ALL THE PRINCE'S HORSES AND ALL THE PRINCE'S (WO)MEN…
Summary: Something is going on with Blaine. It's Santana's job to figure out what it is. No, seriously, it's her job.
Notes:
Warning: The McKinley shooting & lockdown (Episode 4x18) plays a major role from this point forward
Part 1 of 2 where the mystery of Sir Knight's identity is investigated (non-spoiler: He's Sebastian). However, there is actually very little Sebastian, focusing on Blaine. Don't worry, Sebby's story will be told but remember, he knows he's talking to Blaine so there's no mystery there.
There's a plot point in here that is probably absolutely impossible to accomplish IRL but just go with it.
There is a small time jump. It is mostly told through Santana's POV.
9 AM THURSDAY…EXACTLY 2 WEEKS LATER
Santana stared at the 3x5 cards on the push-pin board in her office, or as Sam liked to call it…the Blaine Board, uncertain of what to do with this new clue.
**June Dolloway cancels B's Showcase & Met Gala**
Granted, it couldn't be helped. Her sister-in-law broke her hip and she was going to France to take care of her. But, since June and her bad directions/wrong number brought Sir Knight into the picture in the first place, anything June related had to be included on the board.
But where?
Trouty was in Kentucky for the twins' birthday which meant it fell on her shoulders to get some answers. Seriously, it did, and this time it wasn't for fun like when she figured out Berry's sleazy ex was a gigolo. Ok, yes, she originally thought drug dealer but tomato-tomato. What bugged her was it only took 3 hours to solve that mystery and 2 weeks later she was no closer to figuring out what caused the change in Blaine.
He hadn't left the basement in over a week. In one way this was completely understandable. Afterall, the place was called Blaineland.
None of them (even those who lived there) had ever been in the basement. Mercedes constantly reminded the group the record label declared it off limits and she wasn't going to piss them off. Then the Andersons bought the brownstone and wanted some pictures of the furnace.
Everyone was stunned by what they discovered but Blaine fell to his knees and sobbed like a baby. The whole thing was a state-of-the-art recording studio with a baby grand piano and 2 lounges, one being a home theater and concession stand with a movie theater popcorn machine!
This was all amazing but not leaving the basement included Blaine's classes at NYADA. Yes, he arranged excused absences for earlier in the week because he didn't know what his state of mind would be with Tuesday being the one-year anniversary of the shooting at McKinley.
You say school shooting and people are a bit more understanding.
Today was Thursday…no classes but he flat-out stated he wasn't going to his Song Writing Workshop tomorrow.
Damn it! She'd fallen down a rabbit hole yet again. Stay focused, Lopez! Back to the beginning, or what Blond Chameleon (dork!) believed was the beginning.
**Sir Knight=Sebastian Smythe?**
This never felt quite right. Don't get her wrong, her psychic Mexican-third eye was screaming the SOB was somehow involved. The only thing she couldn't get past was Blaine's insistence his Knight in Shining Armor couldn't possibly be Slushie Smurf. There's a sadness behind the denials. A sadness Blaine's expressive eyes couldn't hide, at least to her. How come she seemed to be the only one who saw it?
Wasn't Blaine supposed to be the oblivious one, not his best friend and boyfriend?
Hummel kept insisting whatever was happening was no big deal. The day after the Thursday from Hell, Blaine met with his song writing professor and it didn't go well. In fact, it went so badly the professor told him if he didn't fix his assignment by the due date, she'd have no other choice but to fail him.
**Song Writing Fail**
She pulled off the card and moved it to align with the Sir Knight card. This made more sense to why Blaine practically moved into a music studio.
Well, that and the fact his old room was now her office/temporary bedroom and his new room was part of the remodel.
But the meeting with the professor happened on Friday which meant it couldn't be the catalyst for Blaine's change. Too much crap happened the day before, especially some events she believed hadn't been given enough attention due to their (*cough* Sam's) Sir Knight focus.
**Kurt's temper tantrum saying Blaine was responsible for his getting kicked off the photoshoot**
**Kurt talks to Chinese Food delivery guy, has a complete 180 attitude change and apologizes for earlier behavior**
**Kurt never explains what happened at Vogue or what caused the attitude change**
Rachel (accidently) mentioned something about Kurt having to sign a big NDA agreement for the photoshoot but, of course, didn't know details. Did everyone at Vogue have to sign an NDA? If so, there was no way to get information there. But what about the delivery guy? What did he say to flip Hummel? Should she go try to talk to him?
Should she add all this to the board?
She was still deciding when her phone rang. Looking at the clock, she remembered Pamela had scheduled a call at this time. But from the ringtone alert it wasn't her but her husband.
That's weird
"Hello, Mr. Anderson."
"Good morning, Santana. How are you?"
"Um, a little confused. I was expecting Pamela so we could finalize the schedule for tomorrow's demolition and the start of the remodel on Monday."
The Andersons hired her (temporarily) to handle Pamela's ridiculous (and constantly growing) To Do List. Blaine and Sam had too much on their plates, especially when it was announced Sam had won the role of Mike in the Magic Mike Musical.
She still couldn't believe she caught Rachel's reaction to the news. It was even better when Artie put the video on a loop (with cut ins of Sam doing his body rolls) and set it to music…Pony, of course.
Anyway, one day after she went (verbally) Lima Heights on one of the contractors (who Blam believed was mobbed up) the temporary title went away. Now she's the Andersons' personal assistant/house manager and unofficial Blam babysitter.
It was the best job she'd ever had and not just because she'd been fired by both Yeast-I-Stat and the diner (long story). Charles calling had her worried. He must have picked that up from her tone. "Santana, everything's fine. Plans changed and Pammy left for LA this morning to see Cooper. You're doing a great job. Better than we dared to hope."
"Thank you, Sir." Wait… "When you say plans changed, does that mean the record label got the judge to void the sale of the brownstone?"
His laughter made it clear that wasn't the case.
"Nope. Like I said all along, it's not mine and Pammy's fault the producer who was supposed to live there funneled 3 million dollars from the company to build a studio and no one noticed. And even though the paperwork isn't completely finalized, enough of it has been. It also helped we purchased the place in cash, as is, expedited closing at the label's insistence."
"As is being the important part. Right?"
"Smart girl but the label being the party to insist on the fast closing didn't hurt. The judge did admit my getting the contracts pushed through in less than 24 hours tied his hands. It usually takes around 30 days to close on a property."
"Not your fault you're good at your job…whatever it is. It was fun watching the people from the label heads explode when they realized how badly they screwed up. But, Mr. Anderson, you haven't said what the change of plans are?"
"Turns out you are not the only one who believes I'm good at what I do. The parent company of the record label offered me a job running the non-talent portion of the label. You know, the boring stuff. I'm flying into NYC in the morning to listen to what they have to say. Since today is Thursday, can you tell Blaine I'm coming? Sam told me you're now the gatekeeper for emergency contacts and I've learned my lesson about interrupting his Blaine Time."
This is your job…this is your job…this is your job
You love your job…you love your job…you love your job
"Yes, of course I'll tell Blaine. Do you want him to call you?"
"That's not necessary. My appointment/interview is more of a business lunch so I'll call him afterwards." There was a pause, but she could feel he wasn't finished. "Santana, tell me the truth, at least as much as you're comfortable telling me without breaking Blaine's…I mean…it's just, how is he doing? Sam said the anniversary of the McKinley shooting hit them all harder than they realized it would. Then June Dolloway cancelled his Showcase…"
"You know why she did that. Right?"
"Oh, yes. My mother fell and broke her hip last year. My brothers and I all took turns caring for her so, as a son, I completely understand. As a father, I'm worried about the ramifications for my child."
A father who gives a damn, even after all the crap that happened when his child came out as gay. Must be nice.
"I do know he has a meeting with Carmen Tibideaux at NYADA next week, but otherwise he really hasn't said anything. Remember, he only found all this out yesterday."
"He's not talking to anyone? I know Sam's in Kentucky but not even Kurt? And what about that new friend of his…the guy he calls Sir Knight?" WTF? How does he know? "Sam told me the two of you have been trying to find out who he is."
I…AM…GOING…TO…KILL…HIM!
"You know Sam. No way his Superhero alter ego can pass up on a mystery."
"He said maybe there was a tie in with the Warblers. Pammy says Blaine tried to keep his friendships with them even after what happened with his eye but after the steroids everything fell apart."
That was new. Ok, maybe Sam wasn't going to die. Plus, Charles was referring to the Warblers as a whole and not one particular Warbler who nearly blinded his son.
"We did think there might be a connection to the Warblers but don't see how it would connect back to June."
"June?"
"She gave Blaine the wrong number which turned out to be Sir Knight's. But our research didn't go anywhere because neither of us knew any of the Warblers' full names."
"Having those names are important?"
"Can't cyberstalk someone if you don't know their name."
They did know the name Sebastian Smythe. Why hadn't they just Googled the ass? What an epic fail.
She blames Sam, or even better, Blond Chameleon.
"True, but please try to not call your research cyberstalking. Let me get ahold of Pammy and see what she can do, if anything. And Santana, thanks for helping look after my boy. Something's going on and I don't want Blaine falling back into the depression he was in last year. Pammy and I still haven't forgiven ourselves for not catching on sooner."
After their goodbyes ended, she started to write down all the new information Charles gave her. Right when she pinned the last new 3x5 card to the Blaine Board, an email alert from Pamela popped up on her computer screen. In it was her log-in and password to the Dalton Parent Portal. She'd just gone online and confirmed it worked.
After all this time? Blaine left Dalton nearly 3 years ago. You'd think a fancy private school would have better cyber security.
Reading further, Pamela explained alumni bios were listed by graduation year. No graduation, no listing, and yes, that included Blaine.
Again…so why did Pamela's log-in and password work?
Bios would include the college the alumni currently attend. Since the majority of Dalton boys usually wound up in the Ivy League, at least one of Blaine's old friends should be close to the NYC area.
The email also contained a list of names to concentrate on. She almost fell out her chair when she got to the final name.
Sebastian Smythe
Even with that mind-blowing development, she knew going through the Dalton site could take hours. She'd have plenty of time for research tomorrow when the kitchen and bathrooms were being ripped out. The best thing to do was to stick to her original plan to try to find the delivery guy from 2 weeks ago.
There was something she had to do before she left.
When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she was surprised to see Blaine at the theater's concession stand and not in the studio.
At least he's eating.
"Hey Hermit, it's Blaine Day. Go to a park and sit under a tree like you usually do."
"Hermit? Isn't it Hobbit?"
"Not after this week."
"Santana…"
"Hey, it's your fucking life. Do what you want. I just thought you'd like to know your dad called and is going to be here tomorrow for a meeting. If you don't want him asking more questions than he already will, get some sun on your face!" As she quickly planned a dramatic exit for emphasis, she calmed down long enough to suggest "Call Sir Knight, or text, whatever."
"I can't."
WTF?!
"What the hell do you mean I can't? You've been communicating with the guy non-stop for 2 weeks. I'm still in awe how you convinced Hummel to give you a pass on the whole Klaine texting is cheating bull-shit."
"It's not a big deal. We agreed to end our chats. He left the country for work, or his grandmother is sick, or both. I don't know. He said he's going to be extremely busy and knew I needed to focus on my Showcase, although, that's not a problem anymore."
"When? When did you guys break-up?"
"We didn't break-up and does it really matter when it happened?"
"Blaine…"
"Santana, it's not like we were friends. He was a wrong number."
From the look on his face, she knew Blaine was lying. Even in that short amount of time, Sir Knight had become important to Prince Charming. "Call June and ask her what the hell's going on. We all know that so-called wrong number wasn't random."
"She's in France taking care of her sister-in-law. I'm not going to bother her with this. Sir Knight is gone, so you and Sam can stop your not-so secret mission to prove he was Sebastian which I told you wasn't possible in the first place!"
3 HOURS LATER
She let herself into the brownstone and proceeded to her office, ignoring the overwhelming desire to go to the basement and check on Blaine. No way he'd gone to a park.
Even though it was barely 1PM, she decided to change into comfy clothes. The best perk of her new job was getting to move out of the loft and into the brownstone. She didn't care if it was going to be under construction for the next month. Had to be less annoying than Hummel and Berry's constant bitching. And it's not like she couldn't escape if she wanted. Blaineland was completely soundproof due to the studio and home theater.
Sitting back at her desk, she checked her messages. She had one from Sam but if she had a guess he wanted the breakdown of what happened with the delivery guy…Ray. She didn't even bother to read what he sent and sent one of her own reminding him to spend time with his fucking family. He'd be back in a few days and they'd fix the Blaine Board then.
It wasn't that she was pushing Blond Chameleon out, he'd just be laser focused on the Sir Knight/Prince Charming (non) break-up. She's 100% certain Kurt's Thursday from Hell behavior was the key to all this and her trip to Manhattan only reinforced her beliefs.
Everything went better than she hoped. Not only was Ray working, he remembered her as a friend of Kurt's (his words…not hers). The first thing she asked was if he knew who sent the food to Blaine. He said he had an idea but was curious why, after 2 weeks, she came all this way to ask.
She had prepared for this.
Her story was that Blaine knew who sent the food but won't tell anyone. He did say all of them knew/at least met the person from high school. It was beginning to drive them crazy so she and Blaine's other friends, other than Kurt, turned it into a bet to see who could solve the mystery first. She pulled out a $100 bill…
Still had no idea how to put bribe money in the petty cash ledger but had a feeling the Andersons would be fine with it.
"I'm willing to pay for information."
The flashing of money brought others over to "help". They all agreed with Ray when he said, though he couldn't confirm it, the food had to be sent by the talent or someone in their entourage. The reasoning being unless it was Isabelle Wright, who all agreed it wasn't, the Vogue employees working the photoshoot couldn't afford the dinner(s) sent to the brownstone.
And while the NDAs were no joke, and Vogue employees were extremely careful with what they said in public, each of her new buddies had overheard bits and pieces about that night.
It was to launch the new face of a famous fashion house, and the person being shot was a guy. Also, he was an unknown who'd been discovered when a model went AWOL at one of last season's Fashion Week runway shows in Paris. A friend of a friend (something like that) called this guy and begged him to do it even though he wasn't a model. The rest was history.
One girl added she overheard there was something else going on with the guy, something bigger, like maybe an acting role.
She thanked everyone and pulled out two more $100 bills for them to split as they saw fit. Then she took Ray to the side and asked how much of this information Kurt had. He told her the one thing he told Kurt was the talent sent the food to Blaine, not that it was only a theory. Then he reminded her Kurt had to know a lot more than any of them but wasn't saying anything due to the NDA.
Must be one hell of an NDA.
She put all this new info on 3x5s cards but after pinning them to the Blaine Board she found herself at a crossroads. Everything was ready for the contractors' arrival in the morning. There were no more errands to run. She could go down and watch a movie. Relax and clear her mind of all things Blaine Anderson.
Who was she kidding? The reason she'd allowed herself to get tangled in this web in the first place was so she didn't have to clear her mind. If she did, she might have to start dealing with the fact Dani dumped her by leaving a letter at the diner for when she returned from Iowa. And how that bitch Brenda found it and convinced the staff to do a routine to Taylor Swift's We Are Never Getting Back Together as she handed her Dani's letter. And how she punched that bitch Brenda and had the choice of being fired or having the cops called.
And how in the letter Dani asked her to tell Kurt Elliot had gone to Nashville with her, completely blowing up Hummel's band. While she could somewhat see Dani in Tennessee the Glitter Rock Vampire made zero sense.
And couldn't she have asked Berry who still worked at the diner? Who knows, maybe she left a letter for Rachel asking her and that bitch Brenda did something with it. She managed to keep all her other evil plans secret from her then roommate.
Stop it! She needed a distraction and even though she scheduled her Dalton website research for tomorrow, it wouldn't hurt to check out the one surprise name on Pamela's list.
Getting on the site was ridiculously easy as was finding the alumni lists. Assuming Smythe graduated the same year as Blam (although she would've sworn Blaine was a Senior, not a Sophomore, when they met) she went to 2013. He wasn't there. That didn't make sense. Was he still at Dalton?
She put Smythe into the home page search engine and the only things that popped up were Warbler competition videos (the last being last year's Sectionals) and articles about the Lacross team from the previous year. All mentions of Sebastian end there. Did he leave Dalton before he graduated? Oh crap! Did he have something to do with the steroids? Both Sam and Blaine said there was no proof he was and the Warbler who ratted them out never mentioned the former captain.
*Ding…Dong*
Oh, thank God! While she wanted a distraction, she could see getting lost in this rabbit hole for hours and she had an early wake-up time.
Reaching for the doorknob she prepared herself for Kurt and whatever drama he'd twisted into an emergency to get her to call Blaine for him. She was pleasantly surprised to instead find a beautiful woman with a radiant smile and a killer body.
Not the time Lopez
"May I help you?"
"Are you Santana?"
"Yes…and you are?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought Sam told you I'd be stopping by. My name is Annabelle and I'm one of his manager's assistants. I'm here to pick up the packet he left so we can get his tax and union paperwork filed before he officially begins work on the musical."
"He didn't…wait, he sent me a text but I assumed it was for something else. You don't look like a serial killer so if you want to come in while I check, you're more than welcome. Warning though, there's nowhere to sit because remodeling begins tomorrow."
Annabelle smiled a smile Santana was trying really hard not to read into. "I'm definitely not a serial killer, although my primary client might disagree. I have threatened him with bodily harm on more than one occasion."
"Sorry, sounds like a douche bag."
"No, he's not, more like an annoying little brother. But I'll never tell him that."
"Ok, now I can totally sympathize but at least you don't get a 2 for 1 like I do with Blam. I'll be right back."
As she tried to not look at Santana's ass as the beautiful woman went to what she assumed was a home office, Annabelle took in her surroundings. There was a rumor going around that one of the major music labels had millions of dollars embezzled by a producer to build a studio in the brownstone they bought for him. In addition, they didn't find out until after they sold the place.
The guy who bought it was some sort of genius and had a judge agree anything attached to (even just screwed into the wall) the structure was included in the as is purchase price.
Since everyone in the NYC entertainment (not just music) industry thought the CEO of the label was an asshole they were celebrating still unknown man as a modern-day Robin Hood. And while the odds this being that particular brownstone were astronomical, she was still going to ask.
"I got ahold of Trouty. Yes, he did send a message, the one I ignored, so here you go." Santana handed over an envelope, both women going out of their way not to touch the other's hand. "He also said his manager wanted to know about the study system Blam developed back in high school to help his dyslexia."
"You keep referring to Blam. Who is that?"
"Sam and his best friend. It's like they have one mind so it's easier to give them one name."
"Would it be possible to get his number so I can talk to him on how to help Sam?"
"He's in the studio in the basement. Maybe Hermit will actually leave it if he knows it's to help Trouty."
Hermit? Trouty? Annabelle only cared about one word "Studio? There's a studio in the basement?"
"Yeah, it's pretty sweet. We found it when the Andersons bought the place. Hold on, I'll have to send a text. The whole level is soundproof." Santana watched as Annabelle turned into a cartoon character with as wide as her eyes got and how far her jaw dropped. "Is something wrong?"
"Holy Shit! The rumors are true?"
"Rumors?"
"The brownstone with the studio! How the guy who bought it screwed the label out of millions of dollars. He's a fucking legend!"
"My dad didn't screw anyone out of anything. It's not his fault the label had such shitty bookkeeping."
Annabelle turned around and went straight back to cartoon mode. She'd recognize that guy anywhere. "Blaine Fucking Anderson."
"Excuse me. Who the hell are you to call me that?"
Santana was put off as well. Things had been going great until that moment. "Annabelle…"
It was Blaine's turn to turn into a cartoon character. "Annabelle? Annabelle who works as an assistant to an entertainment manager?"
Their guest still wasn't talking and had gone so far as to put her hand over her mouth. Santana quickly came to the conclusion she was the only one with no idea what was happening. "Blaine, why does Annabelle's name and job matter?"
"Because Sir Knight had someone like you who took care of shit for him but she was his manager's assistant and her name was Annabelle. Joey, the driver, knows where I live but he didn't know my name."
"Blaine, I'm sorry…"
"Are you here to spy on me under the pretense of taking care of Sam? There's no reason. Sir Knight left the country and told me he'd be too busy to chat so it would be best if we stopped." Then it dawned on him. "How do you know my name? Did you do some sort of research on me?"
Santana huffed and threw up her arms in frustration. "If she did and got your name, she's much better than me and the Blond Chameleon. We still have no clue who Sir Knight is. How did you figure it out? Is it because the driver guy had Blainer's address?"
Annabelle pulled back her hair, obviously a nervous habit, and shook her head. "You don't understand. I could lose my job for the little bit I've already accidently said." She looked away from Santana to Blaine and saw the same pained expression on his face that she saw on Sebastain's when he left for Paris. Yes, he was worried about his Nana but she knew it was also for the loss of his Prince Charming.
She had no idea why he cut Blaine off when he needed his friend (love of his life) the most. He had an international phone plan.
Screw it! The jerk needed her too much to have Benny fire her.
"Sir Knight knew you were Blaine Anderson the second you called him the first time. You obviously hadn't changed your number in years."
Blaine and Santana grabbed each other's arms as a means to keep balance. It was a bad time not to have any furniture to hold on to. "I haven't changed my number. The Ohio area code should have been the first clue" Blaine said as he tried to remember his first conversations with Sir Knight. "But he had changed phones recently to a private line."
"Yes, and I set it up with only the 22 contacts he was allowed to keep. Evidently, he later deleted his parents and put you in himself…under the name Killer. It looks like you both figured it out but if you're looking for confirmation…Sir Knight's name is Sebastian Smythe."
"Damn it! The Blond Chameleon is going to be an even bigger pain in the ass once he finds out he was right all along!"
NOTES:
I'm excluding Rachel and Funny Girl because the visuals of her finding out Sam made it to Broadway "before her" cracks (hehe) me up.