AUTHOR'S NOTES: Child Trauma is on hold for now, but I will be getting back to it soon. Meanwhile, here's another one-shot set much earlier in my main timeline.
This story takes place shortly after the events of Pizza & Movie Night
On a spring day in 2015, the Bella's bus was driving down a rural road on the way to a gig.
"You guys, it's my first performance." Emily pointed out feeling excited.
"Calm down; it's just a chance for us to rehearse for Worlds." Chloe reminded her.
Later, the Bellas were in a dressing room getting ready for their performance.
"How'd we get this gig again?" Beca asked.
"They called us." Chloe said.
"Well, in that case, this better go well." Beca said.
"I hope it does. Because if we fail at this, we won't win Worlds. If we don't win Worlds, there'll be no more Bellas. And without the Bellas, my life has no..." Chloe said trying to finish her sentance.
"Malaria." Flo guessed.
"...meaning, Flo." Chloe corrected her.
As it turned out, their performance goes well at first, but then turns into a disaster. And the prime reason for the disaster...CR's head accidently catches fire some point during the song.
While the other Bellas went to check on her to make sure she was okay, all Beca & Chloe could do was watch what happened in horror.
Back on the Bella's bus it seemed so quiet. It seemed like the Bellas were going about their business as usual, but Chloe was still worried.
"Are we just going to ignore what happened back there?" Chloe asked.
"Not me. I almost burned to death because of you guys." CR said.
"If you almost died it because you were standing in the wrong spot." Amy said.
"No! Flo flipped into me." CR corrected her.
"Sure, blame the minority." Flo said.
"ENOUGH! Okay, clearly the props were a bad idea. We did just fine for years without them." Beca said.
"I agree. It's obvious now that just trying to add props is just tearing us down." Chloe said.
"Well, we need a way to build ourselves back up. But I just don't know what else we can do." Beca said.
"Well, I do! Desperate times call for desperate measures. And in these desperate times there's only one thing left to do." Chloe said.
"Fake your own death and flee the country?" Flo guessed.
"NO!" The other Bellas responded.
"Close; we're going on a retreat." Chloe said.
That night back at the Bella House, Chloe lied awake in her bed worried. For the past 7 years, she's invested everything into the Bellas. And now after their recent disaster of a gig, she knew the Bellas needed help if there were to have any chance against Das Sound Machine at Worlds.
She remembered a recent conversation with Aubrey from last Christmas Eve about bringing the Bellas to her new retreat and decided it was time to make a phone call.
"Hey, Chloe." Aubrey said answering her phone.
"Hey, Aubrey. Remember what you told me last Christmas Eve about that retreat of yours?" Chloe asked.
"Oh, yeah. Have you been giving it some thought?" Aubrey asked.
"More than ever. Especially since the Bellas need help if we're going to have any chance at winning Worlds." Chloe said.
"Well, bring them over for a 2-day boot camp." Aubrey said.
"That'd be great. When can we come by?" Chloe asked.
"Bring them over this Saturday." Aubrey said.
"Great. Can you text me the address?" Chloe asked.
"Absolutely! I'll see you and the rest of the Bellas this weekend." Aubrey said.
"See you then." Chloe said hanging up.
Just seconds later, she received the text from Aubrey stating the address to her new retreat and put the address in her Google Maps.
That following Saturday, The Bellas boarded their bus and headed off to the retreat. They arrived 2 hours later.
"Is this the place?" Amy asked parking the Bella's bus.
"Yep." Chloe said as the Bellas started to get off the bus with their luggage.
"I need to find somewhere to charge my laptop. How'd you find out about this place?" Beca asked.
"From yours truly. Hello, Bellas." Aubrey said as the other Bellas happily ran to hug her.
Yeah, they haven't seen much of Aubrey since she graduated and they were very happy to see her.
"Welcome to the Lodge of Fallen Leaves." Aubrey said after the Bellas broke away from the hug.
"You run this whole place?" Beca asked.
"I realized with my tight-fisted personality, I have a knack for barking orders. So, I made a career out of it." Aubrey said.
"Okay, so why are we here again?" Beca asked.
"Well, it has come to my attention that you Bellas have totally lost your harmony. So for the next two days, you will be doing everything together til you regain it." Aubrey said as she presented the Bellas with an itinerary.
Beca questioned how any of the activities listed will help them win Worlds. But Aubrey insisted to just go with it.
That night in a cramped up tent, The Bellas were trying to sleep when they heard a ringtone.
"Whoever's phone is that, could you please turn it off?" Beca asked half asleep.
"Sorry. It's mine. I'll just take it outside." Amy said as she grabbed her phone and stepped out of the tent.
"Who do you think could be calling her this late at night?" Chloe asked whispering to Beca.
"Want to go find out?" Beca asked whispering back.
"Yes." Chloe whispered as the two stepped out of the tent following Amy.
"Bumper, what are you doing up? It's got to be around Midnight right now." Amy asked.
"I know. I'm just having trouble getting to sleep." Bumper said.
"Well, you nearly woke up all of the Bellas. We're all cramped up in a tent in the woods." Amy said.
"What are you doing out in the woods?" Bumper asked.
"Chloe insisted the Bellas go on a retreat. And get this: The retreat is run by Aubrey." Amy said.
"Wow. All right, well you have a good time at the retreat. I should probably get some sleep. Good night." Bumper said.
"Good night, Bumper." Amy said hanging up. When she hung up, Beca & Chloe went back into the tent before Amy could catch them.
The next morning, Aubrey blew a whistle waking up the other Bellas.
"UP AND AT 'EM, BELLAS! LET'S GO, LET'S WAKE UP, COME ON!" Aubrey yelled.
"Today, we're going back to the basics to learn to sing as a group. While also enduring some trust building team exercises." She continued.
"What a great idea." Chloe said.
"All right, let's begin." Aubrey said blowing a pitch pipe.
Aubrey lead them through a boot camp consisting of some rather old songs, and an obstacle course which featured going through tangled ropes, balancing on a log, going down a water slide, and crossing a mud pit.
THE END!
AUTHOR'S NOTES: The ending of this story would transition to the events of Alternate Bear Trap Aftermath