31Disclaimer: The characters as known from Glee, as well as the concepts of the slayer and other things as known from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, are clearly not my invention. Just borrowing it all to play around a bit.
Summary: Buffy!verse AU. Returning to Sunnydale, vampire Kurt Hummel is certain of one thing: he is never ever going back to work with the slayer and his little gang of misfits - at least not for anything beneath the apocalypse.
That is, of course, until the slayer's brother and everybody's favorite damsel in distress, Blaine Anderson, gets kidnapped. Again. Because of course.
Story Notes: A series of oneshots, not necessarily told in chronological order, in an AU verse in which Cooper is the Chosen One a la Buffy the Vampire Slayer, trying to save the world with his ever expanding gang of scoobies, including his watcher Sue Sylvester, his brother Blaine, and the very reluctant vampiric ally Kurt.
While Cooper is in the title, the red thread in this verse is the growing relationship between Blaine, who as the slayer's brother and from personal experience not too happy with the demons in his life, and Kurt, who as a vampire is not too keen on allying with the slayer but finding himself dragged back into things again and again.
...what do you mean this show had something other than Klaine?
Anyway, to remind you again, these oneshots are not going to be posted chronologically, I'll put a timeline in my profile, but they're not necessarily supposed to be read in that timeline. I hope this will work and this story - the first written, but not the first the characters have been through - won't be too much In Medias Res. So now, prepare for vampires, blood, horrible fight scenes, and a damsel in distress who's very tired of their role.
Cooper, the Vampire Slayer
The Enemy Of My Enemy
Leaves were rustling in the wind, an owl was calling, and there was the quiet fluttering of wings as some bird or other soared through the night, searching for prey. It was a quiet night. A dark one, too, despite the full moon. It was hiding behind the clouds again and again. Only for a few moments at a time did it manage to shine through and fill the night with a pale light.
It was cold, and dark, and mostly quiet. Too quiet for Sunnydale.
Kurt Hummel was always alert when he walked through the nightly streets of Sunnydale. He knew how to defend himself, of course, and he knew what was lurking in the shadows better than most people in this sad little town. He also knew that not all of those creatures were too fond of him. But that was fine, he was hardly fond of anyone, either.
Something wasn't right.
Kurt couldn't have said what it was exactly, but there was something in the air – the wind didn't feel quite right, the light didn't fall the way it was supposed to, and he could feel the hairs on his neck standing up. Something was going on. But then again, this was Sunnydale. He'd be more worried the night there wasn't something strange going on.
Even the cemetery had been too quiet tonight. Kurt knew for a fact that there were at least four different covens of vampires in Sunnydale right now, and the last few nights he'd avoided the cemetery altogether, just to stay clear of them, their noisiness and all their stupid games.
And to think that being a vampire had at one point in time had an air of sophistication...
He never should have made that journey back to Ohio. It had been necessary at the time, but when Kurt had returned, he found a new coven way too close to his own sanctuary. Their leaders were two meat-heads, who were still wearing letterman jackets and acted like they were high school jocks. Kurt really didn't understand how some vampires chose their spawn, not that he'd ever been in that situation. And it wasn't just the new neighbors. When he thought about what he had actually gotten out of the visit...
New nightmares, mostly. Visions of blood over too pale skin, golden eyes wide open with terror, the mouth opened in a silent scream or maybe a beg for mercy, for help...
Kurt shuddered and shook his head. They were nothing but images. And even if they were more, images of the future maybe – why should he care?
Right now, he had better things to do than wonder about visions of carnage, or about those silly gangs of newcomers, or about that feeling of weirdness in the air. What he really needed to deal with was the thirst.
After Ohio, all he had wanted was to get away, and for those last few days he hadn't gotten around to drink. By now, it was hard to ignore it. If he didn't get any blood soon, he might very well lose control. And if he lost control... well, then Sunnydale really was the worst place to do so. Any other ridiculous town in the world mostly held idiots who had no idea about the supernatural lurking just outside their awareness. Sunnydale had the slayer. And unfortunately, the slayer knew way too much about him.
Kurt looked around, and finally, he caught the scent of blood. Not much, probably only one person. All the better. Carefully, he followed the smell, until he could see what kind of person he had been following – and gasped.
It was a young man, wearing leather, his dark hair slightly curling in the damp air. Kurt couldn't see his face, but an image sprang into his mind, an image of blood on a stone floor, a lifeless body...
He shook his head, tried to get rid of the image, and only looked up when the person he'd been following screamed.
Apparently, Kurt had been too focused on the blood and he hadn't noticed the other vampires following the same prey. There were three of them, probably from that new gang. But most importantly, he could see the young man he'd been following. He was now lying on the ground and Kurt could actually see his face. It was a stranger to him. Apparently blood wasn't the only thing he was obsessed with.
For a moment, he considered. The easy thing would be to step away, not to force a confrontation. Let them have the boy, what did it matter to him? He would find somebody else in Sunnydale to drink from, maybe even some other pretty boy with dark hair and wide eyes... this one wasn't special.
But then, of course, those idiot vampire fledglings had to start talking.
"Just look at it squeal... little rat. Squeal for us, will you?"
Kurt rolled his eyes. It was his experience that most vampires found way too much pleasure from listening to their own voices, and unfortunately, these were two extremely idiotic examples of his kind.
"I had a pet rat once," one of the vampires said. "I ate it."
Kurt groaned. Whatever he would do, he would not stand here and listen to this idiocy, if only for self-preservation. He could feel his already thin patience strain even more.
The human boy was whimpering, begging for his life. It was a more than pathetic display...
"You know what he looks like?" the third vampire said, and Kurt rolled his eyes even harder. "Like a flying squirrel!"
His companions stared at him.
"You know, like the rescue rangers?"
And that was enough.
"Those are chipmunks, you neanderthal!"
The four people on the street looked up in shock as he stepped into the light of a flickering street lamp. For a moment, they just stared at him, and then one of the vampires stepped right in front of him.
"I know who you are," he said.
Kurt sighed. "Of course you do."
The vampire spat onto the floor. "You're disgusting," he said.
"Look who's talking."
"You're a traitor to our kind," the vampire hissed. "I know everything about you."
A smirk appeared on Kurt's face. "I seriously doubt that," he said. "But if you've heard of me, you should know better than to annoy me. In fact, why don't you try to be a nice little rat and go scram? That kid and me have some... business." He smirked and let his fangs show.
It didn't have the desired effect.
"We saw him first," the probably dumbest vampire protested.
"You've been gone for a while, Hummel," their apparent leader said, ignoring his companion. "This is our territory now, and you're outnumbered. So how about you go take care of your own business and leave us the hell alone?"
Kurt shook his head. "I don't see that happening," he said. Not after he went up against these fledgelings. They understood dominance, he wasn't going to back down now. "But if you want to test your luck... Be. My. Guest."
Unfortunately, dominance wasn't a match to their confidence, or stupidity, as it may be, not when they outnumbered him three to one, so a second later, all three of them were jumping at him.
Kurt had been in a lot of fights since he'd become a creature of the night, and these kids probably hadn't spent even a year among the damned. Even three to one barely put them on even footing.
Kurt dodged under the first attack, but grabbed onto the attacker's outstretched fist to take his arm. One swing let the fledgling fall against one of his friends, while the second one managed to avoid the flying body. That gave him enough time to attack Kurt, but by the time he had come close enough, Kurt had seen him already. With more speed than the fledgling had expected, Kurt had jumped towards him and taken hold of his shoulders with one hand, his head with the other. He jumped back, not letting go of the head, and as if he had torn on paper, his vampire strength had separated it from the body. Underneath his hands, he could feel the head as well as the body turn into dust.
A scream reminded him of the two other vampires. The one he had thrown was running up to him. Kurt bowed down and used the other vampire's force of attack against him, to throw him over his own head and to the ground. His foot kicked up a branch lying on the ground, and he plunged it into the other creature's heart.
But even as he saw the creature crumble to dust, he could feel a presence behind him, and then, a foot hooked around his leg. He lost his balance and fell to the floor. He managed to avoid injury, but as he tried to regain control he could see the face of their leader in front of him, fangs bared, and he knew he wouldn't be able to react in time. The fangs came closer and then...
A wet, plunging noise pierced the night, followed by a gurgle. Kurt could just see the stake protruding from the vampire's chest, before the creature crumbled into dust. Behind him, an all to familiar face appeared.
Cooper Anderson, former minor commercial actor, current writer of supernatural romance novels, bane of Kurt's existence, also known as the Slayer.
Cooper took his hand and hurled him to his feet. In the same movement, he whirled around to the last remaining person on the scene, the boy who was supposed to be dinner, but he was already running off. Kurt's instinct was to go after him, but Cooper held out an arm to stop him.
"Leave him," he said, "he's been scared enough for today."
"Maybe I disagree," Kurt said, glaring at him.
But the boy was too far gone, and he really wasn't worth starting a fight with the slayer over him.
"I'm actually here to check on you," Cooper said. "Tina found you on a scouting spell by accident. There's something we need to discuss." There was a tension around Cooper that was unusual. Of all the slayers Kurt had encountered, Cooper had always been the goofiest. And experience said that whenever Cooper Anderson got serious, it was time to run the other way.
"Fun as that was, I actually have places to be, so I guess I'll see you around."
"I need your help," Cooper said, ignoring what Kurt had said.
And that was definitely the most annoying thing if you compared Cooper Anderson to all the other slayers. Usually, Kurt had stayed away from them, and there was that ugly business where he ended up killing one, but Cooper... He didn't work alone, he networked. And Kurt believed very much in the Art of War, and old proverbs, and the enemy of your enemy is your friend, and all that. Kurt liked the world and didn't want to see it destroyed, so eventually, it had become necessary to offer his help to the slayer and his little gang.
Unfortunately, it hadn't remained at that one time. Instead, he found himself helping them out on a regular base. Hell, even his trip to Ohio had partly been to just get away from that ridiculous gang. Kurt hated being dragged into this, and on several occasions he had considered explaining to Cooper and his gang that the "friend" part of the old saying was not meant literally.
"Look, Cooper, I'm sure you'll have a blast with whatever idiot witch or vampire you feel you have to hunt down now, but I actually just came back from Ohio, so how about we use this opportunity to reestablish some ground rules?"
"Well, I know that you, like every vampire in the goddamn world, enjoy listening to your own voice, but guess what? I don't have time for this. I need your help, now."
Kurt blinked at him. That was unusual. "I don't even know what you're dealing with. Why do you think I could even help?" And damn, that almost sounded as if he wanted to help, which couldn't be farther from the truth.
"The Eerie," Cooper said, even more serious now, and the softest hints of a crack was in his voice.
Kurt felt a shudder run through him. "The sisters?" he repeated. "There is no way in all the hells, Anderson."
He had encountered them once, horrible creatures disguised as old women, who in their real form looked more like birds, with cold dead eyes and claws made to rip into a throat, a beak of silver...
"I know where their lair is," Cooper continued, "but I can't enter it, no human can."
"One can," Kurt said, "that's the whole point. They come in, they take their sacrifice, and once they've drained the life force, they leave again." He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself. There was no reason to get upset, no way in hell that Cooper would make him deal with the Eerie again.
"They're in Sunnydale," Cooper said, his voice solemn as a grave, "they took their sacrifice, and they're going to kill him before the full moon passes."
"So tomorrow the latest?" Kurt said. "Well, then that poor idiot is out of luck. Once they have their sacrifice, no human can enter or leave their lair until the ritual is over. Sorry, looks like you lost this one."
"We didn't!"
Kurt involuntarily took a step backwards at the fierce expression.
"We can still save him, Kurt – you can save him. You're a vampire, you can still enter the lair and save him."
Kurt sighed and shook his head. "I'm missing one central property for that," he said, "and that's complete insanity."
"What?"
"Look, this is just the right time to get things straight," Kurt said, "I may have helped you in the past, but that doesn't make me part of your little gang. My heart won't break when you don't manage to save every single person in this pathetic little town. I can actually sleep during the day if I'm not eligible for sainthood. Now there are things you can fight, and there are things you have to accept. The Eerie are ridiculously powerful, and extremely vicious. And what's the big deal? They take one human every ten years to nourish themselves. It's sad for the one they got, but if you focus on the big picture it's not that tragic. And it's definitely not enough to make me risk my life or at least sanity by facing them again. Go find some other non-human who will play the part of you lapdog, but there is nothing you can say that will make me go up against the Eerie."
Content with this speech, Kurt gave him one last triumphant look before he turned around to leave. That should do it. Even as he could hear Cooper inhale to get ready for an answer, Kurt wasn't worried. Because he had been honest. Nothing in the world would make him even consider attacking the sisters.
But when Cooper spoke, his voice was softer, devoid of the anger he had just displayed and almost reduced to pleading.
"They took Blaine."
Kurt stopped dead in his track. It took him a few moments until his voice returned, even if it was only a soft, almost croaked "What?"
"They took my brother," Cooper said.
Usually, Kurt would have commented on the repetition – as if he didn't know who Blaine was – but in this moment, he only felt shocked. Although now that he thought about it, he really shouldn't have been surprised. Something evil came to Sunnydale, looking for only one person to abduct and endanger. Of course, they took Blaine. Who else could it be? It wasn't even the expected side-effect of being the slayer's younger brother – of course that painted a bull's eye on the boy's back – but even accounting for that, he was a magnet for trouble. Yes, Blaine being caught by forces of evil wasn't a surprise – it was Tuesday.
Kurt looked down to see his hands tremble. No, it wasn't a surprise. It was all to familiar, although this rising feeling of dread was new. As he closed his eyes, he saw the same image again, blood spilled over too pale skin, dead eyes wide open...
"Where?"
It was more of a growl than anything, and effectively shut up Cooper, who had still been trying to convince him to help. Idiot that he was, he had apparently not the slightest idea that he had already said the only thing that would ever make Kurt go up against the Eerie.
"Where did they take him?"
"You'll help?" Cooper asked.
Kurt whirled around and fixated the slayer with the most vicious glare he could muster.
"Where is he?" he growled.
To his credit, Cooper hardly flinched. "The portal is in the closed down factory. Tina found them through a scouting spell – that's also how we found out you're back in town. Let me tell you, you've got one hell of a timing."
Kurt shuddered. "Let's see about that tomorrow."
It didn't look that special. In his time as a vampire, Kurt had seen several portals, but this would definitely rank among the least impressive. In the dirty wall of the old factory building, there was one circle that looked different. It was silver, apparently a color the Eerie were quite fond of, and Kurt would have almost thought it could be a mirror, but it showed no reflection, only a shadow as he came closer. As he put a finger onto it, he could feel the surface underneath his skin give in easily. It felt as if he was touching honey, though without the stickiness. He pulled his finger back, satisfied for now with the information that the portal would let him through.
Behind him, he could feel the eyes of Cooper, Tina, and two other scoobies whose names he couldn't remember right away. (Sam was the tall blond one, and the ill-tempered dark-haired girl was called Santana, and damn it, how would anybody ever believe him that he didn't care about any of them if he couldn't even keep up the charade in his own mind?)
This was the last chance Kurt had to walk away from this, but he knew that he wouldn't. Somewhere beyond this portal, was Blaine – locked up somewhere if he was in time, in the middle of the sacrifice if he was late... or maybe already dead, on a stone floor, in a pool of his own blood, if he was really late.
It was that last image he couldn't get rid off. The second he closed his eyes, it was there, and he knew he couldn't let it happen.
"I can't tell you how long this will take," Kurt said, trying his best to keep his voice calm. "The sisters are extremely dangerous, I'm not sure if I could defeat them if I tried..."
"Just..." Cooper's voice was close to breaking as he spoke. "Just bring him back. I don't care about the Eerie, stay out of their way if you can, just... just bring back Blaine."
Kurt nodded, but there wasn't anything else left to say. Without a glance back to the slayer and his little gang, he stepped through the portal.
The moment his body pierced the shimmering membrane, he could feel a gust of wind enveloping him. He had to close his eyes, as the cold washed over him. There was a ringing in his ears, and the longer it went on, the louder it got until he thought he could actually hear a melody in it...
And then, it stopped.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a stone corridor. Although there was no source of illumination, everything had a bright gray shimmer. The walls didn't look right, too smooth and too polished, and the floor was made from the same material. It was surreal – but also familiar.
He had been here once before, a long time ago... Back in the first years of being a vampire, those first years that he could actually remember clearly. It had been a friend the sisters had taken then, and he had been stupid enough to think he could just walk in and save her, drunk on his new immortality and power. The sisters had taught him a much needed lesson that night. If he had known what they were like, he never would have walked through the portal back then.
But this was Blaine, who was sweet and idealistic, and who wouldn't even be in this godforsaken town if it wasn't for Kurt. The sisters could take whoever else they wanted, but not him. Not while Kurt still had blood inside him to fight.
Careful not to make any noise, Kurt walked through the corridors. It was impossible to say at what point the Eerie were in their sacrifice ritual. He knew they would have started now, one of them praying over a brew they had made, with the sacrifice being made only in the last stage of the ritual. He could hear chanting from some place he couldn't quite identify. It was a relief, if they weren't done then he could at least be sure that Blaine was still alive. All he had to do was find the cell they kept him in, and free him without getting noticed. It didn't sound too hard... of course, he wasn't sure if all of the sisters were at the ritual or if they kept a guard with their victim. He knew way too little about them in general, which made his current mission even more of a complete lunacy.
Kurt stopped in his track, when a wave of smell hit him. Blood. There was no mistake, blood had been spilled, and close by.
He was running before he had made a conscious decision, following the smell. The more he focused, the more he could take in another smell, similar to blood, but without the copper taste. Silver, maybe... but it didn't matter, because the closer he came, the better he could concentrate on the smell that was actual blood. Kurt didn't believe in the way some vampires went on about the blood of special people whose taste and smell was completely unique. He had always thought it was just superstition, or the vampires trying to defend their obsession with one particular person. But he knew this particular smell, couldn't forget it since that one taste he had gotten of it.
It was Blaine's.
The vision he had been shown returned to his inner eye, and if his heart could still beat, it would stop at this point. Anything but this... he couldn't be too late!
He followed the smell of blood around a corner, and he could already see that he had arrived at the cell. There were bars, and the cell door was open, but there was a figure lying on the ground. At first, all Kurt could see was the red pool of liquid surrounding the figure.
Shocked, Kurt came to a halt. No, this could not be happening, he couldn't be too late. And why would they kill him here, not in the ritual? But then he took a closer look. The figure on the ground was humanoid, dressed in what looked like a long, silken dress of bright gray. But he could see bird feathers all over its skin, the beak protruding from its face, and the silvery shimmer in what he thought was blood. Kurt's eyes widened. It was one of the sisters, and she was dead.
He looked closer, and now he could see more, the shine of blood on her claws, and drips of it on the ground, outside the pool she was lying in. Blaine had been here, and Blaine had been bleeding. But now the boy was gone, and a dead sister was lying at his feet. Could Blaine have possibly freed himself? Or was there somebody else that had entered, had attacked the Eerie?
It didn't really matter, he needed to find the boy and get the hell out of here.
Kurt stepped away from the body of the sister and concentrated on his sense of smell. With the sister being so close, it was a bit harder to catch the trace of Blaine's blood, but it was as if it called to him – just like all those cliches he had claimed didn't exist. And then he caught it again, and just followed it. Once he had stepped away from the sister it got easier, especially when he noticed traces of blood drops on the floor. Blaine was still bleeding, leaving a track behind. Kurt could only hope that he could follow it before the remaining sisters would find the boy.
It was easier now, following the faint trace of blood as well as the visual one, and he ran as fast as he could, less worried now about noise than about getting to Blaine in time. He stopped immediately, when he realized that he had ended up at the portal again. There was a small pool of blood that hadn't been there when Kurt had arrived. Blaine had been here in the meantime, but had he managed to get out through the portal or was he still around?
Kurt was just about to analyze the pattern of blood, when a screech sounded in his ears. As fast as he could, Kurt spun around, just in time to see the claws and beak of one of the sisters. His thoughts went back to Mercedes, how helpless he had been to save her... but not anymore. He dodged, and even as he dove out of her reach he brought up his foot in a kick to the sister's stomach. She stumbled back, screeching again to alert her fellow sisters... sister, Kurt remembered, they were a trio and one was unable to come to help. Kurt was on his feet again, letting his own claws protrude and hissed at her. But even then, he knew he was in trouble. He was faster, stronger, but he wasn't sure if he had any weapon to actually wound the sister with. It hadn't worked last time. He could only try to incapacitate her, and then run, find Blaine as fast as possible and get the hell out of here...
But the sister was faster than he had thought, and again he could see the beak coming closer. He brought up his claws, trying to protect his throat and then...
Then a fountain of slimy, silvery blood exploded from the creature's beak, hitting Kurt's torso and chin. The creature stumbled, and she fell on him. Frantically, Kurt pushed the body off himself, and turned around to see just what had happened...
There was someone standing behind her, a wooden stake in his hands that was completely red with blood. Kurt forced himself to look away from the weapon to the person's face.
He was paler than he had any right to be after months under the Sunnydale sun, but the black curls were as unmistakable as the wide hazel eyes that looked at him frantically, or the bizarre eyebrows hovering over them.
"Blaine!"
The boy stared at him in disbelief, which slowly morphed into giddy happiness, and then a soundless laughter that almost bordered to hysterical.
"Kurt," he gasped eventually. The boy stumbled, almost fell onto the corpse between them, and Kurt had to step forward to catch him. "What are you doing here? I thought you were in Ohio."
"Vacation's over," Kurt said, "and of course I come back just to find you in need of rescuing again." He took another look at the creature to their feet. "Or at least I thought I did." He looked back to the boy he was still holding upright. His shirt was ripped and bloody. On the right side of his chest, Kurt could see where the claws had torn open the skin. His left sleeve was red, too. It was hard to say how bad those injuries were, but they were more than enough for Kurt to worry. How much blood had he lost by now?
Blaine grinned, although he was still weak on his feet. "It's been a while... I tried to keep busy," he said.
Again, Kurt looked from the boy to the creature on the ground.
"You killed her," he said, disbelief coloring his voice. "You killed one of the sisters... No, wait, two of them. How the hell did you do that?"
With a twirl, Blaine brought up the stake he had kept in his hand. As he had thought on first glance, it was covered in blood. But then, Blaine let it drop and took another one out of his belt.
"They didn't think to take them off me," he explained, "probably didn't think some wood could even hurt them. They were a bit too confident, of course."
To Kurt's surprise, he rolled back his sleeve. There was a long cut on the inside of his arm, obviously the reason for the bloodied sleeve. It was clear that it had bled before, but by now the beginning of a crust had built over it. Blaine hesitated, then he pushed the sleeve back down, and opened a few buttons on his shirt. Kurt wasn't sure what it was good for, as most of the fabric had been ripped apart by claws. But Blaine uncovered the wound on the right side of his chest. Kurt flinched as he inspected the cuts that had torn the skin and muscle underneath it.
"What are you doing?" Kurt asked.
"Arming myself," Blaine explained, his breath heavy, as he took the stake and rolled it over the wound, covering it in his blood.
"Are you insane? Do you have any idea how unhygienic this is?" Kurt asked.
"Very," Blaine said, "but I think I'll worry about infections once I get out of here alive."
"What is this even?" Kurt asked.
"They did something to me when I came here," Blaine said. The boy stumbled again, and Kurt put an arm around his waist to keep him upright. "They did some spell," the boy continued, although he was now leaning against Kurt. "I'm not sure, but they said it was to make my energy compatible to theirs. We did some research when we noticed them coming, it said that they could only be destroyed by something like them. So... with you supernaturals, it's always about the blood. I figured if my blood was compatible to them, maybe it was enough to hurt them. And well..." He shrugged. "It was."
"But... how did you overwhelm them?"
"They have these claws," Blaine said, "when they locked me up, I fought enough for them to make me bleed. And if I learned one thing from Cooper, it's to always have stakes ready. So I got one all bloody and waited for that first one to come and take me out of the cell. They didn't expect me to fight, or to have a weapon that can hurt them. I caught it by surprise, so I stabbed it. I didn't really think it would work this well, but..." He shrugged again. "Desperate times and all that."
Kurt couldn't help but stare at the boy. "I was gone for a few months," he said, "what the hell happened to you?"
Blaine frowned. "What, did you expect me to just sit around at home waiting for the next entity to hold me hostage or use me in some kind of ritual or experiment again? Of course, I tried to find ways to defend myself. Who wouldn't have?"
"Yeah, but..." Kurt looked back to the bird-like creature on the ground. "There's defending yourself and there's going up against the fucking Eerie!"
"They started it," Blaine said with a shrug. "I tried to find my way back here to get out... wasn't as easy."
"Then why are you still here?" Kurt asked.
As an answer, Blaine leaned against the portal. It could have been a wall for all the difference it made. "I can't leave," Blaine said. "I guess I'm not enough like them, after all. I'm trapped here."
"I can see it," Kurt said. "No mortal can enter or leave while the Eerie complete their ritual."
"So what do I do?" Blaine asked.
A grin appeared on Kurt's face. He was getting a plan, and those always made him feel better. "Well, they can't really complete their ritual if they're all dead, can they?"
Blaine grinned now, too, but then his expression darkened. "But Kurt... I don't think I can kill another one," Blaine said.
Kurt looked him over. It was obvious, why the boy was so pale. He was losing too much blood, he probably wouldn't be able to fight much longer. It was a surprise he had held out this long, really. But he wasn't on his own anymore.
"I told you I came to rescue you," he said. "So guess what I'm going to do?"
Blaine laughed in relief. "I'm so glad you're back," he said, leaning further against the vampire.
Kurt thought back on why he had left Sunnydale in the first place, that he had needed distance and to get away from the slayer and his madness. But then he looked at the boy that was practically in his arms by now, and he couldn't help but smile. "Me too," he said. "Now let's go, you're running out of blood."
And he himself might very well run out of self-control if he smelled it much longer.
They walked slowly, Kurt didn't want to alert the remaining sister or strain Blaine too much. He still kept an arm to the boy's back, to stabilize him if necessary.
"So how long have you been here?" Blaine asked.
"A few days," Kurt said. He tried to strain his ears to catch the sound of the chanting again. Would the remaining sister be wondering already where the other two were? Was she even able to interrupt the ritual?
"Were you going to contact us? You know, if I hadn't been kidnapped again?"
"Oh please, be it the Eerie or somebody else, you getting kidnapped again is just a matter of time anyway," Kurt said.
"Rude," Blaine muttered.
"Honest. Now be quiet, we have a bird to catch."
Blaine frowned, but didn't speak again.
There it was again, the chanting. This time, Kurt tried to follow it and actually walk towards it, instead of avoiding it as he had done before. It was a lot harder, though, to concentrate with the smell of blood so close to him... But he couldn't be distracted. He was here to save the boy, not to kill him. This wasn't about his thirst, no matter how famished he was.
"I can hear her," Blaine said suddenly.
"That's great," Kurt said, "but please shut up. We're trying to surprise her. And don't trample like that. You're too loud."
Blaine frowned, but followed more quietly now. "I'm not trampling," he muttered.
Kurt just rolled his eyes but didn't dignify it with an answer. The chanting did indeed get louder, and he was sure he was going to find the last sister soon. As he followed the corridors, he could even feel the magic in the air. And then, they could see the corridor opening into the chamber.
It was the oldest sister, probably, sitting in front of a cauldron. She was chanting, her voice melodious, and there were wings coming from her shoulders, wide spread. It was beautiful, in a very strange way.
"Stay," Kurt whispered, "give me that stake."
Blaine nodded. Kurt frowned at the sudden compliance, but he only needed to look at the even worse paleness in Blaine's face to realize why he wasn't looking forward to confront the last one. Had he even had any hope of defeating all of them and getting out of here alive, if Kurt hadn't shown up?
Well, he had hope now. Gripping the stake, Kurt stalked into the chamber.
It was for nothing, though, the moment he set his foot onto the chamber's floor, the creature jumped up from her crouch, her wings flaring, and the melodious chanting turned into a screech that made Kurt flinch back. And then, the creature was coming at him, faster than he would have expected, and all he could do was fling himself at her. He held out the stake, but his arm was punched back by her wings. He fell, managed to roll himself away, only to find the beak come down to the spot where his head had been a moment ago.
He thought he could hear Blaine shouting out his name, but he couldn't focus on him now, had to concentrate on the monster attacking him.
She was stronger than her sisters, and there was a fierce intelligence in her silver eyes. Kurt threw himself against her, and managed to knock her off balance, but before he could bring the stake down into her body, he was hit by the wings again, falling to the ground. Again, the sister was above him, a deafening screech coming from her beak, and then... another swipe of her wings threw the stake out of his hands.
Kurt surged upwards, ramming his head into the soft belly of the creature and knocking it away from him. He retreated, trying to get the stake, but he couldn't see it and then...
"HEY!"
Kurt's head shot sideways when he heard Blaine's voice. What was that idiot boy doing now?
He had dragged himself into the cave, and taken the stake.
"No!" Kurt screamed, unable to contain himself. Blaine could not go up against that thing, he was going to die!
The creature screeched, and with a swipe of her wings, she was going at Blaine. But the boy looked straight into her eyes, as if he wasn't afraid... and then threw away the stake, before the creature hit him.
Kurt didn't know who of them had screamed, but instead of straight up ripping off the boy's head, the creature used her claws to grab his shoulders, and drag him to the cauldron.
Of course, he was their sacrifice. She couldn't risk losing him without taking up his energy.
But Kurt couldn't think about it too much anymore. He lunged forward to take the stake, blood still dripping from it. When he looked up, the creature held Blaine over the cauldron, her claw on his throat, ready to cut it open.
Kurt was running, the stake firm in his hand. When he was close enough, he jumped, and rammed the stake into the creature's heart.
Her blood gushed out in a fountain, tainting the silver liquid in the cauldron with red. The creature fell forward, toppling the cauldron over and spilling the liquid onto the marble floor.
Kurt shuddered, the stake falling out of his hand, and he turned around. Blaine had also fallen over, his face between the logs of the fire, dangerously close to the flames. With another jump, Kurt dragged the boy away from it and into his arms.
"You're okay," he whispered, "you're going to be okay, you're fine." He wasn't sure if he was trying to tell it to the boy or himself.
"Is it over?" Blaine asked, blinking rapidly against the dirt and ashes in his face.
"You're an idiot!" Kurt hissed. "But yes, it's over. Come on, let's get you out of here."
It was easier to find the way back to the portal, once again he was able to follow the trace of Blaine's blood. As they walked, he put an arm around the boy's waist to keep him stable. The cut on his throat wasn't deep, hardly more than a prick, but it was just one more point of injury.
It was hard to focus with the smell all around him... But no, not again. He felt guilty for how much his mouth watered at the smell – one more thing he could feel guilty over, just as every single one of these injuries could be traced back to him.
"Thank you for coming," Blaine said, his voice weak.
Kurt frowned. "Save your strength," he said. "Come on."
Ignoring the protests he picked the boy up in his arms. He tried to tell himself it was just because they'd be faster this way, and had nothing to do with the fact that he felt safer when he could actually feel the boy's heartbeat against his skin.
The portal looked just as it had before, but this time, it gave way. Without the influence of the Eerie, it let both of them through, and after the cold and the ringing were gone, he found himself back where they had started. It was obvious from how clear the air was, from the dark colors... and of course of the shouting of Cooper's silly gang.
The boy was taken from his arms, and in the general chaos Kurt could just so hear somebody calling an ambulance.
"What happened?" Cooper asked, holding onto his brother.
"...saved me," Blaine whispered hoarsely. "He was... amazing."
"Your brother is an idiot," Kurt said. "...but I guess he's getting a bit better at taking care of himself."
He hesitated. A part of him wanted to see Blaine in proper care, even though he was safe with his brother and his friends now. But he shouldn't stick around long enough for them to get any more ideas of him being part of their silly group.
"Thank you!"
Kurt looked up in surprise at the sound of Cooper's voice. The slayer actually had tears in his eyes, as he held his brother close.
Kurt blinked. "Forget it," he said, "it's fine. You would have been much more annoying if you'd gone on some crusade of vengeance."
"Still, Kurt... thank you."
Kurt looked at Blaine, whose eyes were falling shut, too exhausted from the blood loss and the fighting to stay conscious much longer.
"Take care of him," Kurt said softly, and then, as if he remembered his supposed reputation, he added, "I didn't go through that hassle just so he can die of blood loss now. Would be such a waste anyway."
Cooper laughed, clearly seeing through his fake bravado. And this was just enough, possibly too much for his reputation to recover from. Without another comment, he made his exit, too fast for any of them to stop him. He had to be back inside before sunrise anyway. Blaine was going to be fine.
Kurt wasn't sentimental. He made it clear at every opportunity that he didn't care for the slayer and his little circle of friendship that kept recruiting new members. He certainly wouldn't be dragged into it on a permanent base. When he helped out, it wasn't because he cared, but because his own skin was on the line. Those were very clear rules, and it wasn't his fault if the slayer didn't get it.
Of course, Kurt wasn't helping if he was breaking the pattern himself, and things like saving Blaine last night certainly weren't helping with his crumbling reputation. And hell forbid the slayer would ever found out about what he was doing now...
It wasn't completely ridiculous for him to be at the hospital. They were a good source for blood, be it the blood bank or even some of the less conscious patients. After not getting to hunt again last night, Kurt had opted for the safer option of snagging two bags of B+, but that left him with no further reason to be here – at least none that he could reconcile with his reputation.
So here he was, glaring at every staff member or patient that dared to look at him, as he made his way through the corridors and stopped in front of a room. He stayed there for a moment, listening closely to make sure he wouldn't run into the slayer's whole gang, but he couldn't hear anybody. With a sigh, he opened the door, not even bothering with knocking.
The room was white and sterile, like probably any other hospital room would have been. It was small, and there was only one bed. For a moment Kurt wondered just how much Cooper paid for this kind of privacy, but he knew that nothing triggered the slayer's generosity as quickly as an injury to his brother.
Blaine must have been dozing, for as Kurt walked in, he was lying back in his pillows, his eyes closed. He must have heard the entrance, though, as his eyes fluttered open and then landed on Kurt. Slowly, he sat up. A smile formed on his face.
"What are you doing here?" he asked. "I didn't think you'd be the type for hospital visits."
"Don't get your hopes up," Kurt said, "I just wanted to make sure all my hard work wasn't for nothing."
"I'm still alive, no exsanguination," Blaine said. Grinning, he beckoned Kurt closer, who rolled his eyes before he complied and stepped to the bed.
"So... feeling better?" Kurt asked. He wasn't sure what to say. It had been ages since he had been in a hospital room, and the few times he had been in his past, the patient had usually been on the brink of death. But Blaine's cheeks were rosy, his breathing calm, and he was the picture of life.
"I'm glad you're here," Blaine said, "I don't think I really thanked you yesterday. Actually, I don't even remember how we got back to Sunnydale."
"What is the last thing you remember?"
"I think I almost fell into the fire," Blaine said, "and I think you called me an idiot a lot. But you killed the sister, so I guess I'll forgive that."
"It wasn't that exciting. I got you back to the portal, and then your brother and his friends took care of everything else. You remember all the important stuff."
"I think I do," Blaine said. "Wait, did you carry me?"
"Why would that matter?" Kurt asked, not looking at the boy. "And you are an idiot. What were you thinking, calling attention to yourself like that?"
Blaine shrugged. "I thought she'd be distracted enough not to kill you. And I knew she wouldn't just rip my head off, not if she prepared so much for that ritual. It's not like I would have had a chance to get out of their alive without you anyway. Besides..." Now Blaine was the one looking away.
"Besides what?"
When Blaine looked up, there was a shyness in his eyes that Kurt wasn't used to. "I don't want you to get hurt because of me."
Kurt blinked. On instinct, he wanted to list all the reasons, why Blaine shouldn't have cared about his well-being in that situation. But he didn't say a word. It was too unusual to have somebody care about him, or even think about prioritizing him.
"You're an idiot," he said instead, though there was affection in his voice. "But you were very brave."
Blaine shrugged, although there was a blush forming in his face. He clearly hesitated for a moment, but then he spoke again. "I used to run away," he said, "before I came to Sunnydale. I had some problems with bullies at my high school, and I always ran away. And in college, back in Columbus, I never spoke up either. I'd go along with my parents' wishes, because I thought it was just for a short time, and if I kept my head down it would pass. My parents, and the other students... I just let it all happen and waited for it to be over. And when I came to Sunnydale... well, mostly I've been sitting around, waiting to be rescued by Cooper... or you. But I think I'm done with it all now."
Kurt looked at Blaine in surprise. He hadn't expected to be taken into his confidence like this. Without thinking about it, he put his hand on Blaine's.
"I guess it felt good to stand up for yourself and fight back," he said.
Blaine smiled, and the only word Kurt could describe that smile with was radiant. "It felt amazing," the boy said. "Thank you for not taking that away from me."
"I can teach you." The words were out of his mouth before Kurt had even registered them. "To fight," he clarified. "I mean, clearly you've taken some kind of lessons in the last few months-"
"Half a year, Kurt!"
"Five months. The point is, I can show you a few tricks, to make sure you can defend yourself even better. If you're interested."
Blaine looked at him with his gold-hazel eyes wide open, but there was a spark of life within them, nothing like his vision. Maybe he could stop worrying at least for a little while.
"I'd be very interested," Blaine said.
Kurt nodded. "Fine. When you're out of here, then. But now you should rest."
If the boy wanted to protest, it was drowned by his yawn. "Guess I should," he said. "Bye Kurt, thanks for coming."
"Just take care of yourself," Kurt said without looking back and left the room.
So maybe he was sentimental. Maybe that silly, naïve, brave boy brought that out in him. It was somehow fine, though. Blaine would live to see another night, and maybe he wasn't as helpless as Kurt had thought. Maybe the writer of that old proverb had been onto something, when he called the enemy of your enemy a friend instead of a mere ally.
But it didn't matter right now. Because right now, Kurt was full of energy, ready to do something productive, and really needed to let off steam to get rid off all this sentimentality.
Time to get these goddamn teenagers off his lawn.
