Author's Note: Told you it wouldn't be long till the next chapter was up =) typed it up yesterday and Becca got it back to me not long after so i thought, since you've all been so damn amazing to me, i'd treat you to another chapter =D we're really starting to get into some of the action here, i'm very excited to post chapters now so i'll probably have them up a lot quicker.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, read, favourited and alerted. You are all just too awesome =) and, of course, thank you to Becca for everything she does for me. I'm looking forward to hanging with you tomorrow, my friend, but until then =)

Anywho, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own a damn thing. If i did... well, it'd be one VERY gay show XD

Chapter 14

On My Feet Again

Emma had actually been right about something, Santana was back to normal. Even more so, in fact. All that anger and sarcasm, all those insults and death threats, were the Latina's defence mechanism. The perfect defence because no one wanted to get anywhere near her now. They avoided eye contact, avoided her if they could, jumped out of her way and kept as quiet as humanly possible so as not to draw her attention.

Sue Sylvester hadn't seen this much fear in the school since she had become principal. It was a beautiful thing and to think it was one of her own who was inspiring it. If she'd had a heart she was sure it would have swelled with pride. Now, sitting up in her secret video surveillance room, Sue watched her former Cheerio with interest. The girl was sat in the back row of her history class, her arms folded, scowl in place as the unfortunate soul beside her took notes for the both of them.

Sue was definitely intrigued. Since quitting the Cheerios, she'd watched the girl soften, relax, let her guard down bit by bit until suddenly there was no more HBIC - she had been broken and by someone as sweet and dim-witted as Brittany. Sue shook her head, muttering to herself as she took a sip of her protein shake. "You should've seen it coming, S. She was always too kind, too gentle – she wouldn't hurt a fly let alone a kid in a wheelchair."

Although she would never admit it to anyone, the Latina had always been Sue's favourite. The girl was ruthless, defiant, angry, devious – and by far the most vulnerable person she'd ever met. In other words, she reminded her of a young Sue Sylvester. Sue just hoped Santana wouldn't grow up to be like her now…

Something on another monitor caught her attention then. "Well, well, well, it if isn't my ex-head cheerleader. Let's see what you're up to Q." Sue leant forward and zoomed in on Quinn who was stood in the middle of the choir room with Brittany. Flicking a switch, Quinn's soft voice floated into the room.

"…I don't believe it, B. It can't be… no, you were mistaken. It's Santana, for God's sake!"

"I know. And I saw it with my own eyes. I may not be the best at Math or English or… well, school. But my eyes don't lie to me, Q. Not after we made a deal last year."

Quinn started to pace, shaking her head furiously. "But-But… how?"

Brittany shrugged, tugging at a loose thread on her sweater. "She's hot, Q, even you can see that and you're a ruler."

"Yes, okay, maybe, but from what you told me you saw, it has to be more than just that!"

"…San's a good person – the best. She wouldn't be our best friend if she wasn't. Her head just has lots of things in it and it makes her grouchy sometimes."

"You can say that again," Quinn was stopped then by the taller blonde who smiled gently and held her hands tight.

"We love San, so why can't Rachel?"

Sue raised an eyebrow at the sudden development – Barbra Streisand and Jugs the ex-Cheerio… it didn't make sense. The choir room was now empty as the girls made their way back to class so Sue decided more research was needed. She stood and walked to one of the filing cabinets in the room, the one that said 'Glee Club' in thick red marker pen. She pulled the top draw open, revealing stacks of DVDs all labelled 'Diva'. Sue wasn't sure how long it had been going on for so she decided to just start from the beginning.

"Becky?" she spoke into her two-way radio.

"Yes, Coach?"

"Cancel everything I have on today and tomorrow. Hold all my calls and if anyone asks-"

"You're out to lunch with the President. Got it, Coach."

She lowered the device slightly as she took in the number of DVDs she had to go through… "Becky, cancel Wednesday as well. This is going to take a while…"

For the next few days, Sue went back and forth between watching the tiny diva and watching the girl who seemed to be avoiding her like the plague. It was small things at first. Santana would walk that little bit faster in the hallway when the diva was about or she'd suddenly find someone to yell at if it looked like the diva was going to talk to her. But by the time Friday rolled around once more, the ex-Cheerio all but ran the other way when Rachel was about, she even skipped the classes she had with the other girl – making some snivelling wretch take notes for her.

Up in her secret room, Sue watched as Will tried repeatedly to get Rachel to rejoin the Glee Club and as Rachel repeatedly declined, stating she had something more important to do. The curly haired freak was still sure there was some evil plan afoot and he recruited his ginger side-kick, OCD Girl, to try and help him figure it out. And, unbeknownst to him, the Glee losers were trying to figure it out too. They met every lunch time, every day after school and never got any closer.

The cheerleading coach wondered, confused, why Q didn't just tell them all what B had seen… was it because she didn't trust the dancer? Or because she didn't trust the rest of the losers? But then Sue understood. It was because Q still didn't believe fully, she was waiting for proof… and it was going to be one Sue Sylvester who gave her that proof.

Striding down the hallway towards the choir room, kids blinked in surprise at the sudden reappearance of Coach Sylvester. No one had seen or heard anything of her all week and all Becky would say was that it was classified information and they didn't have the proper clearance. Sue hadn't felt the need to patrol like she usually did, not while Santana was still in full HBIC mode – she was doing the job for her and it suited Sue just fine for the moment.

Every single member of the glee club jumped a foot in the air when the door to the choir room banged open. They all looked incredibly guilty and terrified and Sue took a second to revel in it before she got down to business. "Q," she barked. "Come with me. You too, B. Let's go." She didn't wait for a reply, just turned and marched right back to her office, the sea of kids opening up before her as the two blondes jogged to catch up.

"Shut the door," Sue pulled her blinds closed and went to sit behind her desk. "Sit." The girls did as they were told without a word; even now they were still careful not to get on the wrong side of the woman - it was a beautiful world they lived in. "Firstly, I want to congratulate you on being the worst spies ever. If this were Vietnam you would already have your hands cut off and your eyes gouged out." Both girls recoiled a little.

"Coach Sylvester, we aren't your spies anymore. We aren't even Cheerios anymore, you can't-"

"Can it, Q. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the super secret loser meetings you and the rest of Schuester's saddoes have been having. It's been more than a week and you still have nothing. You can feel it, can't you, Q? She's getting further away from you every day."

Quinn's mouth fell open, how the hell could the woman possibly know anything about that? "S…"

Sue nodded, picking up the remote control off her desk. "Seeing as though you are more likely to get Schuester to give his hair elves the day off work than you are to get S to trust you again, I've prepared a short presentation." She pressed play and the TV on her wall came to life, making the two girls turn.

Sue watched with great interest as Quinn's eyes widened comically and her jaw went slack while Brittany giggled to herself, a smile slipping onto her face as she watched her best friend onscreen kissing the midget diva in the parking lot, and again in the choir room and once more in the auditorium. When it was over, Sue laced her fingers together and rested her chin on them, watching her ex-Cheerios carefully.

"H-How? Why?"

"You wanted proof, Q, so I gave it to you."

"I told you my eyes wouldn't lie to me!" Brittany grinned at her friend, hugging her tight.

"B-but… Santana… Rachel… how?"

"Q!" Quinn's eyes snapped back to the cheerleading coach, focusing in on her. "It's your fault all this happened, you and the Heart Break Kid over here." Sue nodded at Brittany, making the girl frown.

"What did Shawn Michaels do to San?"

The woman ignored her, her attention entirely on Quinn. "So it's your job to fix it."

"But how? S won't even look at me, or Britt. Never mind talk to us."

"Do I have to do everything myself? Fine! Here." She tossed a disc at Quinn.

"What's this?"

"A collection of the Pezberry interactions since S quit that infernal club. Study it and then destroy it."

"Pezberry?" Quinn quirked an eyebrow.

"It's the least stupid sounding one I came up with but that isn't the point here, Q. Are you going to do this or not?"

"Do what, exactly?"

Sue sighed. This was almost more trouble than it was worth. "Are you going to lie, cheat, manipulate and generally be yourself to make sure the unstoppable force meets the immovable object?"

Quinn was silent for a moment, inspecting the disc in her hands, her brain whirring as Brittany tugged on her sleeve. "Can we? Can we get Rachel and San together? They're so cute and I want San to be happy again. Then maybe she'll come back to us." The taller girl's eyes shone with excitement and hope at the thought. "Please, Quinn? Please?"

Quinn glanced at her friend briefly before her eyes went back to Sue, a smile forming on her face – one Sue hadn't seen in a very long time, not since Q had sold S down the river at the beginning of the year to get her HBIC spot back – one of pure determination. "I'm in."

"Good. Now get the hell out of my office before I change my mind and make you eat the DVD instead." The girls leapt to their feet and headed for the door. Half way out, Quinn turned back.

"Coach Sylvester, why are you doing this? Why do you care what happens to any of us?"

Sue didn't look up from her journal. "I don't. This will annoy and confuse Schuester and make him more paranoid than ever. Not to mention I'll get my hallways back once Sandbags gets whipped into shape by the mighty annoying midget."

"So, in other words, out of the evilness of your heart."

"You know me so well, Q. Shut the door behind you, the smell of failure wafting in from the rest of the school is making me feel ill."

Santana spent her lunch hour sat in the back row of the auditorium with her feet up and her eyes closed. It was so quiet in there that it made her feel like the only person in the world. Only the Glee kids ever used the auditorium and they'd all been busy doing whatever it was they did in the choir room all lunch… probably plotting ways to kill Mr. Schue if he made them sing another Journey song.

She smiled at the thought, forgetting herself for a second. For the first time Santana was glad she was alone, that way no one could see the hot tears that spilled down her cheeks. She missed those losers, she really did. They amused her, kept her entertained when there was nothing on TV or her Xbox was broken. They'd made her feel wanted, included, a part of something – even if it was something as queer and stupid as Glee Club. The Latina found she even kind of missed Mr. Schue's inspirational speeches, but only a little.

She wiped her face carefully on her sleeve and was just about to check her make-up when she heard someone heading towards the auditorium. She slid off her seat and onto the floor just as the far doors flew open and her gaydar went crazy.

"What do you mean, you can't find her? It shouldn't be that hard, just head in the opposite direction to the fleeing animals." Kurt started down the steps towards the stage, bag slung over his shoulder, phone pressed to his ear. He sounded annoyed, which seemed to be his factory setting. "No, I'm in the auditorium; I've looked everywhere else… I don't know what the Mad Hatter wanted but I'm sure Quinn will tell us, if not then Britt inevitably will." Santana scowled at the mention of her ex-best friends but nearly had a heart attack when the doors nearest her banged open.

"I know, I'm just worried. We all know what Coach Sylvester is capable of and she's already tried to destroy Glee Club more times than I can count." Tina headed towards where Kurt was stood on the stage.

What did Sue Sylvester want with Britt and Q? Santana shifted carefully so she could see better - the acoustics in the place were excellent so she could hear without a problem.

"True, but I trust Britt and Quinn. I don't think they'd go in for any of Sue's madness, not after the whole firing-Brittany-out-of-a-cannon thing. No, it's Santana I don't trust."

"Kurt! We already talked about this!"

"I know but she was seriously pissed when she left and she's only gotten worse." The two met at the bottom and shut their phones off.

"Kurt, I know it's not just that."

The boy sighed and sat with his legs crossed in the middle of the stage, Tina followed suit. "As much as she annoys me with her incessant talking, her constant mood swings and her complete and utter lack of fashion sense, not to mention the fact that she's always stealing my solos… I don't like seeing Rachel hurt."

"I know. I don't either, but it's not all Santana's fault!" The boy stared at her, eyebrows raised. "Okay, so maybe it is. But Rachel knew what she was letting herself in for when this whole thing with Santana started. She's not the nicest, or the sanest, of people." Tina ran her fingers through her hair a few times, examining the ends closely as Kurt sat back on his hands.

"Do you really think she loves her?" He asked, making the girl shrug.

"It's Rachel Berry. Anything's possible."

Kurt nodded slowly. "Do you think Santana will believe her? If she ever stops being stubborn long enough to actually listen, that is."

Tina smirked then bit her lip, tilting her head to the side as she thought. "Well," she started cautiously, "If anyone can get through to Santana and make her listen, it's going to be Rachel."

"The girl can talk, that's for sure." They shared a smile and fell silent for a while before something buzzed loudly. "It's Quinn. She's got a new plan." Kurt stood, offering his hand to Tina before straightening his outfit carefully.

They started back up the stairs. "I think they'd be cute together, don't you?"

Kurt rolled his eyes, holding the door open. "That's not exactly the word I'd use to describe anything to do with Santana, but if she can get Rachel to shut up from time to time, they have my blessing."

Santana waited until their voices had faded away before she pulled herself up off the floor and back into her seat. What the holy fuckin' hell was that all about? How dare they talk about her! How dare they talk about Rachel!

She huffed to herself, making a mental note to hide the boy's hair gel next chance she got. But then a thought hit her… what if they were right? They probably weren't, they were two of the biggest gossips in school, but just what if Rachel really did love her?

What the fuck did that mean and what the fuck was she supposed to do now?

AN: Lemmie know what you thought, i always love to hear from you guys =) there's gonna be lots more action next chapter and, dare i say it, some Pezberry interaction XD

Peace Out.