Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. I would like to though.
Author's Note 1: I have assignments, still. It sucks. But it also means that I won't really be able to write over the next three weeks. So have an extra long update.
Interlude – Santana Leads by Many
The Troubletones sat in a circle on chairs in Shelby's large office/classroom. They each had their notes on the auditions, and were preparing to vote on the auditions. Shelby drummed her fingers on her desk before speaking up.
"Okay, so I figured we'd go one person at a time, and anyone can say something if they feel the need to, and then we'll vote. Sound good?"
The Troubletones all agreed and waited for Shelby to say the first name.
"I want you to keep in mind that if we end up with a major discrepancy in the male to female ratio, we may need to discuss the idea of staying an all girls group. Well, we might as well start with Mike and Tina."
"Mike's an awesome dancer." Brittany said with a happy grin.
No one else had anything to say, so a vote was cast. Both Mike and Tina were voted in unanimously.
Kurt and Blaine were a little more difficult. Kurt was voted in by everyone, but Blaine didn't get nearly enough votes. In fact the only people to vote for him were Shelby, Mercedes and three of the Cheerios.
Mercedes frowned at Sugar, Santana and Brittany. "Can I ask why you guys didn't vote for Blaine?"
Brittany shrugged. "Sanny doesn't like him, and I want her to be happy here."
Mercedes nodded, accepting the answer and turned to Santana. Santana just stared back at the diva. How could she explain her negative vote for Blaine? She didn't like him at all, but it was more than that. She didn't like the way he tried to take control of everything. She didn't like the way he assumed he was the best singer. Santana hated to admit it, because she knew those were the same reasons Finn had for disliking Blaine too. He had been nice-ish after she had chewed Blaine and Kurt out for forcing her to be okay with herself, and had even offered friendship. But … it was hard. It was hard to ignore the part of herself that hated they way he acted like he was superior to everyone at McKinley just because he went to Dalton and wore a uniform with a blazer.
"He's like the worst of Rachel and Finn combined. He's bossy and wants to lead everyone, and acts like he's the best signer this school has ever seen. I left New Directions to get away from that. I'm not going to stand down now."
It took longer, but eventually Mercedes nodded her acceptance. To Santana it felt like a weight had lifted off her chest, and it was in that moment that she realised how much she valued Mercedes' friendship.
Sugar was next and just shrugged. "I don't really like anyone from New Directions too much, but Blaine gives me the creeps. I think it's his eyebrows. At least Kurt is cute, in a scrawny puppy sort of way."
Mercedes turned to the other Cheerios that Santana had encouraged (and ordered, but that was only a few of them) into joining. They looked genuinely surprised at being asked their opinion on their vote. They just shrugged.
Shelby wrote down the tally before calling out the next name.
"Sam?"
Sam, like Mike, Tina and Kurt had everyone's votes, which caused Mercedes to grin like a mad woman. Santana gently bumped the diva, giving her a knowing look. Mercedes blushed and looked at the ground, no longer grinning, but still smiling.
Puck was voted on next with only three votes for (Mercedes, and two of the Cheerios) and ten against.
Five Cheerios voted for Rory, but everyone else was against it. Sugar reasoned that he didn't really do much except follow Finn around, and that wasn't a particularly useful skill.
Quinn was a little more difficult. Shelby voted against her, but Sugar, Santana, Brittany and Mercedes al voted for her. The other Cheerios were split. Five were against her joining, and three were for it. Shelby frowned as she wrote down the tally.
"To be completely honest, I wouldn't be comfortable with Quinn in the Troubletones. She's already approached me about joining the Troubletones, but I turned her down. At the time, I knew she only wanted to join to get closer to me and thus, closer to Beth."
"Is that a bad thing?"
Shelby looked at Santana and sighed. "No, not really. But she doesn't just want to be in Beth's life. Quinn wants Beth back and she's obsessed with it."
Santana threaded her fingers through Brittany's and met her girlfriend's eyes. They knew Quinn. Probably better than anyone else. They knew that Quinn had always been slightly off, and that it was the result of trying to live the life her father had chosen for her. A life that did not suit Quinn in the least. She lashed out at people, causing as much pain as she could, but at Unholy Trinity sleepovers she was constantly seeking approval that what she had done was right. Santana felt horrible about it, because she had given that approval; she had condoned everything Quinn did.
But they were better people now, and it was obvious that Quinn needed help. Santana wanted that for her, but getting Quinn to agree was another thing.
Unless she had an incentive.
Santana turned from Brittany to address Shelby.
"Quinn needs help."
"I know."
"And she won't help herself, she doesn't know how to. But if she has a reason to get help, and someone to show her where to go, she will get better."
"What exactly are you getting at, Santana?"
"Can we create a probationary position? One that Quinn will only get if she agrees to … I dunno … go to a therapist or something?"
Brittany squeezed Santana's hand before adding her opinion.
"Quinn's been my friend for a long time. This could help her. I want to help her."
Shelby rubbed a hand across her face. "You're right, we can help her. Hell, I know what she's going through. What kind of teacher would I be if I turned my back on her now? There will be a few ground rules though. One, under no circumstances is she ever coming to my house or in a ten mile radius of Beth. Two, she gets help straight away, and if she stops, she's out. Is that acceptable? I said yesterday that I wouldn't be a dictator, and I don't want to be. But this concerns Beth, my baby, and I won't let her get hurt. So, is that acceptable?"
Santana smiled softly.
"Yeah, I think that's more than acceptable. The final decision is up to Quinn of course, but I think those terms are fair. What about the rest of you?"
Brittany and the Cheerios nodded.
"Yeah," Said Mercedes. "I think that's fair. I'd love to have the Quinn who lived with me back."
"Okay, we'll move on then. Rachel?"
Everyone voted, except Santana. The results were even, six on either side. Shelby had of course voted for Rachel, along with five of the Cheerios.
Mercedes stared at Santana incredulously. "You're not voting against Rachel?"
"Apparently not."
"Why?"
Santana frowned. "I'm not really sure. Berry's annoying. Sometimes I want to strangle her just to make her shut up. But, I don't exactly hate, or even dislike Berry."
"I do. I hate her." Brittany added.
Santana smirked. "I know you do, B. But that doesn't stop you from liking her."
"True."
Santana knew that Brittany was someone that not a lot of people understood. Like now, if Mercedes' confused face was any indication. Brittany hated the way Rachel bossed everyone around and how she insisted that she has to have every solo, no matter what. She hated the way that Rachel talked down to her, and acted like she was stupid. But most of all, Brittany hated the way Rachel's existence made Quinn and Santana mean. It was simple, except it wasn't. Because Brittany liked Rachel's voice, and the way she never gave up. She liked the way Rachel made up songs about things in her room and was convinced that they should get together and do a mash up of 'My Headband' and 'My Cup'.
Brittany didn't understand it sometimes, but Santana did. Because unlike everyone else, she knew Brittany was an incredibly complicated person and that what it really came down to was that Brittany liked everybody. Even when she hated them.
"I respect Berry. I've always known that she would get somewhere, and I believe that it's only a matter of time before we see her in the newspapers. And despite the fact that she annoys me, it feels wrong to do something that could hurt her future. Throwing a slushie was never going to stop her, but this could. Berry can sing, we know that, and if we can give Quinn a chance, why can't we give Berry a chance?"
And of course, Santana knew that there as a part of her that wanted this not for herself or the Troubletones, but for Shelby. Shelby had helped her so much; it would be nice to return the favour. She knew Shelby wanted some sort of relationship with her biological daughter, it was painfully obvious. Hell, who wouldn't?
"What about Blaine? I know that we all left New Directions to get away from Rachel and Finn and what Blaine was becoming, but if you're going to give Rachel a chance, shouldn't you give Blaine a chance too?"
Santana nodded. "Fair enough. I'll be honest, the only reason I wouldn't give Blaine another chance is because I don't care about what happens to him. I know I sound like a bitch, but I don't. If Berry got stuck in Lima, I don't know what I would believe in anymore. But Blaine? I couldn't care less."
"Either way, what are you suggesting?" Asked Mercedes.
"The same thing as Quinn."
"You want Rachel to go to a therapist?" Sugar asked with a smirk.
Santana threw her head back and laughed, raising a hand for a quick hi-five.
"Oh, I would love to see her face if we suggested that. But I was thinking more along the lines of a probationary position in which she doesn't get to sing a solo at Regionals, and any other solos at competitions will depend on her membership status. If she can tone it down and be a member rather than a leader, Berry can become a full member and will have just as much right to sing solos. And no songs every meeting. That got boring fast."
Mercedes nodded. "If Rachel could do that, I think I'd be fine with her joining. What about everyone else?"
Sugar agreed as long as she got to sing a solo at the next meeting before Rachel did, and Brittany happily agreed saying it was fair. The three Cheerios who hadn't voted for Rachel said they could put up with her if Santana could.
"And Blaine?" Shelby asked. "Are we going to offer him the same deal?"
Santana sighed dramatically. "I could live with it."
Brittany giggled. "Me too."
"I believe," Shelby said. "that means we've voted yes on Blaine. Next up is Artie."
Five Cheerios, Mercedes and Brittany voted yes, while Shelby, Sugar, Santana and the remaining three Cheerios voted no. Santana didn't feel any animosity towards Brittany for her vote. She knew before Brittany did that she would vote for her ex-boyfriend. Because despite the fact that Santana didn't really like it, the two were still friends.
So Artie was voted in, leaving only one person left to vote on.
"Last is Finn."
Five Cheerios voted for him, and everyone else voted against. And if that didn't make Santana adore her fellow Troubletones (all those but the five Cheerios, of course) she didn't know what would.
"So," Shelby began. "Finn's not in. that leaves us with Mike, Sam, Artie, Kurt and Tina as full members, and Quinn, Rachel and Blaine as probationary members. However, there is still a few things I'd like to discuss. You five," She said pointing at five of the Cheerios. "have all voted for the same people."
"That's not weird." Said Emily quickly.
"No, it's not. But they all vote after you do. They follow your lead."
"So?"
"Before each vote you read something on you palm. What do you have written there, Emily?"
Emily clenched her fist.
"Nothing."
Another Cheerio, one of the three who Shelby hadn't pointed to wrapped her hand around Emily's wrist and forced her fingers away from her palm.
"It's a list of names." Andrea said. "It's all the people who they voted for."
"That doesn't mean anything."
"No, it doesn't." Shelby lay her clipboard on her lap and stared expectantly at the girls. So did everyone else in the room, though Santana's glare was certainly more frightening.
"We were offered money to vote for certain people." Emily said before quickly looking at the ground as the pressure of everyone's questioning looks got to her.
Santana stood up quickly, her chair skidding backwards. It was Brittany's hand around her wrist that stopped her from doing anything and it was Shelby's hand lightly pressing down on her shoulder that got her to sit. Santana was furious. This was her show choir, her team, and her family. How dare someone try and sabotage that. She was sick and tired of being fucked with.
Brittany's arm wrapped around Santana's waist.
"Stop the violence."
Santana shook her head and kissed the blonde's head to hide the small smile that was forming on her lips. Brittany always managed to calm her down.
Emily was clearly frightened of her cheerleading captain, but she was brave enough to continue speaking.
"We were always going to tell you. Just after we got a copy of the tally. We were told we wouldn't get paid unless we had some sort of proof that we voted the right way."
"You shouldn't have accepted the offer in the first place, and you should have told m… us straight away." Snapped Santana.
"Santana."
Santana huffed and crossed her arms across her chest, allowing Shelby to talk.
"Seeing as your votes were influenced, I think you'd agree that they no longer count."
The Cheerios nodded.
"How much were you offered?"
"Fifty dollars each."
"And what were you expected to do?"
"We were told to vote for certain people. We had to have proof that we had done what we were told, otherwise we wouldn't get paid. I was going to make a copy of the votes."
Emily looked guiltily down at the floor. Without prompting, she revealed who had bribed them.
"It was Finn. Any other time I swear we wouldn't have taken the money, but well, Christmas is coming up and a little extra cash…."
"Quiet!" Snapped Santana.
She was fuming. Finn, it was always Finn fucking Hudson. Why couldn't he just go and die in a hole?
"Santana, calm down."
"Really? You're going to tell me to calm down?"
Shelby smirked. "Yes. Finn tried and failed to make this club the way he wanted it. But he doesn't know that, so we can have some fun."
Shelby stood up and made her way over to her desk. She pulled out a pad of paper with the McKinley letterhead and her name at the bottom.
Mike – 13 for, 0 against
Tina – 13 for, 0 against
Kurt – 13 for, 0 against
Blaine – 7 for, 6 against
Sam – 8 for, 5 against
Quinn – 7 for, 6 against
Rachel – 13 for, 0 against
Artie – 7 for, 6 against
Noah – 3 for, 10 against
Rory – 5 for, 8 against
Finn –
She showed the sheet to the Troubletones.
"Now, I'm going to change my vote from against, to for, Finn. Does anyone else want to?"
Santana stared at Shelby blankly for a second before an evil smirk appeared on her lips.
"Yes, I'd love to." She said with a snarl.
Finn – 7 for, 6 against
"Right, well this is for you." Shelby said, handing the piece of paper with results on it to Emily.
"Wait a minute." Mercedes protested. "What's that for?"
"That's the results list before we make the alterations due to this incident. Now, it looks like the only person who's tally is really affected is Artie. Taking away the five points he had in his favour from those five leaves him with two for and six against. So it looks like Artie has not been voted in. That's not the end of it though. I know we've all voted, but I'd like to point out that we have a four to fifteen ratio of males to females, and as we saw when New Directions preformed, it looks ridiculous."
"But, we already agreed that we'd to vote them in." Mercedes said sadly. She knew that Shelby was right, but that didn't mean she was happy about it.
"I know, and I feel like a bitch for bringing it up, but I truly believe that our performance would suffer. If you disagree, I'm more than willing to listen."
Mercedes sighed. "No, you're right. New Directions' performance at Sectionals looked and sounded really uneven. And let's be honest, we've always been a girl power sort of group."
One of the Cheerios interrupted. "We have a few guys in the Cheerios, and they don't make it look weird."
"It's a different dynamic." Santana explained. "They stand at the back and do 'guy' things to support the female Cheerios. I can guarantee that these guys won't stand in the back."
"True." Mercedes said. "But I still don't want to just kick them out. I mean, I would love to sing with Kurt again. He's my best friend. He deserves the opportunity just as much as Rachel does."
"There's more to a show choir than performing. Mike is an amazing dancer, but from what I've seen, he's also a really good choreographer."
"And Kurt is amazing with clothes." Brittany said with an excited smile, though Santana knew it was more to do with the idea of dancing with Mike again.
"Exactly. We can offer other positions."
They spent the next quarter of an hour discussing possible positions for the boys they had voted in. but at the end they still only had Mike down as choreographer and Kurt as costumes. Though Sugar had suggested Sam as moral officer.
"Are we happy with what we've decided today?" Shelby asked.
The Cheerios, along with Sugar, Santana and Brittany all nodded.
Mercedes just responded with "Happy enough."
"Then this meeting is over. I'll see you all at our next practice."
Santana got up, pulling Brittany up by their still tangled fingers and pressed her lips to her girlfriend's cheek.
"I want to talk to Shelby for a minute. You should head to class. You've got history with Mercedes, I'll be there shortly."
Brittany nodded and pecked Santana quickly on the lips. "See you soon Sanny."
She ran off to catch up with Mercedes.
"How can I help you, Santana?" Shelby said as she packed away the chairs that had been used for the meeting.
"You were relieved when Puck didn't get in."
"I…" She looked uncomfortable, and Santana didn't blame her.
"Just a word of advice, stay away from him. You already know he got Quinn pregnant, but did you know that he dated Rachel?"
Shelby paled and looked a little sickened.
"Yeah, I thought not. You're a grown woman, and I can't tell you what to do. But, we're friends or something like that, right? I mean, you've helped me, and I've helped you, and that's the sort of things friends do. But Puck? That's just gross."
"How did you know?"
"Puck's not good at subtle, and once upon a time that was me he was leering at all the time. Then it was Zizies. Puck doesn't really change. And before you can even think to ask, I'm pretty sure no one else knows and no I'm not going to tell anyone. Friends or something, remember?"
Santana wasn't stupid. Telling anyone would just leave the Troubletones with no choir coach and no way to get to Nationals. And she liked the woman. She was … Shelby was nice. A lot nicer than the people Santana had to deal with every day. Shelby was different in other ways too. Shelby cared; about important things like education, and equality and fair chances and winning. But she also cared about Santana. It was nice to have someone other than Brittany supporting her all the time. Though Brittany's support would always be the most important. Santana could do anything if Brittany was supporting her.
But this topic was far too mushy to deal with right now, and right here.
"How about I deal with Quinn, and you deal with Berry? Sound good?"
"Yeah." Shelby said with a nod. "I think that would be best. And let me deal with Finn, okay? I have a plan, and it's best if he doesn't know that we know he bribed the girls."
"Just make him pay, Shelby."
Shelby smirked. "Oh I will."
/-/-/-/-/-/
Santana was learning that Quinn was surprisingly hard to find when you wanted her. Santana had spent a good twenty minutes looking during their lunch period and still hadn't found her. She wasn't giving up though. Quinn wasn't in the choir room, or the library, or the cafeteria. She wasn't still in class, or in one of the other classrooms, which meant the only other place to look was outside. Quinn wasn't in the parking lot, or on the football field. Which left one more place, under the bleachers.
That was exactly where Santana found her, along with the Skanks, smoking. Quinn may have dyed her hair back to blonde and taken out her nose ring, but Santana had always known that there was a part of Quinn that was still a Skank. Because Quinn was a lot of different things, no matter what she looked like.
"Harder habit to kick that you think, isn't it?"
Quinn snorted. "Like you would know."
"How quickly you forget. Britt made me quit two years ago."
Quinn frowned. "Oh yeah. You're so whipped."
"And you're a psychotic bitch. We need to talk, and it's a conversation I don't think you'll want to have in front of the Skanks."
Quinn glanced at the girls sitting on the old couch Coach had provided.
"You're probably right. You're involved. I probably don't want to hear it. I'll see you at mine once you finish practice."
"See you then, Quinn. Skanks." She threw over her shoulder as she left.
Santana had come to an understanding with the Skanks when Quinn was still rocking the punk look. They stopped threatening her every time she wanted to talk to Quinn, and she stopped Sue from kicking them off school property after hours.
/-/-/-/-/-/
Cheerios practice had been … interesting. Santana had quite obviously been punishing the girls who had been bought by Finn. But what did they expect? They screwed her over, and she wasn't going to forgive that; at least not easily. Coach Sylvester wouldn't have stopped her (she thought it was funny, and had been weirdly distant all week) and in the end it was Brittany telling her off that made her call out to the girls and tell them to take a break from suicides before joining everyone else.
Santana had showered at school, which she preferred not to do when she had the choice. But today she didn't have a choice, because she needed to get to Quinn's house. Brittany had hurried home to look after her younger sister, so Santana took her time. She was the last to leave McKinley, and if the annoyed look on Quinn's face was any indication, she arrived later than Quinn had expected her.
Quinn huffed, but didn't actually comment on Santana's supposed lateness. It was something Santana was used to. Quinn liked to make people feel guilty and wrong without having to point it out. It no longer worked on Santana. She just ignored Quinn's annoyance and dragged the blonde upstairs. They settled in Quinn's room. Quinn at her desk and Santana on Quinn's bed. It was only unusual in that Brittany wasn't with them.
"You're crazy, Quinn."
"Excuse me?"
Santana sighed and lifted herself up onto her elbows. "I've seen you at your best and your worst, and right now you're so below worst I'm surprised you can function."
"If you're just going to insult me, Satan, you can leave." Quinn spat.
Santana ignored her and continued. "And you know what? Maybe… no, definitely. I definitely should have been there to help you when I found out you were preggers, but I wasn't. I'm sorry for that, by the way. I was a bitch and I shouldn't have been because we were supposed to be friends."
"We were never friends, we used each other."
"Well, yeah, that's us. But we were supposed to be friends and we've both sucked at that. Now I'm going to change that. You need help, Q. Like, professional help."
"I do not need 'help'." Quinn snarled.
"You're not you, Quinn. You're some crazy bitch like the ones we used to watch on TV. Like the women we use to laugh at, and unless you get some sort of help, you can give up on seeing Beth ever again."
"What?"
Santana hated to use Beth. She understood how Quinn felt about her daughter. Like Beth was the only good thing about her life. Santana understood because Santana had been the same once. Obviously not about Beth, but about Brittany. Her girlfriend had been the only good thing for so long, even when they hadn't been dating. When everything else fell apart, there was still Brittany. As long as she had Brittany, she had hope that everything would be okay one day.
"You wanted to join the Troubletones so that you could get closer to Shelby so that you could get closer to Beth. The only way you can join the Troubletones is if you get help."
"Get out!"
"Quinn…"
"Get OUT! You're blackmailing me with my child. GET OUT!"
Santana got up from Quinn's bed. "Yeah, I guess I am. But I'm not a nice person, so what do you expect. You said it yourself, we're not friends. I've given you the ultimatum. You need to ask yourself if Beth's worth it."
She left quickly, because one of the scariest things Santana had ever seen was a furious Quinn, and Quinn was definitely furious.
But mostly Santana felt like shit. If someone had tried to pull what she just did but with Brittany, she figured she probably would have killed someone. God damn, why was she such a bitch?
/-/-/-/-/
Santana was still antagonising over the way she had handled the conversation with Quinn hours later as she was getting ready to go to bed. She had just laid down in bed and turned her bedside lamp off when her phone vibrated and lit up, casting the room in a pale glow.
From Quinn: If I did agree to get help, who would I go to?
Quinn had never really been one for text speak. Santana on the other hand was.
To Quinn: Il ask dad Im sure he nos sum1.
From Quinn: Thanks.
/-/-/-/-/
Two days later, Shelby had said she'd put up the results of the auditions shortly before lunch time. True to her word, the list was up when Santana walked by, but better yet, Finn and Rachel were reading the list when she got there.
Troubletones Auditions Response
The following people have been accepted into the Troubletones:
Tina Choen-Chang
The following people are requested to speak with choir co-coordinator Ms. Corcoran as soon as possible about their audition results:
Rachel Berry
Quinn Fabray
Kurt Hummel
Mike Chang
The Troubletones appreciates and thanks everyone for auditioning and regrets that they couldn't accept everyone. If you have further enquires, please speak to Ms. Corcoran.
Practices for new members start the week before the holiday break on Monday.
Rachel's confused expression and Finn's outraged snarled were priceless. He had wasted two hundred and fifty dollars for nothing (though the Cheerios weren't complaining, they had been paid the day before). Santana laughed quietly. This wasn't what the boy wonder was expecting when he walked into school this morning. He had believed that the tally page he had been given had been the final copy. He had expected to join the Troubletones. Finn had a lot to learn and a lot to own up to. This was just the beginning for him.
/-/-/-/-/-/
mynameischarla and aglee123: Thanks for reviewing. I hope you enjoyed this chapter too. :)
Walking Through a Dream: And you pretty much just described my feelings on will and Finn. Will always sort of creeped me out. I think Sue's onto something with his hair.
Cissy Black Malfoy: I agree that ND does suck, and that they shouldn't get the PBS special. But one thing I've learnt in life is that you don't know until you ask. When it comes down to it, the people who ask for chances are the ones that get it. That's not to say that Shelby doesn't, just that she didn't this time. They definitely did ruin Rachel. It's kind of sad considering that she's the main character (at least in season one). The double standards they have with males and females in Glee is horrible. I do like that Santana comments in the Jackson episode that if Kurt had got the recording that they'd be using it. :P
MusicFlowsWithin: I'm glad people seem to be okay with Rachel. Considering all the hate she got in my comments before, I felt like I was taking a bit of a risk. But I had always intended her to join the TTs.
The T.M: Rachel turning down Finn and her speech about Broadway being her true love were some of the best parts of that episode. I wish she had stayed that way.
brittana faberry fan: I guess you'll just have to wait and see. :P
LuvtheJEm: I don't think there's really much to say that I haven't already said to you. So, uh, hi?
