A/N ~ this is a short story based on an idea suggested by NayaFan

Rated M ~ language, mature situations and corporal punishment of minors, D/D between consenting adults.

Chapter 3 Breakdowns and Breakthoughs

Shelby Corcoran was a very disciplined woman and had been her entire life. It was how she had survived the many disappointments in her life. It was easier for her to show the world a stoic, cold front, than the loving, compassionate nature that she kept buried deep inside. Very few people saw the real Shelby Corcoran, the calculated woman who brokered a surrogate baby deal at nineteen years old in order to pay for college, or the very same heartbroken woman who regretted handing over her only child everyday of her life. She was an enigma to everyone around her and preferred it that way. People saw her structured life as rigid and unyielding but she was not that way at all. She actually had to the ability to care too much. Self-discipline allowed her the ability to remain in control and in her line of work; she could not afford to lose control.

Every morning at 5 am, she got up, exercised, had one cup of coffee, a yogurt and one piece of peanut butter toast and reviewed all the reports from the previous day regarding the school and its students. She made it her to business to be aware of every single detail of what happened in her school and to her kids, no matter how insignificant the event, if it happened in her school, she better be the first person who knew about it. Heaven help you if you worked for Shelby Corcoran and forgot that. These kids and this school were her life, and Quinn Fabray and Santana Lopez were her daughters, her family and they were her salvation which was ironic since if you asked Quinn or Santana they would claim Shelby had saved them.

The older brunette sat at the teacher's table while everyone else had breakfast. It was important to her to be there every morning in full view of her students and her teachers. It gave her a chance to see with her own eyes what was going on around her. She liked to sit up front and scrutinize the room and the students and feel the mood in the room. Every year a student accused her of planting secret camera's around the school but really she was just observant and vigilant.

She had been advised of the disciplinary actions carried out the evening before by her two student advisors. Anytime a student was disciplined regardless of how minor, a detailed report was written and placed in Shelby's mailbox for her early morning review.

She glanced at her two student advisors who both looked the worse for wear. Being blonde and pale to begin with, she could always tell when Quinn had a sleepless night. She was more concerned by the way the blonde kept furtively glancing at Santana. It was a look of concern and compassion.

Santana looked the same to the rest of the student body but to Shelby or Quinn, they could see the haunted look in her eyes and both women knew she had lost just a bit of her cocky attitude this morning. Anytime Santana turned inward and stopped being cocky, it was time to worry.

Her eagle eye next sought out Tina Cohen-Chang and immediately saw a change in the goth girl's attitude, Quinn had been of the opinion that the girl was not likely to be an ongoing disciplinary problem. In Shelby's experience, some of the toughest looking girl's folded with one good spanking but she thought the girl might have been surprised but she had not completely given up her rebellious ways. Maybe Quinn was right and Tina had reformed, Shelby knew she could be too cynical at times. She also knew the quiet ones could be a problem.

She next scanned over to Brittany Pierce, she was slightly more subdued but Shelby could tell, she was just pretending to go along with the program. Quinn was probably correct in her assessment that the girl would probably wind up back in her office before too long. The tall pretty girl was still pretty convinced she had them all fooled with her misunderstood dumb girl act. "Well she is sadly mistaken if she thinks she is fooling anyone." Shelby thought to herself.

Her gaze fell on Sugar Motta and she frowned unconsciously. Every so often, a girl came along that was intelligent and had potential but didn't have a support system or the strength to quit fighting and rely on someone else. The brunette hated to lose even one girl but it happened. Sugar was still on the fence in Shelby's eyes, she could go either way. She was not happy at all with the details of Santana's report or the way Sugar was flouncing around the lunchroom throwing smirks at her and Santana. Something happened that she was not aware of and that did not please her at all. Of course that was easily remedied.

She stood up and walked behind the other teachers over to Santana, she leaned down and whispered in her ear and the Latina nodded and excused herself from the table and followed Shelby out of the room. The older woman patted Quinn's shoulder in assurance as she passed behind her, knowing the blonde was worried about her friend.

Quinn's soft hazel eyes followed both women as they left the room. She turned back to her breakfast and caught the eye of Sugar Motta who had the audacity to smirk at her. Quinn glared at her menacingly and raising that one devastating eyebrow that made tough men quake in fear. She was satisfied when the girl quickly lost the smirk and turned her attention back to her own breakfast.

It was hard not to admire the young mafia princess' spirited nature and intelligence; she reminded Quinn so much of a 15 year old Santana it was eerie, but Quinn had a feeling the girl was going to wind up over her knee one of these days.

Quinn sighed and pushed her breakfast away, she had no idea had handled her and Santana. They were both a mess when they came to The Academy. She had to remember the effort Shelby had put forward to help her if she was going to be of any use at all to Sugar, Brittany and Tina not to mention all the other students who came her as a last resort. She remembered her first year and how hard it was…..

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Flashback 10 years ago

Quinn had just come back to The Academy after her last doctor appointment after her baby's birth. Physically she was fine but emotionally she wasn't sure she would ever recover. Shelby had been beside her every step of the way but she had little trust to give and no love left inside her after handing the baby over to strangers. To make matters worse, she had received court documents from her parent's announcing their intention to make her a ward of the state. Her parent's had basically announced to the world she was disposable, she was nothing, she was garbage. Quinn felt empty and alone and angry.

She had seen the young Latina strutting around the halls of The Academy but had gone out of her way to avoid the loud obnoxious girl. She had heard what went on in Shelby's office and frankly she preferred to avoid that kind of trouble.

Shelby had told her she was excused from class for the rest of the day, so she decided to go to her room and rest before dinner. Walking up the staircase to the second floor dorms, she entered the public restroom at the end of the hall that was hardly ever used. It was just too far away from the classrooms and the dorm rooms.

Quinn heard a sniffling sound and knew someone was crying. She cursed herself for coming to this bathroom and tried to get out of the way without being noticed. Just as she was putting her hand on the door handle, the stall door slammed open and a clearly upset Santana Lopez stood there looking at Quinn like an angry bull looks at a red flag.

The two girls glared at each other for a long moment. Quinn noticed the Latina's eyes were red and she had a moment of compassion for the girl. She had heard rumors about her criminal family, that she was an ex-gang member and that she had spent most of her first six months in Shelby's office being disciplined.

"Hey Mamí, see something you like, I hear you do anyone or anything puta!" She growled at the blonde she had immediately taken a dislike to from the first moment she had laid eyes on her. Even though she was at The Academy, she was blonde and beautiful and the world was always kind to the princesas of the world. "Little miss delinquent Barbie wouldn't last a day on the streets from my side of town!" Santana laughed ruefully to herself.

Quinn flushed a dark scarlet and rushed out of the bathroom, mother jokes and whore jokes hit just a little too close to home lately and she was still recovering from her pregnancy hormones. She would not give that trash the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She might have been disowned but she was still a Fabray of "the" Fabray's. The name had always meant something in this town and it was something her family could never take from her; her pride or her name.

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Every time Quinn turned around she was finding herself face to face with the mocking Latina and it was getting old very fast. The blonde had a feeling Santana had it out for her ever since she had seen her vulnerable and crying. It was like a point of honor with the Latina to harass Quinn every chance got and Quinn was at the end of her rope with the girl and her name calling. The girl was seriously starting to piss the blonde off.

Shelby had checked in on her a few times and had found Quinn a lawyer to go to the hearing with her but the blonde was emotionally closed off to anything but her anger and resentment. It worried Shelby but she had faith that the girl would be alright eventually, if shown enough love and support and consistency.

Quinn was leaving Shelby's office one evening after dinner having spoken to the attorney when she turned a corner a little too quickly and slammed right into the Latina.

"What the fuck is your problem Barbie? Or are you stupid and blind as well as easy?"

Any other time and Quinn would have walked away but she had just read the paper her family filed explaining why they disowned her and it had been so hurtful and so shameful that she was already on edge. She didn't even say a word; she just hauled off and punched the brunette right in the mouth. The blonde just lost it, every feeling about her daughter, every feeling about her parents abandonment, her anger at being at this school, her guilt, her shame all exploded in that punch. She had no idea what was coming out of her mouth but she just launched herself at the Latina and kept swinging and swearing and screaming.

The Latina was shocked by the rage that exploded out of the blonde and when she got over the shock of the first punch, she fought back. They threw a lot more punches than ever connected due to their rage and the explosive nature of the fight. Neither was aware of Shelby's appearance on the scene until she tried to pull the two girls apart.

It didn't do much good since both were so angry and so involved in the fight; they just pulled away from Shelby and launched themselves at each other again. It took Shelby and three other teachers to keep the girls separate long enough to half drag and half carry them to her office.

She had them both sit down in the two chairs across from her desk, "Sit there and neither one of you better move an inch if you know what's good for you while I get some washcloths." She pointed to both of them as she walked into the bathroom and grabbed the cloths getting them wet with cold water to apply to their faces.

Walking back into the office, she handed them each one and leaned against her desk and crossed her arms over her chest, "Do either of you need the nurse?" She watched in angry amusement as both girls nodded obstinately, "Of course not, I forgot who I was talking two for a minute. The two most independent, stubborn, hard headed young women here, the ones who have their lives totally under control, who don't need anyone or anything. What was I thinking?" She finished sarcastically.

"Who wants to tell me what happened out there? Ms. Fabray, Ms. Lopez?" She looked angrily between the two teens, her dark eyes flashing.

"I want to know who threw the first punch and what this fight was about and I want to know now!" She demanded, still getting silence.

"Fine, then I'll just paddle both of you, since I can't seem to get a straight answer and I don't have all night." She stood up and walked over to the closet where she kept all the implements for discipline.

Quinn noticed Santana pale a little and cringe when she noticed the rather evil looking paddle that Shelby Corcoran pulled from the closet. She had heard the brunette spent a great deal of time over the older woman's lap and without thinking she spoke up, "It was me, I threw the first punch. I was pissed off about the court hearing and I ran into her and the entire fight was my fault. She didn't do anything but defend herself."

The Latina stared in shock at the blonde girl. That was not at all what she expected. The code on the street was that you didn't rat, ever, no matter what! She was from the streets so she understood the code but what did rich bitch Barbie know about the code? The brunette suddenly felt a begrudging nagging feeling of respect for the girl. She looked up at Shelby and noticed a very similar look of shock on her face as well.

"Ms. Lopez is this true?" She turned her eyes to the still speechless Latina.

Santana closed her eyes and cursed herself, she had an out, she could walk away punishment free, what the fuck was she doing feeling sorry for the princessa? Cursing herself silently she sighed, "It's true she threw the first punch, but I've been calling her a whore and a slut and some other names for awhile now to torture her, so basically this was my fault not hers."

"Quinn, go sit in the chair in my waiting room and wait until I call you." The blonde got up and walked slowly out of the room.

Shelby waited until she was out of earshot and turned furiously on the younger brunette, "A whore Santana? Do you have any idea what that girl has been through? She had to carry a baby for 9 months, go through labor and delivery and then hand her daughter off to strangers to raise knowing she would most likely never see her again. Plus she had to do it all alone because her hypocritical parents thought she disgraced their fancy society name and legally disowned her as soon as they threw her in here."

Shelby stood up and paced trying not to put too much of her own experiences into Quinn's story and to calm down, "I know you've had a hard life and I know where you've come from Santana and you probably find it hard to have compassion for someone like Quinn who comes from money and society but when you are all alone it doesn't matter if you are rich or poor, you are still all alone and at least you had a grandmother who loves you and you have me. That girl has nobody on this planet that gives a damn about her and never has until she got here. You may not see it, but you two have a great deal in common, including the fact that in the eyes of the law you are both orphans now. Please think about that the next time you're tempted to call her a whore."

She sat down in the chair next to Santana and rubbed her hands through her hair violently, "What did I say would happen the next time you got in a fist fight?"

The Latina scoffed, "the same damn thing that happens every time I come in this office, I get my ass beat!" She was just acting tough, the thought actually made her cringe knowing what was about to happen.

Standing up quickly, Shelby took Santana by the arm and pulled her into the bathroom and sat her on the closed toilet lid, she reached into the cupboard and pulled out a fresh bar of dial soap, unwrapped it and said, "I have had it with your ghetto talk and your cursing. I warned you the last time about your constant use of profanity. Open your mouth!"

The teen's eyes opened as wide as dinner plates, "Whaaat?"

"You heard me; perhaps the taste of soap will cure you of your constant use of profanity and of words like whore and slut! Now open up and as you sit here for the next 5 minutes I want you to think about the damage words can do. I also expect a paper no less than 1000 words on the psychological damage bullying causes to teenage girls. On my desk before bedtime tomorrow." She stood there holding the soap and Santana knew there was no way out of this.

She reluctantly opened her mouth as Shelby placed the soap firmly in her mouth, "Bite down to hold it in place and close your mouth all the way!"

The Latina did as directed and tried desperately not to gag, this shit was awful. Her eyes filled with tears as Shelby stood there calmly watching the time. Her mouth was filling with saliva and she knew if she swallowed she would puke. She just let everything pool in her mouth and kept fighting the urge to be sick. After what seemed like an hour, Shelby removed the bar and tossed it in the garbage, "You may rinse once and then meet me in the other room."

Santana hung over the sink and let the cold water flood her mouth and fought again the urge to be sick as she tried to clean the soap off her tongue with her fingernail.

"Santana Lopez, now please!" Shelby called.

The brunette teen hung her head and headed into the other room to face the paddle. When was she ever going to learn to shut the fu.. heck up.

Shelby was standing in the middle of the room as Santana forced herself over to the waiting woman. She stood in front of her with her head down looking at the floor.

"I just want to tell you that while I don't condone fighting and I don't condone your language and name calling, I'm incredibly proud of your honesty this evening. In light of the fact you volunteered the information that put you in this position tonight I am only giving you 5 with the paddle tonight."

Santana's head shot up in surprise, her eyes wide open.

"You could have walked out of the room and let Quinn take all the blame. I will not let that go unrewarded. Instead of your usual punishment for fighting I am taking into consideration that Quinn threw the first punch and that you were defending yourself. I think you provoked some of it with your name calling and verbal abuse but Quinn had a rather rough evening and I'm afraid you might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time tonight."

The Latina was shocked that tears filled her eyes upon hearing the blonde had a rough night tonight before the fight. She couldn't understand what was coming over her. Why did she care at all? This school was making her weak.

"I need you to come bend over the desk please Santana." Shelby motioned where she wanted the girl to stand. The Latina moved into position and bent over the desk leaning forward and presenting herself to her teacher. Feeling the embarrassment of the position and angry at herself for missing the comfort of an over the knee spanking. It was hard to explain but over Shelby's knee she felt loved and safe. Feeling the cold desk hard against her belly made her feel small and childish and more ashamed of her behavior. The idea of explaining that to the older woman she was reluctantly coming to respect was out of the question, she didn't understand it herself.

Shelby walked behind her and pulled her pants and panties down below her knees. She placed her hand on the small of the tan back to steady the girl and hold her in place as she started to lay a steady stream of hand spanks to the girl's backside and upper thighs as a warm up. Trying not to squirm Santana held her position through the hand spanking even though the tall brunette had an incredibly hard hand. She nearly brought the girl to tears just with the hand spanking and that was nearly unheard of from the fiery obstinate orphan.

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Quinn was sitting in the chair outside Shelby's office when she heard the unmistakable sound of flesh on flesh. There was no other way it could be anything but a bare bottom spanking and Quinn felt the air rush out of her lungs. She tried to swallow but her mouth was dry and she had butterflies in her stomach that threatened to make her lose her dinner. She closed her eyes and tried not to care about the fear induced by the sounds coming from behind that office door. Having experienced physical discipline at the hands of a violent and drunk father and mother, she had no other frame of reference. She had no concept of loving discipline only harsh and abusive discipline. She had no idea what to expect.

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Shelby reached over and grabbed the large oak paddle, she glanced at the brunette, "position please!" Santana immediately readjusted herself properly over the desk top, aware of the cool air on her already warm and stinging backside. She tried not to clench, she knew what was coming and that paddle had a bite that hurt her way down deep for days.

"I need you to count them out please. While you are counting I want you to think about your actions, and how disappointed I am in both you and Quinn. You are a family, you two girls, you have no other, you need to start acting like it." She swung her left arm back and delivered a hellacious swat with the hard paddle. The teen gasped in pain at the suddenness and tried not to cry out, "ONE!"

Quinn jumped when she heard the impact of the wooden paddle on Santana's backside. She paled when she heard the second crack and heard the Latina cry out loud.

Shelby was out to make an impression so the third strike of the paddle was harder than the first two and Santana started to cry in earnest. She counted the third strike and wiggled and tried to avoid the next blow. The older woman gently placed her hand on her back again and steadied her, "We're almost done, hold your position please!"

The fourth strike made her jump and cry and apologize, "I'm sorry, Ms. Corcoran, I won't fight anymore I swear, I'm sorry."

Quinn heard the proud girl cry and beg and she knew she was probably going to get the same treatment she used to get at home, only there they used hands, fists and leather belts. She was surprised to feel tears of sorrow and remorse for putting Santana in the position to have to fight back. She wiped them with the back of her hands quickly, Fabray's did not cry.

Shelby put everything she had into the last strike and Santana cried out then counted her last number and collapsed on the desktop in tears. She was wriggling and crying in place as Shelby came around and gathered the young girl into her arms. It was the first time Santana had allowed an embrace after a punishment and the older woman held her as she cried and assured her of her love and that she would always be there for her. She praised her for taking her punishment so well and for her honesty as she rubbed her back gently, feeling hopeful about the Latina's future for the first time since she got to The Academy.

Santana felt a floodgate break open inside her and she suddenly wrapped her arms around the older woman's waist and held her and cried about her mother, her father, her fears, her sorrow, everything she lost and then she cried for the blonde girl in the hall and her lost daughter.

Shelby let the girl cry out her pain and loss, she understood the paddling only had a very small part with her crying and sadness, she had finally reached a state of release. She had gotten touch with her buried sorrow and pain and Shelby breathed a sigh of relief.

When she felt the girl start to calm down, she gently lead her to the door, "I need you to sit her until I have dealt with Quinn. Do you understand me Santana?"

The Latina nodded, "Yes ma'am." Shelby raised an eyebrow at that, the brunette always called her Ms. Corcoran, never ma'am.

Shelby opened the door to reveal a very pale looking teenager, "Ms. Fabray, I would like to see you know."

Quinn stood up and stoically shuffled into Shelby's office as Santana took her seat.

End of Flashback

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Quinn remembered sitting in the hallway listening to that tough girl cry like a baby and how unnerving it was hearing it.

She smiled softly, little did she know that the tough little spitfire who called her whore and slut would become the best friend she ever had.

Looking towards the exit that Shelby and Santana walked out of and then back at Sugar Motta, the blonde swore she would protect her family and she would help them show this damaged little brat that she was worth saving and that she had people who cared and would be there for her just as Shelby had shown Quinn and Santana.

To be continued….