A/N: Happy birthday Daisy and Nancy! :D
"Pilot Test"
4. Like Way Back When
Their old choir room had seen a handful of changes in the last five years, but stepping in there, for them, they wouldn't know or care. Twelve of them filed in, coming to form a circle. They had all come as graduates, or accompanying a graduate, or in Santana and Brittany's case by invitation. They had kept in contact with most of the others, though not always so closely, and already the reunion had done just that, reuniting them. Even then, as they had walked into the choir room, some of them were just getting around to greeting each other. Most of them were realizing they had not seen Quinn in a number of years.
"What have you been up to?" Mercedes had asked her, and the blonde could feel Santana and Brittany's eyes on her.
"Just working, sometimes travelling…" she explained with a nod. "I keep busy," she summarized. It was a good thing the subject had been dropped, or they weren't sure how far she'd end up spinning this lie. They weren't sure they were ready to find out.
As determined as they were to do this, seeing her tonight, seeing how easy it was for her to lie in her friends' faces, it sat uncomfortably in their hearts. As much as they wanted to protect her from getting arrested, injured, or killed, they knew their purpose went deeper. It was as they'd said… she was their best friend, still was, and what they saw of her in recent times told them she needed them, anyone… On her own she was becoming something else. And she was lonely; this they saw more than anyone.
They looked to one another and, as uncertain as they'd been about any part of this up until now, it was clear they had to see this through, had to make sure they would not fail her in this task. Tonight, they would be thieves.
"Are you listening?" Rachel's voice, along with Tina and Sam's nudging, brought them back to attention, and their backs straightened as one.
"Sorry… jetlag," Santana shook her head, frowning at herself at the impossibility of this being a reason for their distraction. "We're listening," she promised.
"Sorry," Brittany mumbled.
"Alright, now that I've got everyone's attention," Rachel nodded, "Let's talk songs. "I know we've slapped choreography together on the fly before, but if we can just dust off one we've already got down, then it might be easier. I vote for Don't Stop Believing."
"Sounds good to me," Puck put in his vote of confidence, which in turn got him a smile from Rachel.
"As good as anything," Kurt agreed, and the others got to give their responses as well, nodding one after the other.
"Well… good then," Rachel breathed. "Let's see if we can run through this," she gestured for them to spread out and get into position. It took them a moment for them to find these positions, and it was only as they did that a couple of issues were brought to light.
The bigger one was that Sam, although he'd agreed to this, had not learned this choreography with them. It had been before his time, back when Matt Rutherford was among them. Him and learning steps had already been problematic back in the day, now he had to be walked through it as fast as possible. Then there was Brittany.
It hadn't occurred to Santana at first, that this performance might be a problem for her, after how things had ended back in Boston. Santana hated what the last little while there had done to her girlfriend, but none more than the way it had altered her relationship to dance.
"Hey… are you going to be okay to do this?" she'd asked her, keeping her voice down so not to draw the others into this. Brittany turned to her, frowning.
"Sure, why wouldn't I be? It's Glee Club," she smiled, and the twinkle in her eye at the end of it just filling her soul with warmth… There she was, like they'd never left.
"Right, of course," Santana shrugged. "You would know…" she went on, getting a nod in reply.
Before long, in fact, Brittany would be in front, alongside Mike, providing a refresher on the choreography. Sam was doing his best to follow, and after a while, it was coming back to the others. They were as ready as ever.
"They won't still throw things or yell at us, will they?" Artie wondered as they headed back to the gym.
"No, I mean… We're not kids anymore, we shouldn't…" Rachel tried to reason.
"If they mess up my dress, they'll have to deal with me," Mercedes frowned as they walked, and the caught Sam smirking at her side. "What?" she asked.
"Nothing," he promised, though he was still smiling, and it pulled her in, too.
"Alright, let's do this," Rachel breathed as they were cued to take the stage. They got into place, waited… The moment the music came on, it was like no time had passed. For a few too brief minutes, the New Directions, the first, came back to life. There was no throwing or shouting. The spirit took all of them there as well. When the song had ended, it was to cheers.
"That was awesome!" Brittany had put her arms around Santana excitedly, kissing the side of her head.
"It was…" Santana laughed, looking to her, then catching sight of Quinn, on her end. The smile on her face was almost sad… She'd missed this, too, for reasons the rest of them just wouldn't understand, and that Santana and Brittany could only scratch the surface of.
But now their song was done, and their group dispersed back into the crowded gym, all except three. Quinn would catch their eye and guide them into the hall. Once they were in the clear, she had turned to them.
"Are you ready?" she asked.
"Yes," Brittany had nodded.
"Definitely," Santana had followed.
"Alright, then let's do it."
TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)
