A/N: Thanks for the reviews and alerts! This is probably the last quickie update until next weekend. : )

Chapter Five

Kurt slumped back against the driver's seat of his Navigator in the parking lot outside Schue's apartment building. He and Finn left to get dinner but drove back and took turns looking up at his window with binoculars. Mr. Schuester wouldn't let them stay, but Kurt knew they couldn't just leave him there to fend for himself. He was really hoping that they were all right, and he and all of those people he looked up on the internet were just crazy. Being certifiable would be a lot better than the horrifyingly creepy alternative of them being stalked by Death.

Finn was laid out in the backseat, legs hanging off the side so he could fit. Kurt turned in his seat to look back at him, and Finn reached over grabbing his hand. He held it and stared up at the ceiling.

"Kinda weird stalking a teacher." He said.

"It's not stalking. It's protecting." It was also physically uncomfortable being cooped up in the car for so long. He passed the binoculars back to Finn and twisted back around, opening the door. "I'm going to stretch my legs."

He was a few paces from the car when he heard the back door open and close. He stopped and looked over at Finn jog up to him. He gave him a lopsided grin.

"I have more legs to stretch." He shrugged as he pulled the binoculars over his head and let them hang there, but Kurt knew Finn was worried about him. He was strong enough not to need a constant beam of support to hold him up, but Finn was the only one on his side. It wasn't something he took for granted, so he reached for his hand and started to walk around the apartment's radius amicably.

Will peered out of his blinds down at the sidewalk where Kurt and Finn were walking slowly hand-in-hand, bumping shoulders and talking. Finn leaned down a lot, but Will didn't think it was because it was necessary to hear whatever Kurt was telling him. Finn just liked being close to Kurt. He really wouldn't have pegged them as the Glee Club's steadiest couple when he first started gathering his group. Rachel had eyes on Finn back then, and Finn had eyes on Quinn and Rachel and every other girl he passed in the hallway regardless of skirt length or cup size. He was the school's quarterback, the All-American Jock, the affable and not too bright sports guy. He could have been prom king. And homecoming king. And dominated the senior superlatives that had to do with looks and popularity. But then Kurt happened.

Will thought he caught on to Finn's confusion before even he did. It was the way he looked at Kurt sometimes like he was trying to work something out, like it was hard to understand and giving him a headache, but he couldn't stop trying to put the pieces together. Like most other things, it took a little while, but Finn got it. And when he did he was surprisingly open about it. He and Kurt just walked into class holding hands one day, and that was that. Rachel was appalled and Puck didn't speak to him for a couple of months, which might have derailed any other friendship but didn't do any lasting damage to their's. Puck ended up apologizing to him out of the blue one day during rehearsals, Finn had smiled, and Puck had looked Kurt straight in the eyes and shook his hand.

After that, anyone who slushied Kurt got a punch to the gut or a knee to the groin from Puck. It was the cause of the bulk of his suspensions. Because Finn was 'Puck's boy', and if Finn liked guys, then Puck was Team Gay. Will kind of admired the Mohawk-ed delinquent. He and Finn didn't always make the best choices or catch onto things as quickly as the others, but once they got themselves sorted they had a way of making up for their mistakes with loyalty and a whole lot of heart.

He was glad Kurt had Finn and Finn had Puck, because soon the kids would be graduating soon. He wouldn't have as big a part in their lives anymore. For some, he knew, he wouldn't be a part of their lives at all. Kurt was going through something. Some mental breakdown after what happened at the zoo. Will couldn't wrap his mind around what actually did happened. All he knew was that the things Kurt was saying were impossible, and he would need somebody to be there for him. He was confident Finn would be that person, and he would be able to lean on Puck once he calmed down.

Others…well, others would probably keep him around a little longer. He sighed into the phone, and Rachel abruptly stopped her non-stop babbling over what happened at his apartment.

"Mr. Schue." She said after a moment. She grew tentative, a trait she rarely showed, and one she didn't show at all in the last half hour she talked his ear off nervously crying on-and-off about everything going on. Will wanted to help her, he did, but he had no idea how to tell his students to grieve when every thought of Emma tore him up and nearly broke him. "What if Kurt's right?"

"He's not." Will didn't hesitate, because he was sure.

"Okay." Another pause. "But what if he is?"

"Rachel…"

Her tentativeness switched to the even, superior tone he was much more accustomed to hearing. "Yes, it sounds crazy. And yes, I don't believe it. But part of me kind of does. Because Kurt knew what was going to happen at the zoo. He knew. And it wasn't women's or gay intuition. He knew exactly what was going to happen. And Finn says he knew Santana and Brittany were going to do what they did. Finn wouldn't lie, and Kurt believes it. He believes it enough to have called Karofsky of all people and manipulate him into coming to your apartment. I'm telling you I agree. You're right. He's clearly letting stress and grief play tricks with his mind. Okay." She said to try to quell any adverse reaction he might be having at her speech, but then recanted everything she just said. "But I think he could be right, and you might be next. Maybe you could come stay at my house. My dads wouldn't mind. They like you. They know how much you've helped me with my singing. You could sleep in the guest room. It's really nice. Daddy hired a decorator for it after Dad's mom stayed with us for Hanukkah and said it was hideously furnished."

Will huffed through his nose, but a small smile lifted his lips. He was tired and touched and maybe a little weirded out by the invitation. "Rachel, is that the real reason you've kept me on the phone for nearly an hour? You think a demon spirit of death is hunting me?"

A long very telling pause followed until finally she blurted. "Please just come stay with us! What would it hurt? It's not a High Holiday. You wouldn't have to listen to me sing in Hebrew like when you agreed to come to Seder dinner that time when my dads wanted to talk to you about the bumps in your journey to Broadway so they would know to keep me from making the same mistakes!"

"Rachel," he started firmly. "I'm fine. Nothing's going to happen to me. Watch Funny Girl to calm down and then go to sleep. You'll feel better in the morning."

"But-"

"Good night, Rachel." He hung up before she could launch herself into another full blown rant and set the phone down on the coffee table. The truth was, she drove him crazy, but he would miss her the most. She was driven and focused in a way he never was. She had all the talent she would ever need to accomplish her dreams. He was maybe a little jealous, but mostly he was incredibly proud to have taught her and looked forward to buying a ticket to her first Broadway show.

It felt suddenly very cool in the apartment, so he got up and went to the thermostat, nudging the temperature higher. When chills ran up his arms, he set off to get a sweater.

Kurt's legs were starting to feel jittery with nerves and fatigue. He suggested they head back to the car so he could sit and as they turned back around on the sidewalk, Finn tugged at his hand to get his attention.

"Do you believe in God now?" He asked and his eyes were narrowed with such earnest interest that Kurt didn't fire back with an immediate response. He looked forward again and contemplated the question.

A higher power certainly made sense. He didn't believe in super powers, that was for sure. Psychics, tarot cards…it was all hokum for the bored and deluded. But his vision and the feelings that had been plaguing him since then had to be coming from somewhere. Maybe it wasn't from a singular entity, a 'god', but if the universe was giving it to him then wasn't it kind of the same thing? Something much stronger, much more powerful and omniscient than sentient life. It was as good as God.

He shrugged a little. "I think…I might." It was weird to say, an odd thing to admit after being so adamant about his atheism before. But here they were.

Finn didn't seem on the verge of calling him a hypocrite or giving him an 'I-told-you-so' smirk, so Kurt didn't regret the confession. Finn just let go of his hand and wrapped his arm around his shoulders.

They were halfway back to the Navigator when he saw his dad's truck pulling up to the apartments and slowing down as it neared them. Kurt and Finn exchanged a look before redirecting their steps and walking toward his father.

Burt got out of the truck and stood by the door as he looked around to them. Carole was with him and got out of the truck too, giving them a wave before striding toward them.

"Give Carole the keys." Burt told Kurt.

He had a protest on his lips, but Carole was already extending her hand for them, so Kurt complied, slipping the keys into her palm. She smiled and turned back for the Navigator.

"Kurt, get in." Burt nodded his head toward the passenger side of the truck. "Finn, ride with your mother."

Kurt and Finn glanced up toward Mr. Schuester's apartment before meeting each other's eyes knowingly. Clearly Mr. Schuester had enough of being 'looked after' and called for reinforcements. Kurt sighed heavily, letting his shoulders slump as Finn pressed a quick 'good luck-sorry-see you soon' kiss to his lips before jogging off to climb in the Navigator with his mom.

Kurt made his way much more slowly to his father. His legs felt like they were going to sleep now, and he punched at them in annoyance after climbing in. He didn't have low blood pressure issues, so he needed to get his nerves under control before his body completely spazzed out on him. By the time they were on the road, though, they were completely asleep. He accepted defeat and reached for the radio in anticipation of the painful needles that would start up in his legs once the feeling began to return.

Burt stopped his hand before he could turn it on, though, and Kurt sat back. Great. Lecture time.

"Kurt." Burt released a slow exhale. "What's going on, buddy?"

Kurt looked toward him sharply. That wasn't the question or the tone he was expecting. 'What the hell were you thinking?' or 'Do you have any idea how inconvenient it is to have to come pick you up after working a long day at the shop?' would have been appropriate. Kurt could have squared his shoulders and answered with something snappy and equally irritated, but this was different and it was much more like his dad if he was honest with himself.

"I don't know." He answered quietly, and before he could stop himself he started spewing everything. The vision at the zoo that his father already sort of knew about, the bad feelings, the unnatural foreknowledge of what was going to happen to his friends on both occasions of tragedy, the meeting at Schuester's house, his belief that Mr. Schue was next. The 'It', the 'God', the fear of it all. By the time he was finished they were pulling up to the house.

Burt turned the ignition off and sat silently back in the driver's seat. A long minute drew out. Soon Carole pulled up behind them. She didn't look at them as she passed them sitting in the car and went to unlock the front door of the house. Finn slowed as he passed Kurt's window, though, and glanced inside the truck nervously. Kurt gave him a tiny smile to let him know he wasn't getting screamed at or grounded. Yet. Finn tapped the window with his fingertips briefly as he walked and Kurt touched his hand behind the glass, wishing he could really feel him. Soon, he and Carole disappeared into the house, and Kurt turned his attention to his father.

"Maybe it's your mother." The older Hummel said at long last.

Kurt did a double take in his direction. "I don't-I beg your pardon?"

Burt shifted uncomfortably in his seat, taking his hat off briefly to rub at his head. As he readjusted the cap on his head, he looked over at Kurt.

"Your mom, she used to say her palms got itchy before something bad happened. Like she could feel it coming. I told her she probably just needed to wash her hands." A sheepish smile lifted his lips, and Kurt furrowed his brow. Hearing about his mom always made him feel simultaneously warm and deeply sad. He never heard anything about psychic palm itchiness before. Burt took a minute to collect his thoughts before he started again.

"Look, Kurt, I don't know how much of this I really understand or how much of it I can believe. But any time your mom said her palms were itchy, I'd check the breaks and the air in the tires before I drove to work. I never took her 'feelings' for granted, and I won't do it with you. You're a good kid, Kurt. You're smart. And if you're telling me that something's going on, then I'm inclined to believe that something is going on."

Kurt stared at his father in awe. He thought he was afraid of rejection when he decided to come out to him. The past week he'd been sweating bullets thinking about what his dad would say if he confessed everything he was feeling to him. He heard the word 'crazy' run through his head a million times as he worked out scenarios in his head. 'I believe you' had never crossed his mind, and he realized regretfully that it was always him that was underestimating his father. Not the other way around.

Without thinking or worrying about spoiling the moment, Kurt lurched across the panel between them and hugged his father tightly.

"Thanks, Dad." He tried to convey how absolutely grateful he was for him in one word and couldn't help feeling like it was vastly insufficient. He owed his father more for his support than he could ever repay.

Burt pat his back and hugged him until Kurt was ready to let go. As they made their way out of the truck and over to the door, Burt offered to call Mr. Schuester to try to pass on his own warning. Kurt considered whether it would help as he struggled to get his sleeping legs to carry him to the door. As he reached the two steps leading to the door he tripped and went down with a shock. He scraped his wrist on the top step and looked down at his lower half in shock.

"Kurt, you okay?" Burt asked as he hurried over.

Kurt stared down, unable to stop gaping at himself. The heaviness was out of his limbs. They weren't just heavy with sleep anymore. He couldn't feel his legs at all. A cold wind cut over him, and he shivered against it. It was back.

The apartment wasn't warming up, and Will noticed Kurt's Navigator was finally gone from outside his apartment. Mr. Hummel must have come to get him and Finn. He felt a little guilty possibly getting them in trouble, but they were beginning to make him uneasy just staring up and waiting for something horrible to happen. Now that they were gone though he thought he would go for a walk and try to clear his head.

As he locked up his apartment, he looked over toward a loud noise and caught sight of one of his upstairs neighbors struggling up the landing to the next set of stairs up.

"Hey, Caleb." He waved over at him.

The man stopped huffing to look over at him. "Hey, Will. Can you believe the assholes on the road crew left this stuff lying around?" He indicated the chainsaw in his hands and the large bag he was struggling with presumably holding many other tools. "Way too late to drag this shit back to the worksite, but if I leave it in the back of my truck you just know that Jimmy kid downstairs is going to lift it just to mess with me. Fucking teenagers."

Caleb Winters would never make it as a high school teacher. In fact, he would probably rather fall down all the stairs while carrying that chainsaw over spending his days with kids. Will liked him anyway. He was always friendly-to adults-and was blue collar in a way that always impressed Will. He couldn't see himself working in the hot sun repairing roads or building things or whatever it was he really did outside all day. He was a man made for air conditioning, and Caleb was…a man.

Will waved with a smile and started down the stairs as Caleb continued up the next flight to his floor two stories up. As he reached the final step to the first floor landing, someone outside pushed the heavy doors to the building inward and a huge gust of freezing wind blew in and swept over him. Will stopped in his tracks in surprise as chills ran down his arms. It couldn't possibly be that cold outside.

"Whoa…whoa-whoa!" The muffled cries of Caleb wafted down from high above him, and Will lifted his head to see up the many floors of the squared, winding staircase. Caleb teetered against the edge of the banister and lost his grip on the things he was carrying. Will had time enough to gasp before it came hurtling down. The zipper broke and the bag fell open a flight down, sending sharp tools careening toward him. Will's shoe tipped off the final step in awkward surprise and he tripped backward, falling down flat.

"Mr. Schuester!" A high-pitched voice screamed.

Between breaths, strong hands clasped him under the arms and yanked him roughly backward. Before he could even blink, three saws and an assortment of hammers, nails, and drills crashed into the spot where his legs were moments earlier, the sharp ends piercing down into the floorboards. The business end of the chainsaw sliced into the floor where his chest had been, buzzing and swirling madly, having turned on somehow midway down. It bounced and spun over the floor as if searching for him as the motor kicked it around.

Will scrambled backward with the help of the person pulling him safely away. His jaw hung open in shock, and when he was a safe distance from the deadly tools, he turned to look at who had screamed for him and got him out of the way. The people who opened the door and sent in the cold breeze that initially stopped him in his tracks.

Rachel's eyes were huge as she stared at him and kept taking tiny steps farther and farther away from the jittering chainsaw. Puck let go of his arms and stepped back, a hard set to his face as his eyes flicked to Rachel and back to Will before landing and sticking on the chainsaw.

"Will!" Caleb hollered down . "Will, you okay?"

He held his hand over his heart and stared at his students. The fear in Rachel's eyes was so strong it sent his heart racing even harder in his chest. Puck was stiff at her side as he moved minutely closer to her.

"Will!"

He shook himself and glanced up toward his neighbor standing somewhere high and out of sight.

"Y-yeah!" He yelled up. "I'm…fine." He said much more quietly, because his heart was still pounding and he wasn't sure how true it was. Rachel was staring at him so hard that he stepped back and leaned against the wall, pressing his back against it and trying to get his heart to slow despite the continued roaring of the chainsaw several feet away. "Rach." Their earlier phone conversation ran through his head and he tried to fight against her argument still. "It's just a coincidence."

She straightened her back and looked him straight in the eye. "I convinced Noah to drive over here with me, because I was still worried. We were almost here when Kurt called me saying you weren't answering your phone. That he tripped on a step and couldn't feel his legs. That it meant something. About you." She turned her head and looked at the bottom of the staircase where the saws and chainsaw were cutting into the floor.

Will followed her eyes and slowly looked back at her, shoulders slumping. He sighed. "Can I still stay in your guest room?"