A month earlier

The odd thing about flying, Blaine noted as he attempted to gracefully land from his location in the clouds, had to be the pulling sensation that always seemed to be pulling him up, like the strings of a puppet. When he had tried to explain the sensation to his mother, she merely smiled and pulled him closer. "You see," she explained softly, the sweet sound barely reaching his ears, "Just remember, baby," she said, before pulling him closer into her embrace, "what comes up must come down. No matter what you want, it doesn't matter in the end."

As the rubber soles of his sneakers touched the tough asphalt in his backyard, he quickly checked his watch before gasping. It was currently five until two in the afternoon, and he explicitly promised Will and the rest of the crew that he would meet up with them at two to discuss the current matters at hand. Rushing inside, he threw open the door but ended up skidding to a stop.

There stood part of the crew of the New Directions, current crime fighting heroes, fully decked out in their matching uniforms. "Blaine," Rachel stood forward cheerfully, "We decided to meet you here because we've determined that you wouldn't be at the base in time, showing a lack of professionalism that I of course have—"

"Rachel, you shut your lopsided mouth before I deck ya." Santana hollered, snapping her fingers in the smaller girls face. "We are here for an important reason, of course." She finished, redirecting her attention to Blaine once more. "We have a mission for you. Especially for you." Her smile twisted into something dark.

"Santana," Finn began in what seemed to be an attempt at a warning note, before stopping and dropping it completely. Finn looked uncomfortable, squeezed between Quinn and Puck. Blaine could practically feel the tension between the three, silently noting to ask Mercedes about that later.

The last member of the group, Tina, stood forward with a manila envelope in her hands that was creased many times over, as if she had been holding on to it for a long time. "K-karofsky," She stuttered out, handing the envelope to Blaine, "has suddenly became active again. He has a n-new target— K-k-kurt Hummel." She continued, motioning for Blaine to open the envelope. He did so, spreading out the files inside onto the table. He noted what appeared to be a headshot, of a solemn young man. Blaine couldn't help but feel a twang in his chest at the photo. A few other photos were there, that seemed to be taken out of a family album.

"He's Finn's stepbrother," Rachel said, leaning forward and rubbing her hands together, obviously excited at knowing this trinket of information. "That's probably why Karofsky is targeting him. He probably wants to lure Finn in and absorb his powers!"

"Kurt," Finn began, obviously worried about this situation (And, a small voice in the back of Blaine's mind added in, the fact that Puck and Quinn obviously had some sort of… moment going on, unless he hadn't noticed the fact that their hands were almost entwined with one another). "He can heal and stuff, but he can't really do anything. Like, cuts and bruises."

Santana laughed, a harsh bark compared to her normal voice. "Blainey boy, here is the deal. You watch over Kurt, make sure Karofsky doesn't get to him before we get to Karofsky. Easy deal for you, okay?"

Blaine nodded, attention absorbed once more by the photos. The boy— Kurt, Blaine's mind supplied- was beautiful. Thick eyelashes framed large blue eyes, on a porcelain face complete with sharp cheek bones. The boy was lovely, Blaine couldn't argue. Santana leaned forward quickly, surprising Blaine. "Best part for you? He's about as homosexual as homosexuals homosexual." Her voice lowered to a sultry whisper, "So maybe you can lose that pesky virginity for once."

Blaine blushed bright red, the red blossoming all the way to the tips of his ears. Finn, who must have overheard, sent a warning glare in Blaine's way. A shrill ringing sound rang out from Rachel's pocket. She pulled out a small, metal device, and pursed her lips. "Something is going on, we have to go." The group began to filter out, nodding their goodbyes to Blaine.

Finn nodded, before reaching out a hand and latching it onto Blaine's shoulder. "Please, Blaine, keep him safe. His address is in the file— I told him you would come tomorrow around noon." His brow was uncharacteristically creased, the stress of the situation obviously manifesting. "With Burt and Carole gone, he's all that I have."

Blaine nodded solemnly. The rest had all filtered out by now, leaving only Finn and himself. Finn quickly leaned forward, catching Blaine in an unexpected hug. "Thank you so much." He whispered one last time, before running out after Rachel.

Blaine slumped against the counter, sparing the file one last glance.