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 59th cycle. Now cycle 60!

"The New Recruits"
(from gen!1) Santana/Rachel, (from gen!2) Quinn, Jesse, Kurt, Mike
Berry-St series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

(if there is any confusion, don't hesitate to message me!)

The day before had been eventful enough that returning to McKinley had felt like she hadn't been there in ages, and that was even before she had factored in… everything. It was a brand new world, for some more than others.

She had been to Glee Club the day before, even though there were a number of absences. And she had seen some of them there… she just didn't know yet that she should have been looking at them. That had come later, when she'd spoken to Rachel and found out the truth.

Looking at them now, it was hard to imagine she hadn't noticed anything before. She knew these particular… versions had only just arrived, but the difference was evident now that she knew to look.

She didn't want to believe it at first. She wanted to say they had all gone insane and she wouldn't be part of it. But they were her friends, all of them, and no matter how abrasive she could be, if they needed help, she would be there. Besides, Rachel was right in the middle of it and for her she could have done anything.

None of them looked at her like she knew, or like they knew that she knew. Maybe they didn't, or they weren't sure so they were playing it safe. She might have done that, too, if she'd been in their situation, which she honestly hoped would never be the case.

But by lunch time, Rachel had gotten them all gathered around a table and she was signalling for her to join them. All four of them looked at her like they wondered whether it was safe to talk around her. Actually, three of them. Jesse, this Jesse, had only ever seen her once before, the day before, after waking up on the ground by his locker. He was giving her a grin like he thought he had a shot with her. She shot that down in half a second flat, tossing him a glare.

"It's alright, she's with us," Rachel promised them, patting the chair at her side. When Santana sat down, she felt Quinn's stare. Rachel had told her about how this new Quinn and her alternate self were a couple, and whether she knew about her and this Rachel, Santana didn't know. But she definitely had a territorial flare at the sight of them sitting together.

"You told her?" Kurt asked.

"I kind of had to, I told you that might happen, didn't I?" Rachel sighed. "I know all of you are new to this, but I'm not. Trust me, we need her."

"Hey," Brittany arrived, dropping in between Jesse and Kurt.

"And her, too."

"Why don't you just invite the whole school while you're at it," Jesse frowned.

"You, shut it, right now," Rachel pointed a finger at him.

"This is so weird," Brittany observed. Rachel knew she had been involved in this since back in the days when the other Rachel and Jesse were here, the ones who had gotten to go home, the ones who had gotten to go home, the ones who had loved each other… This was a brand new game.

"You think that's weird?" Mike frowned.

"Alright, enough," Rachel cut in. "The reason I've brought you here is so you can all get to know each other. You're going to have to, if you ever expect to get home."

Santana looked at her, seeing how much she didn't want to be put into this position any more than they did. She'd done this before; she just wanted things to be normal again, with her. Santana reached under the table, finding Rachel's hand, only for a moment, only so she'd know she had her back.

"Also, this kind of gathering, don't get used to it, not here at school. Keep it at home. My door is always… If you need to talk, call me and we'll figure something out. You can call Brittany, too," she checked and the blonde nodded.

"And me," Santana piped in, and Rachel smiled.

"And Santana. Now finish eating and go on your way. Just be careful, okay? I don't want to have to come and rescue you all the time," Rachel finished her 'address' and got back to her lunch.

The group had disbanded before long. As they were eating though, Santana observed them, trying to figure them out.

The new Jesse and Quinn were nothing like the ones they had replaced, that much she could see. She could almost pinpoint the time when the 'real ones' had been replaced by the first pair. The real ones had been sneaking about, falling in love behind closed doors. They didn't have her fooled, but to the others it had been a revelation. Then all of a sudden there had been a change of pace. She had no idea what it was, she just knew it was there. They had gotten better at pretending near the end, from what she saw.

Now though there were these two. Rachel must have told them they were supposed to pretend they were together. Jesse had his arm around Quinn's shoulders, and she would try and smile at him from time to time. But it was all wrong. They were like bad actors thrown into the spotlight at the last minute. They played it the way they thought they should, but it didn't hit the mark or look sincere in the least.

Then there was Kurt. She didn't need to ask what was different about him, she could see it, same as she would in her own face… He wasn't out yet. His secret was exactly that, or it had been in this other world he was from. Now here he was, slowly realizing everyone knew who he was here. He would get to see what that was like here, and for his sake she hoped they would treat him kindly enough. He wouldn't be alone. He would have all of them to look out for him. And he'd have her. If anyone tried to mess with him, they would have Santana Lopez to answer to.

The thing with Mike had probably been the one to freak her out the most. She could see him when he walked around that morning, remembered him in Glee Club the day before. He had lost his leg, in that other world, and now he had it back. How did you even accept that, if it meant accepting that you wouldn't get to keep it forever? And then there was Matt… alive here, dead there… Even she couldn't help but stare at him whenever she saw him again.

That night, she had gone out after dinner, driving over to Rachel's Her father had let her in, and she went up to her room, finding her lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She looked exhausted.

"Hey," Santana smirked, especially at the way Rachel stared back immediately at the sound of her voice.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you," she breathed, tapping the space next to her on her bed. Santana shut the door and went to sit with her, reaching to brush hair out of her face.

"Big day?"

"I hate it already," she groaned. Santana leaned over, kissing the forehead she had just cleared. "That helps."

"I'll make a note," Santana promised. "Look, no matter how bad it gets, I'm here, if you need help, or if you just need to unload and can't do it in front of the new puppies…"

"Puppies…" Rachel chuckled before staring up at her. "If they send me over there, I swear I'll raise hell."

"You and me both."

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!