This is a shift day [see above]. There was another upload this morning: You'll Find Wonder, chapter 15.

"A Dish Best Served Cold"

4. Fourth

Lima, Ohio

He had hoped that they were finally able to put this thing behind them. What had happened at Nationals, with the kids seeing this woman who had been good to them, dead on the ground, before being brought in for questioning, under suspicion, and later put directly in the line of danger from both Matheson and his accomplice, had derailed them all, but they had risen above. Now with the potential for this man to come after them, the stakes were even higher, and they could feel it. They were all on edge, he could see it in their eyes. They didn't want to say it, tried to pretend like there was nothing wrong, but who were they kidding?

There had been talks of them not coming to school, but then there had been a rise of a 'we won't be made to live in fear' kind of mentality, and suddenly they were all going to come in anyway. Even then, he had no idea what he was going to find when he made it to McKinley that day.

He was on his way to his car when his phone rang. He didn't recognize the number, but by the area code he could take a guess who was calling. "Hello?"

"Mr. Schuester, this is Detective Kate Beckett in New York. Listen, I have to inform you we may have confirmation Jared Matheson is making his way to Lima and that he may be coming for the kids in your Glee Club," the woman was direct about it, and he just felt himself freeze right there, with dread in his head and his heart.

"Okay, so what happens now?" he asked.

"My partner and I are driving down toward you as soon as I pick him up, and we should be there in a few hours. In the meantime, if you could gather up the kids, keep them in one place so they're all accounted for. We've already put in the request for all of you to have police standing by in case anything happens before we arrive. Try and keep them calm as best you can. I can't imagine this will be easy, but do what you can."

"Right…" Will sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I can do that."

"Mr. Schuester, I promise you, we are doing everything in our power to keep all of you safe, and we will try to bring an end to this and recapture Matheson as soon as possible."

"I know you will," he nodded to himself, needing to convince himself first and foremost.

"I'll see you in a few hours," Beckett told him before they hung up.

He got in his car, now with only one thing in mind, and that was to get to his kids, do as he had been instructed to do. He thought about the things that had changed. Lauren was no longer part of their group, and they had new members as well, in Blaine and Sugar. Would that change anything in whatever this guy was planning to do? He would have liked to think that they would be spared, because they were so young, but he knew he couldn't really expect that to be the case.

He was nearing the school when he started to see something. At first there were police cars, so he guessed those were the ones Detective Beckett had sent to watch over them until her arrival, but then he saw the front lawn was packed… There were students everywhere, exiting in droves from the main entrance, guided by faculty. He could see Sue, Shannon… Figgins… Emma… She looked the most terrified.

He didn't bother really parking the car, just pulled over and stopped, dashing out and through the crowd of students until he could get somewhere, find… "Emma!" he called to her. When she saw him, she came running, throwing her arms around him.

"Will, thank goodness you're here, you're okay…" there was a sob in her throat.

"What the hell happened?" he asked, holding fast.

"This man came, I don't know how, but he's got a bunch of them in the choir room, they're locked in with him, he's holding them, I…"

"Breathe, okay?" he told her, even though he could feel his own lungs failing him. "How many does he have in there?"

"I don't know, not all of them but most…"

"Wait, how do you know he doesn't have all of them?" he asked, sensing the potential for at least some hope in all this.

"There's a few of them back there," she pointed and when he turned to look he saw them… Finn, Puck, Santana… Lauren was with them, too. Four… barely a quarter of them. He'd have to go to them, make sure they were alright. "Will, what is he going to do to them?" she asked, voice trembling.

"I don't know," he tried not to think too much on that. "But help is on the way. The cops from New York, the ones who arrested him last time, they're on their way."

"They have to hurry…"

"I'll see if I can call them and let them know, if they don't already know… This is crazy, I was just talking to that Detective… She wanted me to get them all together, well… mission accomplished…" his voice showed his own fear now.

"Mr. Schue!" he heard the voice, looked up to find Finn and the other three working their way through the crowd to try and get to him. He moved toward them as well, to try and meet them halfway, with Emma right behind. They were possibly some of the strongest kids in his group, but right here and now they just looked as scared as Emma had. Of course, their friends were in there…

"Are you guys alright?" he couldn't help but hug them all, confirming for himself the very thing he was asking them.

"We're fine," Santana crossed her arms over herself, looking over her shoulder, back to the school, and he had a pretty good idea where her head was at, or with who.

"How did you not end up in there with them?" he had to ask, and the four looked among themselves.

"We were late," Finn guessed. "We have to get them out of there."

"We will," he could do nothing but hope that this would turn out to be true. What was for certain was Beckett and Castle couldn't get there fast enough.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)