"Even those guys came back?!" Beca shook her head in disbelief as the Tonehangers walked on by. A few of them tried to flash her smiles and finger-guns, but being as aged and ridiculous as they were, it came off as more annoying than anything.
"Well, the new Bellas did state that this Pride was open to any and all alums," Theo said as he and Beca made their way across campus. The first stop on their journey was to visit Beca's father. It was clear he still wished Beca had chosen a more reputable career, but because she was working a fairly decent job, he really had no more room to complain. Instead, he'd found it within himself to tell her that he was proud of her, and he didn't try bringing up her stepmom either. His parting gift was a small, rainbow bandana. It was a surprising gesture, but Beca had the grace to take it with a simple "thank you" before she and Theo headed back outside.
"Here," Beca shoved the bandana at Theo as soon as they were out of Beca's father's office.
"Wait, you don't want-?"
"Nah, I've got plenty of Pride stuff already." As much as she appreciated the gift, it still felt a little forced, so that was why she didn't want it.
"How do I look? Sexy?" he joked.
"Oh, yes, absolutely," Beca deadpanned and rolled her eyes, but they both knew she was amused. "You're just oozing sensuality and power."
"Hell yeah!" Theo smiled broadly.
He and Beca continued to walk through the crowded and rainbow-ridden campus. The sun was high and warm, and the sky was cloudless.
"So, when are your other Bellas going to arrive?" Theo asked.
"Should be soon," Beca replied, checking her phone. "They're coming in from all over, so it makes sense that we may not have the "complete collection" until late tonight. But that's when the fun can really begin!" she grinned, but when she caught the surprised look on Theo's face, she was quick to amend her words. "And I meant that in a totally, nonsexual way, like, none of us are planning on, like, doing the do. You know?" she asked.
"Ah, well, no judgement either way. It is Pride Month after all," Theo shrugged, his surprise already fading away.
"Well, I'm not planning on doing anything. Or anyone. But I'm sure Cynthia, Jessica and Ashley will be delighted," Beca snickered.
"Hell yeah we will!" Two voices caught Beca by surprise. She and Theo turned to see Jessica and Ashley (or was it Ashley and Jessica?) standing side by side, totally covered in rainbows.
"Hey!" Beca opened her arms excitedly. She may not have been the world's most cuddly person, but in a moment like this, a small hug was ok. The other two girls responded accordingly, returning Beca's hug with equal fondness. The three of them exchanged pleasantries and Beca was able to learn that the two had since gotten married, and both had become teachers at some nice little elementary school the next state over. It was the first place they'd ever gone to that didn't ever mix them up, since one of them taught math and the other taught English.
"That's great!" Beca cried, some of the rainbow paint on their bodies rubbing onto Beca's. "Have you seen any of the others?"
"I know Aubrey is here with Stacie," Jessica (or Ashley) said. "And I'm pretty sure Chloe and Chicago are coming too."
"Great! Any idea where?" Beca replied.
"Not at all," the Jessica and Ashley replied in unison, smiling helplessly as they gestured to the thousands of rainbow bodies around them.
"Yeah, well, we're still all meeting up later, right? The old Bella House?" Beca asked.
"Of course!" Ashley (or Jessica) replied with a smile. This was an added perk of the Pride. Alumni were allowed to stay in the houses they used to live in if the current residents allowed it, and the new Bellas had ben more than happy to open their doors to the old ones.
The three old Bellas shared a few more pleasantries before they finally parted ways.
"So, remind me which is which?" Theo whispered as soon as Jessica and Ashley were out of earshot.
"Beats me," Beca shrugged. Theo gave her another surprised look, but he didn't push the issue further.
The next Bellas Beca ended up meeting were Cynthia and Lilly/Esther. Cynthia had, just as promised, joined the military. Although she was still struggling with flight school, she was doing better than before, and now had the average of losing 125 fake people instead of 350. With her was a woman Beca had only met a couple times before. Her name was Mary. She'd met Cynthia during a boot camp session and was the woman Cynthia had gotten hitched to at the end of her senior year. And it had only ever been her busy military schedule that kept her from meeting the others sooner.
"Pleased to make your proper acquaintance," Mary told Beca and Theo playfully, and they returned the greeting politely.
"I'm glad to know we'll get more than five minutes together," Beca told Cynthia's wife.
"Me too," Mary laughed. "It'll be nice to get to know all of you properly, rather than just relying on Cynthia's stories!"
"Hey, and what's wrong with my stories?" Cynthia pretended to get offended.
Then, after Beca was finished visiting Cynthia, that was when she ran into Esther.
"I'm ready to get crunk," Esther grinned as soon as she and Beca met up. With her was Donald, an old Treblemaker, and Young Sparrow. He had been DJ Dragon Nutz's partner during the USO tour and although DJ was here at the Pride Fest, he and Young Sparrow were no longer in the music industry together, both of them having gone their separate ways. Esther had swooped in and started dating Young not long after the USO tour.
And then, somewhere along the way, she ended up reconnecting with Donald, an old flame from Barden. Even though he was just as shocked as anyone to hear that Lilly was only ever Satan in Esther's body, he was still perfectly willing to accept her just as she was and he ended up in a polyamorous relationship with her and Y.S.
"It's gonna be fresh and freaky!" Y.S. agreed excitedly. He and Esther proceeded to trade pieces of gum that they were chewing, grossing Beca and Theo out considerably. Donald didn't speak, but the content look on his face said it all. He loved Y.S. and Esther both, and even though their habits were weird, and sometimes gross, he was still incredibly happy with how life was going right now.
As the day continued, Beca ended up running into Fat Amy at Flo's Juice Cart which, as she had promised, had since become a full franchise. She sold an array of drinks, just like always, but today, everything was Pride related. She promised that a portion of proceeds would go to LGBT-based charity, and then some would also go to an emergency fund in case someone ever tried to hijack her truck and she would have to resort to living off the land until she could get a new one.
Amy was with Bumper, guzzling "Pride Punch" through one of those stupid twirly straws that was bent in the shape of a heart. It was a sickeningly sweet display, but Beca was too happy to see Amy to care.
"Amy!" she shouted as she and Theo ran over.
"Beca!" Amy seemed just as excited to see Beca as Beca was to see her, but since her mouth was full of punch, it sounded more like "Beccshhaa!"
Then Amy reached out for a hug, despite the fact that her hands were covered in something that Beca hoped was just icing.
"Oh, wait a minute! Oh, no!" Beca tried to step away from Amy, but to no avail. Amy easily scooped Beca up into her arms and began to hug her with more strength than Jessica and Ashley combined.
Theo and Bumper watched in amusement, though Bumper's expression was way more smug and way less concerned about Beca. But after long enough, Amy finally set Beca down.
"How you been?!" Amy demanded excitedly.
"I've been wonderful!" Beca replied with a grin. "Things are really picking up for me with DJ Khaled."
"As if they hadn't been from the get-go," Theo reminded her with a smile. Beca grinned at him shyly.
"Awww yeah!" Amy fist-pumped the air and Flo whistled approvingly.
"How about you two?" Beca asked back.
"Well, as you can see, I have become a successful enterprise," Flo began, gesturing to her van. "It is my goal to continue to spread across America until Flo's Fresh Fix is a household name! I've already got plans for tee shirts and cups!" she added, pointing to a large stack of papers tucked into the corner of the van. They were sketches and budgets on how she would expand her little empire. "First, America. Then, the world!" she raised her fists in triumph, but before she could say more, someone on the other side of the van began banging on the door, asking for a drink, and Flo was forced to turn away so that she could give them what was called a 'Love is Love' lemonade.
"How about you, Amy?" Beca asked. As she got to look at Amy, she couldn't help but laugh internally. Amy was even more decked out in Pride gear than Jessica, Ashley, Cynthia, Esther or Mary had been. Her hair was completed dyed, she was in full drag makeup, and she wore a rainbow version of one of her Amy Winehouse show outfits.
Funnily enough, it had actually been at one of her shows where she and Bumper reunited. Bumper had been trying to spend a night out on the town to take his mind off of his life when he wound up running into Amy, of all people. Old wounds reopened and he had felt his butt tingle. Or more specifically, it was that part of his butt where Amy's face was tattooed.
From that moment on, Bumper had followed all of Amy's shows, looking for a chance to speak to her again. Finally, he jumped onto the stage of one of her shows, pretending to be Bumper Reg Traviss (not a very creative name). But Beca did have to give Bumper props for one thing, Reg actually was a real person and he'd been Amy Winehouse's last great love before her death by alcohol poisoning, (ironic, given her surname).
After that little stunt, Bumper had managed to win back Amy's heart and they'd been touring and traveling together ever since!
"So, what do you think of the shirt?" Amy asked with a sexual grin, gesturing to it. It was her face photoshopped onto Amy Winehouse's body and, underneath, it read "Gay-my Winehouse".
"Uhhh, it's wonderful," Beca gave Amy a forced grin as she took in that… amazing work of photoshop art.
"Yeah, and see, do you get it? Do you get my shirt? Because her name is Amy and my name is Amy and that sounds like Gay and it's a Gay Pride Parade so her name is Gay-my, like Gay-Amy? Get it?" Amy implored excitedly.
"Yes, Amy, we get it," Beca said, slowly raising her hands in order to get Amy to calm down and stop talking. "The joke just wasn't good."
"Ah well, some people just can't appreciate art, can they?" Amy shrugged in response to Beca's remark before throwing an arm around Bumper.
"Not everyone can be as fantastically and amazingly awesome as us!" he agreed with a smug smirk. Beca didn't even bother trying to smile at him.
"Speaking of which, how's that second butt tattoo?" Amy asked next.
"Second?!" Beca and Theo both exclaimed, but when Beca realized that Theo hadn't even heard the story behind the first one, she quickly changed topics and cut everyone off before Bumper could do something insane and disturbing, like take off his pants, which he was probably about to do.
"Actually, you know what, I thought I saw Stacie around here somewhere!" Beca gasped suddenly. "We should go see her now before I forget!" Then before either Bumper or Amy could protest, Beca had taken Theo's hand and bolted.
"See you at the Parade, Shortie!" Amy bellowed as Beca took off. "I'll be one in rainbow fishnets and thigh-highs! Me and my man are gonna bring down the house! There will be pole-dancing! You'll see!"
"Sure we will," Beca muttered under her breath, then she picked up her speed, still dragging a confused and amused Theo with her. He really did want to know about Bumper's butt tattoo, but given Beca's response to it, it was something he probably shouldn't ask about.
"So where are we going?" Theo asked after a while, once Beca finally slowed to a walk again.
"Away from Amy and Bumper," Beca replied with a heavy sigh of relief.
"Is Stacie actually here?" Theo asked next.
"I have no-" Beca began to answer, but who should appear other than Stacie herself?! With her was Aubrey and a two-year old girl. Bella.
The next reunion was far sweeter and gentler than the one with Amy and Bumper. Beca may have never been into kids or babies, but there was just something so beautiful, sweet, pure and innocent about Bella that made Beca almost cry. There was just something so precious and sacred in the way that Bella's wide eyes met hers and, just for a moment, Beca could only imagine what bliss it must be to carry around a little human like that and realize that it was entirely your own to raise and love.
From the absolutely adoring look on Stacie's face, however, Beca had enough of a guess to figure out just how beautiful and wonderful motherhood could be. Although Stacie was still very sexually active and still promoted sexual liberation and overall sex positivity, she had yet to conceive another child, and her sex life did nothing to detract from the pure and indescribable adoration she felt for her little daughter.
"She's so precious," Theo whispered as two wide eyes and a grinning face looked up at him. A whole new life with a whole new world to explore was sitting there before him, looking up at him like he had been the one to hang the sun and moon in the sky.
"Isn't she?" Beca breathed reverently as she cradled the baby in her arms, cooing softly on pure instinct alone. Stacie was watching them, resting in Aubrey's arms with a beatific smile on her face. She was still the same Stacie they knew and loved, but she had calmed down from her hard partying days and a new side of her was starting to emerge, and all thanks to Bella.
Stacie and Aubrey had only just started dating a little while ago, their mutual interest in children bringing them together again, but their love was very real and very strong. Beca could already tell, too, that Aubrey loved Bella like her own, and was determined to be more present in her life than her own father, Michael, had ever been in hers.
It was clear that even though Michael was finally starting to be more attentive, all the preceding years of neglect had done irreversible damage. It made Aubrey even more determined to be there for kids whose parents weren't. That was even what had sparked her career interest, and Beca thought it was a truly beautiful thing to do. (Although, she couldn't also help but wonder how many babies she'd made cry. Whether she knew it or not, Aubrey could be a bit… intense and controlling). But at least for that moment, all that mattered was baby Bella.
ooo
Later that night, after Theo and Beca had parted ways, Beca found herself sitting in a very, very, VERY crowded Bella house. Apparently, when the note had said that every Bella was free to come, EVER Bella did indeed come. It was much like the night of the World Championship, with all of the Bellas Beca knew laughing and chatting and singing with older Bellas. The only difference was the bunch of noobs, who were even younger than Emily's generation. But she sat in the midst of them, eagerly chatting with some of the girls she'd left behind after graduation.
Her mother and Benji were also there. Unlike everyone else, Emily had managed to keep her freshman sweetheart. He was still just as goofy and wonderful as ever, even though, shockingly enough, he had since become a theater teacher at a nearby high school. He'd developed a bit of a physique in that time, and had a small mustache, but, other than that, he was still the same old adorkable nerd they all knew and loved. And he and Emily were just as sickly, sappy sweet as ever!
In the back of her mind, with a small pang of sadness, Beca realized that the same could not be said for her and Jesse. Even though they'd been apart for years now, being back at Barden made Beca remember and miss him, just a little…
"Oh my GOD, Legacy!" Fat Amy sighed loudly, tearing Beca from her thoughts.
"Yes, yes, I know, I know," Emily interrupted with a laugh. "I'm the dumbest, most stupid person to ever live and breathe."
"At least you're smart enough to know that!" Amy shook her head despairingly. Emily only laughed, and when a few of her friends cast protective glares at Amy, she subtly gestured for them to back down. It was ok. She didn't mind Amy calling her stupid. Benji, however, looked quite offended and it took a gentle kiss from Emily to change his frown into the world's cutest smile. Beca thought she might puke.
"You two are really cute," Esther remarked, curling into the arms of her own two lovers. Even though Y.S. wasn't technically an alum, he was given free passage because he was Esther's boyfriend. Donald had both alum and 'Esther's boyfriend' powers. Flo cast Esther another strange look, but got over it quickly. She had since stopped making the sign of the cross every time Esther spoke, but it was clear that the whole 'Lilly was just Esther overtaken by Satan' was still bothering her a bit. Beca didn't even question things like that now anymore.
"HEY, HEY, HEY!" Two cheerful voices bellowed from the Bella door and Beca, Cynthia, Esther, Amy, Aubrey, Stacie, Emily, Flo, Denise, Jessica and Ashley all shrieked in delight. It was none other than Chloe Beale, Chicago Walp at her side. He grinned up at them. It was funny to see him wearing a rainbow toga, but that was partly because everyone else in the room was so used to seeing him in uniform.
He'd managed to get time off, however, and was now spending some of his vacation here, at Barden. It was part of the reason why Chloe was the last Bella to arrive. She and Chicago had flown in from out-of-country. His best friend, Zeke, had come too, but since he wasn't an alum, or a lover of an alum, he was forced to stay at the hotel while Chicago got to stay with Chloe.
"Chloe!" Aubrey and Beca were the first to reach the ginger, swiftly followed by Amy, and then everyone else.
"Hey you guys!" Chloe cried as she hugged each and every Bella individually, already tearing up at the sweet reunion. She'd taken their departure the hardest, so it made sense that she was the most thrilled to be back. And she was quickly smothered in love, a very beloved Bella indeed!
Chicago only watched the scene with a smile on his face. Most people would never compare the army to a group of college singers, but he could see the parallels between his brotherhood and Chloe's sisterhood and he thought it was quite beautiful. Love transcended all things, and was the same no matter where one went. Military or music, family was family.
And as Chloe continued to greet all of her old friends anew, Chicago felt a few tears sting his eyes, too. Chloe had been a wonderful girlfriend, following him wherever he went. And it was made all the more wonderful because she usually struggled to adapt to change. She'd worked so long and hard to overcome her anxieties and it really showed!
The rest of that first night was spent singing and reminiscing. Old Bellas were reunited and new and old memories were shared. There was a lot of laughing and crying both. And at one point, a very old rivalry was put to rest as well.
"Chloe! Aubrey!" someone cried out. It was Alice, leader of the Bellas before Aubrey. The two girls to whom she was speaking with turned towards her as she called their names. "I just wanted to apologize, you know, for being as rude as I was back then. I promise you I have mellowed out, but I still just wanted to apologize for all of that!"
"You still remember?" Aubrey snorted, forgiving Alice easily. Sure, Alice's words had hurt, but that had been literally like a decade ago.
"I do!" Chloe pouted. "She'd said that my breath smelled like eggs!" The ginger crossed her arms, but she could be caught subtly testing her breath by breathing into her shoulder. Alice didn't miss the movement and grinned sheepishly.
"I was younger then," she said. It wasn't meant to be an excuse, but an explanation and a promise. She'd grown up in the past 10 years, just like all of them had. Aubrey shrugged again, still considering it water under the bridge, but Chloe continued to frown, just a little.
At the very end of the night, though, right before everyone went to bed, Aubrey stood up on one of the tables on the house.
"HANDS IN, ACA-PITCHES!" she cried, and with one accord, every girl and woman there put their hands in.
"ONE, TWO, THREE!" And the entire house exploded into a perfect harmony. Once a Bella, always a Bella. But then, of course, such a ruckus had disturbed Stacie's baby and the house spent the next 30 minutes trying to calm her down again.
"Ooops," Aubrey grinned sheepishly. Stacie only rolled her eyes as she began to sing a lullaby from her own childhood. One by one, some of the other Bellas joined in, and suddenly, the baby Bella was being serenaded back into the dreamworld by what she thought was a choir of angels, beautiful and talented and loving. And her mama was at the lead! She was out cold in mere seconds after that.
ooo
For the next week, just as planned, the Pride Fest carried on day in and out. There was music, games, festivities, food, and everything anyone could ever want. And of course, it was all queer themed. Best of all, though, it had all been hosted by the Bellas! Even though it was a college-wide event that had received funding from all over, the Bellas were the leading force behind it all. Because of that, the Fest was even given the nickname "Barden Bellas' Big 'Be Brave, Be Bold' Bash", and there was a singing competition every single night. Whether it was a riff-off or a talent show or a karaoke competition, the songs and games were endless. And even the other music programs like band and orchestra managed to join it, even though singing was the main event.
Teams and sing-offs were taken hardcore, and some new teams were generated from the games. These teams were specifically set to be LGBT-based, but there were rumors that the teams might become more permanent than first believed. For example, one of the new teams was called the Trans-sectionals and was a group made exclusively up of transgender students. Another was the Bi-sectionals, made up of anyone able to carry more than one voice part. Another was called For-Gay (Forte and Gay) that was just for any queer student at all.
For Beca, though, what made this kind of nightly riff-off showdown in honor of the Bellas the most, well, throwback-ish, was the fact that Gail and John had, somehow, found a way to get back inside Barden and formally announce every single event.
"Seriously. How and why? I mean, don't these guys have anything better to do?" Beca demanded as she and her team (tonight's riff-off was being played by graduation year, so Beca had Amy, Cynthia, Esther, Jessica, Ashley, Flo and Stacie, but not Chloe, Aubrey, Denise, Alice or Emily) got ready to sing, standing in the very pool where Beca had sung her first ever riff-off.
Over their heads, Gail and John were sitting on the diving board, holding a camera and boom-mic while announcing the various teams.
"If you think that's crazy, look up there, where Theo is," Amy whispered, pointing to one of the seats around the pool.
"Impossible!" Beca exclaimed, but no, sure enough, standing beside Theo in his old bathrobe, was Sir Willups Brightlysmore, the man who'd hosted the riff-off in his basement, inviting the Bellas, Treblemakers, Tone Hangers, DSM and several others.
"How is he even here?! Is that even legal?" she continued to shake her head as she looked up at him.
"Technically, yes, but it is strange," Amy replied. Before either of them could say anything else, however, the riff-off began!
ooo
At the second-to-last day of the Pride Fest, however, there was one last informal competition between anyone who wanted to join in. It was something that started as soon as the sun began to set and would last until sunrise. It was a very long and intense competition with all-hands-on-deck for the behind-the-scenes work. In fact, Beca even ran into some people that she hadn't seen since her freshman year. The first was Luke, the old radio station manager, and the second was Kimmy-Jin, Beca's very first roommate.
"Hey! Becky!" Luke grinned, still recognizing Beca even after all this time. His blond hair was striped with a rainbow.
"Luke," she smiled politely back at him. "And Kimmy-Jin?"
"Hello, Beca," the woman replied with a small smile, very different from the relationship they used to have. Beca smiled at her in return and the two shook hands. If one hadn't known the truth, they would've assumed that Beca and Kimmy-Jin had been friends from the start! Kimmy-Jin wore the asexual flag as a cape and was busy helping Lukas and another man set up backup sound equipment in case the originals went haywire. It had been an intense week of singing and those mics probably needed fixing, but there was a competition coming, so there was no time for maintenance.
"We just have to hope for the best at this point!" Luke grinned as he set up a third spare speaker.
"Don't worry, I am sure Tom has everything all planned out," Kimmy-Jin replied. "He's probably over on sound check. We can ask him."
"Who's Tom?" asked Beca, not recalling the name.
"My husband," Luke replied with a smile. "We married just a year or so after you would've graduated. He's at this Pride Fest, but I think he's helping organize all of the teams. I was the one who got saddled with the equipment," he laughed.
"Well, congrats!" Beca smiled at the man and he smiled back before handing Beca a picture. Her jaw dropped. She actually did recognize the guy! It was Chloe's old boyfriend! What were the odds? Beca laughed to herself before returning the picture to Luke. He took it with one last smile before he began leading Kimmy-Jin away to another part of the stage.
Since that night's competition was supposed to be pretty informal, anyone who wanted to sing could join in. This meant that teams were very lax. For example, Chloe managed to get Chicago to sing a 'Thinking Out Loud' duet and several ex Bellas, such as Mary Elise and Kori, finally had the chance to perform, and they were performing alongside several Treblemakers, no less. One was Unicycle. Yes, how many years later and he was still riding around on that blasted unicycle! Beca thought she caught Aubrey laughing and trying to get Stacie to see how, even though they had changed, good old Unicycle still had not. It made Beca laugh to see because, if rumors were true, Aubrey once had a crush on Unicycle long ago, though it was evident that her heart belonged to Stacie and Bella now.
Not for the first time did Beca feel a pang of envy enter her heart and it was only worsened when Jesse and Benji took the stage. That was right, Jesse. He'd arrived on the second day of the Pride Fest and met Beca while Beca was eating with Chloe and Aubrey.
"Hey, Beca," Jesse had greeted Beca awkwardly.
"Jesse!" Beca sat up but was unable to meet Jesse's eyes.
"Long time, no see," he said.
"No kidding," Beca replied. "How have you been?"
"I've been ok. And you?" Jesse responded.
"Wonderful," Beca's wasn't sure if her reply was supposed to have been sincere or sarcastic, but Jesse didn't bother asking.
"That's good to know," Jesse replied instead. The two managed to exchange a few more basic pleasantries before Jesse sauntered off, leaving an embarrassed Beca and a consoling Chloe and Aubrey in his wake.
Beca learned that Jesse was single again, but he seemed incredibly happy. All through the Pride Week, Jesse could be spotted messing around with his old friends and spray-painting rainbows on any and everything. Perhaps his reunion with Beca had been awkward, but his reunion with Benji and all the other Treblemakers had gone amazingly. In fact, just the previous night, Jesse and his Treblemakers managed to run through an entire old set and that was impressive, given that they hadn't performed together in ages. Beca didn't know if Jesse was looking for love right now or what, but frankly, she didn't care. He seemed happy enough, and that was as much thought as Beca was going to give him.
"Let me at least offer you a peace treaty," he'd insisted later that night, once Beca's initial shock of seeing him had faded somewhat.
"The depends on what the treaty is," Beca replied with a dry smile.
"Just a treat and a movie," Jesse replied, then he gave Beca a rainbow cupcake and a copy of 'The Breakfast Club'.
"Are you trying to hit on me?" Beca asked, laughing despite herself as the nostalgia hit her.
"Nonsense!" Jesse laughed, and both he and Beca knew that Jesse was being serious. Although he had moved on, he still did miss Beca from time to time, and he felt bad that their relationship hadn't worked out after all. Regardless of how he viewed Beca, she had still been a good friend of his for four years. That was no small feat, and even though they never saw each other anymore, every memory they had was real, and this week would be their last chance to go over those memories before moving on again.
After Jesse's first duet with Benji, however, Denise, Emily, Emily's mother and several other old Treblemakers joined in and the group did a medley of Broadway-Disney songs. Beca watched the barest of smiles. Maybe she and Jesse weren't seeing eye to eye, but he was still as talented as ever. She would have to speak to him later if she could, if only to congratulate him. He deserved that at least.
Then several other teams came and went, like the High Notes and Sock-apellas. They were… decent. Pimp-Lo was there too, though, singing another god-awful song, this time called, "Take it From the Back". But it was about as good as "Bend Over" in Beca's eyes, if that meant anything. She would've preferred listening to the High Notes and Sock-apellas if it meant no more Pimp-Lo.
Next, Bumper sang some stupid solo that was booed out about halfway in. Several teams from the World Championship managed to come over and sing and that made up for the Bumper and Pimp-Lo disasters. Esther, her two boyfriends and DJ Dragon Nutz all performed a rap. Theo sung a simple ballad of his own and he had a pretty decent voice. Beca found herself screaming for his song as loudly as Emily's mother had screamed for Emily. Saddle Up and Evermoist even managed to make it in next after Theo.
"Who the heck names their band 'Evermoist'? I mean really!" a new voice off to the side demanded.
"Sammy?" Beca cried out on instinct. It might've been years since she'd last heard him, but she'd recognize that snobby and demanding voice anywhere. Sure enough, there he was. Beca's ex-boss from Residual Heat.
"The very same, Reggie," Sammy replied casually, arms crossed as he continued to observe what was unfolding before him. Although this Pride Fest was not meant to launch any careers or deals, scouts like Sammy were still coming out to observe the shows.
"Is Dax with you?" Beca found herself asking. Even though it was getting dark, Beca could see Sammy physically cringe at the mention of that 'obnoxious hipster boy who doesn't know when to keep his stupid trap shut'.
"Not with me now," Sammy replied. "He's too busy kissing some other guy. He had a beard and an accent."
"What now?" Beca's ears perked with interest.
"The guy that performed that little power ballad. What was his name? Leo? Tommy?" Sammy responded, irritated.
"Theo?" Beca asked, covering her mouth to suppress a laugh.
"Yeah, that's it," Sammy was totally dismissive, but Beca began to howl with laughter at the mental image of Theo kissing Dax. She quickly dismissed herself from Sammy's presence, hoping to find Dax and Theo. It didn't take long. They were busy making out not too far behind stage.
Beca wasn't one to peep, but there was something so extraordinarily funny to her about watching the two awkward musicians that had helped her career make out that she couldn't resist a look. Sure enough, Theo had his arms around Dax and Dax was melting into the kiss. Beca ran off again before her laughter gave her away. She was so happy for Theo, and Dax, but she would never let either of them live it down.
Beca returned to her original place as soon as she was finished watching Dax and Theo.
"Is that idiot still there?" Sammy asked. In the time Beca was gone, the woman that had tried to recruit Pimp-Lo was back. Beca made sure to avoid eye contact with her, still mad over the fact that she had wanted Pimp-Lo's original piece over her own edited, and far better, version.
"Afraid so," Beca began to snigger again despite herself. Sammy rolled his eyes, but before he could say more, Evermoist took a bow and he clapped. "They're good, I suppose," Beca heard Sammy mutter. He made several notes on his phone and whispered to Pimp-Lo's recruiter before the next group hopped up on stage to do their song. Once again, Beca's breath was blown away. It was DSM.
Though it seemed like an impossibility, what with DSM being German, Beca would recognize the tall and fearsome figures anywhere. For a moment, Beca's heart skipped a beat as she thought about DSM's gorgeous and powerful leader, known simply as the Kommissar. As much as it made Beca cringe and blush, she couldn't deny that she still had a minor attraction to the woman. It wasn't like the attraction was very strong, given that Beca hadn't seen the woman in years, but whenever someone mentioned anything about Germany, DSM, foreign acapella teams/competitions, or the World Championship, Beca's heart would skip a beat. It was doing that now, quite rapidly in fact, as the tiny American tried to wrap her head around the idea of Kommissar being here, back in the same country she was in. Impossible. But no, this was DSM, sure as it was Pride Month…
"And, hailing all the way from out of the country it is the German acapella team, Das Sound Machine!" John bellowed, still announcing and doubly confirming Beca's worst (best?) fears.
"And my, oh my, don't they look stunning tonight!" Gail shouted.
"Don't they, Gail?" John agreed. "But looking at it now, maybe they should've exchanged the leather for lace. The look isn't all that hot!" he was referring to the fact that DSM, despite wearing rainbow-colored outfits, was still in its trademark leather. The large group ignored these remarks, however, and stood still and silent. For a moment, there was a hush in the crowd, then one particularly large man, Kommissar's deputy, Pieter, barked a command in German and the group began singing.
For the first verse, Kommissar was nowhere to be seen and, despite herself, Beca began to worry. Where was she? Had something happened? Did Kommissar quit DSM? But that couldn't be! Was she fired? Was that even possible? What if she'd died? No, that was probably an overreaction. But seriously, where was she? Why wasn't she on stage with the others? Beca found these questions circling her mind faster and faster despite the fact that she had hardly thought of the tall, mighty German at all. It was with anger and awe that Beca acknowledged how deep a hold Kommissar had on her brain (and heart).
The chorus of the song started and then, suddenly, from the back of the stage, Kommissar herself came bursting in. Once again, seeing her face after all those years made Beca's heart burst open, and the dramatic entrance only strengthened the feeling. Beca found herself cheering for the German woman louder than she'd cheered for anyone else the whole night and she was in total awe as Kommissar completely dominated the stage. Beca almost felt embarrassed now for ever having worried at all about Kommissar. Then she felt embarrassed for feeling so moved by this woman after five long years. It wasn't like Beca had spent ALL of those years pining over Kommissar, yet here she was, seeing Kommissar again for the first time in five years and feeling more love struck than an aroused Treblemaker!
But it was hardly Beca's fault. Kommissar was a literal goddess after all. And even while wearing rainbow leather, she looked absolutely lethal. Of course, it made sense as her and DSM's song was battle-based, covering the louder and braver, more violent side of LGBT history, but still. To see Kommissar with that trademark bun, hair streaked with pink in the bun and rainbow everywhere else and to see Kommissar with different shades of pink, purple and white painted under her eyes like war-paint was just so alluring and, well, sexy. Beca wasn't going to lie, she was getting slightly turned on by all of this despite this being a very sudden and random occurrence.
Once DSM was finished, their finale consisting of them drawing fake swords from sheaths and standing in line to create a rainbow, Beca was beside herself. She was hooting and hollering loud enough for five people. Even Sammy looked at her in surprise. Beca had always been so quiet at Residual Heat, now she was acting like a madwoman. Beca completely missed Sammy and the other woman staring, however, her eyes too fixated upon the proud German woman who stood stock still on the stage, purple sword raised high in the spotlight as her eyes flashed almost aggressively. Beca just had to speak with her. She didn't know when or how, but if Kommissar was going to come all the way out here to perform, Beca had to speak to her. It was one of those urges that was sudden and random, but impossible to deny…
ooo
"Tiny Maus! It has been far too long!" Beca may have been looking for Kommissar, but Kommissar still found her first.
"Huh? What?" Beca whipped around to see the tall woman, and her ever-present companion, Pieter, walking over.
"Was I not the one you were looking for?" Kommissar gave Beca a smug smile. How had she already known?!
"Maybe you weren't," Beca tried to challenge the other singer. "Because you're so unbelievable gorgeous and tall that it wouldn't be hard to find you anyway!" Beca added before she could control herself. Her face contorted into mortification as she realized that her attraction to Kommissar wasn't the only thing that managed to linger for all those years…
"Then I suppose I can respect that, but perhaps I could still help you look to find who you had originally come here for?" Kommissar replied, tilting her head. Her sharp blue eyes took on an amused quality that made Beca want to scream in anger and to just let Kommissar take her right then and there. Wait. What? Ugh… One would've thought her crush would've faded by now!
"Just tell us who the person is, and we will help you find them," Pieter continued to urge Beca playfully. He missed picking on the troll.
"Well, I was looking for Chloe," Beca bluffed defensively. "She's the ginger one. She's kind of loud and easy to spot, but she moves around quickly, but I still think you're prettier!" Once again, Beca wanted to kick herself for accidently complimenting the German woman.
"Ah yes, the one that dragged you away from me during that riff-off before I had finished toying with you," Kommissar snickered.
"Toying with me?!" Beca demanded more affronted than amazed that Kommissar could still remember such a small detail like that. "I was totally about to hand you your gorgeous ass!" the brunette instantly cringed as the last two words left her mouth.
"Well, since we were unable to do that back then, you are more than welcome to do that to me tonight," Kommissar offered and Beca somehow managed to choke on nothing but the air itself. Kommissar and Pieter snickered as Beca coughed and sputtered in response to the offer.
"Just help me find Chloe," she groaned angrily, hoping that she would be able to bluff her way out of this one, though the longer it sat in her mind, the more pleasant Kommissar's offer became.
For the new few minutes, Beca and her two German companions fought their way through a dark sea of rainbows. Beca wasn't sure what exactly she had planned, but she figured that she could either give up and dismiss herself, insisting that she had to go back to the Bella house and DSM wouldn't be allowed in, or she could just stick it out until she did somehow find Chloe and then hopefully Chloe would be able to help her out.
Unfortunately, it took longer than expected to find Chloe, and Beca actually ended up running into Evermoist and Saddle Up first.
"Hey, Bella," Calamity greeted Beca with a disdainful smirk, but there was no real malice in her eyes tonight.
"Hello, Evermoist," Beca replied. The three girls with Calamity chuckled at Beca's response.
"It's Calamity, don't you remember?" she asked.
"Afraid not," Beca grinned. "It's been a long time and opening up for DJ Khaled kind of makes it easy to forget everything else."
"Oooh, feisty!" one of Calamity's friends cackled and even Calamity was willing to laugh. As initially disdainful as she'd been of the Bellas and as initially bitter as she'd been about their leader getting to open for DJK, the bitterness was long-since over.
"Y'all having a good Pride?" one of the Saddle Up singers asked. Saddle Up and the Tonehangers had actually done a fantastic country-cover medley duo, alternating between voice and instrument as they sang covers of every genre and manage to give them all a country spin.
"Yes we are," Beca replied. "I'm actually trying to find one of my friends now," she added, casting a nervous look over at Kommissar who was looking at Calamity with interest. Beca felt a flash of envy and hoped to high Heaven that Kommissar wasn't about to go chasing after that short-haired punk-rocker and the rest of her rainbowed up band.
"The y'all have a goodnight too, and stay safe!" another Saddle Up singer said.
"You and Evermoist keep raising them rainbows," Beca replied, looking at both groups. Calamity saluted the smaller singer with a genuine smile before the groups parted ways. Beca exhaled in relief.
"Old friends?" Kommissar questioned as soon as the other groups were gone.
"No," Beca replied. "Just someone on the USO tour."
"Ah," Kommissar continued to stare after Calamity.
"Come on, let's go," Beca muttered, then she intentionally led Kommissar and Pieter away in the opposite direction.
Ultimately, Beca ran into Chloe at a string of stands acting as a bar. To her amazement, Chloe was still completely upright. Usually when there was alcohol involved, Chloe was one of the first people to get wasted. Tonight, however, she still looked fairly sober and was talking intently with Chicago and Zeke. Zeke wore an asexual flag and Chicago was in his rainbow toga again. Chloe had dolled herself up, still in a pride dress, but it was far fancier than anything else she'd worn that week. In addition, the bisexual flag was painted on her cheek, but she'd added a gold line through the blue stripe of the flag.
"Chloe!" Beca cried out before turning back to the Germans. "So, uhhh, thanks for your help, but you can you go now," she muttered quickly. A part of her hoped that the DSM captains would take the hint and leave, but part of her hoped that they, particularly Kommissar, would stay. Beca ended up getting her subconscious wish the moment Kommissar shook her head.
"Perhaps you have found your friends, but I would very much like to meet them properly, as equals instead of enemies," she said.
"You would?!" Beca squeaked in excitement, but when she realized how revealing that overly-happy line had sounded, she tried to make a quick recover. She cleared her throat. "I mean, uhhh, you would?" she asked, much quieter.
"If you would be so kind as to introduce us," Kommissar waved a hand over to Chloe and the two soldiers.
"Beca!" before Beca had a chance to answer properly, Chloe had spotted Beca and called her out. Beca cringed as she was pretty much forced to now introduce the ginger to two old rivals.
"Hey, Chloe," Beca plastered on a false grin as she walked over to the ginger and her two companions. Kommissar and Pieter were close behind.
"Who are these guys?" Chloe asked Beca, looking at the Germans with a friendly, curious smile. But the moment she was able to see them better, when they came closer to the lights of the stand, all that friendliness vanished.
"Oh! It's them?! Impossible. I can't believe they're back!" the ginger crossed her arms and was already stepping protectively in front of Beca, as though daring either of them to do something to her. Kommissar bit her lip in amusement. As if that ginger would be any match for her! But it was still sweet to watch how possessive she got over the brunette. Kommissar did love a bit of competition, even if it was over the affections of another human being. But she could sense that Beca was still far more attracted to her than to the ginger.
"Hey, listen, ease up Chloe, they just came to say hello," Beca whispered.
"Did they really?" Chloe asked, still standing in front of Beca with her arms crossed like some kind of bodyguard. It was made especially funny because Chloe was all 'tarted out' in a fancy dress, and she had fake rainbows tattooed all across her body, and even had some highlights in her hair.
"Do not worry, ginger one, I have come to speak as equals tonight," Kommissar promised. "There is no reason to be jealous of me."
"Jealous? I'm not jealous," Chloe huffed, but in all honesty, this was true. Although her crush on Beca had once been very real and powerful and although her envy of all the attention Beca gave Kommissar had once been just as real, the past few years had washed all of that away.
By the time the Bellas had reunited for the USO tour, Chloe's crush had finally faded entirely, allowing her to start a relationship with the wonderful, beautiful Chicago. Although there would be a small part of Chloe that regretted never getting with Beca, a larger part of her understood that Beca just hadn't been interested and it wouldn't have been fair to push the brunette into a relationship. 'No' meant 'no', Chloe understood that.
And the way she saw it, if her love for Beca was as pure and genuine as she claimed, then she would've been ok with a rejection. It was only the self-entitled jerks who wouldn't take no for an answer. Chloe didn't want to be like that. Like Amy had said, she wanted to be the girl, the family member, who lifted other people up instead of trying to hold them back to fulfill her own selfish wishes. So when she told Kommissar she wasn't jealous, she meant it, but she still wasn't going to let these German dumpkoffs hurt her friend.
"Perhaps you are not," Kommissar allowed, having sensed a genuine change in the way the ginger viewed her Tiny Maus. It was admirable, but she was slightly disappointed that there wouldn't be more of a fight to come. "But you are still getting in the way of allowing me to talk to my guide, no?" she continued.
"You said you wanted to meet me," Chloe argued. "So here I am. And these fine gentlemen are Chicago and Zeke!" she said, gesturing for each of them to stand with her. It was a subtle intimidation tactic. "They're military men," she added smugly.
"Military?" Kommissar suddenly sounded genuinely interested. "When, where and for how long?"
"Since the start of college, since I had them help me fund my education, and I've been all over the place, though I've mostly been stationed around the Americas," Chicago answered. "Zeke, here, has gone through pretty much the same thing."
"What's with the sudden interest?" Chloe demanded of the Germans. "Think you can beat us in a fight, huh? Remember WWII!" Chicago and Zeke proceeded to muffle laughter behind their hands while Beca tried to pull Chloe back in a reversal of what had happened in that riff off.
"Let's NOT get into a fight right now, ok? I want to be able to finish up the Pride Week without anything catching on fire, getting destroyed or anything else!" Beca muttered pleadingly as Chloe continued to scowl at the Germans.
"I am interested, ginger, because Pieter and I used to serve in the army too," Kommissar responded smugly.
"You did?" Chicago sounded fascinated.
"Yeah, I was stationed mostly Germany, sometimes in other European countries, but all to help pay for college like you two," Kommissar said.
"What brings you here to this festival, then?" Chicago asked. Kommissar gave him a mysterious smile before answering truthfully.
"I heard that Barden was going to be hosting a massive Pride Fest and I know that Barden is where an old friend of mine had graduated, so of course I knew she'd be here and of course I'd have to come back," the blond threw a look at Beca who was now blushing violent red. Thank goodness it was dark right now! Had Kommissar really come all the way back here for her? That was… kind of stalker-y, wasn't it?
"We were on tour at the time and everything just matched up perfectly," the blond continued. Ok, so maybe she hadn't flown all the way in from Germany, but she'd still come to see Beca. That was something. Chloe began to size Beca up appreciatively.
"You never said you kept in touch!" she declared, some of her antagonism towards the Germans fading away now that they were proving that they really had not come looking for a fight tonight.
"We didn't," Beca muttered. "But she is like some kind of gorgeous huntress because she found me again!" Beca cringed again at what she'd said.
"So she came all this way here for you?" Chloe gushed. "Romantic!"
"Yes, I would hope so," Kommissar agreed. "Since that is the end goal, no?"
"After all this time?" Beca couldn't help but laugh. Maybe her pining hadn't been as one-sided and stupid as she thought.
"Of course," Kommissar replied and Beca felt herself melt a little.
"Well then you two ought to spend the rest of the night together!" Chloe demanded, eagerly taking up the position of wingman because she sensed Beca's old attractions flaring up. Although, initially, she had been more than ready to throw down and fight the Germans off, her romantic side was starting to take control again and now she wanted nothing more than to help Beca get some tonight.
"The lake around the Bella house has some canoes if you think a sail in the moonlight would be good!" she continued brightly.
"Chloe! Shut up!" Beca whispered, but to no avail.
"Sounds wonderful," Kommissar replied. "Which way is the lake?" Chloe pointed obediently over her shoulder. "Come then, Maus, let us away!"
"Wait a sec!" Chloe interrupted with a cackle before Kommissar could drag the protesting Beca away. Kommissar heard the mischievous note in Chloe's voice and was more than happy to listen. Chloe then whipped around markers, gold blue, purple and pink.
"Hold still!" she demanded of Beca. Beca began to plead but Kommissar and Pieter both held her into place as Chloe approached her with the markers. Chicago and Zeke laughed while Beca swiveled her eyes over to them, she was unable to move her head.
"Help me!" she pleaded with the soldiers.
"Sorry," Chicago replied and he raised a glass sadly for the brunette as Chloe began to draw. He knew better than to get in Chloe's way when there was something out there that Chloe really wanted. Beca pretended to howl in despair.
"Oh, come now Maus, it is not all that bad!" Kommissar cried. Beca was painfully aware of the fact that Kommissar had chosen to wrap one arm right above Beca's panty line and the other right under Beca's boobs while Pieter was only holding her shoulders.
"It is if you are a tiny American with no spine!" Pieter grinned. Beca hissed up at him but he only laughed in response as Chloe continued to work, holding Beca's face in place as she drew and marked.
"It's easy for you to say!" Beca muttered at Kommissar. "Your gorgeous face isn't the one being graffitied on."
"You think my face is gorgeous?" Kommissar asked loudly and Beca groaned in embarrassment.
"I mean the paint on it was gorgeous," she tried to protest. "It really brings out your cheekbones and makes you look like a goddess!" everyone in attendance, the soldiers, Pieter and Chloe, began to laugh while Beca only groaned again.
Once Chloe was done, however, she stepped away and Pieter and Kommissar both released Beca.
"What did you do to me!?" the brunette demanded, nearly stumbling as she was released. Chloe only smirked and took a picture. The flash from Chloe's phone temporarily stunned Beca, but once the bright lights stopped flickering behind Beca's eyelids, she was able to see the picture Chloe had taken. Just like Chloe, Beca now had a bisexual flag painted on her cheek. This time, though, the gold line went through the pink portion.
"Ah, you look quite handsome!" Pieter snickered, but Kommissar said nothing, choosing instead to only smile proudly at Chloe's work. She approved, both of what Chloe had done and of Chloe herself. She and this ginger would make good friends, the German was sure of it.
Beca subtly mouthed out how much she hated the ginger, but said ginger only shrugged cheerfully as she took her phone back. She could see the way Beca looked at Kommissar even after all this time, and she had the feeling that Beca had been blabbering and accidently complimenting the German since the moment they first reunited. It reminded Chloe of how it had been the first time she ever spoke face to face with Chicago (in fact, Chloe had even remembered Kommissar during that first interaction with Chicago and it was an unmissed irony). Now here she was, still with him and just as happy as she'd ever been before. Maybe the same would happen for Beca and Kommissar.
So while Chloe, Pieter and her soldier friends remained at the little bar, Beca and Kommissar went out to the lake. Already, Benji and Emily were there, and as were Amy and Bumper, but somehow, Beca had the feeling that Amy and Bumper weren't being quite as PG as Benji and Emily. Once again, the brunette thanked the night for its darkness before joining Kommissar out on the lake.
"So you can canoe, huh? You can do anything," Beca muttered, though she had learned how to canoe back at the Lodge of Fallen Leaves and the skill had served her when she and Amy were chasing after Amy's criminal father, Fergus, who was still behind bars.
"It is just another small skill I have picked up over my years," Kommissar agreed as they moved closer to the center of the lake.
"Was it before or after the World Championship?" Beca asked. Kommissar understood the implied question and, once they reached a good spot, she ceased rowing and started talking.
Apparently, after the World's, even though Beca and friends had gone their separate way, most of DSM continued to work as a full-time acapella group. Sure, members came and went, but everything else stayed mostly the same. Along the way, Pieter ended up getting married to the blond beatboxer, and even though Kommissar had been proud and pleased by their marriage, she did start to feel a little bit like a third wheel.
Not too long after that, Ari, the girl Chloe had sung against in the riff-off ended up getting married to some musical producer and she left DSM. And Kommissar's own Danish cousin, Birgitte, had since gotten married to some dude who worked in theater. Although Birgitte wasn't technically a DSM singer, she had helped Kommissar cope with the 'loss' of Pieter and Ari, but now she was married too. An unexpected loneliness crept into Kommissar's heart and no matter how many lovers she had, the loneliness never died entirely.
Then at last, while touring in America's west coast, she came across the Barden ad for a massive, weeklong Pride Fest on social media. It had taken the German a moment, but when she realized that she knew the name 'Barden' she knew at once that she had to attend the festival. It was a bit of a tight squeeze into the schedule, but Kommissar made it happen and she and DSM had been able to perform, as Beca saw.
Now here they sat, on the Barden lake in a canoe under the moonlight. There were still pink dyes in Kommissar's hair and the paint under her eyes hadn't rubbed off yet. It was still so funny to see her dressed like some kind of soldier, despite being covered in pinks and rainbows, but the life of a queer person sometimes was like a battlefield, so maybe the attire wasn't all that silly and seemingly dissonant.
"And you? Has life turned out the way you expected it to?" Kommissar asked, genuinely curious. Beca gave a dry laugh before answer.
"Honestly, no," she said. "For better and worse, life has been vastly different…" then it was her turn to tell the story.
Of course, she mentioned graduation and she mentioned working with RH before finally quitting. She mentioned the USO tours and how she'd landed a job with DJ Khaled. He had been unable to come to this Pride Fest, but he did email the link to several videos he'd recorded of himself, wishing everyone else a happy Pride Month. The videos were aired at the start of the night's competition and they actually had been quite sweet, him promising that he was with them in spirit and singing several songs about coming out and being brave. It was slightly ruined by the large hive of bees buzzing right beside the camera, but hey, it was the thought that counted. Besides, it was DJ Khaled, the crowd loved him. (On a side note, Snoop Dogg had sent in a video too, courtesy of Sammy, who was still working with Snoop).
"I never congratulated you for that," Kommissar said. "I remember seeing you with one of his workers."
"Theo?" Beca asked with a laugh. She hadn't seen Theo since before the sun set. That meant Kommissar must've been watching her longer than expected. "Just how long have you been stalking me, anyway?" she pressed.
"Only for today," Kommissar shrugged, not even bothering to deny that she had indeed been stalking the brunette. Beca laughed.
"You seemed very friendly with Theo," Kommissar continued, raising her eyebrows in a silent question.
"Oh, no, no, no," Beca grinned and shook her head. "I think he might've wanted to, but I never did. Last time I saw him, he was making out with one of my old boss' employees," Beca shook her head, wondering briefly if Sammy had managed to pry Dax away from Theo or not.
"And that old Treblemaker?" Kommissar asked again. A flash of pain crossed Beca's face and that was all Kommissar needed. "Forgive me for mentioning it," she said.
"Don't worry, some loves just weren't meant to last," Beca sighed.
"But you will try again, won't you?" asked Kommissar, voice more gentle than Beca had ever heard from her before.
"Yes. I just don't know who with," Beca answered, though she was staring up at Kommissar now.
"I don't know either," Kommissar replied. "But how about, until you find someone, you spend time with me? I haven't got anyone else either."
"Oh, you haven't?" Beca asked suddenly.
"You know that, Maus," Kommissar replied.
"I don't know, Calamity might disagree," Beca finally acknowledged some of her own minor jealousy.
"Ah, envious?" Kommissar laughed despite how serious the mood had been so far. "I was only ever looking at her because she reminded me of me, yet you never once accidently complimented her."
"Well, she's not really my type," Beca muttered, embarrassed now for having ever brought up the subject of her envy. Kommissar probably wouldn't ever let her live that one down now.
"She's just as rude and arrogant as I am," Kommissar replied smugly. "And we were both your rivals."
"You're prettier," Beca grunted, then she slapped her forehead.
"So you only go for the pretty ones," Kommissar sounded pleased while Beca groaned at herself again. "Or maybe it is just the soldiers. Your Chloe seemed very interested in Chicago, even though I thought she used to have a thing for you."
"She did," Beca grunted. "But I guess you're right, military and music just go well together."
"Good thing, then, that Calamity was never in the army as a proper soldier," Kommissar said. "Or I might've had more of a competition."
"Trust me," Beca said without thinking. "No one could ever compare to you," then she slapped her forehead again.
"But truly, do you wish to travel with me?" Kommissar asked, returning to a more serious topic. "We could partner up."
"Can we do that?" Beca asked. "If you're touring and I'm working with DJ, how will that line up?"
"Perhaps you can get his permission to help produce for DSM? Like I said, we are an official band, and even though our music and his aren't exactly the same, I can work something out and maybe have DSM start shifting in a new direction musically, even if only for a little while…"
Kommissar trailed off, leaving the field open for Beca to add her own two cents. It really did feel so strange. If anyone had told Beca, mere hours ago, that she might be making a business and romance deal with her old rival/flame while out on Barden lake, she would've laughed, but life really did have a strange way of making the impossible possible. Now Beca wondered if it could work another impossible miracle…
"Sure," she agreed. "I mean, I don't have anyone I'm dating right now, you know…" Beca wondered briefly then if the reason she'd brushed Theo off was because her subconscious was still waiting for someone else, even though, back then, it was illogical to think she ever would've even seen that someone else again, let alone hook up with them, but here they were now, mere inches away from each other in the moonlight.
"Wait a moment, who ever said anything about dating, Maus?" Kommissar teased and Beca realized her blunder too late.
"I meant 'date' as in, 'somewhere to go at a certain time'. I don't have any dates I need to keep," she tried to amend, stuttering awkwardly.
"Sure you did," Kommissar chuckled and Beca blushed, once again relieved that it was so late. The moon wasn't bright enough to show her blush.
"But I suppose that if you do have a lot of free time, we need not spend all of it in a recording studio," Kommissar said slowly.
"What do you mean by that?" Beca tried to keep her cool at the insinuations.
"I mean that, if you don't have anyone to date, that is, no dates to keep," the woman paused to smirk while Beca pouted. "I could fill that role."
"Only if you think you're ready," Beca tried to puff her chest up, but Kommissar only let out a bark of laughter.
"Excellent," she said, satisfied. She felt the same way Beca did. It was strange to be back after so long, but it was actually really nice, and though it might've been a bad idea to try rekindling a small flame that never stood a chance anyway, it seemed to be something that both of them wanted.
"So that's it, then?" Beca asked. "I ask DJ if I can produce for you and we work together?"
"If all goes well, yes," Kommissar nodded.
"Ok. But what do we do now for the rest of the night? And tomorrow?" Beca asked.
"If you are not too busy, perhaps you could spend some of that day with me," Kommissar suggested and Beca's heart leapt again at the softness and genuine interest in Kommissar's voice.
"I haven't got any plans for the next 36 hours," Beca said with a stupid grin.
"Excellent," Kommissar repeated. "Nor do I." And before Beca even had time to react, Kommissar kissed her. It was a small, chaste, gentle thing, but it held so much surprise, change and chance, that Beca thought she would die right then and there, but honestly, that would've been fine with her.
In the distance, a canoe overturned and an outraged Amy and Bumper broke the surface of the lake, sputtering and swearing as the culprits, Flo, Cynthia and Mary, tried to row away as fast as they could. Beca missed it all, however, eyes too fixated upon Kommissar to notice anything else, and from the way Kommissar was staring back, Beca knew she was just as blind with love.
AN: Sorry this was so long and canonically impossible (I had a lot of characters to get through), but I just wanted to cram everyone back together for one last hurrah since so many were cut from the third film.