A/N: Okay, sorry it's late but I was away all weekend until Tuesday night and I didn't get chance to write until today when I got some inspiration, thanks to OneShotWoman15 and her story Chance. So here it is. It is mostly flashback but it was important. So I hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of the characters etc.

So on with the next chapter...

Chapter 27

As everyone started to get ready to load onto the bus the fighting started again. While they had been away they had been able to work together but now that was no longer the case the arguing seemed to have started up again. Even the newest generation seemed to be splitting up again, although they seemed less happy about it. Beca and her friends headed into the bus first, past the arguing mass of people. They all took a seat at the back again. Eventually the rest started to pile into the bus. Once everyone was sat down a silence took over the bus. Shortly after the bus started to move as it made its way back towards Barden. Beca couldn't help but start to reminisce again as she sat back in the unnatural silence of the bus.

Fourth Year at Barden

All the Bellas filed into the room that the meeting had been called in. All the Treblemakers were already present. With a quick scan of the room Beca spotted a couple of injured Trebles. The look on Benji's face hit her like an arrow through the heart. Finally her eyes came to rest on Jesse. She remembered his reaction when they had forced Jane to break up with Benji and broken his heart; now that he had been physically hurt she dreaded to think what would happen. She almost didn't recognise the emotions in the look her was giving her. 'Does he hate me now?' she wondered. She couldn't blame him if he did.

An official looking man walked in.

"Alright, I am sure you all know why you are here." He started; it was starting to feel like teachers scolding them in detention again. "So let's cut straight to it. One of you started the fire and we are going to find out who. When we do you can be sure that there will be consequences. The sooner you come forward the less severe they will be." He announced. The room remained silent. "Each of you will be questioned separately and whoever did it will be expelled. The longer it takes to find out who did this the worse your case will look in court." If the room had been silent before now there wasn't even the sound of breathing. No one moved, no one spoke, no one dared to so much as breathe and the air suddenly became so thick with tension it could be cut with a knife. Apparently when they had started this one no one had really considered exactly how great and how serious the consequences could be.

"Alright we will start with you," he pointed to one of the injured Trebles, "follow me." He instructed as he led them out of the room and closed the door behind them. Everyone let out a breath but still no one knew what to say. Eventually it was Fat Amy who spoke up.

"So what do we do now?" she asked the room, apparently unsure who to address the question to.

"Will he talk?" Beca asked Jesse, trying to keep her voice from showing how scared she was in this moment. This wasn't just their education they were talking about anymore. It was prison, or worse. They had broken the law and nearly killed people in what was supposed to be a little prank to get back at the Trebles, why she wasn't even sure anymore. Jesse turned to look at her, his eyes cold, the same look he had given her when she had tried to apologise that first time only ten times worse.

"No, he won't talk." His voice was cold to match but she could hear the underlying struggle underneath, apparently she was the only one.

"So, what happened?" Beca asked, she looked Jesse directly in the eye, forcing herself not to look away, when she said it; trying to convey a message. They had to get the story straight, or find out what was going to happen. And the university was probably watching them right now, they had to be subtle. It meant her and Jesse had to do this; as much as they didn't want to. They were the only ones who would be able to talk like this so only they would know the alternative meaning and the conversation would sound normal to outside ears.

"We don't know. There was a fire, some of the Trebles were inside, you were there when we got outside." He told her his voice flat. "What did you see?"

"The fire started in the Treble shed, we rushed to help when we heard shouting from inside. We just got them out when you arrived." She tried to hold the same tone but she strangely wasn't as in control as he was. The person in front of her now wasn't the same one she had dated. He almost reminded her of herself when she had first arrived at Barden, only more closed off. She couldn't help but feel guilty for making her happiest most open person she knew so cold and closed off. She knew he was different now, by her own doing in some ways, while the war had been keeping her afloat it had been destroying him. She could see it now, but she couldn't find it in herself to love him any less this way. She had got his message though. They didn't plan on blaming the Bellas but that didn't mean they wouldn't if they had to. Her own story had been milder, they would only imply it may have been the Trebles if there was no other option. She waited for Jesse's response. Would her story change anything?

"We didn't see it start, you were there when we came out. The fire started outside the shed, we don't know anymore." His tone didn't falter. He was telling her it didn't change anything. They would save themselves no matter what. He was silent again, looking at her, almost daring her to change her story.

"It was dark, all we saw were the flames coming from the shed." She confirmed, she was standing her ground. She had no intention of blaming them just because the Trebles were blaming the Bellas. They had every right to after all. It had been the Bellas' fault. They were just lucky the Trebles weren't dropping them in it she guessed.

"Okay." He accepted. She nodded. After a moment he broke eye contact and turned to the other Trebles. They all nodded in agreement. Beca followed his lead. All the Bellas nodded too; some not as happy about it as others.

Slowly they were all fetched and questioned separately. They had all been pulled out of their lessons and excused from any jobs they had on campus. It was a long day. By the time they had all been questioned it was nearing the end of the day and they were all released to go back to their houses, they weren't expected to leave. They had all headed back as a group in silence, a silence that they had grown used to through the course of the day. As they neared their houses and it was time to part ways Jesse turned to Beca.

"Just to be clear, if this comes back on us we will tell them the truth, and if it comes back on you; don't expect any help from us." He clarified before walking away, followed by all the Trebles. Benji was at the back; he glanced back at Beca and caught her eye. She opened her mouth to say something but he just sighed and shook his head before turning back around and following the others away.

Beca felt as though she was about to collapse. She was exhausted, and the look Benji gave her was almost as bad as the one Jesse had. Benji hadn't looked accusing like Jesse had, there hadn't been hate or blame or any strong negative emotions like that. There had just been deep sadness and disappointment in his eyes. That was what made it unbearable. If it hadn't been Jesse giving her the other look Benji's would have easily been the worst of the two, as it was it came a close second. Amy seemed to notice Beca's reaction and she slipped an arm around her, it looked like a natural friendly thing to do but Beca allowed her weight to lean against her. Amy helped her back into her room and left as soon as she was deposited on the bed. While things were better with Amy than they had been, they were far from good and fixed. Immediately Beca reached for her phone and rang the one person she shared almost everything with, the one person who understood and supported her in this war: Aubrey. They had spent much of the rest of the night on the phone until they had hung up in the early hours of the morning and Beca had fallen straight to sleep.

Once again they were called the next morning and filed into the same room where the Trebles were also just arriving. Now it was time for judgement. No one was really sure what happened or how in the 2 hours but by the time they were left alone in the room again it had become apparent that somewhere along the way somehow something had gone terribly wrong. Instead of neither side being blamed the university had come to the conclusion that three Trebles and two Bellas were to be expelled because of this, then the police would be informed and they would decide whether further action needed to be taken. Two of the Bellas who had helped the three Trebles out of the shed and the three who had been in the shed had all been blamed; Benji among them. Beca was reminded of his words not so long ago. 'I try to stay out of the way of the pranks, I don't join in when they retaliate, your pranks always manage to affect me anyway'. This one could ruin his life though. This wasn't supposed to happen, Benji wasn't supposed to be in there, no one was supposed to be in there. She couldn't let this happen.

Everyone was sat in shock. The five that were accused had been removed. Beca looked at Jesse, she allowed all her walls to fall. She knew it was risky, that she could get hurt but this couldn't happen to Benji.

"What do you do?" She asked, she sounded desperate she knew, her taking voice taking on a pleading tone.

"We do what we have to." He kept his voice even. It was cold and only Beca could see through it. She knew if he didn't keep it up he would be verging on panic. She also had a feeling so knew what he meant. If it meant keeping the blame off Benji he would put the blame on the Bellas if he had to. He would probably put it on himself. Benji was a little like a little brother to him. Then again Benji was like a brother to pretty much everyone.

"We all will." She agreed. He looked up at her again. His eyes softened for a fraction of a second.

By the time Beca came out of her memory they were all arriving back at the university. Once everyone was off the bus they were immediately ushered into the neutral house. They were gathered into a room and informed that while the events of the previous days were unfortunate the original events for the week were to continue as planned. They were then all dismissed for an hour to sort themselves out before they were expected to return for lunch and the afternoon activities. Beca and Jesse parted ways to get cleaned up in their own rooms. As she started to get unpacked and showered she started to think back to how it had turned out.

Fourth Year at Barden

In the end they had managed to take the blame off Benji and the fire had been ruled an accident. The university had however decided that while the fire was an accident the feud between the two a Capella groups had to end. They had demanded a truce between the two groups or they would ban them both. While no one had been happy about it they had all agreed it was better than the alternative. They all headed back to their houses. They were no longer planning their next prank. A truce had been called.

Once she was ready Beca headed back towards the other house. It was time to see what was in store for this afternoon.

Alright, I hope it was okay. I know most of it was flashback but it kind of took over and the present they just needed to get back. I hope it was okay. Inspiration has been a little lacking for this story lately so I have been doing my best. To my guest reviewers. I don't know if you are the same one. To the one that reviewed to chapter 3, I don't know if you also reviewed to chapter 10 as well, If you reached this chapter and you still find the flashbacks confusing they are from the bold heading to the next line break. if it's still confusing let me know and I'll have a look. In response to the review to chapter 10 I will have a look at the song and see where it will fit. To Gadella I know I didn't respond last time. I'm glad you like it. Don't worry about the long review, you should see my responses, they are ridiculous. I'm glad you reviewed, thank you. And thank you for the other review, they can be quite cute although I know there is almost none of it in this chapter.

I hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you think and see you in the next chapter. (*smile*)