Robin drops Kurt off at home. He apologizes to both Robin and Andre for his behavior earlier, but other than that, he's been completely silent. She can't blame him; this is way too much for any kid to handle. She gives Kurt a long hug before he leaves the car. "Be strong, everything will be all right."
Kurt clutches at Robin. His hands are cold. She compares hugging Kurt to hugging her youngest son. Blaine's body is warm and engulfing; Kurt, on the other hand, is freezing and stiff, like he's afraid Robin will hurt him. It's obvious Kurt is used to putting up his guard and protecting himself. Blaine's the same way, except it's against his nature to keep people at a distance. For Kurt, it must be a way of life, though she wonders if he's like this with Blaine. "I will," he says. His voice strained and tired. He pulls away and gives her a weary smile. "Happy New Year."
She senses the discontent in his voice and smiles back. She's come to care very much for Kurt. He's done more for Blaine in a short amount of time than she could ever hope to accomplish. Despite losing his temper tonight, Kurt's a sweet boy who always tries to do right by people. Most of all, he's still standing after everything that's happened. It's more than Robin thinks she could handle.
Robin gets back into the car so Blaine and Kurt can have a moment alone. The two hug and speak quiet words to each other, as if they know just how similar their lives are, even if Blaine has no idea that it's true. She compares her lies to Elizabeth's. Were the two really so different? Robin lied to protect her family, and mostly, to protect her son. Elizabeth lied to protect- well, everyone. However, it seems the more Robin sees what Elizabeth's lies have done to her son, the more Robin doubts her own. With Sovereign closing in and quite clearly willing to do anything to overthrow their government, how long would it be before someone starts to dig into Andre's past? How long before people connected him to Robin and then discovered Blaine's abilities? How long would it take for her crumbling secret to finally unravel? More importantly, how would Blaine take the news?
Mother and son watch Kurt walk back into his house. Once he's inside, Blaine finally climbs into Robin's car. Robin starts up her car and pulls out of Kurt's driveway. "Will he be safe tonight?"
"Yes. We're putting his house on surveillance," As if on cue, Robin gives a curt nod towards a black Toyota parked on the other side of the street; while neither she or Blaine could see her, she knows Monique Martin (an enforcer for GAIA and Thad Martin's aunt) is taking the guard shift. Robin puts her car in drive and picks up speed down the road.
The streets are empty. The only sound they hear for the longest time is the woosh of Robin's vehicle. Inside her head, it's much louder. They were playing a dangerous game before, but now the stakes are much higher. It's not just her way of life and Kurt's sanity that's at risk anymore; people's lives could be taken over this. A girl she practically watched grow up was killed in an extremely gruesome way, just because she was the unfortunate one who fought Kurt. It's a selfish thought, but she can't help but wonder what would have happened if Renee's killer had seen Blaine with Kurt? Would she be mourning her son's life instead of fearing for it? She couldn't say, but she does know her life would have been over if she had seen the 'x' on Blaine's throat tonight.
"What's going to happen to Kurt?" Blaine says, breaking the silence. Robin sighs and leans her head back in the seat.
"We're still debating that. We're not doing anything before Renee's funeral, but once the parents find out what's happened, it will be difficult to get them on our side." The biggest fear right now is that they'll have a mutiny on their hands. It's been a delicate balance keeping Andre in power as it is, but now with the senseless death of a superhuman child, whatever faith people had left in him would soon fade away. Ironic, considering Robin trusts Andre more than anyone right now. "Kurt has possibilities. He'll be safe Blaine."
"How?"
"You know I can't tell you that."
"Yeah, there's a lot of that going on, isn't there?" Blaine spits back. Robin grips her fingers around the stirring wheel.
"Blaine—"
Blaine turns around in his seat so he can face his mother. His brows are furrowed in anger, though Robin can feel that it's mostly confusion running through her son's veins. "I understand why you couldn't tell me—I'm not happy about it, but I understand, but why did you and Mr. Moretta keep it from him for so long?"
The betrayal in his voice makes her heart ache. "It's not so simple, baby. Elizabeth didn't want anyone saying anything for very good reasons and—"
"Kurt's mom is dead," He says in a low voice. "Kurt's the one who's alive, and he doesn't have a clue what's going on in his own life! This affects him more than it affects any of us and everyone's been making decisions on his behalf!"
"He's a child, Blaine! So are you!" Robin explodes, daring to turn to her son for the quickest second. His emotions stumble as his eyes go wide; Robin's glare is so fierce he's almost scared. The anger, she realizes, comes from her own fear—the fear she may lose her youngest son, whether that be through him losing his life or losing his respect for her. She stares back to the road, speaking through her teeth. "You have no idea how cruel the world can be, or how hard I've fought to protect you from it. A girl died tonight! You think you'll just be safe from whatever's trying to hurt Kurt because you're somehow more powerful? Because you've taken a life?"
Robin spits out the last part and immediately wishes she could take it back. A deep agony, paired with a few other nameless (but not good) emotions came off Blaine. His face is on the verge of crumbling to tears. Robin's not too far behind. "Blaine…" She whispers.
"Pull the car over…"
"Honey, please, I'm sorry." Robin pleads. Blaine's hand slams against the roof of the car. The smell of smoke hits her nostrils without warning.
"Pull it over now!" he shouts. Robin swerves to the side of the road as quickly as she can and parks the car. Blaine doesn't wait for her to shut it off; he snaps off his seatbelt and gets out. Robin's eyes flicker up to where his hand was—a black handprint in its place. It reminds her of the night Andre caught her in the file room. Based on that experience, every instinct tells her not to chase after Blaine, except for one: the maternal instinct. That one would win out every time. She gets out and follows after Blaine.
Blaine doesn't actually go far. He gets a few dozen yards and runs both hands through his hair. Robin catches up fairly quickly. "Blaine Robert! Stop!"
"You stop!" He shouts, turning around. Robin stops in her tracks, not because she fears Blaine. Just the opposite. She can feel his anger and sadness rolling off him all at once, but for the first time in a long time, there's not an ounce of gold or orange in his irises. The only flash of light is the small reflection in Blaine's tears from the car's headlights. "Stop treating me like a child! Stop treating me like I'm incapable of controlling myself! Stop trying to protect me from something you can't protect me from!"
Robin isn't sure what to say to that. She can't just stop protecting Blaine. That's just as much a part of her as her empathy.
Blaine wipes his tears away and stands up straight. "I know after what happened with Sebastian, I needed you to help me. I still need your help, but I can't hide behind you every time something bad happens. Bad things have happened, and they will for the rest of my life. You can't protect me from getting hurt anymore, and that's fine because I don't need it,"
"Blaine," Robin chokes out, her eyes watering as fights to say the words. It's so hard because she knows he's right. She won't always be around to protect him and honestly, she can't this time. They're in a situation where abandoning the problem isn't an option, hiding it is become more difficult, and fighting will be risky, but if it's the only option, what choice do they have?
She feels a little better seeing Blaine stand his ground. He's not the scared little boy she had to control the night of the Sadie Hawkins dance; he's a nearly full grown and ready to make his own choices. Robin's raised her son, though the job is never done.
She doesn't say anything. He just rushes up and throws his arms around her. Robin embraces Blaine and rocks him in her arms. Much like she did years ago, when he was only a baby. Robin feels his warmth and takes it all in. Clinging for every slipping moment while she still could.
One thing would never change; she'd die before she'd let anyone hurt her son.
()()()()()()()
"I know it's around here somewhere," Rachel proclaims as she goes through a box filled with old VCR tapes and a few cassettes. Jesse watches close by, waiting for the perfect moment to come.
It was always part of the plan for him to come over and watch Rachel's old videos. It hadn't been part of the plan to introduce Shelby to her—it never was. However, even as the conscious he buried so long ago plagues him, he's knows it's something that needs to be done.
"Things have changed Jesse."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Jesse asks. He's practicing his ballet at his mother's palates studio. He assumes she's the one who let him in. He stretches and limbers his body, all while staring at Dustin in the mirror. He doesn't have the time to actually stop while he listens to Dustin's nonsense—he's meeting Rachel in a few hours.
Dustin smirks. "It's time for you to pick your side."
Jesse rolls his eyes and lifts himself on his tippy-toes. "This is tiresome, Goolsby. You're so insecure, you know that? It must be a struggle for attention between you and Tatiana."
Jesse looks up and barely catches it. A look of proud, sick amusement all over Dustin's face. Jesse falls back down on his feet; the speed almost makes him stumble. As a general rule, he doesn't trust other people, but that doubles for Dustin. He knows the man is unpredictable and extremely unattached. A person who has so little to lose could pretty much do whatever they wanted, and that scares Jesse. He knew very well that Dustin didn't love Tatiana, but he did believe maybe Dustin had a soft spot for the girl. Tatiana's annoying, and certainly heavy with baggage, but even Jesse felt sorry for her.
"Well, it's not much of a competition anymore," Dustin says. Jesse turns swiftly to face him.
"You got rid of her?"
"She was keeping information from me. Very important information regarding your little Rachel Berry. Did you know Rachel is Shelby's biological daughter?" Jesse's too stunned to answer, but Dustin waves him off. "Purely rhetorical. I know you do. I know Shelby asked you to look after her and that's why you've been spending every other moment with her. The two reasons you're still alive is because your mother is a respected member of Sovereign and believe it or not, you're still useful to me." Dustin reaches into his pocket and tosses Jesse something. He catches it swiftly and peers down. It's a cassette tape with the words 'To Rachel' written on it. Jesse hands shake as he realizes what it is.
"Where did you get this?"
"It's not where I got it, Jesse, it's where you got it."
"I don't understand," Jesse breathes, but he clutches the tape when he realizes. "Sunshine. Fuck. You used her on me?!"
"Sunshine with some help from Giselle so you wouldn't remember," Dustin says, referring to Jesse's dance partner who could manipulate thoughts and memories. Jesse is absolutely furious his teammates used him, but is even more furious at himself because Shelby trusted him. He only went to Shelby's apartment yesterday to give her an update. He replays it in his mind and can't remember a single gap or blackout—which meant they've planned this quite well. How could he be so stupid?! "So you see Jesse, I can control your mind, your body, and god forbid, your life if I need to. You may have been working for Shelby before, but now you work for me. Is that understood?"
Jesse opens his mouth to spit out a curse, but Dustin holds up his hand and says, "It's also worth pointing out that you weren't the only victim here. I know you're wondering what happened to Tatiana, and I don't trust you enough to tell you that. What I can tell you is that the information she gave didn't come willingly. I can control anyone—that includes you, Shelby, and little Rachel," Jesse wraps his arms around his body and digs his nails into his flesh. He feels sick—sick and completely hopeless. If Dustin can so easily cast Tatiana aside, he'll have no problem doing the same to Rachel. Dustin tsks. "She can't access her powers right now, you know. I plan on changing that, but she'd be so frail. I don't think she'd even survive if I happen to…" He makes a grabbing motion with his hand. Jesse feels himself get cold, see the pale look on his face in the mirror behind Dustin.
He swallows the acid building in his throat. "What do you want from me?"
Dustin smiles in return. "Something heart-warming really—I want you to reunite mother and daughter."
"What's this?" Jesse says, pretending as though he just picked up the tape from the pile. Rachel turns, ready to go off into a big story when she sets eyes on the tape. Her smile falls and her head tilts.
"I don't know." She takes the tape from Jesse and looks over it. "I've never seen it before."
"Is it something your dads made for you when you were a baby?" Jesse asks, feigning ignorance. This is the hardest he's ever had to act. If Rachel doesn't buy it, then it could cost him more than just his place in Sovereign. It could cost him and Rachel their lives.
Thankfully, she's completely in the dark. Rachel shakes her head. "I don't think so." She smiles and waves the tape in Jesse's face. "Well, only one way to find out."
Jesse watches as Rachel walks over to her entertainment center. Jesse's surprised that anyone still has a cassette player, but Rachel's always been a little out there—in an endearing sort of way. He would enjoy novelty if he wasn't so knotted up inside.
Rachel hits play. She's so excited, so unaware of what is about to happen. Shelby's voice rings out. "Hey baby… it's me…. Your mommy."
Rachel gasps, her hands cover her mouth. She misses Jesse's well placed, "I know that voice." She misses it. Rachel sits down on her bed and listens to the tape.
"I wish I could tell you why I had to give you up. I wish you could hear this. I just want you to know that I love you. I'll think about you every day."
Rachel tears up when music starts to play. Jesse can't look at her; he just stares forward and listens to Shelby sing. The words of I Dreamed a Dream come out, and it's the most vulnerable Jesse's ever heard his former teacher sound. He can hear the pain, the loss, and the grief; he can hear it all in her voice. Above all, he can hear the love. Love he's never known in his entire life. It makes him wonder how his half-ass parents could get to raise three kids while this woman, who so obviously wanted her daughter, didn't get the chance to sing this song to her daughter until now. It makes him doubt the existence of karma.
"Now life has killed the dream I dreamed." Rachel sings with Shelby, and Jesse hears perfect harmony. He was forced into doing this, but he feels as though these two deserve to be together. The tape ends and Rachel leans her head down. The entire time he's known Rachel—which he can admit, hasn't been very long—she's wanted to be the center of attention. It's weird to see her intentionally try to hide herself from him. Unsettling, really.
Rachel bites her lip and stares into Jesse's eyes with what he dares to say are hope. "You know her?" So she heard him after all. It'd still be so easy to pass off as a misunderstanding. He could leave right now, tell Shelby everything, and go join his big brother in some remote area of the world. Far away from this web of heartbreak and unachievable dreams.
It'd be easy if he could forget Rachel, but he doubts even a compulsion expert could make that happen. He used to joke that if Shelby were younger, she'd be the woman of his dreams. Rachel is almost a teenager version of the woman he so highly regards except for a few key differences. Key differences that somehow made her more beautiful. That beauty would be destroyed if he left now—Dustin would surely destroy both Shelby and Rachel if Jesse didn't stop it. At least this way, Jesse could control the damage.
He nods. "I do..."
()()()()()()()
Santana and Brittany are cuddled close together and watching old movies. Maribel is upstairs paying off the bills, leaving the girls alone downstairs. Santana, of course, had more risqué plans in mind, but when Brittany came over and said she only wanted to cuddle—well, Santana couldn't refuse.
Every minute she holds Brittany feels like it might be the last. No one in her life, besides her mother, has ever stayed long enough to become a constant. If Brittany were to ever inexplicitly disappear into thin air, Santana would be more surprised she existed at all than at the fact she was gone.
Even if, hypothetically, Santana could admit she loves Brittany, and Brittany wanted her in that way, how long before GAIA stepped in and put an end to it? By GAIA national law—the only circumstances in which a superhuman could reveal the truth to a human is if that human was related to a superhuman or if the superhuman and human were to be married. Gay marriage is still illegal in Ohio, meaning by law, Santana couldn't reveal the truth to Brittany even if they were in a committed relationship. Of course, it'd be something GAIA's system could work around if they actually cared about that, but her sperm donor didn't seem to care about the rights of gay superhumans—not when he was so busy with his own fucked up life. Santana's never been much of a rule follower, but she knows GAIA punishes unlawful reveals by wiping the human in question's memory. That's a punishment Santana isn't sure she can survive, so she holds on. Counting and treasuring every moment until disappointment hits her once again.
Today doesn't turn out disappointing, however. In fact, Santana gets the shock of the year (not saying much since its the first day of the year, but still shocking in it's own right) when she answers the call of an unknown number. "If this is a telemarketer—"
"Santana," the voice says with no hesitation or sarcasm whatsoever. Odd, considering the voice belongs to none other than Tatiana Moretta.
Santana looks at Brittany out of the corner of her eye and then says into the phone, "What do you want?"
"Look, I don't have much time to talk. Things are getting really bad over here—"
"Oh, so your spoiled rich-bitch attitude finally caught up with you?" She responds, hoping to get some kind of bite for her bark. Instead, Tatiana answers her frantically.
"This is serious! Sovereign's on my ass because they found out I was hiding shit from them. I need to get out of Ohio, like yesterday."
She's suspicious to say the least. Not that Santana doesn't believe her sister's bad decisions have finally caught up with her, but more because she can't understand why Tatiana would call her when she knew Santana probably wouldn't help her. Unless, of course, she's absolutely desperate, which catches Santana's curiosity. "So, why are you calling me? Shouldn't you be calling Daddy-dearest?"
"Fuck no! I'd rather rot in a Sovereign cell than call him for help. In fact, I need you to hold on to something for me so it doesn't end up in his slimy hands." One thought hits Santana and she knows it must be it. Her eyes widen because it's the most prized possession in the Moretta family, or at least, that's what her mother's told her. Santana never had any big dreams of coming into contact with the heirloom because as far as anyone seemed concerned, she wasn't an heir. Still, after her obvious betrayal, she didn't think there'd ever be a chance Tatiana would get it from their father, let alone before he died.
"You have the necklace?" Santana asks, just to be sure.
"Yeah, the sperm-donor gave it to me when I graduated from high school, and I don't plan on giving it back. So I want you to meet me at my apartment in two hours to get it."
That sets off another red flag. Why would Tatiana give the necklace to her? And if she feels like her life is in danger, why would they meet at the first place anyone would think to look? Something seems off about this whole situation, but again, Santana's curiosity gets the better of her. "And how do you know I won't just take it to Andre once I get it? It's not like it works with my powers."
"Because you hate him as much, if not more, than I do. You know it will drive him absolutely nuts if his secret daughter has it," she points out. That does seem to bring things together a bit more. Tatiana may not trust Santana, but any opportunity to make Andre mad is one Tatiana would take in a heartbeat. It's also true that Santana would be resistant to the idea of giving it to Andre.
Still, it doesn't feel right to Santana. There's something wrong here, besides the fact her estranged half-sister is asking her for help, and Santana's gut is telling her to stay far away. On the other hand, Santana can't help but wonder what this could all mean. If something more is going on here, then she's interested in knowing what it could be.
Besides, the chance to hold a highly valued item from the family that rejected her? That's an offer she can't refuse. "All right, I'll play."
Tatiana gives her directions to her apartment. It's a long drive to get there, so she'd almost have to leave immediately. Santana goes upstairs to get changed, Brittany following behind when she realizes Santana's leaving. "Where are you going? I thought today was just for us?"
Santana curses and rips the shirt over her head. She can't take Brittany with her if it's as dangerous as Santana feels like it is, especially when everything she and Tatiana will be talking about is superhuman related. Brittany was planning on spending the night, too. Santana decides that Brittany can surely entertain herself for a couple hours while Santana goes and meets her sister. "It will be when I get back. I have to go meet someone, but you can stay here with Mama, can't you?"
Brittany looks sad but shrugs. "I guess so," she says. Santana gives her a reassuring smile and peck on the cheek.
"I'll bring you back some candy, okay Brit?" Santana promises as she puts on her bra and reaches for a new shirt, dropping her jeans along the way. Brittany finally smiles.
"Hersheys, not Skittles. Skittles makes money off the hard work of Smurfs and I refuse to support sweatshop work," Brittany says. Santana chuckles, giving her cheek a gentle pat.
"You got it, sweetie."
()()()()()()()
Cooper packs the last of his bags into the rental car and closes the trunk. He doesn't notice Robin standing tiredly off to the side until she speaks. "You should've woken me up."
Cooper turns around and leans back against the car, giving his mother a small smile. "You looked like you had a rough night."
"To put it mildly," Robin says, jostling her hair. She had tied it in a ponytail in a messy attempt to look professional. She was probably off to work after Cooper left—to work with Andre Moretta. Cooper can hardly stand the name of his little brother's real father. "And the whole thing is far from over. Word's starting to get out about what happened to that poor girl, and we have to figure out how to deal with it. Honestly, you couldn't have picked a better time to go home. No offense."
"Thanks Mom," Cooper tries to joke. His mom weakly smiles, but it falls immediately. His mother looks older than he's ever seen her. Whenever they met people as a family, they were always shocked to learn that Robin was his mother. Her size and features made her look much younger than she actually was. Now that her dark hair is starting to grey and bags are showing under her eyes, it's obvious the stress is taking a toll on her health. Cooper feels like he should do something to help, but he has no idea what. Short of keeping the secret of Blaine's paternity, there's very little he can do to make things easier for his mom. There's only one thing he can think of. "You know, if you want, I could get a later flight and take Blaine with me. Get him a tutor or enroll him somewhere in California. Get him out of dodge for a little while."
Robin sighs. "I would love nothing more than to say yes, but Blaine wouldn't go for it. Not without Kurt."
"Ah, he's got it bad for the kid, doesn't he? Well, at least he's smart enough to fall in love with a superhuman. He can ignore all the drama you and I went through." This time, Robin actually laughs, even though those situations were an entirely new level of tragic. "Well, if he ever changes his mind, you know where to find me."
Robin's humor fades again, a very serious look on her face. She bites her lip and then replies, "I'm not sure if he will, but if I get into a situation where I need to send them both somewhere to hide, I might—"
"Just do it. No matter how bad it gets, you can send them both to me," Cooper tells her. Robin nods in agreement and crosses her arms for protection against the wind.
"I'm sorry about everything… about you finding out about Blaine the way you did. I didn't—I—"
Cooper shrugs. He won't say that what his mom did was right, because it wasn't. He also won't chastise her or make her feel awful because he's sure she does that to herself every day. Really, it's a situation where right and wrong have very limited meanings. Regardless, she was his mother, and no matter what she did, she did it out love. Or maybe he just doesn't want to hear any more justification over a fucked up situation.
Robin seems to appreciate it the gesture. She walks over and wraps her around her oldest son. Cooper towers over his mother, easily putting his chin on top of her head. They're two entirely different people who happen to share a bloodline. They don't always agree, but Cooper will always have the upmost respect for his mom. For the sacrifices and hardships she's faced and defeated in her life.
She backs up, allowing Cooper to walk to the driver's side. He opens the door and waves to his mom reassuringly. She has a lot to deal with now, and Cooper feels bad he can't help her. It's odd how he can make directors give him a part with a wink and smile, but he can't use his powers to protect his mom and little brother. He can't even keep the girl he loves in his life.
Cooper slides into the car and sighs, hands squeezing around the wheel. He seems to have a big problem when it comes to love. Somewhere far away from here, Chelsea is getting ready to marry another man, and he hasn't even thought about that because his minds been too focused on someone else—Tatiana Moretta. It should be weird that he's having feelings for his brother's half-sister, but he doesn't even think about it most of the time (after all, it's not like she and Cooper are biologically related). Every time he sees Tatiana, he remembers the charismatic, fun-loving, beautiful girl he knew in high school. Over time, she's been hardened and made into something cynical, but Cooper's sure that there's traces of the girl he once knew somewhere beneath her thick skin.
The only problem is, she's marrying some else, too. The difference is, Cooper's sure the guy she's marrying is a dirt bag. From what Cooper understood, he left Tatiana a lot. Also, while Cooper was no expert on the subject, usually people who were about to be happily married were—well, happy. Tatiana wasn't happy, not even close. He considers bursting into her apartment and sweeping her away like the characters he auditioned for. Except Tatiana would either laugh at him or think he was stupid for doing so.
That being said, he thought while taking note of the time, he had enough time to swing by her place. If nothing else, just to make sure there were no hard feelings about the last time they met up. He never got a chance to tie up the loose ends with Chelsea—at the very least, he'd leave things better off between him and Tatiana.
()()()()()()()
Santana pulls up to the apartment complex and parks. She steps out of the car, wearing a grey hoodie and shorts. While pyrokinetics hated cold weather, hydrokinetics thrived in it. Certainly, people have stared at her for her questionable winter attire, but she's never really cared. If the cold can make her that much more powerful, then she's going to take advantage of it.
She climbs up the stairs and finds Tatiana's apartment number. She bangs heavily on the door. "It's me! Open your door!" No response at first. Santana kicks the door with her foot. "Come on, I don't have all fucking day!"
The door swings open and Santana feels uneasy. It's not her sister who answers the door, but her slimy fiancée. Dustin Goolsby smiles. "Santana. Tiana told me you were coming over, please come in."
He moves aside. Santana fakes a smile back. "Thanks, but I'd rather speak with Tatiana. It's not that I don't trust you, but frankly you have creepy-as-fuck serial killer written all over you."
Dustin chuckles. "I don't get that a lot. She had to run out and she told me to give you the necklace."
"Uh-huh. You're full of shit," Santana responds, crossing her arms and cocking her hips. She's not stupid enough to believe a word that comes out of Dustin's mouth, but she is beginning to question how smart it was to come here in the first place. Dustin leans against the doorway, clearly entertained. It sends chills down Santana's spine, though she'd never admit it out loud. "Listen Hannibal Lecter, you may have my sister wrapped around your finger with your anti-establishment ideas and what not, but I'm not that stupid. I know you're as fake as my sperm donor- at least my sperm donor doesn't make himself look like a douchebag every time I see him."
"Wow, you have me all figured out, don't you? So much smarter than your sister. Yet, prone to the same mistakes…"
Santana taps her foot. Her heart's beating faster. The feelings of fear she's pushed down are coming back full force. "The necklace isn't here, is it? You forced Tatiana to lure me here."
She doesn't wait for a response. She pulls her fist back and wraps it with ice. She surges her fist forward and—
The ice smashes before she can hit Dustin. Santana gasps; it's a force field—he's not here alone. Dustin appears amused by her attempts.
Santana turns and makes a run for it. Dustin reaches for her, but Santana manages to escape. She doesn't know much about Dustin, but knows it would be detrimental if he caught her. She runs for the stairs, knowing if she can reach her car, she has a better chance of escaping.
Someone grabs onto her arms and jerks her down. Santana cries out as the hard stair digs into her back. She peers up and sees a very large boy—likely the one who protected Dustin with the force field—and an African-American girl with dark hair. She's seen her perform in Vocal Adrenaline before and sees her as an adversary more than ever. Santana doesn't want to face Dustin again, so using her cheerleading skills, she rocks herself up and kicks them both in the face. As Santana comes back up, she wraps both her fists with ice and slams them down over their heads. Santana takes off as quickly as she can.
Then, she hears static. Electricity. Santana doesn't know where it's coming from, so she throws herself off the stairs. She tries to roll but lands hard on her side. She hears a crack along her side and screams out. Pain shoots up through her side and constricts her breath. Come on, you bitch! Get up! Santana mentally shouts. Santana pushes herself unsteadily and makes a shaky run for her car.
Lighting nearly strikes her again, this time Santana takes note of what direction the lighting is coming from. She waits for him to strike again, before she turns around shoots a couple large ball of water. She freezes each one to ice and fortunately, it sounds like one makes contact when she hears a loud yell. Santana turns back around to run once more. She doesn't get two steps before a heavy weight comes down on her shoulders and makes her fall forward. The weight spreads down her back, into her legs and settles in her head and feet. She feels like screaming, but somehow, she can't get it out. She feels like she weighs a ton and it's more horrible than she could have ever imagined.
Santana maneuvers her head enough to see the cause. A small Asian girl is walking towards her with her hand out. She realizes it's the same girl Rachel sent to a crack house, Sunshine Corazon. Santana, of course, knew she was a superhuman when she left New Directions to join Vocal Adrenaline, but she had no idea that the tiny singer was capable of this. Fuck this! Get up! Get up or you'll be the dumbest bitch in the history of ever. Santana digs her hands into the gravel and tries to push herself up, but the weight holds firm. She's been caught.
"Release her…" A soothing voice sets in. It's familiar to Santana's ears, but she can't remember from where. Sunshine looks up; her eyes narrow as if she can't believe someone is trying to command her. "Release her," it repeats, and does so twice more.
By the fourth time, Sunshine's eyes start to glaze over. She lowers her hand, and the weight comes off Santana all at once. She gasps for air and her hero approaches, kneeling beside her. "Are you okay?"
Santana looks up and frowns. It can't be—"Anderson?"
Cooper smirks. "So, you've seen my commercials then?"
"More like your mom took my mom's job, you asshat," Santana growls, pulling her arm back so she can sit up. Cooper chuckles when Santana groans and reaches for her side.
"Well, you're welcome."
Santana is about to begrudgingly thank him, when Dustin grabs Cooper's wrist and forces it behind his back. Cooper cries out from the pain, as well as the fact that his energy is being sucked from his body to Dustin's. Dustin pulls him back and reaches out for Santana. She jumps back just in time. She focuses all her energy together, knowing if she didn't make this work perfectly, then Cooper was as screwed as she was.
She slams her foot to the ground. Water comes up around Dustin. He looks down just as it covers over his face. Santana sets it freeze, setting Dustin in a temporary pause of 'oh, shit'. Cooper takes a deep breath and breaks out of Dustin's grip as the connection to his energy is severed.
"Nice work," Cooper weakly compliments. Santana takes a moment to breathe, only a moment, as she knows they don't have much time. Despite the pain, she picks herself up off the ground.
"Come on, let's get out of here. The ice won't hold long, even out here, and I'm sure we'll be in for trouble once she—" Santana nudges her head towards Sunshine, still stuck in the compulsion trance, "snaps out of it."
"Right. Come on, we'll take my car." Santana winces while turning towards Cooper. She's ready to scream so he holds up his hand. "Do you really want to take chances of running into more of our little friends? I may not be worth much in the power department, but I'm better than having nothing with you in your current condition. Could you ever drive right now?"
Santana takes a check of her injuries. She can barely breathe, and her side hurts like hell. It would be nothing less than a miracle if she doesn't pass out on the drive home. She decides to suck up her pride and follows Cooper towards his car.
Cooper and Santana step in and Cooper starts his car. Sunshine snaps out from her trance and peers in their direction as Cooper speeds off down the road. She'll be too busy dealing with Goolsby to chase after them. Santana goes limp in the car seat. Injured, exhausted, but still alive and free. Cooper's hands shake on the wheel, and she's sure he's much weaker than he cares to admit, but considering how much of his energy Dustin could have drained, he's fortunate.
"So, I didn't see Tatiana…Did he get her?" Cooper hesitantly asks.
"Shit if I know," Santana answers, but she knows Dustin has her. It makes sense now; Dustin had Sunshine manipulate Tatiana into making the call—using something Dustin knew Santana couldn't refuse. Why he wanted Santana so bad, she didn't know; she also didn't know where Tatiana was, only that she would never cross this barrier, no matter how much she hated GAIA and her father. Santana was neutral—therefore, innocent in Tatiana's eyes.
Dustin however, he saw some sort of value. Hence, why he wanted to catch her.
She doesn't ask why Cooper was there as he already answered it. He was there to find Tatiana, and instead, found Santana fighting for her freedom. The car ride is mostly silent as Cooper drives back towards Lima. There are a lot of things Santana doesn't understand. Why did Dustin want her? Where was her sister? Where was the necklace? Questions she never thought she'd be asking; then again, she never thought she'd be riding in a car with one of Robin Anderson's sons, yet here she was.
In this hazy cloud of confusion, only one thing was clear—she wasn't neutral anymore.
And thus, the end of chapter 25! Apologies for how long it took to write. Vacation wasn't the writing opportunity I thought it was going to be, I'm afraid. I've started back up with college too, so my time has been a little divided. Excuses, excuses, I know. On the plus side, only a week until Glee comes back!
So, thank you all for being so patient—reviewers, followers, favoriters, alerters, and readers—you guys are amazing as always! Of course, a special thanks to irishflute for betaing this chapter. I don't know how she finds the time to write, be awesome, and look over my stuff, but I'd lost if she didn't!
Also, just a quick note because I'm sure people will be wondering— I know that Blaine's middle name is Devon. That hadn't been announced when I first stated it was Robert in this story, so to stick with consistency, I kept with what I said before. Let's just say in this alternate reality, Blaine was named after his mom, lol.
ToniBalogna978- Yes, but only some questions, I still have a whole web that need to be answered, lol. There will certainly be some BAMF!Klaine coming our way soon—the chapters should start progressively getting more action packed now that the whole thing is starting unravel. Thanks for reviewing! Sorry it didn't come soon, but I hope you enjoy the new chapter nonetheless.
cold kagome- I know, poor boys :( I seem put them through so much in all my stories. Thank you for reviewing!
GleekyPatronusWolfyStarkid- Thank you very much, dear! Very exciting to have this story come this far. I honestly didn't expect it when I first started writing it, but I'm glad so many people enjoy it. Thanks for contributing to that and thank you reviewing :)
AlexaCardew- Absolutely! She actually does a little in this chapter, but hopefully, she get another swing at him later on. We'll have to see ;) Hope you enjoy the new chapter, thanks for reviewing!
msdarque- Thanks! Unfortunately, Kurt didn't even make it in this chapter, but next chapter will be a really heavy Kurt one. It's hard to fit all the characters in with all the different story lines, but now that they've started to intertwine, it should be a bit easier. Thank you for reviewing! Enjoy the update :)
Marierux- Thanks! And thank you for reviewing too :)
thexkat- Honestly, Renee bringing up the idea was one of my infamous last minute decisions, so even I didn't think of it until then—and I'm the writer! I don't want to give too much away, but let's just say it won't be as easy for Kurt to contact his mother as he imagined. Hopefully, this chapter answers your questions about Jesse and his place in all of this. Yeah, everything you've said about Tatiana is fairly accurate right now—without giving too much away, I can pull off for her what I did for Andre. Not sure if I can do it a second time, but we'll have to see. Can't say much about Robin's fate, but I will add that she is my favorite version of Blaine's mom that I've written, so, that might factor one way. I never thought of that character death warning pertaining to Robin, but I feel like I wasted an opportunity there…but that wouldn't have been very nice of me, so I'm glad I didn't, lol. I did see that episode (crazy stuff there!). Hope you enjoy the update! Thank you for reviewing!
Black-Luna- Thanks! Well…I wasn't update soon, but I hope you like it nonetheless! Thanks for the review!
StarGleekBelle-Love the enthusiasm! I know, Kurt's been through a lot in this story and its probably going to get a little harder, but he's though enough to pull through. Unfortunately, Burt can't register as it currently stands, but as we learn in this chapter, not all hope is lost…at least not yet. You'll have to see though! Thank you for reviewing!
TuuzMB- Aw! Thank you so much dear! Uh, I couldn't tell you where to find a boy like Blaine (if I knew, I'd have one, lol), but at least we can dream, right? Thanks for reviewing!
Rori Potter- For sure, but things should start coming together now. Thanks for reviewing!