Written for this DarkFic prompt: It's Burt's job to protect his family. Warnings: non-graphic, non-major character death, attempted rape. Spoilers for Furt (2.08)

AN: This was written for the dark_fest but I feel like I failed at the dark. Also, Kurt's mom is involved in part of this fic. I named her Katherine for two reasons. One) She has to have a K-name because then Katherine+Burt= Kurt. Two) She's named after Katherine Hepburn because she's marvelous and only a marvelous woman could give birth to a son so marvelous. Without further ado I hope you enjoy the fic.

He'd only been 17 years old the first time. 17 when he realized what he would have to do to protect his family, what it was his job to do.

At the time he'd only been dating Kurt's mother, Katherine, for only six months, but he already knew he wanted to be with her forever.

Chad's party had been crowded and loud but that hadn't bothered Kat. She had skillfully led Burt through the writhing crowd to the center of the dance floor. She danced with a grace and natural rhythm that would have put a swan to shame. Burt had stood next to her and tried not letting his two left feet get in the way too much.

Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" had been playing when Kat left to use the bathroom. Burt ambled into the kitchen to get a beer. Kat was gone awhile. Burt was just about to go look for her when she returned.

"Can you take me home?" she asked. Her voice was so quiet that he barely heard her over the music.

"The party just started. Why..." he got a good look at Kat and the question trailed off. Her arms were wrapped around her herself and she was shivering slightly even though the room was warm. The sleeve of her shirt was torn, giving Burt a view of a hand-shaped bruise forming on her arm. There's another on her cheek. Her facial expression was blank, but Burt can see distress in her eyes.

"Sure. Let's get out if here." he says. They get into his truck without a word. They're half-way home before Burt can put together the words to ask Kat what happened. Burt pulls onto the side of the road as Kat breaks down. Burt has known Kat since they were 4 and he's never seen her this upset. He never wants to see it again.

After a few false starts, Katherine is able to tell him what happened. Her ex-boyfriend, Scott, had grabbed her on her way back from her way back from the bathroom. He'd pulled her into a bedroom and started tearing at her clothes. There was no mistaking his intent. When she'd tried to resist, he hit her. She'd screamed but nobody had heard her. She'd managed to land a kick to his nuts and escape but she still felt shaken up. This was a guy she saw nearly every day. What if he tried again? What if the next time, she wasn't able to fight him off?

Burt held Kat and promised her that everything would be alright. He would take care of everything.

Two weeks later Scott had been having sex with Tamara Anderson at a party, his mouth all over her, when he'd gone into anaphylactic shock because of her strawberry body butter. Nobody had realized what was happening until it was too late. Burt had been the one to introduce them.

The next thing to threaten Katherine had been cancer. Despite his best effort, Burt hadn't been able to protect Kat against it. So, he'd been left a widower and, at the young age of 8, Kurt had been left motherless.

After that Burt had checked out for a little while. He just hadn't been able to function. When he'd come back to himself he'd found that Kat's step-sister had been trying to take Kurt away from him. Ruth claimed that Burt was an unfit parent and wanted to take Kurt in herself.

Ruth was seen by everyone as a kind-hearted woman who had the misfortune to be unable to have children. Burt knew the truth. After a few drinks, Ruth had told Burt about her childcare philosophy.

"Forget all that new-fangled stuff," she said slurring her words slightly. "The old ways are best. Enough licks with the belt and you can fix any child. Even your little boy who seems to think he's a little girl. Give me 48 hours and I can set him straight."

Burt would never let that harpy get her hands on Kurt.

She died a few weeks later of a heart attack Burt had gone over to her house to talk to her. They'd just been having a pleasant lunch of tomato soup, brought by Burt as a peace offering, when she'd begun to feel that something was wrong. Burt had called the ambulance, but it hadn't gotten there in time. The coroner declared the cause of death a heart attack, brought on by a high fat diet. Obviously he didn't watch Monk.

Kurt grew into a strong young man. He didn't need his father to protect him anymore. At least that's what Burt had thought. He'd been surprised to hear from Finn that a jock had threatened his son's life. He wouldn't let that Neanderthal hurt his son.

They say that the crash that killed Dave Karofsky had been caused by faulty break lines. He'd been driving home after football practice. It'd been dark and the road had been slippery. The jock hadn't been able to slow the car down enough at the sharp curve on Baker Street. He'd taken a header into a tree. His neck had been snapped on impact. He died instantly.

The death was declared an accident. Nobody would look into it any further.

The police wouldn't think about the fact that Burt had been in the McKinley High parking lot an hour before the breaks on a student's car had failed. They wouldn't ask why he'd parked his truck next to Karofsky's car even though there were closer parking spaces. They wouldn't wonder why, after arriving to pick up Finn 45 minutes early, he'd waited in his truck rather than watch the practice.

They wouldn't ask any questions. They never did. Dave would just be chalked up as another jock that would never make it out of Lima, just like Scott. He'd be another unfortunate victim of fate, just like Ruth.

"Kurt, you can't keep things like this from me. It's my job to protect you. I can't protect you unless you're honest with me. Promise me that you won't keep anything like this from me again. Promise me that you'll let me protect you. "

"Ok Dad. I promise"

AN: I hope you enjoyed that. Please leave a review.