[Case 40: My Big Fat Super Wedding]
"Can I just thank you again," Finn said to Mercedes at the reception as he juggled his foot nervously, "for making sure things got arranged?"
"It was nothing, my boss doesn't even care that much."
"I was just worried about having to skip all of this."
This in question was a lavish wedding and reception in honor of his mother's marriage to Kurt's dad, in which a quarter of the attendants, friends of two new step-brothers, were working superheroes.
It probably wasn't the best idea to put Lima's defenders all in one place, but most were friends with the bride and groom and all couldn't bear to risk Rachel Berry getting wind of their civilian identities.
The star reporter had not only gotten wind of the wedding but the guest list as well, and if anyone failed to show up or left abruptly, but their alter ego showed up to save the day, she'll get started on a trail that they've been working hard for ages to hide.
"And it wasn't a problem," Mercedes replied, "Luckily Mirage had just the man for the job, and so far the city hasn't gone up in flames."
Puzzlement crossed Finn's face.
"Just one person?"
"You forget," Mercedes lightly tapped his arm, "Mirage has everything wired, if something worse happened that needed more manpower you'd know."
"I see," Finn nodded but looked uncertainly around.
Mercedes followed his gaze to where Rachel was making her rounds corning Quinn who looked almost ready to encase her in ice.
"A word of advice," she added "don't do this again, invite her."
"I-"
"Rachel Berry is the most dangerous person in Lima," Mercedes said sternly relaying a message from Artie she was more than pleased to pass on, "she has a higher threat level than over half the League of Doom. My boss would tag her if he didn't want t risk anything."
Mercedes smiled brightly as Finn pulled at his collar. "What do you think?"
"It's just that kept following me, we work together, and she's kinda hot -I'm going to see the rest of the guests," he mumbled and made a run for it.
For the poster boy of the League, Finn sure wasn't brave as much as his codename implied he was, Mercedes mused.
As she fiddled with her purse, her ears caught a familiar voice as she caught sight of Tina and her date.
"I didn't get a chance to say hi, earlier," Mercedes said give her old friend a hug, "I haven't seen you in ages, I love the dress."
Tina picked up the ends of the deep emerald green dress. "Kurt picked it out."
"I can tell. Are you going to introduce me?"Mercedes jutted her chin at Tina's date.
"I thought you knew him," Tina said as she introduced Mike.
"I know of him," Mercedes said suggestively, to which Tina shot her a dark look.
"Did you come by yourself?" Tina asked.
"No, I brought a date," Mercedes.
"Really, I don't think he'd appreciate your little flirtation."
"Finn? Trust me, he's more than cool with it," Mercedes said wave of her hand.
Tina looked closely at her, the good humor in her eyes fading as they narrowed.
"You brought him didn't you?" Tina asked coolly.
"He's one of my closest friends," Mercedes replied. "And-
"I'm glad to hear you say that," Artie interjected as he rolled up holding a pair of glasses in his hand. "Because you don't know the trouble I went through to get these."
As Mercedes took a glass, she noticed that Tina had stiffed up beside Mike, wrapping her arm tighter around the taller man's waist.
"Oh, Ms. Cohen-Chang, I didn't know you were invited."
Tina's face stretched into a painful smile, and Mercedes was glad when Mike spoke up:
"I think I met you before."
"You may have." Artie retorted, "though I don't remember you at all."
Tina coughed loudly, and Artie added smoothly holding out a hand to greet Mike properly, "My father is the Commissioner that recently he retired. Due to his reputation I have the clearance to go in out and out the office quite often, you might have seen at once point."
Mike looked at Artie skeptically. "How did you know I worked for the LPD?"
Artie grinned, "I happened to know everything that happens in Lima. Everyone and everything they do."
"He means," Tina interjected, wrapping both hands around Mike's arm, an action that caused Artie's eyes to narrows as much as it caused Mike to jump in surprise, "he's a busybody."
"I thought the commissioner's son was a librarian?"
Tina tugged Mike away, before shooting Mercedes a dark look as if she was blame to invited Artie to the wedding in the first place.
Mercedes wasn't sure if she was going to get an angry phone call or angry silence. Five years on and it still sucked to be friends with a broken up couple.
"That was deliciously awkward." Mercedes mentioned, she had to repeat herself when she realized that he wasn't listening as but rather watching Tina and Mike across the room.
"It wasn't," he responded throwing back his drink.
"It was, I know it's always odd when exes, but it's been five years."
At the moment Tina pulled Mike towards the center of the room where the dancing was occuring, somehow placing herself in the line of their sight.
"It's better than it has been." He took the glass from Mercedes's hand and threw that back with one gulp as well. "You want another drink?"
"I-"
"I'll get you another drink." Without a word, he wheeled backwards towards the bar. Mercedes pinched her nose as she had a sudden vision of having to keep a watch over Artie tonight to make sure the most powerful man in the city got himself so drunk he couldn't see straight.
"I'm looking for Kurt Hummel."
"Really, are you a friend of his?"
Mercedes's ears perked up as she recognized the name swiftly followed as she recognized the second voice in the conversation. Adjusting her ears so that she could ignore the extraneous voices, she pinpointed her target and quickly made her way across the room to avoid disaster.
"Rachel Berry, what a pleasant surprise." Mercedes placed herself between the reporter and Sam, "Came to support your fellow reporter and his family?"
"It's a fairy tale wedding," Rachel replied not losing a beat, she beamed and the blonde than at Mercedes. "A widower and a widow find love together later in life, brought together by their children. It's beautiful and a story many readers at the Daily Muckracker will enjoy. But not much as homegrown R&B Singer Mercedes Jones. I heard you were in retirement, or is it just a temporary hiatus?"
Mercedes smiled, fighting the urge to pull out the tiny palm size pistol in her purse and shooting the recorder Rachel carried. "I'm taking personal time to explore and find a more natural way to make music. Have a nice evening."
She pushed Sam forward away from Rachel as possible.
"What are you doing here," she said, "you're supposed to be on call."
"I figured it was over, and who are you?"
"A friend of a friend, whose advising for your safety do not talk to Rachel Berry." She shoved Sam towards Puck and Quinn who were in the midst of their fifth argument this evening.
As he talked with the group, Mercedes crossed paths with Santana.
"Hey-"
"Don't talk to me." Santana snapped, "and don't touch me either."
Mercedes recognized that tone which meant-
It was hard to listen for Brittany's titling laugh, but Mercedes was surprised to hear that it was followed by Artie's tipsy laughter.
Oh god, this evening was going to end badly, with the prospect of actual poison and not just alcohol.
Glancing at were Santana's hand was clenched around the glass, Mercedes made a mental note to make sure Artie didn't take a single drink that Santana touched.
"I don't know what she sees in him, sure big whoop, he's the police chief's son. He's a fucking librarian! I don't see how he even got an invitation."
"Probably how you did, a friend of a friend. And I thought you and Britts were on ice?"
Santana shoot Mercedes a look that couldn't be described as anything than poisonous. "Puck and Quinn are ice despite Puck being a hot head."
"You didn't answer the question."
"It's none of your damn business!"
"Any louder, and the star reporter will come snooping around."
"As if," Santana sipped her drink, "We aren't the Troubletones, we're just a failed nightclub singer, a waitress, and a dance teacher. Nothing super about us, especially you."
"Was that an insult, because that's mild for you, very bland actually."
"What can I say, I lost my grove."
"Well a little bird told me, that the hacker that took down the entire city last month, he's looking for people to help."
Santana lowered her glass. "Mirage?" she whispered.
"Only if you're interested. I heard the gig's pretty good. Pays well, get to travel, maybe dental in the future."
"Why aren't you interested?"
"Like you said, I'm not super enough for the job."
Santana looked speculative for a moment, a moment that was worthwhile distraction as Brittany and Artie discreetly left the reception.
"I'll think about," She said finally. "Now where did-?"
Santana sauntered off in her high heels and tight dress, ignoring the looks she gotten as she went after her disappeared blonde partner.
"Having fun?" Kurt asked.
"Not nearly enough," Mercedes smiled as she tucked her arms into his, "there was a guy looking for you."
"Really?" Kurt's eyebrows rose up, "Was he easy on the eyes?"
"Very, not your type though. He almost chatted up Rachel, I sent him over to Quinn and Puck."
Together they turned heads to where there three where Puck and the blonde stranger were in the middle of argument about video games while Quinn's drink was icing up.
"What's Sam doing here," Kurt whispered under his breath.
"I can ask the same thing," Mercedes said pointedly, "I didn't know he was invited at all"
Kurt looked away.
"I'll tell you later."
"Tell me now, since he's clearly the guy you dumped me for last week."
"No."
Kurt brushed Mercedes off, an action that told her more than any other dismissal he could have made.
Now the party was getting interesting.