I have no excuse for posting this late other than the fact that my husband gave me my Xmas gift early and it has taken over all my time. I now have an Xbox One and have been playing Dragon's Age Inquisition well longer than I should each day. When I'm not doing that, my mind is focused on thoughts surrounding Part III of H&HW, which is horrible because it means I'm not dedicating the mental power to coming up with anything great for this fic.

However, if you haven't see it yet, I've posted the animation crazie-crissie made for H&HW to my tumblr page. It's pretty damned awesome if I do say so myself.

It had been so damned long since Blaine had known what it was like to have someone not only care for him, but to be able to feel comfortable letting someone do so. When he had gotten miserably sick, Kurt was there to pamper and tend to him even when Blaine was bowed over the toilet bowl and telling Kurt to leave him be out of his own embarrassment. When Blaine was reliving his greatest sadness in life, namely the death of his mother, Kurt didn't run and hide like he thought he might, fearful of Blaine and what he had done. Kurt comforted him, insisted he trusted Blaine despite it, and continued to lay at Blaine's side at night. Blaine could let go around Kurt. Kurt had now seen the worst of Blaine - both physically and emotionally, and he hadn't decided that Blaine wasn't worth the effort, instead, Blaine could see that Kurt felt more tied to Blaine than ever with the cool hues emanating off Kurt's body whenever he looked Blaine's way.

Blaine could also see that Kurt was getting a little stir crazy being struck in the motel for so long, but no more so than he had been at the compound as things became more crowded there. Personally, Blaine enjoyed the domesticity and oodles of sex they had been experiencing in the motel room, but because he wanted to give Kurt everything, he wanted to get moving too so he could see Kurt soar once more, and see the joy that it gave Kurt.

It had been so long since Kurt had flown.

He could also see the nervousness Kurt had about their present situation. More than just being in a motel with journalists all around, but knowing how close the military was to them again, and the other national guards that came with their own government leaders from around the world. Blaine still saw Adam's collapsed form behind his eyelids whenever he blinked, and it was a constant reminder of what the military did to people like them. Still, he felt safe for the moment, and Santana did have a point about hiding right under the nose of your enemy. Logically, he hoped, they wouldn't be thought of to be looked for at the motel.

Blaine ran a hand over the wing stretched over him. Still just as soft, just as silken as the white feathers before, but ebony. He was used to them now, and whether black or white, he loved those wings. Some of Blaine's friends back in Dalton had identified as 'butt-men' or 'boob-men'. Blaine was definitely a wing man. Heaven help him if Kurt ever left him because there would be no one else to satisfy his silly kink.

Kurt was still asleep, sprawled out, both body and wings, beside him. Blaine was now used to having wings blanket him at night, and on the rare occasion they didn't spread over him, he nudged himself against Kurt and whined until Kurt put a wing over him unconsciously. It was the only way he could fall asleep anymore, and Kurt didn't seem to mind doing it. In fact, Blaine was pretty sure Kurt did it out of wanting to protect Blaine, much like Blaine would do anything to protect Kurt.

Sometimes, when he had been stuck in bed with that horrible flu, Blaine had thought back to how he had taken care of Kurt after Kurt had been attacked by those off-duty police officers. At the time Blaine thought he was going to go deaf from the way Kurt unconsciously screamed and cried right by his ear as Blaine cradled him in the construction lot that he hoped and prayed no one was close enough to to come check out. If his mother's dead had been the worst moment in his life, and the military siege of the compound had been the second, than that had been the third. He had been so worried and cried so much on his own. Even Isabelle hadn't been able to console him when she had arrived. It had taken sleep that came out of his body shutting him down to finally calm him.

"Mmm… happy birthday."

Blaine glanced down from where he had been staring at the ceiling to look down at Kurt, whose head had nested itself on Blaine's shoulder in sleep. Now he was looking up at Blaine, eyes glazed over still as they worked to focus themselves back into the conscious realm and directed at Blaine.

"You know my birthday?"

"Of course I do you dork." Kurt said, a yawn breaking up the sentence as he sat up and stretched his arms and wings out. A few pops and cracks came with the pull of his muscles and Blaine watched with dreamy eyes at the man that was his and his alone.

"But I never told you."

"Back at the farmhouse, when I was cleaning things up…. I found a birthday card in a drawer from your brother."

"Ah." Blaine mouthed, the image of Cooper forming in his head. He wondered how his brother was doing, and if he thought of him ever.

"I wish I had something to give you." Kurt murmured, snuggling back against Blaine who wrapped an arm automatically around Kurt's shoulders.

"You've already given me everything I could ever want."

"Sap." Kurt snicked and leaned over to peck Blaine's cheek. A moment which was immediately intruded upon by the rest of their group bursting through the door with a cake in Brittany's hands with candles lit up over it.

Blaine went wide eyed, glancing Kurt's way and just getting a small, smug smile in return. He planned it.

"You guys shouldn't have." Blaine insisted as the cake was put under his nose.

"Yes we should have. Now blow the damned things out. Been forever since I had ice cream cake." Santana grumbled.

Blaine complied, making sure to leave one candle lit. His family had always reasoned that the amount of candles you had still burning was the number of boyfriends or girlfriends you'd have. Blaine's mother and father had always left one lit to symbolize that they had the other. Cooper had always refused to blow out any candles, citing that he needed as many girlfriends as possible.

"One boyfriend." Blaine grinned, looking Kurt's way and getting a playful smack on the arm as Kurt once again shied away from the verbal affection.

"Sap."

Cake was their breakfast then, and Blaine understood why Kurt had insisted they put on pyjamas after their sexual exploits the night before. Despite knowing that Brittany's credit card had paid for all the gifts, Blaine was presented with items from each individual. Quinn gave him a new cologne which she noted that Kurt had given his approval on, Sebastian gave him a book on gay sex positions which he had quickly hidden under the covers with a blush, Brittany had given him a stuffed bear, Santana had found him a hunting knife to fit in the slot he had for one in his uniform, and Kurt… even though Kurt hadn't been able to go out and buy it himself, presented him with an acoustic guitar.

"You're behind on your practicing."

Blaine beamed, turning the guitar over in his hands and, just like one remembers how to ride a bike, set his fingers and hands in place and began to strum chords to make sure it was in tune.

Once it was clear that Blaine knew what he was doing with the guitar, requests came in from everyone.

"Johnny Cash!"
"Anaconda!"
"Play some Elton John!"
"Oh! Twinkle twinkle little star!"
"Do you know any country songs?"

Kurt didn't request anything. Just beamed a little too broadly Blaine's way as he got up and picked up pieces of scattered wrapping paper to place into the trash. Blaine was good with playing songs by ear, and after he made sure he actually remembered his chords, he began picking the strings and playing Blackbird by the Beatles.

"Ugh. Of course you'd opt to serenade your boyfriend." Santana spat in the most sweet way she could. Her aura couldn't hide from Blaine after all, and through it he could see that she approved of his song selection.

Kurt knew the words, and Blaine already knew he would as Kurt had mentioned how he and his mother had always sung Beatles songs together as they were her favorite group. His countertenor voice sung the tune perfectly, and the other chimed in to fill in the musical gaps that came with only having a guitar playing and not a whole chorus of instruments.

They were through most of the song when Kurt stopped abruptly and narrowed his eyes. Something had caught his eye and made his body spike with sharp reds and yellows as he peeked through the space between the curtains. Blaine set the guitar to the side and stood up, joining Kurt's side to see what had afflicted him while Santana opened the door to peek outside and do the same.

The journalists were running amok, pointing at yelling at one another. Camera's were flashing and being set up, pointed in a direction they couldn't see from where they were situated. In response, Santana and Brittany left the room, Blaine keeping a steady eye on them as they spoke to one of the closest cameraman. Everyone was panicked, fearful, and worried.

"We should put on our uniforms." Blaine uttered softly so only Kurt could hear.

Kurt didn't say anything in response, just left Blaine's side and grabbed his duffel bag before rushing to the bathroom to change. Something was wrong. Blaine didn't know what, or if it would even affect them, but he knew it was better to be safe than sorry.

Once Kurt had returned to the room, Blaine took his turn. Despite sitting on his ass for the past week, he had lost weight it seemed - probably from the flu, and his outfit was a little bit loose on him. He unwrapped the hunting knife Santana had given him, putting it into the sheath on his thigh before rejoining Kurt. The rest of the group had gone out, joining Santana and Brittany as they looked in the same direction all the cameras were pointed towards, and Blaine wished he knew what was going on, but wasn't going to leave Kurt's side.

Sebastian was the first to return to the room, eyes wide and worried, as if the aura shuddering around him didn't already tell Blaine something was wrong.

"There's an attack… the sky towards the town is all lit up… and you can hear guns firing. All the guys out there have messages going off on their phones like crazy…."

Blaine sucked in a breath, his adam's apple bobbing.

"Who's under attack?"

"Some say it's government officials, some are saying it's the pro-metahuman protesters, some-"

"Protesters?" Kurt's head snapped towards Blaine. "Like my dad was on the news?"

Blaine didn't want to think about what could happen if Burt was involved in what appeared to be a giant mess. "I'm sure your dad is fine."

"Metahumans are definitely involved though. The guy Santana is talking to showed us a video on his phone from a friend on the inside… some guy that change into shadow was on it. Crazy shit…."

Kurt had left Blaine's side, flicking on the television and seeing for himself what was going on. The channel it turned to was already reporting with a clearly frightened journalist reporting from "inside the danger zone". Behind him, Blaine watched as military personnel, dressed in their camouflage and fully equipped, were yelling at one another far in the background, and a mother with a toddler aged child held the boy tightly as she looked around with fear.

Then they showed footage that made Blaine's heart sink with the realization that they weren't going to stay out of the fray. It wasn't the center of the image that made his heart pound, where a well dressed man with flames jumping from hand to hand addressed the people, telling them that metahumans were the next step in evolution, nor was it the glassy eyes politicians on one side of the room, with their youthful aides standing in front of them protectively. It was the group of protesters, signs held loosely in their hands as their eyes glued onto the mess they had voluntarily stepped into, Burt, Carole, and Finn amongst them clear as day.

Apparently life wasn't going to give Blaine the break he wanted.

Kurt, as anticipated, spiked with cloudy yellows and greens and reds. Fear and anger dancing around him as his hands went to his mouth and his stomach with a weakly uttered "Daddy…" before he turned to Blaine with tears threatening to fall from the corners of his eyes and before his lips moved, Blaine knew what was going to be said.

"I need to go to him."

Blaine just nodded, looking towards Sebastian who shook his head. "No. Too risky."

"It's my dad Sebastian. I'm not debating it. Whether or not anyone else supports me, I'm going."

"That guy with the fire. He's the head of the pro-meta movement. He wants humanity dead so metahumans can take their place. He's not going to negotiate anymore than than our government was going to agree not to kill us."

"Sebastian." Blaine set a hand on his shoulder as he moved towards the door. "Like Kurt said. We have no choice."

"You do Blaine. You don't have to-"

"I do." Blaine asserted plainly. "Can you fly?"

Kurt nodded, though uncertainly jumped around him. They stepped out into the parking area of the motel, wincing as both their eyes adjusted to the sunlight they had become so unaccustomed to. There was silence for a moment, and then Blaine realized that some of the cameramen had turned their focus onto Kurt, who deftly ignored him as he wrapped his arms around Blaine and beat his wings. Blaine could hear Santana yelling in spanish, Brittany crying out to them both, and see the fear in Quinn's eyes as they took off - but there was no going back.

Adrenaline filled Blaine as they rose into the sky, Kurt intend on heading towards the blue lit area that was the focus of the cameramen before they saw him, the same place shots were being fired and people's screams could be heard.

They had just escaped from such a place two weeks before, and now they were headed into one. It seemed like insanity, or maybe some kind of divine intervention. Whatever it meant, Blaine wondered if they'd ever really be able to just relax.

Kurt got high enough into the air to level himself out, holding onto Blaine and Blaine back onto him as they soared horizontally through the air. Blaine peeked below, at the specs of people who were pointing and staring up at them, and kept watch for any missile launchers that could be directed at them before they even got to their destination. Kurt was so focused on seeking out his dad, Blaine just knew that if a missile came their way, he'd try to fly right through it, regardless of how many bits they'd be blown into.

It was difficult to miss the center of the event. Something or someone had a green glow all around the perimeter of the meeting place, and Blaine discerned it must be for keeping people out, keeping them in, or both. Kurt could fly over the top of the aura like fencing though, and so he did, straight towards the nondescript, brown, one story building where groups of people were huddled together and several metahumans, apparent by the way they moved - one with faster than average speed, one with freakishly long legs that had her standing eight foot tall, one with hair that seemed to be made of electrical sparks, and another that seemed to be the source of the green barrier by the way he cast out green towards it from his fingertips. They all saw Kurt and Blaine coming, but even the fast one could do little to stop what Kurt did next.

It was the second time Blaine heard Kurt's siren cry, and it was just as shocking as the first time. For awhile, Blaine had even forgotten that Kurt was capable of it, but the sharp, deafening noise made him remember and quickly at that. All the metahumans ahead of them crumpled down to the ground with a cry. The man with electric hair was suddenly bald, the speedster fell flat, the long legged girl was suddenly as short as the rest of them, and the barrier feel just as its maker did.

Kurt landed himself and Blaine down amidst the metahumans, letting go of Blaine to swing punches at the metahumans who, between not anticipating a metahuman backlash and suddenly finding themselves in pain from their ears, were unable to fight back. Blaine did absolutely nothing but watch Kurt, in all his glory, drop all four of them and then call to the saucer eyes humans nearby to come and tie them all up.

Then he was off again, with Blaine racing behind him. With Kurt's eagle eyes, he was seeking out his dad and had already decided he wasn't among the people they had landed by. He moved towards where he could see the signs of protesters scattered on the ground, their bearers curled up and crying, hiding back against the walls in hope that they could protect them. This was where his dad should have been, but given how increasingly panicked Kurt was becoming, Blaine knew he wasn't spotting him.

"Burt Hummel! Who knows where Burt Hummel is?!" The black angel roared at the protesters who cringed in fear, not knowing metahuman from metahuman. They were just as scared of Kurt as they were of the ones that had put them in this predicament.

Most people remained mute, but one woman pointed towards the building door they were pressed against, and it was all that was required for Kurt to storm forward.

By the cry Kurt made when he entered the door, Blaine knew his target had been found long before he saw Burt, who Kurt went immediately towards. Laying on the ground of the building, Burt was unconscious, and had Carole and Finn beside him, worry smothering them with oranges and yellows.

"Dad… What happened?"

"Kurt… oh my god. You're alive…" Carole choked out, her voice strained from what was probably crying. "Your dad stepped in front of us when one of those things tried to demonstrate their power…"

Kurt dropped to his knees, reaching for his dad's hand. He bit down on his lower lip and Blaine watched as Kurt forced the tears in his eyes down. "Daddy…"

"We don't know how to help him." Finn muttered, a hand on his mother's back as she tried to support her the only way he knew how.

Blaine looked around the dark room. It was functioning as some kind of makeshift infirmary. People, on their backs, laid out in rows with family or friends at their side. Everyone had frozen when Kurt had entered through, all fixated on his wings, all afraid.

"We're not part of that metahuman group." Blaine spoke towards the crowd. "We're here to help you."

Suspicion, wariness, trepidation… and a small hint of hope. Blaine kept speaking, hoping to improve on the last feeling. "My friend here… this is his dad, and we need to help him, and we'll help you all too. We're not the same as the others. If you tell us what's happened, we might be able to do something to help you all out, or bring help in."

"The politicians were walking through the protesters when there was an earthquake or something. Everyone fell. Next thing you know this guy is in the middle of it all, telling us we're evolutionary throwbacks and that metahumans will rule the world soon. He got anyone with a camera to record his message, and then shot stuff out of him. Your buddy's dad there took one of those hits. Near as we can figure it shuts off all the unnecessary parts of the brain. The ones that make you do more than breathe and stuff. Then the guy and a couple of his metahuman buddies took the leaders away."

Blaine sucked in a breath, taking in all the information. The guy speaking was leaned back against the wall by a woman on the ground, and as he looked to her, he could see he had the most hope of anyone else in the room.

"Maybe.. if we can stop him… they can wake up… like Quinn can't hold her ability when she's unconscious." Blaine spoke to himself, glancing back to Kurt to see if he was even paying attention.

"What if we can't? Or what if we do and it doesn't help?" Kurt choked, still struggling with keeping his emotions down.

"Kurt. It's your dad. We need to try."

That was as much convincing as Kurt needed, and as much as Blaine didn't want to worry about Kurt rushing into a dangerous situation, he knew that now that they were in this situation, the only way out was fighting.

"Please take care of my dad Carole… Finn…" Kurt murmured softly as he stood, looked to Blaine, and nodded.

They left the way they came, out the door, and Blaine looked over to see, with relief, that the humans had tied up the metahumans Kurt had dropped earlier and were now encircled around them to guard.

Kurt's ears twitched just a little as he focused on listening and then nodded down the block. "That way. I can hear people crying and talking fast."

They ran down the street, and before Blaine could tell Kurt to wait and plan their attack, Kurt was bursting through the door to the building he was focused on, Blaine, as always, in his shadow.

"Not here." Kurt grumbled as he looked around at the throng of women, children, and a couple odd men who were all huddled up together in the center of the room and looking at the corners in fear. It was an odd sight, and as Kurt turned to leave the room, Blaine grabbed him by the arm and pointed at one of the corners.

The shadow there was moving, almost sneaking, towards them.

"What's going on…?"

"Use your cry Kurt…"

Blaine's ears rang as Kurt cried out towards the wall, making the group of people in the center of the room cry out as well. The desired effect was had though. From the shadows on the wall, a person fell out. Just like Sebastian had told them. A metahuman that could travel in shadows.

Just like before, Kurt was on the guy in an instant, punching him out while Blaine approached the group, seeing how the children were in the center behind the adults. They had been protecting them. "It's okay. We're here to help. We're not like them."

As it was in the infirmary, most of the people regarded them with suspicion, but one dark skinned woman stood up and, though the streaks on her face showed she had been crying, approached them with a stone face and offered Blaine a hand.

"First Lady Smith. Thank you…. he… that thing, was keeping us captive in here. Everytime we tried to move he somehow made the shadows attack us. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before."

In a time of crisis, the titles and positions people had shouldn't have impressed as much as they might normally, but Blaine's hand immediately went clammy as he took the woman's and shook it weakly. Years of growing up in a home where important people were a big deal, to be respected and awed, came back to him all at once.

"I… ah… your majesty." He mentally smacked himself for that as he quickly spoke to fix his mistake. "I mean, it's an honor to meet you ma'am. My parents always voted Republican."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kurt rolling his. His black winged boyfriend was using some twine to tie back the hands and legs of the shadow man, and directing a couple less stunned humans to put on every light, candle, and flashlight they could find. If he didn't have shadows to use, he was harmless Kurt reasoned.

"They took us here to use as a bargaining tool. We're the families of the leaders who came to negotiate. However, now that we're okay, they have no leverage."

Blaine nodded, watching the woman's aura carefully as he tried to reason with his mind which was still doing ridiculous flips at this most inopportune time as a response to meeting someone so important in the world.

"My friend's dad… he was one of the protesters the main guy hit. We need to find that guy and stop him… try to help the people he hurt. Do you know where they took your husband and the others?"

The woman pursed her lips, looking back at Kurt who was nothing short of impatient. Clearly the family of world leaders were nothing compared to his own family, and he was radiating irritation at being delayed in his quest.

"Why should I tell metahumans where to find my husband?"

"Because we're trying to help."

"So you say." The woman looked back at Blaine with steely eyes. "But how can I trust you when your friend is clearly more dangerous than the one who was holding us here?"

Blaine sighed, exasperated and unsure of how to convince the woman. A shared glance with Kurt told Blaine that he needed to figure out how, and fast, though, and so Blaine looked past the woman before him to the rest of the humans there.

"Does anyone know where they are? Does she speak for all of you?"

Some silence, some whispers. The whispers grew into murmurs while the woman in front of Blaine huffed and folded her arms over her chest.

"The meeting location for negotiations is down the street two blocks in a conference center. That's where the ringleader told our husbands, and wives," She looked towards the few men there, "to take him. For his NEW negotiations."

"Thank you." Blaine said to the silver haired woman that spoke to him, hope radiating off of her desperately. With the shadow man bound and light everywhere, Kurt went to the exit without another word, and Blaine followed.

Blaine always followed.