Beating, Ch. 7

Principal Figgins would never know how close he came to having his neck wrung in the five seconds after he said those nine words to Will Schuester.

"I expect your support on this, Will," Figgins added, incredibly.

Will had a vision of the top of his head rocketing off, steam shooting from his skull and out of his ears like something out of Looney Tunes. "You want my support? Did I actually just hear you say that? You want my support in expelling Kurt Hummel?"

"It's not an expulsion. If you would listen –"

"Listen! You want me to listen to this!"

"I am still in charge of this school, and you are my employee, and you will sit down and hear what I have to tell you! Understood?"

"No." But Will sat down anyway. Something seemed to be wrong with his knees.

"It is not an expulsion." Principal Figgins settled into his chair again, clasped his hands on the desk in front of him. "We simply don't have the resources to accommodate a student with his medical issues at the moment."

"Then find them. You're mandated by law to be accessible to all students."

Figgins' gaze shifted to something over Will's shoulder. "We're not entirely clear on that point..."

"So hire a lawyer."

"We don't have the funds for that."

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"Have you seen our budget for this year? The school board –"

"This is unbelievable! What are you planning on doing when Mr. Hummel sues you?"

Figgins sighed. "We're hoping it won't come to that."

"How could it not!"

Figgins glanced up sharply. "Why are you so sure the boy wants to come back to McKinley, Will? Have you been pressuring him to return?"

"Of course not. I –"

"For your Glee club competition? Is that what this is about?"

"No! How can you even suggest --!"

"Here's what I'm telling you." Figgins leaned forward again. "McKinley is not a good environment for that boy right now. We don't even have a regular nurse dedicated to our school –" Figgins shot Will an owlish glance, and Will flinched. Principal Figgins had held him responsible for the fiasco with Terri and the decongestants for months now. " – and it's not fair to the other students to allow for potential disruption..."

"I don't believe I'm hearing this. You're worrying about Kurt disrupting the other kids?"

"Not just about that." Figgins' voice grew stronger. "This is in his best interests as well. We still don't know who was part of that attack. And between that, and the fact that many of the other students may be... under the circumstances, might see him as... treat him in a way..."

Will cut him off. "You're saying that because some of the students might be homophobic, the solution is to kick Kurt out. And that –"

And now Figgins' face was carved from stone. "Listen to me carefully on this, Will: we cannot keep this boy safe."

Will sucked in a breath, but couldn't find any words. When he finally spoke, he heard his own voice faltering, stumbling over things he'd already said:

"It's not legal. You have a responsibility to accommodate all students."

"We have a responsibility to keep our students safe. And I am sure that, once we explain this to Mr. Hummel, he will agree. Returning to McKinley would be detrimental to Kurt's physical and emotional health –"

"You can't be sure –"

" – and things are too explosive right now. If Kurt came back and were... if he were hurt again, we would be legally responsible for that. That is not a responsibility we can undertake at present."

Will was silent, but his silence wasn't the silence of consent. Figgins could read the difference on his face.

"What is this really about, Will? If it isn't about your competition –"

"It's not about the competition." Will's voice could have frosted lava. "It's about... Have you been to see Kurt in the hospital?"

Principal Figgins shifted uncomfortably. "Of course not. I didn't think it appropriate –"

"I have. With the Glee kids. And when he's with them..." Will shook his head. "I mean, he's not the same kid anymore. Not like he was before... You can see it, the way his eyes dart around, the way he jumps at sudden noises, at shadows..."

"Which is exactly the point I'm making –"

"No. It isn't. Because when he's with his friends – when he's singing with the group, when he's a part of Glee – that's when you can see the old Kurt." Will sat forward, looked Figgins straight in the eye. "Glee is good for him right now, and I'm not letting you take it away from him."

"You don't have any choice. How many times do I have to tell you? Kurt will finish out the school year at home, with a private tutor –"

"Funded by the school?"

"Stop interrupting me!" Figgins' eyes had dodged over Will's shoulder again. "That will be... we'll discuss with his father... anyway, he'll be tutored at home at least through the end of the year. Next year, when his medical issues have resolved..."

"They're letting him out of the hospital in a few weeks..."

"When his medical issues have resolved, and when things have, uh, settled a bit here, then we'll reconsider. Perhaps. Until then, he'll have no formal association with McKinley High." Figgins fought for a kind smile, not too successfully. "You and your students can continue to – uh – rehearse with him, sing with him, meet in groups, whatever you feel is best..."

"But if he's not a part of McKinley, he's not a part of Glee."

"Not officially..."

"Then he can't take part in the after-school rehearsals. In any of our school performances. In sectionals –"

"So it is about the competition!"

"It's about Kurt!" Will's voice was rapidly turning ragged. Why was he still fighting about this, anyway? Figgins wasn't going to change his mind. This conversation was going nowhere. There was no way to make Figgins see...

Kurt's eyes sparkling out from a spectacular explosion of bruises smudged black and purple from his temple to his jaw, smile barely revealing the space where two teeth had been knocked out at the side of his mouth... Laughing with the Gleeks, dueling with Rachel for high notes, and the shadows were pushed to the back of his eyes for as long as the singing went on – How could you make someone see that unless they'd been there? How could you explain what it meant to rip the last shred of a normal, happy teenage life from a kid who'd been drop-kicked straight into the worst of what adulthood could ever bring to bear?

And he wouldn't care. That was what Will could see in Figgins' eyes now, reflected off opaque irises as he made a show of bending over some papers on his desk. Even if Figgins could see all of that, even if he could understand it, he wouldn't care.

Will got up and left the office.