AN: Hi! Early update because it's my birthday, and I'm also really excited about this chapter! :) Thank you for the reviews and follows! Hope you enjoy and say hi on tumblr, slytherindestiel Short AN at the end too.
Chapter Twenty-One
Blaine's day started simple enough, a coffee, a bagel and cream cheese, and a perusal of his emails. Except it wasn't actually morning anymore, it was well past noon when he woke up, but him and Nick had been reviewing the videos until four in the morning. Last night had been weird, Nick had actually gotten a little more hurt than he'd said, but it was only bruises, nothing was broken, so he wasn't overly worried. Blaine had suggested they wait to do anything, but Nick was insistent, said they really couldn't put it off much longer. Which Blaine did agree with, he just felt bad about it.
The goal for this afternoon, was for Nick and him to go over the plan they had made last night, then Lauren, Puck, and the other guy, Blaine had never gotten a name, were coming over and they would go over it again. The plan wasn't very good actually, Nick thought it was brilliant, but Blaine thought it was going to be a lot of improvisation, so he was worried. Blaine just hoped everything went smoothly and they were actually able to retrieve the hard-drive. He also had that worry that nothing would even be on it anymore, and all of this would be just for nothing.
Blaine finished his bagel, put the dishes in the sink and went to wake up Nick. Everyone was going to be showing up within the next hour or so, and he wanted Nick to at least be awake for that. It wasn't hard to wake him this time, as soon as Blaine touched him, Nick shot up straight and grabbed Blaine's arm, like he was keeping Blaine from hitting him.
"Um, Nick, you wanna let go?" Blaine asked, looking at his arm in Nick's hand.
"Oh, sorry." Nick said, dropping Blaine's arm in the process. "Just worked up I guess, anxious about today."
Blaine nodded, though he was surprised Nick d reacted that quickly, he understood the nerves. "It's fine, though I gotta say your reaction was a lot better that time."
Nick gave a smile that was more of a grimace, clearly too worried to actually joke today. "Yeah."
Blaine gave him a soft smile in sympathy. "Go have a shower and eat something, they'll be here in an hour or so."
Nick nodded and got off the couch, made his way towards the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Blaine sighed, he felt bad for Nick, this was his make-or-break, and he wasn't even sure what Nick was planning to do if this didn't pan out for him. Actually he wasn't even sure what Nick was doing if it did, he'd have to ask about that one.
Blaine went upstairs to get dressed, and to maybe talk to Kurt, he wanted to hear his voice, but he didn't want to bother him either. Maybe he could just send a text to see if he was too busy to talk, that way he wouldn't have to make the decision himself. Blaine got up the stairs and went to his dresser; he'd just wear some black jeans and a black t-shirt today, no need to dress up, so he pulled those out. He put the clothes on and then went and got his phone from the side table and unplugged it from the charger.
He pulled up Kurt's thread in his text messages and sent him one. Good afternoon :) I was wondering if we could talk if you weren't too busy right now. –Blaine
Message sent, he put his phone in his pocket and went downstairs, if Kurt couldn't talk then he'd go over the videos again until Nick was out of the shower. He did that for about five minutes then his phone rang, it was Kurt.
"Hi Kurt, I'm glad you were able to call."
"Of course, was there anything you needed? Or did you just want to talk."
"Not really, I wanted to hear your voice, but nothing urgent is happening." Blaine said he hardly ever kept anything back from Kurt, even if it was embarrassing.
Kurt giggled. "That's so sweet of you." Blaine could feel his skin heat up from that, but it was okay. "So what are you doing today?" His tone a little wary, knowing what might happen today.
"We are doing that today; do you want to know all the details?"
Kurt sighed through the line. "I don't really know, but um what are you doing, specifically?"
"So far, and I say so far because we haven't gone over it with the other people yet, but I'm basically going to be sitting in the van and just waiting till they come out."
"So are you like the get-away driver or something?"
Blaine shrugged. "No, my other friend is, I'm just waiting in the back and talking to them through the ear pieces."
Kurt hummed. "This sounds a lot more real now, but that isn't too bad at least."
"Yeah, it's not." Blaine frowned to himself, feeling bad about putting Kurt through this stress. "I'm sorry though, Kurt. I didn't know this would happen, and I promise not to do anything without telling you."
"I know, it's just I can't help but be worried. Blaine, its fine, well not fine, but I get it, and I don't blame you."
Blaine sighed in relief, internally he knew Kurt understood, but he still felt so guilty for doing this to him. "Okay, I'll let you know if anything changes though."
"Good. Is that all you're doing today?"
"Pretty much, Nick and I stayed up late looking over the video footage, and then made a plan. Everyone is coming over soon to go over everything, and set up contingency plans. What about you?"
"No changing the subject. When are you going?" Kurt said, almost harshly.
"Sorry, just was curious, and about seven, that's when it looked the calmest." Blaine replied nervously.
"Oh, shit Blaine, I'm not trying to be pushy, or demanding I'm sorry. Actually it might be better if we talk about something else, it's hard for me to talk about this, and not imagine you hurt or worse."
"Its fine Kurt, really, I know you don't mean it."
"Still I shouldn't just say stuff like that, it's rude, and I'm so sorry Blaine. But about my day, funny thing, but I'm going golfing with my parents at two."
Blaine laughed, remembering their conversation about golfing clothes. "That's great! Did you go buy new clothes?"
"Maybe." Kurt said shyly.
"Come on Kurt; don't be embarrassed, I would totally buy new clothes even if it was just for a day. You guys could make it a thing though, every time you visit, you could go family golfing!"
Kurt laughed. "I can totally see that happening actually. Oh and we could get you clothes too! Just like we talked about, I have no clue if I'll even be able to play but it'll be fun no less."
Blaine cleared his throat nervously thinking about why on earth would he need golfing clothes too. "What do you mean we can get me clothes too?"
"Oh! I should probably ask you about doing stuff with my parents after you actually meet them." Kurt said sheepishly.
"Yes, um you want me to meet your parents?"
"Of course I do! I've basically been talking about you non-stop since I've been here, so my dad said next time you visit your family you could come down here too. That is if you wanted to do that, I don't want to push you or anything."
"I'm just surprised you want me to meet them already is all, I mean, is it not too soon?" Blaine asked, because he knew that his parents would think it weird. Actually as much as he loved them, they were a little hard to get to know, at least to other people. Though Cooper, that would be so easy, he loved everyone.
"I suppose it might be a little, but I'm talking about around Thanksgiving, so that's almost two months still. That's not too bad, is it?"
"No, that's not, I would love to meet them, really I was just thinking about mine."
"Oh, are yours traditional?" Kurt asked, saying traditional like it was a curse.
"No, just, well actually, both of my parents are kind of shy. It's a wonder how they have two kids like me and Cooper."
"Oh you've never mentioned a Cooper?" Kurt asked intrigued.
"Cooper is my older brother, by six years. He lives in LA, so I don't see him very often except during the holidays. He's an actor, though not a very good one, but he loves it and makes enough for a living."
Kurt laughed lightly. "That's so interesting, what about your parent's; I realize we haven't really talked about them much."
"Well, my mom is a Pilates instructor; she's made a couple of videos and has a class at the local gym. My dad, he came from old money, I guess you could say, he's a lawyer, but since my grandparents are still alive, he doesn't control anything yet."
"Oh wow, old money? No wonder you can be such a gentleman."
Blaine laughed. "I suppose, but my family is very low-key, dad said he may sell the company."
"Well this is interesting, sometimes I feel like we could have a TV show about your life, and I be the gorgeous love-interest!" Kurt said dramatically.
"It would have the best ratings, if only because people would watch just to stare at you."
"Blaine, you're such a flatterer. Tell me more though." Kurt insisted.
"Okay, well my dad didn't pressure Cooper into going into law like my grandfather wanted, nor me, he was just happy with whatever we wanted to do. Obviously my grandfather took issue with that, said that he'd just give the company over to my uncle, who is a lawyer, but also not a very good one. My dad usually just let's my grandfather rant, but in the end he knows he won't actually do anything, because my uncle really hasn't a clue how to run a firm."
"Blaine, I want to watch this show!" Kurt whined.
Blaine giggled. "I'm sure it'd be entertaining, hey I could show you our family tree book if you wanted?"
"Yes! That'd be fantastic, where is your family from anyway?"
"Italy…" Blaine was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Oh Kurt I think they're here now, I'll let you go, if that's alright?" Blaine said walking towards the door.
"Oh, well okay, just be sure to let me know if anything changes. And be careful okay?"
"Okay." Blaine opened the front door then, it was Lauren and Puck, and he motioned them in.
"Right, well, I guess bye for now, and just I, stay safe."
Blaine smiled. "Of course, bye Kurt."
Blaine's heart clinched in his chest, he almost wished they had been dating longer, because he had the strongest urge to just say 'I love you' to Kurt. But it was too soon, wasn't it? Clearing his thoughts, Blaine turned to his guests.
"Hey guys, Nick's in the shower right now, drinks?" Blaine asked. Lauren was sitting on the couch, making herself at home. Puck was looking around the place, picking up trinkets and sitting them back down.
"Naw, I'm good man." Puck said.
"Got any beer?" Lauren asked.
"No, even if I did I wouldn't give it to you, we have things we need to do, things that require you being sober." Blaine told her pointedly.
Lauren pouted. "Well, if you gotta be all serious, then fine. What's the plan?"
Blaine walked over to the couch and sat down beside her, pulling Nick's laptop towards him and opening it up. "Okay, well first off, Lauren you are driving, and Puck, Nick and what's that other guy's name?"
"Josh, I haven't heard from him since last night, but he knows to come here though." Puck answered, turning briefly from the picture he was looking at.
Blaine frowned, not liking that he hadn't shown up on time. "Okay, well I guess we can just inform him afterwards?"
Lauren shrugged. "Sure."
Blaine nodded to her.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Puck asked.
"Well I'll be talking to you guys, letting you know what's going on with everything. Plus I need to stay in the van so that I can work on the hard-drive."
"Yeah but that's after we get it, what about before? And didn't you take down those cameras?" Puck questioned.
"We did, but we've hacked into the inside cameras, those are the ones we were worried about. You guys need someone going over that."
"Why can't Lauren do that though?" Puck asked, demanded.
"Because she has to drive…" Blaine said nervously, looking at Lauren.
"Puck, shut up, he's right. I can't do both, not if you guys need out fast, quit being a dick." Lauren said, telling Puck off.
He huffed. "Whatever."
Nick came out of the bathroom then, dressed in the same style as Blaine, though really that was Nick's normal style anyways. "Hey, we already started?"
Blaine nodded. "Yeah, Nick this is Lauren and Puck, guys this is Nick."
"When are we getting paid?" Puck asked.
Lauren rolled her eyes. "When you finish the job, dumbass."
"What about that half up-front shit? That's on the movies all the time."
"Yeah, pretty sure we aren't actually in a movie right now." Lauren told him.
He just shrugged his shoulders and then sat on the couch. "Fine, figured I'd try at least."
Blaine watched him for a moment before turning to Nick. "Did you want to say anything?"
Nick looked at Blaine with panic in his eyes, shaking his head. Blaine sighed, he hoped to god Nick would feel better about everything before they actually did anything, because if he was still this nervous they were so fucked.
For the next few hours they discussed plans. What would happen when they first got in, what entrance they were planning to use and which exit. What would happen if someone was hurt, hopefully that wouldn't be necessary. Where the van was going to be parked, how long they would wait for each other, though there was an argument about that one.
"Obviously, we just need to leave after like ten minutes." Puck said firmly.
"No, are you crazy? We wait for everyone! No time limit." Blaine said furiously.
"Blaine you can't just wait forever!" Lauren put in.
"Why not?"
"Because what if, say Puck was already dead, we just wait on a dead guy?"
"Well, we'd know." Blaine stated.
"Why do I have to be dead?"
"How?" Lauren asked, ignoring Puck.
"From the cameras." Blaine said, like it was obvious.
"And if it's a bad angle? Then what?" Lauren asked rationally.
"Umm, well maybe, I." Blaine didn't know, but he couldn't just leave someone, that was wrong.
"Look Blaine, I know that sounds bad, I get it, but think about it rationally, we give fifteen minutes then we go." Nick said, finally stating his opinion.
Blaine looked at him, studying him. "Alright, but I really don't like it, so let's just not get left behind at all, okay?"
Everyone nodded and they went back to their plans. They stopped at 5:30 to eat, and just before six Puck got a call from Josh.
"Hello….oh yeah…what the hell?...dude…you okay?...no…..flowers?...no I don't think you'd make it….sorry man…ok…bye."
Puck hung up and went back to his food, after a few minutes of complete silence he finally looked up. "What?"
"Dude, was that Josh, what's up?" Lauren asked.
"Oh right, um yeah he's in Canada, so he can't make it." Puck stated calmly.
"Seriously?" Lauren said.
"Why is he in Canada?" Blaine asked, so confused.
"We are going to die." Nick said, running his fingers through his hair and smacking his head against the table. Blaine put his hand on the table under his head to stop him.
"Calm down Nick. What happened?" Blaine asked Puck again.
"Oh not really sure, he said he woke up on a train with a flower tattoo on his stomach and in Canada. Probably got wasted last night, he does that." Puck said flippantly, like they weren't in a crisis.
"Shit, we are so fucked, he was supposed to be my back-up, I'm going to die!" Nick said panicking.
"Nick, calm the fuck down." Blaine shouted at him. "We can work this out."
"How?" Nick asked breathing heavily.
"I'll go in his place." Blaine said calmly.
"Blaine, are you sure?" Lauren asked, concerned.
"No, nope, not happening, no no no no and no." Nick said shaking his head.
Blaine looked briefly at him confused, then answered Lauren. "I don't have a choice, you'll have to watch the cameras, we'll set them up in the front seat, so you can be prepared to drive too."
Lauren nodded, agreeing with the plan.
"Lauren, that's not necessary, because Blaine is NOT going in there." Nick said stubbornly.
Blaine turned to him then. "And why not? I'm qualified enough to do this."
Nick shook his head. "Not that, it's just Kurt's going to kill me."
Lauren started laughing loudly and Puck just looked confused but went back to his food.
Blaine sighed. "Kurt won't kill you."
"Are you crazy? Of course he will, either way I'm dying in the next few days, either by them or him. I need to get laid if I survive tonight."
Blaine shook his head, smiling slightly. "Maybe Kurt is a little protective, but he won't kill you, especially if we make it through this okay. So don't worry."
Nick groaned. "Blaine you just don't understand, I will die, I know this, and you've just got to accept it."
Blaine looked at him like he was crazy. "You aren't going to die, not by Kurt's hands."
"Well obviously, Kurt wouldn't do it himself; he'd totally hire a hit-man."
"What?" Blaine said, thinking Nick was out of his mind.
"It's okay Blaine, let's just do this, I'll worry about Kurt later."
Blaine gave Nick an incredulous look, but turned back to the others, they needed to change things up a bit. "Okay, so I guess basically Puck you'll be doing the same thing, and Lauren we'll get everything setup for you to control from the driver seat, and I'll just replace all of Josh's parts with me. Okay?"
They all nodded, Nick still looked nervous, but Blaine would just have to ignore it for now. Maybe it was a good thing that Josh didn't show; at least he'd have a better chance at keeping Nick calm.
Blaine finished his food and through away his trash, turning to Lauren he asked her. "Is all the equipment in the van?"
"Yep, here are the keys." She tossed him the keys. "It's the big red one."
Blaine nodded and went to the door; he put his shoes on and opened it, then walked out. He easily spotted it, it being the only van on the block, it was a big red GMC Savana, and the back windows were tinted but not overly dark. It was actually kind of banged up, and didn't come across as conspicuous so that was actually good. He had to use the key to unlock it, since it didn't have an automatic one, and then opened the back door and got in, shutting it behind him.
Some of the equipment was already laid out, but there was a bag sitting on the seat that had more stuff in it. Blaine was surprised that Lauren had all this equipment, or was able to get it so quickly, since some of it was really advanced, he'd owe her so much, well Nick would owe her so much really. As he was setting everything up he thought about what he would tell Kurt, because plans had changed and he needed to let him know. He knew Kurt wouldn't be happy about it, not even a little. He just hoped that he'd not overreact or at least try not to. Blaine considered trying to word it like he wouldn't be in any danger, but really he had no clue how to do that. He'd just have to suck it up and call him, or text him, maybe he should text him. Blaine shook his head at himself no that was cowardly, he'd call him, and maybe he'd get a voicemail.
About fifteen minutes into the setup the door opened, it was Lauren. "Going good?"
Blaine looked over at her, giving her a smile. "Yeah, I prefer doing this to be honest."
Lauren nodded in agreement. "Me too, how much longer you think?"
"Before we leave?"
"Yeah."
Blaine looked at his watch, he'd put one on today, just in case. "Have them start gathering the stuff, well mostly Nick; we can leave in like ten minutes."
"Okay, boss man." Lauren said winking at him.
Blaine chuckled. She left going back inside to tell Nick what Blaine had said. Blaine got back to work; he should probably call Kurt now, because he wouldn't be able to talk to him for a while. So he pulled his phone out of his pocket and pulled up Kurt's name and pressed the call button. It rang a few times before he answered. "Hey, sorry I had to run from the kitchen, I left my phone upstairs. I don't even know how I heard it." Kurt said, breathing a little heavily.
Blaine smiled. "Hey." He didn't say anything else though, because how does he even start this conversation. "So how was golfing?" There that was totally a safe topic.
"It was actually pretty fun, I wasn't great, but I didn't suck completely, I'm sure with practice I could get better. Maybe we could go somewhere?"
"Yeah, that'd be fun, and active like you wanted are next date to be. I'm glad you had fun too."
"It is, but we can't do that, because you said you were going to pick something."
"Right of course, I'll think of something else, it'll be great." Blaine said with a grin.
"Good, can't wait. Was there a reason you called though?" Kurt asked, sounding anxious.
"Oh, yeah." Blaine said, then paused trying to think.
"Blaine, just tell me."
"Okay, well you know how I said we had people helping?"
"Yes."
"Well one of them won't be able to make it, so I have to go in his place, is all." That didn't sound too bad, Blaine thought, maybe Kurt wouldn't ask for specifics.
"Right and what exactly will you be doing differently?"
Blaine sighed, mostly to himself, he should have known. "Well, instead of me staying in the van, I'll be going into the building with Nick."
"What?" Kurt said calmly, and that scared him more than if Kurt would have yelled.
"Um, I'll be in the building." Blaine said again, though this time a lot more nervous.
"In the building? Where all the criminals are, like in the actual physical building?" His voice still scarily steady.
"Yes."
"Blaine, if you don't come out of this alive, I will never talk to you again."
"Okay."
"I will also never have sex with you, I will never look at you, do you understand?"
Blaine gulped. "Yes, come out of this alive, got it."
"Good. I have to go now Blaine. Call me by ten." He said and then hung up. Blaine took a deep breath and shivered internally. He put his phone in his pocket and just sat still for a moment. Maybe Nick had reason to be scared of Kurt. Blaine took another deep breath and then went back to work, making sure everything was in place.
Nick and Lauren came out a few minutes later, and both got into the van. "You want to check, make sure we didn't forget anything?" Nick asked him.
Blaine nodded and went back inside. Puck was standing at the island trying to eat another slice of pizza. "You got everything?" Blaine asked him.
Puck nodded, still eating and walked outside, Blaine watched after him, shaking his head at him. He turned back to his task, he looked around the living room, and everything had been put away that'd been on the coffee table and the island. The food had been mostly put up, except for one pizza box. Blaine thought of something then, and went to the hall closet to get a bag; he went to the fridge and pulled out some water bottles, then the cupboard for a box of crackers. It couldn't hurt to be prepared.
He went upstairs and grabbed his phone charger and laptop, just in case the battery died on Nick's. He left the room afterwards and went downstairs. He then gave one more glance over the living room, and left the apartment locking it behind him.
He climbed into the back of the van, he'd need to get everything running before they actually did anything, and Lauren was the driver anyways. Puck had griped about having to sit in the back, but Blaine had to put the surveillance equipment in the front seat. While he was working Blaine said something to Nick. "I think I understand what you meant about Kurt now."
"Oh, did you talk to him?"
"Yeah, I had to, I promised, he's well let's just say I hope I never anger him."
"Yeah, I'm going to die, its okay, at least I'll have done something exciting in life." Nick said, not really nervous, which surprised Blaine enough for him to look at Nick.
"Are you okay?"
"Not really, but I've accepted my fate, it's brought me a form of serenity." Nick said this so seriously, that Blaine couldn't help but laugh.
"What?" Nick asked confused.
"Nothing, I'm just glad you've found your peace."
Nick narrowed his eyes. "You're making fun of me aren't you?"
"Never." Blaine said innocently.
Nick threw his hands up. "Blaine, you know the dumb thing, I actually believe you, because your FACE. Stop with the face. Wait no; you should make the face when you ask Kurt not to kill me. No one can say no to that face."
Blaine laughed. "Sure, though I have no clue what you are talking about."
"How can you not know?" Nick asked clearly confused.
"I just don't."
"The pouty, innocent puppy face, like I've never seen a more puppy face on a person. It's like someone infused puppy genes into you or something."
"What the actual fuck are you guys talking about?" Puck asked leaning forward.
Nick turned to look at him and then motioned at Blaine. "Show him the face."
Blaine's eyebrows furrowed.
"Blaine, pout." Lauren said from the front.
Blaine was so confused, but he tried to pout.
"Ugh no! That's not the face, think of Kurt not hugging you good-bye or finding a helpless kitten in an alleyway."
Blaine did, and automatically deflated, frowning unhappily.
"There it is!" Nick shouted.
"Dude, that's like epic pout." Puck said.
Blaine laughed then, not getting it at all, but hey it made them happy.
…..
Everything was set up and they were watching the feed from the laptop, or at least Blaine and Lauren were watching. Puck was playing a game on his phone and Nick was bouncing in his seat, apparently his serenity had left him. It was almost seven and the sun was now completely gone, they'd taken that into account and were prepared. Puck had a mask he insisted on wearing if he came across anyone on the inside, but he'd take it off as soon as he was on the sidewalk. Blaine thought it wasn't necessarily a bad idea, but he didn't have one anyways, so it didn't matter.
Blaine watched the screen for a straight ten minutes, making sure there wasn't anybody on any of the screens, and then turned to Nick. "You ready?"
Nick shook his head. "Nope, but I'm good."
Blaine frowned, but then shrugged, because hey he wasn't exactly ready either, but they didn't have a choice now. "Puck?"
"I'm good, besides I'm mostly watching perimeter and then following after Lauren says, so I'm alright."
Blaine nodded. "Okay, well let's go then."
They all got out of the van and went into the alley they'd parked next to. Blaine checked and made sure he had everything needed, then asked both of them the same. "Got everything?" All of them were carrying a gun and Blaine had two knives on him in addition.
They nodded, Nick more nervously than Puck.
"Lauren?" Blaine said into the mouth piece that was attached to his collar.
"Yeah, I can hear you, hear me okay?"
"Yeah."
"Boys?" She asked the other two.
"Yep." Puck said.
"Yeah." Nick said.
"Alright you guys are still in the clear, no activity yet. Blaine, Nick, you guys go. I'll send Puck once I see you two on the screen."
"Okay." Blaine answered her, and he and Nick started walking in the direction of the warehouse. It was relatively quiet, not like complete silence, but enough that if one of them tripped it'd be heard. Blaine really hoped neither of them tripped. It only took a few minutes to get there; they waited for Lauren to give them the go ahead to actually enter. When she did, Blaine made his way to the door; he assumed it'd be locked, so he told Nick to stay where he was.
There was a deadbolt lock, those weren't easy to pick at all, but doable. When he checked the handle though, it released and pushed open, Blaine was surprised but he shrugged and motioned for Nick to follow. The inside was mostly open space, with pallets stacked all over the place. They slowly made their way the direction of the offices that were against the far wall. They heard Lauren tell Puck to follow, and him replying back, but they kept silent, not wanting to make any noise.
They made it to the office section without much trouble, and then down to the end of the hallway, where Nick thought the hard-drive was kept in the last office. The door was locked, so Blaine picked it, while Nick watched for him. The lock clicked and they were in the room, they shut the door behind them just in case someone looked down the hallway.
The office was extremely cluttered, boxes everywhere, computers stacked on top of each other, this was going to take a while. "Um Nick, any clue about what kind of hard-drive it was?" Blaine asked, whispering.
Nick jumped, having been staring around at the clutter. "Yeah, of course, I have the model number saved into my laptop." He replied, equally as quiet.
"Well, get it from Lauren."
"How?" Nick asked confused, because she wasn't exactly there.
Blaine gave him a blank look and pointed at his own ear piece, then at the microphone.
"Oh, hey Lauren."
"What's up?"
"Could you look up a file called, boobs on tubes?"
Lauren laughed, and Blaine almost did before remembering where he was. "Sure thing sweetie."
"Don't ask it seemed like a good code name at the time."
Blaine nodded, still trying not to laugh. "Of course."
"Shut up, anyways, pretty sure it was a Toshiba at least. So let's start looking for that."
They each started on a corner; Blaine sincerely hoped that there wasn't anything in the boxes besides files or papers, because that would take ages to look for.
"Found it, it'sPH3300U-1I72."
"Okay, thanks Lauren." Blaine said.
They went back to looking through everything then. They spent almost thirty minutes going through stuff boxes included, because yes they did end up having to do that much to Blaine's dismay. They finally found it though; well Nick found it, almost screaming in excitement before he caught himself. He handed it to Blaine.
"You want me to hold it?" He asked confused.
"Yeah, you're the one that's gotta get into it, so you hold onto it." Nick stated matter-as-fact.
So Blaine took it and put it in his jacket pocket. Before they left the room, Blaine checked with Lauren to make sure everything was all clear. "We still good?"
"Yeah, not a lick of activity, kind of boring actually."
Blaine smiled.
"Don't jinx it!" Nick whispered furiously, looking out the door and down the hallway.
"Sorry buttercup, but you are good to go."
"Thanks." Blaine said, and then they started back down the hall.
It was quiet through the building, going the exact same way back, Puck announced that he was outside their exit, and everything was in the clear. They were about a hundred feet from the door before something happened. About five men walked into the main room, stopped at a crate that was setup kind of like a desk and started talking.
Blaine and Nick pasted themselves to the back of one of the larger pallets, both actually scared now. Blaine peeked around the corner to see if they were leaving or going to, they looked to be settling in. He could hear bits of the conversation though, and he didn't like the sound of it at all. He quickly went back and poked Nick hard in the chest, though he put a hand over his mouth first. "You fucking idiot! Those are Italians, and they are talking about drugs right now, drugs Nick! Did you work for the fucking mob?" He furiously whispered.
Nick paled, shaking his head and mumbled something against Blaine's hand, Blaine moved it. "I didn't understand them, I don't speak Italian! They didn't ask me to do drugs or anything shit, fuck, shit, fuck!"
"Okay, we just have to stay calm okay, and just stay calm." Blaine said, trying to calm himself down, because what the fuck was happening right now?
"Um guys, did I hear you correctly?" Lauren asked her tone more shaky than Blaine had ever heard it.
"Well, yes, but like they could just be Italians who do drugs, I mean I'm Italian and I'm not part of the mob." Blaine tried to reason out, still whispering; lucky they were too far away to really be heard.
"Fuck." Puck said through the ear piece. "If I get shot, I want like a thousand more."
"Puck shut up this is serious; we have to get them out of there." Lauren said to him sternly.
"Sorry, jeez."
"Apology not accepted, but we'll talk. Look we have a plan B, let's use it okay. I'll check those cameras and see if anyone else is in the building. Puck you move to the other exit and check the outside."
"Okay." All of them replied, Nick and Blaine just sitting quietly.
"Blaine, I'm so sorry."
"Nick, not right now, okay?"
"Okay."
They waited in silence, Blaine half listening to the conversation and really hoping it'd just end and they'd leave or something. They were still talking about moving drugs, and how some gang was encroaching on their territory. One of the guys left after ten minutes and then another and then another, so only two guys left.
"Bad news guys, the plan B exit are now being used to move crates." Puck said.
"Shit." Nick cursed.
"Check for C." Blaine told Puck.
"Alright."
They waited again, this time not as long, but no one left either. "No good on that one, people keep walking by it."
"So we're fucked." Nick stated.
Blaine turned to him. "No, we just have to run."
"What?" Nick asked, staring at Blaine like he was crazy.
"We don't have a choice, okay? Puck is Exit A still in the clear?"
"Yeah it is."
"And down the alley, nobody has been through there that might catch us off-guard?"
"Haven't seen anyone, no."
Blaine nodded and then took a deep breath. "Alright Nick, we have to go, we're moving to that next crate, and then against the wall. See those pillars?"
Nick nodded, looking terrified out of his mind, but still listening.
"We can duck behind those each time, it's about twenty feet of no cover, we can do this, okay?" Blaine said, sounding more confident than he actually was.
Nick took a deep breath and held it, and kept holding it.
"Nick?"
He let the breath out. "Yeah, I've got this, totally ok."
Blaine nodded, and took out his gun, motioning for Nick to do the same. "Oh god, I really am going to die"
Blaine turned back to him then. "Just focus okay."
"Yeah, I'm good, totally focused. I'm a ninja."
"Right, ninja." Blaine said, smiling a little. He stood up then, and felt Nick stand up behind him, they both moved slowly to the next stack of pallets, and looked around it. The whole problem was that while the door wasn't actually close to the men, it was completely visible, because all they had to do was glance over.
Blaine was in front of Nick, and they made the first open distance easily enough, no noise was made. The second trip was the same, and then the third, it was only ten feet more to the door, and then they had to open it and then they'd be in the clear. Blaine had Nick go ahead of him this time, the door shouldn't be locked, and if it was then he'd just have to turn it from the inside. Nick made it over and checked the lock, he turned it and then pushed on the door, and an alarm went off. Nick's eyes widen looking at Blaine, and they both took off running.
There was a gunshot, and then another and another, and the door banged shut and they ran down the alleyway. Blaine saw Puck at the entrance of the alley holding his gun up, Blaine heard the door open behind him, but he was pretty far away, enough that he didn't want to turn around and risk tripping. There was another gunshot, and Blaine saw Puck shoot, and then he heard another behind him. Then there was a burning feeling, but he kept going, they made it to the van, got in and Lauren sped off.
Blaine was breathing deeply, and just in shock because he'd just been shot at. He turned to Nick who was staring at Blaine's arm.
"What?"
"You're bleeding, a lot, Blaine YOU ARE BLEEDING!"
Blaine looked at his arm, and then felt it, a horrible intense pain in his upper arm. He couldn't breathe, and things were starting to blur, but he wanted to see it. There was yelling from Lauren, but he couldn't understand anything, and everything was moving. He tried to pull his jacket off, but he kept missing the sleeve and it hurt so much. He vaguely saw Puck get up from his seat then and help him. He glanced at Nick, but he was just staring at him. He blinked and the jacket was off, he looked at it, he started to feel faint, because there was a bullet in his arm, he could see the whole. The last thing he heard before he passed out was Nick.
"Kurt's going to kill me."
….
Blaine woke up in his bedroom, hearing voices overhead. "Guys?"
"Blaine, you're awake! How are you awake? I told them to take you to a hospital, but apparently that would probably end up with you in prison or something." Nick was saying, clearly panicked.
"Is it still in me?" Blaine asked his voice weak and he wasn't thinking clearly, everything was still muddled.
"Well yes, or maybe, I'm not a doctor okay! And we weren't exactly sure what to do."
Blaine looked around him, Puck was sitting on the floor up against the wall, Lauren was sitting on the end of his bed and Nick was standing by his head. "Call Wes, I think he knows someone."
"Okay, I can totally do that."
"Good, I feel tired again, oh but call Kurt before ten or he'll be mad." And then he was out.
…
(Nick's POV)
"Fuck, I can't call him, he'll murder me!" He paused looking at the large blood stain on the bed. "Lauren you call him." He pointed at her.
"Um no, I've never even met him." She said frowning, and then turned to look at Blaine.
"Puck?" He asked hopefully, while knowing that wouldn't be happening.
"Yeah no."
Nick sighed, it wasn't ten yet, there was still eight minutes left, he could use those minutes to call Wes, and that had to be more important, getting Blaine the help he needed. Satisfied with that plan Nick dialed Wes' number.
"Hello."
"Hey, Wes, it's Nick."
"Oh hey man, what's up?"
"Basically, Blaine got shot, and we need someone to get the bullet out." Nick stated bluntly.
"What?"
"Blaine got shot and we need-" Nick started again.
"No I got that, but why don't you take him to the hospital?"
"Well because he was shot by a member of the mob."
"What?"
"Is the connection bad?" Nick asked confused.
"No the connection isn't bad Nick; I'm just trying to follow the insanity of this conversation!" Wes shouted.
"Oh, well do you know anyone?"
"Yeah, let me call them, and we'll be over soon, you at his apartment or somewhere else?"
"His apartment."
"Alright, see you in a few then."
"Oh wait!" Nick said.
"Yeah?"
"Would you want to call his boyfriend for me?"
Wes just hung up.
"Well that was rude." Nick said to the phone.
Blaine's phone started ringing, which probably meant that Kurt was calling, Nick was so fucked. He answered it anyways.
"Hello."
"Nick?"
"Yeah, hey what's up?"
"Nick, put Blaine on the phone." Kurt demanded.
"Ummmm."
"Nick."
He winced. "I can't."
"And why can't you exactly?" Kurt asked harshly.
"Well you see he's in the shower." There that was totally believable.
"I don't see your point; you can bring him the phone if he's in the shower and put me on speaker."
Oh fuck, Kurt was smart. "Oh."
Lauren was laughing quietly to herself, obviously enjoying Nick's pain, but what she didn't know was that Kurt was actually terrifying.
"Don't lie to me Nick."
"Okay, well the thing is, Blaine is passed out because he got shot." There he said, and now it was over, everything was okay.
"I'm going to kill you." Kurt said angrily.
"It's not my fault!"
"How is it not your fault? You asked him to do this for you! Are you shot or hurt?" Kurt demanded.
"Well no…"
"Then obviously it's your fault, you should have like stood in front of him or something!"
"So I should risk my own life?"
"Yes! You asked him to, how is that any different."
"Well when you put it like that, but I didn't know it'd be that dangerous. How was I supposed to know it was the mob?"
"You took him to a mob infested warehouse! Are you fucking crazy? You are, aren't you? Oh god, what hospital are you at? I'll catch the first flight out and come see him." Kurt kept talking, though Nick thought it was mostly to himself.
Nick panicked looking at Lauren for an answer, he place his hand over the phone and asked her. "He wants to know what hospital we are at."
Lauren just shrugged. "Make one up."
"We are at St. Jude's." Nick stated calmly, he was like ninety percent sure that was actually a hospital.
"Nick you're lying to me and I don't like it." Kurt said calmly.
"What do you mean?"
"St. Jude's is a children's hospital." Kurt stated blandly.
"Oh."
"Now tell me where he's at."
"We're not in a hospital, because if we take him to one he could be arrested."
Kurt groaned through the line. "Okay, that makes a little sense, as long as it's not bleeding out or in a vital place, is it?"
"No, it's his arm, and we've tied it up pretty well, its mostly stopped bleeding. We called someone though, to come remove the bullet."
"Oh god, mostly stopped? I can't deal with you, I'm hanging up now, and going to the airport, if Blaine wakes up call me, I might not answer, but call anyways. Do you understand?"
Nick nodded.
"Nick."
"Oh, right yes call you when he wakes up."
"Alright." And he hung up.
Nick breathed out a sigh of relief, glad that that was over at least until Kurt got here, but Nick was hoping that he'd be too worried about Blaine to really focus on him.
…
Wes arrived within the hour, having had to go pick up the guy and wait for him to get everything he'd need. Turned out that it wasn't a guy but an older woman, who introduced herself as Dr. Chin. Nick was a little confused, but only because he didn't really understand how Wes found a doctor who seemed like a real doctor, obviously Wes was a genius.
"Let's leave the room, let her work." He said to them.
Puck and Nick went to leave immediately, but Lauren stopped. "No, I don't know you or her, how am I supposed to know she's not going to try and steal his organs or something?"
Wes nodded at her. "Alright, well stay then, just not in the way."
Lauren nodded and walked over to the wall to lean against it, while watching Blaine's bed and the doctor. Nick considered saying something too, but really he trusted Wes, and Lauren could watch well enough. Blood made him a little squeamish, anyways.
Wes and Nick moved into the living room then the couch, and Puck went into the kitchen, looking for food. Wes turned to Nick then. "Want to explain to me how Blaine was shot?"
Nick shifted nervously. "We went to retrieve the hard drive, and we were almost out, but those guys came in, so we waited for them to leave, which three of them did, but like two stayed behind, but we had to leave you know?"
Wes shook his head. "Actually you could have waited it out."
Nick frowned. "Well that part was Blaine's idea, but I don't think it would have worked out, because Puck said they were unloading stuff from another entrance. But anyways, we were literally at the door when they noticed us, and started shooting. I think Blaine got hit while we were running down the alley."
Wes nodded his head in thought. "Okay, but what about this mob part, how the fuck did you get messed in with that?"
Nick shrugged. "It might not be the mob okay, Blaine just said they were Italians that were talking about moving drugs, not necessarily the mob, just saying."
Wes sighed deeply. "Nick you're the one that mentioned it to me in the first place!"
"Okay, so for one, I just wanted you to realize I was serious and two, I've been thinking about it and really we shouldn't stereotype people." Nick said seriously.
"I have this sudden urge to hit you on the back of the head." Wes sighed out.
Nick moved slowly away from him. "Well, control the urge man."
"Did you at least get the hard drive?"
Nick perked up at that. "Yep, Blaine put it in his jacket…hey Puck, is that still in the van?"
Puck looked over from where he was stuffing his mouth full with a bag of chips. "Yeah." He mumbled.
Nick got up and went to retrieve it, bringing the whole jacket in. "I hope this wasn't like one of Blaine's favorites of anything." He said holding up the jacket, and then he pulled the hard drive out of the pocket. "I guess I can hook this up, at least try and get into it, Blaine might have to, I don't know if you've realized, but Blaine's smarter than me." Nick said to Wes.
"Yes, Nick, I think I've realized that completely." Wes deadpanned.
Nick just shrugged, because yeah that was true.
The next hour was mostly spent in silence, Puck having finished eating, now passed out on the chair, and Wes was fluctuating between playing games on his phone and giving Nick dirty looks. Nick was trying unsuccessfully to find the correct file, he found mentions of it, but not the actual thing, and he really hoped this wasn't a bust. He wanted to blame it on the fact that Wes was making him nervous because he kept looking at him, but really he just needed to take it as preparation for when Kurt got here. He shifted nervously just at the thought.
Finally there was activity on the stairs; Lauren and the doctor were on their way down. Lauren was pale, and the doctor looked vaguely unhappy, that worried Nick. "Well?" He asked walking over to him.
Dr. Chin turned to him and frowned. "You're lucky he's not dead. Wes, come here."
Nick's eyes widen and he felt unbelievably faint, he almost kill Blaine, oh god. Wes stood up from the couch and walked over to them, his facial expression worried.
"The bullet did go through, there is an exit wound, but it did leave pieces, I was able to retrieve some of them but not all. The bullet punctured an artery, luckily you were smart enough to tie it off properly, but it was a close call. He really needs blood right now, I can get some if you won't take him to a hospital, but I need his blood type. He has nine stitches in the back of his arm and twelve in the front. I'll have to come back to remove those."
Wes nodded. "His blood type is AB positive; he'll be fine though right?"
Dr. Chin nodded. "He should be, are his tetanus shots up to date?"
"More than likely, I'll check though."
"Okay, I'll wait outside for you." She said and then walked to the door and outside.
Wes stayed where he was for a moment, and rubbed his hand over his face clearly distressed. Lauren was now sitting on the couch with a sleeping Puck, but hadn't moved at all. "Nick, come with me."
Wes then walked up the stairs, Nick frowned but followed him. When the got to the top and could see Blaine, Nick felt like vomiting. The blanket had been removed from the bed, and there was so much more blood than he'd thought. He looked at Wes to see his reaction, he was pale and looking at Blaine but then he turned to Nick.
"I don't know what to say to you right now, God I get that you didn't mean for him to get shot and that it was his choice, but he almost died. I just, I don't even know what to say really." Wes sighed deeply and then walked over to Blaine's closet and walked in.
Nick didn't know how to comment on that, he couldn't really. If he lived through Kurt's anger, he'd regret this for the rest of his life.
Wes came back out with papers and briefly glanced at Blaine and then started down the stairs, Nick heard the front door slam and he sighed. He walked over to Blaine's bed and just looked at him for a moment. He was sleeping, or unconscious, Nick wasn't actually sure about that part, but it looked like he was sleeping. He was pale though, probably from loss of blood, and that scared Nick a lot. This was his entire fault, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.
"I'm so sorry Blaine."
AN: Nobody dies, or loses a limb, so please don't hate me.