FIC: Lost and Found
Title: Lost and Found
Pairing: Klaine
Includes: Mpreg, bad science, zombies, the worst cliffhanger ever
Word Count: 4714
Summary: Everyone is hunting for Blaine, but he is found unexpectedly by those who weren’t even looking.
The Road So Far...
All Series Parts
And now...
Burt was driving a little erratically. He didn’t care. Because he’d just come from the Refugee Center where Jacques had swung a meeting with his supervisor. Burt had been able to convince the man to let him put on a quarantine suit and walk through the processing area to find Blaine. Nothing. Nada.
His next step had been to get information on where Forest and Saffire Jackson had landed after processing, supposedly in the same housing project where they all were being stored. So he phoned Finn at the hospital to tell him he’d be a little bit longer, headed home and prepared to do some door knockin’.
He parked on the street and started with the first house in the circle. By the fifth house, he was getting a little worried to leave Kurt on his own for that long (and simultaneously telling himself to trust Finn to look after his brother because Kurt was traumatized, not a toddler).
The door opened and a middle-aged black man stuck his head out and looked Burt over. “Afternoon. C’n I help you?”
“I hope so.” Burt put his hands on his hips and took a breath. “I know this is weird, ‘cause I don’t have a uniform or anything, but I’m lookin’ for a Forest Jackson, and I’m thinkin’ maybe you might be him. Since all I got to go on is that he lives in this part of the project. And he’s black.”
“Do I know you?” The man opened the door all the way. “You look kinda familiar.”
“I don’t think you do. But if you’re him? I think you know my son.”
The man’s brows shot up and he eyed Burt’s face closely.
A girl, slightly lighter-skinned than her father, with her hair in braids poked her head through the doorway. “Who is it, Daddy?”
“Might be Kurt’s daddy, Saff.”
“Yep. That’s me,” Burt said. The girl lit up and jumped in place with a squeal.
Forest looked back at Burt. “Hell. C’mon in.”
He motioned for Burt to enter. The house was small, by the standards his little group of foundlings had gotten used to in their own house, even though it was crammed full. It looked like more than one family lived in this tiny place, too.
“I was afraid this wasn’t gonna pan out,” Burt said. “I’m hopin’ this isn’t another dead end.”
Forest ran his hand over his head. “Wish I had better news for ya. If you’re lookin’ for Kurt, all I know’s that he came through with us. But he got infected right at the checkpoint. They took him away like that.”
He snapped his fingers. “That was some weeks ago, though. They might’ve treated ‘im.”
“No, no, I found him,” Burt assured them.
“Oh, thank God!” Saffire said. “Is he okay? How’s the baby?”
Burt smiled a little at her. “He’s... Well, the doctors are lookin’ after him, and he and the baby are both getting a little stronger every day. Thank God for that.” He paused. “I’m actually looking for Blaine. He’s not at the hospital, and we’ve been to the Refugee Center a couple of times already hoping he’d come through processing, but he’s not there.”
“Huh. I thought they took ‘im to the hospital. That’s what they said they was gonna do. I tried my damnedest to get them to let me take the boy with me once we got through, but they wouldn’t listen. I even told ‘em I’m his daddy, but they...” Forest raised his hands. “Well, cain’t fault ‘em for not believin’ me.”
Burt bit back a laugh. “What happened? Kurt said he was starting to unravel.”
“He done unraveled,” Forest said, leaning against the sofa. “And Kurt was holding ‘im together with all the strength he had left. But then they done took Blaine’s boy away from him and he just got all caught up in a snarl. On top of that they had to give us the vaccine, and he couldn’t find up from down. We were all...” He pursed his lips. “Like I said, I know they sent him to a hospital. If it’s not the same one... It didn’t sit right with me leaving the Center without knowin’ the boys was okay, but I needed to find Saff a safe place to live and connect with someone I know up here... And I guessed if help was to be had, the doctors had more than I did to give to Blaine. He didn’t seem to know us when Kurt wasn’t there. Not that I blame him. We met them the same day we crossed over.”
Burt sighed. “No, I understand. Completely. I was just thinking maybe he’d... Left you guys before the Center, or something. I can’t go back there and tell Kurt not to wait up for Blaine. So the next step...” He scratched the back of his head, thinking.
“We can maybe find out which hospitals they’re sending folks to. You got some pictures? I’m just waiting on my buddy at the docks to get back to me here, not doin’ nothing. I can start driving to whatever hospitals they’re sending John Does, since we’re assumin’ they’d have found him already if he were under his proper name. They wouldn’t have taken him that far.”
Burt shrugged his head to the side as he pulled out his wallet. “Not a bad idea. Maybe someone will recognize him. Here it is.”
Forest looked at the picture with a frown. He shook his head slowly. “Ain’t what he looks like.”
“What’s he look like?” Burt glanced back down at the picture of Blaine in his Dalton uniform.
Saffire peered at the picture, too. “He’s got a fro. And some whiskers. And crazy eyes.”
“Be nice.” Forest chuckled.
“I am. I’m jus’ being honest. I only saw ‘im for a day after he...” She sat on the couch and put her chin in her hands. “I could draw a picture of ‘im? Or draw some hair on the picture so people would recognize him?”
“I’ll get started looking right away,” Forest promised. “He’s in a hospital somewhere. We just need to start circulating this an’ get the hospitals talkin’ to each other. He’s gotta turn up.”
“I appreciate it.” Burt sighed. “Lemme give you my number. We’ll keep in contact. I’ve got a group on the ridge over there-” He pointed. “-and we’re getting ourselves prepared to move... just in case.”
“Same here. And I’ll letcha know what turns up for us, if anything.” Forest got out a sheet of paper. “What’s on the agenda for today?”
“I’m gotta head back to the hospital. I don’t wanna leave Kurt for too long. He’s... He’s been kinda...” Burt shrugged. “Off.”
“S’the treatment,” Forest said. “I hear tell it’s worse than the vaccine.” He scribbled down his information, then passed it to Burt.
Burt tore off a piece of paper and wrote down his number. “Some’s the treatment. But... I’m not kiddin’ myself. It’s more than that, and we gotta take it serious if we want to give him what he needs. I think the more he’s around people he knows he can trust, though, the better.”
“They had a real rough time down there. The sooner you get those boys together, the sooner they’ll start copin’.”
“You’re an open minded guy. Where you from?” He pocketed Forest’s number.
“Alabama. There weren’t enough folks left down there to be hatin’ on each other anymore, and yet they was.” Forest shook his head. “I really want those boys to make it.”
“Can I visit Kurt?” Saffire asked.
“He does know you. I’m okay with that,” Burt said.
Saffire jumped up excitedly.
“T’morra, Saff. Today we’re gonna hunt for Blaine,” Forest said.
“Okay. Tell Kurt I said hi, and I’m glad he’s not a freak now,” Saffire instructed Burt.
“I definitely will. I’m sure it’ll cheer him up.” Burt nodded to the both of them before leaving. “I can’t thank you enough for helping with the search.”
“What else do we have here, on the other side? Escape plans and search parties,” Forest said dryly.
Burt had never thought of himself as the leader type, but he was quickly collecting a group of individuals who would be useful, stable, and helpful in the event that they had to do the skedaddle out of Toronto, and that was a comforting thought. He just hoped they could put it off until Kurt had his daughter and could be moved safely.
***
That morning, Finn had lingered in the hallway, watching as Burt hugged Kurt tightly. Finn had come early that day because Burt had asked him to “watch” Kurt. After a few weeks of trying to get information from the Refugee Center, there was no sign of Blaine, even though other names that Kurt had given them of people who had come through with them had shown up, so Burt was determined to go find Kurt’s boyfriend himself.
”Look,” Burt had said to Finn before leaving, “it’s not like he’s going to stop breathing or something. I just... Can you just, y’know, sit with him? He’s been under so much stress, and he was so alone here at the hospital before we found him, and he and Blaine were both separated from their loved ones for too long, and now he’s separated from the father of his kid... I just don’t want him to be alone, okay? Not like this.”
Finn didn’t disagree. Kurt acted weird around anyone besides their immediate family. He didn’t even seem to know how to deal with Van. She had compensated by being friendly but not demanding too much from him, including verbal responses. Burt said Kurt would get better, but he was so un-Kurt-like sometimes that it was a little scary.
It wasn’t that much to ask to spend time with him, anyway, because he’d really missed Kurt. Seven months was a long time to think someone might be dead. And it was that or stick around the big house he was sharing with his friends. They wanted to visit Kurt, too, but Burt wasn’t sure it would be okay yet. Their friends tended to be dramatic, and seeing them would lead to questions about who had and hadn’t made it over the border, and that was stress right there. Kurt had been so weak when Finn had first seen him, and so sad when he’d heard about Carole.
Finn was a little scared to let anything at all happen to Kurt. They could lose Kurt and the baby. And Finn had lost enough people.
“Hey, Papa Rose.” Finn spotted Kurt making his way back to the bed from the bathroom.
He was wearing the set of soft, blue cotton maternity pajamas that Van had gotten to help him be more comfortable during this long hospital stay (once Finn had explained the male pregnancy thing to her... and after she finally believed him). And there were some stitches across his eyelid and brow. The red around his iris had even started to go away. It would remain to be seen how much use Kurt would be able to get out of that eye, but he hadn’t lost it, thankfully.
When they’d had Kurt wearing an eyepatch, Finn had made a few jokes about him being a pregnant pirate. He hurried over to Kurt’s side and helped him into the bed.
“You need...” Kurt grunted softly as he moved back onto the pillows. “To stop calling me that.”
“Aw, C’mon. It’s a montage, or something. To Gypsy.”
“You mean ‘homage.’ But that was pretty close. Have you been reading a lot?” Kurt laid back and sighed. He always looked so tired. Being pregnant was probably exhausting.
“Not really. But my Van has a crazily huge vocab.”
Kurt touched the top of his belly with two fingers. “She seems like a great woman.”
Finn would be sure to pass that on. Van didn’t really know what to make of Kurt’s behavior around her. Finn had assumed it was just part of that general brokenness that surfaced itself every once and a while, but mostly around strangers. Finn sat on the edge of the bed with him and just stared for a few minutes.
“What? Is the shock of my immense fetal girth not worn off yet?”
Actually... Finn was pretty sure Kurt had gotten noticeably bigger over the past week. That was a good thing, though, since the doctors were still concerned. He didn’t know if babies had growth spurts in the womb, but if they did, Peanut had done her papas proud. “I’m just so glad to have you and Burt. I can’t wait to get you and the baby home.”
Finn reached over to pet the Kurt’s belly, and indulgently, Kurt let him. Finn kind of had to admit that Kurt was really cute, pregnant. He was getting to be a softie about babies, and he was eager to play with his niece.
His mom would have been so excited about her grandbaby.
“I can’t wait to get home. Did Dad tell you how long he’d be?”
Gosh, Kurt looked younger than ever when he asked that.
“I dunno. He’s on the hunt for Blaine.”
“I know.” Kurt let out a slow breath. “How many places could he be? I should’ve... I don’t know. I wish they’d let him come with me when they took me to the hospital.”
“I get why they didn’t, but... I dunno. I guess they don’t have a lot of people working there who really know what they’re doing. Or they’d suck less at keeping the families together.”
“I hope they’re putting a better effort into keeping the walkers at bay.”
Finn poked Kurt’s side where the baby was moving, and she pushed back at his fingers each time. Finn laughed and continued to tease her.
Kurt bit his lip and smiled in spite of himself. “You like your Uncle Finn already, doncha, Peanut?”
“Where’d the peanut thing come from?”
“I honestly have no idea. It was just meant to be. Ah.” Kurt closed his eyes and moved his hands slowly down the sides of his belly, breathing out as he did so.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. I’m okay. You riled her up!” He pulled up the pajama top, and Finn could see a big shift happening under Kurt’s skin.
“Duh-nuh,” Finn sang. “Duh-nuh, duh-nuh. Duh-nuh duh duh, duh-nuh duh duh-”
“My baby is not a shark, Finn,” Kurt informed Finn. He lifted his hips, stretching his back. “Ow. Calm, baby.”
“Sorry.” Finn chuckled. He was only a little sorry. “You seem to be feeling better, though.”
Kurt shrugged. “I don’t have much else to do but lay here being pregnant. I’m sure that actually helps the ‘high-risk’ thing, somewhat.”
“Lay around. Be lazy for once. You had to hoof it for like seven months. It’s vacay time.”
Kurt smiled and ran a hand through his hair. “Well, I do have some good news. I slept last night. Part of last night, anyway. Without a sedative even! I was starting to worry the peanut would come out stoned, if I kept that up.”
“Admit it. It would be pretty funny if she came out stoned.”
“She’s going to come out with a crossbow in her hand and a song in her heart.”
Finn laughed and settled back into his chair. He knew that he could probably distract and relax Kurt enough to get him to sleep again, and that would all be for the better. Blaine wouldn’t want to come back to a sick, stressed out babydaddy. Until then, he could enjoy hanging out with his brother. He’d really, really missed that, and just having him around, even if they were worried about him and the baby, filled in a little missing piece that had hurt to think about.
They were so damn lucky.
***
Carol stepped into the large hospital and looked around. She wasn’t sure what she was hoping she’d find. Grand Forks had been a bust. Well, for her, it had been a bust. For the two boys she’d picked up from the side of the road, who had sung a cappella pop songs most of the way, it must have been the biggest relief ever, just to get across the border.
For her it didn’t mean fuckall, because her son wasn’t there. She’d headed east, since the volunteer had told her someone with her boy’s name had come through the Buffalo checkpoint. From there, they’d sent her here to this hospital. Now that she was here, anxiety filled her whole body. What if he wasn’t here either? What if he’d come in infected, and they’d had to put him down?
She removed her gun when the security guard came by to ask nicely, even if her heart raced without the feel of its weight on her, then approached the front desk.
“Excuse me. I’m Carol Jansen. I just came from the Refugee Center in Toronto?” She scanned his face for recognition before continuing. “I’m looking for Rafe Jansen. He’s my son. They said he was sent on to the hospital. Have you seen him?”
“I haven’t, but there are a lot of refugees coming to this hospital now that the one closest to the Center is full. I’ll check the computer. Can you spell that for me?” the nurse behind the counter had lined eyes, but he’d perked up at her request.
She began to spell the name, then stopped when she saw a boy with wild, curly hair leaping over the guardrail between the waiting area and the back. A guard ran up to him and he kicked him in the chest, then another guard grabbed him from behind.
“I suggest you calm down and start cooperating!” the first guard yelled.
The boy spat copiously in his face. “I suggest you shut the fuck up!”
“Oh... my God...” She turned more in his direction and stared. She knew that boy.
“M’am? S-O-N?”
“He’s not my... It’s S-E-N,” she supplied distractedly.
The man looked where she was looking. “That guy came in a few weeks ago. We don’t even know his name, ‘cause he was never able to give us one or properly answer any of the intake questions for the Refugee Center. He’s crazy as a loon. Most of them are, of course, at first. And we handle ‘em, get ‘em back on their feet and on their way, but this guy is just completely unhinged. I can’t believe he made it up front. I thought they had him in a straight jacket in the psych ward.”
She turned back to the man. “Is he hurt?”
“No, they just couldn’t handle him at the Center. He won’t talk and they’re afraid...” He sighed. “The psychiatrist has been trying to calm him down, but he keeps trying to get away.”
“I know him. He has a name,” she insisted. “His name is Blaine. Hold on, just a minute.”
Taking a moment to touch her concealed knife, just to be sure it was still there, Carol proceeded to walk over to where Blaine was struggling in the guard’s grip.
“Blaine? Blaine!” She reached out for him.
His hand broke free, swung around, and popped her in the face. Her arms flailed as she fell to the ground, and she blinked in surprise, trying to regain her wits as the kid in front of her was held down by two grown-ass adults. A woman in a white coat came up to him with a syringe and injected him before Carol had the wherewithal to speak.
“Wait!” Carol vaulted herself up. “Can you wait? The hell. Blaine, do you recognize me?”
He blinked at her dumbly and licked his lips. “Oh. Your eyes.”
“Yeah, it’s me.” She came closer once again, but was barred by a big orderly.
“This belong to you, M’am? He’s been causin’ all kinda trouble,” the orderly said.
“Can I take him? Just let me have him. I’ll handle it. I know what will make him better.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose. Probably not broken, but Blaine had a decent swing, for a kid who had been so tentative about violence only a few months ago. She guessed that’s what happened to folks out there. She knew she was more quick on the draw these days, too.
“I’m sorry, M’am, but your son can’t be released,” the doctor said.
“I have a van outside.” Carol gestured to the door. “And two strong stranglers who can hold him down for me.”
“He needs treatment,” the doctor insisted. “We can’t just leave him to fend for himself. He just can’t navigate our world by himself.”
She motioned aggressively with one hand. “How the hell is this going to help him?”
“Him feeling more guilt from hurting another guard isn’t going to help either.”
“Um...” The man from behind the counter came up behind her. “M’am, your other son isn’t here.”
Carol’s heart went into her throat. “What? Oh, God.”
“No, no, I just called Sacred Heart, and he went there instead. They sent a bunch of the refugees there, ones who were hurt worse. I asked, and they said they had a spare room in the refugee ward, where they’ve been treating both psych and medical. If we get his parent to sign some papers today-”
“Sound peachy. Let’s do that. Tell them I don’t want anyone giving him any more drugs than they absolutely have to, for God’s sakes. Can you tell them that? And Rafe is there?”
“Yeah, he’s been there for a while now.” The man smiled, almost triumphantly.
Well, for him, he’d just placed two boys with their mom. For her, she’d found one broken kid, and there was still the possibility that Rafe wouldn’t be there. At this point she couldn’t believe anything until she saw it with her eyes.
Carol looked back at Blaine once more. The sedative had taken hold, and he was staring in confusion at the ground. God, she hoped he hadn’t lost Kurt. Was that what this was about? Maybe Kurt was just at another hospital, the way Blaine and Rafe had been, and they had gotten separated. She reached over to touch his cheek. “We’re going to take you to a different hospital where they can help. Try to stay calm. Not that you have a choice, right now.”
Blaine muttered something unintelligible, and she leaned forward.
“I gotta... find...” he slurred. “Um... our peanut...”
Carol frowned and drew some wispy hair out of her face. This was hopeless, with him drugged this way. How could he communicate to her what was wrong like this? God, this pissed her off.
“Listen to me, Blaine. We’re taking you to a different hospital. They’ll treat you there, and I’ll help you find Kurt-”
“Kurt... Kurt’s dead by now... It’s my fault! I have to...” Tears rolled down Blaine’s cheeks.
Carol swallowed. “We’re gonna take care of you,” she promised.
“I gotta find... her. Gotta find her. I’m all... all she has now.”
She hugged him tightly. “We’re gonna take care of you,” she repeated, knowing that it was hard for him to understand her. “Just stay calm, and let them take you to the other hospital. Everything will be fine once you get there, and we get you help. And we’ll find her. Okay? We won’t stop until we do.”
She turned to the desk jockey and looked at the laniard with an ID hanging his neck. “Okay. Adrian. Let’s sign some fuckin’ papers for my son Blaine Jansen.”
***
Finn had dithered over leaving Kurt alone to go sign Van in for about ten minutes before Kurt shooed him out of the room and told him to stop treating him like a baby. It was the first time he’d been left alone by himself since his dad had found him, actually. He knew there was a reason for that. He knew he was scaring them a little. But he was doing the best he could.
And he was also really nervous now that he was by himself.
The ward was quiet, with nothing but the sounds of nurses moving from room to room. He listened more closely and heard the sounds of sobbing down the hallway... the direction of Rafe’s room. Maybe it was Rafe... It sounded like a woman, though... When Finn got back, maybe Kurt could go visit his friend. Rafe was just as fucked up as he was and didn’t mock him when he got a little weird. They had a disarming alignment of interests, actually. Though Rafe was old enough to rag on Kurt for having ever liked Britney Spears. He did seem kind of freaked out by the pregnancy. Kurt had started teasing him that he was jealous of his fecundity, and Rafe denied the accusation in its entirety.
Kurt smoothed a hand over his belly. It was hard to make sense of the world he was in now. It was so different from the one he’d just been in. And even if there were people in this one, he was so different it was hard to connect to who he’d once been. He hoped this version of himself could still be a good dad.
Then, there was a voice. A soft, smooth voice that carried through the halls effortlessly:
Fly me to the moon, and let me play among the stars...
Kurt tilted his head to the side, and his eyes widened at the crooning.
Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars...
He threw his legs over the side of his bed.
In other words, hold my hand...
He wiggled his hips, shifting his weight forward before pushing himself off he bed. He swayed just a bit, trying to get his balance. His center of gravity was getting a bit out of whack here.
In other words, darling, kiss me...
The voice stopped for a moment, and Kurt grabbed a robe draped over the chair, putting it on before peeking out of his room. Then he rested against the door, holding onto his IV stand as he tried to figure out what to do.
Fill my life with song, the voice began again.
Kurt started to move again, slowly but with determination and a hope that almost hurt. It wasn’t too long before he reached that voice.
In other words, please be truuuuuuue!
He stepped into the room and then squinted and blinked, trying to make his right eye behave normally so he could properly take in the sight in front of him. There was a young man slumped over in a wheelchair, curly hair all pouffy, untamed, tangled and matted in places, rocking back and forth as he sang, and occasionally struggling against the straightjacket he was trapped in.
“In other words,” he sang, “I loo-oo-oove you.”
Kurt stood and stared for a moment, tears pricking his eyes.
“Blaine?”
Next Part: Hide and Seek
Pairing: Klaine
Includes: Mpreg, bad science, zombies, the worst cliffhanger ever
Word Count: 4714
Summary: Everyone is hunting for Blaine, but he is found unexpectedly by those who weren’t even looking.
The Road So Far...
All Series Parts
And now...
Burt was driving a little erratically. He didn’t care. Because he’d just come from the Refugee Center where Jacques had swung a meeting with his supervisor. Burt had been able to convince the man to let him put on a quarantine suit and walk through the processing area to find Blaine. Nothing. Nada.
His next step had been to get information on where Forest and Saffire Jackson had landed after processing, supposedly in the same housing project where they all were being stored. So he phoned Finn at the hospital to tell him he’d be a little bit longer, headed home and prepared to do some door knockin’.
He parked on the street and started with the first house in the circle. By the fifth house, he was getting a little worried to leave Kurt on his own for that long (and simultaneously telling himself to trust Finn to look after his brother because Kurt was traumatized, not a toddler).
The door opened and a middle-aged black man stuck his head out and looked Burt over. “Afternoon. C’n I help you?”
“I hope so.” Burt put his hands on his hips and took a breath. “I know this is weird, ‘cause I don’t have a uniform or anything, but I’m lookin’ for a Forest Jackson, and I’m thinkin’ maybe you might be him. Since all I got to go on is that he lives in this part of the project. And he’s black.”
“Do I know you?” The man opened the door all the way. “You look kinda familiar.”
“I don’t think you do. But if you’re him? I think you know my son.”
The man’s brows shot up and he eyed Burt’s face closely.
A girl, slightly lighter-skinned than her father, with her hair in braids poked her head through the doorway. “Who is it, Daddy?”
“Might be Kurt’s daddy, Saff.”
“Yep. That’s me,” Burt said. The girl lit up and jumped in place with a squeal.
Forest looked back at Burt. “Hell. C’mon in.”
He motioned for Burt to enter. The house was small, by the standards his little group of foundlings had gotten used to in their own house, even though it was crammed full. It looked like more than one family lived in this tiny place, too.
“I was afraid this wasn’t gonna pan out,” Burt said. “I’m hopin’ this isn’t another dead end.”
Forest ran his hand over his head. “Wish I had better news for ya. If you’re lookin’ for Kurt, all I know’s that he came through with us. But he got infected right at the checkpoint. They took him away like that.”
He snapped his fingers. “That was some weeks ago, though. They might’ve treated ‘im.”
“No, no, I found him,” Burt assured them.
“Oh, thank God!” Saffire said. “Is he okay? How’s the baby?”
Burt smiled a little at her. “He’s... Well, the doctors are lookin’ after him, and he and the baby are both getting a little stronger every day. Thank God for that.” He paused. “I’m actually looking for Blaine. He’s not at the hospital, and we’ve been to the Refugee Center a couple of times already hoping he’d come through processing, but he’s not there.”
“Huh. I thought they took ‘im to the hospital. That’s what they said they was gonna do. I tried my damnedest to get them to let me take the boy with me once we got through, but they wouldn’t listen. I even told ‘em I’m his daddy, but they...” Forest raised his hands. “Well, cain’t fault ‘em for not believin’ me.”
Burt bit back a laugh. “What happened? Kurt said he was starting to unravel.”
“He done unraveled,” Forest said, leaning against the sofa. “And Kurt was holding ‘im together with all the strength he had left. But then they done took Blaine’s boy away from him and he just got all caught up in a snarl. On top of that they had to give us the vaccine, and he couldn’t find up from down. We were all...” He pursed his lips. “Like I said, I know they sent him to a hospital. If it’s not the same one... It didn’t sit right with me leaving the Center without knowin’ the boys was okay, but I needed to find Saff a safe place to live and connect with someone I know up here... And I guessed if help was to be had, the doctors had more than I did to give to Blaine. He didn’t seem to know us when Kurt wasn’t there. Not that I blame him. We met them the same day we crossed over.”
Burt sighed. “No, I understand. Completely. I was just thinking maybe he’d... Left you guys before the Center, or something. I can’t go back there and tell Kurt not to wait up for Blaine. So the next step...” He scratched the back of his head, thinking.
“We can maybe find out which hospitals they’re sending folks to. You got some pictures? I’m just waiting on my buddy at the docks to get back to me here, not doin’ nothing. I can start driving to whatever hospitals they’re sending John Does, since we’re assumin’ they’d have found him already if he were under his proper name. They wouldn’t have taken him that far.”
Burt shrugged his head to the side as he pulled out his wallet. “Not a bad idea. Maybe someone will recognize him. Here it is.”
Forest looked at the picture with a frown. He shook his head slowly. “Ain’t what he looks like.”
“What’s he look like?” Burt glanced back down at the picture of Blaine in his Dalton uniform.
Saffire peered at the picture, too. “He’s got a fro. And some whiskers. And crazy eyes.”
“Be nice.” Forest chuckled.
“I am. I’m jus’ being honest. I only saw ‘im for a day after he...” She sat on the couch and put her chin in her hands. “I could draw a picture of ‘im? Or draw some hair on the picture so people would recognize him?”
“I’ll get started looking right away,” Forest promised. “He’s in a hospital somewhere. We just need to start circulating this an’ get the hospitals talkin’ to each other. He’s gotta turn up.”
“I appreciate it.” Burt sighed. “Lemme give you my number. We’ll keep in contact. I’ve got a group on the ridge over there-” He pointed. “-and we’re getting ourselves prepared to move... just in case.”
“Same here. And I’ll letcha know what turns up for us, if anything.” Forest got out a sheet of paper. “What’s on the agenda for today?”
“I’m gotta head back to the hospital. I don’t wanna leave Kurt for too long. He’s... He’s been kinda...” Burt shrugged. “Off.”
“S’the treatment,” Forest said. “I hear tell it’s worse than the vaccine.” He scribbled down his information, then passed it to Burt.
Burt tore off a piece of paper and wrote down his number. “Some’s the treatment. But... I’m not kiddin’ myself. It’s more than that, and we gotta take it serious if we want to give him what he needs. I think the more he’s around people he knows he can trust, though, the better.”
“They had a real rough time down there. The sooner you get those boys together, the sooner they’ll start copin’.”
“You’re an open minded guy. Where you from?” He pocketed Forest’s number.
“Alabama. There weren’t enough folks left down there to be hatin’ on each other anymore, and yet they was.” Forest shook his head. “I really want those boys to make it.”
“Can I visit Kurt?” Saffire asked.
“He does know you. I’m okay with that,” Burt said.
Saffire jumped up excitedly.
“T’morra, Saff. Today we’re gonna hunt for Blaine,” Forest said.
“Okay. Tell Kurt I said hi, and I’m glad he’s not a freak now,” Saffire instructed Burt.
“I definitely will. I’m sure it’ll cheer him up.” Burt nodded to the both of them before leaving. “I can’t thank you enough for helping with the search.”
“What else do we have here, on the other side? Escape plans and search parties,” Forest said dryly.
Burt had never thought of himself as the leader type, but he was quickly collecting a group of individuals who would be useful, stable, and helpful in the event that they had to do the skedaddle out of Toronto, and that was a comforting thought. He just hoped they could put it off until Kurt had his daughter and could be moved safely.
***
That morning, Finn had lingered in the hallway, watching as Burt hugged Kurt tightly. Finn had come early that day because Burt had asked him to “watch” Kurt. After a few weeks of trying to get information from the Refugee Center, there was no sign of Blaine, even though other names that Kurt had given them of people who had come through with them had shown up, so Burt was determined to go find Kurt’s boyfriend himself.
”Look,” Burt had said to Finn before leaving, “it’s not like he’s going to stop breathing or something. I just... Can you just, y’know, sit with him? He’s been under so much stress, and he was so alone here at the hospital before we found him, and he and Blaine were both separated from their loved ones for too long, and now he’s separated from the father of his kid... I just don’t want him to be alone, okay? Not like this.”
Finn didn’t disagree. Kurt acted weird around anyone besides their immediate family. He didn’t even seem to know how to deal with Van. She had compensated by being friendly but not demanding too much from him, including verbal responses. Burt said Kurt would get better, but he was so un-Kurt-like sometimes that it was a little scary.
It wasn’t that much to ask to spend time with him, anyway, because he’d really missed Kurt. Seven months was a long time to think someone might be dead. And it was that or stick around the big house he was sharing with his friends. They wanted to visit Kurt, too, but Burt wasn’t sure it would be okay yet. Their friends tended to be dramatic, and seeing them would lead to questions about who had and hadn’t made it over the border, and that was stress right there. Kurt had been so weak when Finn had first seen him, and so sad when he’d heard about Carole.
Finn was a little scared to let anything at all happen to Kurt. They could lose Kurt and the baby. And Finn had lost enough people.
“Hey, Papa Rose.” Finn spotted Kurt making his way back to the bed from the bathroom.
He was wearing the set of soft, blue cotton maternity pajamas that Van had gotten to help him be more comfortable during this long hospital stay (once Finn had explained the male pregnancy thing to her... and after she finally believed him). And there were some stitches across his eyelid and brow. The red around his iris had even started to go away. It would remain to be seen how much use Kurt would be able to get out of that eye, but he hadn’t lost it, thankfully.
When they’d had Kurt wearing an eyepatch, Finn had made a few jokes about him being a pregnant pirate. He hurried over to Kurt’s side and helped him into the bed.
“You need...” Kurt grunted softly as he moved back onto the pillows. “To stop calling me that.”
“Aw, C’mon. It’s a montage, or something. To Gypsy.”
“You mean ‘homage.’ But that was pretty close. Have you been reading a lot?” Kurt laid back and sighed. He always looked so tired. Being pregnant was probably exhausting.
“Not really. But my Van has a crazily huge vocab.”
Kurt touched the top of his belly with two fingers. “She seems like a great woman.”
Finn would be sure to pass that on. Van didn’t really know what to make of Kurt’s behavior around her. Finn had assumed it was just part of that general brokenness that surfaced itself every once and a while, but mostly around strangers. Finn sat on the edge of the bed with him and just stared for a few minutes.
“What? Is the shock of my immense fetal girth not worn off yet?”
Actually... Finn was pretty sure Kurt had gotten noticeably bigger over the past week. That was a good thing, though, since the doctors were still concerned. He didn’t know if babies had growth spurts in the womb, but if they did, Peanut had done her papas proud. “I’m just so glad to have you and Burt. I can’t wait to get you and the baby home.”
Finn reached over to pet the Kurt’s belly, and indulgently, Kurt let him. Finn kind of had to admit that Kurt was really cute, pregnant. He was getting to be a softie about babies, and he was eager to play with his niece.
His mom would have been so excited about her grandbaby.
“I can’t wait to get home. Did Dad tell you how long he’d be?”
Gosh, Kurt looked younger than ever when he asked that.
“I dunno. He’s on the hunt for Blaine.”
“I know.” Kurt let out a slow breath. “How many places could he be? I should’ve... I don’t know. I wish they’d let him come with me when they took me to the hospital.”
“I get why they didn’t, but... I dunno. I guess they don’t have a lot of people working there who really know what they’re doing. Or they’d suck less at keeping the families together.”
“I hope they’re putting a better effort into keeping the walkers at bay.”
Finn poked Kurt’s side where the baby was moving, and she pushed back at his fingers each time. Finn laughed and continued to tease her.
Kurt bit his lip and smiled in spite of himself. “You like your Uncle Finn already, doncha, Peanut?”
“Where’d the peanut thing come from?”
“I honestly have no idea. It was just meant to be. Ah.” Kurt closed his eyes and moved his hands slowly down the sides of his belly, breathing out as he did so.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. I’m okay. You riled her up!” He pulled up the pajama top, and Finn could see a big shift happening under Kurt’s skin.
“Duh-nuh,” Finn sang. “Duh-nuh, duh-nuh. Duh-nuh duh duh, duh-nuh duh duh-”
“My baby is not a shark, Finn,” Kurt informed Finn. He lifted his hips, stretching his back. “Ow. Calm, baby.”
“Sorry.” Finn chuckled. He was only a little sorry. “You seem to be feeling better, though.”
Kurt shrugged. “I don’t have much else to do but lay here being pregnant. I’m sure that actually helps the ‘high-risk’ thing, somewhat.”
“Lay around. Be lazy for once. You had to hoof it for like seven months. It’s vacay time.”
Kurt smiled and ran a hand through his hair. “Well, I do have some good news. I slept last night. Part of last night, anyway. Without a sedative even! I was starting to worry the peanut would come out stoned, if I kept that up.”
“Admit it. It would be pretty funny if she came out stoned.”
“She’s going to come out with a crossbow in her hand and a song in her heart.”
Finn laughed and settled back into his chair. He knew that he could probably distract and relax Kurt enough to get him to sleep again, and that would all be for the better. Blaine wouldn’t want to come back to a sick, stressed out babydaddy. Until then, he could enjoy hanging out with his brother. He’d really, really missed that, and just having him around, even if they were worried about him and the baby, filled in a little missing piece that had hurt to think about.
They were so damn lucky.
***
Carol stepped into the large hospital and looked around. She wasn’t sure what she was hoping she’d find. Grand Forks had been a bust. Well, for her, it had been a bust. For the two boys she’d picked up from the side of the road, who had sung a cappella pop songs most of the way, it must have been the biggest relief ever, just to get across the border.
For her it didn’t mean fuckall, because her son wasn’t there. She’d headed east, since the volunteer had told her someone with her boy’s name had come through the Buffalo checkpoint. From there, they’d sent her here to this hospital. Now that she was here, anxiety filled her whole body. What if he wasn’t here either? What if he’d come in infected, and they’d had to put him down?
She removed her gun when the security guard came by to ask nicely, even if her heart raced without the feel of its weight on her, then approached the front desk.
“Excuse me. I’m Carol Jansen. I just came from the Refugee Center in Toronto?” She scanned his face for recognition before continuing. “I’m looking for Rafe Jansen. He’s my son. They said he was sent on to the hospital. Have you seen him?”
“I haven’t, but there are a lot of refugees coming to this hospital now that the one closest to the Center is full. I’ll check the computer. Can you spell that for me?” the nurse behind the counter had lined eyes, but he’d perked up at her request.
She began to spell the name, then stopped when she saw a boy with wild, curly hair leaping over the guardrail between the waiting area and the back. A guard ran up to him and he kicked him in the chest, then another guard grabbed him from behind.
“I suggest you calm down and start cooperating!” the first guard yelled.
The boy spat copiously in his face. “I suggest you shut the fuck up!”
“Oh... my God...” She turned more in his direction and stared. She knew that boy.
“M’am? S-O-N?”
“He’s not my... It’s S-E-N,” she supplied distractedly.
The man looked where she was looking. “That guy came in a few weeks ago. We don’t even know his name, ‘cause he was never able to give us one or properly answer any of the intake questions for the Refugee Center. He’s crazy as a loon. Most of them are, of course, at first. And we handle ‘em, get ‘em back on their feet and on their way, but this guy is just completely unhinged. I can’t believe he made it up front. I thought they had him in a straight jacket in the psych ward.”
She turned back to the man. “Is he hurt?”
“No, they just couldn’t handle him at the Center. He won’t talk and they’re afraid...” He sighed. “The psychiatrist has been trying to calm him down, but he keeps trying to get away.”
“I know him. He has a name,” she insisted. “His name is Blaine. Hold on, just a minute.”
Taking a moment to touch her concealed knife, just to be sure it was still there, Carol proceeded to walk over to where Blaine was struggling in the guard’s grip.
“Blaine? Blaine!” She reached out for him.
His hand broke free, swung around, and popped her in the face. Her arms flailed as she fell to the ground, and she blinked in surprise, trying to regain her wits as the kid in front of her was held down by two grown-ass adults. A woman in a white coat came up to him with a syringe and injected him before Carol had the wherewithal to speak.
“Wait!” Carol vaulted herself up. “Can you wait? The hell. Blaine, do you recognize me?”
He blinked at her dumbly and licked his lips. “Oh. Your eyes.”
“Yeah, it’s me.” She came closer once again, but was barred by a big orderly.
“This belong to you, M’am? He’s been causin’ all kinda trouble,” the orderly said.
“Can I take him? Just let me have him. I’ll handle it. I know what will make him better.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose. Probably not broken, but Blaine had a decent swing, for a kid who had been so tentative about violence only a few months ago. She guessed that’s what happened to folks out there. She knew she was more quick on the draw these days, too.
“I’m sorry, M’am, but your son can’t be released,” the doctor said.
“I have a van outside.” Carol gestured to the door. “And two strong stranglers who can hold him down for me.”
“He needs treatment,” the doctor insisted. “We can’t just leave him to fend for himself. He just can’t navigate our world by himself.”
She motioned aggressively with one hand. “How the hell is this going to help him?”
“Him feeling more guilt from hurting another guard isn’t going to help either.”
“Um...” The man from behind the counter came up behind her. “M’am, your other son isn’t here.”
Carol’s heart went into her throat. “What? Oh, God.”
“No, no, I just called Sacred Heart, and he went there instead. They sent a bunch of the refugees there, ones who were hurt worse. I asked, and they said they had a spare room in the refugee ward, where they’ve been treating both psych and medical. If we get his parent to sign some papers today-”
“Sound peachy. Let’s do that. Tell them I don’t want anyone giving him any more drugs than they absolutely have to, for God’s sakes. Can you tell them that? And Rafe is there?”
“Yeah, he’s been there for a while now.” The man smiled, almost triumphantly.
Well, for him, he’d just placed two boys with their mom. For her, she’d found one broken kid, and there was still the possibility that Rafe wouldn’t be there. At this point she couldn’t believe anything until she saw it with her eyes.
Carol looked back at Blaine once more. The sedative had taken hold, and he was staring in confusion at the ground. God, she hoped he hadn’t lost Kurt. Was that what this was about? Maybe Kurt was just at another hospital, the way Blaine and Rafe had been, and they had gotten separated. She reached over to touch his cheek. “We’re going to take you to a different hospital where they can help. Try to stay calm. Not that you have a choice, right now.”
Blaine muttered something unintelligible, and she leaned forward.
“I gotta... find...” he slurred. “Um... our peanut...”
Carol frowned and drew some wispy hair out of her face. This was hopeless, with him drugged this way. How could he communicate to her what was wrong like this? God, this pissed her off.
“Listen to me, Blaine. We’re taking you to a different hospital. They’ll treat you there, and I’ll help you find Kurt-”
“Kurt... Kurt’s dead by now... It’s my fault! I have to...” Tears rolled down Blaine’s cheeks.
Carol swallowed. “We’re gonna take care of you,” she promised.
“I gotta find... her. Gotta find her. I’m all... all she has now.”
She hugged him tightly. “We’re gonna take care of you,” she repeated, knowing that it was hard for him to understand her. “Just stay calm, and let them take you to the other hospital. Everything will be fine once you get there, and we get you help. And we’ll find her. Okay? We won’t stop until we do.”
She turned to the desk jockey and looked at the laniard with an ID hanging his neck. “Okay. Adrian. Let’s sign some fuckin’ papers for my son Blaine Jansen.”
***
Finn had dithered over leaving Kurt alone to go sign Van in for about ten minutes before Kurt shooed him out of the room and told him to stop treating him like a baby. It was the first time he’d been left alone by himself since his dad had found him, actually. He knew there was a reason for that. He knew he was scaring them a little. But he was doing the best he could.
And he was also really nervous now that he was by himself.
The ward was quiet, with nothing but the sounds of nurses moving from room to room. He listened more closely and heard the sounds of sobbing down the hallway... the direction of Rafe’s room. Maybe it was Rafe... It sounded like a woman, though... When Finn got back, maybe Kurt could go visit his friend. Rafe was just as fucked up as he was and didn’t mock him when he got a little weird. They had a disarming alignment of interests, actually. Though Rafe was old enough to rag on Kurt for having ever liked Britney Spears. He did seem kind of freaked out by the pregnancy. Kurt had started teasing him that he was jealous of his fecundity, and Rafe denied the accusation in its entirety.
Kurt smoothed a hand over his belly. It was hard to make sense of the world he was in now. It was so different from the one he’d just been in. And even if there were people in this one, he was so different it was hard to connect to who he’d once been. He hoped this version of himself could still be a good dad.
Then, there was a voice. A soft, smooth voice that carried through the halls effortlessly:
Fly me to the moon, and let me play among the stars...
Kurt tilted his head to the side, and his eyes widened at the crooning.
Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars...
He threw his legs over the side of his bed.
In other words, hold my hand...
He wiggled his hips, shifting his weight forward before pushing himself off he bed. He swayed just a bit, trying to get his balance. His center of gravity was getting a bit out of whack here.
In other words, darling, kiss me...
The voice stopped for a moment, and Kurt grabbed a robe draped over the chair, putting it on before peeking out of his room. Then he rested against the door, holding onto his IV stand as he tried to figure out what to do.
Fill my life with song, the voice began again.
Kurt started to move again, slowly but with determination and a hope that almost hurt. It wasn’t too long before he reached that voice.
In other words, please be truuuuuuue!
He stepped into the room and then squinted and blinked, trying to make his right eye behave normally so he could properly take in the sight in front of him. There was a young man slumped over in a wheelchair, curly hair all pouffy, untamed, tangled and matted in places, rocking back and forth as he sang, and occasionally struggling against the straightjacket he was trapped in.
“In other words,” he sang, “I loo-oo-oove you.”
Kurt stood and stared for a moment, tears pricking his eyes.
“Blaine?”
Next Part: Hide and Seek