Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 45th cycle. Now cycle 46!

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** UPDATED WITH CYCLE 45 CHEAT SHEET ** Check it out to find out about shift days! (cycle 46 cheat sheet will be up later)

This is a shift day [see above]. There was another upload this morning: You'll Find Wonder, chapter 32.

"A Caveat Or Two"
15yo Mike/Tina
Chang Squared series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

Coach Sylvester had told her to be in her office first thing Monday morning to pick up her uniform. Mike waited for her at his locker, giving it a much needed cleaning. He was finding things in there he thought he'd lost or already thrown out. But then he was also finding old little notes Tina would slip in there and he smiled, gathering them together – those weren't getting thrown out.

"Hey, come with me," Tina's voice came out of nowhere and he turned to find her standing there, uniform in hand, still wrapped in plastic. Her face showed a frown he couldn't decipher.

"She didn't change her mind, did she?" he asked, which was silly considering he could see Tina had the uniform, but with Coach Sylvester, it was valid.

"Just come, okay?" He shut his locker door and followed. She led him off into an empty classroom, tossing the uniform on the table with a huff. "I should have known she'd do something like this."

"What did she do?" Mike asked.

"So I showed up there, first thing, like she asked. And she's got this smile on her face," Tina mimicked it and Mike sort of winced.

"Uh-oh," he spoke, and she nodded.

"She said she admired my spirit of initiative, and that she would admit now that she was wrong to kick me out, and she said something about hormones and things like that, I don't know, I kind of tuned that part out. And then she got up and came to hand me my uniform, and she said what I did showed leadership, and this was something that made her get an idea."

"What's the idea?" he asked, inevitably curious. She sighed.

"She made me captain of the Cheerios." He blinked paused, like he didn't see what the problem was anymore.

"Tina, that's awesome!" he moved to hug her, but she shook her head and he stopped. "Isn't it?"

"Think about it for a second." He did, and then he started getting it.

"Wait, so full captain or co-captain?"

"Full," she confirmed he was thinking right.

"What about Quinn?"

"Sylvester's making me take her place," Tina revealed. He sat back against a desk.

"Does she know yet?" he looked back to her.

"No, she's going to tell her now," Tina sighed. "They already didn't care much for me as it was, and when Quinn finds out… They're never going to back me up."

"You don't know that," he shook his head.

"You know those girls, do you really believe that?"

"Brittany will back you up. Others will follow you just because you're their leader."

"And the rest?" His face didn't look convinced, but still he tried to find her a positive outcome.

"You can change their minds, win them over." She looked to him, and he could read her face very well. Yes, maybe she could sway some of them, maybe… But there would still be some of those who would remain stubborn to the bitter end, could try and sabotage her, incite the rest, the swing votes, to mutiny against her. Sylvester could put her on a pedestal all she wanted, but all that really did was raise her up and turn her into an easier target to reach.

"If Quinn decides she's getting her post back, she's going to get it," Tina breathed deep.

"You got yours back," he reminded. "You're just as strong as they are, stronger even. This could be a good thing. I've got your back all the way," he held out his fist to her and she chuckled, bumping it with her own. He took the motion as his shot to tug her arm and bring her into his. "Call it what you want, but I'm proud of you… My girlfriend the head Cheerio…" he whispered at her ear, and she was beaming. "Okay?"

"Yeah… I better get changed."

"Go on, ponytail," he retrieved the uniform for her.

As Tina had gone to get dressed, Mike went back into the hall to wait for her, and he couldn't help keeping an eye out in case Quinn came by, once she'd found out she had been demoted, replaced by the girl she had backed up just a couple days before. He knew Quinn, he knew she could be That Girl, but he knew she could be reasonable, so he hoped it would be this version of Quinn who stepped out of Coach Sylvester's office.

He saw a blonde ponytail out of the corner of his eye and he turned, expecting to find Quinn, but it wasn't her. Brittany came scurrying down the hall, right toward him. She wasn't stopping, but as she passed by him, she shook her head like she had been spooked. If he didn't already know about the captain swap, he would have had no idea what that was about. But he did know, and now he was thinking he knew just which Quinn would be strolling down the halls.

"Oh boy…" he breathed, straightening up as he looked back to the bathroom door, hoping Tina would be done soon. When she came out of there, he was briefly distracted by the sight of her back in full Cheerio regalia, but then he remembered what they had coming, the impending Fabray storm. "Okay, let's go," he moved up to her.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Tina!" They looked over to find Quinn coming down the hall, with Santana on her heels.

"That," Mike nodded to the girls. Tina sighed, bracing for whatever would get thrown at her.

"Look, before you say anything, I didn't ask for this, you know how she works, she just laid this on me," Tina addressed them before they had even stopped in front of her. When they did stop, there was a brief moment where the four of them just stood there, silent, figuring each other out.

"Congratulations," Quinn gave a slow smile. "Can't wait to see what you do… Captain." Without another word, she moved along with Santana. Tina and Mike watched them go.

"Is part of being captain getting Sylvester's creepy 'I'm going to make you pay for this' smile?" Tina blinked.

"I hope not," he looked to her.

"This is not good…" she sighed. "Not good."

"It'll be fine." She looked at him. "It will," he insisted. "All else fails, if we were in Glee Club this fall, not like she'd follow you there."

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!