Cooper, the Vampire Slayer
All That Glitters, Part II
The moon threw Sunnydale's streets into a pale light. It was a familiar sight from Cooper's bedroom window, and one that he was well used to. He was just standing there, looking out onto the town he had sworn to protect.
Why Sunnydale? He hadn't grown up here, he had no attachment to his place. And yet, Sunnydale had become his fate. Because he was the slayer, because of destiny, because of the hell mouth... he could never leave this place.
Was it worth it?
All those years ago, when he had started his work as the slayer, he had known that this would be his fate – that this would be his grave. It was really a miracle that he had survived this long. There weren't many fates more lethal than that of the slayer. And he had done lots of good, saved more lives than he could count, defeated monsters and villains, and had prevented an all-out-end-of-the-world apocalypse twice so far. He had saved the world, had done so much good...
And where had it gotten him?
He was still chained to this town, trying to squeeze in as many good deeds as he could before being the slayer would inevitably get him killed. He had lost the first woman he really loved, because she had had the option of a better life and he hadn't been brave enough to follow her. And his brother, the only person in his family he really cared about, felt the need to stay here by his side, probably until one of them died.
It wasn't fair. Why did it have to be him? He had never asked for this, had never wanted these powers. How had he been chosen anyway? All he wanted was to be free, but apparently, that was too much to ask. Hell, it was too much to ask for as much as some time to follow his actual job, at least according to Sue.
It was infuriating. Cooper had always tried to do what's right, to follow the greater good. And where had it gotten him? Stuck in this literal hell-hole, dragging down with him anybody who trusted him and wasn't smart enough to get away fast enough. He was sick of it. He hated Sunnydale, and the monsters, and demons, and vampires... Well, Kurt was alright, most of the time, and useful in looking out for Blaine... but then again, if it wasn't for the whole slayer thing, Blaine wouldn't even need people looking out for him.
If Cooper could just leave this damn place...
But that was impossible. He was the slayer, he couldn't just leave his responsibility. There would always be monsters and demons. Although, of course, sooner or later those were going to kill him and then he couldn't help anybody either. So if he left, then technically, he would just speed along the plan of the universe...or something along those lines.
Sue would never let him get out of here. Of course she wouldn't, she wouldn't even let him have a life. Probably because she didn't have one. She had nobody anyway. Cooper had never seen her with friends or family, she didn't even get along with the Watchers' council. Then again, nobody could honestly get along with those bastards, not the ones Cooper had met as least.
Sue lived for destroying demons, or maybe just for the destroying part. Was that the woman Cooper wanted to run his life?
He thought of Quinn, her sharp wit and quick humor, how she could be soft and gentle, but hard as diamond in the next second. She had been a powerful witch, a great friend, an amazing girlfriend. And now? A wonderful mother, he was sure of it.
And he had let her go.
How stupid had he been, to let go the perfect woman because he couldn't stand up to Sue Sylvester?
He had sacrificed enough for that woman and her ridiculous council. He was done giving up his own dreams and hopes for the future, just because they needed soldiers to die in their war. He was through with them!
...He was through with them.
The thought scared Cooper to the bone, but the anger he had felt rushed through his head at this, burning through him with the certainty that this was the right decision.
He was done with the watchers, he was done with Sue, and he was going to tell her, right now. He'd tell his watcher to get lost, and then he'd be out of here in a heartbeat. Let them find another slayer, let Santana or whoever wanted to take over.
Cooper was done.
The dorm Tina lived in was one of the older ones on the Sunnydale campus. Most students preferred the more modern dorms, but Tina loved the old building's atmosphere, as well as the luxury of having less company and no room mate. It was also conveniently close to the cemetery, and so it didn't take long for them to reach it. Of course, that brought them to another problem...
"So, just to make sure I got this right – when you said we pay Tina a little visit, you meant to say I do that?"
Kurt shrugged, and didn't even look the least bit uncomfortable. "I can't enter the college dorms, Blaine. What do you expect me to do?"
"I thought you don't need an invitation for public buildings," Blaine said. "Or don't the dorms count for that?"
"They do, technically," Kurt admitted, "but Cooper had Quinn put a spell around them to keep out vampires. It's the same spell that's over your house, actually. So... your on your own here."
"Great," Blaine said, looking at the building as if it was a haunted castle. "I have a bad feeling about this. What if I need your help?"
Kurt rolled his eyes. "I'll be underneath her window. Just jump out, I'll catch you."
"This isn't funny," Blaine said. "You haven't met Tina when she's angry, have you? She can be scary."
"Scarier than a pissed off vampire?" Kurt asked, arching one of his eyebrows.
Blaine sighed. "Touché," he said. "Alright, I'll see you soon. Try not to be seen, please. You may think Angry Tina isn't scary, but I have a feeling even you don't want to run into Angry Sue."
That at least was enough to pierce through Kurt's cool attitude. Happy enough with this small victory, Blaine turned around and entered the building.
When he had gone to college in New York, he had lived in the dorms himself. There had been much better security (as in, there actually was any security), but this was Sunnydale after all. He couldn't expect too much. And at least it had some supernatural security...
As he made his way through the building, he realized how quiet it was, even for this dorm. But the closer he came to Tina's room, the more Blaine noticed something was... maybe not wrong, but definitely unusual. He could hear weak noises, like the bubbling of boiling water, the hissing of steam, and a low, deep voice. There was a smell, too, that made Blaine shudder. Why did witchcraft come with so many horrible smells?
It was strange, though, for Tina to just brew something in her dorm... she was usually more careful to hide her talent. But then again, nobody was acting rationally lately.
Gathering his courage, Blaine knocked at Tina's door. He waited for a moment, but there was no reaction, just the same noise and chanting there had been before. With a sigh, he knocked again, but there was still no reaction.
Only one thing to do. He opened the door to enter the room.
He wished he hadn't, if only for the smell that hit him. He also had to blink against the vapors filling the room, before he could get a closer look.
Somehow, Tina had managed to put a cauldron on her hot plate. Whatever she was brewing, it produced a thick, purple haze that made everything look unreal. On instinct, Blaine looked up to the ceiling where the fire alarm should have been, but apparently Tina had taken it off.
Speaking of Tina, she was kneeling in front of the cauldron, several thick tomes around her, and smelled whatever she was brewing. Then she scribbled something in a notebook, took something out of a box that Blaine hoped didn't actually still move, and threw it into the cauldron.
"Tina?" he asked. "What are you doing?"
She looked up, her eyes almost as wild as Kurt's had been before, and Blaine could see something thin and white in them, still a stark contrast to her dark eyes.
"What I'm doing?" Tina asked. "What the hell are you doing? I don't remember inviting you in here, Blaine!"
"That's vampires," he said, "I can just come in. And I did knock."
"Right, vampires, and you're the expert on them," Tina huffed. "Does your brother know just how much you care about vampires?"
Blaine carefully stepped closer, trying to peer into the cauldron. He wasn't completely sure, but now that he slowly got over how awful that smell was, it started to seem a bit familiar. He shuddered, looking up at his friend.
"Listen, Tina, we don't have time for this," he said, trying to reason with her. "I know what's going on here..."
"Well, isn't it obvious?" Tina asked. "Everybody's fighting. Do you know how exhausting that is? But I'm just Tina, I'm just the witch who does the research everybody wants, and casts the spells to save everybody in the nick of time, and brews potions, and finds the weak spots and is basically the single reason you morons are still alive. Not that anybody would appreciate it."
"Of course we appreciate it," Blaine said. This was worse than he had imagined.
"Really? I don't think you do!" Tina yelled back. "Because you keep busy with your own struggles, you never focus on what's really important. To your brother, I'm just the less talented, less pretty, less wonderful sequel to Quinn! And you? You go and moon over a vampire, when there's a perfectly lovely girl just waiting for an opportunity to share her love with you!"
Now Blaine really wished he was anywhere but here. "Tina... you don't know what you're talking about," he said. "You're not yourself right now. It's Amalthea, I don't know how, but she's..."
"Oh, sure, you can love a freaking unicorn, and a vampire, but what, a witch is too normal for you?"
"Um... I'm gay, Tina," Blaine said.
"And I'm pissed! But guess what, Blaine? I don't need any of you. I don't need Sue to tell me what monsters to fight, I don't need Quinn to be the perfect idol that I could never reach anyway, I don't need Santana to make fun of me, I don't need your brother to be a complete fool while everybody thinks he's a hero. And I don't need you and your goddamn vampire boyfriend. I'm better than this, and when I'm done here, everybody will see!" She turned back to her cauldron and threw in more herbs that Blaine didn't recognize.
What he did start to recognize, though, was the smell of the potion.
"Tina... what is this?" he asked, coming closer. Under the purple haze, he could see a liquid that was almost red as blood.
"This is exactly what I need to become the hero I know I can be," Tina said, throwing more herbs in as she walked around the cauldron in a circle.
A cold shudder ran down Blaine's spine, and he too circled the potion, trying to keep the same distance to the witch. "Tina... is this... is this what they did to Santana?"
"Did to her... They didn't do anything to her, she knew exactly what was going to happen," Tina said. "Once this potion is complete, I will have the powers of the slayer, and I can promises you one thing, Blaine – I will not waste them like your brother and Santana. I will be a slayer the world can be proud of. Strong and smart."
"You can't brew that potion," Blaine said. "That recipe was destrpyed, you can't have remembered that. And it's dark magic. You can't be a hero and use dark magic. And you don't have the devices!"
"End justifies the means, Blaine," Tina said. "And I don't need the device. All I need is the potion, and I saw the recipe back then. With the right magic, you can bring back some of the faintest memories. But you have no reason to be afraid. I'm doing something good here. You should be grateful. Not that I'm expecting you to... But actually, now that I think about it, I'm glad you're here."
"Why's that?"
Her face grew hard and cold as she looked at him, and it made Blaine step backwards – closer to the window now.
"I'm missing an important ingredient for this to work," Tina said.
Blaine gulped. "Essence of a slayer," he said. He remembered that night, how scared he had been for Cooper... "But I'm not a slayer..."
"You're the slayer's brother. It's probably close enough," Tina said.
Blaine took another step back, away from the cauldron and away from his witch friend. "This isn't actually you, Tina," he said. "I know you feel angry, and restless, but there's actually something you can do against it. But first, you have to stop brewing this potion, and calm down."
"Why? Are you afraid that I might actually do something good, unlike the rest of you?" Tina asked. "I'm tired of being a second-tier, Blaine. And this will change tonight." She smiled at him, and it might be the scariest thing he'd seen today – including an angry vampire.
Tina's gaze fell, and Blaine's eyes followed. There was a knife near the cauldron. They both looked up again and their eyes met for a second... then Tina dove for the knife, as Blaine lunged forward to the window. He fiddled too long with the handle, but then it flew open. Blaine wasted a second to look back, to find Tina running at him with the knife drawn. He had to get away. But before he could make a definite choice to jump, Tina was too close. The moon's reflection flashed at him from the knife as she lunged it at him, and on instinct, he moved backwards. He lost his balance, and the next thing he knew he was falling, a scream tearing from his throat, mixing with Tina's voice.
Santana had always had a tendency to get anxious when she didn't have a plan on what to do. That slight tendency had gotten much worse since she had received her powers. She had sometimes considered asking Cooper if he was dealing with similar problems. But it had become hard to sit still for too long, especially if she had time to think. There were only a few things that calmed her down. One of them was fighting evil, and the other thing was Brittany.
Usually.
Brittany was a revelation, a miracle she never would have believed in. But she had come here from another world, and stayed for Santana's sake. Nobody had ever done that for her. She hadn't been that important to anyone, not even her own family. Having a faery for a girlfriend had helped her so much to come to terms with her own freakish-ness.
That was why it had become harder and harder to realize that this whole world including Santana might not be much more than an extended vacation for Brittany.
She was so restless that she wanted to pace through her dorm. Instead she sat in her armchair, clutching onto Brittany's stuffed Nemo toy as if she wanted to squeeze juice from it.
Not that it impressed Brittany. The faery was staring at a fly crawling over the wall, clearly ignoring Santana's mood.
"What is it with you and insects anyway?" Santana asked, trying to keep the poison out of her voice. It was at least partially successful.
"They're amazing," Brittany said, hardly paying attention. "So tiny... at home, they are huge and we ride on them. I had a pet dragonfly, it got me everywhere. But then it died, or went into a coma or something. I miss him."
"Then why don't you go find a new dragonfly?" Santana asked, now not quite as successful at keeping the anger out of her voice.
Brittany turned and looked at her with a puzzled look on her face. "Did you notice that Sam was totally right?" she asked.
"I don't want to hear that name!", Santana yelled, throwing the toy across the room. It banged against the window, fortunately not breaking it.
"But he is right," Brittany said, ignoring her anger. "They told me how angry you used to be, and since we got together, I thought you were doing better. But lately, you've become just as angry. I don't understand."
"I deserve to be angry!" Santana said. "I never wanted these powers, I had no idea what I was getting into, and now my whole life is screwed up. You are the one good thing that has happened to me, and how long are you even going to stay here? You keep talking about the faery realm, I know it's just a matter of time until you leave me, just like everybody else!"
Brittany tilted her head, the puzzled look now morphing into confusion. "Your family is in Ohio where you left them," she said. "And you have friends who love you just as you are. And me, I do that too. Everybody is just waiting for you. Why are you pushing us away all the time?"
"I'm pushing you away?" Santana asked. "You keep waxing poetics about how much you miss your home, and how much better everything was, and I'm pretty sure that earlier you suggested a threesome with Sam Evans!"
"You never suggest anything," Brittany said. "At least Sam has fun, you're always angry, it's exhausting. My family at home is angry too. Why do you think I wanted to get away from there? But if all you can give me is more of the same, then maybe I shouldn't stay here." For a moment after she finished that sentence, she looked almost scared at her own words.
But even if she didn't mean it, it was exactly what Santana had been waiting for. What else could it be? When had she ever been good enough?
"Well, then what are you waiting for?" Santana asked, her voice filled with ice cold anger. "Get the hell out of my room!"
"I don't want to leave," Brittany said.
Santana didn't want her to leave either, but right now, she couldn't stand a second more of this.
"Fine then, stay," she found herself saying. "Just be gone when I come back!" She was fleeing from the room before she had even made a conscious decision to do so. She had to get away from it all, from Brittany, from her own fear, and from that anger, running like fire through her veins.
She had to get away.
Kurt had gotten used to waiting during the last decades, but that didn't mean that he liked it. At least this time, there wasn't any actual urgency. Even if Blaine had a bad feeling, this wasn't an emergency. So everybody was a bit irritated and aggressive... but things could be worse. Kurt himself had felt so angry that he had attacked – but even he couldn't bring himself to actually hurt Blaine. He was confident that Tina wouldn't either.
Still, he wandered around the building and waited under what he suspected to be Tina's window. It wasn't hard to find, hers was the only window that seemed to be filled with purple light. If Kurt inhaled, he could actually smell the smoke of whatever she was boiling.
With a sigh, Kurt sat down in the grass of the dorms backyard, preparing himself to wait. Tina probably had some ideas that she and Blaine would go over. Or maybe she would take her research and they'd come out to involve Kurt into the discussion... Either way, he didn't expect anything to happen.
That was, of course, until he heard the sound of a window opening. On instinct, he jumped too his feet and looked up. Of course, it was Tina's window, and then he saw a figure in the window frame.
"Oh no, please don't, I was joking!" But he could already see what was to happen. As Blaine fell from the windowsill, Kurt ran and jumped. Silently, he thanked the demons for vampire reflexes and speed, even as he lost the ground under his feet, and then he snatched the boy right out of his fall.
He landed in a crouch, holding Blaine in his arms. The boy stared at him, breathless and shaking. Before he could even ask what was going on, there was a scream.
"Oh my god, Blaine!"
Kurt whipped his head around. He saw Tina standing at the window, staring down. One hand was clasped over her mouth, the other one was limply holding a knife.
"What the hell?" Kurt asked.
"We should go," Blaine said.
Kurt wasn't sure what was going on, but he decided not to argue. He held Blaine closer and started to run. They were almost to the other end of the campus until he slowed down again. Carefully, he put Blaine to his feet.
The boy was shaking, and even in the moonlight exceptionally pale. Kurt kept a hand on his hip to keep him steady, and maybe just slightly because he wanted to keep contact.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Um.. Tina isn't going to help us, she's kind of trying to become the next slayer," Blaine said. "Well, kind of a slayer... like Santana. She's brewing the potion, and she figured I could stand in for the slayer whose powers she wants to absorb."
Kurt frowned. "I don't mean to offend you... but you don't have any powers, and you're not a slayer, just the brother of one. I don't think it works like that."
"Well, I'm not going back there to find out," Blaine said. "By the way... thank you."
Kurt looked him over more closely, to make sure Blaine was actually alright. He didn't seem to be injured, but of course like most people he was a bit distressed that his friend had attacked him, and he had fallen out of a third floor window.
"Are you okay?" Kurt asked.
Blaine hesitated, but then he shrugged. "I've had weirder things happen. Or maybe I'm still in shock. But... we should focus on figuring this out." There was clearly something he was holding back, but this was not the time for it. They could talk later.
"We still need a witch to deal with this," Kurt said. "If Tina is going so insane about this, then who else can we turn to?"
Blaine frowned. "We definitely need some reinforcements. We should go and see Sue."
Kurt closed his eyes, imagining Sue under an anger curse. "I knew you'd suggest that," he said.
"If you have a better idea...?" Blaine asked.
Kurt shook his head. "Fine, let's find her then."
It was ridiculous how easy it was to break into the college buildings, but Kurt was used to this. The lights around them lit automatically as they walked past. The doors to Sue's office were closed, but there was also light inside, and more importantly, they could hear Sue swearing at someone. Blaine was hesitating in front of the door, but Kurt didn't have that much patience, so he walked past the boy, opened the door and stepped inside.
Sue was at the phone, still yelling. Kurt wasn't quite sure what she was talking about, but he caught enough of the conversation to figure out she was talking to the Watchers' council. Kurt suppressed a shudder. Now that was group of people he never wanted to get close to again...
"You know what?" Sue shouted. "How about you tell that to the little elves living in your hair, William? I have more important things to do!"
Sue threw the phone against her window with so much force that it broke. Kurt wondered just how many of those things Sue destroyed in one week, but the thought was gone the moment she turned and saw them.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Slayer junior and his little pet project. Whatever gives me this honor?"
Kurt rolled his eyes. "We don't have time for your attitude, Sue."
Blaine, of course, was trying to be more diplomatic. Apparently not even getting chased out of the window by a furious witch was enough to drive out his damn politeness.
"Sue, I know you're feeling unnecessarily aggressive and anxious, but there actually is a reason for this. It's not just you, it's almost everyone."
"I don't get unnecessarily aggressive, and I don't get anxious on principle," Sue replied.
"It's the damn unicorn," Kurt said. With Sue, it was easy to get lost in her insults and the ridiculous points she threw up, but he got the best results by cutting to the chase instead of playing her game. "She's infecting everybody with their hair, driving us insane and aggressive... except for Blaine, for some reason. Maybe so the damn thing has someone to look after her, I don't know."
"The point is, we need to stop her before it's too late," Blaine said. "But we can't figure out what she's planning, or what we're supposed to do..."
"Well, as far as I'm concerned, unicorns don't exist, and I have better things to do than hunt down mythical creatures. For example, hunting down that idiot brother of yours before he ruins more than just his own life."
"Great, denial is going to help," Kurt said, but Blaine wasn't paying attention. He had clearly latched onto something else Sue had said.
"What do you mean about Cooper? What is he doing? Is he alright?"
"He has come to the oh-so-original conclusion that life is unfair, or hard, or whatever you angsty teens call it these days, and now he wants to change it."
"He should call up Tina for this," Kurt said, still trying to get the conversation back on track. "Apparently, she'd love to relieve him off his powers."
"What is he doing?" Blaine repeated.
"What do all young idiot wanna-be heroes do?" Sue asked. "He's trying to get the girl."
"Quinn?"
"I assumed, although I wasn't paying that much attention," Sue said. "Either way, he's on his way to the airport, and I would be on my way to get that idiot back if I didn't have to deal with even bigger idiots from the Watchers' council. Now that they've given up, though..." She threw a look at the broken cellphone lying in the corner. "You'll excuse me, I have a plane to stop."
"Well, I can't say I particularly care about Cooper's doomed love life," Kurt said. "But we have an actual crisis here. Everybody is losing their minds. Tina is trying to brew the slayer potion, and the devil knows what Santana or Brittany are up to. So I'm afraid your Quinntervention will have to wait until this chaos is taken care of."
Sue glared at him with so much fierceness, that Kurt found himself almost taking a step back.
"Just to make this very clear, Cullen, while we appreciate your occasional help, you are not in charge here. I am. Do you know how many crises Sunnydale has to deal with in one week? Hell, not even our idiot slayer knows. I'm the one who deals with most of them. I'm the one who has to evaluate things, to figure out what is serious and what isn't. I think I have a better grasp on what exactly has the highest priority right now. And that's not a unicorn, and not a witch with a pathological inferiority complex. It's the slayer going through a way too early midlife crisis. So you can go hunt unicorns all you like. I have to force a complete idiot to see reason."
"What are we supposed to do about Tina then?" Kurt asked.
But once again, Blaine was following a different script. "Is Cooper safe? Do you think he's in trouble?"
"He will be once I get my hands on him," Sue replied, her voice dead serious.
"This is more important!" Kurt yelled.
Sue looked him up and down, as she slowly came closer. "And you think I, a watcher, will listen to the commands of a vampire?"
Kurt closed his eyes, tried to focus and calm down his own anger. He could imagine what fire was running through Sue's veins at the moment, had just escaped the same feelings a short time ago. Antagonizing her would not help.
But she didn't pay attention to him. "Now you will step out of my way and take care of whatever you're so concerned about. I do have priorities."
There was a dangerous note in her voice, and Kurt almost stepped back on reflex. Blaine didn't have that instinct, apparently, or had possibly suppressed it, too worried about his brother. He actually approached Sue.
Even before she moved, Kurt knew that had been a big mistake.. He tried to call out, but Sue was faster. He couldn't tell whether it had been a push or a punch, but it sent Blaine sailing through the air, right at him. In a split second Kurt had to decide. He could have side-stepped – but he didn't move. Blaine hit him with enough force to make him tumble backwards. Kurt gasped, suppressing a yelp of pain, but he could catch the boy once more.
There was a crash of glass behind them, and Kurt caught a glimpse of Sue's red track suit as she apparently jumped out of the window. For a second he considered jumping after her. Scary as she was, she was still human and he would be able to catch up with her. It might be the smart choice, really. This was getting worse with every minute. There was the concern of letting Sue in her current aggressive mood out on the street, a completely different one that Cooper with his slayer powers and probably just as much anger was on his way to meet his ex girlfriend, not to mention a power hungry Tina and whatever was going on with Santana and Brittany.
Those were valid concerns, but right now it was hard to care about anything but the boy he was still holding.
Whatever protections Blaine had built against the night's events, this last attack had made him drop them. He was shaking slightly, his eyes wide in disbelief and shining. Even his breathing seemed troubled. The worst thing was the look in his eyes. He seemed almost defeated.
It was just wrong. Blaine was usually so hopeful and enthusiastic, which made the difference was even more jarring.
"I don't think we'll catch up to her," Kurt said. "I can run fast, but I've seen her drive." It wasn't completely true, but he wasn't going to leave now.
Blaine nodded, but Kurt wasn't sure whether he had even listened.
"Although...", Kurt continued. "She might have a point, though. We don't know what exactly we're dealing with, and especially with Tina going crazy it might not be the worst thing to have the slayer on our side. If we manage to break him out of the influence of that thing..."
"No!" Blaine's answer was immediate.
"What do you mean?" Kurt asked.
"i don't want to go find Cooper," Blaine said. "I don't want to see him until this is over."
Kurt frowned. "But... he could help us, if we can-"
"I don't want to see my brother!"
Kurt's eyes widened as the boy pushed away from him, standing on his own feet again. There was a flash of despair in his eyes that Kurt couldn't quite place. Still, he raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.
"Alright, fine, we're not going after him," he said. "Just... why not?"
Blaine breathed deeply before he answered, and in those few seconds, he schooled his face back into a calmer expression.
"Tonight alone, I've been attacked by three people I trust. And it'ss all because of the machinations of a creature that I brought into our lives, because I though it was helpless and needed my protection. Just because I was naïve enough to believe in unicorns." He sighed, closing his eyes. When he spoke again, his voice was soft, and raw as if he was seconds away from crying. "I'm barely holding it together, Kurt. And if Cooper turns against me... if Cooper hurts me... I just... I can't." His voice broke on the last word.
Kurt couldn't help feeling guilty. He hadn't considered what it would be like for Blaine to have his friends turn on him. He hated being one of the people who had attacked him. Blaine was usually so confident and hopeful. How had Kurt never thought about how hard it could be sometimes to keep up that kind of attitude?
He put a hand onto Blaine's shoulder, trying for a gesture of comfort. But it wasn't enough. After a moment, Kurt put his arms around him in an embrace.
"I'm sorry," he said. "You're right. When you get your brother back, it will be him, nobody else. I promise."
Blaine's hands were clutching into his shirt, and his breathing was rough, but there were no sobs, no tears against the fabric.
"I can't do this," Blaine whispered against his shirt.
Kurt sighed, holding him tightly against his chest. "You can," he said. "You will. And I'm right here with you. We'll figure this out together. Okay?"
Blaine still needed a moment to collect himself. Eventually, he stepped back and looked up at Kurt. His face was dry, but he looked exhausted.
"It's my fault... and I have no idea how to fix this," he said.
"It's not your fault," Kurt replied. "And we'll find a way to fix this together. We just have to find out what's going on." He frowned. "Of course, that's not going to be that easy without a witch, or a watcher, or a slayer... I guess we can try to talk to Brittany, maybe she can focus long enough to think of a way to defeat a unicorn, but... Blaine? Are you listening?"
Blaine's eyes had widened, and suddenly, his face had transformed, none of the defeat was seen. "What did you say?"
"Ask Brittany?" Kurt suggested.
"No. A witch!" Blaine said.
"Erm... our witch is going crazy and wants to siphon all your blood," Kurt said.
"Tina isn't the only witch we know," Blaine said, fishing his cellphone out of his pocket. "I'm calling in reinforcements."
Kurt's eyes widened. "Who are you calling?" he asked.
Blaine stopped, and for a moment, he looked guilty. "I'm calling Quinn," he said eventually. "I know, we said we wouldn't pull her back into this mess. But we need her, and if we don't solve this, Cooper will stand at her door step in a while, drugged on unicorn aggression juice. I'd rather leave her out of this, yes, but right now we endanger her more if we don't ask for her help."
Kurt looked at him surprised, but he could see where Blaine was coming from. "Do you think she can help us over the phone?" he asked.
"I don't know," Blaine said. "But its our best chance. And if she can't help us, then we can at least warn her."
Kurt nodded. "Alright then. Quinn it is."
The cold air didn't do much to cool Santana's temper. Clearly, she was an idiot that shouldn't be trusted with the responsibility over a pet rock, much less her own life. Who had ever gotten the idea that sshe could handle anything on her own?
She had told Brittany to leave. What on earth had she been thinking?
It wouldn't be nearly as bad if she could trust her girlfriend to see through her anger. She had thought Brittany could do that, but lately... lately all she talked about was the faery world.
It wasn't just the fear of losing her girlfriend to her home. Even in this world, there were enough things that could distract Brittany. She did have an extremely limited attention span. And Sam was just one of these possible distractions.
This was his fault, really. If he had kept his distance and didn't butt into other people's relationship...
Even now, Santana realized that Brittany held some responsibility here, too, but she couldn't deal with it right now. Brittany was different, she wasn't even human. Faeries had different ways of bonding, and she didn't see problems that human beings would – or at least people like Santana who'd been burnt too often before...
Sam on the other hand should know better than to try and steal her girlfriend. Damn, wasn't she the least bit scary anymore? She was used to people stepping back from her temper alone, and in most cases, her additional slayer powers had only aggravated that effect.
What did Sam even bring to the table except horrible hair and stupid impressions that nobody cared about? He had no power, no special knowledge, no vampire taming abilities. What was the point of him?
Santana shook her head. No, she was being irrational. She was part of this team, and it was one of the best things that had ever happened to her – even before she had met Brittany. This whole saving-the-world gig had worked out great for her. She liked being part of a group. It may not be her natural inclination, but it was... nice.
So she would calm down, walk, do nothing irrational and go back to her girlfriend. Then they'd talk quietly about their relationship. She could do that. There was a first time for everything.
After a few moments, she was calm enough to take out her phone and make a call. She knew she was too angry to be rational right now. She needed to hear her girlfriend's voice if she wanted to calm down.
She waited as patiently as she could, every single damn second until...
Voice mail. Now Brittany wasn't even answering her phone? How was she going to talk to her now? Sure, Santana could return to her dorm room, but how could she even know if Brittany was still there? Maybe she had already left...
Maybe she had gone to see Sam – or even worse, she was on her way back to the faery world.
Santana tried to calm herself down. Nothing was going on. Nothing horrible had happened. But still, it felt as if everything was slipping out of her hands, and that wasn't something she could deal with. She hated not being able to do anything. And if she couldn't get hold of Brittany, then what could she do?
Well, she may not be able to get hold of Brittany, but she could definitely get hold of Sam. Suddenly, it made sense. Taking out Sam might not guarantee hers and Brittany's relationship, but it couldn't hurt to take out any distractions.
Sam would regret the day he had messed with her life.
Blaine felt sorry for having to do this. But as he waited for the call to be answered, he knew that he didn't have much of a choice. With some more time, they could have found a way to research the unicorn. But time wasn't a luxury they had, and he wanted this sorted out before Cooper did something he would never forgive himself for.
Kurt was standing close, watching him. Maybe he was still worried, waiting for Blaine to freak out again. To be fair, that concern wasn't completely invalid. Blaine couldn't guarantee that he'd keep a cool head for the rest of the night. But now he had an idea on what to do. When this all was over... Blaine gulped, trying to suppress the new wave of despair. When this was over, he knew he was going to take a long hard look on the decisions that had brought him here. But right now, everybody was in danger because of him, and his blind trust that good thing happened and unicorns were real. His feelings of guilt would have to wait until the mess was taken care of.
"Hello?"
Blaine was surprised when his call was answered. For one, he had almost forgotten he was on the phone, lost in his thoughts. But most importantly, the voice that answered wasn't the one he expected. It sounded more like a little girl.
"Uh... who is this?" he asked.
"Who are you?" the little girl asked. "I'm not allowed to talk to strangers."
Blaine frowned at Kurt. "Not Quinn", he mouthed. He wondered whether he had gotten the wrong number, but then he realized.
"You must be Beth," he said. "My name's Blaine, I'm a friend of your mom's. Could you get her to the phone?"
"I guess..." the girl said. "Quinn! Another crazy on the phone for you."
Blaine waited a bit longer. He could hear the girl talking to somebody, although she must have put the phone down, as he couldn't understand the words. All he got was the tone of the conversation. It sounded warm and happy, and for a moment, Blaine considered to end the call and find another way... but there was no time, and for Cooper's sake he needed to fix this.
"Hello? Who is this?"
Blaine closed his eyes, steeling himself. "Hi Quinn, it's Blaine."
There was a sigh of relief. "Blaine! It's really good to hear your voice."
Blaine bit his lips involuntarily. "Yours, too." It was true. Somehow, just listening to Quinn's voice made him feel calmer. He had always seen her as an older sister figure, even though she was only a year or two older than him. But when he had come to Sunnydale, she and Cooper had been a couple, and she had almost lived with them. She also had the ability to keep a cool head even in the worst of crises. Now that he thought about it, Blaine realized that a cool head was something they were missing dearly at the moment – not just tonight, but in general.
"I guess you already heard from Cooper?" Blaine asked. He couldn't imagine why else she would be happy to hear from him.
"I did," Quinn said. "Is he alright? He sounded... weird. He said he was coming here, and that he is done with slaying, and then he went on about what he was going to do to Sue if she tried to stop him again. He didn't say what was even going on. I freaked out. I actually thought that something had happened to you. Why else would he go off like that?"
"A unicorn," Blaine said. "But nobody's hurt, and I'm fine."
"You don't sound fine," Quinn said drily.
"Well... I'm not dead," Blaine corrected himself. "But I need your help. Something's going on here... I found a creature... a unicorn. And somehow, it's manipulating everybody, makes them aggressive, angry. It got Tina and Sue, too, and from what I can tell everybody else, too. We don't know who else to turn to..."
"We?" Quinn asked. "There are people unaffected?"
"It didn't affect me," Blaine said, "and I managed to free Kurt."
"Good, he can keep you safe," Quinn said. "Now tell me more about this unicorn. I didn't even know those were real..."
"They do exist in the fae world, Brittany told me," Blaine said.
"Oh, the faery. I heard about her," Quinn said. "But do they exist in our world?"
"Amalthea is real, so I'd say yes," Blaine said.
"Alright," Quinn said, and her voice was so calm, that Blaine felt immediately better. "Tell me everything you know."
As he summed u what had happened so far, he watched Kurt, who was leaning against Sue's desk, eying it as if he was wondering whether it would be worth the risk to break it open.
When he finished talking, Quinn was quiet for a moment, before she spoke again. "I don't have as many books here," she said, "but I did find a really good database, and I know a few people I could call... Send me a picture of your unicorn, I'll see what I can do and call you back. Just... are you safe? Is Kurt still with you?"
"He's here. I think we're safe at the moment," Blaine said. "But Tina is working on that fake slayer ritual, so... the sooner the better."
"Blaine?"
"Yes?"
"...am I safe?"
Blaine's first reflex was to say that of course she was safe, Cooper would never hurt her. But there was the matter of this weird unicorn possession. Just moments before, he himself hadn't wanted to see Cooper under that influence.
"I don't know," he said eventually. "I don't really understand this. Maybe you want to relocate for a bit."
"No," Quinn said, "I definitely won't do that. I'm staying where I am. But I might send Beth off with her father."
"Right," Blaine said, "Beth. I talked to her.. She sounds brilliant." He had known of course that Quinn had a daughter, but before, when Quinn was living with them, the child had never been an issue. She had lived with her adoptive mother, and Quinn had only a minimum of contact. That, of course, had changed under dramatic circumstances.
"Careful, Blaine, she'll have you wrapped around her finger in no time," Quinn said. There was a note of warm and happy pride in her voice, that made Blaine smile. He hadn't imagined Quinn as a mother, more as a sister, but the role seemed to suit her. Then he realized something. "Is everything alright with you and her? It's just... she called you Quinn..."
"We're getting along really well," Quinn said. "It's all been tough on her, she still misses Shelby like crazy. It's okay if she doesn't call me mom. I haven't been her mom, that was Shelby. I'm that strange woman that she only saw a handful of times, who one day showed up on her doorstep to take care of her. She's closer to Puck, really. He always tried harder to be part of her life. But we're making it work, one step at a time."
"It sounds nice," Blaine said.
He could hear the smile in her voice. "It is. But now let's focus on taking care of your unicorn, okay? Send me the picture, I'll see what I can do."
Blaine knew that Kurt was still watching him as he ended the call and sent the picture he had saved of the unicorn to Quinn.
"That's it?" he asked, once Blaine pocketed the phone again.
"I told you these are practical," Blaine said. He looked at Kurt's doubtful gaze and sighed. "Seriously, Kurt, just let me get you a phone?"
"How about we first concentrate on our current situation?" Kurt suggested. "You're not going back to that thing, not until we know what exactly we're dealing with."
Blaine frowned. "Where am I supposed to go?" he asked. "If all my friends are dangerous..."
"Only those who've been in contact with that thing," Kurt said. "Do you have any friends outside your brother's little gang?"
Blaine hated to admit that he actually needed a moment to think about that question. His brother's work was so important that he found most of his own time centered around it. Even when they weren't battling the forces of hell, he found himself spending most of his time with the rest of the gang, as Kurt called them. There were other students he got along with, but he wasn't especially close to most of them. He tried to think of somebody he could crash with.
"Well?" Kurt asked. "There has to be someone."
"Won't I put them into danger?" Blaine replied.
"Nobody but me will know where you are," Kurt said. "And we're not done for tonight. Just... call a friend, ask them if you can stay there later. I just want you to be safe when I can't be with you during the day."
Blaine nodded, although he averted his eyes almost involuntarily. Kurt's concern for him sent a feeling of warm comfort through him. And yet, it made him feel even worse than before. Taking care of Amalthea had finally distracted him from his unfortunate crush. Now, it started to come back, or maybe he was just that desperate for some stability after tonight's events. Whatever it was, it had come at an inconvenient time. He and Kurt needed to work together in order to take care of the unicorn and everything connected to it. He couldn't afford to be distracted, especially not by something so stupid. He had to stop running after things that didn't exist.
It felt like he was on the edge of a discovery, almost at the point of understanding something important.
A hand on his arm made him flinch and look up. Kurt was standing right in front of him, looking at him intently and saying his name. Whatever he had been about to discover, he had lost the thought.
"Are you okay?" Kurt asked. There was an edge in his voice that Blaine couldn't quite place.
"Uh... yeah. Sorry. I was just... thinking," Blaine said.
Kurt watched him carefully, as if he wasn't quite convinced of this. "It's been quite the night, hasn't it?" he asked after a moment.
Blaine shrugged. "It's Sunnydale," he said with a shrug, as if that explained everything. And really, it usually did. But somehow, tonight it felt worse than usual.
"Come on," Kurt said, and led him to the curtain at the back of Sue's office. He pulled it aside to reveal what looked like the most exquisite couch Blaine had ever seen. It was made of red velvet, buried in silken cushions. It looked ridiculously comfortable, and Blaine had real problems combining it with Sue's usual spartanic attitude.
"What is that?" Blaine asked.
"Sue is extravagant," Kurt said shrugging. "Lie down, get some rest."
"I can't," Blaine protested. "We have to do something."
"We have to wait," Kurt replied. "Until we get news from Quinn, there's not much we can do. There's no point in running around in circles. So you get some rest, and if you have to do something, call up the rest of your friends, check up on them – and find somebody you can stay with."
"What will you do?" Blaine asked, even as he moved to the couch.
"Sue's office is empty, and she won't be back for some time. This is the perfect opportunity to find the dirt she has on me," Kurt said, looking around the shelves.
"Sue has dirt on you?" Blaine asked frowning.
"It's Sue Sylvester. She has dirt on anybody."
Blaine nodded thoughtfully. That made a lot of sense, really. For a moment he wondered if she had any dirt on him, too. But he doubted he was important enough for that. He didn't need to be important, however, in order to check what was going on with his friends.
Even now that Kurt knew Sue wasn't coming back, it still felt weird to go through her things. She probably had a sixth sense and would know the second she stepped into the room that he'd been here. But right now, Kurt didn't care.
He hadn't found yet what he was looking for. There had been a few records on his past in her folders – something about his life as a human, a lot about the years he had spent running around with Sebastian and Hunter, two other vampires like him, in whose company he had done abominable things, hooked up on blood and immortality. They weren't pretty stories, and Kurt knew that he had done many things that he should be ashamed of. But his memory of those years had become hazy, and it was easier not to think too much about it.
He wondered whether he should read in more detail what Sue had found on him. He looked up from the folder and to the couch where Blaine had fallen asleep.
Something about this disturbed Kurt. Sure, the night had been stressful, and Blaine had been attacked by three friends so far. His attempts to contact anybody else had not been met with success. Nobody had answered his calls, Kurt guessed either because they were in trouble, were causing trouble, or were too angry at the world to answer the phone. Tina might even meet all three of these criteria. At least Blaine had found someone he could stay with while all this madness was going down. But he had been strangely subdued, and eventually had fallen asleep.
Kurt thought back to this night's events, trying to remember if Blaine had been this exhausted earlier, more tired than usual. He couldn't tell for sure. There had been that weird moment where Blaine had been so deep in thought that it had taken minutes to get his attention. It was the one thing Kurt could put his finger on. But even in general, something about the boy's behavior hadn't been quite right.
Unlike his own behavior, which currently consisted of watching Blaine sleep like a creepy stalker. Kurt shook his head and turned back to Sue's folders. He started leafing through it, just to have something else to focus on.
Almost at the edge of his perception, he read three words and almost dropped the folder. His eyes darted to the sleeping boy, and back to the paper. The words were still there.
Anderson, Blaine Devon.
Sue really did have dirt on everybody. Kurt hesitated. He could tell that there weren't many pages dedicated to him before the next entry about Cohen-Chang, Tina began. He could easily read it while they were waiting for Quinn to call. And really, how dark could Blaine's past be? Maybe reading this would help him understand the boy... But Kurt couldn't bring himself to turn over the page. It would be such a violation of trust...
Trust.
Suddenly it clicked, and he realized what had been wrong. If there was one thing he knew about Blaine, it was the absolute and blind faith he put into his brother. He'd follow Cooper to hell itself, always trusting that his brother would look out for him. Kurt knew short from straight up demonic possession, there was nothing in this world or any other that would make Cooper turn on his kid brother. And Blaine knew this as well. Tonight, Blaine had been afraid to even see Cooper.
Even as his theory was developing, Kurt knew that it didn't make complete sense yet. Even if Blaine didn't trust his brother right now, no matter how unusual that was, he hadn't been suspicious. He had walked into Tina's dorm room, albeit with a bad feeling, and it had been his idea to contact Sue and then Quinn. And more importantly, he had shown complete trust to Kurt. So Blaine wasn't paranoid. He wasn't aggressive, either. Had he really been himself, though?
Kurt put the folder away and slowly started to approach the couch. It was nothing, he tried to tell himself. So Blaine had doubted his brother under some kind of magical influence, and he was more tired than expected. He had zoned out for a few minutes before. It didn't mean anything.
But Blaine had spent more time with that thing than anyone else had. Kurt had only seen it once and had been infected. How could Blaine escape it?
He hesitated again when he arrived at the couch. Blaine was still sleeping. He looked so vulnerable, so young. Beautiful... But not peaceful. There was a frown on his face and he seemed to shiver, as if he was cold. Kurt sat down on the couch. He put a hand into Blaine's hair, to the curls that had escaped their gel prison. A part of him wanted to just let him sleep until Quinn had found a solution.
But he had to know.
With a sigh, he put his thumb unto Blaine's eyelid and carefully pulled it open, hoping not to wake the sleeping boy.
At first, Kurt saw nothing suspicious. There was the white eyeball, interrupted by a few red lines. Then, there was that familiar hazel ring, the golden flecks around the pupil. Still suspicious, Kurt opened the other eye. It looked fine, too. Then why did he feel like something was wrong?
For one, Blaine hadn't woken, just let everything happen. And also...
His pupil was wide. It had made sense outside, in the dark, for the pupils to be blown wide. But in the light of Sue's office, they should be smaller. And more importantly, they should have tightened while opening.
Kurt let the lid drop, and closed his own eyes for a moment, long enough to count to ten. When he opened his eyes, he put both his thumbs onto Blaine's lids and opened them. As the light hit them, the pupils remained as they were. And now, as Kurt stared at them, really focused onto the black, he saw it.
Tiny specks of white, not shining, almost transparent, and therefore hard to see. But once he'd seen the first, he saw more of them. They were countless, and when Kurt tried to pull something out, he realized that they had completely penetrated the pupil. It was impossible to take hold of them.
Kurt closed the lids, pulling back. He had been careless enough to believe Blaine was safe. He had been wrong.