Absolutely drunk off your responses. I do love you guys.

The next morning Kurt stood at his front door, hand poised on the doorknob, watching the digital clock on the wall as it ticked slowly towards 7am, the time the streets began to come to life as the morning curfew ended. He bounced up and down on the balls of his feet, willing the 58 to change to a 59 and as he was muttering an improvised prayer, his dad came downstairs.

'Kurt?'

'Hi, dad.' His eyes didn't leave the clock.

'Where are you going?'

'I'm going out.'

'I can see that, kid. Where were you last night?'

'...out.'

'Son... I'm worried about you. You're spending too much time with this kid and you're becoming too attached to a relationship you won't be able to keep.' The 58 changed. 'Kurt... your work placement arrived yesterday.' He finally tore his eyes away from the clock.

'Huh?'

'If I'd seen you last night I would have told you then, but...' Burt produced a white envelope. 'You're growing up, kiddo. Pretty soon you'll be married and you won't be able to spend all this time with Blaine.' Kurt took the envelope.

In Lima, in the run up to a child's 18th birthday, letters were sent out to them, notifying them of their work placement, as decided by government officials, based on a person's grades. This was their job for the rest of their life and they had no means of escape apart from death. Kurt hadn't realised how close his birthday was. He did a quick sum in his head. A week.

He turned the envelope over in his hands, looking at the towns crest in the corner. Governor Anderson would have signed this. In one movement he tore he envelope in half, dropped it and looked up at the clock. 7:01. Without turning back he wrenched the door open and took off down the street, ignoring his father's shout.

All the way, he tried to assure himself that he was being stupid, that the government would leave at least some time between hatching a plan and putting it into action, but still, still. He wouldn't rest until he saw Blaine safe and alive.

He knocked frantically on the door, pounding until a tired looking teenager opened.

'Kurt?' Josh asked, rubbing his eyes and yawning. 'What-'

'Where is Blaine?'

'Huh?'

'Blaine? I need to see him!'

'He should be in his room –' Kurt pushed past him and ran up the stairs, not stopping until he reached Blaine's door. He shoved it open and stumbled in. The bed was empty, the dark purple cover thrown across the room and the white sheet tugged halfway off the mattress. Kurt's heart dropped. Blaine was – he'd been –

'What's going on?' Josh asked, his voice becoming more alert and more worried.

'Blaine is in trouble. I think – I think your dad, the government want to hurt him.'

'What?'

'Joshua?' A voice boomed from down the hall. 'Are you up?'

'Josh, you have to help me. We have to find Blaine.'

'I-'

'Joshua?' It was Governor Anderson's voice.

'I have to spend today in my dad's office!' He said. 'I'm up, dad! He said its crazy important!'

'Oh God – Fine, just please try and find something out about Blaine.'

'Of course!' Kurt took off down the hall towards the stairs, desperate to get out of the house of the man who sentenced his own son to death. As he ran downstairs, Kurt was confronted by a cold stare. Governor Anderson.

'Who are you? What are you doing in my house?'

'I'm saving your son!' Kurt pushed past the man and out the still open front door. He heard Andrew shout Josh's name as he left, but he ignored it and ran full pelt down the road.

He didn't know where he was running. He didn't know who he could go to. None of his friends knew who Blaine even was, let alone how much he cared about him and the situation seemed so surreal that he doubted anyone would believe him. And anyway, no-one really liked Governor Anderson's reign, but everyone accepted it, and the people he knew were not nearly as prone to rocking the boat as Kurt had found out he himself was.

Stopping on a street corner, he tried to gather his thoughts. Running was no good when he had no clue where he should go. He looked around. His house was a couple of streets over, and the library was that way. His school was round the other corner, but of course it would be empty, and – Wait. The library.

With thoughts of those two people he'd met all that time ago, Kurt started sprinting again. They had to help, or at least know someone else that could. Anyone who would dedicate their time to an operation going against Anderson's rules would surely jump at the chance to foil one of his plans. And then...

What would happen after they had saved Blaine? They couldn't let Governor Anderson continue to rule, when he had intentions to kill his son, when he would no doubt continue to constrict the town's freedom and kill off those who displeased him until society had been trimmed down to a handful of so-called perfect townsfolk. They had to stop him, and now.

He shoved open the doors of the library so hard they rocked back against the wall with a clatter, and sprinted through to the back, much to the disdain of the elderly librarian sitting to the side. Stumbling down the spiral staircase, Kurt announced his arrival to the basement by shouting for Rachel.

Xxx

He came to in a cellar. It was damp, with a low ceiling, and the only light came from a tiny window at street level, at the top of the wall. And it smelt horrendous.

Blaine's eyes flickered open, and he tried to sit up, but in doing so only rattled the handcuffs chaining him to the radiator. The sound this caused woke up the guard by the door, who up until now, had been snoring softly. He yawned widely and then shot Blaine a sneer.

'Good morning sunshine.' He laughed to himself.

'Where...' Blaine sat up fully, shifting back so his stiff knees were bent in front of him. 'Where the fuck am I?'

'Language, pretty boy. You're in jail, on a hundred counts of being a disgrace to Governor Anderson.'

'What?'

'Your daddy doesn't want you anymore. He's payin' his best men-' the guard proudly jerked a thumb towards himself '-to get rid of you for him.' Blaine's stomach churned. He'd never have thought his dad was capable of this. He always knew he was disliked by him... but to such an extent that he was paying to have him killed? That was sick.

'Where is he? My father.'

'In the office. Getting ready for that fag's execution this afternoon.'

'Execution?'

'Some kid. K-something, caught eyeing up other boys. Disgusting.' K-something? Oh God, oh God. What if they'd caught – what K-something was Kurt? Blaine didn't know any other homosexual guys, not like it was something everyone went around proclaiming, but still. An actual execution. Suddenly dying himself didn't seem as big a deal.

'I want to go. Where is the execution taking place?'

'In the square, later. Not that you'll be going at all, brat. The next time you're leaving this room, you'll be dead and in that sack.' He pointed to a thick burlap sack in the corner. Blaine shivered, looking at his coffin. 'You see, what we're gonna do – we're just waitin' for our guy to get here, the one who's hands are gonna have your blood on 'em, and he's gonna off you. We'd have done it already, 'cept your father wants it clean. So he's gonna come, he's gonna kill you, then we're gonna take that sack down to the river on the edge of town. That's gonna be your final resting place, kid. We're gonna make like we're all looking for your body, when word gets out you're missing, but of course no-one's gonna find nothing, so we're gonna have to give up. Then your kid brother is gonna take over Lima when the time comes, and your dad don't have to worry about you corrupting his legacy.' Blaine felt dizzy.

'You're all... monsters...' He closed his eyes, his head rolling slightly. The guard laughed.

'Say what you want, kid, it don't change nothing. You and that fag are both gonna die today.' Blaine's head snapped up.

'Let me go!' He tried to yank his hand free, straining against the metal, grunting with the exertion and the handcuff digging into his wrists. The guard laughed again, infuriatingly, and settled back down for another nap.

Xxx

I don't know how on earth I managed to concentrate enough to write this! I'm seeing Harry Potter in three and a half hours (deep envy for anyone who's already been!) I can't wait to get my Alan Rickman on.

Reviews are the epic line to my Molly Weasley!

Hugs and butterfly kisses