Thanks again for all the interest I've received in this story, as well as all the well wishes I got this week as I've been fighting a cold. I'm glad I could still get motivated enough to put this chapter out on schedule. Hope everyone is in the mood for answers, because we've got a fair few here.

Chapter 10

October 2010

Artie stayed at the graves after everyone else had left, despite repeated insistence from the others that he needed someone there to help him across the not-yet frozen ground. But Artie wasn't dealing with Kurt's death very well and he needed a few minutes to himself.

He suspected things wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that he'd actually SEEN the site of the accident. It wasn't something he could forget, no matter how hard he tried. So while everyone else had fond memories of Kurt to fall back on, all Artie could see when he closed his eyes was the image of Kurt's crushed vehicle. Every stray sound he heard during the day sounded like shattering glass. And all he could smell at night was burnt rubber, oil, and blood. He couldn't sleep anymore, and the stress was making him unpleasant to be around.

A shadow fell on him, and Artie had to force himself to not snap at whomever it was. Opening his eyes, he was very glad for that impulse. Because it wasn't someone that he knew, and he wasn't so grief stricken that he wanted to embarrass himself in front of a stranger. "Hi," Artie said simply. "Are you a relative of Kurt's?"

"No, I-" the woman paused to compose herself. Though not a relative, she was certainly taking this just as hard as Artie was. "My name is Dr. April Curtis; I worked for Mr Knight, and knew Kurt's father."

Artie nodded, having almost forgotten that yes, Kurt's dad was being buried today, too. The remembrance sparked another thought. "Curtis?"

April shook her head. "I like to compliment myself to think they named him after me, but I'm sure they didn't."

"It sucks having to be brave for the people that are really suffering, doesn't it?" Artie asked, grimly. He suspected that she knew how he felt. At least he hoped she did; if she didn't, he was really going to sound like a complete ass.

She did though, giving him a sad yet genuine smile. "Well, if you need someone to unload on, I could really use the same."

"I saw the accident," Artie informed her. "Or at least the aftermath. I can't stop thinking about all that twisted metal and broken glass."

April was seriously distressed by that. "I am so sorry. That must be awful."

"I just can't believe he's gone." It sounded trite, but it was how Artie really felt.

"I know what you mean," April told him. "I've known Michael Knight for over twenty-five years. It just doesn't seem like enough. And poor Kurt didn't even have that."

"I wish-" Artie knew that wishing wasn't going to change everything, but he couldn't help remembering that there had almost been hope that night. "It sounded like there was something they could do. Some way to help Kurt. Mr Knight-" But Artie didn't know what it was, and recalling that night made him start to tear up. He stopped, not wanting to humiliate himself further in front of a woman who was still a virtual stranger.

"I know," April replied, her voice thick with guilt. "I was in charge of that. I'd hoped we could transfer Kurt's mind to our computer system long enough to fix his body, but-"

"You didn't?" Artie assumed.

"We did, but his body was just so badly damaged," April said. "We didn't know what to do. I called in an old colleague, but-" She shook her head.

"And now it's too late," Artie declared sorrowfully.

April gave him a long, measuring look. Long enough that curiosity pulled Artie out of his funk. It was odd; like she was deciding whether to trust him with something. Something important. "There might still be something we can do."

"Really?" Artie asked suspiciously. Wasn't it all over, now? Kurt was dead, and Artie didn't think there was anything to be done.

"Have you been paralysed all your life?" April asked.

It was an incredibly forward question, but Artie was too confused by the lack of relevance to be insulted. "No. I lost the use of my legs after an accident about ten years ago."

"There's all sorts of mechanical developments that might be helpful to you," April told him. "More developments that someone with your kind of motivation might be best suited to uncover. And who knows where that could take us?" April stood up, and gave him a business card. "Why don't you give me a call on Monday, and I'll talk to some people I know at U.C.L.A. I think we might be able to help each other."

April Curtis pushed Artie's wheelchair out of the cemetery.

Artie nodded, remembering that day all too well. The good and the bad. "Yeah, I don't think I'd be where I am if I hadn't called you."

"So we have her to thank for our 'Weekend at Artie's' adventure?" Santana sneered. Blaine had called her and Dr. Barstow as soon as he'd found out about this little lab incursion. Neither of them had been very happy with the news, and when they learned that April was responsible for Karr's return, Dr Barstow (who'd known April as long as she'd known Mr. Knight) was practically furious.

"April, I remember all of that," Dr. Barstow told her. "What I don't understand is what you did that makes it your fault that Karr is back."

"Artie gave me the idea for what eventually became the K.U.R.T. program," April explained. "I knew the first step was to build a system that could not only house Kurt's personality, but allow him to function normally. So I... I pulled the K.I.T.T. and K.A.R.R. programs out of our storage facility in California."

"April!" Barstow gasped. "When we recovered Karr's computer system, we decided to make sure no one could ever find it again. That's how Karr came back in the first place."

"I know," April sighed. "But I promised Michael I'd save Kurt, and I needed both systems in front of me if I was going to reverse engineer them. Unfortunately, neither of them got here."

"We didn't know who'd taken it at the time," Dr. Hummel mentioned at this point. "But once we heard about that boy's murder, we checked out where he was at the time. I'm fairly certain Mr. Smythe stole both computer systems when they came through Ohio."

"So it's not just Karr that went missing," Barstow worried. "It's Kitt, too."

"I'm afraid there's very little chance the K.I.T.T. program is still operational," Hummel told them. "From what Dr Curtis tells me, that would have been the first thing K.A.R.R. would have destroyed.

Dr Barstow slumped, distressed. Kurt took up the discussion with a pointed glare at his grandfather. "So how do you fit in to all of this?" Kurt asked.

Dr Hummel looked at Kurt, annoyed at the question. But he did answer it, though he turned to Dr Barstow to do it. "Dr Curtis called ME to try and help my late grandson. We couldn't do anything then, but I stayed a few days and I was the one who she called when her shipment turned up missing."

"And you decided not to say anything," Blaine guessed, irritated.

"I didn't want to get Dr Curtis in trouble," Hummel replied. "Her heart was in the right place."

"Your loyalty is commendable," Kurt replied acidly. "Nevertheless, the fact remains that your silence may have cost Blaine one of his oldest friends."

Kurt's grandfather was really angry at that. "Is there any way to shut that THING off?"

Blaine moved in front of Kurt, furious on Kurt's behalf. Artie joined him. "That 'thing' raises an excellent point," Artie replied icily.

Dr Hummel rolled his eyes before turning his attention to Blaine (apparently Artie wasn't a person now, either). "Mr Anderson, with all due respect, I'd say Mr Smythe bears the responsibility for that."

Dr Barstow shook her head. "That's hardly the point," she said. "April, I'm more than agreeable to you and Dr Hummel joining this investigation."

"Dr Hummel is a geneticist," Kurt interrupted. "I'm not sure what use he can be."

"He can be of use, provided that from this moment on, we know everything they do," Barstow informed him. "I'm not about to let any resource go by at this point." Kurt nodded in relieved agreement. He may not have been happy about his current legal limbo, but he was starting to understand that Dr Barstow was at the very least sensible.

"I can have a full report on your desk by morning," April assured her.

"See that you do," Barstow replied coolly. "And make sure Blaine and Artie have one, too. We're in a crisis situation here, and like the saying goes we can hang together, or else hang separately."

Blaine took Kurt back to his place after the meeting with April and Dr Hummel. The ride home had been a quiet one, with Kurt deep in thought. When they walked through the front door though, Blaine had to ask, "Kurt, what do you know about your grandfather? Can we trust him?"

"My grandmother didn't think so," Kurt admitted. "When I found out where babies come from I made the mistake of asking why my dad didn't have a dad. She went ballistic. Told me dad's father was a communist, and his grandfather was a Nazi."

"Ouch," Blaine winced. "Not exactly a stellar reference. Was it true?"

"There was a Heinrich Hummel executed after Nuremberg," Kurt told him. "So I guess it's possible. And yes, while East Germany was still in existence, Wilhelm Hummel worked for them."

"I had no idea you came from such notorious stock," Blaine teased. If that was all of it, Blaine wasn't too worried anymore.

"My dad and I were the first members of our family who DIDN'T go to college," Kurt smiled.

"You still could," Blaine reminded him. Although the thought of not working with Kurt anymore hurt him, Blaine didn't want to make Kurt feel like he was trapped there.

"Depending on what the KI board decides," Kurt responded. "I could be in indentured servitude here for quite a while."

Kurt seemed calm and resigned to that, but Blaine decided it was probably best to change the subject. "Well, let's just focus on Karr for right now," he suggested.

"That's a problem for tomorrow," Kurt countered with a saucy smile. "And I have a much better idea of what we can focus on." And then he moved smoothly across the room and kissed Blaine hard on the lips.

Blaine responded fully. It took several intense minutes before Blaine finally came up for air. "I take it you want to call in my promise that we be together."

"I may not have ownership of the body I'm in," Kurt admitted as he peppered Blaine's neck with kisses. "But I'm at least operating it. The only other thing we have to deal with is Karr, and I don't think there's any reason why that should stop us from expressing how we feel about each other."

Blaine captured Kurt's lips in another passionate kiss. "Absolutely none. So the question is, what exactly is it that we can do to express how we feel?" he asked as he looked with interest over Kurt's shoulder at Kurt's backside. "I mean, I assume Artie worked out the front..."

"I personally oversaw development and installation of that," Kurt stated, a mix of pride and embarrassment on his face. "I hope you appreciate it. Artie gave me no small amount of ribbing for that."

"So it's not going to snap me off at the root if I-"

"No!" Kurt had to stop making out with Blaine because he was laughing too hard. "I've got a couple of muscles that are stronger than standard, but that's not one of them."

"Fantastic," Blaine grinned. "Shall we take this to the bedroom then? Or did you have some fantasy about me shoving you up against a wall?"

Kurt ended his laughing spree with a little giggle. "To be perfectly honest, every time I've fantasized about you – about us – I've always gotten distracted by the idea of having a body."

"That is perfectly logical," Blaine insisted.

"Have you- Have you ever had fantasies about us?" Kurt asked, a little shyly.

"Oh god, you have NO idea," Blaine laughed. "Actually you do; don't you remember waking me up from that sex dream?"

"That was a dream, I wouldn't hold that against you," Kurt stated.

"Well, you should." Blaine led Kurt into the bedroom and started unbuttoning Kurt's shirt. "God, you're so beautiful."

Kurt lowered his eyes, a little embarrassed. "I don't know how to respond to that."

Blaine chuckled, realizing that it was a much more complicated issue than if Blaine were to be complimenting someone else's body. "You could say you'll thank Artie in the morning, but I think we've spent too much time chatting already."

"Definitely." Kurt unbuttoned Blaine's shirt at a speed that Blaine was sure was the avatar's, and pulled all Blaine's layers off in one shove. "I don't really know what I'm doing here, so I'll just do a little exploring, if you don't mind."

"Exploring," Blaine repeated, pleased. "I like the sound of that."

Artie was taking a last look at the computers in the lab before he headed home. He was pretty sure that there had been no sabotage that evening, but with the 'charming' company April was keeping it was best not to assume anything.

The nerve of Kurt's grandfather, treating Artie the way...

...The way Artie had treated Kurt at one point. Okay, so maybe he deserved that. He'd been kind of a jerk the last week (or so), and maybe this was karma finally catching up to him.

He just hoped that this was the end of it.

It seemed to be, as a thorough examination of the system revealed no unwanted access or surprises. So far all this turned to be was an unexpected bit of luck. And as such, he didn't really need to be here anymore. Artie turned around (on his feet, something he was still finding a thrill), and headed for the door. Maybe he could still call that sweet thing from the hotel bar. Assuming he could still afford her after the cost of his 'funeral'.

Before he could open the door out of the lab though, it slammed open on its own. A man with dark hair and dark eyes stumbled into the lab. Despite how freaky the man looked, he seemed like he was suffering from narcolepsy or something, the way his eyes kept fluttering shut.

The guy behind the man had a gun though, so Artie knew better than to not take this seriously. "Who the hell are you?" Artie snapped, trying to bury his anxiety. There was no way he was getting taken down now that he could finally walk. No way in hell.

The dark eyed man stumbled over to Artie and grabbed Artie by the shirt. He didn't answer Artie's question, but what he said left no doubt as to the man's identity.

"FIX... me...," Karr wheezed.

Yep, karma was not done with him yet.

(to be continued)

And we have a cliffhanger again. Sorry. I also hope no one minds that Kurt and Blaine's first time was so 'fade to black'. I'm not really in a smut writing mood this week.