The Voice

Chapter 10

Pairing: Beca/Chloe

Rating: T

Songs Used: Sweet Dreams - Beyonce
Kings and Queens - 30 Seconds to Mars

Beca was sitting at her desk in her apartment, staring at her computer monitor. Frustrated, she started playing with her hair, a habit she had picked up as a teenager. She had Chloe's vocals and piano track in front of her and she was currently working on producing them into a killer track. She couldn't help but think there was something missing. Chloe had put together a beautifully arranged piece, but there was something that it needed. A little extra kick.

An idea suddenly popped into her head. She picked her guitar up off the stand next to the desk and plugged it into her equipment. Setting up her desk mic with the pop filter, she pressed the playback button on Chloe's track and hit record.

It had been a week since Beca and Chloe had been in the recording booth, and a few days since Chloe had seen Beca. Or at least talked to the DJ. Beca had been busy working with her team on Knockouts, since they would begin filming in a few days. Chloe had chosen the track she was going to sing the night after she had been in the studio, recording with Beca.

That was a special night for her, and she was feeling particularly inspired. So as soon as she had gotten back to her little apartment, she had cracked open her laptop and found the perfect song. Scrolling through her iTunes library again, starting from the top, she had found what she was looking for. A song she connected to, a song that she wanted to sing. She couldn't believe she had passed it over the first time. But now looking at it, she knew it was the one. It described her feelings perfectly, but didn't give too much away. At least, not in a way that made it overtly obvious.

Chloe wanted to keep her song a surprise though. And the next day when she saw Beca, she told the brunette as much. Beca was initially a little apprehensive about not knowing what the redhead would sing.

"Please Beca? I can do this. I just want it to be a surprise."

"I don't know Chloe. I mean, I'm your coach, I should be helping you through this." Chloe sighed.

"I know, but just trust me. You said it yourself that I have a talent. I'm not going to need much in the way of stage stuff, just a few low lights and a microphone." Chloe said with puppy dog eyes and a pout. 'And maybe a piano.' Chloe added on in her thoughts.

"Why are you so invested in your song being a surprise?" Chloe had been expecting that question, but even so, she hadn't really prepared a good answer

"I.." Chloe faltered, but decided to tell Beca the truth, to a degree at least. "I'm going to be honest with you Beca."

'Well as honest as I can be without admitting I have a huge crush on you,' the redhead thought to herself.

"I want to prove to everyone that I belong here. I'm lucky you saved me." Chloe noticed Beca was going to cut her off in protest, but she spoke quickly as to not give her time. "And I know what you're going to say. That I deserve to be here, and maybe I know that too, deep down. But I want to show you, the world and maybe most importantly, myself, that I can do it. That I really deserve it. You've given me a lot while I've been here Beca. And I appreciate every minute of it, maybe more than you realize. All I'm asking is that you trust in what you've given me." Chloe finished quietly. She waited for Beca's answer. She could see the indecision in Beca's eyes, but she also saw a softness behind them that she hadn't seen in Beca before.

"Okay." The brunette relented. Chloe grinned widely before throwing her arms around Beca, hugging the shorter girl tightly. Beca wrapped her arms around Chloe's waist and smiled at the excited redhead.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I won't let you down!" Chloe squealed. While she had known that she could probably convince Beca to let her song be a surprise, it was different actually hearing Beca agree to it.

"You are going to have to get another coach to clear your song though. Everyone's songs needs a coach's permission, mainly because we need to clear the song to make sure the song is appropriate and the artist doesn't have objections." Chloe nodded, she figured she could probably coerce Aubrey into signing off on her song. She just hugged Beca tighter before the brunette's insistence of her need for air made Chloe let go. "Don't make me regret this Beale." Beca said playfully.

"You won't Beca!" Chloe said before running off in search of the blonde coach. She wanted to get her song approved as soon as possible, so she could start planning her stage setup and really get to work on her arrangement. She had a rough idea, but she needed to fine tune it before she was ready for Knockouts. Beca watched the happy redhead run off, shaking her head in amusement at her excitement.

After a little bit of searching, Chloe finally managed to track down Aubrey. And luckily for her, the blonde was in between sessions, so she knocked on the studio door before entering. Aubrey looked at Chloe, confused as to why she was there, but invited her in anyways. "Aubrey, can I talk to you about something quickly?" The blonde nodded and gestured for Chloe to take a seat.

"What is it Chloe? Not to be rude, but I don't have a lot of time until my next session, so it'll have to be quick." Chloe took a breath.

"Will you clear my song for the Knockouts?" Aubrey shot Chloe a confused look.

"Why can't Mitchell do it?" The redhead sighed.

"I wanted to surprise her with it." Aubrey furrowed her brow.

"How come?" Such a simple question with such a complicated answer.

"I just.. I want to prove myself to her. She's been helping me a lot, and to be truthful, I've noticed she spends a lot more time with me than some of the other people on our team." Aubrey found that piece of information interesting and stored that for later. "I wanted to surprise her with my song for Knockouts. To prove that I can utilize what she's given me without help." Aubrey was a little shocked at Chloe's admission. She had never met somebody who was that invested in their craft this early in their career. Most artists at Chloe's stage would take all the help they could get, especially in her position, with all the resources she had available. Aubrey had to admire the conviction she saw in Chloe. Learning was one thing, but using learnt knowledge was another.

"You know, if it had been anyone else, I probably would say no. But I can see how much this means to you Chloe." Aubrey pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to Chloe. "FIll this out, and I'll make sure your song gets taken care of." Chloe looked at Aubrey gratefully. She had expected it to be a little harder to convince Aubrey, but she was glad that it wasn't.

She grabbed a pen out of her bag and looked over the sheet Aubrey had given her. It was a simple form. It asked her name, song choice, any extra props or what not she would need, and had a place to schedule a time to work with the stage crew, to talk with them about what she wanted during her performance. Then at the bottom was a line for her signature, the date, and a coach's signature.

Chloe filled the form out quickly. She wasn't going to need much for her song; she wanted some of the lights on stage to be dimly lit to provide the right atmosphere, but she wasn't going for anything flashy. She also was going to need a piano. If she was going to be arranging her own music, she might as well play it as well. She figured it might be unwise to throw her piano abilities out there so soon, but if she moved on, she would be in the Live Playoffs, and she didn't know if she wanted her first time playing piano on the show to be live.

She handed the form back to Aubrey, who looked it over quickly. Smiling at Chloe's choice of song, she nodded. "I can tell you right now, without even looking to clear the song, that it'll be fine. I'm pretty sure someone sang this for Blinds." Chloe nodded, a little nervous that her song had been performed once on the show already. But she didn't let it get to her too much. It was going to be a different singer, a different arrangement, everything.

"Thank you so much for this Aubrey." The blonde just nodded.

"No problem. Good luck with Knockouts. I'll look forward to hearing you sing. You know, I haven't actually heard you since Battle Rounds. I'm interested to see what Mitchell has taught you." Chloe smirked.

"I'll be sure to blow you away." The pair laughed before there was a knock at the door. Jessica poked her head in the door.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Aubrey shook her head.

"Nope, Chloe was just leaving. Sorry to cut our conversation short, but my next session is here Chloe. I'll see you later?" Chloe nodded before getting up to leave, letting Aubrey get back to coaching. A weight being lifted off her shoulders. She was going to be able to surprise Beca with her song. Now she just needed to get to arranging and practicing it out of earshot of the DJ.

Although they both knew that Chloe wanted to surprise Beca, and Beca had been preoccupied with other contestants who were at different levels of stress about Knockouts, both women missed the other. They had become accustomed to seeing each other at least a few days each week, usually alone in Beca's studio. But with Chloe throwing herself into work for Knockouts and having to avoid Beca during that time, it made things a little difficult for her.

She had met with the stage crew a couple days before filming began for Knockouts, and they promised that the stage would be perfectly the way she wanted it. She didn't need too much for her performance. A white grand piano would be wheeled onto the stage when Bumper had finished his number, a microphone would be set up on the piano, and there would be some golden backlighting with a soft white spot light. She knew this was going to be perfect setup and was going to blow Bumper's ass right out of the water. Not to mention impress Beca, she hoped at least.

Chloe hoped to God that it wasn't going to come across to Beca as romantic, even if that might be the way she was intending it subconsciously. Ever since their recording session, and her insistence at surprising Beca with her song for Knockouts, she was starting less and less to believe the excuse she had been spouting to anyone who asked. She wasn't doing this to prove that she belonged. She was doing this to impress Beca. She wanted, as stupid as it might be, for Beca to notice her. The tiny DJ with her snarky and sarcastic attitude had been wearing her resolve down for the last few weeks. She didn't want to just be friends with Beca. And at this point, she was seriously considering just going all out. What did she really have to lose?

Chloe shook her head. The lack of focus on anything but her Knockout performance must have been getting to her brain, the logic part of it in particular. She had a lot to lose if she attempted to flirt with Beca and the brunette didn't return her feelings. It would make the rest of the show awkward, to be around Beca. Not to mention it would make their friendship awkward, and at this point, her friendship with Beca was one of the things she cherished the most.

The real question, Chloe figured, was the possibility of trying to start something with Beca worth the risk if they didn't work out? And if they did work out, what did that mean for her career?

It was time to start filming Knockouts. Adam's team was up first, then Aubrey, followed by Beca, then Blake. And within their team slots, all the pairs were assigned a number corresponding to the order in which each pair would go. Chloe and Bumper had managed to grab themselves the number three spot, so they had a little time to prepare. Not to mention they had time to watch other pairs perform and take note of who they might be going up against in the future. There was going to be two days of straight filming for Knockouts, Adam and Aubrey's teams the first, then Beca and Blake's team the second. So while some contestants took the time while others were filming to do last minute practice, Chloe decided to join the large studio audience to watch some of the others.

She was particularly interested to see Stacie perform. The two had formed a close friendship in their time on set. She often sought out the tall brunette for practice time and advice. Sometimes the pair just took a break to hang out with each other. Besides Beca, Stacie had become Chloe's best friend on set.

As Stacie and her partner Jason were up, Chloe started paying closer attention, not wanting to miss a minute of her friend's performance.

"Next up, for Team Adam, singing Sweet Dreams by Beyonce, Stacie Conrad!" Chloe clapped and cheered as the lights dimmed. The familiar music of the Beyonce song played loudly as somewhere from backstage, Stacie started her performance.

(Turn the lights on!)

The crowd cheering, Stacie walked out on stage, a smirk plastered on her face, sassy gleam in her eyes. Chloe noted then and there how talented her friend truly was. Stacie was brimming with confidence, and to Chloe's amusement, sex appeal. The brunette certainly knew how to work an audience.

Every night I rush to my bed
With hopes that maybe I'll get a chance to see you when I close my eyes
I'm going outta my head

Lost in a fairy-tale
Can you hold my hands and be my guide?
Clouds filled with stars cover your skies

And I hope it rains
You're the perfect lullaby
What kind of dream is this?

Stacie had a headset mic on, and as she worked the crowd, dancing to the lyrics of the music. Chloe watched as she drew them in. The singer had a rare gift for looking sexy, yet still completely classy. Add in the natural power and sass that you got with singing anything from Beyonce, and Chloe knew that Jason didn't stand a chance against the brunette powerhouse.

You can be a sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare
Either way I, don't wanna wake up from you
(Turn the lights on!)
Sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare
Somebody pinch me, your loves too good to be true
(Turn the lights on!)

As she got the chorus, the stage was lit up in bright lights and sparks, pumping the energy in the room up tenfold. Chloe could feel the buzz and hype around the room. The redhead was almost intimidated by the brunette and knew that Stacie was going to be a force to be reckoned with.

My guilty pleasure I ain't goin nowhere
Baby, long as you're here
I'll be floating on air cause you're my, you're my...
You can be a sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare
Either way I, don't wanna wake up from you

Chloe watched her friend as she performed the rest of her song. Chloe briefly caught sight of Jason, mouth wide open. She saw the expression of 'shit I'm fucked' on his face. She had to stop herself from laughing at the poor boy. As Stacie closed her performance, she bowed and then blew the audience a kiss and winked at them. Chloe laughed at the brunette's finisher as Stacie walked off stage.

"Wow, that was some performance, wasn't it ladies and gentlemen?" Carson announced as the crowd cheered louder for the brunette. "Up next, facing off against Stacie, singing Kings and Queens by 30 Seconds to Mars, we have Jason Arky!" The crowd cheered for the singer, as she walked out of stage. The nervousness, Chloe thought at least, was still apparent behind his eyes, but he tried to give off an aura of confidence as Stacie had.

Chloe didn't pay nearly as much attention to his performance, although she did note that he had a nice voice.

We were the kings and queens of promise
We were the victims of ourselves
Maybe the children of a lesser God
Between Heaven and Hell.

It took a talented singer to pull of a 30 Seconds to Mars song and not sound horrible. But Chloe had to admit that Jason did. She supposed there was a reason he was here in the first place. He wouldn't have made the show if he wasn't good. Jason had a good voice for alternative rock, but Chloe thought that Stacie had done better. Maybe she was just biased, or maybe she just wasn't paying as much attention to Jason's performance. But whatever it was, it seemed as though the judges agreed with her. Stacie was going to be moving on to Live Playoffs.

Chloe took the time to sneak out of the audience and run backstage to congratulate her friend.

"You did it!" Chloe squealed, grabbing Stacie's arms as she bobbed up and down. Stacie grinned at her excited friend.

"Yeah! I did, didn't I? The coaches seemed impressed with my performance. Called me a 'performance powerhouse.' Or something."

"You are though Stacie. You did great." Stacie nodded.

"I'm sure you'll do just as good, if not better. You're a natural on stage, and you've got a great voice." Chloe blushed a little at the compliment.

"Thanks, I hope so. I haven't actually performed my song in front of Beca yet, so I'm hoping she'll like it." Stacie raised an eyebrow. She was suspicious of Chloe's true feelings for Beca for a while, but the vulnerability in Chloe's voice confirmed her thoughts.

"This means a lot more to you than just moving on to Playoffs doesn't it?" Chloe pursed her lips together, debating what to tell Stacie. She figured the brunette was trustworthy enough to admit her feelings to.

"Look, I don't really want to talk about it here, but yes." Stacie looked Chloe in the eye and smiled.

"Well, I"m sure she'll like it." Chloe smiled.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Stacie."

"What are friends for?"

A/N: Okay, so Knockouts Part I, I guess. I actually wrote this and Chloe vs Bumper in the same chapter, than it ended up being like some massive 6k+ word chapter, so I decided to break it up into two different ones. So I have chapter 11 written already and will upload it in a couple of days. Give you guys a chance to read this and new people to get caught up.

Stacie's performance isn't based off of a cover or anything, just kind of what I imagine her being. She's a confident person by nature, I can't imagine her shying away from the spotlight when necessary. So she's the kind of performer that's all up in your face, in a good way of course. So yeah.

Anyways, nothing really I can think to say about this chapter. Most of the interesting bits will be in the next one. And rest assured that actual Bechloe romantic, flirty moments will be coming soon. I know some people have been a little frustrated with them and the slow build. But I swear it'll be worth the wait.

But yes, next chapter we'll get to see Chloe beat Bumper's ass into the ground. A forewarning about the next chapter, Bumper is going to get a shit on a little bit. I understand that in PP2, he turned into a not so bad guy, but for this story, he's just an easy scapegoat (sorry Bumper fans!).

Anyways, all mistakes are my own. Next chapter should be up very soon. Leave a review if you'd like. Hope you guys enjoyed!

A Charmed Vampire