It's update time again! Woohoo! Bit harder to write now that the festive period is behind us and it's back to a normal working pattern! Booooo! As always, I'm still writing whenever something pops into my head but this chapter was quite hard to write. I don't like dragging things out with massively long chapters that don't move things along so hopefully there's enough intrigue in this chapter for you all!

Again, thank you for all your kind reviews and messages. I'm very grateful to all those who read my fics! So, off we go...

Jack felt his head pounding as he heard a slapping sound. Squeezing his eyes he tried to remember how much he'd drunk last night before realising the answer was nothing. His head snapped up as the events of the previous night flooded his mind and he tried to force his eyes open. He finally managed to open one eye, the eye seemingly stuck for some reason. Looking around, Jack recognised the warehouse type interior but still wondered where the fuck he actually was. He turned his head as he heard a squeal.

"Kurt? Kurt! No, please stop! He's nothing to do with this!" Jack pleaded when he saw one of their captors strike Kurt's bruised face. "Please, he knows nothing I swear."

"Oh hey, look who's awake!" One of the black clad men stalked over to Jack, gripping his hair tightly and forcing his head back. "We've been waiting for you to wake up and join the party. Your little feeb buddy here is better trained than he looks, refusing to give up any information. We had to break a few fingers though so at least we had fun."

"Just stop it, I never told him anything. He doesn't...doesn't even know my real name." Jack groaned looking over at Kurt's tear stained face and noticed the cut above his eyebrow and blood smeared jaw. "Sebastian please, just let him go. You don't need him."

Kurt cried out again as the other man punched him hard in his temple causing him to pass out. Sebastian sniggered and turned back to look at Jack.

"So Anderson, boss wasn't happy when he found out you'd done a deal with the feds to rat him out. After all the money he helped you make, this is how you repay his kindness?"

"I swear, I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I had to report the tax evasion as soon as I discovered it. I was risking my licence if I didn't." Jack pleaded.

"Tax evasion? You think boss is worried about a few grand in taxes? Dude - you're so fucking oblivious it's hilarious. The drugs, Anderson." Sebastian sneered. "Taxes, ha, you're even more gullible than we all thought. Hey Dave - he thinks we want to kill him because boss didn't file his taxes right!" Dave threw his head back and laughed loudly.

"Oh that's awesome man! Imagine we killed him and he didn't even know why! Dude - you fucked up boss' entire west coast smuggling circuit. You cost him millions and now the Mexican cartels won't even deal with him. You took out the biggest crime Lord in the entire western US and you think this is about some shitty tax return?" Dave laughed again before punching Jack in the jaw. "You've got some fucking nerve Anderson, do you try extra hard to be this stupid or does it come naturally to you?"

Jack flinched as Dave raised his hand again but then laughed cruelly instead of punching him. What the fuck was going on? The agents in Seattle had said this was all tax related. Drugs? What the hell were these goons talking about? Jack looked back and decided to try and reason with his captors.

"Look guys, I don't know anything about the drugs - I don't even know what most of them are even called! All the FBI told me was that they needed me to testify about the taxes. They only moved me here because I got shot at! Just...let us go and I swear I won't testify. You'll never see or hear from me again. I promise."

"You promise? Hey Seb, he promises he won't be a rat!"

"Oh well as long as he promises! Shut the fuck up Anderson." Sebastian slapped Jack hard across the face as he pulled out his phone. "Hey boss, yeah we got him - and his little fuck buddy too...Pfft he was no hassle - too scared to do anything other than piss himself when we pulled the gun on him! Anderson isn't saying anything - denies knowing anything...oh really? So he's not lying?...Nah he says he won't if we let him go but can we trust him?...Boss, I mean no disrespect but...for reals?...dude, I mean Boss...yes sir...no sir...yes sir...straight away...do you want us to stick around?...Wingate? Really? Wow!...no I get it...of course Mr Whitmore, right away." Sebastian put his phone back in his pocket and gestured to Dave to come over to him.

Sebastian stood with his back to Jack and Kurt and updated his colleague as Dave watched the pair.

"You're kidding! How did boss manage that?" Jack tried to listen in but the whispers were quieter than the ringing in his ears. "So where are we to drop them off?"

"Same place we got them from. Boss isn't exactly worried about the feds. C'mon, let's leave them to worry a bit longer. I'm starving and there's a burger joint on the next block."

Sebastian and Dave walked away pulling a metal shutter down behind them as Jack tugged at the ropes binding his hands. After a few futile movements, he resigned himself to the fact he wasn't going anywhere. He looked over to the brunette man beside him and his heart clenched. He was so stupid to have gotten involved with anyone, never mind someone like Kurt - he had a kid! What if Whitmore's thugs had hurt Stephen?! Jack's breath caught in his throat as Kurt's head started to move.

"Owww..what...what happened?" Kurt slowly lifted his head and blinked, trying to focus on something - anything in the dimly lit space. "Jack? Are you ok?"

"Me? Kurt, are you okay?! When he hit you that last time I thought he'd killed you!" Jack swallowed as he felt tears building in his eyes.

"No, I'm not dead. Or at least I don't think I am. I'm going to have a hard time explaining what I presume are bruises on my face. Oh my god Jack!" Kurt had finally managed to focus his eyes and saw his boyfriends face for the first time in a few hours.

One of Jack's eyes was swollen shut, the bruising darkening the skin. Bruising on his jaw and cheeks confirmed more punches and the smears of blood on his temple and mouth indicated more trauma.

"Why are they doing this to us?" Kurt sobbed, trying to sniff then realising the pain in his face was because his nose was broken.

"Baby, I'm so sorry. I never wanted you to be exposed to this." Jack turned towards the metal shutter as he heard the sound of keys on the other side. "Listen, I think they're about to take us somewhere, Seb had a call and it sounded like they're going to let us go. Please, please trust me and stay strong. I'll explain everything once they let us go." Jack pleaded with Kurt, his brown eyes begging for agreement.

"Okay, but please if anything happens you need to tell my dad and Stephen I love them."

"Oh Kurt..." Jack's heart broke at Kurt's words. He could only nod as the sound of boots got closer.

"Look, Princess is awake again! Time for some more fun then?" Dave grinned wickedly as Sebastian just smirked behind him.

"Let's just get rid of them already. I hate this place, their coffee sucks. I wanna go home already." Sebastian crumpled his soda cup and tosses it aside as he moved closer to Jack. "So Anderson, boss must be in a good mood today. Our instructions are to let you go and give you time to think about your options." Sebastian smirked and nodded his head towards Kurt. "Looks like you've found yourself a piece of ass you're not willing to risk."

"He's not a piece of ass" Jack growled between clenched teeth.

"And that's the point. We could come after you again but then it gets a bit messy since you've got those pesky marshals supposedly keeping tabs on you. Although they're not doing a very good job of that right now." Sebastian laughed as Dave grinned behind him. "So the way we see it, is that if you don't play nice, then lil fuck buddy here might end up with more than just a few broken fingers. Such pretty face, I'd hate for something more permanent than a broken nose to happen to it." Sebastian turned to face Jack and glared at him menacingly. "Do we have an understanding?"

Jack nodded quickly, eager to agree to anything if it meant holding Kurt in his arms and keeping him safe.

Sebastian pulled out his gun and gestured to Dave to untie both of their captives and sneered when they both reached for each other immediately, Jack shielding Kurt in his arms. The thugs pushed Jack and Kurt towards their SUV and forced them into the back seat before climbing into the front and setting off back to the border.

Jack and Kurt stayed silent as Sebastian and Dave chatted and joked with each other as if they hadn't just spent 4 hours brutalising 2 people in a seedy looking warehouse. Jack held Kurt in his arms whispering softly into his ear trying to convince both them that they'd be okay. It was just over 2 hours later that the car pulled into a parking lot and they were pulled from the relative safety of the back seat.

Kurt was roughly pulled from Jack's arms and held by Dave as Sebastian pointed his gun at Jack again. Kurt struggled against Dave's grip, the thick fingers squeezing his biceps painfully as his arms were held behind him to prevent him from going to help his boyfriend.

"You said you'd let us go. I swear I won't testify, I won't say a word about anything. Just please, let us go." Jack pleaded, his hands held up in front of him as Sebastian moved a little closer to him.

"Can't have you forgetting about our little conversation tonight though, can we?" A shot rang out as Jack fell to the ground, a sharp pain piercing his thigh.

"Jack! No!" Kurt tried to push Dave away from him but was only released once Sebastian nodded. He ran straight over to Jack, cradling his head in his lap as Sebastian tossed their phones at them. Kurt noticed his iPhone and scrambled over to it, turning it on and calling 911.

The rest of the night was a blur of doctors and nurses and police officers and questions. Kurt was terrified and didn't know how to even verbalise anything that had happened. All he knew was he couldn't say anything. He couldn't risk Jack. He couldn't risk his dad or Stephen.

Now that we're here, now that we've come this far...

Kurt looked down as Jack's phone rang in his hand. He didn't know whether he should answer it but the doctors said Jack still had at least another 2 hours of surgery left.

"H-hello?"

"Jack? It's Frank."

"J-Jack can't come to the ph-phone right now. He...he's in surgery." Kurt's voice broke at the last word.

"Surgery? Who is this?" Frank demanded, wondering what the fuck had happened to his asset and who was this guy?

"My name is Kurt Hummel, I'm Jack's boyfriend. We...we had an accident I guess and he's hurt." Kurt tried to speak but the pain in his heart was just too much. He heard a voice asking him where he was and once he'd told them the line went dead.

Kurt watched from his hospital bed in the ER as people bustled back and forth. He heard a familiar voice calling his name.

"Dad!" Within seconds he was being engulfed in his fathers arms and sobbing heavily. "Daddy, I was so scared."

"Shhh, kiddo I got you. I'm here. You're gonna be just fine." Burt saw the dried blood on his sons forehead and looked at the ceiling trying to stop the tears from falling. His boy didn't need to him crying right now. Slowly, he pulled back and took in the full extent of Kurt's injuries. A cut above his eyebrow had dried leaving a thick dark red line in his forehead, bruises covered his cheeks and jaw and his nose was obviously broken, one of his hands was encased in a plastic splint with swollen fingers poking out the top. "Kurt, what the hell happened?"

Kurt opened his mouth and tried to answer but he just couldn't find the words. He hadn't given his statement to the police yet but didn't want his dad to know about the hired goons that had abducted him earlier that evening. Fortunately, Frank appeared by the curtain.

"Mr Hummel, and Mr Hummel senior I presume?" Frank shook Burt's hand and gently squeezed Kurt's uninjured one which was still clutching Jack's phone. "I'm a friend of Jack's, I'm very sorry we're all meeting under these circumstances. I've spoken to the officers who responded to your 911 call and they're looking into this assault. But don't worry," Frank looked directly into Kurt's eyes, "whatever happens, you're both safe." Kurt tried to nod a little even though he didn't believe a word of it. "The officers have agreed to wait to take your statement until you're able to recover a little and collect your thoughts. You've been through quite a trauma tonight."

"Shouldn't they take his statement now? Surely it's better if they get all the information now so they can apprehend the culprits as soon as possible?" Burt queried, trying to hide his anger to avoid upsetting Kurt more.

"Usually yes Mr Hummel, but they can't question Jack until he's out of surgery and awake and Kurt here looks exhausted so it's probably more urgent that he rests and can take us through what happened once his mind is a little clearer."

"Yeah, that does sound reasonable." Burt conceded.

"Mr Hummel?" A blonde nurse approached Kurt looking at the older men hovering around him. "Is everything okay here?"

"Yeah, this is my dad and that's a friend of Jack's. Is there any news yet?"

"Not yet sweetie. They should be finished soon so I'll call up once I'm finished with you. Pretty sure Jack would want you fixed up too!" She smiled kindly as Kurt nodded a little and allowed himself to be manoeuvred on the bed to have his injuries cleaned. "Your fingers are definitely broken but we'll still need to xray them anyway. We need to check if we can manipulate the bones back into place here or whether you'll need surgery to align them properly. Your nose is definitely broken and you're going to need some stitches on your forehead. I'll get you in line for xray first and then I'll come back and clean you up and get those stitches done. I want a scan of your head too just to make sure there's nothing bad going on inside your skull, the bruising on your temple is hopefully nothing too serious but we want to make sure." She rested her hand on Kurt's shoulder and squeezed softly. "You're going to need to stay with us at least for tonight, procedure for head injuries and then we'll take it from there depending on how your fingers are looking. If you need anything just holler okay? My name is Lucy." She smiled kindly then bustled away to set up Kurt's scans and X-rays.

Burt watched his son with worried eyes as the nurse explained everything. When she came back in with a suture tray, Burt made his excuses and went to find a coffee machine. He'd just taken his first sip of the lukewarm liquid when the guy from Kurts cubicle came over.

"Frank, right?" Burt asked, offering his hand.

"That's right. Burt? That's one amazing kid you've got there." Frank shook Burt's hand and leant against the coffee machine. "I'm so sorry this happened."

"Me too. I just wish we knew what happened. If I could get my hands on those SOBs I'd..." Burt's voice trailed off.

"You'd probably end up in here with the boys." Frank finished. "They had a gun Burt, no way anyone was coming away from that without injury."

"Good point. Kurt would never forgive me if I got shot." Burt smiled wryly, "He's a protective kid."

"He saved Jack's life tonight Burt. That protective kid is a hero in my book. If he hadn't called the ambulance when he did, Jack could have bled out." Both men swallowed hard trying not to think about that.

"At least they're both safe now. That's the main thing." Burt nodded and looked up as the nurse Lucy waved at them to come back.

Safe, thought Frank, I truly hope so.