The Voice

Chapter 2

Pairing: Beca/Chloe

Rating: T

Songs Used: Immortals/Centuries Mashup - Fall Out Boy / Mashup mixed and performed by Kurt Hugo Schneider and Sam Tsui.
One More Night - Maroon 5
All Of Me - John Legend

With her coach chosen, Chloe Beale now moved into the Battle Rounds. She would be coached by Aubrey for the next week or two before she was paired up with another performer from Team Aubrey. They would choose a song to perform together and battle it out in the performance ring. The coaches would share their thoughts on both artist's singing and then their coach would pick who was to move on to the Knockout Rounds.

The first day after all the Blinds were done, all contestants met at the studio to meet their team, meet others on the other teams and start training with their coaches. Chloe almost skipped into the studio. She was still kind of high on the Blind Auditions. She was one of the few artists that managed to have a four chair performance; the only others in the bunch were Stacie Conrad and Jesse Swanson. Conrad had chosen Adam as her coach. She was a bit unorthodox of a performer; having a powerful voice and being very sultry and sexual in her stage presence. It worked for her nicely though. Swanson on the other hand had gone with Aubrey as his coach. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but he always had this cocky and overly smug look plastered on his face. It kind of rubbed Chloe the wrong way, but she tried her best to ignore it. After all, she would eventually be competing against him, if not the Battle Rounds, then most likely in Knockouts. That is, if both of them advanced that far.

The coaches were spending the morning rehearsing for their performance, allowing the contestants to mingle and get to know each other. Even though they were all technically rivals for the prize, it was a tradition on The Voice to spend most of the first day just getting to know other performers and making friendships. Not to mention the networking opportunities when contestants started getting eliminated.

Chloe was watching the judges rehearse a mashup that Beca had pulled together for their coaches' performance that was going to be shot in front an audience soon. She couldn't help but be entranced by Beca's singing skills. She knew from her research that Beca wasn't a singer by trade. She initially just wanted to be a LA DJ, putting together mixes and spinning tracks at the best clubs in LA. But once she relocated her life to California, she had caught the eye of music producer and recording artist Pharrell Williams, and her career shot off. Williams had seen something in Beca that he liked, and he helped her break into the business. She was well documented for expressing her gratitude to Pharrell for giving her a chance, and she was noted to still be good friends with the artist, taking his spot on The Voice.

You will remember me, for centuries
(Immortals, we could be immortals)
You will remember me,
remember me, for centuries
(Du-du-du-du-du-du-du)
Immortals, immortals

Listening to Beca and Aubrey harmonize, made Chloe realize how talented both these women were and if wasn't for their bitter rivalry, they could make some amazing tracks together. Their voices complimented each other, Aubrey's soprano and Beca's lower alto. She felt someone tap her shoulder and she turned to see Jesse Swanson staring back at her, with a goofy grin on his face.

"Hi, I'm Jesse." He held his hand out to her to shake. She smiled at him and took his hand. He had a firm grip; he nodded at her, silently asking her to introduce herself.

"Hi Jesse, I'm Chloe." She said as she let go of Jesse's hand.

"So.. Team Aubrey, eh?" Chloe nodded. She didn't know why she made that exact decision really. It was almost a spur of the moment decision. She had wanted to choose Beca, but her fear of her feelings getting in the way outweighed picking the short brunette as her coach. Aubrey was the next best choice for her and so she went with it. Chloe was often impulsive, something doing things without really thinking about them.

"Yeah, I know she's got kind of a nasty reputation, but I feel with her motivation, she'd probably be the coach to get the most done. She does seem like kind of a control freak though." She glanced over at Aubrey who was lecturing Beca on god knows what. Beca just looked bored, nodding once in a while to give the illusion that she was still listening, rolling her eyes every once in a while.

Jesse shrugged. "She's the best though. I mean, she's recorded with legendary artists."

'There's more to being the best besides performing with the best.' Chloe thought to herself, but didn't voice her opinion. She couldn't deny that Aubrey was extremely talented. But she was finding herself slightly biased towards a certain brunette producer/DJ/singer. "Yeah, she has. I think I'm just looking to make myself better, you know?" Jesse nodded.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. We've all got stuff to work on. Some more than others." Chloe noticed Jesse glanced over at some of the other contestants, especially Stacie and Benji. It offended Chloe that he was making presumptions about their fellow artists, especially when he hardly knew them, but again; she kept her mouth shut. She didn't want to risk putting her foot in her mouth. So instead she just shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, best of luck to you!" She said happily. And she meant it. As much as she wanted to win, she also wanted all her fellow artists to get as much out of the competition as they could.

"You too, maybe I'll talk to you later Chloe."

"I'm sure you will, we're on the same team after all." Jesse gave Chloe a wink and then scampered off to meet some of the other contestants.

Chloe turned her sights to some of the other contestants. She noticed Stacie standing by herself, so she all but bounded over to the sexual singer. She waved and then held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Chloe." Stacie smiled and shook Chloe's hand.

"Hey Chloe. Stacie. I managed to catch your performance, you are an excellent performer. You had the audience wrapped around your little finger." Chloe slightly blushed at the compliment.

"I suppose, but you're really good as well! The audience was fixated on you the entire time." Stacie chuckled.

"Yeah, but that's because they were attracted to watching me perform. I know it. I'm familiar with my body and know how to use it." Chloe laughed.

"Yeah, you sure do." Stacie raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"I'm guessing I had you captivated as well. See anything that interested you?" Chloe blushed and shook her head.

"Just admiring. I can appreciate a beautiful female when I see one." Stacie laughed.

"I like you Beale." They chatted for a little bit about what their music career had been like. Stacie freely admitted that her music experience was about at the same level as Chloe's. She mainly booked what she could get, and hadn't yet been discovered. She hoped that The Voice would get her the exposure she needed. Chloe could definitely relate to that.

As the two were chatting, Beca and Aubrey continued arguing while Blake and Adam just watched them, amused. "When do you think they'll let up?" Blake whispered to Adam, who just shrugged his shoulders. "You think we should stop them?" Adam shook his head.

"Let them get it out, it'll be a hellish day if they don't." Blake thought about that and quickly agreed.

"Come on Mitchell, get your head in the game." Beca rolled her eyes. And Aubrey huffed. She hated it when people didn't cooperate with her. Beca Mitchell especially.

"Let it go Posen. We're not expected to be perfect on our first rehearsal. Let's just get back to it." Aubrey relented and they started again.

Mummified my teenaged dreams,
no there's nothing wrong with me.
The kids are all wrong,
The story's all off
Heavy metal broke my heart

Aubrey begrudgingly had to admit Beca Mitchell had a stellar voice, even if she was a grade A pain in the ass. She was a strong singer; if only she cared more about being perfect.

Come on, come on and let me in
The bruises on your thighs like my fingerprints
And this is supposed to match
The darkness that you felt
I never meant for you to fix yourself

This particular part was Adam's and although he performed well, Beca couldn't help but wonder why Posen only ever nitpicked on her. She never did it to Blake or Adam.

Oooooooh
I am the sand in the bottom half of the hourglass (glass, glass)
Oooooooh,
I try to picture me without you but I can't

Blake had a different style in his voice than the other three coaches, but it synced perfectly with them. He had a more raspy, and for lack of a better word, country, voice. While Beca and Adam had a more alternative rock-ish feel, and Aubrey was more pop-country. But all four coaches knew how to make their voices work together, and for all the contestants that were watching them rehearse; they could only hope that they would reach that level someday.

'Cause we could be immortals, we could be immortals
You will remember me
Remember me for centuries
(Immortals, we could be immortals)
You will remember me,
Remember me, for centuries

Hearing the familiar voice of the judges all harmonizing drew Chloe's attention over to them again. Again her eyes were drawn to Beca who was easily melding her voice into the other judges to create the dynamic that they did. It was mesmerizing, to watch these famous recording artists in their element all together, even with the rivalry between Beca and Aubrey, they managed to bring it together to deliver a spectacular performance anyways.

That afternoon was mostly spent with their coaches, going over how the next couple of weeks would run and what each singer was going to be working on. Aubrey brought her team all together before meeting with them individually. All the members of Aubrey's team, including Jesse and Chloe, gathered around to hear what Aubrey was going to say.

"Hey guys and girls, as you know, I'm probably going to be your coach for the rest of your stay here on The Voice. Now, I'm sure all of you have questions, but rest assured I'm going to give you my all to get you into the finals. I have faith in all of your singing abilities." Chloe hated the diplomatic bullshit of the behind the scenes of reality TV. Everyone knew that the coaches were responsible for the Battle Rounds, and who advanced. She may have faith in everyone, but ultimately she would have faith in one person over the other, whoever gave her the chance to one up Beca Mitchell. But Chloe would be damned if she didn't give it her best try to be that person. Even though the thought of being used as a.. tool in the rivalry between Aubrey and Beca wasn't too tasteful for Chloe.

"For the rest of the day you're free to do what you want around the studio while I spend time with each of the contestants. When I'm ready to meet with you, I'll come find you." Her team collectively nodded in understanding. She looked at her roster. "Chloe Beale? You're up first." Chloe nervously swallowed, preparing herself. Jesse gave her a gentle nudge towards Aubrey. She approached Aubrey as the rest of the team went their own ways, some mingling with other team members, and others going off on their own to singles coaching studios to work on their singing.

For the next few days Aubrey slowly made her way around her team, working with each of them individually on certain things that they either needed to improve or things that she thought would help carry them to finals.

Chloe actually didn't see much of Aubrey after their initial meeting. Aubrey was true to her word and wanted to help her improve her already stellar performance skills, as with shows like The Voice, performance was everything. You could have the most beautiful voice in the world, and if you were a boring performer, no one would spare you a second glance. Aubrey's confidence in Chloe's abilities boosted the redhead's confidence in herself tenfold. She had never been a particularly self-conscious person. She had an overly happy personality, and she was extremely confident about her body. She knew that her sense of personal boundaries was a little warped, but she tried to resist the urge to be a creep as much as possible. Things that she found completely normal, others found weird about her. But even so, the confidence of a famous recording artist does wonders for your self-esteem.

It was different with Aubrey. The few times they had met, Aubrey was completely open and willing to work with Chloe to help strengthen her skill set. She understood that Aubrey had multiple other contestants, not to mention rehearsals with the other coaches and her own recording career on top of working with her. She didn't really fault Aubrey for not working with her twenty four, seven.

The few times Chloe did see Aubrey outside their coaching sessions, the redhead usually was in a solo studio working on her range. She often saw Aubrey with Jesse, it seemed to Chloe that Aubrey spent a lot of time with Jesse, but she was hardly in a place to judge that. It was probably just a coincidence that she saw the blonde with Jesse all the time. She just had to trust the Aubrey knew what she was doing. She genuinely liked the blonde performer. She wasn't as bad as everyone said. Yeah, she did like being in control and having things perfect, but at the same time, she was a kind person and really did care.

Today was no different. Chloe decided to work in one of the the solo studios, practicing hitting the high and low notes, and being able to hold them longer.

So I cross my heart and I hope to die
That I'll only stay with you one more night
And I know I said it a million times
But I'll only stay with you one more night

Beca heard a familiar voice when she was walking past one of the solo studios on set. She couldn't help but smile, listening to Chloe's powerful singing voice. The girl was really talented, made her wish that Chloe had picked her as her coach, and not Posen. But what's done was done. That, however, didn't stop her from silently opening the door, finding Chloe's back facing her. She leaned up against the door frame and listened to Chloe experiment with her high and low notes on the Maroon 5 song.

Try to tell you "no" but my body keeps on telling you "yes".
Try to tell you "stop", but your lipstick got me so out of breath.
I'll be waking up in the morning, probably hating myself.
And I'll be waking up, feeling satisfied but guilty as hell.

"You know, you should stop looking up when you try to hit you high notes. The notes aren't actually physically any higher. They originate from the same place as all your other notes." Chloe whirled around at the familiar voice to see Beca up against the doorframe, smiling at her. She blushed when she realized that the DJ had been listening to her sing.

"How long have you been standing there?" Beca shrugged.

"Not too long, just happened to hear that powerful little voice of yours and wanted to check it out for myself." Chloe blushed a little darker shade of red. The idea that Beca Mitchell had been listening to her sing still gave her butterflies. Obviously she had sung in front of her at Blinds, but at the time, Chloe was focusing on more than just Beca, although the brunette was at the forefront of her mind.

"Oh, well thanks for the tip." Beca nodded.

"No problem. Like I said at Blinds, you've got some serious talent, but it's important that you also focus on the weaknesses, even if they are a little nitpicky. Oh God, listen to me, I'm turning into Posen, nitpicking at contestants. Please feel free to stop me anytime." Chloe giggled.

"It's alright. I appreciate it." Beca smiled. She wanted to hear more of the redhead's singing if she was completely honest with herself. She couldn't really fathom why, Chloe was Aubrey's girl. If anything, helping Chloe was putting Beca herself at a disadvantage against Posen, but she liked Chloe's genuine interest in bettering singing and not just winning, so she decided to anyways.

"Do you mind letting me listen to you sing some more? I can try to give you a couple more pointers since Posen seems to absent at the moment." Chloe's eyeballs bulged a bit. Her celebrity crush wanted to help her? She slowly nodded.

"What do you want to hear?" Beca shrugged and stepped into the small studio. She pulled up a stool next to Chloe.

"It's up to you, anything you want to sing."

To say she was nervous was an understatement. Chloe's nerves were shooting up. She had never minded personal boundaries herself, but having Beca so close to her was a little unnerving. It made it a little difficult to think. But a song did pop into her mind.

What would I do without your smart mouth
Drawing me in, and you kicking me out
You got my head spinning, no kidding, I can't pin you down
What's going on in that beautiful mind
I'm on your magical mystery ride
And I'm so dizzy, don't know what hit me, but I'll be alright

Beca was a little surprised at Chloe's song choice. From what she gathered of the perky redhead, she prefered to stick with upbeat, pop songs. So the choice of this particular John Legend song took her a little by surprise. However, Chloe's spin on his song definitely fit her and Beca didn't know why Chloe didn't perform more songs like this, granted she had only heard Chloe actually sing twice. So maybe Beca was getting ahead of herself. She hardly knew anything about Chloe.

My head's underwater
But I'm breathing fine
You're crazy and I'm out of my mind

'Cause all of me
Loves all of you
Love your curves and all your edges
All your perfect imperfections

Give your all to me
I'll give my all to you
You're my end and my beginning
Even when I lose I'm winning
Cause I give you all of me
And you give me all of you, oh

Chloe finished the first verse and chorus of the song. She slightly surprised herself with the choice, but it was kind of how she was feeling and it was her way of letting her emotions out without really saying anything. Chloe always sang better when she was truly feeling the emotions behind the song.

"Posen was right to pick you Chloe. You've got something special in your voice. You are really passionate and convicted to your music. It's sometimes hard to believe you're not a professional recording artist, at least to me."

Chloe furiously blushed and started playing with her thumb ring, and if Beca noticed, she was tactful enough to not mention it. But Chloe was ecstatic that Beca thought that about her. "That's why I'm here, isn't it?" Chloe blurted out, before realizing what she said. Beca just laughed.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. But anyways, I need to get back to coaching. A tip though Chloe? Practice a wide variety of genres, tempos, and moods of songs. It's great to have a go to song style, but widening your scope to have at least the ability to sing a large variety of styles will make you a better singer overall. Things you learn from a John Legend song you can incorporate into a David Guetta song when you get familiar enough with the styles." Chloe nodded.

"Thanks for the advice Beca." Beca smiled and nodded as she stood up and left the small studio. As Beca exited, Aubrey turned up. She glared briefly at Beca before knocking on the studio door. Choe turned again to see Aubrey standing there.

"What was Mitchell doing here?" Chloe shrugged.

"Heard me singing and gave me a few pointers." Aubrey furrowed her brow but didn't say anything.

"Ah. Okay, well I came looking for you. Battle Rounds start next week, and you're going to need to prepare." Chloe knew about the Battle Rounds. She was going to paired up with someone from Aubrey's team. They'd need to pick a song to perform together and the coaches would decide who moved on to the Knockout Rounds.

"Who am I paired up with?" Chloe asked nervously. There were some strong singers on Aubrey's team. Whoever she was paired with was going to make her work for it.

"We've decided to pair you with Jesse Swanson."

A/N: Chapter 2 everyone. Second chapter that I've left you hanging with a name. I'm kind of mean I know, but oh well. It's not that bad. Next chapter will be the Battle Rounds, how will Chloe hold out against Jesse? You'll just have to wait and find out. Should be an interesting battle to say the least.

I'm glad all you guys seem to like the story. I wasn't sure how well a mashup of Pitch Perfect characters in The Voice world would work, but I'm happy to say that it's working out perfectly.

Well, Beca and Chloe had a little interaction, but still, Chloe is on Team Aubrey. I'm glad you all enjoyed the coach twist, with Chloe not picking Beca. I mean, that's the obvious choice isn't it? Well, she'll still need to jump through a few hoops.

As usual, non-beta'd, so all mistakes are my own. Thank you for all the reviews/favorites/follows I've gotten so far. Drop a review if you feel the urge to. Thanks!

A Charmed Vampire