Plurk paste

A scream caught in Kurt's throat, strangled and smothered into a gasp as he watched, helpless, as the sword arched towards Harvey's neck. His powers were drained, barely replenishing, and by far not enough for him to make it there, to pull Harvey out of harm's way.

Not in time.

At his side, Blaine made a desperate attempt to stop Logan's swing, but the energy in his palms fizzled and snapped to non-existence mere feet away. The twins were gone, shoved into the jet the minute they'd known Logan was there, and the rest of their team were as weak and worthless as himself and Blaine.

There was nothing they could do.

But at the last second, Logan jerked back, a bare second before a bonfire of flame erupted before Harvey. Logan's wings barely missed the bright embers sparking angrily from the wall of flame as he retreated, a hand braced before him as if to ward off the heat. His eyes, bright and hot as the flame before him, narrowed, and he looked to the side, to where Julian stood with his hand raised, his face pale and terrified, but resolute.

Kurt looked a split second later, but not before seeing Logan's expression change from confusion to betrayal and rage.

And if he'd not learned of Logan's past, of his old relationship with Harvey, Kurt would have thought he'd imagined that split-second flash of bone-deep relief.

Logan landed on the balls of his feet, then rushed forwards, trying to find a way around the fire. But Julian, holding his side as he leaned weakly against the wall, twisted his fingers, the fire curling around Harvey, keeping the bright flames between the two leaders. He was barely keeping himself up, pale and shaking, and Kurt could see the blood trickling down his neck, no doubt from where Blaine's energy blast knocked him into the wall. Kurt was, in all honesty, surprised he was even conscious - most of those around him had hit just as hard and stayed down.

But he was awake, and though he was obviously barely hanging on, his flames were as bright and large as ever.

Logan must have noticed that he wasn't tiring, as he pivoted seemingly in mid-air and rushed towards Julian, teeth bared in an angry snarl. He twisted his sword in his hands, bracing it across his body in preparation for a side-ways slash, aimed straight at his old friend, and Julian -

Dropped his hand.

A hand slipped into Kurt's, and at the flash of gold in his side-vision, he reached deep into himself, into the well of energy that house his power, and yanked time to a still. The hand in his tightened, and he grinned, exhausted and thrilled, as a clone of Evan landed neatly beside Julian, bundling the brunet in his arms and out of Logan's way.

The clone looked at Logan with sadness, and a yearning that made Kurt's heart ache. He could see the look mirrored in Harvey, the horror and desperation as he reached for Logan, his eyes caught wide and his mouth open in a yell.

And he knew that when he closed his eyes that night, once they were home and Blaine was bundled close, holding him tight, he'd see the expression on Julian's face as he let his hand fall. The exhaustion, the pain, the /love/ that made Kurt's throat close and eyes burn with tears.

Julian looked at Logan like he was the world, the sun, the stars. Like Logan was the glory of the universe laid before him, but Julian didn't know how to reach it.