"K-Kurt?"

Kurt couldn't believe his eyes. Blaine was here. He was alive! Blaine wasn't dead. He felt his heartbeat pulsing at a mile a minute as he drank in his boyfriend's presence. He'd been right all along when everyone else had doubted, although Kurt wasn't sure how his mental state was fairing. He took in Blaine's despondent form and felt his relief rapidly deflate into heartbreak. Although Blaine was alive, he'd been living in this miserable hell for over half a year.

It appeared that Mr. Lawrence hadn't been doing a number on him just physically, but also mentally. Blaine's eyes, usually full of love, laughter and life were now dull, downtrodden and defeated. His usual demeanor of commanding a room always intact and on point had been eradicated—now he was slumped over, chin pointed towards the ground as if he'd had his entire spirit drained and beaten down to nothing.

What really shook Kurt was the hair. Blaine's hair had always been neatly groomed with gel, not a strand out of place unless there was a dance number involved. He always allowed a little room for the curls to peak through, but not enough to have them loose. Kurt had seen him without gel, sure, but he'd never seen his hair this untamed. The curls had become long to almost chin length, it was obvious that they were still providing him with the standard hair trimming—but gone was the prep school look that he had sported for as long as Kurt had known him.

He looked a bit thinner than he ever had, Kurt silently wondered if they been feeding him properly-or was it just Blaine being stubborn? It could also have been stress induced that triggered the weight loss. Kurt was unsure of all these things, but whatever the case, Blaine didn't look healthy. He looked gaunt. He also noticed that Blaine's hands were bound reflecting his own tied hands, only Kurt's were with zip ties, Blaine's were handcuffed. He could see scarring around Blaine's wrists from either constant exposure to being cuffed tightly, or from trying to escape. He felt nauseous at the thought.

"Blaine…you're alive," Kurt breathed out stating the obvious, but he still had to say it out loud for it to sink in.

Blaine didn't respond, it could have been shock…but he almost looked afraid to. What had they done to him? He had been a little more on the reserved side, sure-but that stemmed from his background of being always the gentleman and appearing to have everything in control. He had always been more on guard probably from his history of bullying and The Sadie Hawkins Dance…but he had always had a goofy side, too.

Mr. Lawrence appeared to be holding onto him pretty tightly because Blaine began to squirm a little bit in obvious discomfort.

"Let him go, you're hurting him," Kurt commanded, glaring at Mr. Lawrence.

"You don't tell me what to do with my son, Kurt. I do with him what I please and right now, I think he deserves a little discomfort, don't you Blaine?"

Blaine didn't respond again, he hadn't removed his gaze from Kurt. His eyes were drinking Kurt in, piercing his soul, trying to re-learn everything that they hadn't seen in such a long time. He studied him as if Kurt was an illusion that could disappear at any moment. Instead of a response, Blaine just shook his head; not in defiance, but in shock.

"Answer me when I'm talking to you, Blaine!" Mr. Lawrence demanded, shaking Blaine slightly to get him to respond.

"W-what have I done?" Came the response. Quiet, but it was there and everyone heard it.

"Come again?" Mr. Lawrence asked, turning Blaine around to face him.

"Y-you took him…you b-brought him here…i-it's all m-my fault," Blaine stuttered out.

Blaine was stuttering? He never stuttered. Everything he always said was very clear and concise. Kurt couldn't believe his eyes or his ears as he listened to Blaine speak, it was like watching a completely different person. He resembled what Tina had sounded like during junior year when she faked her stutter, Kurt only wished that Blaine was faking it.

"I warned you what would happen if you defied me, Blaine. I told you that Kurt would become involved. You disobeyed and need to be punished," Mr. Lawrence spoke darkly.

Blaine stared back at Mr. Lawrence evidently distraught about what had been done. He brought his handcuffed hands to his mouth, shook his head again and began to chant, "No, no, no," under his breath.

Blaine had been threatened with Kurt's safety this whole time? These sickos not only terrified him with physical punishment, but they threatened his loved ones in order to get him to obey them? God knows what else they told him. Kurt needed to get Blaine out of here.

"I'm sorry, son, but you left me with no alternative," Mr. Lawrence announced, "sadly" and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"P-please…l-let him go…h-he's not a part of t-this—" Blaine trailed off. He grabbed at his curls and held them tightly as he looked to be silently wishing for it to be a nightmare. If he closed his eyes for long enough, he'd open them and Kurt wouldn't be there. Sadly, Kurt couldn't accommodate it...it was unfortunate reality.

"You're in no position for be asking for anything right now, kid," Mr. Lawrence chastised and made his way to the center of the room where Lenny now stood. "I understand that Kurt being here has had an effect on you, but I'm afraid we have other matters than Kurt's presence to deal with."

"P-please, i-it's me you w-want, n-not him..."

Mr. Lawrence leveled his gaze, "You are correct, you're the one I want and I have you. You are mine. I think it's time you had a lesson in remembering who you belong to, don't you? It'll keep my mind off of Kurt for the time being, but only if you accept what you have coming to you."

Blaine appeared to be trying to compose himself. He chewed at his lip for a moment and forced himself to nod.

"Well, let's get things going, then. Are you ready for another spanking, Blaine?" Mr. Lawrence inquired, sweetly.

Mr. Lawrence's faux sweet tone caused Kurt to cringe. It was so sickly sweet and fake that it set his teeth on edge.

"Don't touch him," Kurt challenged. He knew that Blaine had submitted to this punishment many times before, but now that he was here, he was going to fight for Blaine if it was the last thing that he ever did.

"Blaine's been a naughty boy and deserves to be punished, Kurt. He knows the rules and he broke them. He is aware of the consequences and will answer to them, won't you Blaine?" Mr. Lawrence asked Blaine with a hidden warning clear in his words.

"Yes," Came Blaine's reply. Soft but clear.

Kurt blinked in surprise. How could Blaine just accept it like that? He felt shocked at the lack of spirit in his boyfriend. The Blaine he knew would never have given up that quickly without a fight.

"No, Blaine! You can't just let him—"

"You heard him, Kurt. My son understands what he did wrong and is going to atone for his actions and you would be smart to learn from his obedience, you ungrateful little—"

"B-but you have to p-promise me something."

Mr. Lawrence was startled by being cut off and turned his attention to his "son."

"I'm sorry?" Mr. Lawrence questioned, quirking an eyebrow at Blaine.

"I-I will take my punishment with n-no complaint. I won't fight you in any way…i-if I promise to behave, you have to p-promise me you won't h-hurt Kurt. Promise me that, a-and I'll do whatever you want me to do. P-please," Blaine pleaded.

"So let's see if I have this correct. If I promise not to hurt Kurt, you'll take your spanking with no fuss? You'll do whatever I want you to do?" Mr. Lawrence inquired joyfully as if Christmas had come early.

Kurt felt his heart drop. Mr. Lawrence wasn't going to give in that easily, that Kurt knew. He wanted Blaine under his complete control and now was his opportunity to take it. Blaine was surrendering himself to Mr. Lawrence's bidding and that psychopath was going to take full advantage of that.

"Yes," Blaine responded with more confidence than he'd shown all night.

"If we're making a bargain then I'll be making my own terms," Mr. Lawrence stated confirming Kurt's suspicions and began to pace as he laid out conditions of his own. "First, you will behave and give all your energy to the video shoots—and you will take all of your spankings without complaint. Secondly, you will learn to be a good boy for Lenny and I. You've broken our trust and I want to see a well-behaved young man when I look at you. Thirdly and most importantly, you will come to terms with the fact that you are mine and you will never try to run away or disobey me in such a way again."

Video shoots? What the hell was he talking about? Kurt would have to make a mental note to ask what that was about later. In the meantime, he was staring wide eyed at Blaine waiting for him to fight back. Instead, Kurt's eyes met with Blaine's which were filled with determination to accept his fate. "I-if you p-promise not to h-hurt him, I will agree to all of th-that," Blaine promised as his gaze shifted back to Mr. Lawrence, awaiting the answer.

"Blaine, no! You can't let them-" Kurt yelled from the couch, and he would have yelled more, but was silenced as something rough was shoved into his mouth. It was foreign and something he had never personally experienced but happened to be aware of; a ball gag. He'd only ever seen these in those…suggestive movies that he and Blaine had watched together. They hadn't started that too long before Blaine had been abducted. It appeared Lenny had gone to get it somewhere during all these negotiations and wasted no time as he began to fasten the buckles to keep it in place. Mr. Lawrence flashed an appreciative glance to Lenny and reverted his focus back to his main concern.

"Then we have a deal." He grinned. "And I think this deal will be put into effect right now."

Blaine hadn't seen what had silenced Kurt as he was resigning to accept his fate. It happened quickly and there was nothing Kurt could do to stop it as Lenny stood guard next to him, holding him to the spot. Mr. Lawrence went over to the corner and grabbed a fancy and well-polished wooden chair and placed it into the center of the room. He took a seat and glanced over to Blaine evidently speaking to him with no words exchanged. As if there had been a conversation, Blaine understood perfectly and approached Mr. Lawrence and within seconds, was having his belt undone.

It was happening in front of his very eyes. What could Kurt do but watch? The gag was resting in between the roof of his mouth and his tongue, rendering him unable to shout out or attempt to draw the attention away from Blaine. He had wanted to delay this as long as possible, but he failed. Now Blaine was going to be hurt right in front of him and there was nothing he could do. He felt his stomach twist as bile filled the back of his throat. How could he be forced to watch Blaine go through this? He hadn't even had time to adjust to the fact that his boyfriend was here right in front of him and now he had to watch his worst fears be realized.

Mr. Lawrence undid the button of Blaine's jeans and to increase the tension, purposely lowered them slowly down to Blaine's knees. Blaine kept his gaze up towards the ceiling as this was happening, trying to keep himself as calm as possible in order to become the poster boy for obedience.

"You know the drill, Blaine. Bend over."

Blaine had been chewing his lip out of nerves, but obeyed by slowly lowering himself onto Mr. Lawrence's lap. It was obviously something he had mastered as his hands were still bound together by the handcuffs. He had used Mr. Lawrence's knee for balance as he placed one hand on it to help bend himself over, but it was done with such grace that it had obviously been learned from repetition. Of all the things Blaine was graceful at, Kurt didn't want the reminder that this would probably always be one of them. The very thought sickened him.

Mr. Lawrence grabbed at the waistband of Blaine's boxers and pulled them down to join his jeans at his knees. Kurt felt his cheeks warm from second hand embarrassment. Sure, he'd seen Blaine's ass before, but never in a situation like this. He'd forgotten how amazing it looked…when it wasn't covered in splotches of bruises that had obviously been put there by Lenny earlier.

"You did an excellent job, Lenny," Mr. Lawrence commended in awe echoing Kurt's thoughts as he rubbed his hand softly over the bruises causing Blaine to squirm ever so slightly and let out a tiny whimper of discomfort.

Kurt wanted to get up and punch the guy. He was touching Blaine where only he should have been allowed to touch; he felt his stomach twist in anger, possessiveness and a slight twinge of jealousy. He had been alone for so long hoping that his boyfriend wasn't dead and this sick bastard had had him all along, touching him where only Kurt should be allowed to. If the hatred hadn't already been unfathomable, he had reached that level now.

The first smack made Kurt nearly jump out of his skin. It came out of nowhere and it was so loud—he hadn't expected it to be so loud. Mr. Lawrence wasted no time in delivering the next swat which was even louder than the one that preceded it. He didn't even appear to be using full strength yet, which terrified Kurt. How far was he going to take this? Kurt's mouth was dry as he witnessed the first spanking he had ever seen in his life—and it wasn't pleasant. He couldn't believe this was happening. He finally got to see Blaine for the first time in over six months and now here he was watching him be spanked and there wasn't a thing he could do about it.

The pace was quickened as Mr. Lawrence spanked multiple times over the bruises with purpose, quickly turning Blaine's bottom a dark pink. It took hardly any time at all since he hadn't been spanked too long before Kurt had been brought here. Blaine let out a tiny whimper as a particularly hard swat landed on one of the larger bruises. Mr. Lawrence chuckled softly as he hit the spot again, causing not only another whimper, but a flinch from the pain.

Kurt felt his eyes begin to sting from tears of anger and despondence. Blaine was in pain…that was all that was registering within him. Mr. Lawrence was hurting his Blaine…and he wanted nothing more than to run up to Mr. Lawrence, break his offending hand, scoop Blaine up and run out the front door with him to safety, but unfortunately, this situation wasn't going to be that easy to escape from. One of the tears finally betrayed him and fell with a splash onto his lap as he watched his boyfriend continue to be severely punished.

Despite everything, Kurt was shocked by how well Blaine was holding it together, if it had been him, he would have been crying inconsolably from the pain…but his boyfriend had always been strong and willing to sacrifice his own safety to save others. That time he came to McKinley to stop Karofsky from bullying him quickly came to mind. Blaine had just met him and was willing to put himself into the line of fire and face his own fears from being bullied himself in order to protect Kurt. Now they had been through so much more and Kurt had been hoping he'd never have had to have seen how much further Blaine was stubbornly willing to go for him. The thought that Blaine was probably used to it by now didn't make him feel any better, either.

Mr. Lawrence kept on spanking until Blaine couldn't help but begin to struggle. His breathing was becoming erratic as he fought to maintain his composure. Mr. Lawrence noticed and in between swats, began to speak. "You are mine. No one else's, so let this be a reminder to you. You will never leave. You are where you belong and the sooner you come to terms with that, the better. Do you understand?"

Blaine who was still struggling to catch his breath didn't respond right away, so Mr. Lawrence gave him the hardest swat yet forcing Blaine to choke out, "Y-yes, sir."

"Good," Mr. Lawrence complimented as he resumed spanking at his faster pace. "Remember what will happen if you don't behave. You have Kurt's safety on the line and I won't hesitate to hurt him, so you better keep that behavior in check."

Blaine looked over to Kurt with the most defeated expression Kurt had ever seen in his life and he appeared to be whispering 'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry,' over and over again as his eyes seem to catch what was keeping Kurt silent. A particularly hard swat broke his eye contact with Kurt as his eyes squeezed shut with pain and he dropped his head back towards the floor.

Finally seeming satisfied, Mr. Lawrence smacked each cheek full strength and with that, he stopped and began to admire his handiwork. He rubbed a hand softly over the punished bottom in an attempt to calm Blaine down as the well spanked teen struggled to regain his breath.

"Well done, Blaine. You were such a good boy taking your spanking the way you did. I'm so very proud of you," Mr. Lawrence encouraged as he continued to rub Blaine's injured bottom. "You took your punishment like a man and it's all over. All is forgiven."

Mr. Lawrence kept Blaine over his lap and continued to rub for a few more minutes before he pulled his boxers back up, causing a hiss of pain in response.

"You're going to remember this lesson for a while I'm sure," Mr. Lawrence chuckled, as he helped Blaine stand up and fix his jeans back into place.

He took a step away from Mr. Lawrence and locked his gaze on Kurt. He looked from the gag to Kurt with a look of pure heartbreak. He appeared to have some experience with gags too, which unbelievably hurt Kurt even more. Was there anything they hadn't done to him?

"C-can you take that gag out of his mouth, p-please?" Blaine requested, not looking away from Kurt for a second.

Lenny, gaining approval from Mr. Lawrence did as Blaine requested. Kurt didn't even waste a second of being rendered able to speak again.

"Blaine, honey, I'm so sorry, are you OK? Of course you aren't OK, how could you ever be OK? Are you all right? Shit, I—"

It was only a glimpse and albeit very small, but the corners of Blaine's mouth up righted just slightly into what could have almost been a smile as he internally laughed at Kurt's rambling. The smile was gone as quickly as it came as the reality of the situation came back to him. The empty look in his eyes reappeared as he walked towards Kurt and grimaced in pain as he did so, but he pushed through it and made his way there. He carefully leaned down onto his knees so that he was now eye level with Kurt.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to these," Kurt managed to lightly joke as he gestured at Blaine's loose curls. He didn't know how he managed, but it probably stemmed from his nerves. He always made some off kilter jokes when he was nervous.

"I-I'm so sorry that you had to s-see that," Blaine began, pained. "I-I never wanted y-you to see that. I can't t-tell you how s-sorry I am that you're here. I-It's all my f-fault that you are and I deserved all of that n-not only for running away from w-where I belong…but also for p-putting you in danger and-and for n-not being the b-boyfriend you deserved. I-I'm sure you've m-moved on and are h-happier without me now. As you s-should be. I was never enough and n-never will be. I-I wasn't worth being l-loved or saved. Look what's happened. I-I got you kidnapped and I-I deserve all the c-consequences for that…I'm so sorry, Kurt."

Kurt stared at Blaine as if he were a Martian. Was he being serious right now? Was he truly believing the ludicrous words that were coming out of his mouth? If Blaine hadn't been abused, Kurt would have slapped him to get him to wake up. What had these two monsters been telling him to get him to think this way? Before he could get a word in edgewise to tell Blaine that everything he thought was wrong, Mr. Lawrence cleared his throat.

"I think that's enough catching up for today. Lenny, I want you to take Blaine back upstairs, please, then I want you to get the camera ready."

"No, please. I haven't seen him in over six months, please don't take him away," Kurt surprised himself by pleading. He was desperate. He needed to tell Blaine that everything he was thinking wasn't true. He had hardly had any time with him and the time that he did have was watching him be punished. He needed to spend time with Blaine and just be in his presence again. He wasn't ready to lose him again this soon.

He couldn't stand to see the empty look in Blaine's eyes, he had to fix it. He had to know that Kurt had missed him every single day and had never given up on him. Blaine thought Kurt had moved on and wasn't even worth being saved. He had no idea how wrong he was and Kurt had to prove that to him before the damage was irreversible.

Lenny strode over to Blaine and grabbed his arm, lifting him from the floor with ease. He pulled Blaine along behind him who was walking at a much slower pace seemingly distracted. He had been looking over his shoulder at Mr. Lawrence who had just taken an object from the closet. Whatever it was changed Blaine's whole demeanor instantly. The expression on his face showed nothing but one emotion: terror.

"M-Mr. Lawrence," Blaine called out, getting Lenny to stop dragging him out of the room. "W-what did you mean by 'get the camera r-ready'?"

Mr. Lawrence only responded with a "sad" smile. "It's nothing, Blaine."

Blaine shrugged out of Lenny's grasp and took a few steps back into the room. "W-what's going on, p-please?"

Mr. Lawrence sighed and maintained a level gaze with Blaine. "You know I can't resist those puppy dog, eyes, Blaine. I'm sorry to say that the punishment isn't over."

Blaine's eyes were wide with fear as he managed to stutter out, "W-what do you mean?"

"I wanted you to be upstairs during this," Mr. Lawrence admonished. "But I still have to punish Kurt."

Kurt knew this was coming, which didn't mean Kurt was calm about it by any means, but Blaine was another story. Blaine's face paled at Mr. Lawrence's words and he looked back and forth between them. "N-no Mr. Lawrence, you can't. W-what did he do that he could p-possibly deserve that? You p-promised that you wouldn't hurt him…you p-promised."

Kurt was beginning to feel a little nauseous. What was it that Mr. Lawrence took out of the closet that caused Blaine this much fear? Obviously he was going to get a spanking, but now he was sensing that he was going to be getting more than a hand spanking which he hadn't been OK with either, but it seemed easier than anything else. He had never been spanked; his father never believed in it, so it would be a new experience, albeit a terrifying one.

Oh God, his father. He had been so wrapped up in Blaine being here that he had forgotten about his family. How was his dad going to handle his disappearance? He had just had a heart attack last year, he didn't need this added stress. Hopefully having Carole there to help him would keep him safe. He also had Finn, but it didn't stop him from worrying any less. His father was stubborn and he couldn't help the painful twist in his stomach as he thought about his father's reaction to him being missing. He had to get home to them as soon as he thought of a way out of this situation. Currently, he had another problem to deal with: his impending punishment.

"That boyfriend of yours has quite the mouth on him, Blaine. He used some very ill-favored words at Lenny and I…and he needs to be punished for the back talk. I promised I wouldn't hurt him. I maintain that promise, Blaine, but a spanking is a completely different thing. There is a difference between willingly hurting someone and punishing them for their actions. I promised that I wouldn't hurt him, but I never said that he wouldn't be punished the same way as I punish you."

"B-but, you scared him," Blaine defended. "Kurt gets a bit snarky when he's scared…it's just a defense mechanism, Mr. Lawrence. P-please, he doesn't deserve that."

Mr. Lawrence didn't even take a moment to consider Blaine's words. "I'm sorry, Blaine but I truly believe that bad behavior warrants a spanking and believe me, Kurt's words defense mechanism or not earned him this. Now get upstairs, I won't ask again."

Lenny went to grab for his arm again, but Blaine managed to evade him as he took another couple of steps forward.

"Blaine," Mr. Lawrence warned, taking a few strides towards Blaine.

Blaine was shaking and paler than Kurt even thought possible. He wanted to know what was making Blaine react this way and he sat in disbelief and shock as soon as the words left Blaine's mouth.

"Mr. Lawrence…p-please…I'll t-take it for him. I-it's my f-fault he's here, s-so punish m-me instead, p-please. I'll t-take the caning."

After all of that, the angst still remains. O.O As well as another cliffhanger...lol. This was quite the chapter, eh? So much going on...and it appears that there shall be more. Gasp! So, what are our thoughts? I loved the reviews for Chapter 8, so I look very forward to reading your thoughts for chapter 9. :) Let's keep 'em coming, guys! You're all being very amazing and I'm very appreciative. Hope you all are having a great weekend! Leave those reviews and we'll see about getting chapter 10 up sooner than later.

- Jamie