I hope this isn't too talky. In my head I pictured a drawn out battle, with occasional glimpses of what was going on outside. Now it's almost all Kurt (not that that's a bad thing, of course).

Part Ten

Kurt knew Finn was upset the second he walked through the door. "Oh, dear."

"Is something wrong, Kurt?" Jute. Who had taken the news about the Presidential Guard fairly well, more concerned than angry at being left out of the proceedings.

Kurt had hoped to invite Jute in to make up for that, and his own earlier distraction. But that likely wasn't going to be possible now. "The house is cold."

"Oh," Jute replied, not understanding of course. "I could fix that for you."

Kurt raised an eyebrow, bemused.

Jute laughed. "Not like that. Well, like that as well. If you wanted."

"That would be lovely," Kurt noted wistfully. "But a cold house means an upset Finn. He says when he's upset the inside of his head feels like it's on fire. So when that happens, he turns the air conditioning on full blast. He insists it's comforting."

"The mind is very suggestible," Jute reminded him. "I personally like to be warm when something's bothering me."

Kurt's mind went back to the thing that was surely bothering Jute right now. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Concerned," Jute admitted. "But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little grateful I didn't have to deal with it all. Go check on Finn."

"Thank you." Kurt kissed him. "Finn's- I know my dad and his mom aren't married. And after everything that's happened, I'm not going to assume anything. But Finn's my brother."

And once again, Jute seemed to understand where Kurt was coming from. "I completely agree."

Kurt would have leaned in for another kiss, but Finn took that moment to make his frenzied entrance. For some inexplicable reason, he was hugging what looked like a hockey bag (particularly odd given that Finn didn't even play hockey).

Finn calmed a little on seeing them. "You're back, FINALLY! Didn't you get my mom's text?"

Kurt took out his phone. "No. It's dead." Although he had a much more powerful battery since his grandmother had upgraded his phone to access the Sateen Com Net, interplanetary calls still took indecent amounts of power.

Jute held out his hand. "May I?" Kurt handed over the phone and Jute headed for the nearest outlet. Being a fire shaper he didn't need a cord; he just held the phone over the outlet and in a few moments the phone beeped on again.

Kurt almost dropped the phone when he got it back and checked the message. There was a link between the break-in and the home invasion? "That's not possible." He knew the police had thought so all along. But once Kurt learned the Presidential Guard was involved, he'd immediately discounted the possibility.

"They're sure, dude," Finn insisted. "The guys that drugged up those assholes that attacked you are the ones that broke into my mom's apartment."

Kurt tried not to roll his eyes. It's not like Finn knew. "Finn, I found evidence the Presidential Guard broke into Carole's apartment. And I KNOW they didn't send someone after me."

Finn looked at him, confused. "Why would President Obama-?"

"No, my grandfather's guards," Jute clarified. He turned to Kurt, puzzled. "What's this about drugging?"

"Didn't I tell you?" Kurt asked. At Jute's continued confusion, he added: "The men that attacked me were addicted to Meth. That's a really dangerous drug here."

"And they didn't find the people who supplied them with this 'Meth'?" Jute asked.

Kurt frowned, uncomfortable with where this was going. "Well, no. The dealers - and the rest of the drugs - disappeared before the police could find them."

Kurt wasn't expecting Jute's eyes to widen at that. Before Kurt could say anything though, Finn interrupted. "The police have been sure this whole time there was a link. Now they have proof. If those guard guys were at my mom's, then they were here, too."

Finn opened up his bag, revealing almost everything they'd ever gotten on Sateen. "I got our fighting sticks, your jumper- Your box finally let me in long enough to get your tiara. That has magical powers, right?"

Kurt shook his head in disbelief. "No." He didn't know where Finn got these ideas from. "Look, I know it's not as fun as going off half-cocked, but could you please think for a minute? You KNOW the penalties for assaulting an heir to one of the Standards. Why would the Guard risk that?"

"They would if they were ordered," Jute told him grimly.

Kurt turned to Jute in shock. His boyfriend seemed almost catatonic, but his voice was certain. "Jute, you can't believe-" Kurt began.

"Kurt, I know where those drugs went."

"You do?" Kurt and Finn both yelped.

Kurt loudly shushed Finn, then turned back to his boyfriend. "Where did you find them? Did Captain Rush-?"

Jute shook his head in anguish. "They're in my grandfather's office. He told me they were dangerous, and from Earth, and that they were highly addictive. But I didn't know there was a connection until now."

"Oh my god!" Finn gasped.

Kurt couldn't believe it. In fact, he was shocked that Jute did. "That's impossible. There must be some other-"

"Kurt!" Jute interrupted, roughly. "I know what I know. Please don't make this any harder by trying to talk me out of it."

Kurt didn't know what to say. Finn did, though. "We have to call the police."

"Which police," Kurt asked with irritation. "The ones that can't get to Sateen? Or the ones that pledge allegiance to President Aramid every morning?"

"The second ones," Finn answered, not realizing the question was rhetorical. "I'm not stupid, y'know."

Kurt sighed. "I can't tell them the President tried to kill me. I don't believe it myself; how am I supposed to convince someone else?"

"Well, what about Bebe?" Finn asked.

Well, that was a possibility. Unfortunately, his entire family seemed to not be answering their phones. A direct call to the Thunder Palace confirmed that they'd gone to see the President. Kurt asked if his grandmother had taken the Water Standard with her. She hadn't.

The Presidential Palace was close enough that Bebe should be easily able to summon it if she needed to. The fact that she hadn't though, was for some reason no comfort at all. "I know I shouldn't be worried about her. But…."

Jute had moved to the window and was just looking out it. But at Kurt's worry, he turned and noted, "The waters are rough."

Kurt didn't know what that meant, and he certainly didn't know how Jute would know that. "What do you mean?"

"This entire time, your attack felt like it was missing a piece," Jute replied, which didn't answer the question at all. "And then you told me about the drugs, and I remember my grandfather- The fire knows, I don't want to believe it. But when I look at the situation - honestly- I know it makes sense. And it would make sense to you if you weren't thinking about hurting me when you looked at it."

Kurt had been told that each of the elements linked to the rest of itself, forming something that was almost alive. He'd never imagined that it could be used as a lie detector. "So if something seems off about my grandmother not having the Standard-"

"She needs it, and can't get it," Jute answered, anxious for the first time Kurt had known him.

"I have to get to Sateen," Kurt declared, just as worried.

But as he reached for the bag that had his jumper in it, Finn pulled it back. "Hey, drug dealers were one thing. But you can't go after the president of your planet by yourself. And as much as I'd like to just say I'm coming with you, honestly I don't think the three of us can take on the president's whole army."

"There might be another way," Jute told him. "The council will probably refuse to believe this, but my uncle? Kurt, if your mother might be in danger, he'll listen."

Burt was really not liking their odds here. He'd fallen tightly in behind Kasha and Bebe; letting them deal with their attackers, while making sure anyone who tried to flank them regretted it. And while Burt was well within the elemental 'safe zone' the two had created, leaving him to deal solely with the Guards' weapons, there seemed to be an inexhaustible supply of them.

Rush was still there, making the occasional foray into the battle. Circling. Looking for an opening.

Burt saw where he was going the second before Rush got there.

Kasha.

Rush threw himself at the gap between her and Burt. Trying to get in between them. Burt got there first, just seconds ahead of Kasha.

Half of Kurt's life ago, Rush had used his fire bending to blank Kasha's mind for a moment. Just enough for her to be late in her defense during the expositional duel she'd been in.

Eight or so Earth years later, Kasha wasn't similarly handicapped. She just got there seconds behind Burt. But she didn't see her now-ex moving in.

And her counter-attack drove the sharp edge of Burt's shield into Rush's throat. "Whoa," Burt yelped.

Although this bastard orchestrated the attack on his son, so he couldn't feel too badly about it.

Aramid on the other hand, was stunned by the death of his biggest supporter. "Stop!"

He apparently hadn't just spoken, because Burt could no longer move.

That wasn't good.

The guards seemed to have stopped just as firmly as Burt had, silently waiting to see what the President was doing. Kasha moved her hand, and Burt could vaguely feel her trying to re-extend her shield around him. But the President's control was too much for her. "Burt!" she shrieked.

Bebe turned to Aramid, furious. "[And it comes to THIS now?]"

"[I can't stop you or Kasha from fighting,]" Aramid replied tersely. "[But I will be DAMNED if let him kill any more of my men!]"

"[I did that!]" Kasha shouted. "[If you're angry about it, face me!]"

"[No,]" Aramid told her. "[Surrender. Or I kill him.]"

There was a harder nudge against Burt's system, he suspected from Bebe. It didn't feel like freedom though, more like a stalemate. Bebe confirmed this when she said, "[I can't hold him off for long. Burt-Hummel, you must help me retake your body.]"

"I can't," Burt insisted.

"[Don't you tell that to me, Burt,]" Bebe countered firmly. "[Kurt wouldn't be as strong as he is if he didn't have some latent potential on your side of the family. Now be that brash young man that won my respect all those years ago and FIGHT.]"

Burt fought. He focused on his [dueling weapon] and tried to force himself to lower it. It didn't seem to be moving.

He tried harder.

Suddenly, it felt like the suffocating bands holding him in place had snapped. And his [dueling weapon] went down so hard the tips of the pikes clanked on the floor. Burt raised it again, and turned to face the President, anxious to deliver some more justice.

Before he could take a step though, a whole side of the room exploded.

Prince Caysi, fire hadn't just believed Kurt. When the three boys arrived on Sateen, Caysi met them at the Presidential Palace with a courier bringing the Water Standard, and what appeared to be half of Sateen's army. Including four warships hovering frighteningly low above them.

"Holy crap," Finn gasped.

"Holy crap, indeed," Kurt sighed. He'd just recognized the two officers next to Prince Caysi as Ramie and Paysin.

As Kurt approached, Caysi looked up and Kurt could see how worried the prince was. "Kurt-Hummel. The Palace has been locked down, and no one inside is answering my calls. As much as I can't believe I'm saying this, I can only conclude the president is holding your family hostage."

As Caysi spoke, the courier approached and dropped the protective sphere of water containing the Water Standard into his hands. It occurred to him that this might actually be his now. But the water looked a little off when he thought that, and he clung to the conclusion that he must be mistaken in considering that. "[Why can't my grandmother summon the Water Standard?]" Kurt asked.

Caysi pointed to one of the wings of the palace. "[There's something blocking our sight from my- From the president's office. If she's there, I don't know if she CAN summon the Water Standard.]"

"[Then we've gotta get in there,]" Paysin stated.

"[Agreed,]" Kurt declared. "[Finn, I need you to stay here and co-ordinate with Prince Caysi, fire.]"

"Okay," Finn answered, though he didn't look to happy about it.

And Caysi had the oddest look on his face for a second. Kurt couldn't quite place it.

But there wasn't time for that, now. "[Paysin, Ramie, and Jute, you're with me.]"

They literally sprinted to the wing containing the President's office. Paysin, being taller and longer legged than the others, arrived first. But when he raised his hand against the shielding shuttered over the patio doors, it was clear that nothing was happening. "[I can't Shape whatever this is.]"

"[No matter,]" Ramie declared. He looked even more determined and angry than Kurt felt, and Kurt wondered if this had convinced Ramie his mind HAD been tampered with. "[That wall is coming down.]"

Ramie reached out for Paysin's hand and did this odd thing where he seemed to be reaching for both Paysin's power and his focus. And created a whirlwind in his hand that seemed to be both air, and solid.

Kurt turned to Jute, to see his boyfriend offering his own hand. Scarcely knowing what he was doing, but trusting the 'see it and it will happen' principle, Kurt took that hand. And used what he found there to make something he'd only ever seen Bebe create up to that point.

A magma wave.

The combined force of the four elements vaporized the shutters, and left the windows and patio doors behind them nothing more than splinters.

Kurt was relieved to see his family was unharmed. In fact, his father actually seemed like he was about to challenge the President himself.

Kurt spotted his grandmother in all the chaos. He tightened the water around the Water Standard as tightly as he could, and tossed it to Bebe. "Grandmother!" he shouted.

Kurt could feel his control tested, as the President and the guards inside tried to take the Standard from him. But it reached Bebe without incident.

Bebe tore open the water wrapping and set the guards on their asses with a barest flick of her power. "[It is OVER, Ari,]" she told him. "[The Presidential Seal may give you some power over the four elements. But not enough to be a match for a Standard. It is YOU who will surrender.]"

Kurt saw Finn and Prince Caysi coming up beside him. "[Father,]" Caysi pleaded. "[Stop this, please. This is madness.]"

The president could see that he'd lost. But he refused to give up. "[No Caysi, not madness,]" he insisted. "[All I have done, I have done for you, and Jute, and your future.]"

"[I don't care why you did it,]" Kasha informed him. "[Stand down. You have no options, now.]"

"[That is not entirely true,]" Aramid told her. "[I may not have the power to affect you, but I have options besides putting my family through a humiliating investigation and trial.]"

And then he was gone. Literally. His clothes billowed into a pile on the ground, and seemingly no trace remained of the President. "Holy shit," Finn hollered. "What the hell was that?"

Finn didn't know, but Ramie clearly did. Jute's ex dropped to his knees in complete anguish. "[No!]" he screamed. "[I have to know. I have to know what he did to me! You have to put him back!]"

Bebe knelt with the bundle of clothing between them. "[That is impossible,]" she gently told him. "[The body we can remake, but his mind is gone. You don't need it though. The answer you seek is yes.]"

Ramie wept. So did Bebe.

"[Okay, can someone please explain to me where the President went?]" Finn asked. "[And why no one is going after him?]"

"There's no 'after him' to go to," Kurt replied, shakily. He couldn't believe what had happened, either. He tried to move towards Jute, but his boyfriend flinched and Kurt took no further steps. "He's…. He's erased himself, Finn."

Finn gasped and bent down to examine the President's clothes, and there was indeed a baby in there. "Whoa. What- What are you going to do with him now? [I mean, what are you going to do with him now?]" he asked, switching to Sateen standard.

No one could answer that at first. Then Caysi stepped forward to claim the bundle. "[I'll take him in. I've never had a child, and I think I'd like to try and raise him right this time.]" Caysi offered Finn a sad smile. "[It was good to finally meet you, Finn-Hudson. Fare well. Nephew, come with me.]"

Kurt was about to scold Prince Caysi for making such a high handed demand. But Jute didn't seem at all bothered by it. Kurt had to sprint to catch up to him. "Jute, wait."

"For what?" he asked brokenly. "For the shooting pain of guilt I feel every time I look at you? No. I need to go."

"When…?"

"I don't think it will ever be possible," Jute quietly replied. "Have… have a good life, Holiness."

And then Jute was gone. And it felt as final as with the president.

(to be concluded)