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 36th cycle. Now cycle 37!

"Tricks and No Treat"
Sue & Brittany
Sylvesters Series #30 (following up Cheer up, Cheerio)

Christmas may have been her daughter's favorite holiday, but really if she had to declare herself, Sue had to say she was Halloween through and through. This had been the case, to a point, even before Brittany had come along, but afterward, after they had started lying about who they were to one another, its worth had increased in her mind. This was a special night, one night when they could go about, mother and daughter… all they needed was a good enough disguise.

She could feel this year might be different in some way. It hadn't been the most stable of times in their household, between having to share Brittany with her father and his family, and still dealing with Schuester and the Glee Club, and now there was this other… situation… the one where she'd begun weaving in what she hoped to be just enough discomfort so her daughter would leave the Cheerios. This was her own doing, and on one knew, obviously… not that they'd understand. But she had come to see it as a good thing for Brittany, a necessary thing. This was absolutely a decision as her mother. As her coach she realized she was probably shooting herself in the foot, letting one of her best Cheerios go, but it was just one. She would still have Santana, and Quinn, and all those other ones she forgot half the time…

She wasn't sure if she was making any progress yet though; not until Halloween came around.

It used to be that they'd hand out candy for a while, then Sue would take Brittany around to get her own candy, and then they'd come home, sort through her lot – which Brittany always shared with her – and then watch a scary movie before bed… Mom there to keep her safe… As she'd gotten older, the routine had changed a bit. They still handed out candy together, they still did the splitting and the movie, but she would go around with her friends instead of her mother. And then they'd changed yet again, only in that they'd split the candy while watching the movie, because she'd be out longer with her friends, maybe go to a party…

This year, Sue emerged from her room dressed as werewolf, complete with a mask. When Brittany saw her she called her Chewbacca, so all of a sudden she was Chewbacca – no point in contradicting her, especially as Sue noticed something. "You know the wig and the makeup are perfect, but I can still tell it's you," she looked at the Bride of Frankenstein standing before her.

"But you're my mother, of course you'd know," she shrugged. "Besides it took me like an hour to get Lord Tubbington ready. He didn't like his collar." The cat padded in between them, the collar dissimulating itself into his hair, save for the two bolts which seemed to be protruding from his neck instead of the collar.

"I have some masks back in my room," Sue shook her head.

"I don't want a mask," the stern tone in Brittany's voice startled her. She looked back at her, and just managed to catch the hint of a look as Brittany had turned away… She knew the idea was to let her go, a little. But even with blow out after the Glee Club's Sectionals – when she'd tried to get her to go to Boca Raton with her – she'd never heard anything like this, it was… disappointment?

They got the candy ready, and Sue lifted her mask to look at her Brittany as she stood there, digging through one bowl in what Sue guessed was a search for one of those fizzy candies she loved so much. "Want to flip the lights?" Brittany looked at her, reached for the switch without looking. Outside they could hear the sounds from the animated decorations. "Ready for Halloween?" She wasn't sure if she'd get a smile out of her, and when she did… it was the best she could hope for. When the mask came back down, she felt her face regain worry. Whatever was upsetting Brittany this time, she had no idea…

This was of no concern at the moment though. For now, they were going outside to hand out candy. It was something to witness Sue Sylvester, even if no one could tell it was her, in the midst of eager trick-or-treaters. She had crowd control skills, yes, but more than that, she was engaging with those who were brave enough to come to Werebacca… then she'd mess with the others and growl, all in good fun. She'd see Brittany nearby, smiling, laughing as she saw this, and finally it felt like their kind of Halloween.

Eventually though it was time for Brittany to head off and meet her friends, so she handed the second bowl over and ran off down the street. Sue could swear she saw the Bride of Frankenstein zombie walk and grunt at a couple of trick-or-treaters as she went on her way… That was her girl indeed.

The rest of the candy time went by. She still carried on her act as she had been, but without Brittany there it wasn't the same. She finally decided to turn in and wait for her return, especially as what was left of the candy seemed to feature strongly in her daughter's favorite fizzy candy, the small wrapped things so small that they'd slipped to the bottom. She went in, turned off the lights, took off the mask, and then sat on the couch… waiting. The cat came slinking toward her, looking miserably against the world. She leaned over and picked him up, releasing him from the collar before putting him back down… and he slinked away like nothing had happened.

When Brittany returned, she found her mother in the middle of watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show. She paused it when the girl appeared just inside the living room. Her wig had gone slightly haywire, and her makeup showed the dripping effects of sweat, and now she could see even more of her in that face. "It seemed appropriate," Sue indicated the television. Brittany didn't reply, not at first, then…

"I know what you're doing," she stated.

"What am I doing?" Sue asked. Had she been too obvious about pushing her back?

"You're trying to hurt Glee Club again," Brittany told her, the face and the remains of her makeup making her properly terrifying. "But you promised…"

"I know what I said," Sue nodded. "And you need to trust that…"

"Why should I?" Brittany interrupted her. "I used to think you were doing it for some reason… whatever it was… Now I just think you're bored and you need something to play with," she crossed her arms in front of herself. Yes, it had been disappointment earlier.

"What do you want me to tell you?"

"I don't know," Brittany shrugged. "But I think… things need to change," she finally said. And then she went to her room. No candy sorting, no movie… Sue looked to her side, to the werewolf mask lying upside down, to hold the lot of fizzy candies she'd saved for Brittany. She'd leave them in her room after she'd gone to bed. Maybe she'd wake up in the morning and things would be better… even a little better would have to be good… She'd known this process would be hard, tricky, but she hadn't prepared to see the feelings she'd seen in her daughter's eyes that night.

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!