Disclaimer: I own nothing of this. It all belongs to Fox and RIB; I'm just playing in their sandbox.
Santana sat in her usual spot at the back of the group, Brittany to her right, their hands intertwined. Rachel stood before the Glee Club, confirming with Mercedes and Finn when they would be singing during their mash-up of Fly and I Believe I Can Fly. In Santana's lap was her copy of the music, and orange and yellow highlighters. The parts everyone was singing were highlighted in yellow while the parts she was singing with Rachel were in orange.
"Now we have to discuss the rap portions of the song," Rachel announced as the trio finished. "It most certainly requires more than one person to sound its best, and one of them needs to be female."
"Well, we know Artie's going to be one of the rappers, right?" Tina asked, and no one could disagree, not even Santana.
"I'm glad you all appreciate my rapping skills, but I think my vocal ability could be better used with the group for this song," Artie said. "Besides, Blaine proved he can rap when he did it in Perfect. I think he should do it."
"Thank you, Artie, but I'm not sure I'm the right person for this," Blaine said, holding his hands up.
"Oh, come on, you'd be perfect for it, Blaine," Kurt assured his boyfriend. Santana's hold on Brittany's hand tightened slightly for a moment, drawing the blonde's eyes to her, but Santana didn't look away from the front of the group.
"I must insist that you take the rapping parts, Blaine," Artie said.
"Yeah, dude, you'd be great at it," Finn added.
"Go for it, Blaine," Mercedes said.
"While I would normally be quite happy to take any parts that need filling, my voice is not at all right for rapping," Rachel said, and Santana actually shuddered a little as she imagined the diva rapping; if she had to actually hear it… Well, she wouldn't be responsible for anything she did or her return to her more bitchy ways for a little while. "I agree that you should take the part, Blaine."
"Alright, alright, if you all feel I'd be good for it, then who am I to protest?" Blaine asked, a smile on his face from all the encouragement. Most of the group began to say more kind things to Blaine, while Santana kept silent. She agreed that he could do the rap well enough, though Artie would be better for it, but that didn't mean she was going to say it, even if she wasn't insulting people as often. Brittany even added her two cents in, squeezing Santana's hand as she did so.
"We still need someone else to rap, one of the girls, and as I said before, my voice is wrong for rapping," Rachel said as everyone began to quiet down again. "While Blaine will obviously be amazing, the rapping is meant for at least two people."
"No one else can rap," Mike said.
"I can rap," Puck protested, and Santana snorted.
"Not well, Puckerman, and last I checked, you're not female," she said. He shot her a look before shrugging, knowing it was true. Actually, knowing him, he most likely had more thoughts at that comment due to her being a lesbian, but Santana decided not to think about that.
"Why don't we figure out what I'm going to be singing, and then we can figure out the last parts?" Blaine suggested, and Rachel agreed to it, gesturing for Artie and Blaine to join her to go over who would sing what.
Santana felt Brittany squeeze her hand and turned to face her girlfriend. The blonde's blue eyes were sparkling in a way that made Santana instantly wary, knowing that Brittany had an idea. While the idea would most likely be a good idea, it didn't necessarily mean Santana was going to like it.
"San, why don't you do the rap?" Brittany asked with a small smile, her voice quiet. "You're really good at it."
Santana glanced around to make sure no one else was listening to them before looking at Brittany again. "Britt," she hissed. "You promised you wouldn't mention that to anyone."
"Well, yeah, but this is for Regionals, San, and you're really good at it. You know that no one else can do it, and don't say you don't want to show the others how amazing you are as a rapper."
Brittany smiled at her, and Santana sighed, closing her eyes. She couldn't believe Brittany was doing this to her, yet it was so typical of her. Her girlfriend wasn't wrong; it was quite tempting to remind the rest of the club that they had never actually asked her what she could and couldn't sing, just assuming based on what music she chose during assignments. Still, should she actually reveal that she could rap just as well as Artie and Blaine? It was a tough decision.
"Come on, San," Brittany whispered, squeezing her hand and placing her other one on Santana's cheek, making Santana open her eyes. Brown met blue, and Santana knew she had lost the moment she had turned to even face her girlfriend; she couldn't fight the blonde about anything.
"Fine," Santana sighed, and Brittany beamed, which made Santana smile in turn.
Santana felt something lightly hitting her left leg, and she turned away from Brittany, the blonde's hand falling from her face, to see Quinn holding out Santana's copy of the music, lines now highlighted in pink for her. At Santana's raised eyebrow, Quinn shrugged.
"Once Brittany turned to you, I knew you wouldn't say no," Quinn said easily. Santana realized that while no one else had noticed the quiet conversation, Quinn had probably guessed Brittany would try to convince her to do the rap for Regionals. After all, Quinn was the only other person to actually know she could rap, having sung all sorts of music as the Unholy Trinity throughout high school.
"Thanks," Santana finally said quietly, taking the music and looking at the lines. There weren't too many she would have to rap, especially compared to Blaine, but it was a reasonable amount. She had also listened to the songs the night before, knowing they would be deciding parts today, and had actually sung all of the rap parts, so she knew them.
At the front of the room, now that she was paying attention, Santana could tell Rachel was attempting to tell Artie and Blaine how to sing their parts, despite not knowing much about rap. It was actually hilarious in a pathetic sort of way, since her advice wasn't exactly helpful.
"Are you going to tell them?" Brittany asked, and Santana turned back to her with a thoughtful look on her face.
"Hey, Q, do me a favor?" Santana asked, getting an idea and turning to the other blonde.
"What sort of favor?" Quinn asked cautiously, and Santana was both proud and sad that her friend couldn't exactly trust her enough to just agree to the favor.
"Convince the hobbits to just start the song?" Santana could tell both blondes were looking at her in surprise, but her mouth twisted into a smirk. "If I'm going to do this, I should at least do it right and surprise them." Quinn laughed lightly, shaking her head, and Santana knew it was because she had realized she shouldn't have expected anything else from her. Brittany squeezing her hand told Santana that her girlfriend was amused by the idea, and she turned her head to smirk in Brittany's direction, receiving a smile in return.
"Rachel, why don't we practice what we have so far, and then maybe we can take turns to decide which girl does best with the rap?" Quinn called down to the diva, and the brunette's rant to Artie and Blaine stopped as she contemplated the idea.
"That's a wonderful idea, Quinn," she finally decided, and Santana noticed that basically everyone sighed in relief. "We should get started practicing immediately."
Everyone sat down except for Rachel, and the band took its cue to begin.
"I came to win, to fight, to conquer, to thrive. I came to win, to survive, to prosper, to rise.
"To fly... To fly..."
Santana had to admit that Rachel's voice was perfect for that part of the song, and everyone joining in on the next part sounded amazing. Then she took a deep breath and began her part, even if only two people expected her to. "Uh, yo, yo." The group turned to face her, but Artie continued on, most likely to see where this would go.
"I used to think that I could not go on..."
"I wish today it would rain all day. Maybe that will kinda make the pain go away," Santana rapped, making mouths drop around the room, but Artie automatically sang his next line.
"And life was nothing but an awful song..."
"They got their guns out aiming at me, but I become neo when they aiming at me," Santana continued, smirk on her face at the shock of the group. She could somewhat understand those lines, if she thought back to when Finn had outed her, because she had felt like people were all looking at her. Instead of letting it beat her, though, she moved on, and now she was happy with Brittany, whose hand she squeezed as she thought this.
"If I can see it," the group sang together while Blaine began to rap, almost as if they were all on autopilot.
"Me, me, me against them; me against enemies, me against friends," Blaine rapped, and Santana could tell he was beginning to smile as he caught on to what Quinn had done.
"Then I can do it," the group continued.
"Somehow they both seem to become one. A sea full of sharks, and they all smell blood," Blaine sang, standing up and facing Santana, who still held Brittany's hand in hers, her smirk slowly becoming a smile.
"If I just believe it," the group harmonized.
"They start coming, and I start rising; must be surprising, I'm just surmising."
"There's nothing to it," the group sang yet again as Santana finally joined Blaine in the rap.
"I win, thrive, soar – higher, higher, higher – more fire," they rapped together, voices melding.
"I came to win," Rachel sang, shaking herself from her surprised stupor.
"To fight, to conquer, to thrive. I came to win, to survive, to prosper, to rise," Santana joined her in singing, this time actually singing rather than rapping. Finn then took over leading the vocals of the entire group, everyone else harmonizing with him.
"I believe I can fly."
"Fly..." Rachel sang above everyone else.
"I believe I can touch the sky. I believe I can fly."
"Fly..." Rachel again sang.
"I believe I can touch the sky."
"See, I was on the verge of breakin' down..." Artie began, and Santana followed with her next rap.
"Paint they own pictures, then they crop me in, but I will remain where the top begins." Brittany squeezed Santana's hand and then stood up, using their clasped hands to pull Santana with her.
"Sometimes, silence can seem so loud..." Artie sang, and Brittany pulled Santana to the front of the room where Rachel and Blaine were standing.
"I am not a word; I am not a line; I am not a girl that can ever be defined," Santana rapped, actually moving her left, free hand as she did so, smiling. She really understood those lines, because she wasn't a word or a girl that could be defined. Most of the school saw her as a lesbian now, but they all knew that it wasn't what she was, just a part of her. Everyone in Glee understood that better than most, and it was something she was proud of.
"If I can see it," the group sang again as Blaine rapped.
"I hear the criticism loud and clear; that is how I know that the time is near."
"Then I can do it."
"See we become alive in a time of fear, and I ain't got no motherfickle time to spare." Santana had to admit she found it hard not to laugh when Blaine actually said 'motherfickle,' but she managed to keep it in, though her smile grew.
"If I just believe it."
"Cry my eyes out for days upon days; such a heavy burden placed upon me."
"There's nothing to it."
"But when you go hard your nay's become yay's. Yankee Stadium with Jay's and Kanye's," Santana rapped with Blaine, sharing a smile with him.
As they continued to sing the rest of the song, Brittany moved from next to Santana to behind her, letting go of her right hand only long enough to wrap her arms around Santana's waist. Most of the group had gotten over the fact that Santana had suddenly started rapping the female part, but she could still see how surprised they were, and it made her smile widen. Quinn met her gaze, and they both acknowledged how hilarious this whole situation was.
Brittany began rocking them side to side, and Santana knew her girlfriend was going to start dancing any time now. When music was on, Britt always found it hard not to move; it was instinct. She didn't even mind it, and quite often, the Latina joined her friend, especially when it was just them.
"Get ready for it, get ready for it," all of the girls sang, and Brittany finally moved. Her arms moved from around Santana's waist upwards so that she could grab Santana's right hand in her left. The next thing the Latina knew, she was being spun to Brittany's left and then back to the blonde.
Brittany then backed away from Santana, and she spun around to face her girlfriend, whose blue eyes sparkled with a challenge in them. Santana immediately knew what Brittany wanted and raised her eyebrows, waiting for the blonde to make the first move. The blonde turned to face the front, and Santana did the same, listening to Brittany's movements and just sensing her as the two had learned to do over the years.
Even as they continued to sing, Brittany moved to the left, and Santana moved the same distance to the right. When Brittany moved back to her original position and then to the right, Santana went to her original spot and then the left, all without looking at the blonde. Once they had both returned to their original spots, Brittany closer to Santana than before, close enough to touch, they both leaned to the right before Brittany wrapped her arms around Santana for a moment to grab her right hand again, spinning her just as she had before. Then Brittany kept Santana somewhat to her right and moved a few steps before lightly pushing on Santana's side so that she knew to spin around and end up on Brittany's left.
Sharing smiles with Brittany, it took Santana a few moments to realize the others had all seen the moves and were standing up to find partners to try it themselves. Everyone looked at them for direction, and even as they all continued to sing, Brittany and Santana led the group through the moves once before they finished the song.
"Fly," they all sang together to finish it off, standing as a group.
When they were done, Brittany pulled Santana into a hug, laughing, and Santana couldn't help but laugh as well. "You were amazing," Brittany whispered into her ear.
"I really surprised them, didn't I?" Santana replied, pulling back to grin at her girlfriend, laughing a little.
"Their faces were hilarious," Quinn commented from beside them, and Santana turned to acknowledge the other blonde, nodding in thanks for getting the ball rolling before.
"Okay, I know I'm not alone in wondering where the Hell that came from," Mercedes stated, and the trio turned to see everyone else staring at Santana.
"I didn't know you could rap," Puck added, eyebrows raised, obviously questioning why she had never shown this to him after years of knowing him while it seemed Quinn knew after only knowing her only since freshman year.
"You never asked," Santana said with a shrug.
"It would have been beneficial to know we had a female rapper sophomore year, Santana," Rachel said disapprovingly, frowning.
"Since when have you rapped?" Sam asked, and at least he wasn't assuming anything about her rapping like Rachel. "We've had rap songs before, but you've never joined in."
"That's because I didn't want to, Trouty," Santana said. Brittany slipped an arm around her waist and squeezed a little, telling her to play nice. "I'm sorry if I didn't want to join in when Puckerman attempted to rap. Wheels has always had the rapping covered, so I didn't think we needed someone else."
"Then why now?" Tina asked. Santana rolled her eyes and pushed her shoulder into Brittany, giving the Asian girl a look that basically said 'did you seriously just ask that?' "Oh…"
"She's been rapping since we were freshmen," Quinn said easily, looking at her nails and ignoring the look Santana shot her. "If she did it before then, I can't tell you."
"Well, guys, I think we're going to kill at Regionals with that song," Mr. Schuester said, smiling. "Santana, thank you for sharing your rapping ability with us."
Santana rolled her eyes but nodded at his acknowledgement. It should be completely obvious that the only reason she shared was because of Brittany, and the blonde should be receiving the thanks, but whatever. Brittany knew and was probably happy Santana was being appreciated, something that rarely happened.
"Brittany, Santana, can you show us those moves you were doing before?" Mr. Schue asked. "I think you found at least part of our choreography for this song."
"I agree; it should work wonderfully with the song," Rachel added.
Santana met Brittany's eyes and knew her girlfriend was just as startled as she was that their game had actually turned into choreography for Regionals. It was just something they did when listening to music. Brittany loved to try and mess Santana up by dancing and expecting her to do the exact same thing in the opposite way without being able to see her. Well, if they wanted to use it, who were they to argue?
"Sure, Mr. Schue, but Mike, can you help me tweak it?" Brittany asked. "It doesn't flow well enough yet."
"Of course," Mike agreed, stepping forward. Santana thought he and Brittany were going to do the moves, which upset her a little as she didn't want to leave her girlfriend's side just yet, but he stopped a little ways away and gestured for the two of them to do the moves.
"Let's practice singing the song at the same time so we're more productive," Rachel said, and no one disagreed. The two Cheerios knew they would be fine both singing and dancing while Mike worked to tweak their moves.
The band began the song over again, and Rachel started to sing. With a shared smile, the pair began the moves from before again.
While she began to rap again and saw grins and nods shot in her direction, Santana realized that maybe sharing this side of herself with the Glee Club wasn't as big a deal as she thought it would be. After all, she thought when Brittany came up behind her to hold her close for a moment before spinning her, we are a big, mismatched family.
If anyone reading this is coming from my stories from Harry Potter, well, here's my most recent addiction. I'm still writing Harry Potter and Percy Jackson stories, but Glee is my most recent addiction. I haven't really been writing much this school year because it's been so chaotic, but I thought I'd post something I have managed to produce, so here's my first attempt at posting a Glee FanFic.
For Glee readers, I plan to write more Brittana without a doubt, and this one-shot might be tweaked and put into a longer story at some point. I just listened to that song and watched the performance and really felt I needed to write how Santana went from never before having rapped to rapping during Regionals. I hope what I wrote did the characters justice, since I am still new to them.
I'll be back sometime this month, hopefully, but it will only be one-shots for a while. I want to finish stories, or be almost done, before I start posting them.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed. :)
