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 42nd cycle. Now cycle 43!

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** UPDATED WITH CYCLE 43 CHEAT SHEET ** Check it out to find out about shift days!

This is a shift day [see above]. There will be another upload this afternoon: The Long Aloha, chapter 3.

FIGHT/FLIGHT

1 of 2
"A Moment In Flight"
Santana & Karofsky

It didn't take them long to figure out something had happened. What that something was, they didn't know, but it had happened. The teachers were sharing words in hushed tones, a few of them looked almost terrified, stricken… lost. A lot wouldn't care, but it would be those who hadn't bothered to notice. For the others, it left dread in its wake, in the not knowing.

Santana didn't know what it was either, but she had this feeling, like knowing would break her heart a little… break it a lot. It was when she'd seen Miss Pillsbury go by. Their eyes had met, just one moment, and then the guidance counsellor couldn't hold her gaze as she kept moving. If she hadn't seen Brittany five seconds ago, her mind would already have started spinning horror stories where this sadness had been caused by something happening to her. But then if it wasn't her, it still had to be that something had happened to one of them, or…

She counted them off in her head, the ones she'd seen since the day had started, all these people, her friends, whether she'd wanted them or not at first, they had joined her world and she couldn't bear the thought of them ever leaving it in the near future. Except as she thought, everyone was accounted for. This one she'd seen before first period, those two in first period, two more before the next class, four in second period… It couldn't be… not her family, no, that wouldn't make sense, with the teachers… She hated not knowing.

She didn't know why she did it, but she doubled back and followed after Miss Pillsbury. It wasn't hard to find the redhead again, bobbing through the crowded hall. Santana knew how to cut her way through, and before long she'd made it out to see Emma go into her office and shut the door. She walked up toward the door, carefully peering in. She watched the woman slowly sit at her desk, a sort of shocked expression quivering over her features. Santana frowned, wishing she knew what was happening.

She wasn't going to get anywhere by staying here, so she'd gone back up the hall, seeking a new lead. She might have been able to let it go and move on before, but since her eyes had crossed Emma's, she couldn't. She had to find out what was happening.

She saw Coach Beiste, Coach Sylvester… They both had something in them, too – they knew. They were walking together, talking, and to Santana it was a red flag. Those two were never on speaking terms, to her knowledge, in fact Coach Sylvester usually encouraged for them to mess with football coach. And now… now something had united them in a common state of mind.

It was enough. She didn't like this feeling, and she had to find out what was happening. She hurried her steps toward the principal's office, figuring the biggest talk might be happening there, and she could catch part of it if she was quick about it.

She didn't have time to think. Just as she was getting close, Mr. Schuester was coming out of the office with Figgins in tow, and she ducked to the side, turning away so they wouldn't notice her. It was as they passed that she managed to hear them.

"… the Glee Club. They have a history with Dave Karofsky, they should hear it from…"

When they'd passed, she'd spun back, looking after them. Karofsky. This was about him, this… what… Something had happened to him, right? Was he injured, or… Before she knew it, she was following after the two men. At this point they were so busy talking they'd never notice her.

"… delicate situation, William."

"I know. That's why I want to address it with them before too long. They're going to be hearing a lot of things, about what he did…"

No… No, no… It couldn't be what she was thinking, it couldn't be. Oh… no…

She'd sort of lost her footing when the thought had hit her, a good old sledgehammer of a hit, and she'd stopped walking. Now the men were getting away and she had to hurry to catch up with them again.

"… find out more about his condition, I will let you know," Figgins told Schuester before continuing on, while her teacher stayed there. When she saw him start to turn she just made a dash into the girls' bathroom, which was thankfully nearby. She counted to thirty in her head, allowed herself to breathe through it, and once the time had elapsed she exited back into the hall – he was gone.

But now she had this knowledge. She'd so needed to have that knowledge, and now that she had it she wished she didn't. She'd only caught it piece by piece, and a lot of those pieces alluded to something without using the proper words, but she could fit them together just fine.

Karofsky had tried to kill himself, tried and, thankfully, failed, from what she got. That it hadn't worked was just one thing, a favorable end note. The thing was that he'd tried, and it left her flooded with too many feelings to know what to do with. They hadn't had as much contact lately, with him off at another school now, but they still talked from time to time. She thought he was doing okay, needed to know that he was doing okay. Something had to have happened to have changed that, changed him, to the point where he would consider this as his only solution.

Maybe the hardest part about it, on the more personal level, was the idea that he had gotten there, that they could get there. Worst of all it made her wonder if it could ever happen to her, if things could get so bad that she would think… It was easy to tell herself 'oh but I wouldn't,' but then Dave had probably told himself the same thing, until that day… Somewhere in the world, there had been a trigger with his name on it, and it had been pulled, tossing events in motion. Did she have a trigger?

Now he was alive, alright. That wasn't going to make everything better for him all over again, just like that. Where was his head at, in that moment? He had wanted out, but he was still in. Awakening to that, she couldn't imagine… It sent shivers up her spine, and she was thinking all these emotions she'd been seeing on the faculty's faces that morning, by now she was showing them as well. She tried to pull it back in, not to leave too much out there for all to see. It wasn't their business.

Her history with Karofsky read like something out of a messed up drama. The cheerleader and the football player, lording over with the status they had wanted and gotten, harboring secrets, using each other to protect those secrets but understanding the things they shared until they almost looked out for one another, and then for those they had once tossed around. And then… this.

She needed to see him. She didn't know what she'd say or do, just that she had to see him… She felt shivers… She still couldn't believe it…

TO BE CONCLUDED (MONDAY)