an X-Men reference, knowing how much Finn loved those movies, but Finn wasn't hearing it.

"What no, no, you belong here with us, okay? Wait, does this have anything to do with Kurt, cause I thought you guys were fine now."

"No! I mean, yes, things between Kurt and I are fine and no it doesn't have anything to do with him. Not really anyway." At Finn's look he elaborated. "Look, it's no secret that I transferred here to be with Kurt. And I've enjoyed being here at McKinley, I really have – winning Nationals and making some good friends. But Kurt's gone now and so are most of my friends, and going back there to Dalton, a place that saved my life once and meant so much to me… Despite everything that's happened in the last year, the familiarity of it all still made me question if I still belong here. And then I thought of you – my indecision isn't being fair to you. You need a team that gels." Blaine slumped down into one of the chairs and Finn moved over to join him.

"Yes, absolutely, we need a team with a lot of gel, and you're like the biggest part of that!"

Blaine gave Finn a small smile. "I'm sorry Finn. I… I just need some time to think, that's all." Grabbing his bag, Blaine exited the choir room, leaving a stunned Finn behind.

The next day Blaine was taking some books out of his locker, his eyes as usual flickering to the pictures of Kurt that were pinned inside when he was confronted by Sam.

"Dude, this is part of some master plan right? You're going back to Dalton to gather intel so we can kick their asses at Sectionals right?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Finn told us you were thinking of going back to Dalton. You're not seriously considering it, are you?"

"What? No. I mean… look, I might have been considering it earlier okay. It was a moment of weakness." At Sam's disbelieving look, Blaine continued. "It's just that... the last few weeks have been hard on me. For a while there I thought I had lost Kurt forever – every time he ignored my calls felt like a knife in the heart and it hurt, like, physically hurt. And I know we talked it out and decided to give this break a go, but I've only talked to Kurt twice since then and both times it was Kurt who called me and those conversations were awkward as hell. I want to be able to be the one to call him for once, but I just have no idea what I should say."

Sam watched Blaine carefully, clearly wondering how all this had to do with transferring to Dalton. "Okay… but you were friends before you were boyfriends – shouldn't it be easy?"

Blaine let out a sigh of frustration. "I wish it was – he knows I still love him, but am I still allowed to tell him that? Or do I act all casual like before we started dating and avoid all overly emotional talk whatsoever? But then if I do that what if Kurt starts to think I don't have feelings for him anymore? It's hard to go back to being 'just friends' when there are still emotions involved, and all of this has been running around in my head leaving me so confused and really lonely because Kurt wasn't just my boyfriend but my best friend and I don't know who to talk to. So when I went back to Dalton… I don't know, it felt so familiar and it was nice being surrounded by friends again."

"Dude, if you need someone to talk to, you can always talk to me, I don't mind! And you're surrounded by friends here – friends who won't try to blind you by the way!"

"I know, I know, and I may have tried to resolve things with them at Regionals, but I haven't 100% forgiven them either, and I definitely haven't forgotten." Blaine looked directly into Sam's worried eyes. "Which was definitely one of the main reasons I decided not to go back. I've been thinking about it long and hard ever since I talked to Finn. Sure it was nice to go back to Dalton again, and sure I initially transferred here to be with Kurt but McKinley has become my home now – McKinley is where my real friends are." Blaine smiled and gave Sam's shoulder a small nudge. "And besides, transferring high schools three times is a bit much don't you think?

Sam grinned. "Absolutely. And I'm glad you're sticking with us, and not just because it would be awesome for Glee – you're my closest friend here and it would have sucked if you'd have left." Blaine smiled warmly at the confession. "Plus I kind of wanted you to be my duet partner, and I thought of a totally epic song that would suit us. "

Blaine pulled away from his locker, intrigued. "Oh really? What song did you have in mind?"

"See didn't I tell you it would be awesome?" Sam asked Blaine after they brought the house down singing 'Heroes'.

Blaine grinned. "That you did my friend."

"Oh speaking of friends, with this whole 'friends only' thing you have going with Kurt at the moment; I'm no expert at relationships or anything, but if you're worried about calling Kurt maybe you should start out with something small – a text about glee or homework or something like that, just to get the ball rolling. But you can't keep stalling – you're only making yourself feel bad."

Blaine nodded. "That's actually a good idea – thanks Sam. And I will text him, but there's something we need to do first." He solemnly handed Sam a black mask, keeping a matching one for himself.

And as the two of them were running from Dalton as their alter egos Nightbird and Blonde Chameleon, the Nationals trophy in hand and a Dalton blazer left in its place, Blaine couldn't help but feel that his time at Dalton was truly over. He had to admit, he and Sam made a pretty dynamic duo – not as awesome as he and Kurt maybe, but then again no one could ever take Kurt's place. And when they got to McKinley, Sam didn't hesitate in granting Blaine one last request before they changed out of their costumes…

Kurt's fingers flew over the keyboard as he answered what felt like his 100th email at work that day. So when his phone buzzed indicating that he had received a text it was a welcome distraction.

He frowned in confusion at the text Blaine had sent ('Nightbird and the Blonde Chameleon save the day'?) before he opened the accompanying picture and snorted with laughter. Someone had taken a photo of Blaine and Sam standing side by side as they struck a pose in the most ridiculous costumes he had ever seen and matching masks.

He quickly sent back a short reply. 'What? Do I even want to know? You are such a dork.'

A few seconds later his phone buzzed again. 'Come on, you know you love it.'

Kurt bit his lip as his hand hovering over his screen, unsure if he should send what had run through his mind. Deciding "what the hell," he quickly wrote and sent his message before he changed his mind. 'No, but I do love you.'

It didn't take long for Blaine to respond with a few short words. 'I love you too.'

Smiling, Kurt put down his phone and returned to work.

A/N: Yeah, so I decided to keep a lot of this episode the same but delve a little into how Blaine had been feeling so him considering transferring (again? really Glee?) would make sense considering he and Kurt haven't 'broken up'.

And the little Kurt scene at the end has been in my head for a looong time as a missed opportunity from Glee, and I also wanted them to acknowledge that despite their strange relationship status they still love each other (and by Kurt telling Blaine first it answered all the questions Blaine had earlier).

Reviews are always welcome!