Hamza realized how ridiculous it was to wait at the front gates after only an hour, but he couldn't contain himself any longer. He'd finished talking with David, gone to the computer lab to avoid running into Blaine beforehand, and written down the main points that he thought might get through to Blaine. It felt strangely cold-blooded to plot everything out on the computer screen, organizing and re-organizing points in the argument mapping software, when it was pleading for another person's freedom and perhaps his sanity, but he couldn't leave anything to chance. To the infinite mercy, yes, but not to chance. When that was done and he recognized that he'd only make himself frantic if he continued rereading it, he went to wait at the front gates, pacing back and forth to try to still some of his anxiety.

Finally, a car that didn't have a Dalton sticker pulled in and he peered at the driver who was presenting his identification to the security staff. It was a youngish man, by himself, and so Hamza ran up and leaned into the open window as the driver pulled further in.

"Mr. Schuester?" The man nodded and Hamza sighed in relief. "I'm Hamza." He held out his hand, which Mr. Schuester shook warmly.

"Kurt's mentioned you a few times, he says that you've been a good friend to him."

"I hope so. You can park in the lot to the left, that's visitor parking."

"Hop in." As Hamza did so, he noticed how old the car was and that it was in poor condition. So much of a contrast to Dalton's teachers.

"Tell me more about what happened," Mr. Schuester said as he pulled into an open space.

"Blaine is very...very amorous and possessive with Kurt. I think that he loves him, in his own way. David is another Warbler and one of Blaine's closest friends. His girlfriend, David's, I mean, whom he loved very much, broke up with him very brutally, in a way that humiliated him in front of his friends. Blaine...Blaine decided to give Kurt to David that night." He swallowed hard. "Fortunately, David saw, and actually cared, that Kurt wasn't willing. He was even rather shaken by what happened. It brought him face-to-face with the idea that he could have forced Kurt. He agreed that something had to be done. He wasn't going to ask Blaine to let Kurt go, but he agreed to tell Blaine to listen when we ask."

They had gotten out of the car and Hamza was leading them across the campus to the Warbler's room, where David had said that they would meet Blaine. Mr. Schuester stopped for a moment and looked seriously at Hamza. His eyes were troubled. "As much as I hate to say it, Kurt's found the situation, well, endurable. It's bad, but it could get much worse. If we interfere and it gets worse..."

Hamza understood him all too well. "If Blaine gets angry, he could make Kurt's life a living hell. Yes. I know. My imagination's been far too good at supplying me with details." He had hoped it wasn't a legitimate warning, the way that he had kept imagining the possibilities. Being in his dorm room every night, knowing that he'd soon hear Kurt crying out in pain as Blaine abused him, knowing that others were tuning out the sounds or wishing that Blaine would have the consideration to make Kurt quieter. Or less luridly, witnessing Kurt diminish further into a shell every day, losing his spark, his vividness, his pride. Hamza told himself yet again that he had an over-active imagination and that he couldn't let it sabotage him.

He met Mr. Schuester's eyes. "I don't think it's likely, though. Blaine's not sadistic. I don't think that he'd deliberately make Kurt miserable. And I think that David wouldn't let him be abusive, and Blaine does care about David." He sighed. "But if that's wrong...if Blaine is so possessive that he'd resent somebody even suggesting that he give Kurt up...I shouldn't be so scared but I am." Looking at Mr. Schuester's expression, he knew there was no easy reassurance, but the other man did put a tentative hand on his shoulder.

"I agree with you. Kurt's been guarded, most of the time, about what he says. But what he says about Blaine, and from the times that I've talked with Blaine, I don't think that he'd deliberately hurt Kurt. It seems as though he's blocking out the fact that what he's doing is hurting Kurt."

"That's what we have to do. Make him understand that and then hope that he does care enough to let him go home." They were at the music building where the Warblers had their room. Hamza quickly handed Mr. Schuester the printouts he'd made of the argument maps. "I thought outlining it would help. I don't want to forget anything." He watched anxiously as Mr. Schuester read them through, occasionally nodding.

"This fits what I was thinking. We'll have to improvise, too, of course, based on what Blaine says, how he reacts." Mr. Schuester smiled encouragingly at him. "I do think we've got a chance."

Will wished he could feel confident instead of just thinking confident thoughts. It was just as well that nobody wandered by singing "Whistle a happy tune" or "Don't worry, be happy," or "My favorite things," because he would have lost it. The music hall, with its wood paneling and old, probably valuable pictures, and immaculate and impeccable fixtures silently boasted of the privilege and power that Dalton and its students wielded. It was secure and casually arrogant, reminding him that they were going to ask somebody to give up a treasured privilege and power.

He remembered David, who got up to meet them. "It's a pleasure to see you again," he said, shaking hands with Will. Will did see exhaustion and more than a little redness in his eyes.

"Thank you for what you're doing for Kurt."

David seemed uneasy. "He's a good kid. But I'm only going to encourage Blaine to do what he thinks is right." Will nodded silently and David added, "He'll be here in just a few minutes. I told him that you want to talk to him and that I agreed that you have something to say."

They sat to wait and after about five minutes, Blaine came in. Will scrutinized him as best he could. Blaine still exuded confidence and charm as he greeted them, looking politely receptive, and he smiled as if acknowledging the awkwardness in the room. "David, you said that you wanted us to meet?"

"First, Blaine, I do appreciate what you meant to do by sending Kurt to me last night. It was a huge gesture."

"And I can hear the 'but.' I can guess what's coming, because I've been thinking about it quite a bit. I admit that it was very abrupt for Kurt and that he had no idea that it was even a possibility." Blaine was leaning forward earnestly. "I knew that you'd be very careful with him and treat him like I would, but he didn't know that. I am going to explain it to him and find a way to make it up to him."

Will wasn't sure what to say, whether he should start or wait for David or Hamza to say something first. David leaned forward, mirroring Blaine's position. "Blaine, it was worse than you think for him." Blaine frowned in what looked like alarm and concern. "I did start with him. He was staring straight ahead like he was in shock and when I started to touch him, he was shaking. He wasn't just nervous, he was absolutely hating being there and waiting for me to have sex with him. It would have felt like rape. To both of us."

At least Blaine's smooth surface cracked. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly. Regaining his composure, he said, ruefully, "I hadn't realized. I really have to make it up to him."

Will was ready to say something when Hamza jumped in. "Blaine...he needs more than that from you now. Kurt needs you to let him go. To give him his freedom back and let him go home."

Will felt a sudden misery pass through him as Blaine turned to stare at Hamza incredulously. "Are you out of your mind?" He even laughed in quick derision. "He wasn't safe there, he wasn't happy there, and he wasn't building anything of a future there." Will was about to speak but Blaine turned to him. "With all due respect, you weren't able to keep him safe at all. When he was bullied there, you didn't seem to be able to stop it. Here, when one of your bullies came after him, people and the campus security immediately protected him."

"That's changed," Will immediately protested. "He'd be safe there now. Karofsky's gone, and his friends know that Kurt is off-limits now."

"Even if he's physically safe now, would the culture there accept him? Would he be 'the gay kid?' Or would he be Kurt, who is many things, including gay?" Blaine was on his feet, pointing at Will accusingly.

Hamza spoke up before Will could, which was fortunate. He knew that he didn't have a good answer to that question. "Blaine, we know things were bad for him there, nobody would deny it. But it's not good for him here, either." He paused. "Even if he would be 'the gay kid,' he wouldn't be 'the Warblers' trophy.'" He sighed. "Blaine, last night you gave him away like a favorite toy you wanted to share. You turned him into an object for somebody else to use. What if David had had a few drinks to calm down and didn't notice that Kurt was so reluctant? Or Kurt not wanting him made him angry? If David ever had a reason not to be himself, it was last night."

Will added swiftly, before Blaine could get in the point that nothing had happened, "Just having to face what could have happened to him would have been a trauma for Kurt. Just having to be afraid. Kurt's a strong kid, but he's gone through so much lately." He saw a flicker of acknowledgment cross Blaine's face and pressed the point. "Everybody has their breaking point, Blaine. That could have been Kurt's," he added, very gently. He didn't want Blaine to feel too much attacked or on the defensive.

Blaine sat again and Will tried to read the gesture. "I do understand that. In hindsight, I went about it entirely the wrong way. But one mistake is hardly a reason to toss Kurt back."

"Even if this wasn't his breaking point, Blaine, this..experience is still changing Kurt. He's...he's warier than before, he's more guarded." Will caught another uneasy expression flicker across Blaine's face. "He's censoring himself in a way he never did at McKinley. And it's because he knows that here, he doesn't have the option to leave or to fight. You're the one who can dictate what his life is like. Even if you're being nothing but kind to him, he knows that all the options are yours, not his."

Hamza added, quietly, "He hasn't even dared to cry in front of you."

Will heard Blaine's sudden intake of breath. "But he did. Last night."

"Then last night was a breaking point after all." Hamza was speaking urgently. "And he learned that when he did break, you still made him follow orders that he hated." Will stared as Hamza leaned forward to touch Blaine's hand. "Do you really think that he'll not be afraid of returning to your bed?"

Blaine jerked his hand away and stood up. "He's mine." His eyes and stance were defiant, though, rather than as fully confident as before. "He's mine and I love him."

Will saw David just barely shaking his head, from the corner of his eye. He didn't know if it was a warning, denial, sadness, or something else. Hamza stood up to face Blaine, but staying about two feet away. "You love him, yes. He does belong to you now. But what is your love doing to him? He's living with you as your possession. Blaine, what you can do will change his life. You can keep him and hope that he's not going to be hurt. He knows that in the eyes of the law and everybody who accepts that law that he's just an object. Or, Blaine, please listen to me, you can give him back his freedom. Think of it, he'll remember you for the rest of his life, no matter what you decide. You love him. Do you want him to remember you as the one who owned him for four months, treating him kindly but keeping him as a possession? Or do you want him to think of you as somebody who was unbelievably generous to him? As somebody who sacrificed his own love and his own wishes to give back his freedom?"

Blaine's face had gone white. He took two steps backwards, standing against the sofa. Will caught a glimpse of David, watching in concerned silence, but one hand reaching out to Blaine, seemingly unconsciously. Hamza continued. "If you do that for him, he'll truly understand that you love him. He'll remember you as the one who thought his happiness and his peace of mind was worth that kind of pain on your part."

"Stop. Don't ask me to do that. Don't ask me." Blaine was whispering, his eyes whipping from Hamza to Will to David.

"We are asking," Will said. "You're the only one who can do this for Kurt."

Blaine thrust his hands out, low, in what was almost a gesture of pleading. "But he's safe here. And I love him. I don't want to lose him. Not so early. Not now."

A motion to the side caught Will's attention. David had gotten up and moved to stand next to Blaine. "If you do, if you do give him up, we'll all be here for you, all the Warblers. You won't have to be alone without him."

"David!" Will had never thought he would, but he felt a quick pang for Blaine, who in that moment, sounded lost and desperate. "David, you aren't asking me to give him up, are you?"

David put his hand on Blaine's shoulder, ignoring the others. "I'm not going to ask you to do anything except what you think is right. It's your decision, you have to live with it. But you won't have to live with it alone."

Tears were starting to creep down Blaine's face. He looked at Hamza, who was watching him with a steady but almost tender gaze, and then at Will, as if he was on trial and asking for clemency. "I...I don't think that I can."

"But what you'll have, you can always hang on to, is knowing that no matter how much pain you're in, it's for Kurt. If you wait, if you keep him the full time, you'll be in pain then, too, but you won't have that to know." Hamza had walked slowly towards Blaine while saying this and stopped within arm's length of him. "Be generous to him, Blaine, and you and he will both have that to remember."

Blaine shuddered and whispered, "All right," burying his face on David's shoulder as the other boy wrapped his arms around Blaine. "All right." After a long silence, he raised his head again to look at them. "But...but I want two things."

Will felt his heart freeze at that, just as he'd finally allowed the relief to penetrate him. "What are they?"

"I...I don't want to see him...I couldn't."

Will nodded, murmuring, "Of course. You don't have to."

"And I want him to keep everything. I...can he just take everything and go?"

Hamza almost reached out to touch Blaine's back as he burrowed again into David's embrace, but let his hand drop at David's silent headshake. "Of course. We'll take care of everything." Will saw that David's eyes were full of tears, too, whether for Blaine or for his own recent grief, as he gently lowered himself and Blaine to the couch where he silently cradled his weeping friend.

Will felt his legs shaking as Hamza, looking as if he was still in shock, said, "Kurt will be in David's room." He drew a deep breath. "I hardly can believe that it happened. I prayed, of course, but...I wasn't expecting the answer to be this."

Will didn't think he could even answer. Hamza led the way to the dorm and knocked on the door. Kurt came to it, "Mr. Schue? Hamza? What's...what's going on?" he demanded, looking panicked.

"Kurt," Will breathed. "You're coming home."

"What? What do you mean?" Kurt looked more rather than less nervous.

"Blaine agreed to let you go."

"For how long?" Kurt still looked suspicious.

"Permanently," Hamza said as Will opened his mouth and nothing came out. "He agreed to give you up. For good."

"What?" Kurt turned away for a moment. "I...I don't understand, what happened, is this for real?"

"It is," Will reassured him, himself finding reassurance in hearing it out loud. "We talked to him and he agreed."

Kurt's eyes were round and unbelievably young-looking. "When? How?"

"Blaine told me what he'd done and I came here to make sure you were all right. You were still sound asleep, but David was up. He was pretty disturbed by what had happened so he agreed to ask Blaine to listen to Mr. Schuester and me." Hamza lightly gripped Kurt's forearm. "Kurt, in his own way, he really does love you. That was why he agreed to let you go home, even though he is...he's very unhappy to lose you now."

"I, I still can't believe it."

"He did ask two things. He doesn't think he could stand seeing you before you leave, and he wants you to take everything with you. I know that's not something you want to do, but it's something he needs now." Kurt nodded at Hamza's urging. "We'll go with you and pack up."

Kurt seemed finally to take it in and grabbed Hamza in a fierce hug. He looked at Will who came over and joined them. Kurt was wiping his eyes and Will couldn't help but think for a moment of Blaine crying as David held him.

Kurt was still in a state of shock, despite what the brisk packing and Mr. Schue's and Hamza's additional details were telling him. He grimaced a little at the pile of clothing, shoes, and accessories on the bed. It certainly hadn't all fit in the suitcase and he put it into a large garbage bag that Hamza had brought. I must still be in shock because I just put Armani into a black garbage bag. And I didn't even tell him that putting couture in a garbage bag is absolute blasphemy.

Every time he caught Mr. Schue's or Hamza's face, they exchanged smiles. Kurt felt himself slowly acclimating to the idea and becoming happy, as though his happiness and relief was some kind of slow-dissolving lump that yet had to circulate into his system. Each smile made it more real.

"Are you sure this is everything?" Hamza asked anxiously. Kurt slowly swept the room with a gaze.

"It really is."

Hamza gestured to the door. "Then perhaps, just in case he comes here..."

Mr. Shuester said, "I'll go get the car."

Kurt looked up at Hamza. "I...I don't know how to thank you enough."

"There's no need." Hamza put an arm around his shoulders. "I will miss you, though, Kurt Hummel."

"You aren't getting away from me that easily. I've told Mercedes all about you and she is distinctly interested."

Hamza laughed and then looked serious again. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Do you really want somebody around who's going to be a constant reminder?"

"I want you around, and what's more important, I think you and Mercedes would be great together."

"I can't fight the siren call of the woman of my dreams," Hamza sighed. Kurt heard a little shakiness still in his friend's voice, despite the light turn the conversation had taken.

"Here's Mr. Schue." He and Hamza threw the suitcase and garbage bags into the trunk as Mr. Schuester got out.

"Goodbye, Hamza, and thank you," Mr. Schue said, gripping his hand. Kurt was next with a long, mutually comforting hug before he got into the car. He waved as the car pulled away, and then watched as each part of the campus left his sight. Once the car was outside the gates, he looked at the Glee director.

"Home. I'm actually going home," he murmured and Mr. Schue grinned at him as he turned onto the highway.

Epilogue of sorts

Sue Sylvester bought the Hummel house as overflow storage for her cheerleading mementos collection, as she put it, though she never got around to moving any of them over there. Kurt kept his room in the basement.

Principal Figgins was terminated for his inability to keep the media from embarrassing the school and the board. His compliance with the board's order was commendable but his failure to avoid the embarassment to the board was inexcusable.

Will learned to live with Sue's new art collection of pictures of Samson and Delilah. She told him not to worry about them since there was no way that he was that muscular yet and that his hair gel probably has so penetrated every follicle to the extent that scissors would slide right off.

Hamza and Mercedes got along just fine, thank you. Kurt refers to his photographs of the couple as The Diabetes Collection.

Hamza still hides behind furniture any and every time he sees Sue. He sometimes calls her the "woman of my very scary dreams."

If Kurt ever made any guesses about the origins of community foundation scholarships that he received or the refunds from the hospital for Burt's treatments, he kept them to himself.

AN:

This was a long one! Sorry about the delays-it took me a while to figure out that I was doing every single segment from the wrong person's point of view. :-0

Thanks again for reading and for all the reviews. This was a real exploration for me and it was good to have company along the way.