Chapter 18- Search And Destroy
Kurt stepped out of the car, slamming the door behind him. Santana got out of the passenger side, stepping up next to him. Brittany, Mike and Quinn assembled themselves so the group represented an arrow formation. Kurt, Santana and Brittany at the head, Quinn and Mike flanking them. It was a natural formation. Kurt and Santana provided offence, with Brittany there to calm them. Mike and Quinn also bolstered their ranks, provided that secondary voice of reason should the former three's emotions get the better of them.
Tina had gotten a call from her mother to come home, so she had apologized and Kurt had quickly called a cab for her, telling her that they'd keep her updated.
Kurt immediately knew where his boyfriend was. Puckerman had basically abducted him. If this wasn't already personal before, it was about to get that way, big time. "Everyone know their roles?"
Everybody nodded. Even Mike, who was knew to this particular group, knew exactly what he had to do. Kurt was their main point man, the one who had the most at stake here should this go wrong. The way Mike saw it; it was a childish prank that seemed more serious than it was. And that was exactly what he was at the back, he thought with a small smile. Kurt knew Puckerman's limits better than anyone, except for perhaps Quinn, and he knew that Sam's safety was definitely an issue here.
Kurt wasted no time when they approached Puckerman's house, banging on the door sharply. He briefly thought about the late time of night and Puck's little sister, but spent no more time dwelling on the issue. Puck made his bed and he was about to lie in it.
It was Azimio who opened the door.
"Well if it isn't The Powerpuff Girls. Come to apologise?"
Kurt stepped up to the other boy, only having to look up a few inches, but the demeanour in his expression conveyed his message perfectly. "Don't play games with me, Adams." Instead of waiting any longer, Kurt slipped through the gap between Azimio and the door, causing the girls and Mike to do the same. Mike didn't miss the glare that was sent his way as he passed the jock.
Kurt turned back around. "I'll take the cave; you guys look downstairs. Text me if you find him." Mike checked the kitchen, Brittany and Santana took the living room while Quinn followed Kurt upstairs. He was bound to need back up.
Mike entered the kitchen to find Anita Puckerman, leaning against the counter, eyes closed while she sipped when Mike presumed was coffee from a plain white mug. He stopped in his tracks, regarding the woman carefully.
"Uh, hello Mrs. Puckerman."
"Michael," she said back, staring at him just as much.
"Sorry for barging in here, we're just looking for…"
"The blonde boy in Noah's bedroom? Yes, I wondered about that, too. He wasn't one of Noah's regular friends. I heard shouting, but I just figured boys were being boys are left them to it."
Mike tried not to roll his eyes at the phrase he hated so much as he quickly texted Kurt confirmation of Sam's whereabouts. Bedroom. I'm coming up.
"Not to overstep, but I think you might need to have a talk with your son."
Before Mrs. Puckerman could respond, Mike left the room, quickly barreling up the stairs, where everybody had already gathered. Kurt stood in front of the door, nudging it open.
"Where the fuck is he?" Kurt hissed as he took in the sight of Puck, absently playing video games.
"Call off the rest of the Ninja Turtles and I might tell you."
"Now isn't the time to be fucking with me, asshole."
"Like I'd wanna fuck with you," Puck scowled. "But I'm serious. Tell them to leave, I don't want them in my house."
Cursing, Kurt turned around. "Wait outside for me? Shouldn't be too long."
Reluctantly, Santana and Quinn turned, ushering Mike and Brittany downstairs and out of the Puckerman house.
"That goes for the Neanderthal that answered the door," Kurt snarled, seeing Azimio creeping behind him.
Puck flicked his wrist lazily and Azimio fled the upstairs floor.
"When did you become head Neanderthal? I'd imagine it wasn't a democracy since none of you know anything about anything."
Puck paused his game and turned. "I'd imagine considering you're in my house that you've come to call off your silly little games and apologise."
"To you? Maybe to your mother when I leave on behalf of humans everywhere for having to raise you. I know Sam is here."
"Why would you think that?"
"Nobody's seen him since he was in the weight room, smart guy. It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together."
Puck stood up quickly. "No, but you're way off, Hummel."
"You sure? So if I call his phone, it won't ring?"
Puck shrugged, taking a small step closer.
"Come any closer and I'll absolutely make sure you can't have any more children."
Puck sensed the threat was real and nodded slightly, backing up.
Kurt clicked the speed dial for Sam and tilted his head, listening for the familiar ringtone to blare across the room.
And to nobody's surprise, it did.
Kurt tensed as he heard the noise, trying to locate it properly. "Really? You put him in the fucking closet."
Puckerman sighed. "Okay, you got me." He pulled open the closet door, revealing a folded over Sam, unable to move or speak, binds preventing any sort of function. "Before you got to him, Evans wasn't a bad guy. He was even kind of cool. And now he just follows you around like a diseased little dog who doesn't know what's good for him. I'm trying to change that."
Kurt rolled his eyes. "How many failed attempts on me does it require before you realise that people don't just change? Now let him go or else you I'll really make sure you know what pain feels like."
"Easy on the threats, Hummel. One of these days you might actually find yourself having to put your money where your mouth is." Puck shrugged and went over to Sam, ripping the tape from his mouth.
Sam panted. "You…fucking…bastard! I'm gonna fucking—."
"Sam!" Kurt interrupted, making sure the boy knew he was there.
"Kurt?" Sam wiggled, trying to release himself. "Let me go, Puck!"
"Was going to anyway. I'm not a fucking kidnapper. I need to go and pick up my sister anyway. Untie him, my mom will make sure you leave after I do."
"What if I didn't come and get him? What then?"
"Look, I don't fucking know," Puck spat. "I don't plot like you and your witches do, Hummel. This was a prank. It wasn't like Evans couldn't breathe out of his nose."
And with that, Puck left the room. Kurt reluctantly moved aside, rushing to untie Sam.
Sam collapsed into him, gritting his teeth. "Kurt, thank god. They blindsided me in the locker room and I couldn't do anything."
"It's okay, I'm just glad you're okay. Your mom called me and—."
"Wait, she did? What do I even tell her?"
Kurt smiled. "I'll make something up if you want. If you don't want to deal with it, you can crash at my place. We're having a group sleepover anyway."
Sam nodded. "That'd be nice. No matter what you tell her, Mary Evans always finds a way to worry, even when she knows the full story."
Kurt took his phone and clicked the number.
"Kurt? Have you found Sam?"
Kurt smiled. "Hi, Mrs. Evans. Yeah, I found him. He lost track of time in the locker room and the janitor locked up while he cleaned. Luckily we got there in time and got the door open."
Sam shook his head in awe at Kurt's lie.
"Oh, that's great. I was worrying! Maybe school wouldn't have been the worst place for him to have been stuck overnight."
Kurt chuckled. "I agree. I forgot that we were supposed to be having a Glee sleepover tonight, if you want him home, I'd completely understand, I can drive him now."
"No, no, dear, don't you worry. As long as I know he's okay. Could you put him on?"
Kurt affirmed his response and handed the phone to Sam, turning as Sam chatted briefly with his mother, convincing her that it was his fault and that she shouldn't be worried about him.
Kurt and Sam met the others outside. They were stood by the car, impatiently chatting with each other.
"What the fuck happened in there? Puckerman and Adams came out about five minutes ago, didn't say a word."
"It was like we thought. They overpowered him in the locker room and brought him here. Had him fucking tied up in the closet. Some kind of metaphor, probably."
Sam nodded. "All I got was an earful about how they needed to change me. To be honest, I didn't really understand this whole scheme until tonight. Now I'm with you all for whatever you want and need to do."
Kurt nodded, face hardened. "We've got some plotting to do, it seems. I'll just call Tina and let her know that Sam is okay."
Tina felt her phone buzz next to her once more.
Sam's okay, we'll fill you in tomorrow. Hope everything's okay, Tee x
She smiled at the text before looking back up in front of her.
There sat Artie Abrams, itching his wrist and looking at her expectantly.
"It's been five minutes, are we just going to sit here?"
Tina's mother had called her, saying that Artie had showed up and wouldn't leave until he talked to her.
Artie swallowed heavily. "I just wanted to talk to you."
"Yeah, that much I got. If you're going to say what I think you're going to say, then I don't want to hear it."
Artie blinked. "I think that you were wrong to break us up."
Tina smirked. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Why would I be? Look, Tina, we were good together and I know I was a little bit absent while we weren't at school, but I had things to do."
"We talked about this," Tina replied, irritated. "You were playing Halo while I was doing some growing up. We got together before Sectionals, Artie, and I've changed a lot since then. My friends have helped me realise that I deserve more than what you were giving me."
"Like more than a guy in a wheelchair?" Artie fired back.
Tina sighed. "No. Artie, not once have I referenced the fact that you're in the chair as a reason for our breakup. The fact that you had such a positive outlook on life despite the setbacks you've had was one of the things I really admired and respected about you. So don't use that as an excuse. I deserve someone who's going to listen to me and make an effort with me and care about me as I am."
Artie glowered. "You mean Mike Chang?"
Tina shrugged. "I wasn't going to bring him up, but, yeah. Mike has been nothing but wonderful to me since we went out on our first date. He's a gentleman without being misogynistic, he doesn't have to fake being interested in me, he genuinely wants to hear about my day."
"I did."
"Don't pretend like you did. You only ever cared about yourself and having a girlfriend. It didn't matter that it was me, it just mattered that you had one. I'm not sorry that we broke up, Artie, and you need to leave now."
Artie took a long hard look at her before nodding. "Okay. For what it's worth, I'm sorry."
Tina smiled falsely at he left the dining room. "It's not worth anything to me."
Tina closed the front door on Artie, exhaling deeply and leaning against it, resting her head. She felt as though a weight had been lifted, even more so than when she broke up with Artie in the first place.
It was just the beginning for her as the person she knew she wanted to be. With the help of her friends, she knew she could truly be that person. Happy, content, optimistic and confident. It would take some time, but it was worth the effort.
It had to be.
