Seeing Through the Smoke, a glee fanfic

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 18th cycle. Now cycle 19!

"Seeing Through the Smoke"
Jesse/Rachel, Jesse/AU!Quinn
#7 (direct sequel to "We're Living in a World of Fools")

He had three days to kill somehow, before he and Rachel were supposed to meet again. He wasn't exactly sure what to do with himself, on his own with these people who suddenly knew him so much better than he knew them… oh himself, where this world was concerned. And the only person who knew the truth was miles and miles away. All he had was his uncle… and Quinn, although that was an issue in and of itself. How was he supposed not to draw suspicions when she rightly expected to stay at his side, and she expected him to be her loving now-in-the-open boyfriend, with all associated… perks… He had proven he had no problem with a certain amount of deception, but this wasn't the same. He was trying to emulate her Jesse without having ever seen 'the pattern.' So those three days then became not only about waiting on Rachel, but also to convince people he was one of them… After all, who knew how long they'd be stuck there?

Next day, day one, he had to kick things up. He arrived to school and he waited for her. In his wait he saw much of what he'd been seeing since his introduction to this world: Sullen Schuester, glaring Finn and Puck, curious Glee Club… Finally he spotted her out of the corner of his eye. He took a breath and slipped on a smile, reaching out to catch her hand and pull her over. She gasped, but then calmed once she realized it was him. "Morning," he greeted her, looking up and down the hall before leaning in to kiss her. She responded, putting a hand to his arm. When he pulled back he looked down to her eyes… she seemed distracted for a beat, but she smiled.

"Morning," she returned. "You're having a good morning," she teased.

"Well, sure, why wouldn't I?" he told her, leading her down the hall.

"No, I know, I just… nevermind," she shook her head, gripping back at his arm. "Off to Spanish class we go," she smiled up at him. He nodded.

"Vamonos," he declared, making her laugh as they headed to class. The periods were simple enough to get through, just sit there and play dutiful student. Between periods he would cross Quinn in the halls. She was his only ally for now, whether she realized it or not, so despite himself he started to rely on her presence.

By day two, this world continued to reveal itself to him. He was at his locker when Artie and Kurt came up to him. "Jesse, a word?" Kurt started, and he looked over.

"Hey," he nodded to them. "What can I do for you?" he closed the door.

"It's Mr. Schue; we have to do something about him," Kurt started.

"He's been so bummed out since that thing with his wife, and now it's really starting to affect things… He's kind of dragging us down," Artie frowned, looking from Jesse to Kurt and back.

"Is it that bad?" Jesse had a frown of his own… He didn't remember it being like this, so what had changed?

He remembered what Rachel had told him when they'd met, a couple days before, about Mr. Schuester and his wife and the fake baby and Quinn's baby… They'd figured Rachel's absence had altered the sequence of events and, if that was the case, then… whatever had happened in place of the Terri Schuester-Quinn Fabray agreement must have been even worse off if it made Schue like this.

"I'll see what I can do, alright?" Jesse told the two of them.

The third day came. That afternoon he was set to go and meet Rachel, at the store where they met. Before that could happen, he had one more day at McKinley. And among his classes, his dealings with Quinn and the others, there was this matter with Schuester. He wasn't sure exactly how he was supposed to get Schuester to lighten up. He didn't know the guy all that well.

He waited by the teachers' lounge, until Schuester would get it. He'd only ever agreed to it in the first place because he imagined this was what their Jesse would have done, but then at the same time… It took remembering that he was meeting Rachel that day to realize he'd almost started to get lost in the game. That tended to happen. Now he was seeing that… he was getting a little bit on the comfortable side; not that he'd tell anyone that.

Finally Mr. Schuester came out of the lounge. Jesse snapped to and fell in step with him. "Mr. Schuester, I was wondering…"

"I'm sorry, Jesse, I have to get to class, can it wait?" the man kept moving.

"It won't take long, I'll come with you," he tried to act fast, and his one option was directness. "The thing is, the club is… uh… they're concerned… for you." Will paused just for a second, then kept moving, with Jesse still in tow. "We're all there for you, you know, just… just like you're here for us," the words came like they knew exactly what order to take… He stood there, slightly confused with himself, but then he saw the glimmer of a smile on the teacher's face.

"I'll see you at Glee practice tomorrow. You've got something prepared?" Jesse nodded. "Let the others know, we'll be using the auditorium?"

"Okay," Jesse told him as he watched Schuester walk off… His shoulders didn't seem as weighed down; he wasn't completely back to who he was, but maybe he'd gotten to mend a little… Jesse was happy for it, but now he had other things to think about… Rachel.

He went off to the shop, sat at the piano as he waited. His hands drifted over the keys, until he realized he'd started playing 'Hello.' He stopped and looked at his watch after a while, scanning the room… no sign of her. His heart sank… Had she decided not to come? From what he'd heard he would have thought she really wanted to get home… But then maybe she'd found something worth staying for… and it wasn't him.

The store clerk came and informed him it was closing time… She hadn't come… wouldn't come… So there it was.

Day four began, and Jesse wasn't so much resigned to his fate as he'd decided this day needed to see him take a breath and face the idea that this could be his life from now on. He still wasn't too sure of who he was supposed to be in this place, but he had to try, at least once.

So he went to school, joined his girlfriend, played into that side of himself he'd started to find in those weeks 'undercover.' Even if he'd gone back, in a way he'd been playing a part there, too… He played the guy who hadn't been affected by being among New Directions…

He'd seen to it with the rest of them that they moved practice to the auditorium. There were some talks on adjusting choreography here, some communication issues there, but all in all they were ready for that afternoon, when they filed into the auditorium and up to the stage, getting through final talks before getting into positions. Jesse appeared on his own at first, in the middle of the stage. As he went the others appeared out of the dark.

[J] "Tonight I'm gonna have myself a real good time / I feel alive / And the world, I'll turn it inside out yeah / I'm floating around in ecstasy" / [ND] "So don't stop me now / Don't stop me" / [J ND] "'cause I'm having a good time / Having a good time"

The music picked up and, his hand reaching to the right, he found Quinn, spinning her to her spot as the choreography picked up as well. It was the first time they were all moving together, maybe because for once he was letting them. Even Schuester in the audience smiled.

[J] "I'm a shooting star leaping through the sky / Like a tiger defying the laws of gravity / I'm a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva / I'm gonna go go go there's no stopping me / I'm burning through the sky yea / Two hundred degrees that's why they call me Mr. Fahrenheit / I'm travelling at the speed of light" / [J ND] "I wanna make a supersonic man out of you"

[ND] "Don't stop me now" / [J] "I'm having such a good time / I'm having a ball" / [ND] "Don't stop me now" / [J] "If you wanna have a good time / Just give me a call" / [ND] "Don't stop me now" / [J] "'cause I'm having a good time" / [ND] "Don't stop me now" / [J] "Yes I'm having a good time / I don't wanna stop at all"

The twelve of them found their way into groupings, though Jesse was front and center with Quinn; they were 7-to-5 on guys and girls. But it was like it was just them; even Quinn had somehow broken focus, laughing at a move he made… He smiled back, still singing.

[J] "I'm a rocket ship on my way to Mars / On a collision course / I am a satellite / I'm out of control / I'm a sex machine ready to reload / Like an atom bomb about to" [J ND] "oh oh oh oh oh explode!" / [J] "I'm burning through the sky yeah / Two hundred degrees that's why they call me Mr. Fahrenheit / I'm travelling at the speed of light" / [J ND] "I wanna make a supersonic woman of you"

[ND] "Don't stop me don't stop me, don't stop me" [J] "hey hey hey!" / [ND] "Don't stop me don't stop me ooh ooh ooh" / [J] "I like it" / [ND] "Don't stop me don't stop me" / [J] "Have a good time good time" / [ND] "Don't stop me don't stop me" / [J ND] "ohhhhhhh!"

As Artie broke into his guitar solo, Jesse couldn't help but notice as Schuester's attention was pulled away and he jogged up the aisle and out of sight. But then they were back up front with the number.

[J] "ohhhhhhh / Burning through the sky yeah / Two hundred degrees that's why they call me Mr. Fahrenheit / I'm travelling at the speed of light" / [J ND] "I wanna make a supersonic man out of you"

[J] "Da da da da daaaa da da da / Ha da da ha ha ha ha / Ha da da da da"

As he was humming his way to the end of the song, he spotted Mr. Schuester returning toward view and the stage… And he wasn't alone. It caught him off guard, and he wasn't the only one surprised by their guest. The twelve of them on stage stood there, watching their teacher escorting the petite brunette to join them.

"Guys, I've got some good news: We have a new member. She's just transferred to McKinley from Carmel, please welcome Rachel Berry." Jesse looked at her; she was looking at all of them, and he could imagine this was very weird for her to see, all of them recognizing her not as one of them but as the enemy.

"From Vocal Adrenaline?" Quinn pointed out, coming to stand at Jesse's side and taking Jesse's hand. He saw a reaction in Rachel at that, but she covered it.

"Welcome to New Directions, Rachel," Jesse nodded… Hope wasn't lost after all.

THE END

[A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, story alert won't get you anything! ;)]