Chapter Text
Nightbird, Nightbird fly away home
Your house is on fire and your family is gone
All except for one called Sebastian
For he has crept under the frying pan
Blaine jolted awake with a choked exhale, sheets clinging to his sweat-kissed skin as he panted into the darkness surrounding his room.
He convinced himself it was only a dream, and after a few strangled moments, slowly lowered himself back down on his suddenly cold mattress, clutching the thick duvet tightly between his fingers.
But it felt too real to be a dream.
And the song flowed through his veins with such clarity that Blaine was certain someone was just here, singing the song specially tempered with, only for him to hear.
-
Nightbird, Nightbird fly away home
Blaine watched the mayor shake hands with the head curator of the Lima Institute of Science, the sacred vessel back in its place behind the glass container. It looked thicker even from afar and from Nightbird’s view behind the shadows, rightfully so after the incident last month when it had been stolen from the protective arms of the city. It was said to be the most dangerous form of biotic serum, designed to, well, that part was top secret. But Nightbird didn’t need to know the details, all he needed to know was that whatever it was, its security was important enough to keep the whole city safe. It had been his job to find it and bring it back, from the hands of the most terrifying man he had ever had the chance to fight against.
Terra.
Latin for earth, land, ground.
Terra wasn’t merely a person, no one has ever been sure if he was even human, despite having the physical features of such. But only Nightbird was the only one successful enough to have gotten close to him. Too close, in fact. He felt like an ice cold apparition, there but not really, grounded, but swift. It left a hollow feeling somewhere deep inside him being in Terra’s presence. Maybe that was his power, to make you feel cold and empty; alone.
Nightbird shook his head as his cape danced behind him along with the gust of wind, accompanying the celebration beneath him as photographers took pictures of another milestone the city’s nocturnal avenger granted. They were safe once more, and they have him to thank endlessly.
Hazel eyes easily spotted the one he was looking for amongst the crowd, a head of auburn hair snapping non-stop photos from the mini stage set up in front of the audience.
Most importantly, you’re safe.
With a jump from behind the wall of the skyscraper, Nightbird disappeared.
-
Your house is on fire and your family is gone
There was a pounding against his door, far too early for Blaine’s liking, the red bold blare of 8:00 AM visible from his digital clock beside him. He slowly dared to blink an eye open, the blinds tightly closed to protect his eyes from the day’s bright rays, shielding him from his disabled condition.
“Blaine! This is a 911!” Sam hollered from the other side of the door, a fist still working to knock against the wood. Blaine was on his feet in an instant, knowing from the codes and the tone in Sam’s voice that this was red alert emergency. “Blaine, please, bro! BLAINE!”
He rushed past the living room barefoot, racing as fast as he could to let Sam in, the blond releasing a relieved breath the second he opened the door for him. The sight of Sam made his stomach drop, his ribcage painfully coiling around his chest. A telltale sign that he was about to hear some bad news.
“Blaine,” Sam managed, his voice panicked and uneven, pushing past him to turn the TV on, and immediately, Blaine’s entire apartment was flooded with the same familiar tune he had heard that night.
Nightbird, Nightbird fly away home
Your house is on fire and your family is gone
All except for one called Sebastian
For he has crept under the frying pan
“Terra,” Blaine breathed out, his limbs shaking in terror. He didn’t miss the alteration made to the song, all the more reason it sent a violent shiver up his spine.
The nursery rhyme repeated over and over, the same tune rewinding as soon as the four short verses ended, with the screen entirely black. Sam flipped through the channels to show him that it was all the same throughout every station and program available, unable to escape and no place to run.
Terra had taken over it all.
Nightbird, Nightbird fly away home
Your house is on fire and your family is gone
All except for one called Sebastian
For he has crept under the frying pan
Blaine stood unmoving from where he was, the song blurring together into white noise, daggers piercing through every bone in his body. "Where―”
“We don’t know,” Sam answered tightly, walking slowly to his friend, anchoring him in place with two hands gripping either side of Blaine’s arms. “But we’ll find him. We’ll find him, Blaine.”
-
All except for one called Sebastian
“Where is he?!” Santana’s scream nearly busted his eardrums, but he didn’t complain nor did he tell her to stop panicking. She was merely voicing the race of thoughts that have been haunting him for days.
Santana’s fingers shook as she dialed her best friend’s number for the millionth time (without exaggeration). Because it’s been days since anyone had heard from Sebastian Smythe. His name playing on loop non-stop from every channel, every network and every home that owned a TV, computer, radio, any electronic device that could play the sinister song nonstop.
Sebastian was missing and nobody knew where he was.
It was driving Blaine insane.
“I will fucking find that Nightbird myself and kill him!” Santana threatened, swallowing as she tried again, and again, and again, before she finally threw her phone against the wall, the iPhone shattering without difficulty.
Blaine tried. Nightbird tried. As soon as Sam snapped him back to reality, he was donned in the black and blue armor in an instant, flying back and forth, left and right, across town and beyond, anywhere he might find Sebastian, Terra, any sign that he could fix this, find the person he needed to protect the most.
But he failed. And he failed. And he failed.
The villain had obviously hidden much better this time, after being defeated by Nightbird from the serum scandal. A revenge crafted perfectly.
Blaine threw his costume away after three unsuccessful days, crumpled and beaten at the back of his closet. He was Nightbird without any breaks, day-in, and day-out. So he tried as Blaine, filing missing reports, asking the mayor what to do, every police station, every civilian, seeking their help. Everyone was terrified, the city shaking with slight tremor. They knew Terra was doing all of this, and to everyone’s knowledge, he had captured an innocent bystander as ransom for whatever he wanted in return, and each was afraid they’d be next.
But Blaine knew better.
Terra was using Nightbird’s one true inevitable weakness against him.
How he found out, however, was knowledge beyond his access. Blaine had been so careful, separating his personal, normal life from his alter ego. But Terra had somehow cracked his secrets, and was now keeping the most important person in his life away from him.
“He better be okay. Please, let him be okay,” Santana’s broken whispers brought him back, watching Sam pull her into a tight hug just as her knees buckled underneath her from all the worry, concern, fear that somewhere Sebastian was being held hostage, being beaten and tortured. If he was still alive, that is.
The thought drove Blaine even more mad, and pieces of him were slowly crumbling, dying, leaving him entirely powerless to fight against it.
-
For he has crept under the frying pan
Terra was the most terrifying thing anyone had ever (barely) witnessed. He had a body, but they’ve never seen a face. Not even Nightbird when they had come close enough for combat. Terra was like a spirit just passing through, a ghost that haunted everyone, capable of doing every malicious thing possible.
And now he had Sebastian.
And Blaine had had enough.
“What does the serum do?!” Nightbird bellowed at the mayor, giving the man a scared start from where he was seated behind his desk, the Avenger looming across from him. The guards were ready to interfere when necessary as they hovered by the door, but even they weren’t sure they could do any real damage to the masked hero. “And what does Terra want with it?!”
“I—I don’t know,” he stammered, letting out a breath as he tried to compose himself. No one has ever seen Nightbird this angry, this destructive. Then again, no one has ever seen Nightbird in person, period. He was a savior, a black angel that put the needs of people first, but always remained a flutter of black cape or a darkened blur gliding by, a heroic smudge on the front page of their newspapers every morning. Never been seen in the flesh, alive and still in front of anyone.
No one but one.
“Think! Get in contact with the Institute! The scientists in charge!” Nightbird demanded, slamming his gloved fist against the table, tension increasing heavily around the office. “He has an innocent citizen held hostage! It’s been five days and we have no leads!” He was shouting his own frustrations more than anything, recalling the facts he already knew too well. He was exhausted and he hadn’t slept in days, and back at his place, Sam was still working to track any traces he could find, anything that could give him any hope that Sebastian was still out there, alive and breathing, ready for him to rescue and take home.
The serum was the only connection they could make, the only logical one that existed. Nightbird destroyed whatever Terra had planned, and now Blaine was paying the price.
“What the serum contains is government secret. I’m only meant to keep it secured in the one city that could develop its contents. But we’re doing everything we can—”
“Bullshit!” Nightbird screeched, a high-pitched sound that pierced through everyone’s ears present in the room, making everyone bend over and cover their ears with tightly closed eyes.
“Please! I really don’t know!” The mayor relented, recovering after Nightbird had closed his mouth and paced around the room. It was clear to everyone how angry their hero was, how weak he had gotten, tired and restless; cold and empty. Everything Terra could inflict on a person. “We’ve set up parameters everywhere, officers stationed at every post, city intellects tracing every nook and cranny in search of Terra. But you know he’s impossible to find. It’s like finding a ghost.”
Blaine couldn’t help but agree. He had been there and failed numerous times.
They’ve angered the monster, and these were the consequences they were being forced to face.
When everyone had completely recollected themselves after Nightbird’s small outburst, the mayor straightened himself up to help the masked avenger think through this more rationally. “We have contacted the Institute, but they have been on shut down since the recovery of the saved serum, which is thanks to you. They’re obviously keeping whatever they have in there as safe as possible.” Sam had been trying to hack into their system and Nightbird had tried to break into their facilities.
Both plans failed.
“We’re continually trying our best. But the question is why take this boy.”
Nightbird stiffened by the window, fingers clenching at his sides.
“He could have taken a kid, several kids, in fact, to alert us more radically. Or an entire building filled with hostages. Or someone of importance that—”
“Terra did take someone important,” Nightbird cut him off, blending into the shadows more easily. The curtains were drawn back by the wind before Nightbird flew in earlier, leaving no source of light to colour the darkly lit room of the mayor’s office. Not that anyone minded, the whole of Lima caught on quickly why their hero only ventured out during the night or lurked in the shadows when he had to save someone during the day; not to mention the first half of his name.
Nightbird’s voice had lowered, throat tight as he crossed his arms over his chest, leaning his back against the far corner of the room. “Sebastian Smythe is—”
Suddenly, there was an overwhelming noise of static, TVs, radios and cellphones all going off at once throughout the entire city.
Nightbird, Nightbird fly away home
Your house is on fire and your family is gone
All except for one called Sebastian
For he has crept under the frying pan
The voice was so crystal clear, as if the lullaby was being sung by someone in the room, chilling everyone to the bone. Every guard had their guns out, three already surrounding the stricken mayor behind his desk, and Nightbird had taken center stage, forcing his feet to stay still and his entire body to stop shaking.
“Nightbird, Nightbird,” came the whisper, making everyone turn their heads back, up, forward, everywhere and nowhere at once. It was driving Blaine over the edge.
“Terra!” He yelled, his dark vision taking in every spot, every hiding place around the room, desperately trying to find the source that had caused the crippling pain that took the place of Sebastian’s absence in his heart. “Terra! Where is Sebastian Smythe?!”
“Tsk, tsk, do you not like nursery rhymes, Nightbird?”
Then the song was on loop again, much softer this time, as if the lyrics were sliding their way into Blaine’s pores and covering up the cadence of his existence to hurt, to ruin, to destroy.
“You took something from me, Nightbird. I’m merely returning the favor.”
Nightbird, Nightbird fly away home
Your house is on fire and your family is gone
All except for one called Sebastian
For he has crept under the frying pan
It was harder and harder to escape the tune, as if it was taking over his mind, heart, body, soul, shattering him to pieces from the inside.
“Where is he?!” Nightbird screeched louder, the sound shattering the glass windows, making the mayor and the guards cower in on themselves, both from Nightbird’s anguish and Terra’s chilling presence.
Nightbird, Nightbird fly away home
Your house is on fire and your family is gone
All except for one called Sebastian
For he has crept under the frying pan
And there it was, a broken scream that matched Nightbird’s agony, penetrating deeply through the black mask, the hard armor, the protective suit that hugged him, making Blaine turn rigid from the sound that made his knees finally give in, falling on all fours as Sebastian’s rippling cries sounded from all around them.