Looking for a hero of sorts to challenge him is a more daunting task then Sam had anticipated and it begins to annoy him to no end.
Santana reminds him he should be focusing on the Championship Football game and he knows that winning will just cement the fact that he's a better quarterback then Finn ever was. He also has to fix the problem of Mr. Schuester and Coach Bestie's "genius" idea to bring the football team and glee club together. He knows immediately the whole thing is doomed to fail. Thankfully he's not alone in this assumption. When the two groups are packed together in the choir room there are plenty of loud protests on both sides and when Mr. Schuester tries to get Rachel to sing something she outright refuses stunning everyone.
"I feel it is unfair to try and force us all to get along. A majority of the football team has not only used cruel words against us, but doused us in slushies, tripped us, and shoved us into lockers. You bringing them into our place to feel safe and accepted just proves that you know nothing about how to handle bullying and I refuse to take part in this sham." She declares in a impassioned speech. It stirs up a feeling of want inside of him to see the fire in her eyes, but he quickly pushes it aside. He knows this isn't the time or place. It is however, the perfect time for him to jump in and play peacemaker.
"Look, How about we all just agree to stay out of each others way from now on. We don't have to be friends or hang out with each other. No one even has to acknowledge each other. No one gets bullied or hurt, no one has to forcibly join the glee club, and everyone moves on. And after you all drove out Kurt and what happened to Karofsky we owe it to ourselves to not be enemies anymore." He said. A few looks shift across the room before a murmur of agreement passes over the students. They manage to agree without anyone having to sing anything and without their teachers.
Even he's surprised when the truce actually sticks.
Of course he knows about Coach Sylvester making the Cheerios choose between the half-time show and Cheerleading Championships, because between Santana tipping him off and Quinn never shutting her mouth about it there was no way he wouldn't have known they were scheduled for the same day and time. He also knows Santana will choose cheerleading and honestly he doesn't blame her. Because the honest truth is that if not for Rachel he'd have jumped ship from Glee Club a long time ago. Sure it was entertaining for a bit, but after a while their dysfunctional stupidity was just annoying.
Finn showing up right before they are about to perform at the Cheerleading Championships wasn't something Santana had been prepared for. Apparently the overgrown toddler had finally grown a pair and decided to make it his mission to "rescue" them from the Cheerios. Quinn of course agrees to leave with him fairly quickly at the slightest hint of a boy caring about her, but the Latina wasn't going to give in so easily.
"Look Frankenteen, we've been preparing for months to win this tournament. So what if we miss the halftime show? It's not like it'll stop the football team from winning or losing and we still have Regionals to perform on stage. Why should we leave now?" She snaps at him. "Because Coach Sylvester treats you all like garbage! I don't understand why you put up with her." Finn argues back. "Because it's not about her. It's about us showing everyone that we are the best of the best. We're not throwing all of our hard work away for nothing so if you and Stretch Marks want to leave then fine, but Brittany and I are staying." She tells him firmly.
But Brittany doesn't back her up. The blond manages to say that she wants to leave. She wants to perform at the halftime show. She wants to leave her. She wants to go cheer on Artie.
She wants to leave her again.
Something inside of Santana yells at her to kick and scream and fight, but she doesn't. She knows better then that now. She coldly turns away and tells Brittany to just leave. As she walks off she can hear the other three calling for her but she ignores them. She doesn't need them anymore.
She leads the Cheerios to victory and the crowd stands in awe of the high flips, fire spectacle and canons that were stuffed with confetti in place of Brittany. The victory is bittersweet. She feels accomplished and proud yet somehow very alone.
The football team wins under the direction of Coach Bestie and the halftime show is flawless. Sam sees it as a distinct sign of change.
The members of the Football team are now seen as gods around the school which for the time being will ward off any slushies. With Quinn and Brittany gone from the Cheerios there were now two vacant slots on the exclusive team which had a good portion of the school's female (and male) population tripping over their own feet to join. Santana had also become the Captain of the Cheerios. This had a less then positive effect. A majority of the club felt she's abandoned them when she'd chosen not to return for the halftime show. He and Rachel, however, stood firmly at her side. He had a feeling that secretly Brittany was too.
In an effort to regain some of her old alliances Santana offers to run the kissing booth Finn had suggested. Sam wholeheartedly agrees because who the hell wants to kiss Finn anyway? The booth itself ends up being a success and everyone ends up being relatively unscathed. Except for Finn, Quinn, Artie and Brittany who all mysteriously come down with a case of mono. Rachel gives him a pointed look and asks if he had anything to do with it. His only response is to smirk, share a look that spoke of conspiracy with Santana, and tell her not to plan anything after school for the rest of the week.
After what had happened with Brittany, Sam didn't want to take any chances with Rachel turning on them. It was a three step plan that Santana was tasked to put in motion.
The Latina was upset over Brittany. But she acted as if she was completely helpless and distraught in order to get Rachel to invite her over to her house and comfort her. She pressed her face into the smaller girl's shoulder and accepts her embrace. The warm skin feels nice and while the other girl isn't the tall blond she's used to, the closeness is nice as she laments out loud about how everyone leaves her and how Finn had made Brittany leave her for good. When she looks up into the sympathetic face of Rachel something just breaks inside of her.
Though she isn't supposed to she leans in and carefully captures Rachel's lips with her own. The brunette is at first hesitant and pulls away, but as she had done so many times before with Brittany she gently coaxes her in for more. As the kisses become more heated they're interrupted by the slamming of her bedroom door. Sam stands there with an unreadable expression and a dark look in his eyes.
Santana is admittedly afraid of what his reaction will be. She knows what he's capable of and what the price for crossing him is. Rachel on the other hand looks at him with wide and innocent eyes. As Sam crosses the room she sits perfectly still even as the Hispanic girl shifts away and lets the blond crash his lips on hers roughly and push her down on the bed while she tangles her fingers in his hair.
Santana watches as they move together with fire and passion and all of the things she wants. She gets up to leave, not being able to stand watching them anymore, when Sam grabs her wrist almost painfully and pulls her back to the bed. Rachel looks just as confused as she does until the boy tells them he's not finished with either of them and orders them to undress. A pleasant shiver runs down her spine as she does what he tell her too. By the time she's down to her bra and panties the other girl has done the same and he's down to his boxers.
The rest is a bit of a gratifying haze and though she doesn't go beyond kissing and some touching with Rachel and she mostly just watches she's more then happy to let Sam go down on her and reciprocate that action before he moves over to fuck his girlfriend. After it's over the Rachel curls up at her boyfriends side and falls asleep as he gently stokes her hair. It was odd seeing him show her this kind of affection.
"I didn't mean to do it." Santana tells him seriously. She meant it. She had no feelings for Rachel. The girl was just there – a warm body to temporarily take the place of Brittany. To her surprise he just smirks. "I know. Sad girls do stupid things. That's why I have a new job for you. After tomorrow night Quinn's going to need someone to "comfort" her. And while her self destruction is inevitable I need her to take certain people down with her. All she needs is a push in the right direction. I still doubt there's gonna be any trouble with Rachel, but I still need to be sure. You're sitting this one out though. Think of it as your punishment. And if you ever put you hands on my girl again I will end you." Sam tells her.
The way he says the last part scares her.
He then orders her out and she quickly redresses and leaves. She doesn't have much of a choice because while she does fear what he can do to her she also fears that he'll leave her. He and Rachel were the only people to accept her completely and accept the choices she'd made. She wouldn't fail. Not again.
As soon as they heard Santana's car pull away Rachel opened her eyes and looked up at Sam. "You're not mad at me are you?" She asked him. "No baby. You did exactly what you were supposed to. Santana's the one who messed up." He told her gently. "Then why are you putting her in charge of Quinn? I thought you wanted her for yourself?" she questioned. He notes the jealous tone in her voice when she mentions Quinn and smiles. "Why do I need her when I have you? Besides, we have other things we need to take care of. Think you can handle it?" He asks.
She tells him she can and his doubt goes from little to non existent.
Leading Finn into their trap is more difficult then it was to lure in Jacob. For one thing Jacob didn't have any friends, let alone a clingy blond girl all over him demanding his full attention. Finn also has not only an attentive mother, but a stepfather and stepbrother who aren't exactly stupid. All of this falls on top of the fact that the guy is huge and holding him down won't be as easy as it was with Dave or Jacob. Which leaves them with one option.
It ruins the fun of watching him squirm and fight, but this is no longer about just killing Finn. Rachel had sworn she was in love with the taller boy since they had first met. She had never said it to Sam once. He was sure it was because she knew he may never feel the same – he held a distinct lack of emotion towards almost everyone around him including his family – and she'd decided to keep her feeling bottled up. But if she wasn't going to say the words then he'd make her prove herself. Actions speak louder then words after all.
Spiking Finn's water bottle with tranquilizers is easy considering the fact that Sam has easy access to his locker in the boy's locker room. With basketball season around the corner Finn was usually the last to leave the weight room. All Sam had to do was wait for the dopey giant to pass out and they were ready to begin.
Rachel walked in within a few minutes of Finn passing out. Her heels clicking against the floor was the only sound in the quiet locker room. She was carrying large sheets of plastic which she had "borrowed" from the art room. Without speaking she laid the sheets on the floor as Sam lifted the heavy and unconscious Finn onto them before reaching into his bag and pulling out sharp carving knife. He handed it to his girlfriend wordlessly making his intention clear.
"I though you were going to go first." She said sounding thrown off by the change in plans. "I decided that you should go first." The blond said calmly. He watched as the petite girl stared at the knife in her hand and then down at Finn. He knew she would hesitate, but this was ultimately supposed to be a test of whether or not she could actually go through with it.
"Last chance. We can leave him here, go home, and I won't get you anymore involved or you can get the party started. Your choice babe." He told her. He was purposely giving her an out which was not at all according to plan. He didn't want her to fail and if she did fail he should punish her that way he would punish anyone else. But he also didn't want to lose her. He'd made the assumption in his brain that love what just something people confused with lust and yet he found himself needing more then just sex from her. He made the realization in his brain that somewhere along the line he'd subconsciously created this plot as a a veiled attempt to gain her approval and to make sure she never left him for Finn.
He was so trapped in thought that he almost missed the sight of Rachel kneeling next to Finn slamming the knife into the tall boy's body. She stabbed him over and over until she finally stopped. She was breathing heavily and shaking a bit from the amount of force she'd used from the sudden action. He leaned down next her her and gently took the knife out of her hands. Finn's body had reacted to the assault and he twitched for a bit before finally giving in to blood loss. He hadn't been expecting he twitching and was planning on finishing the job himself, but he was glad he got to see his rival suffer before he perished.
When Sam and Rachel were finished they stood pressed together under the cold locker room shower. Sam leaned down and kissed her roughly before pulling away and tilting her head up towards his. "I'm so proud of you." He praised her. "I love you." she said with her wide eyes staring back up at his.
"I know." He said and then rejoined his lips to hers.
R&R! Still taking suggestions on who should go up against Sam, Rachel, and Santana. Also, any thoughts on the Sam/Rachel/Santana part of the chapter?