A Tempo

Chapter Two: A Dog Named Tank

They had made it.

It had been one year, an entire year since the accident, the worst was over now. She'd lived through the birthdays, their anniversary, the holidays, the little milestones in their sons' lives (oh, how she cried over Michael's first lost tooth!) and now it was time to move on. Not that this offered any sort of liberation from her troubles, it was just the sense that somehow things would get better.

At first, Rachel didn't know how to commemorate the day; it wasn't as if the death of her husband was a positive thing. But it was a grieving process. She knew Michael and Andrew weren't aware of the exact date, but she knew that they had every right to know what the day was and remember their father accordingly.

Andrew was still too little to understand completely, of course, but Michael had been David's little carbon copy since day one. Everything David had done fascinated him and he missed him terribly. So today was for Michael as much as herself.

It was one of her rare days off, so she stayed in bed longer than necessary and took her time preparing a breakfast of stuffed French toast and scramble eggs. Try as she might, her children were still consummate omnivores, so she indulged them with a rare treat every now and then.

"Oh! Is today a meat day?" Michael exclaimed, coming out of his room. Andrew followed, dragging a blanket behind him and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

Rachel leaned over and planted a kiss on Michael's crown. "I thought we would do something special today."

"Cool!" He ran to the table, his eyes big. "Look, Andy! Scrambled eggs!"

She lifted Andrew up and cuddled the sleepy little boy to her chest as Michael scooped the eggs onto his plate and began to dig in. Rachel giggled as she sat Andrew in his chair. "Don't choke! There's plenty where that came from."

He nodded and shoveled some food onto Andrew's plate. "Do you want some juice?" she asked peering into the refrigerator.

"Can I have some coffee?"

"Nice try!" She poured the boys a glass of orange juice each and prepared a cup of coffee for herself.

She watched them eat for a few minutes as she drank her coffee, wondering the best way to bring the up the subject. Figuring she should take the direct approach, she set her "Diva" mug down and smiled at them.

"So..." she began, their little faces turning to her in expectation. "There's something about today that we should talk about."

"Are you sad, Mama?" Andrew asked. He shifted up onto his knees in his chair and took a big bite of French toast.

"A little," she said. "I'm more thoughtful though."

Michael frowned and stopped mid-chew. "Why?"

She took a deep breath and gave Michael a sad little smile. "Because, I've been thinking about Daddy. It's been a whole year now, and I really miss him."

He looked away and stared down into his plate.

"Today doesn't have to be a sad day, though," she continued, taking his little hand in hers. She could tell by the way he was blinking furiously that he was trying not to cry. "I think today should be a special day to think about Daddy and how much we love him, don't you?"

Michael nodded reluctantly.

"Maybe we could do some of our favorite things that we all did together. We could go to the park and the zoo, have a picnic. What do you guys think?"

"Yeah," Michael said softly. "I think Daddy would like that."

Rachel smiled and pulled him to her side while Andrew clambered into her lap. She hugged them to her and tried to swallow past the lump in her throat. "We're going to be okay," she murmured, peppering their faces with kisses. Andrew giggled while Michael ducked his head in embarrassment. Before he left the table, though, he turned and gave her a tight hug around the neck.

She sat at the table for a few moments after they went into their room and allowed herself to cry softly into her hand.

"Mama!" Andrew called from the bedroom.

She wiped her eyes quickly and cleared her throat. "Yeah, baby?" she asked, standing up and following after them.

It didn't take them long to get ready and she decided to splurge and hail a cab. They made their way around the zoo, Michael complaining that Andrew took too long at each of the different exhibits. Despite the heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach, Rachel eventually found herself rising out of her gloomy mood and allowed herself to have a little fun.

True, her husband had died, leaving her a single mom in New York City, and true, she was living off of tips for the time being, but that didn't mean her life was over. If someone had asked her ten years ago where she thought she would be at this time in her life, she would have said Broadway in a heartbeat. And while she did still feel the occasional tug in her chest towards the Great White Way, she couldn't find it in herself to regret the decisions she had made, especially since Michael and Andrew were the result.

They ate lunch while watching a polar bear float along in his enclosure with a big rubber ball, which the boys got a kick out of. After they visited the penguins, Michael decided that it was time for them to find a snow cone vendor and head Bethesda Terrace, David's favorite spot in the park. They were walking along the Mall, taking their time when Michael stumbled over an errant shoelace. Taking him by the hand, she guided him to a bench and sat him down.

"We've got to work on your shoe tying skills, kiddo," she chastised lightly, bending over his foot. "You've got to pull them tight they don't come loose."

"Hey, Mama?"

"Mhmm?" she asked, retying his other shoe just for good measure.

"Andrew's getting away."

"What?" she gasped, looking to her side where he had just been standing. When she realized that her three-year-old was definitely missing, she jumped to her feet in a flash. "Oh my God! Okay… don't panic… which way did he go, Michael?"

Michael pointed and hopped off the bench. "Thatta way!"

She grabbed his hand and made her way through the crowd, trying not to freak out. "Andy?" she called, sure she saw his little form disappear between two people. "Andy! Get back here!"

She quickened her pace, dragging Michael along behind her, who protested loudly against being yanked around. Sure enough, the little turkey was running just ahead of them at full speed with no sign of stopping. Fortunately, they caught a break when he passed a man walking a huge animal; a dog, she was sure, but the thing could have been part horse. Andrew turned, momentarily distracted by the dog, when its owner stooped and quickly scooped the little boy up into his arms before he could get away.

"Andrew Lloyd Kutner," she panted, "don't you ever, ever do that to me again!"

"So, I take it he belongs to you?" the stranger asked, holding her son out to her.

"Yes," she said, looking up into her savior's face, "thank you so mu- guaf-F-F-Finn!" It certainly was not the graceful introduction she had always envisioned making if she ever ran into her ex, but thankfully, he seemed just as surprised to see her.

"Rachel?" he exclaimed, his eyes going wide. "Holy… Rachel!"

He laughed and pulled her into a big hug. "How in the world are you?"

Rachel, still shocked by the sight of a man she hadn't seen in more than seven years, stood stiffly and stared up into his face. Sure, she had seen him on Sam in the City, but it seemed so long ago when it was, in fact, only a year. Exactly a year to the day, which, in all honesty, gave her the chills.

"Mama," Michael said.

"I-I-I'm –"

"Mama!"

"What, baby?" she finally said, snapping out of it.

Michael scowled and hitched his thumb in Finn's direction. "Who is he?"

"That's – this is…" she trailed off, struggling to find a way to introduce her ex-boyfriend to her six-year-old.

"I'm Finn," he said, holding his hand out to Michael. "I'm an old friend of your mom's. What's your name?"

Michael looked Finn up and down, which was a feat considering his height compared to Finn's, before shaking his hand. "Michael," he answered finally.

"Nice to meet you, Michael. And this is…?" he motioned to the boy still in Rachel's arms.

"Andrew," Michael said since his mother was still too tongue-tied to answer.

"Hiya, Finn!" Andrew exclaimed, opting to slap Finn's palm instead of shaking his hand.

Somehow, Rachel was able to stop her gaping and gather herself during the exchange, and finally managed a smile. "Finn, I am so sorry," she gushed. "You caught me completely by surprise. It is so… good to see you. How are you?"

"I'm good." He looked down the Mall and Rachel saw his Adam's apple bob up and down as he gulped uncomfortably.

"I can't thank you enough for catching Andrew. It's hard to keep up with him when I'm by myself. He's only lucky I don't believe in spanking," she said, bouncing Andrew slightly.

"Hey, yeah, no problem," he said with a shrug. "Just doing my civic duty, you know?"

Rachel smiled up at him reassuringly, she couldn't imagine how awkward he felt, but she could tell when he suddenly tensed up. He probably had somewhere to be and was too polite to let her know that she was holding him up.

"We were –"

"What are you –" they began in unison.

He chuckled nervously. "I was just taking Tank for a walk," he said, motioning to the behemoth next to him, "if you and the boys would like to join us, that's cool."

"Oh! We wouldn't want to keep you, if –"

"You're not keeping me from anything!" he said quickly. "I'd love to catch up, unless I'm keeping you from something."

"Not at all! We were just looking for some snow cones and heading to the Terrace."

"Hey! Snow cones sound great! I think I saw a guy up there."

Rachel set Andrew down and grasped his hand tightly as they made their way up to the vendor in question.

"Hey, Michael," Finn said, holding out Tank's leash, "do you want to walk him?"

She could tell by the look in her son's eyes that he really wanted to when he looked up at her for permission, but she looked over at the dog and bit her lip.

"It's okay, he's really well trained," Finn told her. "I watched a lot of the Dog Whisperer when he was a puppy. He won't run off with anybody's arm or anything." He grinned and held up his hand in a Boy Scout salute. "Promise."

"It's fine with me if you want to," she finally said.

"I wanna help!" Andrew cried out, struggling against her grasp.

"Nope!" Rachel pulled him back to her side. "You ran off in the middle of Central Park, sir. You're lucky I don't take you home right now."

He started to whine but when she gave him a stern look and squeezed his hand lightly, he stuck out his bottom lip and pouted in silence.

She watched as Finn showed Michael how to hold the leash and wrapped the loop around his wrist, tensing slightly when the dog, nearly eye level with Michael, walked forward and lapped her son a few times on the face for good measure.

"Finn," she said, placing a hand over her rapidly beating heart, "I hate to tell you this, but that animal cannot be canine."

"Sure he is! He's a Labradoodle."

"A what-a-doodle?"

"Part lab, part poodle! I got him from an animal rescue in Chicago. We've been buds ever since."

"Why'd you name him Tank?" Michael asked. "That's a weird name for a dog."

Finn shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "Well, when I was in high school, my mom got married to a guy named Burt, and he promised her that he would get her a dog as a wedding present." Rachel ducked her head and grinned. She knew this story. "I was so excited because we had never had a dog before and I thought, you know, that she'd get a normal dog. Like a lab or a collie or something.

"So, they go off to get her puppy and when they get home, imagine my surprise to see that she picked out a little frou-frou dog about this big," he held up his hands to demonstrate the size. "It looked like a cotton ball! And to make things even worse, she named it Peanut! Can you believe that?"

Michael laughed and patted Tank on the head and Rachel could have sworn that he looked at Michael and grinned.

"After that, I promised myself that when I grew up and got my own place, I was going to get myself the biggest dog I could find and I was going to give him a tough name."

"Oh, but you're leaving out the good parts!" Rachel cried out.

"Like what?"

"Like how you used to let Peanut sleep on your pillow. And the time he got out and you nearly cried because you were so worried about him. You liked Peanut, admit it!"

She could tell he had to bite back his grin. "I never said I didn't like Peanut, I just don't think he's a real dog. I mean, Tank's part poodle, but look at him. There's not a wimpy bone in his body."

She looked up into his gaze and instantly regretted it. She hadn't thought it would be so easy to lose herself in his eyes like she did. At least, not after so long. For a moment she wasn't Rachel Kutner, she was just Rachel Berry and he was her Finn. He must have felt it too, because his face softened and his eyes took on a faraway look even as they stared at each other.

"Snow cone, snow cone, snow cone!" Andrew shouted, pointing at the vendor up ahead and effectively ruining the moment.

Finn tore his gaze away from Rachel's and clapped his hands together in excitement. "Awesome! What flavor does everybody want?"

"Mmm, bubblegum!" Michael announced.

"Good choice," Finn praised. "How about you, Andrew?"

Andrew twisted his little face up in thought and tapped his chin. "Blue!"

"Andy, blue's not a flavor," Michael said.

"Blue's my favorite too," Finn chuckled. "Rachel?"

Rachel, who was digging around her purse for her wallet, looked up. "Oh, none for me, thanks."

"Come on, you've got to have one too," he said. "It's my treat."

"That's okay, Finn, I've got it." She reached into her purse again but he stopped her with a hand to her shoulder.

"Rachel," he persisted. "I said my treat."

There was something about his tone that made Rachel freeze and squint her eyes suspiciously. They hadn't spoken in years, but she did have to wonder how much he knew about her life now. "Okay, sure. I'll take a cherry, please."

Finn took a bite of his snow cone and gave Rachel a sideways glance as they walked in silence to the Terrace. Both boys were walking ahead of them now, her former ire with Andrew obviously put on the backburner. They were giggling as Tank eyed their snow cones solicitously, his tongue lolling to the side.

He had honestly acted on autopilot when he caught the rugrat running from his screeching mother, years of being the small town nice guy taking over. The last thing in the world that he had expected was the screeching mother to be Rachel. Not that it surprised him, he should have recognized her voice the moment her heard it.

How strange that he should run into her now; he had attempted to get in touch with her a few weeks ago, he really had, but it wasn't until later that he realized he didn't know her last name. And he had typed the most creative things into Google too, like "good looking lawyer killed in accident" and "Rachel Berry Weinstein," but he didn't find much. He figured he could always stop by the restaurant where she worked, but that seemed kind of stalkery, so he decided to wait until he could talk Kurt into joining him. It somehow seemed less weird if he didn't go alone.

He tried not to make it obvious that he was checking her out, but after seven years, he couldn't help himself. Except for the red syrup adorably staining her lips, she really hadn't changed all that much; she was still just as pretty as ever and her body was still... well... smokin'. She must of been one of those woman who bounced right back after having kids, but then again, she always used to have that strict workout regimen. Either way, everything was working out for her in that regard.

Her hair was a little shorter though, and maybe her cheeks were a little hollow, but the thing that got to him the most were her eyes. They had such a sad look in them, like the time she got egged by Vocal Adrenaline, but this time he was sure it wasn't a hurt that could be easily wiped away. It had been so simple then, to make her smile just to see her eyes light up.

And then there was that ring. He couldn't help but notice the bling adorning the ring finger of her left hand; it was the size of a golf ball, after all. Well, maybe not a golf ball, but it was freaking huge. He was pretty sure he could throw her in the Lake when they got there and she would sink right to the bottom. No, if it had been him, he would have gotten her something simple and classy because that's what she had told him she wanted back in high school. Back when they had their own plans…

They hadn't spoken of anything serious, she hadn't brought up her husband and he was definitely wasn't going to broach the subject, so he tried to think of something intelligent to say. But as usual, nothing came easily. Instead he nodded to her purse and said, "That's a pretty huge bag you've got there." He mentally kicked himself as soon as the words escaped his mouth; he'd obviously been spending too much time with Kurt if the first thing he could think of was her purse.

But in true Rachel fashion, she smiled and held it out for him to see. "I know it's a little large for everyday use, but it's a Louis Vuitton and I just couldn't bear to sell it when – when we moved. I can carry just about everything I need for the boys in it though, so it was worth it."

He nodded his head like he knew who Louis Vuitton was and shoveled a large scoop of snow cone into his mouth. It would probably be better if he didn't speak.

"Are you still working for Sam in the City?" she asked.

"Yeah. How'd you know that?"

"I actually saw you on TV a while back."

He choked down his snack in surprise. He knew that was going to bite him in the butt one of these days. "Oh God! I can't believe you saw that!"

Rachel laughed. "Well, you couldn't expect me to miss our New Directions performing on television, could you? Seeing you was only an added bonus."

"How embarrassing," he groaned. "You know, Mr. Schue gave a copy of that episode to my mom and she shows everyone who comes around the house. I don't think I can show my face around Lima again."

"Oh, it can't be that bad!" she giggled.

"Seriously, it is. Everybody thinks I'm this hotshot producer or something, like I run the show. Puck even asked if I could land him a job last time I saw him. I had to tell him I just make sure things don't fall apart when we're filming."

Rachel looked up at him, concern written across her face. "But… this is what you wanted, wasn't it?"

"Don't get me wrong! I like my job. A lot. I mean, the pay's good and Sam is awesome. She's really helped me out. We're trying to get the network to take us national and she's been putting me in the way of some pretty important people."

"Are you two…?" she trailed off. "I'm sorry, that's none of my business."

"Huh? You mean are we together?" he laughed. "No way! She's dating the Yankees' second baseman." Then, as an afterthought, he added quickly, "I-I'm not seeing anyone."

She didn't respond, just nodded her head noncommittally and took another bite of her snow cone.

Finally arriving at the Terrace, they circled the fountain so that they could enjoy the breeze coming off the Lake. Finn watched as Rachel set her cup down and primly tucked her dress underneath her before taking it up again. Smiling in contentment, she looked over at the boys only to let a shrill little squeal.

"No, Andrew, don't!" she fairly gasped as the little boy held his spoon out to Tank, who happily lapped up the proffered treat. Finn had to choke back a laugh as her face turned into a mask of what could only be described as abject terror when Andrew dipped the spoon back into his cup and took a big bite himself.

"Baby, do you know how unsanitary that is?" She began digging frantically around her purse and pulled out some wipes.

"It's cool, Rach," Finn said, trying to calm her. "He's got all his shots and I don't let him dig around in the trash or anything."

"Finn," she said as she wiped vigorously at Andrew's hands and face, "when it's your child who is sharing their food with a dog who undoubtedly licks himself, despite being trained in the ways of Cesar Milan, then you can tell me it's cool."

This time Finn didn't even bother to stop himself from laughing out loud. He had wondered if the old Rachel Berry was still down in there, but after her indignant tirade, he had no doubt that this was her. "Aw, give him a break! He's neutered; there's nothing there for him to lick that you need to worry about." He faked a grimace as he made a scissor motion with his fingers. "God have mercy on my soul," he joked.

Suddenly he froze and felt his face go red. Finally he had come up with something witty to say and, of course, it could totally be construed as more than a little insensitive. He only hoped that Rachel hadn't noticed. He spared a quick glance at her as she finished up with Andrew, giving him a new plastic spoon which she whipped out from that monstrosity of a bag, and sat back down.

"No more snow cone for Tank," she warned. "It might make him sick."

She didn't say anything for a second; she just looked quietly out at the Boathouse in the distance. "Finn, may I make an observation?" she finally asked.

He shrugged uncertainly and murmured quietly, "Um... sure."

"I've noticed a little bit of awkwardness on your part, which I easily attributed to the fact that we haven't seen each other in several years. I can only imagine the shock you must have felt upon running into me, with my children no less, in the middle of Central Park. A shock, which I assure you, I felt just as acutely. And then there's our history together..." she trailed off and let that sit in the air for a moment. "But judging from your reaction just now, to what I know was probably just a harmless joke on your part, leads me to believe... well..." She stopped and looked him straight in the eye before asking point blank in a soft voice, "You know about my husband, don't you?"

He honestly thought about playing dumb, but he knew that wouldn't fly. How was it that she could still see right through him after all this time? He had known in high school that Rachel was one of the only people who truly knew him and he guessed that was something that would never change, a fact that was as reassuring as it was annoying.

"Yeah," he stated simply.

She exhaled slowly and finally looked him in the eye. "Well, I guess this takes all the awkwardness out of me telling you that I'm a widow." She smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. "May I ask how you know?"

Scratching the back of his neck in discomfort, Finn winced under her scrutinous gaze. "Um… Kurt and Mercedes saw you at the restaurant you work at. He kind of paid the hostess to tell them about you."

"I knew it!" she cried. "And I thought I had been so careful. I saw them talking to her. I really should have known that's what they were doing when Ashley claimed that he had just been asking for her number."

Finn couldn't help but snicker at that, but his face fell when he saw the distant look in Rachel's eye. "Hey, you don't have anything to be ashamed of, Rach," he said. "There's no reason for you to hide from your friends."

"I know… it's just that I don't want anyone's pity. Although, Kurt probably thinks it's hilarious. 'How the mighty have fallen,'" she grumbled.

"He doesn't think that at all!" Finn exclaimed.

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, maybe he did gloat a little bit. But Mercedes is really concerned about you. And me."

"You're the last person I would expect to be concerned about me, you know, considering…" she shrugged and turned away from him.

"Considering what?"

"I always thought you were angry with me," she explained. "I'm the one who decided that we should take a break and then I started dating someone else practically right away."

This time it was Finn's turn to sigh deeply. "That was a long time ago. I mean, yeah, I was mad when I found out. For a long time even," he said. "I was more surprised than anything, though. I didn't even know that you were seeing someone else until your dad told me you were engaged. It kind of knocked the wind out of me."

He noticed that she was fiddling with her ring self-consciously and he reached out to still her hand. "But that was a long time ago, Rach. I knew you really had to love the guy for you to marry him like you did. I never, ever wished for anything like this to happen to you. All I ever wanted for you was to be happy."

"Thank you, Finn." She gently pulled her hand away and pushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. "And for what it's worth, I am sorry. I should have told you myself."

"It's all water under the bridge!" he said, forcing himself to sound more cheerful than he felt at the moment. Sometimes it really sucked being the bigger man. "We're adults now, we can be friends. And there's no reason why you have to go through this alone. It helps to have someone in your corner. Believe me, I would know."

"I really appreciate that."

They sat at the fountain a little while longer, finishing their snow cones and talking about their old friends and high school. Rachel didn't bring up her husband again, for which Finn was thankful; he was pretty sure he didn't have any advice to offer her that she hadn't heard a million times before. She did go on about Michael and Andrew though, and Finn could tell how proud she was of them.

Of the two, Michael was most like his father, she had told him without going into too much detail. He turned his attention to the boy, his interest peaked. He was a good looking kid and was probably going to be a good looking adult, what with his dark, almost black hair, straight brow, and Rachel's big brown eyes. He also had a little chip on his shoulder, but he was patient with Andrew for the most part, and seemed like a pretty good kid.

Finn, of course, had taken to Andrew immediately. He was more like Rachel in looks and was happy-go-lucky and funny. He was also smart as a tack and Finn was genuinely surprised when Rachel had told him that he was only three.

"Michael can argue himself out of a hole," Rachel laughed. "He's my lawyer. And Andrew's my little engineer."

Finn grinned and gave her a look of admiration. "You've got some real good kids, Rach. I'd be proud too if they were mine."

"You know, I thought you'd be married by now. Kurt had told me you were seeing someone in Chicago."

"Nah, it didn't work out."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Rachel responded sincerely.

He waved her off and shook his head. "It wasn't that big of a deal. We just wanted different things."

Rachel looked like she was going to say something else, but the rumble of thunder in the distance cut her off. "Are you kidding me?" she cried. "The weatherman didn't say anything about rain! I didn't even pack the boys' raincoats. And Andrew's just getting over the sniffles!"

"Hey, it's no biggie," Finn said, reaching up to unbutton his shirt.

"Finn, what are you doing?" she gasped as he took it off, leaving him in his undershirt.

He just smiled and turned to the boys. "Come here, Andrew!" he called. He knelt down and quickly helped the little boy push his arms through the sleeves and buttoned it up. He pulled the neck over Andrew's head just as it began to drizzle and laughed at the comical sight. His shirt fairly swallowed the little boy whole and dragged a few inches on the ground.

"It's not a raincoat, but it'll get the job done." He lifted Andrew up and handed him off to his mother before grabbing Tank's leash. "Alright, you ready to make a mad dash?" he asked.

He led them as quickly as he could to the street while the rain became progressively harder. As soon as they reached Fifth, he hailed them a cab and practically shoved the boys in. "What about your shirt?" Andrew asked, waving a long sleeve at Finn.

He looked over at Rachel, realizing that they hadn't exchanged numbers or anything. He took out his wallet, feeling a little douchey, and pulled out a business card.

"Here," he said. "It's my work number, but I'm there practically all the time."

"I really can't thank you enough, Finn," Rachel gushed. "Today was fun. I really needed it."

"Me too." He smiled. "Please give me a call. I'd really like to hang out with you again. And I'm sure Kurt and Mercedes want to see you too."

She looked a little uncertain but nodded.

"Hey, lady," the driver called, "you gettin' in or not?"

"I'd better go," she murmured, motioning to the taxi.

Finn stood to the side and held the door open for her as she slid in. Before he closed it behind her, though, something occurred to him and he leaned back down. "Hey, Rachel?" he asked. "What is your last name?"

She giggled and he tried to ignore how the sound made his heart skip. "It's Kutner."

"That is totally not what Kurt said," he laughed, straightening up. He closed the door and waved as the cab took off.

When they were out of sight, he looked down at his wet mess of a dog, who looked back up at him, his blue-stained tongue lolling to the side, and thought of how awful his car was going to smell.

"Crap," Finn suddenly cursed, realizing he was parked on the opposite side of the park. But, despite the fact that he had to trudge back through the park in the rain and stick a wet dog on his leather seats, he couldn't find it in himself to regret not staying home. Not when he had the image of Rachel Berry – no, Rachel Kutner's – smiling face keeping him company as he walked.

Author's Note: Sorry about the delay! I've had Rachel's part done for a few days, but Finn was really digging his heels in there for a while. I'm aiming for my next update to be this Friday or Saturday. In the meantime, please read and review!

Disclaimer: Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I'm just manipulating it for my own nefarious (and strictly nonprofit) purposes.