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Entry tags:
fic: "Special" (Chapter 17/?)
Title: Special
Character(s): Ensemble. Seriously. It covers pretty much everyone, plus some Marvel Universe characters.
Rating: R across everything, to be safe.
Word Count: 9900
Spoilers: Through S2
Full-Series Warnings: Violence, potential character death, and other elements common to comics
Summary: Being a part of something special makes you special. (Also, having superpowers.)
Notes: And they're off in this chapter! ...Eventually. But the action does once again pick up. :D Also: am I ever glad I already had custom comment pages in place. Oy, that new comment system.
"You're better than this," Kurt sing-songed as he dropped his die onto the Trivial Pursuit board. It was perfectly obvious that Rachel had convinced Jacob Ben Israel to promote them to a national audience. It was also brash, irresponsible, and from the sound of it, mostly successful. The die stopped. With a sigh, he moved his marker onto the orange wedge space. He was going to get his sports question wrong, but it would be foolish to pass up that roll.
"I'm not better than anything," Rachel said as she dug out the card. "Because I haven't done anything. Where is the Cotton Bowl played?"
The question was so nonsensical that his brain refused to move into gear. "Why would you make a bowl out of cotton?" Kurt asked, even though he knew it was a stupid thing to say.
Finn poked his head into the room. Between him being uninterested in the old Trivial Pursuit they'd found in the closet and players who refused to let a telepath near the cards, he'd stayed clear. Rachel's words had apparently floated to him on his way to the kitchen. "Cotton Bowl's in Texas. Used to be in Dallas, now it's in Arlington."
Rachel, startled, looked between Finn and the card. "That's correct. And you even managed to cover outdated information from...." She flipped through the instruction book, then shot a dark look at Kurt. "1996. Why are we playing this?"
"Because we can't go out," he reminded her. "We can't talk to people over the phone. We can only engage in supervised activities inside the house. And well done, Finn." Kurt couldn't help himself. "You're quite the savant."
Finn hesitated before smiling. "Thanks."
"Let's play something else, at least," Rachel pleaded. "I still think it's unfair that I missed that movie wedge. I just forgot what year Titanic came out. As of now, I was right."
"Didn't Avatar make the most money?" Finn asked innocently, having apparently read her mind to get the context. "Can I play a new game? I'm so bored."
"You're certainly a font of useless information today," Kurt said. "And yes, let's find something else to do." He began to rifle through the game cabinet, but kept shooting suspicious looks at Finn. Not Taboo, not Scattergories, not Balderdash: nothing where creative thought or knowledge played a role. Living with a telepath had more than a few everyday struggles. He saw a faded Life box, grabbed it, and placed it on the coffee table. "There."
Later, when Finn frowned at a space for a child and hesitated for nearly ten seconds over choosing a blue or pink peg, Kurt finally snapped. "For god's sake, Finn, either way it's just a piece of plastic. Pick one and move."
Finn meekly put his peg into his car, then whispered to it, "Your name is Robin, like the bird or the sidekick. They're both cool."
"I have got to get out of this house," Kurt muttered and rested his head in his hands. He saw Rachel about to raise the obvious point and added, "Yours is no better. Or Mercedes'. We're still under supervision. Blaine's parents won't even let me come over, because they think 'having a known metahuman on the property could affect future insurance claims.'"
"That was very precise language," Rachel said.
"I've heard it more than once." Kurt gestured broadly at the room around them. "It's been five days! If something were going to try to kill us, don't you think we'd have seen it by now?"
"Maybe they have, and Sue just didn't tell us?" Rachel asked.
Kurt considered that, then shook his head. "When does she pass up the chance to brag?"
"Good point," Finn said.
"And we don't want to be bored," Kurt said, sliding easily back into judgmental tones. "We do silly, silly things when we're bored."
"Kurt," Rachel said.
"Things that I overhear my parents talking about on the phone."
Her glower intensified. "Kurt, stop it."
Finn looked confused. "What'd she do?"
"She got in touch with Jacob, somehow, and convinced him to pimp us out."
"I did not!" Rachel said. "And I don't appreciate the repeated accusation."
Finn concentrated, then gasped and said, "Rachel, you told me you were going to the bathroom!" He turned to Kurt. "She totally emailed Jacob."
"Mmm hmm," Kurt said knowingly.
"Finn!" Rachel said, then slumped. "Well, I did go to the bathroom. Don't tell my dads, all right? They asked, I told them no... I'd get into trouble."
"Geez, Rach," Finn said after washing down a mouthful of cheese puffs. Kurt's boredom had filled the refrigerator and counters with snack options, but Finn always went for the most processed food available. "You ever think that Sue's keeping us on the down-low for a reason?"
Kurt hesitantly raised his hand. "Don't use that term. But he's right. I want this to be over, but there must be a reason for it."
Rachel neatly avoided the topic like a politician. "I read a lot of the comments about us on Jacob's page, when my dads wanted to see if I knew about it. You and Blaine have quite the fanclub, Kurt. Lots of girls think you're incredibly cute."
"Oh," he said dryly. "So good to know they approve." He paused, then grinned a bit despite himself. "We are cute."
"People are saying good stuff?" Finn asked. "That's cool, I guess."
She coughed into her hand. Kurt didn't need telepathy to know what she wasn't telling them. "Picture any YouTube video or news story online, Finn, and then the comments. I'm sure we're all fat, ugly, talentless degenerates who should still take off our clothes, and plus, vote Ron Paul." Rachel's expression confirmed his suspicions. "Thanks for that, Rachel. I definitely wanted to have my national debut come while I was wearing skintight leather."
"Technically," she countered, "you were in the choir at Nationals and in the squad at, um, other Nationals long before this ever hit the news."
Finn frowned. "You shouldn't have just decided for everyone. What if we'd gotten into trouble? Or danger?"
"You're one to talk," Rachel said. "Can we please have a little discussion about what you did?" He was clearly confused, and so she continued, "You read my mind without permission. That's a complete violation of trust."
Finn snorted. "Come on, be serious. Last time you were here, you used my collectible Burger King cups without asking."
Rachel had developed excellent control over her voice. Each new note and tone came out as its own firework, and yet it all hung together as a beautiful melody. A dangerous one, that left shards of old plastic on their carpet after Kurt threw them like clay pigeons. Wanting to keep the conversation moving, Kurt said, "They were ancient, Finn. All the paint had worn off. ...Fine, we will get you new cups."
"Maybe I shouldn't have done that," Rachel said, "and I'm sorry. But someone's mind is the most private, personal thing they have. Their thoughts and memories should be theirs unless they give you permission, or unless it's to keep people safe. And even then it can be an ethical dilemma." She looked between them. "Which you already knew, because I included worksheets on the ethics of superheroics in your booklets."
Kurt didn't bother coming up with a cover story. Nor did Finn.
Voice tight, Rachel asked, "Do you mean to say that you didn't do any of your worksheets?"
"Rachel, no one did their worksheets," Kurt said. "Because they were worksheets, and we are not eight."
"I like you better when you're not in a bad mood," Rachel said.
"I like you better when you're not using my relationship to get people talking about you," Kurt shot back. He pointed at Finn. "You're not off the hook because we're arguing. She's right. You really should stop reading people's minds without permission, or you won't like the images you see in my brain next. I'll be creative." He wormed against his chair's back like a dog seeking a comfortable position to sleep. "I don't know why you two get to visit each other. Blaine's parents won't let him come over here, either."
"Kurt," Rachel began.
He grumbled. "I'm a city-destroying, leather-wearing bad influence, apparently."
Finn sighed heavily and stood. "I'll get one of those boring black and white movies he likes."
Kurt looked up and smiled. "Thanks, Finn. See? You don't have to read people's minds all the time."
Once they'd been left alone, Rachel scooted closer. "I'm sure his parents will change their minds soon. It was probably shocking to see him in front of all that rubble. And, of course, he followed you without telling them. Then they would have found out how you have superpowers—"
"I'm all caught up, thanks," Kurt said dryly.
"So... does it feel strange?" she asked for a neat topic change, and nodded after Finn. "With the two of you."
"It doesn't," Kurt said. "At all. Not after that first reveal. Even if we don't remember all of those fifteen years, yet, that's a lot of time compared to just two years here. I had a brother for a lot longer than I didn't, and it's becoming easier to just slip into how we used to act." A noise at the door made him turn; that didn't sound like Finn.
Burt pointed to the phone. "Someone wants to—"
"His parents finally let him come over?" Kurt asked brightly.
"Sorry, no," Burt said, and Kurt's shoulders slumped. "Just a friend. Is that fine?"
"Sure," Kurt said without asking who it was. It didn't matter. Blaine's parents hated him just because he was a superpowered government plant with a fake identity who'd torn up a major urban center. (The worst part was that every single word of that description did make him sound like genuinely terrible boyfriend material.)
Finn returned with a movie in hand, and Burt moved away when he saw them starting it. "Sure, come on over in a while," he said into the phone. Then, wisely, he left Kurt to sulk.
* * *
"I can't believe this is from the Thirties," Finn said later as he watched Katherine Hepburn square off against Cary Grant. "I didn't know they made movies back then."
"It's a little depressing to know the leopard is long dead," Rachel said sadly. "It's so cute."
"So are Hepburn and Grant," Kurt said.
"I like animals more."
The sound of the doorbell interrupted them, and Burt let in their guest. With more than a little surprise, Kurt saw not Mercedes or Tina at the door, but Sam. "Hey," Sam said, waving. "My parents said it was okay if I came over here. I heard Rachel kept visiting, and, well... two birds, one stone."
Kurt and Rachel shrugged at each other, while Finn looked happy to be around someone who might want to discuss football instead of old movies. That soon faded when Sam made a beeline not for him, but for Kurt. "They let me use her dad's computer when I visited Mercedes, so long as I told them what I was doing. I thought you might think this was neat. Here," he said, and dug out papers.
"What is this?" Kurt asked curiously as he flipped through the pages of whatever Sam had handed over.
"I pulled a bunch of stuff on the Wasp," Sam said. He leaned over to point to various paragraphs. "See?"
"I see a lot of very small print and not enough subheaders. Give me an overview of what I'm looking at."
Sam turned a few pages and a photo of a brunette woman in a sleek yellow-and-black outfit smiled back at Kurt. Finn leaned over to snoop and raised his eyebrows appreciatively, then pulled back when Rachel looked annoyed. "Janet van Dyne is a really important member of the Avengers," Sam explained. "She's smart, and can be kind of bossy, but in a good way that helps out the team."
"Does she turn into a bug?" Kurt asked dubiously.
He grinned. "No. But she's helpful when people need it, and she doesn't take crap when they're annoying, and I just like her a lot."
"Sounds very impressive," Kurt said. "And why are we becoming the founding members of the Wasp Fan Club?"
"I was just gonna say that... she reminds me of you." Sam's smile slid comfortably lopsided. "She made all her own costumes. It was kind of a thing. She's big into fashion."
"Wait," Kurt said. His brow furrowed. Images of runways filled his head. "Wait. This Janet van Dyne is the same as the designer Janet van Dyne."
Chuckling, Sam asked, "Is that a common name?"
"Her work is flawless," Kurt said as he flipped back to the beginning and began reading more thoroughly. "There's so much gossip about her. I've seen party pictures from her apartment. Gorgeous plate glass windows overlooking the park, expensive champagne, the whole deal." He looked back to Sam and asked in disbelief, "And she's an Avenger?"
"Off and on," Sam said and shrugged. "Anyway, I just thought that was kind of neat. You know, she's this popular person in fashion and art there, and she still kicks some serious behind and saves lives. Kind of like how Dazzler's both a popular musician and an X-Man," he added, gesturing to Rachel, but frowned when she didn't take the comparison anywhere close to Kurt's reaction. "Did I say something wrong?"
"Oh, I... I just had a conversation with my dad a few days ago," Rachel said uncertainly. "I need to figure out which I'm going to focus on more: music or heroics."
Sam blinked. "But you can do both. Kurt could do both!"
"Kurt's not doing both," Kurt said. "Kurt thinks Ms. van Dyne's work is inspired and appreciates all of her talents, but would like the big apartment without the accompanying gore." The three all looked unconvinced, and he realized it was because he didn't sound particularly convincing. "Okay, I've had fun with some of this," he said defensively. "I've also had fun in some history classes. It doesn't mean I want to catalog ancient pottery for a living."
Holding up his hands, Sam dropped the topic and turned his attention entirely to Rachel. "Well, Mercedes also let me take this, and...." The trio waited for Sam to continue, but he first had to gather his nerve. "You're the captain, right?"
Rachel nodded. Finn pointed to himself, too.
"Okay, when this is over and you can go out and be a team again...." Sam took a deep breath, but he smiled when he exhaled. "I want to join."
Rachel shook her head. "Absolutely not."
Sam didn't respond immediately, and dug through his bag until he could hand her something. "I knew you'd say that, but I'm totally prepared. Here." Kurt frowned. Again, he didn't know what they were looking at. It appeared to be a spiral notebook with rumpled pages and a torn cover. Only after considering it for a few seconds did he identify that first, stained page and the little shred of cover that was left: it was a hero's workbook. Sam flipped past the informative printouts and got to the first worksheet.
It was completed.
"See?" he said and started paging through the other sheets. Every single one was full of blocky pencil script. "I've really thought about this. I did all of the pages. Some asked me about using my powers and so I just pretended I had some," he added sheepishly. "It was the only way I could finish them."
"No one else did any of these," Rachel said in disbelief. She looked almost ready to cry. Her hand shook once when she took the workbook from him. "You did every single one."
"All of your powers seem to kind of match you," Sam added. "I figured I'm a jock like Mike and Puck, and they were kind of... jock-y. So I went with those powers, okay?" he said as he gestured to one worksheet that explained how he would face down a dangerous threat without loss of civilian life.
"But you don't have those powers," Rachel reminded him gently.
"Hawkeye doesn't have powers, and he's an Avenger!" Sam protested. "Please? Come on. I want to be an Awesome." He smiled at Finn. "Which is a great name, co-captain."
Finn grinned, and Kurt rolled his eyes. "You are so easy to suck up to. Look, Sam, she's right. The very first time we did anything, I nearly bled my entire brain out through my nose. And if I hadn't, we would have wound up in jail."
"But," Sam began. Rachel spoke over him.
"It was even worse this last time. If Kurt hadn't hidden us with invisibility, he and I would have died. If Finn hadn't stopped that car, we would have died. If Mercedes didn't have her shields, we all would have died! And if our friends hadn't come, well." Rachel sighed. "Sam...."
"I'll take martial arts. I'll go to a secret monastery and learn how to... not breathe for ten minutes or something. I'm pretty sure there are places that teach stuff like that, right?" He looked between the three of them. "Please?"
"Dude, we did really almost die," Finn said reluctantly. He probably didn't want to turn down the one person who liked his team name. "It wasn't fun."
"Why are you doing this?" Sam asked him. "Why did you put yourself through sneaking out each night, coming up with cover stories, all of that?"
"I... don't know," Finn said. He sounded startled at being asked. "Everyone else was doing it."
Sam looked disappointed. "Rachel?"
"I want to be famous," Rachel said. "Although now I have to reconsider that."
"Kurt?" Sam asked. By that point he sounded a little desperate.
"I wanted to help people," Kurt said. It was the cheesiest answer he could possibly give. If only it weren't the truth. He sounded like a Planeteer. "First I just wanted to keep Finn from getting himself killed. Then, to keep safe the people no one cared about, and then, well. Everyone." He cleared his throat. "But when I move to New York, there will be an enormous surplus of heroes and I can—"
"Yes!" Sam said, and pointed at him. Kurt pulled away. "That's what I'm talking about. I knew Mercedes couldn't be the only one of you guys with the right idea. Heroes are something bigger and better than we are, you know? We thought we were something great when we made it to Nationals, but what did we really do?"
Rachel looked offended at the dismissal of their participation there, but she didn't argue. Kurt suspected it had something to do with the talk she'd had with her dad.
"Mercedes doesn't know if she wants to do this for life, but she knows it's important. And when I talked to her after you guys came back... she loves that she saved the three of you. Although I kinda had to pick that out of her between being super sad about all the government stuff." Sam looked frustrated the longer they went on without matching his enthusiasm. "Life can be so boring, even when it's going well," he finally said. "Other times, it can just plain suck."
"That's why I want to move to New York," Kurt said haughtily. That would fix everything. Writhing around a war zone in skintight leather would hardly fix anything, and in New York, there would be more heroes than anyone knew what to do with. They could deal with projectile cars and killer nosebleeds.
"No. No! It's not about living in Lima," Sam said. "Or any little town versus any big city. It's about... about being trapped with bills and homework and chores. Before I had to cancel my account, there were guys in my Warcraft guild from New York, Atlanta...."
"That's a video game, Sam," Rachel pointed out needlessly.
"Yeah, I know it was a game, but we still killed the Lich King and broke his hold over the undead armies of Northrend."
Kurt exchanged a glance with Rachel. Sam might as well be speaking in tongues.
"It's why I love science fiction," Sam finally said when he realized they didn't understand what he meant. "I love thinking that there's something bigger out there. That we can have even more to look forward to than winning a big game, or even winning Nationals. You're who they write stories about, or you could be. Do you guys even realize what you could do with what you've been given?" He shot a dismayed look at Kurt. "And if you do, how could you ever want to give it up?"
All three of them looked more than a little uncomfortable at his critique. Sam's shoulders slumped. Clearly, that wasn't the reaction he'd wanted. "I'd give anything to have powers like yours," he said, sounding almost hurt. "How can you guys not be totally thrilled about this?"
"Would you trade your parents for powers?" Rachel asked pointedly, and that seemed to get through. He went quiet.
"This isn't a game," Kurt said, nodding at her. Each word he said only ruined Sam's expression more, but it had to be said. "Our lives have been completely turned upside down. We're at risk."
"We seriously almost died," Finn repeated yet again. "Just saying."
The trio looked at Sam and waited patiently for an answer. He looked so disheartened, and Kurt did feel guilty about ruining his good mood. He didn't understand all that... nerd stuff, but still, too few people had smiled recently.
Between one breath and the next, Sam started grinning again. "Okay, so can I be a sidekick?"
"No," Kurt and Rachel said loudly. Kurt elbowed Finn when he seemed to really consider the idea, and he followed suit. "We don't want anyone dying because of us," Kurt continued. "And you—"
"I'm not useless," Sam said.
"Of course we don't think you're useless," Rachel said. But they didn't know what else to add. Useless might be too strong a word, but he was certainly helpless.
Sam pulled back. "Fine. Guess I didn't realize how selfish my friends all were."
"Hey," Kurt said, genuinely hurt after the effort he'd put into helping Sam earlier. Just because Sam had probably filmed himself in a mock lightsaber battle didn't give him the right to criticize them for not being as excited as he was.
"Have fun with your big apartment, Kurt," Sam told him bitterly. "Rachel, have fun being famous. Finn, have fun being...." Trailing off, he snorted, and Finn looked uncomfortable at how he'd never been able to give a real answer for why he was fighting. "Enjoy your movie."
He left, having apparently driven himself there.
"Come on," Finn finally said when they'd sat in uncomfortable silence for far too long. "Let's finish Kurt's movie, I know Rachel's dads want her back home soon."
* * *
"Porcelain," Sue said late that afternoon, nodding at Kurt as she stood at the front door of the Hummel-Hudson abode. It was a bizarre sight, like seeing Santa Claus on Venice Beach. Some things were not meant to cross paths. She was back to wearing her normal track suit, but the bag she had looked intriguingly official. "Your house is next on my list. Is your brother available or is he busy carrying Fay Wray up the Empire State Building?"
It took Kurt a second to respond. He'd never considered that she would come to their house to talk to Finn. Sue snapped her fingers at him so closely that it felt like she might break off his nose and Kurt, jolted, said, "Yes, he's in his room. I'll go get him."
"Hurry up," she said. "I have rounds to finish today and I have to check off everyone. If Nurse Ratched can set that pace, I can match it."
Kurt knew better than to comment on the idealization of one of cinema's great villains; he'd learned that lesson when he'd done a double-take at her saying that Glenn Close should be applauded for turning that rabbit into a tasty meal. He hurried upstairs, apologized to Finn for sending him into the line of fire, and then settled in to his room after a quick explanation to their parents.
He'd fallen into the latest Elle when a knock sounded on his doorframe. He turned to see Carole there. "Sue's done with Finn and she wants to talk to you."
"How bad is it going to be?" Kurt asked wryly, setting aside his magazine. "I only know the version of her that doesn't carry a gun."
"Finn doesn't seem too traumatized," Carole said. "I'm sure she just wants to make sure that everyone's stories match up."
Steeling himself, Kurt walked downstairs to join Sue in the living room. She was inspecting a photograph on the mantle. "Funny, isn't it?" she asked him as she tilted the frame to show a childhood picture of Kurt. "You never think about all the support staff necessary to pull off a job like this."
"I'm sorry?" Kurt asked. He had the feeling he'd walked into the middle of something.
"Where do you think this came from?" Sue asked him and tapped the glass. Oh, of course, he realized; there was no way the photo was real. "I'll tell you where it came from: we have great graphics people. They ran your face through age-regression software, mapped it onto a child's body doing... hopscotch, apparently, and composited it with the sort of suburban streetscape that you don't see in Manhattan. Boom, instant knick-knack for an unremarkable house in the middle of nowhere."
Kurt frowned at the description. It was a nice house in the middle of nowhere.
She actually seemed cheerful as she gestured around the living room. "And I know this place was decorated since you moved here, but what about your old house? Once you found out about this all, did you ever stop to consider just how hard it'd be to get all those homes ready in a couple days' time?"
"I suppose not," Kurt admitted. It was easier to focus on the part of S.H.I.E.L.D. that did their work with guns blazing, but a convincing cover was important. Still.... "If I might ask, why are we talking about interior design?"
"A gay fetus doesn't want to discuss interior design," Sue said to herself. "Interesting." Kurt generally knew better than to react to her and she grinned after a few seconds of his silence. "So. When'd you find out about your powers?"
"On the last day of school." Kurt told the truth, as he suspected lying would be painful at best. "Artie was the first one. He accidentally activated all of our powers, and Finn read my mind right after school that day. We were surprised, to say the least."
"Hmm." Sue's gaze flicked up and down his body. Kurt was glad he hadn't taken the liberty of sitting. "What did you do prior to this Columbus escapade?"
He told her everything: their failed first night, how injured he'd gotten, and how he'd been left out of action until he healed up. He continued with the training missions he'd run after that and finished with their grand debut on the media stage. "That's about it, I suppose," he eventually said.
Sue eyed him oddly. "Aren't you supposed to be stealthy?"
"I suppose so?" Kurt replied. Had he said something wrong?
"I expected you to prevaricate a little more," Sue said and took a seat on a couch's armrest. Kurt remained standing. "Cover your back."
"I assumed you would know," Kurt said. "Carole says you're good. Besides, we've probably already hit the major 'in trouble' threshold with what happened in front of the cameras."
"Huh," Sue said, and really seemed to consider him like she hadn't seen him before. "Good assessment."
He really shouldn't feel so pleased every time he got a bit of praise from Sue Sylvester, but it was just so damned hard to earn. Kurt smiled without trying to hide it. To be fair, he did get more kind words from her than most people at that school: her having faith in his talent, looking out for him when Burt was in the hospital and when he was in danger. Even working with her sister's funeral had felt like some odd but real connection.
Why, though? His existence was just as fake as the rest of the club's. She occasionally praised Quinn or Santana, but it was in the role of them doing something for her. There was no logical reason for Sue Sylvester to be nice to him, whether she was a much-decorated cheerleading coach or an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Whatever you're thinking," Sue said, "spit it out. I can see sparks about to fly from your ears."
"Coach Sylvester? Why have you been nice to me?" Kurt laughed once and amended, "That is, to your particular definition of 'nice.'"
"I am capable of showing limited affection to a few people worthy of it," Sue said. "The jury's still out on you, but hey, I've said: I'm bored. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt until I figure it out for sure." Yes, Kurt thought that qualified as 'nice' when it came from her. When it became apparent that he actually wanted an answer, she leaned back and asked, "Honestly?"
Oh, what a minefield that word was when it involved Sue Sylvester. Steeling himself for whatever she might say, Kurt nodded.
"Being a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent is the best, most important thing I've done with my life, and you were the kid who'd be the best match for joining up." Sue smirked at his surprise. "What, shocked that I care about doing any good? Don't get me wrong: I expect to be duly rewarded upon completing my missions. I enjoy being showered in glory by my peers like most people enjoy watching C-list celebrities attempt ballroom dancing."
"Sorry," Kurt said. "My life goals don't include being stuck in Lima version two-point-oh as I lie to a bunch of brainwashed kids."
"Oh, I hate this project," Sue said.
"And us, we know," Kurt said, rolling his eyes.
"I don't hate you. I am often annoyed by you, or bewildered when you show up on campus under the apparent misconception that you can pull off being shrink-wrapped in plaid, but I want to keep you kids alive." Sue leaned back. "That's what I've done: keep people alive. By my estimate, about twelve million."
Kurt's eyes widened before he could help it.
"Like I said," Sue said, digging casually through her pocket and then offering him a stick of gum. It was probably enhanced with some godawful vitamins and hormone supplements, and so he turned it down. "I've disarmed bombs. Foiled supervillains. Those blast radiuses were going to be big, and a whole lot of people were going to die. They didn't. Sure, they're just aimless drones who don't have a thought in their head besides whether Ashton is going to live up to Charlie's masterpiece performance, but, you know." Sue shrugged. "They have families they're trying to provide for. I can respect that."
"You've really saved that many people?" Kurt asked in disbelief.
"Eh," she said with a shrug. "After your first million, it all starts to blur together."
"Oh," Kurt said quietly. Sam's printouts filled his vision: the fashion designer and superhero Janet van Dyne, living in a glamourous New York apartment and still helping people in need. S.H.I.E.L.D., doing whatever it took to save tens of millions of lives. There was an entire world out there and one of its top agents thought he fit right into it.
He didn't want to be a superhero. He... he didn't. It was a funny feeling, though, to have people who thought he should. "Coach Sylvester, then why did you take this job if you knew it would be a poor match? Did they order you to come here?"
"No," Sue said. "No, I didn't volunteer, but I agreed when they asked me."
"Why?" Kurt wondered. She seemed to love being an agent more than anything. Was it a love with a limited shelf life, perhaps? Was it something that no one would really want to do for all their life?
"My sister was getting weaker," Sue said after a long pause. Her voice was thick. "If I took this assignment, I could see her every day." She sat in silence for a while and Kurt didn't interrupt her. "I watched the video of what happened in my office."
His mind went straight to how they'd kissed, and Kurt blushed. "Sorry. We made sure to stop before we got too—"
"Not that," Sue said, grimacing. "I was horrified when I saw his oil slick of a head moving toward you. All I could picture was you floundering on a beach like some sea bird after the Exxon Valdez spill."
Oh. "I know you said our powers are unstable," Kurt ventured, "but I do normally have better control over my illusions." She looked blankly back and he explained, "When my outfit started changing?"
"I didn't see any changes, because your illusions are psychic. They're obviously not going to come across to a camera." Sue snorted at his surprise. "You kids are operating blind but think you know everything. Abrams is still convinced that he's going to make sex robots."
His blush remained in place. Sue's praise might be rare pearls, but it also softened him up so that her criticism stung more. "Then what are you talking about?"
"When you blew off the entire idea of working with your powers on anything but a limited basis. I saw you assure that overly groomed boyfriend of yours that you were going to hang up your swords in exchange for subway tokens and an everything bagel." Sue looked him over again. "Is that what you really want, or is that what a temporary version of you used to want? Look, if you want to take the easy route I won't blame you. I'll insult you every chance I get, but I won't be mean."
"What's the difference?" Kurt asked in open confusion.
"The second involves a flamethrower." Sue put her elbows on her knees and leaned forward. "I thought I saw something in you that worked well with the agency. I hate to be wrong. And you are currently living a life based on lies, so you need to figure out what feels real."
This was so much longer than she'd spent talking to Finn. Kurt inhaled, nodded, and exhaled. "I feel real. I know my past is fake, but I still feel real. My family feels real. Blaine feels real, and my friendships with Rachel, Mercedes, Tina... it all feels real."
"And saving people's lives?"
Kurt swallowed, and remembered two frightened mutant women. "That feels... really real."
"So what's your big life plan?" Sue asked. She imbued every word with derision, preemptively mocking the sort of dreams Kurt Hummel typically clung to.
"I still want to live in the city. I want the big apartment, the parties, the champagne." As Sue began to look away in what might be disgust or even disappointment, Kurt hesitantly continued, "But... but Sam stopped by to tell me about someone. The Wasp? She has all of that and she—"
"Saves lives," Sue agreed.
And that sounded pretty much perfect. Her own fashion line, her own grand apartment, and people who owed their lives to her existence. Seriously, it was perfect.
It just wasn't what he'd said his life would be.
Seeing his indecision, Sue leaned over to unzip her bag. "I brought something for you."
"You did?" Kurt asked and tried to refocus. What could Sue Sylvester possibly bring for him? Would it hurt? It would probably hurt.
"The reason I thought you'd be the best match was partially due to your powers," Sue said. "Quinn also has the personality for this, but people with powers like hers are typically put in technicolor spandex and shoved out in public. Yours match the S.H.I.E.L.D. mission, just like Mister Sulu's. But inside, he's not cut from the right cloth."
"Meaning?" Kurt asked. He wasn't sure what it meant to have the right personality for S.H.I.E.L.D.
"You're strong on your own when you need to be," Sue added. A dark cast moved across her eyes, and she added, "That's important for people at the top."
No wonder she'd taken a mission that would put her near her sister, Kurt thought, and watched her quietly retrieve two leather sheaths from her bag. "This was part of my standard gear, but I hate edged melee. I'm an expert, of course, but it's not my style. Give me a Glock any day of the week." Seeing his hesitance, Sue extended her arm and gave him the two swords. "Take them."
"Wait, you're giving these to me?" Kurt asked in utter shock.
"I never use them and they're a hell of a sight better than those ren faire rejects you had in the videos." Sue shrugged. "Yeah, take them."
They gave the impression of being incredibly well-made and expensive. Kurt set one down on the couch almost reverently, then drew the other from its sheath. The metal of the sword gleamed like platinum, and when he tapped a fingernail against it, it sounded as hard as ceramic. He wondered what they were made of. "These are for me?" he asked again in disbelief. They didn't just look dangerous, they were beautiful.
"For the last time, yes. They were just cluttering up my house. Take them and shut up."
"I don't know how to use a... katana?" Kurt ventured, looking at the blade with a slight curve.
"Wakizashi," Sue corrected. "Shorter. Nice length to strap to your back. And yes, you do. Your powers include weapons mastery, annoyingly. You'll be decent with pretty much anything you pick up, and will be good with far less training than's fair." She gave him a bit to stare in wonder at the sword, which really was more like art than just some simple weapon. "So. You can either hang them up on your eventual wall as a charming piece of cultural appropriation before you go back to discussing how this season's runway models are heifers who need to stop eating those extra raisins... or you can use them. Up to you."
"But we're not supposed to use our powers," Kurt said. It was the perfect way to dodge the issue.
Sue smirked at him. "You know perfectly well that won't last forever, Porcelain. Go try cutting up a tomato. They're better than a Ginsu."
She let herself out.
"Dude," Finn said when he came to join Kurt, having heard the closing door. "She gave you something? That's not fair, she didn't give me anything. Those are awesome swords. Are you really going to use them?"
Kurt stared at where the two sheaths were resting in an X across his knees. Was he really going to use them, he repeated as his fingertips traced down the long leather length of one blade's cover. "I don't know."
* * *
"Again?" Kurt asked when Rachel walked through their front door the next morning.
"I wanted to see my boyfriend and best friend," Rachel said as Carole turned locks behind her. "What's wrong with that?"
"Besides the fact that you can?" Kurt answered morosely, then boggled when she pulled out a cell phone. "You are kidding me. Is this what being the daughter of two agents gets you?"
"Hi," Rachel said when Finn walked in, and kissed him. But then she went right back to looking at her phone and sighing. "There's only one unlocked number on this, so don't be jealous. I've been putting off the call."
"To who?" Finn asked. They both looked at him; he tapped the side of his head and grinned. "I'm not looking at your brain."
She smiled, a weak flash. "Well, Sue did get Jacob's Facebook page about us taken down."
"And?" Kurt prompted. That clearly wasn't the end of the story.
"He's apparently still insistent about getting the message out for me," Rachel said sheepishly. "A man with a mission. I probably shouldn't have signed my email 'love.'"
"Ew, Rachel," Finn said.
"I'm sorry! I didn't think he'd go this far. Now he has his own website for us, it's hosted in another country, and he's not in control any more. Ownership keeps rotating between some people he apparently met who hate 'government censorship' and aren't big fans of Facebook, either." At their questioning looks, Rachel shrugged. "I'm not sure, my dad just said they were anonymous. They're really hoping I can rein things in."
Kurt shot Finn a look as Rachel reluctantly dialed. Bet we don't want to know the sort of personal information he's been spreading. Finn didn't look worried, so Kurt added, You realize he wants her, and so is probably painting her boyfriend as increasingly awful the longer this goes on.
Finn grimaced and listened in to the conversation that had started up without them.
"But can't you just tell them to delete it?" Rachel asked. "I know you don't know the other people personally, but this is a big deal. I don't care if they just think it's funny to defy the government! It's not a joke. We could be in danger. There's something going on and we really shouldn't have all that information about our powers and... no, the government is not standing over my shoulder right now, Jacob. Kurt is. No, 'Kurt' is not a code word for anything, I'm actually talking about him. He looks annoyed."
"Take down any gross comments," Kurt said loudly. "You owe us that much, Ben Israel."
Rachel's fist clenched at whatever Jacob said next. "Jacob, stop. Jacob! We are not being coerced into... I don't care if those other people are having fun with running the site, stop them!" She looked dismayed. "How did they even find that mattress commercial? Look. Enough is enough. If you don't take that site down, I swear I will hate you forever. My last moment on earth will be to curse your name." Her expression flattened further. "No. It's not romantic that I'd be thinking of you then. Just do it!" she finished, and hung up.
"That went great," Finn said.
After allowing herself one long groan, Rachel's expression brightened. "Let's be fair," she said. "We were already on the news. How much worse will this really be?"
Though Finn seemed convinced, Kurt folded his arms and said, "Well, let's see. Before, we were just presented as the latest teen group to try their hand at heroics. Now, in case anyone creepy was wondering if we were the right teen group they wanted? They know the government is trying to hide us." His words clearly dismayed Rachel, and Kurt decided to pull back just a bit. "Look... Jacob went overboard. You asked him to stop and he ignored you. So now, when Coach Sylvester applies the thumbscrews to get him to really talk, it'll be all his fault."
She managed to laugh. "He is a bit of a loose cannon."
"Exactly," Kurt said, and then waved them up the stairs. "Now: mingle, because you just gave me precedent." Without further explanation, he chased down Carole. "Hi!" Kurt said hopefully. "Rachel just got to call someone on the phone, and I wanted to see if I could, too." Before she could argue, he said, "It's nearly a week since that meeting, and I haven't even been able to talk to him. Please?"
"I suppose a phone call won't hurt," Carole finally said. "Use the one in the kitchen and stay in there. I won't listen in, but if Sue finds out I can say I had everything under control."
He hugged her. "Thank you, thank you, I've been losing my mind." Hurrying in before she could withdraw permission, he grabbed the phone and punched in Blaine's number so forcefully that it felt like he might break the buttons. "Yes, it's really me," he said when Blaine excitedly asked if the caller ID was accurate. "I got permission to call. Say something, I miss your voice."
"You have to say something, I miss your voice," Blaine said right back, and they laughed over their impasse. "What have you been doing?"
"Just hanging around the house," Kurt said. They both started bringing up any minutia that was even remotely notable. As they talked, Kurt picked up the sword he'd absent-mindedly started carrying. Some corner of his mind had wanted to get a feel for what it felt like to bear that weight. He palmed the slick leather, passed it from hand to hand, and then finally attached it to his belt so he'd stop distracting himself. "How much do your parents hate me?"
"They have a problem," Blaine reluctantly said. "But I did hear my dad say that he was glad someone stopped those men in Columbus, so I really think they can get over it. And Mom called you a hero."
Kurt grinned. "Really?" That word had to be a good thing.
"Mmmhmm. In the context of thinking it was very strange that I was dating one, but I still heard the term. They wanted to know everything you could do. I mentioned the swords and the illusions. I skipped the flexibility."
"Blaine," Kurt giggled into the phone. "You need to stop acting like it's so dirty."
"You knew exactly what you were doing when you showed me that move." Blaine's pitch dropped a bit, which made Kurt wish he had a phone cord to twirl coquettishly around his finger. "You must have ideas."
"I... someone might be listening in, we should change topics," Kurt said as his face flushed hot. "Any headway on them thinking I'm an insurance risk?"
"Not yet," Blaine said. "But if they're calling you a hero, there's hope."
"I guess that's true." Leaning against the wall, Kurt found it surprisingly easy to accept the rare positives in his life. Hearing his boyfriend's voice after so long bolstered his spirits like nothing else. "It's funny, actually. Coach Sylvester came by with insults, but then she sort of... complimented me. If I develop a case of whiplash, I'm blaming her."
"I didn't know she was capable of offering compliments, from how you've described her," Blaine said with good humor. "At least that's something good. What did she say?"
"It was completely ridiculous, actually. She thought I'd be a good match for joining S.H.I.E.L.D." He waited to hear hearty laughter on the line. When Blaine didn't offer any, Kurt picked up the slack. The sound was as flimsy as a cheap windchime.
The second he went silent again Blaine asked, "You told her no, right?"
"I... mostly. She's intimidating! She talked about flamethrowers."
"See?" Blaine pointed out, very reasonably. "Just remember that S.H.I.E.L.D. means Sue Sylvester with a flamethrower, and lying to you about your past. That doesn't sound very fun to me."
"Living a charmingly bohemian lifestyle until we get a big break and become famous and successful sounds fun," Kurt agreed, reciting one of the sillier paths they'd discussed in their grand plans about the future. "And arguing over a cat."
"As I've said before, Siamese are incredibly personable and clean. I had one when I was younger and you would have loved her, Kurt."
"The only cat I would ever consider are those evil-looking hairless ones," Kurt said. "And they, well, look evil." The easy banter put a smile on his face, but it dropped off as something bubbled up through his mind. Kurt found himself unable to hold back his next words. "Rachel's dads are both S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and so was Carole. They're all nice." He could imagine Blaine's disappointed expression. The silence was more telling than a sigh. "Would it really be so bad?"
"Kurt—"
"You're supposed to figure out your path in high school," Kurt said defensively. "People go through lots of interests. I love fashion, performing, and... and possibly weapons. I'm good. I might be able to be great. And I could help people!" He pictured Sam giving him a goofy thumbs-up and tried his best to focus.
"I thought you were going to die!" Blaine said, voice anguished, and Kurt stopped arguing. "Tina was keeping me in that van when I wanted to come help you. But she was right: even if I had gotten out, I couldn't have done anything. You could have been killed and I wouldn't have been able to lift a finger to stop them. Why would you want to...." He sounded almost ready to cry when he spoke next. Kurt found himself tearing up, too. "Just listening to you in danger nearly drove me out of my mind. I haven't been able to talk to you in nearly a week and you call to tell me you really want to get yourself killed? You're so talented at so many other things. Why this?"
"I...." Kurt trailed off, uselessly.
"They can get other agents to carry out whatever mission comes up. You can't be replaced. Please," Blaine said, and it sounded like he'd finally lost the battle against his tears. "At least think about that. Think about how you'd feel if someone were coming for my life and you could only watch. Weigh that against what we talked about together."
Kurt leaned against the wall. As he didn't yet trust his voice, he didn't reply. Blaine continued, "I don't care if you're not from Ohio. I don't care what your last name really is, or which of them you want to use. I don't even care if you dated every boy in New York City—"
"I haven't," Kurt said quickly. At least he knew that much. "Finn looked at my memories."
"But I wouldn't care," Blaine said. "Because I know you now, and I am madly in love with that boy. I don't want to lose him to some thug with something to prove, and have nothing more left than a folded flag and a medal."
The phrasing put him in mind of Christopher Hudson before Kurt remembered that such a man had never existed. Nor had his supposed birth mother, but his and Finn's pain had been very real. He would never want to put someone through pain like he'd felt. Kurt allowed himself a wave of it to serve of a reminder of just what he'd be doing to Blaine. That was what it had felt like when he went to his mother's funeral. He let the memory, false though it was, linger and dig in. That was what it had felt like to see her as a corpse. And that was what it had felt like when the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. told him his parents were dead.
Kurt froze. What? There was a large man with an eyepatch, holding photographs in his hands. Photographs that would show a man and a woman who.... "Blaine, I... I think I need to go."
"Are they making you get off?" Blaine asked regretfully.
"No, I'll call you later, and I... I just... I need to talk to Finn. I think I'm finally remembering my parents," Kurt said in shock.
Thankfully, Blaine didn't argue for a second. "Go. I'll want to hear everything, but until then, I love you and goodbye."
"Bye," Kurt said distantly and hung up without realizing he should have added an 'I love you' of his own. His mother had dark hair and eyes paler than his. Her name was Margaret, which she always hated until she heard her young son add, "Like the princess!" Kurt kept trying to get her to wear different clothes, just as he'd made over Carole, but she thought it would be a silly waste of money when she wore a lab coat all day.
He wobbled. Had he blocked them on purpose, or had someone else put extra shields around his family? Other memories had come back so much more smoothly, and now it felt as if a dam had burst. Margaret had loved him dearly, but never played favorites. She loved Finn just as much. Still, she wound up spending more time around Kurt, because—
His hand splayed against the wall as a fresh wave of dizziness nearly knocked him over. Luke. Luke Hutton, with his coppery hair and dark brown eyes. A broad smile, terrible jokes, and unbearable awkwardness when... when....
A headache started pounding between Kurt's eyes. It felt almost like his old illusion headaches, but it came entirely from trying to make sense of what he was remembering. "I have to talk to Finn," he muttered and scrambled upstairs. What he was remembering didn't make any sense: Luke had always been awkward when Kurt's boyfriend came over.
But Finn had looked at his memories and said that Kurt didn't have a boyfriend in New York. Had someone locked that away, and Finn had missed it? Or had someone altered his memories since then? Or, Kurt wondered for an even more unpleasant final option, had Finn lied? "Hey," he said shakily when he pushed Finn's door open. Rachel pulled away from Finn, blushing, but he ignored her. "I need to ask you something."
"Knock next time," Finn muttered, and tried to point subtly at Rachel.
"Did you lie to me about whether I'd had a boyfriend in New York?" Kurt asked, his voice close to cracking.
As Finn stammered, Rachel turned and looked at him in shock. "Finn?"
"Why would you think I'd lied to you?" Finn asked and laughed nervously.
"Because I remember Dad and he didn't like my boyfriend," Kurt said. With each word he said, he was more confident in his recollection. "I did. I had a boyfriend, Finn. These aren't just dreams, they're memories." He rounded on Rachel. "Try to remember. Can you picture me when I was younger?"
She focused on Kurt. Finn tried to speak over them, but they ignored him. "I... all right, I'm picturing your old hair style. You're younger, and shorter, and... and I can see you in a classroom I've never been in before," Rachel said, nodding. "Although I suppose I have been in it."
"Guys!" Finn said urgently.
"He was taller than me," Kurt said. "And just... just bigger."
"Double dates," Rachel said, and Kurt gasped and pointed at her. Yes, she was right: she and Finn had gone on countless dates with Kurt and... and.... Her hand covered her mouth, and her eyes grew very large. "What I'm remembering doesn't make any sense," Rachel said.
"Oh," Kurt said in a tiny, frightened voice as he remembered bulky arms encircling him. Hazel eyes fluttering closed. A strong hand threading through his hair, and a horrifyingly familiar voice whispering against his ear. "Oh no. No, no, no. This is impossible," he said as he remembered Puck—Puck—trailing his mouth down Kurt's arched throat. "This is... why?" he asked Finn.
"You can't remember him, okay!" Finn said helplessly. "You're happy, I didn't want him to ruin it! He ruins things!"
"You lied to him about what was in his own head?" Rachel asked. "Finn, that's incredibly wrong! You don't get to make that decision for anyone."
As the two of them began to argue over the ethics of telepathy, Kurt found himself staring blankly at the far wall. Noah Puckerman had been his first boyfriend? Puck, who he knew for a fact was straight? Who, oh god, he'd assured Blaine was straight and certainly not interested in him? He'd just told Blaine that he was Kurt's first, and that had been a lie?
He remembered a warm smile at the end of a hard class. Puck was smarter than he gave himself credit for, at least when he tried.
He'd stepped in when someone began to press Kurt on the subway. Especially when he was younger, Kurt looked like an easy target. Puck didn't, though, and Finn wasn't always around.
It was easier to find privacy at Puck's. First Puck peeled off his shirt, and then Kurt's, as the two of them—
"No," Kurt almost sobbed. No, he couldn't have lost that. "No." His anguished cry had interrupted Finn and Rachel's argument, and both turned to him. "I...." he began, but had no idea what to say next. His mind was filled with horrifyingly pleasurable memories, but the worst part was his heart. It wasn't just sex. He had been madly and totally in love with Puck.
As the physical memories ran through Kurt's mind, Finn went very pale. A thin layer of sweat beaded his top lip and he looked ill. But it was nothing compared to the horror on his face when Kurt remembered being in love. "You can't!" Finn shouted, and just for an instant his eyes glowed purple vibrant enough to match any neon sign.
They faded. With them, so did Kurt's unearthed memories about love. He knew that he had dated Puck, and that he'd loved him and even lost his virginity to him, but it could have happened to someone else. It was like reading a fact in a textbook. "What the hell did you just do?" he snarled.
"I...." Finn hesitantly reached up and rubbed his temple with his fingertips. "I don't know."
"Finn?" Rachel asked.
"I don't know!" Finn said, turning to her to plead his case. "His brain is the easiest for me to look into, and I just... I just put up walls without knowing what I was doing, and—"
"You did another memory block on Kurt," Rachel said in horror. "Finn!"
He had to get out of there, Kurt thought as he tried to fight back hysterical sobs. He knew that as certainly as he'd known it on the night he fled from Burt. Leaving behind an illusion of himself as they argued, he unsheathed the sword at his hip and sliced open the screen in Finn's window. An alarm started blaring. It took them a few precious seconds to realize what was happening, and Kurt already knew that he could run across the roof, leap for that sturdy branch, and land safely on the grass. Even in his daze, he didn't stumble once on his way to the street.
A Winnebago drove by. Kurt, secure in his agility and utterly single-minded in his focus, grabbed its ladder. He knew they'd be looking for him, and that they could see him if they looked through a video camera, but he planned to move quickly.
There was someone he needed to talk to.
Character(s): Ensemble. Seriously. It covers pretty much everyone, plus some Marvel Universe characters.
Rating: R across everything, to be safe.
Word Count: 9900
Spoilers: Through S2
Full-Series Warnings: Violence, potential character death, and other elements common to comics
Summary: Being a part of something special makes you special. (Also, having superpowers.)
Notes: And they're off in this chapter! ...Eventually. But the action does once again pick up. :D Also: am I ever glad I already had custom comment pages in place. Oy, that new comment system.
"You're better than this," Kurt sing-songed as he dropped his die onto the Trivial Pursuit board. It was perfectly obvious that Rachel had convinced Jacob Ben Israel to promote them to a national audience. It was also brash, irresponsible, and from the sound of it, mostly successful. The die stopped. With a sigh, he moved his marker onto the orange wedge space. He was going to get his sports question wrong, but it would be foolish to pass up that roll.
"I'm not better than anything," Rachel said as she dug out the card. "Because I haven't done anything. Where is the Cotton Bowl played?"
The question was so nonsensical that his brain refused to move into gear. "Why would you make a bowl out of cotton?" Kurt asked, even though he knew it was a stupid thing to say.
Finn poked his head into the room. Between him being uninterested in the old Trivial Pursuit they'd found in the closet and players who refused to let a telepath near the cards, he'd stayed clear. Rachel's words had apparently floated to him on his way to the kitchen. "Cotton Bowl's in Texas. Used to be in Dallas, now it's in Arlington."
Rachel, startled, looked between Finn and the card. "That's correct. And you even managed to cover outdated information from...." She flipped through the instruction book, then shot a dark look at Kurt. "1996. Why are we playing this?"
"Because we can't go out," he reminded her. "We can't talk to people over the phone. We can only engage in supervised activities inside the house. And well done, Finn." Kurt couldn't help himself. "You're quite the savant."
Finn hesitated before smiling. "Thanks."
"Let's play something else, at least," Rachel pleaded. "I still think it's unfair that I missed that movie wedge. I just forgot what year Titanic came out. As of now, I was right."
"Didn't Avatar make the most money?" Finn asked innocently, having apparently read her mind to get the context. "Can I play a new game? I'm so bored."
"You're certainly a font of useless information today," Kurt said. "And yes, let's find something else to do." He began to rifle through the game cabinet, but kept shooting suspicious looks at Finn. Not Taboo, not Scattergories, not Balderdash: nothing where creative thought or knowledge played a role. Living with a telepath had more than a few everyday struggles. He saw a faded Life box, grabbed it, and placed it on the coffee table. "There."
Later, when Finn frowned at a space for a child and hesitated for nearly ten seconds over choosing a blue or pink peg, Kurt finally snapped. "For god's sake, Finn, either way it's just a piece of plastic. Pick one and move."
Finn meekly put his peg into his car, then whispered to it, "Your name is Robin, like the bird or the sidekick. They're both cool."
"I have got to get out of this house," Kurt muttered and rested his head in his hands. He saw Rachel about to raise the obvious point and added, "Yours is no better. Or Mercedes'. We're still under supervision. Blaine's parents won't even let me come over, because they think 'having a known metahuman on the property could affect future insurance claims.'"
"That was very precise language," Rachel said.
"I've heard it more than once." Kurt gestured broadly at the room around them. "It's been five days! If something were going to try to kill us, don't you think we'd have seen it by now?"
"Maybe they have, and Sue just didn't tell us?" Rachel asked.
Kurt considered that, then shook his head. "When does she pass up the chance to brag?"
"Good point," Finn said.
"And we don't want to be bored," Kurt said, sliding easily back into judgmental tones. "We do silly, silly things when we're bored."
"Kurt," Rachel said.
"Things that I overhear my parents talking about on the phone."
Her glower intensified. "Kurt, stop it."
Finn looked confused. "What'd she do?"
"She got in touch with Jacob, somehow, and convinced him to pimp us out."
"I did not!" Rachel said. "And I don't appreciate the repeated accusation."
Finn concentrated, then gasped and said, "Rachel, you told me you were going to the bathroom!" He turned to Kurt. "She totally emailed Jacob."
"Mmm hmm," Kurt said knowingly.
"Finn!" Rachel said, then slumped. "Well, I did go to the bathroom. Don't tell my dads, all right? They asked, I told them no... I'd get into trouble."
"Geez, Rach," Finn said after washing down a mouthful of cheese puffs. Kurt's boredom had filled the refrigerator and counters with snack options, but Finn always went for the most processed food available. "You ever think that Sue's keeping us on the down-low for a reason?"
Kurt hesitantly raised his hand. "Don't use that term. But he's right. I want this to be over, but there must be a reason for it."
Rachel neatly avoided the topic like a politician. "I read a lot of the comments about us on Jacob's page, when my dads wanted to see if I knew about it. You and Blaine have quite the fanclub, Kurt. Lots of girls think you're incredibly cute."
"Oh," he said dryly. "So good to know they approve." He paused, then grinned a bit despite himself. "We are cute."
"People are saying good stuff?" Finn asked. "That's cool, I guess."
She coughed into her hand. Kurt didn't need telepathy to know what she wasn't telling them. "Picture any YouTube video or news story online, Finn, and then the comments. I'm sure we're all fat, ugly, talentless degenerates who should still take off our clothes, and plus, vote Ron Paul." Rachel's expression confirmed his suspicions. "Thanks for that, Rachel. I definitely wanted to have my national debut come while I was wearing skintight leather."
"Technically," she countered, "you were in the choir at Nationals and in the squad at, um, other Nationals long before this ever hit the news."
Finn frowned. "You shouldn't have just decided for everyone. What if we'd gotten into trouble? Or danger?"
"You're one to talk," Rachel said. "Can we please have a little discussion about what you did?" He was clearly confused, and so she continued, "You read my mind without permission. That's a complete violation of trust."
Finn snorted. "Come on, be serious. Last time you were here, you used my collectible Burger King cups without asking."
Rachel had developed excellent control over her voice. Each new note and tone came out as its own firework, and yet it all hung together as a beautiful melody. A dangerous one, that left shards of old plastic on their carpet after Kurt threw them like clay pigeons. Wanting to keep the conversation moving, Kurt said, "They were ancient, Finn. All the paint had worn off. ...Fine, we will get you new cups."
"Maybe I shouldn't have done that," Rachel said, "and I'm sorry. But someone's mind is the most private, personal thing they have. Their thoughts and memories should be theirs unless they give you permission, or unless it's to keep people safe. And even then it can be an ethical dilemma." She looked between them. "Which you already knew, because I included worksheets on the ethics of superheroics in your booklets."
Kurt didn't bother coming up with a cover story. Nor did Finn.
Voice tight, Rachel asked, "Do you mean to say that you didn't do any of your worksheets?"
"Rachel, no one did their worksheets," Kurt said. "Because they were worksheets, and we are not eight."
"I like you better when you're not in a bad mood," Rachel said.
"I like you better when you're not using my relationship to get people talking about you," Kurt shot back. He pointed at Finn. "You're not off the hook because we're arguing. She's right. You really should stop reading people's minds without permission, or you won't like the images you see in my brain next. I'll be creative." He wormed against his chair's back like a dog seeking a comfortable position to sleep. "I don't know why you two get to visit each other. Blaine's parents won't let him come over here, either."
"Kurt," Rachel began.
He grumbled. "I'm a city-destroying, leather-wearing bad influence, apparently."
Finn sighed heavily and stood. "I'll get one of those boring black and white movies he likes."
Kurt looked up and smiled. "Thanks, Finn. See? You don't have to read people's minds all the time."
Once they'd been left alone, Rachel scooted closer. "I'm sure his parents will change their minds soon. It was probably shocking to see him in front of all that rubble. And, of course, he followed you without telling them. Then they would have found out how you have superpowers—"
"I'm all caught up, thanks," Kurt said dryly.
"So... does it feel strange?" she asked for a neat topic change, and nodded after Finn. "With the two of you."
"It doesn't," Kurt said. "At all. Not after that first reveal. Even if we don't remember all of those fifteen years, yet, that's a lot of time compared to just two years here. I had a brother for a lot longer than I didn't, and it's becoming easier to just slip into how we used to act." A noise at the door made him turn; that didn't sound like Finn.
Burt pointed to the phone. "Someone wants to—"
"His parents finally let him come over?" Kurt asked brightly.
"Sorry, no," Burt said, and Kurt's shoulders slumped. "Just a friend. Is that fine?"
"Sure," Kurt said without asking who it was. It didn't matter. Blaine's parents hated him just because he was a superpowered government plant with a fake identity who'd torn up a major urban center. (The worst part was that every single word of that description did make him sound like genuinely terrible boyfriend material.)
Finn returned with a movie in hand, and Burt moved away when he saw them starting it. "Sure, come on over in a while," he said into the phone. Then, wisely, he left Kurt to sulk.
"I can't believe this is from the Thirties," Finn said later as he watched Katherine Hepburn square off against Cary Grant. "I didn't know they made movies back then."
"It's a little depressing to know the leopard is long dead," Rachel said sadly. "It's so cute."
"So are Hepburn and Grant," Kurt said.
"I like animals more."
The sound of the doorbell interrupted them, and Burt let in their guest. With more than a little surprise, Kurt saw not Mercedes or Tina at the door, but Sam. "Hey," Sam said, waving. "My parents said it was okay if I came over here. I heard Rachel kept visiting, and, well... two birds, one stone."
Kurt and Rachel shrugged at each other, while Finn looked happy to be around someone who might want to discuss football instead of old movies. That soon faded when Sam made a beeline not for him, but for Kurt. "They let me use her dad's computer when I visited Mercedes, so long as I told them what I was doing. I thought you might think this was neat. Here," he said, and dug out papers.
"What is this?" Kurt asked curiously as he flipped through the pages of whatever Sam had handed over.
"I pulled a bunch of stuff on the Wasp," Sam said. He leaned over to point to various paragraphs. "See?"
"I see a lot of very small print and not enough subheaders. Give me an overview of what I'm looking at."
Sam turned a few pages and a photo of a brunette woman in a sleek yellow-and-black outfit smiled back at Kurt. Finn leaned over to snoop and raised his eyebrows appreciatively, then pulled back when Rachel looked annoyed. "Janet van Dyne is a really important member of the Avengers," Sam explained. "She's smart, and can be kind of bossy, but in a good way that helps out the team."
"Does she turn into a bug?" Kurt asked dubiously.
He grinned. "No. But she's helpful when people need it, and she doesn't take crap when they're annoying, and I just like her a lot."
"Sounds very impressive," Kurt said. "And why are we becoming the founding members of the Wasp Fan Club?"
"I was just gonna say that... she reminds me of you." Sam's smile slid comfortably lopsided. "She made all her own costumes. It was kind of a thing. She's big into fashion."
"Wait," Kurt said. His brow furrowed. Images of runways filled his head. "Wait. This Janet van Dyne is the same as the designer Janet van Dyne."
Chuckling, Sam asked, "Is that a common name?"
"Her work is flawless," Kurt said as he flipped back to the beginning and began reading more thoroughly. "There's so much gossip about her. I've seen party pictures from her apartment. Gorgeous plate glass windows overlooking the park, expensive champagne, the whole deal." He looked back to Sam and asked in disbelief, "And she's an Avenger?"
"Off and on," Sam said and shrugged. "Anyway, I just thought that was kind of neat. You know, she's this popular person in fashion and art there, and she still kicks some serious behind and saves lives. Kind of like how Dazzler's both a popular musician and an X-Man," he added, gesturing to Rachel, but frowned when she didn't take the comparison anywhere close to Kurt's reaction. "Did I say something wrong?"
"Oh, I... I just had a conversation with my dad a few days ago," Rachel said uncertainly. "I need to figure out which I'm going to focus on more: music or heroics."
Sam blinked. "But you can do both. Kurt could do both!"
"Kurt's not doing both," Kurt said. "Kurt thinks Ms. van Dyne's work is inspired and appreciates all of her talents, but would like the big apartment without the accompanying gore." The three all looked unconvinced, and he realized it was because he didn't sound particularly convincing. "Okay, I've had fun with some of this," he said defensively. "I've also had fun in some history classes. It doesn't mean I want to catalog ancient pottery for a living."
Holding up his hands, Sam dropped the topic and turned his attention entirely to Rachel. "Well, Mercedes also let me take this, and...." The trio waited for Sam to continue, but he first had to gather his nerve. "You're the captain, right?"
Rachel nodded. Finn pointed to himself, too.
"Okay, when this is over and you can go out and be a team again...." Sam took a deep breath, but he smiled when he exhaled. "I want to join."
Rachel shook her head. "Absolutely not."
Sam didn't respond immediately, and dug through his bag until he could hand her something. "I knew you'd say that, but I'm totally prepared. Here." Kurt frowned. Again, he didn't know what they were looking at. It appeared to be a spiral notebook with rumpled pages and a torn cover. Only after considering it for a few seconds did he identify that first, stained page and the little shred of cover that was left: it was a hero's workbook. Sam flipped past the informative printouts and got to the first worksheet.
It was completed.
"See?" he said and started paging through the other sheets. Every single one was full of blocky pencil script. "I've really thought about this. I did all of the pages. Some asked me about using my powers and so I just pretended I had some," he added sheepishly. "It was the only way I could finish them."
"No one else did any of these," Rachel said in disbelief. She looked almost ready to cry. Her hand shook once when she took the workbook from him. "You did every single one."
"All of your powers seem to kind of match you," Sam added. "I figured I'm a jock like Mike and Puck, and they were kind of... jock-y. So I went with those powers, okay?" he said as he gestured to one worksheet that explained how he would face down a dangerous threat without loss of civilian life.
"But you don't have those powers," Rachel reminded him gently.
"Hawkeye doesn't have powers, and he's an Avenger!" Sam protested. "Please? Come on. I want to be an Awesome." He smiled at Finn. "Which is a great name, co-captain."
Finn grinned, and Kurt rolled his eyes. "You are so easy to suck up to. Look, Sam, she's right. The very first time we did anything, I nearly bled my entire brain out through my nose. And if I hadn't, we would have wound up in jail."
"But," Sam began. Rachel spoke over him.
"It was even worse this last time. If Kurt hadn't hidden us with invisibility, he and I would have died. If Finn hadn't stopped that car, we would have died. If Mercedes didn't have her shields, we all would have died! And if our friends hadn't come, well." Rachel sighed. "Sam...."
"I'll take martial arts. I'll go to a secret monastery and learn how to... not breathe for ten minutes or something. I'm pretty sure there are places that teach stuff like that, right?" He looked between the three of them. "Please?"
"Dude, we did really almost die," Finn said reluctantly. He probably didn't want to turn down the one person who liked his team name. "It wasn't fun."
"Why are you doing this?" Sam asked him. "Why did you put yourself through sneaking out each night, coming up with cover stories, all of that?"
"I... don't know," Finn said. He sounded startled at being asked. "Everyone else was doing it."
Sam looked disappointed. "Rachel?"
"I want to be famous," Rachel said. "Although now I have to reconsider that."
"Kurt?" Sam asked. By that point he sounded a little desperate.
"I wanted to help people," Kurt said. It was the cheesiest answer he could possibly give. If only it weren't the truth. He sounded like a Planeteer. "First I just wanted to keep Finn from getting himself killed. Then, to keep safe the people no one cared about, and then, well. Everyone." He cleared his throat. "But when I move to New York, there will be an enormous surplus of heroes and I can—"
"Yes!" Sam said, and pointed at him. Kurt pulled away. "That's what I'm talking about. I knew Mercedes couldn't be the only one of you guys with the right idea. Heroes are something bigger and better than we are, you know? We thought we were something great when we made it to Nationals, but what did we really do?"
Rachel looked offended at the dismissal of their participation there, but she didn't argue. Kurt suspected it had something to do with the talk she'd had with her dad.
"Mercedes doesn't know if she wants to do this for life, but she knows it's important. And when I talked to her after you guys came back... she loves that she saved the three of you. Although I kinda had to pick that out of her between being super sad about all the government stuff." Sam looked frustrated the longer they went on without matching his enthusiasm. "Life can be so boring, even when it's going well," he finally said. "Other times, it can just plain suck."
"That's why I want to move to New York," Kurt said haughtily. That would fix everything. Writhing around a war zone in skintight leather would hardly fix anything, and in New York, there would be more heroes than anyone knew what to do with. They could deal with projectile cars and killer nosebleeds.
"No. No! It's not about living in Lima," Sam said. "Or any little town versus any big city. It's about... about being trapped with bills and homework and chores. Before I had to cancel my account, there were guys in my Warcraft guild from New York, Atlanta...."
"That's a video game, Sam," Rachel pointed out needlessly.
"Yeah, I know it was a game, but we still killed the Lich King and broke his hold over the undead armies of Northrend."
Kurt exchanged a glance with Rachel. Sam might as well be speaking in tongues.
"It's why I love science fiction," Sam finally said when he realized they didn't understand what he meant. "I love thinking that there's something bigger out there. That we can have even more to look forward to than winning a big game, or even winning Nationals. You're who they write stories about, or you could be. Do you guys even realize what you could do with what you've been given?" He shot a dismayed look at Kurt. "And if you do, how could you ever want to give it up?"
All three of them looked more than a little uncomfortable at his critique. Sam's shoulders slumped. Clearly, that wasn't the reaction he'd wanted. "I'd give anything to have powers like yours," he said, sounding almost hurt. "How can you guys not be totally thrilled about this?"
"Would you trade your parents for powers?" Rachel asked pointedly, and that seemed to get through. He went quiet.
"This isn't a game," Kurt said, nodding at her. Each word he said only ruined Sam's expression more, but it had to be said. "Our lives have been completely turned upside down. We're at risk."
"We seriously almost died," Finn repeated yet again. "Just saying."
The trio looked at Sam and waited patiently for an answer. He looked so disheartened, and Kurt did feel guilty about ruining his good mood. He didn't understand all that... nerd stuff, but still, too few people had smiled recently.
Between one breath and the next, Sam started grinning again. "Okay, so can I be a sidekick?"
"No," Kurt and Rachel said loudly. Kurt elbowed Finn when he seemed to really consider the idea, and he followed suit. "We don't want anyone dying because of us," Kurt continued. "And you—"
"I'm not useless," Sam said.
"Of course we don't think you're useless," Rachel said. But they didn't know what else to add. Useless might be too strong a word, but he was certainly helpless.
Sam pulled back. "Fine. Guess I didn't realize how selfish my friends all were."
"Hey," Kurt said, genuinely hurt after the effort he'd put into helping Sam earlier. Just because Sam had probably filmed himself in a mock lightsaber battle didn't give him the right to criticize them for not being as excited as he was.
"Have fun with your big apartment, Kurt," Sam told him bitterly. "Rachel, have fun being famous. Finn, have fun being...." Trailing off, he snorted, and Finn looked uncomfortable at how he'd never been able to give a real answer for why he was fighting. "Enjoy your movie."
He left, having apparently driven himself there.
"Come on," Finn finally said when they'd sat in uncomfortable silence for far too long. "Let's finish Kurt's movie, I know Rachel's dads want her back home soon."
"Porcelain," Sue said late that afternoon, nodding at Kurt as she stood at the front door of the Hummel-Hudson abode. It was a bizarre sight, like seeing Santa Claus on Venice Beach. Some things were not meant to cross paths. She was back to wearing her normal track suit, but the bag she had looked intriguingly official. "Your house is next on my list. Is your brother available or is he busy carrying Fay Wray up the Empire State Building?"
It took Kurt a second to respond. He'd never considered that she would come to their house to talk to Finn. Sue snapped her fingers at him so closely that it felt like she might break off his nose and Kurt, jolted, said, "Yes, he's in his room. I'll go get him."
"Hurry up," she said. "I have rounds to finish today and I have to check off everyone. If Nurse Ratched can set that pace, I can match it."
Kurt knew better than to comment on the idealization of one of cinema's great villains; he'd learned that lesson when he'd done a double-take at her saying that Glenn Close should be applauded for turning that rabbit into a tasty meal. He hurried upstairs, apologized to Finn for sending him into the line of fire, and then settled in to his room after a quick explanation to their parents.
He'd fallen into the latest Elle when a knock sounded on his doorframe. He turned to see Carole there. "Sue's done with Finn and she wants to talk to you."
"How bad is it going to be?" Kurt asked wryly, setting aside his magazine. "I only know the version of her that doesn't carry a gun."
"Finn doesn't seem too traumatized," Carole said. "I'm sure she just wants to make sure that everyone's stories match up."
Steeling himself, Kurt walked downstairs to join Sue in the living room. She was inspecting a photograph on the mantle. "Funny, isn't it?" she asked him as she tilted the frame to show a childhood picture of Kurt. "You never think about all the support staff necessary to pull off a job like this."
"I'm sorry?" Kurt asked. He had the feeling he'd walked into the middle of something.
"Where do you think this came from?" Sue asked him and tapped the glass. Oh, of course, he realized; there was no way the photo was real. "I'll tell you where it came from: we have great graphics people. They ran your face through age-regression software, mapped it onto a child's body doing... hopscotch, apparently, and composited it with the sort of suburban streetscape that you don't see in Manhattan. Boom, instant knick-knack for an unremarkable house in the middle of nowhere."
Kurt frowned at the description. It was a nice house in the middle of nowhere.
She actually seemed cheerful as she gestured around the living room. "And I know this place was decorated since you moved here, but what about your old house? Once you found out about this all, did you ever stop to consider just how hard it'd be to get all those homes ready in a couple days' time?"
"I suppose not," Kurt admitted. It was easier to focus on the part of S.H.I.E.L.D. that did their work with guns blazing, but a convincing cover was important. Still.... "If I might ask, why are we talking about interior design?"
"A gay fetus doesn't want to discuss interior design," Sue said to herself. "Interesting." Kurt generally knew better than to react to her and she grinned after a few seconds of his silence. "So. When'd you find out about your powers?"
"On the last day of school." Kurt told the truth, as he suspected lying would be painful at best. "Artie was the first one. He accidentally activated all of our powers, and Finn read my mind right after school that day. We were surprised, to say the least."
"Hmm." Sue's gaze flicked up and down his body. Kurt was glad he hadn't taken the liberty of sitting. "What did you do prior to this Columbus escapade?"
He told her everything: their failed first night, how injured he'd gotten, and how he'd been left out of action until he healed up. He continued with the training missions he'd run after that and finished with their grand debut on the media stage. "That's about it, I suppose," he eventually said.
Sue eyed him oddly. "Aren't you supposed to be stealthy?"
"I suppose so?" Kurt replied. Had he said something wrong?
"I expected you to prevaricate a little more," Sue said and took a seat on a couch's armrest. Kurt remained standing. "Cover your back."
"I assumed you would know," Kurt said. "Carole says you're good. Besides, we've probably already hit the major 'in trouble' threshold with what happened in front of the cameras."
"Huh," Sue said, and really seemed to consider him like she hadn't seen him before. "Good assessment."
He really shouldn't feel so pleased every time he got a bit of praise from Sue Sylvester, but it was just so damned hard to earn. Kurt smiled without trying to hide it. To be fair, he did get more kind words from her than most people at that school: her having faith in his talent, looking out for him when Burt was in the hospital and when he was in danger. Even working with her sister's funeral had felt like some odd but real connection.
Why, though? His existence was just as fake as the rest of the club's. She occasionally praised Quinn or Santana, but it was in the role of them doing something for her. There was no logical reason for Sue Sylvester to be nice to him, whether she was a much-decorated cheerleading coach or an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Whatever you're thinking," Sue said, "spit it out. I can see sparks about to fly from your ears."
"Coach Sylvester? Why have you been nice to me?" Kurt laughed once and amended, "That is, to your particular definition of 'nice.'"
"I am capable of showing limited affection to a few people worthy of it," Sue said. "The jury's still out on you, but hey, I've said: I'm bored. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt until I figure it out for sure." Yes, Kurt thought that qualified as 'nice' when it came from her. When it became apparent that he actually wanted an answer, she leaned back and asked, "Honestly?"
Oh, what a minefield that word was when it involved Sue Sylvester. Steeling himself for whatever she might say, Kurt nodded.
"Being a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent is the best, most important thing I've done with my life, and you were the kid who'd be the best match for joining up." Sue smirked at his surprise. "What, shocked that I care about doing any good? Don't get me wrong: I expect to be duly rewarded upon completing my missions. I enjoy being showered in glory by my peers like most people enjoy watching C-list celebrities attempt ballroom dancing."
"Sorry," Kurt said. "My life goals don't include being stuck in Lima version two-point-oh as I lie to a bunch of brainwashed kids."
"Oh, I hate this project," Sue said.
"And us, we know," Kurt said, rolling his eyes.
"I don't hate you. I am often annoyed by you, or bewildered when you show up on campus under the apparent misconception that you can pull off being shrink-wrapped in plaid, but I want to keep you kids alive." Sue leaned back. "That's what I've done: keep people alive. By my estimate, about twelve million."
Kurt's eyes widened before he could help it.
"Like I said," Sue said, digging casually through her pocket and then offering him a stick of gum. It was probably enhanced with some godawful vitamins and hormone supplements, and so he turned it down. "I've disarmed bombs. Foiled supervillains. Those blast radiuses were going to be big, and a whole lot of people were going to die. They didn't. Sure, they're just aimless drones who don't have a thought in their head besides whether Ashton is going to live up to Charlie's masterpiece performance, but, you know." Sue shrugged. "They have families they're trying to provide for. I can respect that."
"You've really saved that many people?" Kurt asked in disbelief.
"Eh," she said with a shrug. "After your first million, it all starts to blur together."
"Oh," Kurt said quietly. Sam's printouts filled his vision: the fashion designer and superhero Janet van Dyne, living in a glamourous New York apartment and still helping people in need. S.H.I.E.L.D., doing whatever it took to save tens of millions of lives. There was an entire world out there and one of its top agents thought he fit right into it.
He didn't want to be a superhero. He... he didn't. It was a funny feeling, though, to have people who thought he should. "Coach Sylvester, then why did you take this job if you knew it would be a poor match? Did they order you to come here?"
"No," Sue said. "No, I didn't volunteer, but I agreed when they asked me."
"Why?" Kurt wondered. She seemed to love being an agent more than anything. Was it a love with a limited shelf life, perhaps? Was it something that no one would really want to do for all their life?
"My sister was getting weaker," Sue said after a long pause. Her voice was thick. "If I took this assignment, I could see her every day." She sat in silence for a while and Kurt didn't interrupt her. "I watched the video of what happened in my office."
His mind went straight to how they'd kissed, and Kurt blushed. "Sorry. We made sure to stop before we got too—"
"Not that," Sue said, grimacing. "I was horrified when I saw his oil slick of a head moving toward you. All I could picture was you floundering on a beach like some sea bird after the Exxon Valdez spill."
Oh. "I know you said our powers are unstable," Kurt ventured, "but I do normally have better control over my illusions." She looked blankly back and he explained, "When my outfit started changing?"
"I didn't see any changes, because your illusions are psychic. They're obviously not going to come across to a camera." Sue snorted at his surprise. "You kids are operating blind but think you know everything. Abrams is still convinced that he's going to make sex robots."
His blush remained in place. Sue's praise might be rare pearls, but it also softened him up so that her criticism stung more. "Then what are you talking about?"
"When you blew off the entire idea of working with your powers on anything but a limited basis. I saw you assure that overly groomed boyfriend of yours that you were going to hang up your swords in exchange for subway tokens and an everything bagel." Sue looked him over again. "Is that what you really want, or is that what a temporary version of you used to want? Look, if you want to take the easy route I won't blame you. I'll insult you every chance I get, but I won't be mean."
"What's the difference?" Kurt asked in open confusion.
"The second involves a flamethrower." Sue put her elbows on her knees and leaned forward. "I thought I saw something in you that worked well with the agency. I hate to be wrong. And you are currently living a life based on lies, so you need to figure out what feels real."
This was so much longer than she'd spent talking to Finn. Kurt inhaled, nodded, and exhaled. "I feel real. I know my past is fake, but I still feel real. My family feels real. Blaine feels real, and my friendships with Rachel, Mercedes, Tina... it all feels real."
"And saving people's lives?"
Kurt swallowed, and remembered two frightened mutant women. "That feels... really real."
"So what's your big life plan?" Sue asked. She imbued every word with derision, preemptively mocking the sort of dreams Kurt Hummel typically clung to.
"I still want to live in the city. I want the big apartment, the parties, the champagne." As Sue began to look away in what might be disgust or even disappointment, Kurt hesitantly continued, "But... but Sam stopped by to tell me about someone. The Wasp? She has all of that and she—"
"Saves lives," Sue agreed.
And that sounded pretty much perfect. Her own fashion line, her own grand apartment, and people who owed their lives to her existence. Seriously, it was perfect.
It just wasn't what he'd said his life would be.
Seeing his indecision, Sue leaned over to unzip her bag. "I brought something for you."
"You did?" Kurt asked and tried to refocus. What could Sue Sylvester possibly bring for him? Would it hurt? It would probably hurt.
"The reason I thought you'd be the best match was partially due to your powers," Sue said. "Quinn also has the personality for this, but people with powers like hers are typically put in technicolor spandex and shoved out in public. Yours match the S.H.I.E.L.D. mission, just like Mister Sulu's. But inside, he's not cut from the right cloth."
"Meaning?" Kurt asked. He wasn't sure what it meant to have the right personality for S.H.I.E.L.D.
"You're strong on your own when you need to be," Sue added. A dark cast moved across her eyes, and she added, "That's important for people at the top."
No wonder she'd taken a mission that would put her near her sister, Kurt thought, and watched her quietly retrieve two leather sheaths from her bag. "This was part of my standard gear, but I hate edged melee. I'm an expert, of course, but it's not my style. Give me a Glock any day of the week." Seeing his hesitance, Sue extended her arm and gave him the two swords. "Take them."
"Wait, you're giving these to me?" Kurt asked in utter shock.
"I never use them and they're a hell of a sight better than those ren faire rejects you had in the videos." Sue shrugged. "Yeah, take them."
They gave the impression of being incredibly well-made and expensive. Kurt set one down on the couch almost reverently, then drew the other from its sheath. The metal of the sword gleamed like platinum, and when he tapped a fingernail against it, it sounded as hard as ceramic. He wondered what they were made of. "These are for me?" he asked again in disbelief. They didn't just look dangerous, they were beautiful.
"For the last time, yes. They were just cluttering up my house. Take them and shut up."
"I don't know how to use a... katana?" Kurt ventured, looking at the blade with a slight curve.
"Wakizashi," Sue corrected. "Shorter. Nice length to strap to your back. And yes, you do. Your powers include weapons mastery, annoyingly. You'll be decent with pretty much anything you pick up, and will be good with far less training than's fair." She gave him a bit to stare in wonder at the sword, which really was more like art than just some simple weapon. "So. You can either hang them up on your eventual wall as a charming piece of cultural appropriation before you go back to discussing how this season's runway models are heifers who need to stop eating those extra raisins... or you can use them. Up to you."
"But we're not supposed to use our powers," Kurt said. It was the perfect way to dodge the issue.
Sue smirked at him. "You know perfectly well that won't last forever, Porcelain. Go try cutting up a tomato. They're better than a Ginsu."
She let herself out.
"Dude," Finn said when he came to join Kurt, having heard the closing door. "She gave you something? That's not fair, she didn't give me anything. Those are awesome swords. Are you really going to use them?"
Kurt stared at where the two sheaths were resting in an X across his knees. Was he really going to use them, he repeated as his fingertips traced down the long leather length of one blade's cover. "I don't know."
"Again?" Kurt asked when Rachel walked through their front door the next morning.
"I wanted to see my boyfriend and best friend," Rachel said as Carole turned locks behind her. "What's wrong with that?"
"Besides the fact that you can?" Kurt answered morosely, then boggled when she pulled out a cell phone. "You are kidding me. Is this what being the daughter of two agents gets you?"
"Hi," Rachel said when Finn walked in, and kissed him. But then she went right back to looking at her phone and sighing. "There's only one unlocked number on this, so don't be jealous. I've been putting off the call."
"To who?" Finn asked. They both looked at him; he tapped the side of his head and grinned. "I'm not looking at your brain."
She smiled, a weak flash. "Well, Sue did get Jacob's Facebook page about us taken down."
"And?" Kurt prompted. That clearly wasn't the end of the story.
"He's apparently still insistent about getting the message out for me," Rachel said sheepishly. "A man with a mission. I probably shouldn't have signed my email 'love.'"
"Ew, Rachel," Finn said.
"I'm sorry! I didn't think he'd go this far. Now he has his own website for us, it's hosted in another country, and he's not in control any more. Ownership keeps rotating between some people he apparently met who hate 'government censorship' and aren't big fans of Facebook, either." At their questioning looks, Rachel shrugged. "I'm not sure, my dad just said they were anonymous. They're really hoping I can rein things in."
Kurt shot Finn a look as Rachel reluctantly dialed. Bet we don't want to know the sort of personal information he's been spreading. Finn didn't look worried, so Kurt added, You realize he wants her, and so is probably painting her boyfriend as increasingly awful the longer this goes on.
Finn grimaced and listened in to the conversation that had started up without them.
"But can't you just tell them to delete it?" Rachel asked. "I know you don't know the other people personally, but this is a big deal. I don't care if they just think it's funny to defy the government! It's not a joke. We could be in danger. There's something going on and we really shouldn't have all that information about our powers and... no, the government is not standing over my shoulder right now, Jacob. Kurt is. No, 'Kurt' is not a code word for anything, I'm actually talking about him. He looks annoyed."
"Take down any gross comments," Kurt said loudly. "You owe us that much, Ben Israel."
Rachel's fist clenched at whatever Jacob said next. "Jacob, stop. Jacob! We are not being coerced into... I don't care if those other people are having fun with running the site, stop them!" She looked dismayed. "How did they even find that mattress commercial? Look. Enough is enough. If you don't take that site down, I swear I will hate you forever. My last moment on earth will be to curse your name." Her expression flattened further. "No. It's not romantic that I'd be thinking of you then. Just do it!" she finished, and hung up.
"That went great," Finn said.
After allowing herself one long groan, Rachel's expression brightened. "Let's be fair," she said. "We were already on the news. How much worse will this really be?"
Though Finn seemed convinced, Kurt folded his arms and said, "Well, let's see. Before, we were just presented as the latest teen group to try their hand at heroics. Now, in case anyone creepy was wondering if we were the right teen group they wanted? They know the government is trying to hide us." His words clearly dismayed Rachel, and Kurt decided to pull back just a bit. "Look... Jacob went overboard. You asked him to stop and he ignored you. So now, when Coach Sylvester applies the thumbscrews to get him to really talk, it'll be all his fault."
She managed to laugh. "He is a bit of a loose cannon."
"Exactly," Kurt said, and then waved them up the stairs. "Now: mingle, because you just gave me precedent." Without further explanation, he chased down Carole. "Hi!" Kurt said hopefully. "Rachel just got to call someone on the phone, and I wanted to see if I could, too." Before she could argue, he said, "It's nearly a week since that meeting, and I haven't even been able to talk to him. Please?"
"I suppose a phone call won't hurt," Carole finally said. "Use the one in the kitchen and stay in there. I won't listen in, but if Sue finds out I can say I had everything under control."
He hugged her. "Thank you, thank you, I've been losing my mind." Hurrying in before she could withdraw permission, he grabbed the phone and punched in Blaine's number so forcefully that it felt like he might break the buttons. "Yes, it's really me," he said when Blaine excitedly asked if the caller ID was accurate. "I got permission to call. Say something, I miss your voice."
"You have to say something, I miss your voice," Blaine said right back, and they laughed over their impasse. "What have you been doing?"
"Just hanging around the house," Kurt said. They both started bringing up any minutia that was even remotely notable. As they talked, Kurt picked up the sword he'd absent-mindedly started carrying. Some corner of his mind had wanted to get a feel for what it felt like to bear that weight. He palmed the slick leather, passed it from hand to hand, and then finally attached it to his belt so he'd stop distracting himself. "How much do your parents hate me?"
"They have a problem," Blaine reluctantly said. "But I did hear my dad say that he was glad someone stopped those men in Columbus, so I really think they can get over it. And Mom called you a hero."
Kurt grinned. "Really?" That word had to be a good thing.
"Mmmhmm. In the context of thinking it was very strange that I was dating one, but I still heard the term. They wanted to know everything you could do. I mentioned the swords and the illusions. I skipped the flexibility."
"Blaine," Kurt giggled into the phone. "You need to stop acting like it's so dirty."
"You knew exactly what you were doing when you showed me that move." Blaine's pitch dropped a bit, which made Kurt wish he had a phone cord to twirl coquettishly around his finger. "You must have ideas."
"I... someone might be listening in, we should change topics," Kurt said as his face flushed hot. "Any headway on them thinking I'm an insurance risk?"
"Not yet," Blaine said. "But if they're calling you a hero, there's hope."
"I guess that's true." Leaning against the wall, Kurt found it surprisingly easy to accept the rare positives in his life. Hearing his boyfriend's voice after so long bolstered his spirits like nothing else. "It's funny, actually. Coach Sylvester came by with insults, but then she sort of... complimented me. If I develop a case of whiplash, I'm blaming her."
"I didn't know she was capable of offering compliments, from how you've described her," Blaine said with good humor. "At least that's something good. What did she say?"
"It was completely ridiculous, actually. She thought I'd be a good match for joining S.H.I.E.L.D." He waited to hear hearty laughter on the line. When Blaine didn't offer any, Kurt picked up the slack. The sound was as flimsy as a cheap windchime.
The second he went silent again Blaine asked, "You told her no, right?"
"I... mostly. She's intimidating! She talked about flamethrowers."
"See?" Blaine pointed out, very reasonably. "Just remember that S.H.I.E.L.D. means Sue Sylvester with a flamethrower, and lying to you about your past. That doesn't sound very fun to me."
"Living a charmingly bohemian lifestyle until we get a big break and become famous and successful sounds fun," Kurt agreed, reciting one of the sillier paths they'd discussed in their grand plans about the future. "And arguing over a cat."
"As I've said before, Siamese are incredibly personable and clean. I had one when I was younger and you would have loved her, Kurt."
"The only cat I would ever consider are those evil-looking hairless ones," Kurt said. "And they, well, look evil." The easy banter put a smile on his face, but it dropped off as something bubbled up through his mind. Kurt found himself unable to hold back his next words. "Rachel's dads are both S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and so was Carole. They're all nice." He could imagine Blaine's disappointed expression. The silence was more telling than a sigh. "Would it really be so bad?"
"Kurt—"
"You're supposed to figure out your path in high school," Kurt said defensively. "People go through lots of interests. I love fashion, performing, and... and possibly weapons. I'm good. I might be able to be great. And I could help people!" He pictured Sam giving him a goofy thumbs-up and tried his best to focus.
"I thought you were going to die!" Blaine said, voice anguished, and Kurt stopped arguing. "Tina was keeping me in that van when I wanted to come help you. But she was right: even if I had gotten out, I couldn't have done anything. You could have been killed and I wouldn't have been able to lift a finger to stop them. Why would you want to...." He sounded almost ready to cry when he spoke next. Kurt found himself tearing up, too. "Just listening to you in danger nearly drove me out of my mind. I haven't been able to talk to you in nearly a week and you call to tell me you really want to get yourself killed? You're so talented at so many other things. Why this?"
"I...." Kurt trailed off, uselessly.
"They can get other agents to carry out whatever mission comes up. You can't be replaced. Please," Blaine said, and it sounded like he'd finally lost the battle against his tears. "At least think about that. Think about how you'd feel if someone were coming for my life and you could only watch. Weigh that against what we talked about together."
Kurt leaned against the wall. As he didn't yet trust his voice, he didn't reply. Blaine continued, "I don't care if you're not from Ohio. I don't care what your last name really is, or which of them you want to use. I don't even care if you dated every boy in New York City—"
"I haven't," Kurt said quickly. At least he knew that much. "Finn looked at my memories."
"But I wouldn't care," Blaine said. "Because I know you now, and I am madly in love with that boy. I don't want to lose him to some thug with something to prove, and have nothing more left than a folded flag and a medal."
The phrasing put him in mind of Christopher Hudson before Kurt remembered that such a man had never existed. Nor had his supposed birth mother, but his and Finn's pain had been very real. He would never want to put someone through pain like he'd felt. Kurt allowed himself a wave of it to serve of a reminder of just what he'd be doing to Blaine. That was what it had felt like when he went to his mother's funeral. He let the memory, false though it was, linger and dig in. That was what it had felt like to see her as a corpse. And that was what it had felt like when the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. told him his parents were dead.
Kurt froze. What? There was a large man with an eyepatch, holding photographs in his hands. Photographs that would show a man and a woman who.... "Blaine, I... I think I need to go."
"Are they making you get off?" Blaine asked regretfully.
"No, I'll call you later, and I... I just... I need to talk to Finn. I think I'm finally remembering my parents," Kurt said in shock.
Thankfully, Blaine didn't argue for a second. "Go. I'll want to hear everything, but until then, I love you and goodbye."
"Bye," Kurt said distantly and hung up without realizing he should have added an 'I love you' of his own. His mother had dark hair and eyes paler than his. Her name was Margaret, which she always hated until she heard her young son add, "Like the princess!" Kurt kept trying to get her to wear different clothes, just as he'd made over Carole, but she thought it would be a silly waste of money when she wore a lab coat all day.
He wobbled. Had he blocked them on purpose, or had someone else put extra shields around his family? Other memories had come back so much more smoothly, and now it felt as if a dam had burst. Margaret had loved him dearly, but never played favorites. She loved Finn just as much. Still, she wound up spending more time around Kurt, because—
His hand splayed against the wall as a fresh wave of dizziness nearly knocked him over. Luke. Luke Hutton, with his coppery hair and dark brown eyes. A broad smile, terrible jokes, and unbearable awkwardness when... when....
A headache started pounding between Kurt's eyes. It felt almost like his old illusion headaches, but it came entirely from trying to make sense of what he was remembering. "I have to talk to Finn," he muttered and scrambled upstairs. What he was remembering didn't make any sense: Luke had always been awkward when Kurt's boyfriend came over.
But Finn had looked at his memories and said that Kurt didn't have a boyfriend in New York. Had someone locked that away, and Finn had missed it? Or had someone altered his memories since then? Or, Kurt wondered for an even more unpleasant final option, had Finn lied? "Hey," he said shakily when he pushed Finn's door open. Rachel pulled away from Finn, blushing, but he ignored her. "I need to ask you something."
"Knock next time," Finn muttered, and tried to point subtly at Rachel.
"Did you lie to me about whether I'd had a boyfriend in New York?" Kurt asked, his voice close to cracking.
As Finn stammered, Rachel turned and looked at him in shock. "Finn?"
"Why would you think I'd lied to you?" Finn asked and laughed nervously.
"Because I remember Dad and he didn't like my boyfriend," Kurt said. With each word he said, he was more confident in his recollection. "I did. I had a boyfriend, Finn. These aren't just dreams, they're memories." He rounded on Rachel. "Try to remember. Can you picture me when I was younger?"
She focused on Kurt. Finn tried to speak over them, but they ignored him. "I... all right, I'm picturing your old hair style. You're younger, and shorter, and... and I can see you in a classroom I've never been in before," Rachel said, nodding. "Although I suppose I have been in it."
"Guys!" Finn said urgently.
"He was taller than me," Kurt said. "And just... just bigger."
"Double dates," Rachel said, and Kurt gasped and pointed at her. Yes, she was right: she and Finn had gone on countless dates with Kurt and... and.... Her hand covered her mouth, and her eyes grew very large. "What I'm remembering doesn't make any sense," Rachel said.
"Oh," Kurt said in a tiny, frightened voice as he remembered bulky arms encircling him. Hazel eyes fluttering closed. A strong hand threading through his hair, and a horrifyingly familiar voice whispering against his ear. "Oh no. No, no, no. This is impossible," he said as he remembered Puck—Puck—trailing his mouth down Kurt's arched throat. "This is... why?" he asked Finn.
"You can't remember him, okay!" Finn said helplessly. "You're happy, I didn't want him to ruin it! He ruins things!"
"You lied to him about what was in his own head?" Rachel asked. "Finn, that's incredibly wrong! You don't get to make that decision for anyone."
As the two of them began to argue over the ethics of telepathy, Kurt found himself staring blankly at the far wall. Noah Puckerman had been his first boyfriend? Puck, who he knew for a fact was straight? Who, oh god, he'd assured Blaine was straight and certainly not interested in him? He'd just told Blaine that he was Kurt's first, and that had been a lie?
He remembered a warm smile at the end of a hard class. Puck was smarter than he gave himself credit for, at least when he tried.
He'd stepped in when someone began to press Kurt on the subway. Especially when he was younger, Kurt looked like an easy target. Puck didn't, though, and Finn wasn't always around.
It was easier to find privacy at Puck's. First Puck peeled off his shirt, and then Kurt's, as the two of them—
"No," Kurt almost sobbed. No, he couldn't have lost that. "No." His anguished cry had interrupted Finn and Rachel's argument, and both turned to him. "I...." he began, but had no idea what to say next. His mind was filled with horrifyingly pleasurable memories, but the worst part was his heart. It wasn't just sex. He had been madly and totally in love with Puck.
As the physical memories ran through Kurt's mind, Finn went very pale. A thin layer of sweat beaded his top lip and he looked ill. But it was nothing compared to the horror on his face when Kurt remembered being in love. "You can't!" Finn shouted, and just for an instant his eyes glowed purple vibrant enough to match any neon sign.
They faded. With them, so did Kurt's unearthed memories about love. He knew that he had dated Puck, and that he'd loved him and even lost his virginity to him, but it could have happened to someone else. It was like reading a fact in a textbook. "What the hell did you just do?" he snarled.
"I...." Finn hesitantly reached up and rubbed his temple with his fingertips. "I don't know."
"Finn?" Rachel asked.
"I don't know!" Finn said, turning to her to plead his case. "His brain is the easiest for me to look into, and I just... I just put up walls without knowing what I was doing, and—"
"You did another memory block on Kurt," Rachel said in horror. "Finn!"
He had to get out of there, Kurt thought as he tried to fight back hysterical sobs. He knew that as certainly as he'd known it on the night he fled from Burt. Leaving behind an illusion of himself as they argued, he unsheathed the sword at his hip and sliced open the screen in Finn's window. An alarm started blaring. It took them a few precious seconds to realize what was happening, and Kurt already knew that he could run across the roof, leap for that sturdy branch, and land safely on the grass. Even in his daze, he didn't stumble once on his way to the street.
A Winnebago drove by. Kurt, secure in his agility and utterly single-minded in his focus, grabbed its ladder. He knew they'd be looking for him, and that they could see him if they looked through a video camera, but he planned to move quickly.
There was someone he needed to talk to.
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Welp.
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Also omg your icon. :(
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My assumption is that Kurt's going to go talk to Puck but I'm not sure how well that'll go over since Puck hasn't uncovered much in the way of memories yet.
Sam remains adorable and perfectly in character. He would be bitter about not having powers and desperate to turn himself into the next Clint Barton or Kate Bishop. I find it fascinating though that Kurt could sit there and tell Sam "No, you will end up dead" but didn't immediately grasp why Blaine was so upset about him potentially working for SHIELD when Blaine had the exact same fears. You never think it'll happen to you, even when you logically KNOW it could. Kurt's had a multitude of near-death experiences now and it still apparently threw him when Blaine expressed his worries. Poor boys.
I'm actually a little disappointed in Sue for trying to encourage Kurt. I mean, I know it's Sue and I know that SHIELD really are good guys who are out to save lives but it's still really jarring to hear her trying to convince Kurt to put his life on the line. I don't disagree with her that Kurt would be good at it, but it feels like an army recruiter going after the saddest, loneliest kids and trying to get them to take the most dangerous jobs. I'm just side eyeing Sue really hard right now. And I bet Burt and Carole would have angry things to say about it.
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You never think it'll happen to you, even when you logically KNOW it could.
Absolutely, and add in a healthy dose of typical teenage invincibility and mingled subconscious/conscious knowledge that they've already done this for six months and got out of some tricky situations. Kurt says he doesn't want to do this because he wants the fancy lifestyle, but even when he said he doesn't want to die at nineteen (or whenever) chapters and chapters ago, he wasn't really committed to it. It wouldn't happen. But they were convinced those mutant women would actually get hurt, etc.
Sue absolutely sees potential in him, and Carole (with the memory of her dead husband's corpse on her chest) will absolutely not be happy about it. :)
(
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Okay. Welp.
First off: Jacob as a part of 4chan (or what I assume is 4chan)- hilarious. It's also smart in-universe since that's probably the greatest force the internet has to offer against any government of the world.
Next, SAAAAAAMMMMMMM. Of course he does the worksheets that no one else bothers to do. Of course he wants to be a superhero like batman but still thinks about the possibility of having all of the superowers. Of course he's the one who has to plant the seed of heroics in their brain. Because this is all of Sam's dreams come true (until he inevitably dies because I honestly cannot fathom how the plucky kid who wants to be a superhero and gives motivational speeches can ever live to the end in a superhero verse no matter how sad that might make me... Unless someone else close to him dies like Mercedes and he vows to avenge her).
I am soooooo glad that you averted the All Swords Are Katanas trope and did not give Kurt two katanas because, yeah, that definitely would not be feasible for when Kurt wants to be acrobatic stunts because they are long. Not anywhere near the longest sword, but I'm pretty sure this verse is not supposed to be run on the Rule of Cool (... Most of the time).
(Okay, I need to drop tvtropes speak before I accidentally venture over there and then I'll never come back and finish this review *sigh*)
I'm glad that Sue pointed out one of the fatal flaws in illusions. It really puts into perspective how Kurt should make sure he is adequate enough with his secondary powers such as the weapon handling just in case there are people fighting against him with cameras, electronics, mirrors, etc. It also makes me wonder, since I'm not familiar with the Marvel verse, what happens when two people with psychic powers use against each other (do they cancel each other out?). I mean, this might not ever be addressed in your fic, but it still makes the hamster wheels in my brain turn.
Anyway, I also like the contrast of Sam/Sue/Blaine about Kurt's future in maybe-heroics. What I liked the most about that is that it was all done in one chapter and not spread out, so it's easier for the reader to feel the almost push/pull effect between what Kurt will do in the future and basically his internal struggle.
Also, okay, I'm a total Kurtsie, so seeing Kurt in pain or conflicted or anything really is sort of painful for me as well (but putting him through that in my own fic or art? Nooooo problemo). So, how you depicted him struggling at the end really spoke to me (Punched me in the face emotionally, more like, but yeah).
Pairing wise, but: It's weird, reading the comments last chapter that other people left, but I feel sort of alone in that I started this fic off wanting Puck and Kurt to be reunited and ~rekindle~ their love (Because being a Kurtsie somehow made my brain also like any [or all at the same time *cough*] ND-boy/Kurt pairing combination my favorite ships), but the more chapters that are released and information is revealed, the more I don't want that to happen. *shrug* I just thought I would put that out there.
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And if they were a hostile army or something, they could send in troops and agents! But a metaphorical army of smirking keyboard warriors is just annoying for Colonel Nick Fury, BAMF.
until he inevitably dies because I honestly cannot fathom how the plucky kid who wants to be a superhero and gives motivational speeches can ever live to the end in a superhero verse no matter how sad that might make me
Sometimes the plucky kid hanging around heroes can be Jimmy Olsen! :D ...and sometimes he's Bucky Barnes.
Which will you be, Samuel. WHICH.
I am soooooo glad that you averted the All Swords Are Katanas trope and did not give Kurt two katanas because, yeah, that definitely would not be feasible for when Kurt wants to be acrobatic stunts because they are long
Acrobatics with two katanas in hand is a HILARIOUS image. And I may have done a lot of trope reading before this fic began to pick out which ones I wanted to avert, subvert, or play totally straight. :x
Thanks for reading! :D
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Okay. Wow. This chapter is my new favorite. I want to ramble at length about all the funny moments and all the thought-provoking new info, but I can barely string thoughts together at the moment. So... just... Hilarious board game banter! Sam did the worksheets! Exxon Valdez spill joke! Sue sees something special in Kurt, and she gave him kickass weapons! Kurt's conflicting feelings about his future! But mostly: OH MY GOD THE MEMORIIIEEES. And also: WHAT THE FUCK, FINN? IT WAS BAD ENOUGH THAT YOU LIED, BUT NOW YOU'RE ACTUALLY MESSING WITH HIS HEAD WHATTHEFUCKWHATTHEFUCKWHATTHEFUCK. EVEN THOUGH YOU DIDN'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU WERE DOING THAT IS SO FAR OVER THE LINE, I'M COMPLETELY HORRIFIED. Uggghhhh NO.
But, oh man, Kurt's reaction was so heartbreaking and perfect. The confusion and the panic and the flood of emotion. I sort of stopped breathing through that whole section. And then his ninja escape from the house yesyesyes. Fantastic.
I really don't know how I'm going to handle Kurt and Puck talking about this. I've been preparing myself for it for MONTHS, and yet I'm TOTALLY EMOTIONALLY UNPREPARED. I'm imagining different ways that confrontation could go, and omg those scenarios are going to drive me nuts for the next week. (Assuming that it will happen next week, if Puck is the one Kurt is running off to talk to.)
This story, Miggy. This fucking story. It's killing me.
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What bothered me most was that it seemed like a desperate attempt on Finn's part to maintain the integrity of the decisions he had previously made about Kurt's life -- which he doesn't understand he had NO RIGHT to make -- and the fact that he yelled "You can't!" right before it happened disturbed me, because it reinforced my feeling that his subconscious intent was to control Kurt. Rationally I know that Finn didn't consciously intend to do it, and he's genuinely concerned for Kurt, and that makes what he did forgivable, but in the moment I could only scream NO WHY NOOO THAT IS NOT OKAY NO WHHHYYY.
Oh man. I just hope he figures out soon that Kurt can be strong on his own (like Sue pointed out), and that he doesn't need Finn to have his back all the time, no matter how much Finn wants to make up (in his own misguided ways) for being an absent brother. And I really hope Finn gets himself caught up on psychic ethics. LOL.
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As always, I love your reactions. <3
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How do you do it
I'd probably be biting my nails right now if I wasn't trying to kick the habit.
(Also goddamn why do I want to see Kurt in S.H.I.E.L.D. so badly now? I get Blaine's fears, but...he would kick all kinds of ass.)
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Thanks for reading!
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But most importantly....FINN. Finn WHAT THE FUCK MAN? I understand he freaked, but /dude/ you do not fuck with people's heads no matter how much it freaks you out. /Especially/ your brother.
And Kurt! When he got his memories...that was so /painful/. I didn't think it could be worse than what I expected, but wow that was painful. And I have to say, I really, really want the Puckurt or at least them being friends. And I want someone to give Finn a smackdown talking to about telepathy and privacy and ethics.
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And he certainly didn't make Puck look trustworthy with that stunt of his, on top of the inherent violation of what he did....
Thanks for reading! :)
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In a good way, of course.
For the most part, I just want to weep that I have to wait another week to see what happens next. Argh! You're killing me with the suspense. That cliffhanger is just sadistic. After so many action-light and contemplative chapters, it's really great to see exciting things happening again.
That last scene between Kurt and Finn was intense and I'll spend the majority of this feedback gushing about it. I feel like I should be commenting about Kurt's interactions with Sam, Sue and Blaine (all of which are great and showed us Kurt's inner conflict over the whole superhero role, though it would seem that whatever heroics he'll end up doing as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent would be done in stealth and never be made public). However, the last scene had taken over my brain and I can't think of anything else to say about the other scenes.
Maybe it's because of the kid inside me, but I get excited seeing how the characters discover more ways to utilize their powers. Finn has the tendency to do that during times of extreme stress, as evidenced by his discovery of telekinesis previously and now... this. What Finn did was something more subtle than a memory block, because Kurt obviously still remembers his love for Puck, but the emotional intensity of it had been toned down to the extent that it became mere factual information that totally lacked the passion it entailed. Finn could actually erase or diminish the bonds of love or friendship between people, and that's quite a horrific power to have.
Hmm. I wonder whether Finn might have done Kurt a favour in this instance. Kurt's rightful outrage over Finn's betrayal of trust aside, I imagine that if Kurt had to confront Puck with the full intensity of their shared past memories, he would be swept away by it all. He's strong but probably not strong enough, or prepared enough, for such a confrontation. At least now, thanks to Finn's handiwork, he could actually be in more control of himself, and maybe Puck would end up being the one to lose control. If Puck was having to hold himself in check when it had been only inexplicable desire and possessiveness that he felt towards Kurt, I can't imagine how intense things would become when Puck's memories of love return.
And to add more complications to the whole mess, there's Blaine and Lauren to consider.
I love drama, so very much :)
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Finn could actually erase or diminish the bonds of love or friendship between people, and that's quite a horrific power to have.
It so is. I ran a Marvel-based RPG (hence the rulesheets) and the time-manipulator and heavy-duty telepath were constantly faced with huge moral dilemmas, while the tank/assassin/etc. dealt with comparatively straightforward plots.
And clearly, if you're going to hand out one of the creepiest and most dangerous powers around, you want to give it to FINN HUDSON. :D
Thanks for reading!
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"No," Kurt almost sobbed. No, he couldn't have lost that. "No." That really got to me, as well as the worst part was his heart. I can only imagine what it is like to suddenly and unwillingly have this intense love for someone you'd don't particularly like dumped on you.
Yes, Finn just made things worse, but I can totally sympathize with why he did it. Actually, my facepalm "Finn, you idiot" moment was "I... don't know," Finn said. He sounded startled at being asked. "Everyone else was doing it."
This whole evolution of Kurt's thoughts this chapter about where he wants to go from here, and the different types of conversations he got about it with Sam, Sue, and Blaine were really interesting. And I kind of agree with Sue's assessment--Kurt's tightly strung enough that I could kinda see him doing a fast-paced, high-stress, high-reword job like S.H.I.E.L.D. I love Blaine and Kurt, honestly think Blaine is the better, more rational influence for him, and would hate to see Blaine get hurt (emotionally or physically, yes I'm looking at you ;-)), but if Kurt honestly wants to and/or gets pushed to go in that direction with his life then I do think that Puck might be a better fit for him if he finds that he can still love Puck after all the shit in Lima. Things change in life and needing to move on from something good will never not be sad but necessary. But oh my Klaine creys if that were to come to be.
Speaking of Klaine:
"Thank you, thank you, I've been losing my mind." Yeah, Kurt, I noticed, LOL. Throughout the ENTIRE chapter. I think it would have soon gotten to the point where Finn and Rachel would have desperately pooled their allowance money to bribe someone to give Kurt some time with Blaine. I'm still really loving the voice of reason that Blaine is bringing to it all because Kurt needs to hear both sides of the argument, and I'm glad that he made an impression on Kurt with regard to reminding him how it feels to lose someone.
"Well, let's see. Before, we were just presented as the latest teen group to try their hand at heroics. Now, in case anyone creepy was wondering if we were the right teen group they wanted? They know the government is trying to hide us." I have to say I don't really understand this. Wouldn't anyone have realized the government was trying to hide them once the media coverage was tamped down on?
Other awesome parts:
"You're the captain, right?" Rachel nodded. Finn pointed to himself, too.
Sam doing all of Rachel's exercises, bwahaha. How could they deny him after that?
"Please? Come on. I want to be an Awesome." He smiled at Finn. "Which is a great name, co-captain."
OMG, Sam, could you be sucking up any harder? I see that Kurt agrees with me. *grin*
"Your house is next on my list. Is your brother available or is he busy carrying Fay Wray up the Empire State Building?"
"What's the difference?" Kurt asked in open confusion. "The second involves a flamethrower."
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And yet he just assumes he'll be co-captain. ;) This probably means he'll need to step up and prove his trustworthiness and worth in the near future....
And I kind of agree with Sue's assessment--Kurt's tightly strung enough that I could kinda see him doing a fast-paced, high-stress, high-reword job like S.H.I.E.L.D. I love Blaine and Kurt, honestly think Blaine is the better, more rational influence for him, and would hate to see Blaine get hurt (emotionally or physically, yes I'm looking at you ;-)), but if Kurt honestly wants to and/or gets pushed to go in that direction with his life then I do think that Puck might be a better fit for him if he finds that he can still love Puck after all the shit in Lima.
I mentioned to someone above that Blaine is a total voice of reason in this story, which can be lacking when everyone is busy throwing around fireballs and dodging cars. :) And yet, like you point out, he might not necessarily be the best match for one potential path in Kurt's life, even if he was a great match for what they discussed before. Meanwhile, Puck is... Puck. With all that entails. So YAY that is what I was going for and I'm glad it came across. :)
I have to say I don't really understand this. Wouldn't anyone have realized the government was trying to hide them once the media coverage was tamped down on?
From the outside, a new group got attention and then the media moved on to new stories, as is typical with the short attention span of the news. It might be suspicious, but not a confirmation; government involvement is a confirmation. This will be expanded upon soon.
Thanks as always for reading :)
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Oh, Finn. And Rachel had just tried to talk about mind-reading ethics with you! Maybe you should have done the worksheets.
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ALWAYS LISTEN TO RACHEL, FINN.
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(Edited because I felt like using this icon.)
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Him or Santana, pretty much.
:3
Thanks again for reading!
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Kill Finn! It'll be tragic!
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Omg can you imagine.
"Finn! You ate a star!"
"I was hungry! Those hotdogs Mom makes only fill a guy up so much."
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There's a lot of cackling involved.
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"It tasted like a really big cheese puff. ...Now I'm hungry again."
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I'm realizing that I never posted Santana's powerset, so I can do that, at least. A problem I run into with Kurt, Finn, and Sue's dossiers is that Sue's is obviously spoilery, and Kurt and Finn's reveals their shared last name. AND I can't post photosets behind cuts. When I know that people are waiting until the story is finished before they begin reading, and that I'd be undercutting some pretty big reveals, I keep waffling on posting them just yet. But they WILL go up eventually.
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Everything about this chapter was great, from the playing Trivial Pursuit to Kurt's sudden, painful remembrance of his dead parents and his past with Puck. Finding out just one or the other would be devastating enough, but he remembered both at once. No wonder he's so heartbroken and overwhelmed at the end, even without the added betrayal of Finn lying to him on top of that. Poor Kurt. He really needs a hug. =( I'm very anxious for the next chapter, to see who he's going to talk to; whether it be Puck, or someone else.
I still really love Finn though, and he didn't mean to memory block him, even though the fact remains that he did and that was awful. It helps that I love him and Kurt as characters and really love them as brothers though, so I'm quick to forgive (especially since canon!Glee refuses to give me the Furt moments that I want =p)....and now I wonder what Finn's reaction to remembering their parents will be, and what other latent abilities he has yet to uncover (which in turn makes me wonder if Kurt, too, has even more of them that we're unaware of).
I absolutely adore Sam! He's so enthusiastic and nerdy but that's what makes him loveable. But now I'm afraid he's going to die at some point. Someone that nice is just bound to die. I also loved the scene with Sue, and how you yet again answer questions about canon!Glee flawlessly within your Marvel crossover universe in a way that makes complete sense.
I'm sorry for not commenting until now. I'll try to from now on, especially if your hint that you dropped on your tumblr about writing even more stories in this Marvel/Glee universe comes to pass. I'd love to read them all!!! *_* This is just the beginning - how amazing and dramatic could things get later, when they actually have a better grasp on the depths of their powers and even more difficult enemies to face? Knowing you, whatever's coming next means more torture for Kurt; as a huge Kurtsie that should bother me, but...I love angst, and he angsts so well. =p
So excited for the next chapter! =D
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Thanks so much for commenting now, and I hope you enjoy the chapters in the tail end of the story. :)
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Sam. Sam. SAM SAM SAM. I love you. You are amazing, and possibly my favorite. I felt so bad when Finn, Kurt and Rachel shot him down. He's going to make a great SHIELD agent someday
if you don't kill him first. Please don't kill himRachel. Oh Rachel. You are wonderful, but have a lot of growing up to do.
Finn. Finn. What are we going to do with you??? I can't believe he blocked Kurt's memories. I hope it doesn't last.
SUE. SUE IS WONDERFUL. Also, that whole scene with Kurt and Sue is my favorite.
And Blaine. I don't like canon!Blaine. I don't like fanon!Blaine. But I can't help but like him here. He's so...normal. And he loves Kurt. But I have a bad feeling he's going to be collateral damage so I'm trying not to get too attached.
And finally, Kurt. OH KURT. Heartbreaking and so real, and he's struggling with what he thinks he wants and what he might really want, and does he really want either of them. It's so real. And now he remembers Puck and just. *HANDS FLAIL*
I am so glad there's another chapter to read. :-D
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(He does have that whiff about him, doesn't he?)
And Blaine. I don't like canon!Blaine. I don't like fanon!Blaine. But I can't help but like him here. He's so...normal. And he loves Kurt. But I have a bad feeling he's going to be collateral damage so I'm trying not to get too attached.
Ha! I'll admit that I'm not a Blaine fan, but then, that applies to a chunk of the characters appearing here. I figure it's just a writerly challenge to put them to good use and not deny their strengths and weaknesses. (He can be good at understanding Kurt and giving advice, but can also be self-centered and patronizing, etc. etc. Everyone's got their strengths and weaknesses. EVEN BURT.)
Thanks for reading. :)
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I just want to reach through the screen and give Sam a big old hug. How can they refuse him when he's so adorable and geeky? He even did Rachel's worksheets! What does that display if not superhuman powers? (Seriously, though, Sam is made for this verse. He's so perfect it's uncanny.)
As for the Puck reveal (sidetrack: I smiled a little to see Kurt talking about a "reveal". Does anyone use that when not talking about TV shows?), that came a lot quicker than I intended to. Nice to see Finn called out on his (mostly unintentional, to be fair) high-handedness.
On a completely shallow note, as someone who adores Trivial Pursuit, plays with a very out-of-date set and can never get the orange questions, I loved the first little bit.
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Hee, I figure if you've been anywhere near that setup, you know exactly what that moment feels like.
Seriously, though, Sam is made for this verse.
For sure. This is totally why people were pleading with me to give him powers SOMEHOW, even though it made absolutely no sense with the setup. Man, he would wriggle around like a happy little puppy.
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Not only can I not stop laughing when I'm reading her dialogue, but I can hear and picture Jane Lynch speaking every word. You capture Sue fantastically.
I also love the conflicting feelings you're writing here for Kurt. You aren't vilifying Blaine or Puck in order to reach your story goals -- instead, you present the conflicts in a genuine way. I can understand the anguish Blaine feels, being frightened to lose his boyfriend in a violent manner, and at the same time I can understand how complicated it must be for Kurt, to suddenly have a rush of these strong memories and feelings for someone other than Blaine (and it's Puck, of all people, someone he never would have comprehended being with). It's complicated, but I can feel for all 3 guys in this scenario, because you write it with sensitivity (and humor). Thank you for that.
:)