A/N: No real warnings for this. Mind the rating, summary, and characters and you'll be fine. Multi-chapter WIP, in case that bothers you.
Rachel Berry glanced over her shoulder quickly as she walked casually through the hallways of Carmel High. It was a brilliant acting exercise: trying to blend in with the student population at McKinley's greatest rival school. Rachel grinned and offered a casual "Hey, girl!" to a random passerby who happened to eye her suspiciously. The girl rolled her eyes and continued on her way, while Rachel silently added undercover work to her already impressive resume.
If the rumors were true, then Vocal Adrenaline was currently being coached by Jesse St. James. And if that were true, then Rachel knew that she had to use all of her feminine charm and eclectic past with the new director to gain a little bit of insight into what the New Directions' foes were up to. It was, after all, no different than Jesse spending several months as a member of New Directions before defecting back to Vocal Adrenaline. That had been far worse, and had been accompanied with an egg massacre in the high school's parking lot. Rachel frowned at the memory: this wasn't gaining an unfair advantage for Nationals—it was the revenge of countless baby chicken souls!
Pausing at the door that led backstage at Carmel's auditorium, Rachel stole a quick glance to either side before slipping into the room. It was dark; Rachel found herself bumping into various set pieces for what must have been the most recent school production as she edged closer toward a light that clearly signaled the front of the stage. Without warning, the sound of Jesse's voice traveled around the corner and Rachel quickly ducked under a crudely made wooden staircase.
"Look at it this way: you'll be featured in one of numbers for Nationals. I could have just forced you to sway in the background. You're talented, so you need to be on my team."
Another male voice, one that was vaguely familiar to Rachel, responded in a strained tone.
"I don't want to be a part of your slave-driven group. I've got too much to worry about already. There's the issue of keeping up my grades at a new school, there's football, there's-"
"-ensuring the student population of Carmel doesn't find out that you're gay," Jesse's voice added casually. "Look, the two of us want the same things. You want to stay in the closet, and I want to help you do so. If you don't join, I can't guarantee that one of the members of Vocal Adrenaline might accidentally stumble upon your little secret."
"You can't do this!" the other voice groaned.
Where had Rachel heard the voice before? She knew that she had: Rachel Berry never forgot a voice once she heard it, especially if it was as talented as Jesse claimed. Was it a member of Vocal Adrenaline that just wasn't featured in years past? Surely she would remember that, though. Rachel clambered to her feet. Regardless, she decided, it was simply wrong to threaten to out someone. Jesse hadn't batted an eye the first time he entered the Berry household and met Rachel's fathers—surely he knew better than to sink this low. Well, if he didn't, he was about to be educated.
"I've made you a rehearsal schedule that takes into account your courseload and football obligations. It grants you at least 35 minutes of personal time every evening, which I find extremely generous. Trust me, you'll enjoy it. Or not. But that's not really my problem, is it?" Jesse chuckled and Rachel could hear the sound of papers being moved around.
"Look, I came here to get away from all this, from the accusations and the blackmail. You, though you may not look it, are an educator—you're supposed to protect me. I could have you fired for this, you know."
Jesse laughed again, "Oooh, but to do that, you'd have to come out of the closet to even make an accusation against me. And you don't really want that, do you? Like I said, it's in your best interests to join Vocal Adrenaline and use that voice of yours for some good."
That was it: Rachel had heard enough. Adopting one of her best protest faces, she marched her way toward the light and the front of the stage. If there was one thing Rachel was good at, it was a dramatic entrance and this certainly qualified as one. Jesse and the not-yet Vocal Adrenaline member were at the peak of their conversation—tension was extremely high and neither boy expected to get caught. She would emerge from the side of the stage and shout "Jesse St. James, you should know better!" all while pointing a finger straight at the offender. Jesse would be ashamed of his actions, and, knowing he'd been caught, let the other boy go on to play football. Vocal Adrenaline would lose a secret weapon. The baby chickens would be avenged. Rachel grinned at the thought before catching herself and resuming her expression of protest as she rounded the corner.
"Jesse St. James!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, pointing a finger forward, "You should— K-Karofsky?"
Both boys looked up at the petite girl in shock. Jesse chuckled, rolling his eyes in a manner that clearly said "I should have known better." David Karofsky, however, remained frozen in complete shock, his eyes darting like a cornered animal searching for a place to run. Quicker than either boy had a chance to speak, Rachel's hand darted to her mouth and she let out a soft, "Oh."
Realization struck a moment after Rachel saw the look in Karofsky's eyes—they told most of the story, and Rachel could piece together the rest from her own interactions with the former bully. David Karofsky had bullied the entire glee club when he was with his primitive football friends, but when he had gone solo, he only targeted Kurt. Kurt, who was the only student in the school to be proudly gay and without whom, discussions of homosexuality at the school would be kept to a bare minimum. Rachel knew—she had seen the change in McKinley's environment once Kurt had transferred: outside of glee club, the jocks began calming down slightly. If anything, Karofsky had to have been terrified, so he took it out on Kurt.
The memories began pouring back, piecing together a story that had been just under the surface the entire time.
First, there was the visit to the Hummel-Hudson household after the first day of senior year. Rachel had stopped by to help Finn find a duet to start off the year together in Glee Club, and they had stopped to gossip about all the changes to McKinley this year.
"Just wait until you see Quinn's hair," Kurt had said, "It's completely pink. I'm actually starting to get a little worried about her sanity."
Finn responded, "Yeah, I didn't see her all day. Oh, you know who else I didn't see? Karofsky. Found out from the team that he transferred schools for health reasons. Or 'cause his Dad was making him. Or 'cause he found a girlfriend there. I actually heard a lot of things—but that should make you feel pretty good, huh, Kurt? Don't have to worry about him at all this year!"
Kurt had nodded, but there was something Rachel couldn't quite place in his eyes at the time. Something that remotely resembled sadness, which she had found completely inappropriate considering his past with the bully. So she promptly ignored the look, which she probably had misinterpreted. Only, she hadn't.
Now it all made sense: Kurt knew. Of course Kurt had known—because Karofsky had upped his threats to an unprecedented level right before Kurt had transferred to Dalton. It was out of character, even for Karofsky, to go as far as a death threat and now it all made sense. And if this was the case, no wonder Karofsky looked even more terrified than Kurt when the smaller boy won Prom Queen—he must have decided that he had been found out.
Jesse had snuck back into the dance when the winners were announced, explaining to Rachel that the crowning was the moment with the most dramatic tension, and there was no way he would miss that. And after Kurt had accepted his crown, walking down to the dance floor with his King, Jesse had smirked.
"What?" Rachel whispered, not wanting to draw attention to the boy beside her.
"Nothing," Jesse responded, grinning widely, "Have I ever told you I'm really good at reading lips?" He gave a quick peck to Rachel's hand, before winking. "See you at the afterparty, Rachel"
And now Jesse was cashing in on the information that he must have found out that night, which is why he looked so smug, standing in the spotlight of Carmel auditorium, smiling.
"Well, well, if it isn't my favorite spy, Rachel Berry."
"Jesse." Rachel nodded at the curly haired boy, before glancing over at Karofsky with a bit of apology in her eyes "David."
"Of all the people to out me to..." Dave quietly mumbled, while Jesse looked on in amusement.
"I heard what you were saying, Jesse, and I must tell you—I'm disappointed. I would never have dated someone who would stoop so low as to threaten to out someone if I had known better." Rachel crossed her arms and glared at the choir director, "Can't you see how this is affecting David?" Turning to the larger boy, Rachel added, "And you. We need to talk. I'm not saying that just because you're gay means that you're forgiven for everything you did to me and my friends. But we need to talk."
David sighed and nodded, slinking off into one of the auditorium's plush seats to watch Berry and Jesse duke it out before having to sit through a Grade A Rachel Berry Lecture.
"I'm just trying to do what's best for the team, and best for a confused student who could use the arts as a way to better himself," Jesse said calmly, moving toward his once girlfriend. "Surely you can understand that."
Rachel opened her mouth in protest and closed it promptly. Finn had told her about the weed incident with Mr. Schue and how ready the teacher was to let him into Glee Club after it had been planted. Neither voiced their true suspicions, but Rachel was sure that Mr. Schue might have played dirty—this year had made it all too apparent that he would do anything to win. And true, if David was as talented as Jesse suggested—he was no slouch at moving, that much Rachel had seen for herself—then he could stand to gain a lot of self-confidence by performing.
"You're talking about outing someone, Jesse. Not giving them a bad grade or ruining a relationship. If you do this, you can't take it back... ever." Rachel looked pointedly at the show choir director, thinking of Santana's premature outing thanks to her boyfriend. "I agree that the arts could do a lot for David, I've seen him perform and if I didn't hate him at the time, would have been impressed. But I don't have the right to say what's best for him, and I certainly don't have the right to threaten to out him. Neither do you, Jesse."
"And who will stop me? Look, there doesn't have to be any outings if he joins up. I'm a great secret-keeper, and promise to even defend his closet if he sings lead for one of my songs. But, Rachel, there is nothing you can do to stop me one way or another. Or would you prefer to out him by going to someone about this... misunderstanding?"
Rachel paused and took a deep breath before rattling off, "Show Choir Handbook, Article on Membership, Section 11b: All members of a competition team must be volunteering their services." She shot Jesse a defiant look, just waiting for the curly haired boy to challenge. "If Dave said he was performing against his will, they wouldn't ask why—you just get a huge disqualification. And, seeing how quick Goolsby was out the door with a second place finish, who's to say you'd be around long after such scandal?"
In the audience, Dave's eyebrows rose in awe. Rachel never once believed she'd use her talent for talking to protect Dave, and clearly the boy was thinking along similar lines.
"Why are you doing this, Rachel? What do you owe him?" Jesse said softly.
"You know, my dads were really impressed by you. It's a shame they were wrong." Rachel spoke in a low tone for maximum effect before turning at the heel. "Dave, we're going." She walked off the stage heading toward the football player's seat.
Dave looked nervous, "But what if he...?"
Rachel glared over at the stage and locked eyes with Jesse, "He won't." she said loudly, before turning her attention back to Karofsky. "We're going to the Lima Bean, Dave. And though I can't force you to do anything, as I don't want to sink to his level, I will ask you to do a few things for me."
Dave nodded quietly, following behind the girl as she listed off her demands. Her suggestions.
"One: I'd like an apology. A real one. I'm starting to understand that there were bigger things at work last year when you drove my friend away for half of the school year. But it didn't just affect him: Mercedes and I hardly got to see him once a week, and I'd like an apology for that. Two: Again, if you want to, but you kind of owe it to me: I'd like to hear your side of the story. There are some things that don't just line up for me. And three:"
Rachel grinned as Dave stared at the floor, following closely behind.
"I want to hear you sing."