A New Direction Is What He Needs

by Benji The Vampire Confuser

G.I. Joe is the intellectual property of Hasbro, and Glee is likewise the creation of someone other than me. No money is being made from this work of fan fiction, and therefore I hope no lawyers will be contacting me.

Emma Pillsbury was in the middle of arranging her desk when the new student came into her office. She thought she'd been prepared. She had after all, known he was coming. It had given her the advance warning she needed to make sure the chairs on the other side of her desk were properly sanitized. She even knew, intellectually at least, of his unfortunate situation. Parents dead, and he, seriously injured in an accident.

But somehow simply knowing the facts of it, and being confronted with the reality were two entirely different things.

"Oh." she murmured, the forgotten tape measure reeling itself back up with a whoosh and a snap that broke her out of her stunned reverie. "Will, uhm, William Kessler?"

"Yeah, that's me." the boy said. His young face seemed guarded and careworn in a way that near broke her heart. No child, she thought, should ever have to wear an expression like that.

She gestured towards one of the empty seats. "Have, have a seat." She carefully did not look at the eye patch, realizing she probably had made him uncomfortable by staring at it. "So, welcome to William McKinley High School."

"Thanks." he said, sitting. It was all he said. He sat stiffly, uncomfortably. Fortunately, Emma was used to uncommunicative students.

"Have you gotten your class schedule and map of the school?"

"Yeah, Principal Figgins' secretary gave me those."

"Did you have any trouble finding my office?"

"No."

"Oh good. Well William, as I'm sure you were told, I'm Emma Pillsbury, the school guidance counselor. I'm here any time you need to talk about anything. Classes, your fellow students, your situation at your foster home, anything at all." She even had some helpful pamphlets she'd gotten for just this sort of situation.

William looked at the pamphlets the pixie-like guidance counselor had handed him before he left her office.

MY PARENTS ARE DEAD

Well that was cutting right to the core of the matter wasn't it. The other one was entitled;

WHO ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME WHAT TO DO?

That was was apparently about living in a foster home. That was the main reason he'd been sent to her office.

The thing was, William's parents were not dead. In fact the "foster mother" he was living with was in fact, his real mother. Though sometimes it felt like she was a foster parent, given that in the past he'd rarely seen her. They were both in witness protection, hiding from his father.

Not that William really expected his father to come after them. In the past even when dear old dad had shown any interest in brainwashing, or killing his son, it'd always been when Billy was at hand. Cobra Commander had never gone looking for him.

He did his best to ignore the looks he was getting as he went through his day. He imagined a small town like Lima Ohio didn't get many kids with eye patches. Thank god it was too cold for shorts or he'd really be getting weird looks.

The counselor had advised him that joining a club would be a good way to meet people and integrate into the school. He'd immediately rejected the idea of trying out for any of the sports teams. This was supposed to be a fresh start for both him and his mother. And sports, any sport, had seemed to him to be too much like stuff he'd already done, already dealt with.

After a short talk, during which he'd discovered that Ms. Pillsbury was both a germaphobe, and somewhat adorable, he'd decided to try out for glee club. He'd done so because it seemed like the most unlikely thing he could have done.

He didn't sing. He had no idea if he even could sing. But he was determined to make this one hell of a fresh start, so he had chosen something completely new and foreign to him.

Show Choir.

Will had been alerted by Emma about the new student, and his interest in Glee. Will couldn't have been happier. Even when, no, especially when she'd told him about his unique appearance. There was a reason he'd called the group New Directions. He'd hoped to prepare the kids a bit more before the boy showed up though. But he'd barely gotten a chance to tell them that they'd be getting a new member when Brittany gasped.

"Oh my God." Kurt blurted out, probably louder than he'd intended.

"Woah." was Artie's contribution.

"Bad ass." Puck said approvingly.

Will managed to barely bat an eye at William's eye patch, and beckoned him to come in. "Hey you must be William."

Billy got the feeling that this might be the most eclectic group of teenagers he'd ever seen. There were three girls in cheer leading uniforms, one of which was staring at him with a wide eyed expression that was hard to read. The Latino girl beside her was giving him an appraising look.

Frankly they all seemed to be sizing him up. Fair enough he was sizing them up as well. And he was a newcomer after all. He kept his expression as blank as he could while he did so. He was not used to the company of people his own age. The closest he'd come were some Cobra recruits who were a few years older than he.

But to see cheerleaders, a nerdy looking guy in a wheelchair, a well dressed gay kid, a goth girl and some jocks in the same club had to be some kind of record.

"And this is Artie." Mr. Shuester finished the introductions.

"What up?" Artie grinned, raising a fist.

"Hi." was all Billy said.

"Are you a pirate?" the girl who'd been staring at him suddenly asked.

Everyone froze, and Billy actually laughed. It'd been a long time since he'd done that. The laugh died though when he saw the look of horror and embarrassment on the faces of some of the kids and realized, she wasn't joking.

"Uh, no." he assured her. He shot Mr. Shuester a 'is she for real' look.

Will thought it'd be best to change the subject. "So, William, is there something you prefer to be called?"

"Anything but Will." Mercedes said. "That'd just get confusing."

That had been Billy's guess. "Uh, well my friends call me Billy." Of course those friends were adults and had known him since he was seven. "But Bill is fine."

"Okay Bill, well how about you sing something for us?"

"Is this like, an initiation?"

"Technically it's called an audition." Mr. Shuester smiled.

"It's just a formality." Rachel spoke up. Frankly everyone was surprised she'd stayed quiet this long. His unorthodox appearance must have shaken her. "We take everyone."

"Oh good that'll make me feel better about myself." he said, deadpan. Some of the kids glowered at Rachel. She just looked back defensively.

Billy didn't really know much of popular culture in general, much less music. Storm Shadow had liked classical music, Jinx mostly listened to J-Pop. He was tempted to try some of that, but wasn't sure he A) wanted to show off he could speak Japanese yet, or B) that the piano guy would have the first idea of how to play any of it.

He wracked his brain, and then decided on one of the Baroness' favorite songs. And because he'd had a crush on her at one time, and had sort of grown up with the music, he knew all the words.

He spoke to the man at the piano, who nodded approvingly.

He probably let the music go on for too long before starting, but he soon picked up the rhythm.

"Come gather round people, wherever you roam. And admit that the waters around you have grown, and accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone. If your time to you is worth savin'. And you'd better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone, for the times they are a changin'."

Midway through the second verse, Finn had started playing the drums, and Artie joined in on guitar. Some of the other kids even started singing along on the chorus. The whole situation was somewhat surreal to him. But, a lot of fun.

And while his voice was not the best, he'd stayed on key, hit the right notes, and kept the beat. At the end of the song, there were a lot of smiles, and Billy, though his wasn't one of them, was a lot more relaxed. He thought he was going to like Glee Club.

He caught Brittany staring at him.

"I swear I'm not a pirate." I'm a ninja. Way cooler.

Word of the new kid in Glee spread quickly. And Dave Karofsky and Azimio decided to give the new boy a proper welcome, and instruction on the way things worked at William McKinley.

Things didn't go as planned.

Billy had never had to dodge liquid before, but a lifetime of training and practical experience made him acutely aware of the signs that someone was on the attack. And these two guys were not even being subtle. A slushy was an unusual weapon he supposed, but he didn't stop to think about that until after he'd spun out of the way of one deluge and ducked under the other.

There was a moment of utter stillness as everyone in the hallway, jaded enough to ignore when someone was hit with a slushy, froze to marvel at the unprecedented event that had just taken place. It was a moment that could have gone any number of ways. Some of which would have gotten Billy expelled on his second day of school.

Good thing he remembered more of his ninja training than just the fighting part.

"You spilled your drinks." he said calmly, challengingly.

They didn't take him up on the challenge, that time. He'd thrown them off their game. But he got the feeling this wasn't over.

The next day Karofsky was alone, and before he could launch his slushy attack, Billy lunge forward and knocked the cup out of his hand, sending the red syrupy drink all over the boy's face and letter jacket.

"Damn," Billy tsked, "Don't they give you covers for those drinks?" Karofsky could only splutter with outrage.

Billy turned to walk away and felt someone link their arm through his.

"Santana." he said. He hadn't seen her coming. She'd come up in his blind spot. What disturbed him was that he hadn't heard her coming as well. Apparently the noise of a high school hallway was unlike any other noise. He supposed she hadn't tripped any other alarms because he got the feeling she didn't mean him any harm. Except maybe to his virtue. "Showing Glee Club solidarity?"

"Something like that." she smirked at him. "And at the same time, not at all."

Sue looked at the kid sitting before her. She'd gotten his file from the red headed step-child, and reviewed it while he sat across from her. She always made people wait. It was a sign of power and made them uncomfortable. She liked people to be uncomfortable, it put them off balance.

She couldn't tell if it was working on him or not though. Damn poker face. Kid probably got pocket money by card sharking. Reminded her of herself at his age.

"So, Cap'n Bill," she finally said, dropping his file onto her desk, "Ever consider becoming a cheerleader?"

Yes she knew he was in Glee Club. No she didn't care. The boy had dodged not one, but two slushies and that might, might, mean he'd be able to keep up with her intense physical regimen she made her Cheerios undergo.

"I'm not cheerful." was his answer.

She'd better be careful or she might start to like this kid. "Of course not you're hideously disfigured, and dress like a homeless man dumpster diving in back of an army surplus store." That got to him, she could see. Whether it was the crack about his scars or his clothes, she wasn't sure. But there'd been a definite twitch. "But Santana here tells me you've got moves, and fortunately no one ever pays any attention to male cheerleaders, so your pirate chic won't be a distraction."

Billy suddenly desperately wanted to introduce her to the Baroness.

"How long do I have to think about this?"

Sue didn't know how long it'd take him to catch up to the others in learning the routine she was shaping up for regionals. Given what she'd read about him she wasn't surprised he wasn't jumping for joy at the idea of being picked for a five time national champion cheer leading squad. A kid like this likely wouldn't know the first thing about that.

And though she'd never admit it out loud, she did have a soft spot for hard luck cases. Particularly those that appeared to have made those cases stronger, instead of weaker. He seemed hardened more than most kids. Which, actually might be a detriment to her purposes. If he was already baked clay, she would have that much harder a time shaping him.

"You can try out now or wait till the next time I have tryouts just like everyone else." she told him. "Unless I decided in the mean time that I don't like you in which case it'd be pointless."

Quinn later told him that the fact that she hadn't already said she didn't like him was a high compliment. He watched one of the Cheerio's training sessions that afternoon. After listening to Sue Sylvester berate them, he desperately wanted to introduce her to Beachhead. If ever there was a match made in heaven.

"You want me to dance?" Billy asked Mr. Shuester skeptically.

Will smiled encouragingly at him. "I've seen how quickly you pick up the choreography. And rumor has it you dodged a slushy attack the other day. Just give it a shot."

Billy scratched his head, then sighed resignedly. He was looking for new experiences after all. He spoke to Artie, who assured him that he totally hook him up.

So, with an idea of something that might work in his head, he mounted the stage, and composed himself. This was actually something he'd considered trying sometime anyway. When he was ready, he nodded at Artie, who then began to play "Eye of the Tiger". The kata was one of the more complicated ones Billy knew. It was also the coolest looking one in his opinion. It was why he'd sometimes imagined using it with this music.

As often happened before, as the other kids got into it, they joined in. Mike and Brittany in particular got into the dance, while Finn, Puck and Artie began to sing. By the end, they were all smiles again. Except Brittany who had noticed that the right leg of Billy's pants had ridden up revealing a glint of metal.

Everyone looked at where she was staring. Billy sighed and pulled up the pant leg to his knee so they could all see the shiny prosthetic leg. "I've got a tattoo too." he said, deciding to get that out of the way.

Brittany looked like she was going to ask him something.

"I'm not a robot." he said, and her mouth snapped shut. He wondered if she believed him.

"Brittany's plugged in a little differently." Artie told him.

"I'm getting that."

Mr. Shuester of course decided to break the tension. "Alright! Looks like we've got another dancer! Now that we're all warmed up, let's get back to work." Everyone looked at him, glad to put the weirdness of Billy's leg behind them. "From the top."

The End