Same warnings and same disclaimer for this chapter as for the previous one.
How To Save A Life – Chapter 2
"So let me get this straight. In order to get the job he was sent in for and get Luttman arrested, Kurt has to kill me?"
"Sort of, yes."
Blaine looked around the tiny kitchen of the safe house Sam and a colleague Blaine recognised from some DEA party – Wilfred, or something like that – had brought him to. He and Sam were seated at the table, enjoying take-out Chinese. Or at least, Sam was enjoying it while Blaine was merely picking at his food, anxiety and concern robbing him of his appetite.
"But what if Luttman finds out Kurt is actually a Special Agent and my fiancé? Can't you take him off the case?"
"I know." Sam sighed deeply. "Andy wanted to pull him out as soon as we heard them mention your name, but Kurt convinced him not to. He says he's gotten too close to turn back now and that we might not get a chance like this again."
"I get that, but he's taking an enormous risk here."
"He knew it would be dangerous when he went in, dude," Sam tried to reassure him. "It's part of the job."
"Damn it, Sam, do you think I don't know that?" Giving up all pretence of eating, Blaine shoved his chair back and started pacing. "I already worry enough with normal cases. But things are different now."
Sam just watched his friend's pacing without interrupting.
"Twenty years ago, my dad's and my testimonies were completely anonymous. Our names and faces were always kept a secret for our safety. And after the trial, we were given entirely new identities, just in case. But somehow, after twenty years, Luttman still managed to find us. So chances are he'll learn the truth about Kurt sooner or later."
Sam finally stood up, grabbed his friend by the shoulders, stopping him mid-pace, and looked him straight in the eyes.
"I know all of that. And so does Kurt. And, yes, the fact that you're involved makes this whole op even more dangerous than usual. But you have to trust Kurt. He knows what he's doing."
"I do trust him," Blaine replied softly. "I'm just... scared."
"I know. If it helps, Andy promised me he'll pull Kurt out at the first sign of trouble."
"Okay."
Blaine took a step back, removing himself from Sam's hands. He sat back down, ignoring the food in front of him, and rubbed his face tiredly.
"There's no way I can see him, is there?"
Sam shook his head.
"No, man, I'm sorry. We don't want to push our luck."
"What about a phone call? Can I at least talk to him?"
Sam studied him for a while, seeming to think it over.
"I'll have to ask Andy," he eventually conceded. "I can't make any promises, but I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you."
"Why don't you get some sleep in the meantime?" Sam suggested, taking in the signs of stress in Blaine's entire appearance. "I promise I'll wake you up as soon as anything changes."
Sam was expecting Blaine to put up a fight, but, instead, he simply nodded and trudged to his bedroom without another word. When Sam went to check on him fifteen minutes later, he was lying on top of the covers on the bed, staring absently at the wall in front of him. Sam quietly closed the door again, deciding it would be better to leave Blaine alone with his thoughts for a while.
Blaine jerked awake as he felt someone shaking him by the shoulder.
"Blaine! Wake up, man." When Blaine sat up, looking at the intruder blearily, Sam shoved a phone into his hand with a bright smile. "I've got someone here who'd like to talk to you."
Blaine accepted the phone while his mind was still trying to catch up after having slept for, apparently, hours.
"Hello?"
"Hey, sleepyhead."
"Kurt," Blaine breathed in relief.
"You okay, honey?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Sam brought me somewhere I'm supposed to be safe. Honestly, I have no idea where I am, but I'll just have to take his word for it. What about you? You're not at the apartment, are you?"
"No, no, of course not," Kurt reassured him. "Don't worry, I'm fine."
There was a small pause.
"I'm glad to hear your voice," Blaine eventually said.
"Me too. Remind me to thank Andy for allowing this."
"I will." Blaine briefly hesitated before ploughing on and asking the question he had wanted to ask since this whole mess had started.
"So, what happens now?"
"Well, there is a plan," Kurt said carefully, "but you'll have to ask Sam about that. We can't discuss that over the phone."
"Okay."
"But, if everything goes well, we'll have this case wrapped up in a few days, a week at most, and then we'll all be able to go home," he finished cheerfully.
Blaine, however, wasn't satisfied with the answer he got.
"And then what, Kurt?"
"What do you mean?"
"Are you sure we'll be safe once Luttman is in jail? Can we ever really be sure of that? We've seen how long his reach is. Apparently, he's already had my father killed–"
"We don't know that for certain."
"–and now he's after me. Who's to say he won't try and take revenge even when he's in prison? He's a powerful man; you know better than I do that he could pull it off."
"Blaine, sweetie, calm down," Kurt tried to cut in, but Blaine ignored him. He just wanted some answers before the uncertainty drove him insane.
"I don't want to change my identity, hell, my whole life again. What about my career? And what about yours?"
"Blaine, take a breath." Startled by the fierceness with which Kurt spoke, Blaine did as he was told. "Okay, now listen to me. If our plan works – and it will – no one will have any reason to come looking for you anymore, not even Luttman. I can't give any details over the phone, but you'll understand soon enough. Once this is over, we can go back to our normal life and we won't have to worry about Luttman anymore."
"Promise?"
"Yes, that's a promise. So stop worrying, okay? You're way too young to turn grey."
Blaine chuckled, the tension within him letting up a bit.
"Okay."
"Good. Listen, Blaine, I've got to go."
Kurt sounded as reluctant to hang up as Blaine felt. But he knew objecting would only make this harder for both of them and, especially now, Kurt needed to be on top of things and not have to worry about his fiancé.
"All right. Please be careful, Kurt. I can't lose you too."
"You won't. It'll be okay. We'll both be okay."
"I love you."
"I love you too. Take care of yourself for me, all right?"
"Sure."
By the time he finally pressed the red button on the phone, Blaine had a lump in his throat. He swallowed a few times and blinked repeatedly until he had his emotions somewhat back under control before he walked into the living room and handed the phone back to Sam.
"Kurt says there's a plan?" he asked hesitantly after clearing his throat. Thankfully, Sam said nothing about the roughness of his voice.
"Yes, there is." He patted the spot on the couch next to him. Blaine took the hint and sat down. "So, basically, we're going to kill you."
"What?"
"Well, not really, of course," Sam continued. "We're just going to make it seem like you've been murdered. It'll be just like acting, man, except that you won't even have to do much. Just leave all the work to us. By the time we're done, the world will be convinced that you're dead."
"Great. So how exactly are you going to accomplish that?"
Blaine listened attentively as his best friend laid out the details of how his untimely demise was going to be staged. By the time Blaine had finished questioning Sam about every tiny aspect of the plan, it was well past midnight and the night guards had already taken over. They both retired to their bedrooms, although no one involved got much sleep that night.
"Huh."
Blaine looked up from the papers he was once again correcting to see Sam standing behind him, looking over his shoulder at what he was doing.
"What?
"I guess Kurt was right then."
"About what?"
"You actually do talk to yourself when you're marking."
Blaine groaned in embarrassment.
"I can't believe Kurt told you about that."
Sam grinned cheerily.
It had been two days since Kurt had been hired as a hitman with Blaine as the target. During that time, the overall atmosphere in the safe house had been tense and grim. Sam, who had insisted to stay with Blaine until the situation was cleared up – a decision Andy had agreed to without too much argument –, had been trying his best to distract his friend from what was happening in the outside world. But he had been Blaine's best friend for long enough to know that the latter probably spent every second thinking – and worrying – about Kurt. To Sam's relief, today Blaine had decided to occupy himself by marking the papers he had brought, something he claimed could take his mind off of anything. He had woken up that morning determined not to let this bring him down and since then, he had not spent one moment brooding, at least not when Sam or any of the guards were there to witness it. Sam realised that Blaine was just trying to keep up appearances, as he always did when something was bothering him, but since he already knew what the problem was, he figured there was no use making Blaine talk about it.
"At least you can never get lonely that way," Sam said jokingly, hitting him lightly on the shoulder. "And I promise I'll pay you a visit if you ever end up in the loony bin."
Blaine cuffed him round the head with a grin of his own. It reminded both of them of the time they were still seniors in high school and everything had seemed so complicated, though so simple in retrospect.
"Hey, don't be embarrassed, man." Then continuing in a near perfect imitation of Kurt's voice: "I think it's adorable."
When Blaine's grin turned into a grimace, Sam immediately realised he had taken the joke too far. The last thing Blaine needed right now was to be reminded of Kurt when they hadn't seen or spoken to each other in days.
"Damn, I'm sorry, Blaine."
Blaine shook his head.
"It's okay, Sam. Don't worry about it." He managed a small smile. "In a way, it's really nice to hear his voice again, even if it's not actually his."
"Still, I shouldn't have done that. I'm really sorry."
"I know. It's fine."
"Anyway, now that I have your attention, I have some news."
Blaine looked at him expectantly.
"As of two minutes ago, you are officially dead."
"Oh." Although Blaine would never admit it, this information hit him harder than he thought it would, especially since he had been preparing for this since Sam had explained The Plan to him. "Great."
"Sorry. I know it sucks, dude, but think of it this way: You get to be one of the living dead and you don't even have to be a zombie for it!"
Blaine stared at him for a moment before snorting with laughter. Despite being thirty-one years old, Sam still managed to retain his quite unique – not to mention nerdy – sense of humour, which always managed to crack him up. And Blaine for one appreciated Sam's never-ending efforts to cheer him up, even in situations like this one.
"Thanks, I guess that is a plus." He sobered up when he thought of what this might mean. "So what happens next?"
"Kurt is going to contact Luttman tonight. And if Luttman doubts his word or the official reports, Kurt will show him the picture we made yesterday as proof."
Blaine looked down at the papers in front of him, remembering with dismay the photo Sam was referring to.
"Agent Evans? He's ready."
Sam looked up from where he was studying the camera function of the phone Kurt used when he was Mike Williams, drug dealer / hitman. Blaine squirmed uncomfortably as Sam's mouth fell open the moment he came into view. Blaine himself was very aware of the thick layer of make-up covering his forehead and the streaks of fake blood on his face.
"Sam, is this really necessary?"
The agent quickly shook himself out of his stupor.
"I'm afraid it is, bro. Luttman's probably going to want proof so we need this picture." Sam sent him a pitying smile. "Just... think of it as acting, okay? Pretend you're playing the body in an episode of NCIS."
Blaine looked around the room that was destined to become the crime scene. He wasn't sure exactly where they were, but it looked like a room in some abandoned building, a place dark and sinister enough to be certain that, hypothetically speaking, there would be no witnesses to a cold murder.
"Okay," Sam's voice pulled Blaine abruptly from his thoughts. "So, um, just lie down there, where I drew the X."
"X marks the spot."
"Exactly. Lie down on your back. You've been shot in the forehead so you normally fall backwards."
Sam went to stand in front of Blaine, pretending he was holding a gun and making a small 'bang' sound. Blaine lay down obediently, covering the X with his body.
"Good, now move your right arm a bit to the right," Sam directed, helping Blaine move his limbs into the right position.
"Perfect!" Sam exclaimed when Blaine was finally lying in a pose that he deemed believable but that was actually fairly uncomfortable on the hard floor. "Now relax. Let yourself go completely limp. Remember, you're dead so there's no strength left in your body."
"Thank you for the reminder," Blaine said sarcastically.
"Dead guys can't talk either, Blaine," Sam warned. "Except for zombies, maybe, but that's not really talking; it's more like grunting so that doesn't count."
"Just hurry up," Blaine muttered, rolling his eyes.
"All right, all right. Open your mouth a bit. No, that's too much. Okay, and now don't blink. You know, play dead."
Sam took several pictures with the phone and selected the best one afterwards. In total, the whole process took no more than thirty minutes – not including the time Blaine had spent being prepared. By the time Blaine got to see the picture, he was desperately longing for the chance to wash his face and his hair, which was dripping from the fake blood they had spread on the floor around his head.
"Wow," Sam mumbled appreciatively. "This looks great."
'Great' wasn't really the word Blaine had in mind when he finally saw the grainy photo. His thoughts went rather in the direction of 'creepy' and 'morbid'. Then, he imagined how Kurt would react. He shook the thought off, however, reminding himself that this was necessary and that Kurt would push his feelings on the matter away and do everything in his power to bring this to a good end. And therefore, Blaine needed to do the same. For Kurt.
Before you guys say it: after writing it, I realised a picture like that would probably be photoshopped or something, but I chose to keep it like this because it makes for much more drama and angst.
One more chapter to go and then the epilogue. I promise that the next chapter will feature more Kurt.