Chapter 4: It's All in The Name

Finn's face goes bright red and his hands clench into fists. It takes all his strength not to put his fist through the nearest wall and frighten the younger patrons in the room. This does not, however, stop his language.

"That son of a bitch…" he hisses. He cannot imagine what brother would beat his own sister and then leave her to bleed to death on the floor. Tossing her aside like she was a piece of garbage.

"Language!" Tina snaps, reaching over to cover Madison's ears.

Finn's so angry that he turns and exits the room to cool off, the rest of the glee club members are left to ponder what the little Madison had told them.

Blaine clears his throat and adjusts his collar in discomfort.

"Is Sara okay?" Katlyn asks, seemingly ignoring Finn's foul language. Only a select few members noticed how the swearing didn't even phase the young children, not one bit, which some would assume as unusual.

"We don't know yet, darlin'," Rory says.

"How bad was it?" Madison says.

No one wants to answer, they all look at each other with discomfort. Ryder holds Julia a bit tighter, covering her head with his ear, while Rory brings Katlyn over to a chair so she can sit on his lap. Artie rolls up to the eldest girl of the group and stops in front of her.

"We're not sure yet Madison, but we're hoping to know soon."

The dark-haired girl gives a slight nod, accepting it without much question.

"Are you Artie?" Maddy asks suddenly.

"Yeah…"

"Sara told me you were the smartest one of Glee Club, but your glasses aren't that big."

Artie turns bright red and shrinks down in his chair slightly, some of the other members snicker at the abrupt comment. The naivety of a child is always amusing, no matter how depressing the situation might be.

"What else did she tell you about me?" he prompts.

"That you're very good at filming things and you've always been in love with Tina."

This time, Tina turns bright red in response too and the former couple looks at each other for a long moment before looking away.

"What about her?" the wheel-chair bound member asks.

"She says that Tina used to be very shy, but is now headstrong and edgy, whatever that means. Sara likes that she doesn't wear dark clothes anymore and thinks that even though she dated Mike for so long, she's always loved you."

Tina takes a step away from Artie and sits in one of the nearby chairs as more of the glee club members laugh quietly amongst each other. Artie offers to take Madison for a spin on his wheelchair, finding the girl's honesty refreshing if not slightly embarrassing.

Katlyn speaks up next, she points to Sam.

"You're Sam," she giggles. "You have a washboard stomach and big lips. Sara hated that Satan called you Trouty Mouth."

Almost everyone laughs at the nickname while Sam turns red, but also laughs at what the bright-eyed girl had just said.

"Satan? Do you mean Santana?" Joe asks. Katlyn nods.

"Same difference," the blonde teen mutters.

"She certainly acted like it at times," Tina agrees.

Katlyn continues, "You also like to swim and she thinks you're too hard on yourself sometimes. She thinks you're very smart and funny, especially when you pretend to be other people."

"You mean like this?" Sam asks and he goes into an impersonation Kermit the Frog and then a robot to make them laugh. Even Julia laughs, taking the thumb out of her mouth and poking her head up from the safety of Ryder's arms. The other members smile, happy to have some of the tension relieved from the room.

"You're funny," Madison says.

"What about that guy in the bow tie?" Artie asks, rolling the girl over to Blaine.

"He's Blaine," Maddy says. "He has the most amazing voice and Sara says that he's a great dancer. She thinks he should still try to fix things with Kurt because they are still in love. She also loves his outfits, he has the best sense of style."

"Except for Unique," Katlyn adds.

The smile on Blaine's face fades a little bit at the mention of his ex-boyfriend, but his eyes light up with what Sara says about him. He masks the pain before ruffling Madison's hair in appreciation.

"That's nice of her to say that," he says.

"What am I? Chopped Liver?" Unique asks.

"You're Unique," Katlyn chimes in. "You have the best clothes and you're so fearless as a person. Sara loves when you go shopping together and when you dress her up. She thinks you have a big heart and are brave. Like the movie"

"Brave how?" the fashionable one of the group asks.

"That you're not afraid to be yourself, unlike she could be," Maddy adds. "You don't let anyone control who you are.

"Well, thank you, girls. Come here for a moment Katlyn."

The little girl gets from Rory's lap and runs over to Unique, who embraces her warmly.

"Your hair is the most beautiful I've ever seen; do you mind if I braid it darling?"

"No, Sara does my hair all the time."

"What about me?" Madison asks.

"You're next honey, after this lovely girl."

"What about me?" Sugar asks.

"You're Sugar," Maddy says. "She says that you're the best dancer in the group and tough to the bone. Sara didn't like you at first because Rory went to the Valentine's dance with you, but she still thinks you're lots of fun to be around. She says you throw great parties."

"Well I didn't like her at first either, but… she's better than before. She kind of brings down the group a bit." Sugar says, not fully sure how to respond due to her Asperger's.

Artie wheels the girl over to Kitty.

"And who's this?" he asks.

"You're Kitty," the nine-year-old says. "She calls you Queen B and even though you've done some bad things, she thinks you're a good person deep down. She thinks you're someone we can learn from and that we need to look at things from another people's perspective. She really wants to be friends with you. She also says Cheerio a lot, do you like the cereal?"

The Cheerio swallows hard at this description. She'd assumed that Sara hated her like the rest of group pretty much did because of her attitude and ego. Kitty also thought that because of her attempts to steal her foreign boyfriend, Sara would be calling her a bitch and telling her cousins to stay away from her. Instead, she's being used as a learning tool and that Sara didn't have a hateful bone in her body. Her shy classmate genuinely thought that this queen b cheerleader was nice underneath and wanted to be her friend. A big surge of guilt filled her body as now she felt awful for trying to steal Rory from Sara, more than before.

"N-No Maddy, I don't like the cereal, that's what people at school call their cheerleaders."

"Why are you named after a cereal?"

It takes Kitty a few minutes to explain to the girls what Cheerio meant.

"You're Joe," Katlyn says to the passive guitar player. "She thinks you're nice and so peaceful. She likes your guitar playing and thinks your prayers are important, even though we don't pray anymore."

"Any more?" Blaine asks in confusion.

"We used to pray to Jesus, but we gave up after no one answered our prayers."

"What were your prayers about?" Joe asks.

Katlyn shakes her head, not wanting to talk anymore.

"Hold still girl, I need this braid to be straight," Unique cries out.

"Sorry,"

"What about these two?" Artie asks, turning the oldest girl towards Jake and Marley. To everyone's great surprise, Julia speaks up.

"He's Jake, she thinks he's tough, but good on the inside. He just cares too much about people sometimes. And the hat girl is Marley and even though they both like Ryder, she still wants to be friends with you. She says you are both alike. She also likes your singing."

The whole room goes quiet at the shy girl speaking up so suddenly. Marley turns bright red… Normally she wasn't a hateful person, but she did not particularly like Sara. Especially after she became involved with Ryder. Whenever she saw them together, Marley got the sharp pang of jealousy, the same resentment she felt when Kitty was with Jake. Even though they weren't together, Ryder was her friend and Marley hated that he was following Sara around like a puppy, trying to win her affections against Rory Flanagan. She didn't want him strung along like that. She felt a bit of guilt when Julia states that Sara wanted to be friends and that they were a lot alike. They kind of were, not in ways that Marley could understand.

"That's…nice," she manages to say.

Finn walks in, a bit calmer than before, enough to survey the scene around him.

"What's going on guys?"

"The girls are just introducing us to ourselves," Tina says whimsically.

"What?" the choir director asks, a bit cross-eyed. "Don't you mean the girls are introducing themselves to us."

"We're learning a lot about ourselves," Blaine explains. "Apparently these girls know us better than we know ourselves."

"I see," Finn says, shaking his head, not wanting to think about it any further. "Anything about me?"

"You're Finn and you're the leader!" Maddy says from Artie's lap. "She thinks you're the Daddy of Glee club and you're one of her best friends. You care about everyone and are really protective. You make Sara feel safe and happy. She thinks you'll be a great teacher. She hopes that you and Rachel will get back together someday."

The alumni's ears go bright red in embarrassment. He wasn't used to the abrupt and honest statements said by the nine-year-old girl, but it was funny and the truth. It soothes his angry mood a little bit more.

It was all true too. He still was in love with Rachel and he hoped that they would get back together someday. He was happy that Sara felt safe with him around and he was the father of the show choir. He felt some guilt that even though Sara considered him one of her best friends, he didn't know anything about her and he'd failed to protect her when she needed him most. He forces a smile on his face and offers the girl a piggyback ride, which she accepts with glee. She hugs his shoulders tightly and Finn feels a rush of comfort and joy. He felt like a father and knew that he would do anything for this little girl. He'd protect her at all costs, for Sara.

"Tell me more, Maddy."