Burt felt the telekinetic powers suddenly and swiftly failing him, and turned around just in time to see Kurt collapse with a weird device stuck to his neck. The man behind him caught him and rather suddenly the rest of the fighting stopped, even if Finn and Puck still had no idea what exactly it was that they were fighting for.

The blonde woman had managed to pick herself up off the floor and grinned at Burt. "Well, if that isn't interesting. I'm pretty sure we were just going for a return on investment here, but this… this might be just what we've been looking for all these years. Thanks ever so much for introducing that to us", she said to Burt.

And he felt more stupid than he had ever had before. Because of course, now they knew. About Kurt's other power. Telepathy was interesting to them, but they had plenty of other test subjects who had that, and the reason they were after him had always been that even though his power was pretty strong, he was completely healthy.

Now though… Kurt being able to project powers onto other people… That was a power they were after itself.

He spun around, trying to do something, anything to stop them from taking Kurt, but found himself face to face with the business end of a standard issue semiautomatic.

That explained why Finn and Puck had stopped fighting, too. Now that they had Kurt, the military people had no reason to hold back with their guns, and each of them was staring into a muzzle as well.

The gun that was pointing at Burt gestured towards the middle of the room and Burt reluctantly complied. Finn and Puck were going that way as well.

"Now, as much as I'd love to just have them shoot you for causing us all this trouble, I'm pretty sure my superiors wouldn't like that too much. And now this one counts as a win for me, so I'm willing to be lenient." She had this smirk on her face that just made Burt want to punch her, all the chivalrous rules about not beating women be damned.

She turned towards her minions. "Take care of these two and then wait for pick up. As I said, our bosses would be quite displeased if you don't deliver Agent Nevada, and from this point on that failure would be on you."

The men she was talking to nodded, and she left along with a few of the others.

And Kurt.

Seeing him dragged off like that, made Burt's blood boil, but he knew that if he made the wrong move, they would gladly take the excuse to kill him, and then there was nothing he could do to help his son. In the span of less than half an hour his life had been turned upside down, all the carefully laid plans smashed to bits.

He followed the people dragging his son away with his eyes, and tried to memorize every one of their faces, to vow revenge on. They would not get away with this. Because he wouldn't let them.

Then he looked back at the guys who were left. It was two of them, all the others had left. Not the best odds, since he, Finn and Puck were all unarmed, but decent enough.

"Secure him", one of the guys ordered, and the look on the other guy's face belied his willingness to do so. Apparently Burt had left a bit of a reputation with their agency. Good. Nervous people made mistakes.

The guy who had ordered kept his gun trained on Burt, but he had a distinct advantage. He knew they didn't want to kill him. They weren't allowed to, and if they did shoot him they would be in a world of trouble.

Burt stayed still and waited for the other guy to approach him with handcuffs. He was moving slowly, as if he was afraid of him pouncing. Both of them were keeping their attention on Burt, so he couldn't form eye contact with either of the boys without them noticing, but if that Puckerman kid was as competent in fight as he had appeared to be earlier, they probably had a shot.

Burt waited for the guy with the handcuffs to reach him, and held his hands together, ready to be handcuffed, which seemed to relax both of their captors a little. Burt probably looked like he was accepting defeat.

Except that he wasn't. And wasn't even quite sure if he was capable of that.

With as quick a movement as he could, he pulled up his elbows and drove one straight into the guy's sternum, spinning around at the same time.

The air was knocked from his opponent and Burt took the momentary confusion as his cue to punch him straight in the nose, bringing him to the ground.

When he looked around, he saw that Puckerman had lunged for their other opponent, and effectively pinned him down, punching him repeatedly.

Both of their opponents had military training, and Puckerman had been able to take down one of them. The nice next door mechanic and concerned parent in Burt felt a little worried at the fact that Kurt was friends with someone like that. The highly trained military operative that needed some allies was glad he was there.

Burt nodded at Puck, and working together, they swiftly tied both their opponents down securely. Burt pocketed both of their guns, since he didn't want to entrust either teenager with them at this point.

He briefly considered using those guns, but the two of them weren't much of a liability, and he didn't particularly want to kill someone in front of Finn. Or Puck, but that boy would probably handle something like that much better.

Speaking of Finn…

"What the hell is even going on here?"

Apparently he had gotten over his confusion and was now realizing just what had happened here. Too bad there really wasn't any time to explain it to him right now.

"The less you know, the better. And I don't really have time to explain, anyway, so just go back home, both of you, and let me handle it."

"Handle what? What are you gonna do? Why did they take Kurt?" Finn looked a little lost at being brushed off like that.

"And do you really think you can go up against these guys all by yourself?", Puck asked, looking a little doubtful.

"This is something that goes a little beyond what two teenagers can handle, no offense, boys", Burt said while turning to leave.

"Is it something that a middle aged mechanic can handle all alone?", Puck asked.

"Can someone please explain what's going on here?", Finn said again.

"There's more to this middle aged mechanic than you know, Puckerman. And I meant it, when I said you're better off not knowing. Knowing makes you a target, and I can't drag you into this any further. You shouldn't even have been here for this, nothing I can do about it, now, but still."

"Yeah, cause you obviously didn't need any help", Puck remarked sarcastically.

Finn looked thoughtful. "What did Kurt mean when he talked about you guys leaving? Did you mean that? Leave, and never come back? What about my mom?" 'And me' was left unspoken.

"Look, Finn, I'm sorry that it's come to this, but what happened here today? This changes everything. I need to go and get Kurt back, and then we both need to make sure these people never find us again. I'd like to tell you all about this, I'd like to be able to talk about this with your mother, but the fact of the matter is, that anything I tell you is going to put you in danger, and I can't do that."

"Shouldn't I get a say in this? And my mom? Are you just going to decide what's best for us? I mean, Puck's right, I don't know what all this is, who those people are, but I'm pretty sure getting Kurt back isn't all that easy, and you need help. I mean, I'm his big brother now, and stuff, right? I'm supposed to be protective."

"Finn, I know you mean well, but you don't know who I'm up against. I know, and I on't want to drag anybody into this. So thanks for offering, but this is Kurt's problem and my problem, but not yours." Burt started to leave, because he had a feeling he wouldn't be able to resist the offer that much longer. Ever since his 'wife's' death, he had been desperate for an ally, someone who was on his side, who he could talk about all this mess with, but as much as he loved her, he hadn't even dared to open up to her about this.

A pair of teenagers, only one of which he really knew, didn't even compare.

Then again…

Part of the reason he'd never been able to talk to anyone about this, was the fact, that if he did, nobody was likely to believe him. Spinning tales of superpowers and government conspiracies wasn't exactly what one would call believable.

But with what these two boys had already seen this day, believing wouldn't be the problem.

"We're supposed to be a family, aren't we? So my little brother getting kidnapped is my problem", Finn insisted. Burt had to resists the urge to tell him, that Kurt was actually older than him, but they had thought it cautious way back when to put some other date as his birthday, because the real date might be something the agents could be looking for. And that randomly picked date just happened to be after Finn's birthday.

But making people believe Kurt was younger than he actually was had never been an issue.

Burt turned back around. "Fine. I could tell you. I could use some help, and you have a point. You should be in the loop. But you don't know what you're really asking, here, Finn. I need you to understand that this is very serious, and if I tell you it's going to put you in real, physical danger. Whatever happens next could seriously disrupt your life if you're a part of it, and once I tell you, there's no putting it back in the bottle. So I need you to make a choice. Do you really want to be a part of this?"

Finn looked at him and gulped. Burt wasn't sure if Finn quite understood the gravity of this all just yet, but how could he, really, without knowing anything more about it.

Just like in the matrix. Do you want to take the blue pill, or the red one? Do you want to stay blissfully ignorant or find out what's really going on?

Slowly, Finn nodded.

"You sure?", Burt asked, looking at Finn intently.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm sure", Finn said, and it seemed to be to convince himself of that as much as Burt.

"What about him?", Burt wanted to know, nodding towards Puck. "Do you think he's trustworthy?" Burt really hoped the answer to be yes. Because he was much more useful an ally than Finn was, and also Burt wasn't personally invested in that kid's safety. Probably selfish of him, but right now he couldn't really think about som poor kid's parents.

"I guess…", Finn said, and the doubt was evident in his voice.

Just then Burt remembered something. "Aside from getting your girlfriend pregnant, is he someone you'd want to be on the same team with?"

"Yeah", Finn said, lookign oddly relived at being able to just ignore a past transgression.

"So, do you want to get dragged into this, too?" Burt asked Puck.

"Yeah, sure", Puck said, and looked a little too relaxed for Burt's taste, but it didn't matter all that much.

"Good, then let's go, we don't have any more time to waste"

It was an odd thing, having to hotwire a car that you owned, but Kurt had of course taken the keys with him. He had, mercifully, in his hurry forgotten to lock it, so that was a few moments saved.

Now they were driving along the road Burt was sure they would take. Well almost a hundred percent sure. They weren't concerned with getting noticed, really, because there wasn't really anyone who could do them harm, and he knew their destination, and the quickest way to get there.

The things he knew about them required a whole skill set that he hadn't needed to use in over ten years, but it was frighteningly easy to slip back into their way of thinking. Just more of a reminder that he had once been one of them. He really wished he didn't have that in his past, but he couldn't really imagine what his life would have been like if it wasn't.

For instance he would never have met either Sigma or Kurt, and that was something he wouldn't have want to miss. It was kind of strange how attached he'd grown to these two so quickly.

But it was maybe the most significant part of his entire history. Because growing attached, allowing himself real emotions when all of them were supposed to be robots was what made him different from all his former coworkers. From every one in that facility, really.

Taking Finn and Puck with him probably wasn't the greatest idea, to be honest. He didn't have much of a plan of attack, hadn't had time to plan one. Of course there had been contingency plans, but barely any were helpful right now. He had some plans on how to get in to the facility should he ever need to free Kurt, but that was complicated. If he didn't have to use any of those, it would be preferable.

"So, are you going to tell us what's going on, now, or… whenever?", Puck wanted to know. Of course there was that, too. They needed to be informed, but they didn't really have time for that.

"Right now, we need to try to get Kurt back before they can take him to their destination. Because it's going to be much more difficult to get him out if he's already there. They are probably using a black truck, and we need to find a way to…"

Before he could finish that thought, a black truck appeared on the horizon. But it wasn't driving. In fact it was standing across the road, cab bent from the trailer at an odd angle.

"Like that one?", Finn asked helpfully as Burt slowed down and parked the car. He got out and ran towards the truck, ignoring the two boys following him. Just as they approached someone was climbing out the back door. For a moment Burt thought about reaching for his gun, but then he saw that it was the dark blue of the Dalton uniform.

"Kurt!", he yelled, and quickened his pace. His son turned around, and for a moment Burt was shocked to see him. He was slightly disheveled, hair sticking up at odd angles and his clothes wrinkled in a way you'd rarely ever see from Kurt, but that wasn't really the issue.

The look on his face…

It was chilling, to say the least. As he got closer Burt realized that a whimpering noise was coming from inside the trailer and through the door he could see several agents looking with rapt fascination at various inanimate objects as if they were the only things of any significance in their lives. He looked at the cab and saw the driver still seated with his hands on the wheel looking completely vacant, blinking very slowly.

That wasn't good. Not at all.

When Kurt had been little and gotten upset, Burt had sometimes seen things like this, before he'd been able to teach him not to use his telepathy offensively. These days Kurt was sometimes tempted to use his powers for manipulation, but not as a weapon. Burt doubted Kurt had even been quite aware of the fact that he could use them as a weapon.

But he'd done a number on all of these people. Which meant he'd probably gotten very upset, and from the way he looked he probably still was. And just like all of the test subjects, when they got upset, they were volatile.

And the look Kurt was fixing on Burt right now made him worry a lot.

"Kurt, are you okay?", he asked as calmly as possible when he got within hearing range.

"Peachy", Kurt replied with a sneer. "Except for the fact that you lied to me", he added after a moment, and Burt knew that this was going to be a problem.

"What do you mean?", Burt asked calmly, but he decided to keep his distance, gesturing for the boys to stay back, as well.

"Throw a fucking dart. Pretty much everything, right?" Hearing Kurt use profanity like that was a little jarring. He barely ever swore, usually found a lot more creative ways to express his displeasre.

"Kurt, what are you talking about?", Burt asked again, but he had a feeling he already knew. Apparently they had told Kurt some things that he wasn't happy to hear. And paid with their sanity for it.

"Don't know? Let me jog your memory a little, then." That was the only warning Burt got, before his mind was assaulted in a way that he'd never experienced before. He knew what it felt like when Kurt read your thoughts, but this was something completely different. Kurt barely ever read his thoughts, because he trusted him.

Not so much anymore.

Burt grabbed at his head that felt like it was splitting in two and let out a groan.

"How about the fact that you're not actually my father? How about the fact that these… these people created me? How about the fact that you were one of them?", Kurt yelled the last part. "Was this some sort of game? A new experiment, see how someone like me would fare in the real world?"

Burt could barely hear the accusations over the cacophony in his head, but he knew he had to fight it.

"Kurt, stop", he managed to choke out. "Look, I will explain, you just need to…" He reached up towards his nose and was surprised to find his hand come back bloody. He was also surprised to see that his one hand looked like two now.

"Like you've explained before? To tell me more lies? I don't think so."

"You can check, you'll know if I'm lying, just please stop digging, okay? I'll tell you what you want to know and then you can decide if you actually want to do this", Burt pleaded, and held up his hand.

Kurt looked startled at seeing the bloody hand and the assault on Burt's thoughts stopped immediately.

They stared at each other, and Burt did his best to look trustworthy, tried to remind Kurt of who he was, and was relieved when his son answered with one short nod.

"Fine. Explain. But if you're lying, you'll regret it."