a/n: I am very bored with this fic, and according to the hits, it's not a hit among readers either. I was excited about to begin with, but I realize now that it has no real drama; there's hardly no sex (so far) and the crossovers are just a little too much. I'm not the kind of person that will abandon a project, so I will finish this no matter what, but I realized that I didn't even like Glee that much. The only thing it had going for it was the music, and that's the only thing that keeps me hanging in here as well.

Dean contacts Castiel and it looks like the two of them are going to spend some time alone together. Jack and Ianto are also hanging out, working on their duet. Jack is not very focused, and he also finally understands the weird text message Ianto sent him that night two weeks ago. Ianto downplays it, and demand that they stick with their task.

Music in this chapter

Wish you were here - album - Pink Floyd

-o-o-o-

Searching for a partner

Dean sent a quick text to Castiel as soon as he could. He just asked what was up, and didn't elaborate. When the session in the choir room was over without any reply, he tried again. This time he added that he needed to get in touch because of some Glee-club business.

Sam hung back in the choir room to talk to Mr Evans about his actual chores, so Dean headed for the car while he stared at his phone waiting for Cas to answer the text.

It felt good to have a real reason to contact him, because else it would have been way too awkward. He was leaning on the car still waiting for his the ping of an incoming text, when Unique came towards him. "Did you get a hold of him?" She looked concerned. "I was thinking about going there to talk to him myself."

Dean stared at her. "You? In that outfit? That will go around well in the home of a rigid pastor." He knew that he sounded prejudice to both Unique and the Novak family, but he couldn't help himself. Unique didn't seem to take it very offensively, but there was a little disgruntled tone to her voice when she replied. "So you think, but I've met them before. I've been to his church."

She cocked her head and threw him a sideways glance. "I can go home and change, and then we can go there together if you want?" Dean thought about it for a moment, before he shook his head. "No. I don't think so. I'll just call him. It'll be okay."

He didn't want Unique or Wade or whatever she or he wanted to call herself to be anywhere near when he spoke to Castiel again. He had experienced her big mouth and her way too accurate perception of Dean's delicate little problem, so he was pretty sure she wouldn't be any asset for him. Worst case scenario, she could easily scare Cas away from him, making sure that Dean couldn't do that duet.

"I'm going regardless." Unique shrugged and started to walk towards her car. "Castiel and I are good friends, and I can put in a good word for you if you like." She gave him a wink. "I'm that friend he can talk to about everything. His father seemed to like me as well, although I'm not a frequent flyer in church. He knows that I'm attending on a more random basis than the Novak family, but he also knows that I'm a member of a congregation."

Dean knew exactly what she was trying to do, and it worked. "Wait!" He pushed away from his car and followed her. "So I'm screwed if I do and I'm screwed if I don't? Is that what you're saying?" Unique seemed suddenly very interested in something up in the sky, but the little smirk told Dean that she was just trying to drag it out on purpose.

Finally, she let the clouds go their own merry way, and looked at Dean. "Honestly? I don't think I can fool anyone for long with my macho persona." She paused and sent Dean a penetrating stare when he was about to burst out laughing. "Oh shut up. But you know what I mean. You on the other hand, are as macho as they come, and together we can manage to even it out a bit."

It made absolutely no sense, but Dean wanted to know what she was thinking. "And what will be the purpose of that? Not that I believe that the two of us together would make any difference for me. I just need him to show up for rehearsals."

Unique rolled her eyes. "Yeah well, I want that too, but if he's grounded and not allowed to attend, we have to negotiate with the pastor." She threw her hands out. "If his dad believes that Glee-club is made up by a group of fairies, we've lost before we got into the race."

That actually made a little more sense. If anyone were going to convince the guy that Glee was for all kinds of people, Dean and Unique would make a great couple of negotiators. It wouldn't help if Mr Novak had made his decision and stuck with it, but if he was just pissed off because Castiel didn't come home on New Year's eve, it could have nothing to do with Glee.

They just had to persuade him into believing that Castiel was crucial to the club's survival, and that he could find other means to punish him for lying.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Ianto hung back for a little while. He didn't want to talk with anyone. His biggest fears had turned out to be true, and he did not want to have to act happy and cheerful in front of John. Not in front of Jack either for that matter, but he didn't hang out with him outside of school.

When Gwen came back after picking up the car on New Year's day, she'd told him everything that happened when she was at John's house. She'd also revealed that Jack asked her to keep it to herself, although she wasn't quite sure what exactly he meant by that. In spite of Jo's words, he had denied that anything really happened between him and John.

John and Ianto had exchanged a few words over the last few days, but only in texts. His mother was back, and they had family coming over so he was kind of stuck. Ianto was happy about that, he wouldn't know what to say or how to behave in front of his friend after the revelations.

They had also met in the lunch room earlier that day, but it could seem like John was trying to avoid being alone with him. It suited Ianto fine. That Jack seemed to avoid him as well, was a little more puzzling, but that could be his own imagination playing tricks on him.

After seeing Jack in the choir room, he soon disagreed with himself. The guy kept sending him clandestine glances, and the look on his face resembled a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. So maybe Jack liked him a little, so what. So he had just picked up someone to have sex with, and then he expected that it could be kept under wraps so that he could go ahead and pick up someone else without looking like a slut.

Ianto decided that the best thing to do was to let it go. He hadn't heard from him at all after the party, and he had not replied or even mentioned the weird text that Ianto sent by accident.

When they picked partners for the duets, it looked like John and Jack were going to do it together. Ianto didn't make much of an effort, but ended up pairing up with Mason. It was fine, Mason was a good singer, and he liked all kinds of music.

He knew he should have made plans with the guy so they could rehearse together, but at the moment Mason was standing by the door with John. Jack was watching them from a distance, but it he was obviously listening keenly to the conversation.

Suddenly, Mason waved over towards Ianto, and it looked like he was about to come over, but Jack stepped in front of him and said something. Mason just shrugged, then he turned and left the room with John.

"I hope you don't mind, but me and John couldn't agree on anything, so he wanted to sing with Mason instead." Jack didn't look Ianto in the eyes as he came towards him. "I think he would have preferred to work with you, but you have already sung together many times. Mr Evans wanted new pairings, you know."

Ianto knew perfectly well where this was going and he got a little angry. If the three of them thought that they could make plans for him and decide who he was going to sing with, they were making a mistake. "I'm sure Gwen will be happy to work with you. I'm fine singing with Jane. Let me go ask her. She is waiting for me by the car."

Jack looked a little thrown, but didn't falter. "No, well. That's okay I guess, but I really want to work with you. I mean… If you absolutely don't want to, I'm sure we can come up with another solution, but could you at least think about it?"

Ianto thought about it for a second, and came to the conclusion that he had no reason whatsoever to turn Jack's offer down. That he was sick with jealousy wasn't something he was very keen on revealing, so if he didn't want to do it, he had to come up with a good lie. Nothing really came to mind. "No, it's okay. I was just… a little pissed because I wasn't asked before the three of you decided."

Jack slapped his hands together and smiled. "Great. I know we don't have the same taste in music, but it's gonna work, right?" He cocked his head. Ianto did the same. "Oh, I don't know. I'm very versatile." He shrugged and threw a quick glance at Jack.

It could look like Jack found the comment extremely funny, and he seemed to be fighting with himself not to laugh. "That's fine. I'm rather versatile myself, so this is going to be perfect." He patted Ianto on the shoulder. "So when? I'm free anytime. I have nobody waiting for me so if you want to get started now it's okay."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

When Castiel received a text from Unique that she wanted to come to his house, he got a little surprised. When he noticed two texts from Dean as well, he kind of got it. He hadn't told anyone why he had to leave school in such a hurry, and now they're worried. It felt good to know that Dean was the one who texted him, but at the same time he got a little wary about it.

"I'm not at home. I'm at the hospital. Call you later." He sent it knowing that Unique wouldn't find it very comforting. "I'm fine by the way. I'll be at school tomorrow." He was about to send that too, but then he added: "I'm not grounded." He should probably have texted Dean as well, but he needed time to compose a good one, so he postponed it.

He walked back to the hospital room where his dad was propped up in the bed. Tubes and cords were sticking out from under the blanket, and the man looked rather pale. The heart-rate monitor emitted a steady beeping sound, and ever so often there was a hiss from the blood pressure device.

Gabriel had gotten a big scare when he came home to find their dad on the floor in the living room clenching his chest. He called 911 and the man got rushed to the hospital. After Mr Novak had been hooked up to all the equipment, Gabe left to go back to get some clothes and toiletries for him. On his way he'd stopped by McKinley to find his brother. He didn't want to tell him on the phone, worried that Cas would freak out.

"It was a heart attack, and they want to keep him overnight." Gabriel didn't look very peachy himself, but Cas could easily understand that. At the time Castiel learned about what happened, his dad had already taken care of, so even if he got a little scared, he trusted the doctors to know what they were doing.

Gabriel, on the other hand, was the one who had the fear that their dad was going to die in his arms as they were waiting for the ambulance, and he was still somewhat shook up about it.

Although a little tired, his father was in good spirits. He had talked to the doctor, and they were satisfied with the readings so far. They were going to evaluate him for surgery, but wanted him to stay overnight so they could run some more tests in the morning.

He urged the boys to go home, but Gabriel refused "You can go Cas. You have school in the morning. I don't have to be back to Uni until Wednesday."

Castiel didn't want to stay. He had had more than enough of hospitals when his mom was sick, so when both his dad and his brother told him to go, he complied. Rachel and Michael were down south visiting friends in their old neighborhood in Georgia, but they had cut the trip short when they heard about what had happened to their father. They still couldn't make it back tonight, so for the first time in his life, Castiel would be spending the night alone in the house.

He stopped at Domino's to buy a pizza. He hadn't eaten since lunch and he didn't want to have to make anything. While he was waiting for the pizza, his phone beeped. "Are you alright? We have to talk." The text from Dean made his heart skip a beat, and he wondered why the guy needed to speak with him. "I'm fine. What's up?"

Seconds later his phone rang, and Dean's name came up on the screen. He picked up and before he got a chance to say anything Dean started talking. "Well, we got this assignment and we have to do duets, and I ended up with you. I just worried that you wouldn't be back in Glee-club at all. That you could have been grounded. I know you didn't because I talked to Unique, but we have to come up with something, er, a duet."

Castiel felt a little ambushed, so it took a few seconds before he managed to reply. "Are you there?" Dean sounded a bit concerned. "Yes, I'm here. I, I just came from the hospital, my dad had a heart attack. I'm just a little…" He didn't get to finish the sentence. "Are you okay? Are your dad okay? I'm so sorry. Didn't mean to bother you with trivialities. We can talk tomorrow. You are coming to school tomorrow aren't you?"

Stupidity and a feeling of loneliness took over, and Castiel didn't even know where the courage to say what he said came from. "Yes, I will. He is fine, but I could really use a friend tonight. It's not that late, you can come over for an hour or two and we can see what we can come up with. I need the distraction."

The pizza was ready, and Cas dug into his pocket to find some money. "Sure. I can do that. I just have to take Sam home first." When Dean replied, Castiel's hand started to shake uncontrollably, and he was afraid he'd drop his phone. "Okay. See you." He hung up and stared at the guy behind the counter. "Can you add some breadsticks? Sorry. And a two-liter of coke."

The guy sighed heavily. "It'll take a little time." Castiel nodded. "That's okay. Oh, oh. Give me an order of wings also."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

An evening with Pink Floyd

"I want to do a girl-power thing. Like 'Sisters are doing it for themselves', but we did that already. I can't really think of anything right now, but if you agree…" Jane looked at Gwen and didn't finish the sentence. Gwen though it sounded like a good idea, but she couldn't come up with anything at that moment either. "Sure. Should we try to find something already tonight. You can come to our place."

Jane shook her head. "I'm sorry. I have to get home, but we can skype or text or something later maybe?" They agreed that they would try to find songs and send them to each other online. "We should be able to come up with something before we meet tomorrow."

The two girls were still talking when Jack and Ianto came out. Gwen was about to say goodbye to Jane and enter the car, when Ianto waved and pointed at Jack's car. "He'll take me home. If you two girls need to talk some more about the assignment, it's okay."

It was very strange. Gwen thought that Ianto was going to do this with Mason. That could still be the fact, but why would Jack take him home? It was especially strange since she'd gotten the impression that Ianto was pissed at Jack after the hook-up with John.

She wasn't sure why, and it wasn't for the lack of trying to get an explanation from her cousin. The only thing she could think of was that Ianto was a little jealous. Maybe he was afraid he'd lost his friend to Jack.

The boys left, and Gwen spent a few more minutes with Jane as they compared the music they had on their respective phones. She arrived home shortly after the boys, and noticed that Jack's car was parked outside. So he didn't just take Ianto home; he came inside as well.

"...You were caught in the crossfire of childhood and stardom,

blown on the steel breeze.

Come on you target for faraway laughter,

come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine!..."

Ianto had obviously picked the music. Gwen could hear Pink Floyd played loud in the basement. She kicked off her shoes and hung her jacket on the hatstand before she entered the livingroom. "Hey. I guess Ianto is downstairs." Her aunt and uncle was trying to watch the news. They both nodded. "Hiya Gwen. Yes, he and his friend went down there. Dinner will be late, we're waiting for Rhiannon and Johnny and the kids." Uncle Ifan pointed over his shoulder towards the basement door with his thumb. "Will you tell them to turn it down?"

"…You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon.

Shine on you crazy diamond.

Threatened by shadows at night, and exposed in the light.

Shine on you crazy diamond."

"I will." She opened the door and descended the stairs. Ianto was trying to gather all the CDs that were spread on the floor in front of the stereo system, while Jack was sitting on the couch. "Turn the music down. Your parents can't hear the news." She sat down on the armrest next to Jack. "You are not going to go for Pink Floyd for the assignment, are you?"

Ianto turned the volume down a little before he turned to her, "No, it was just in there when I turned it on. "We are going to look through these though." He held a pile of CDs in each hand. He dumped them on the table before he picked up some more.

Jack scooted forward and started to look at them. "We haven't had time to talk about what we want to do. We're just gonna try to get an idea." Jack pushed some of them away immediately, but a few of them got a more thorough examination.

Gwen wasn't sure if she should disturb them, but she watched them for a little while. She was still curious about what Jack had said to her at John's house, but didn't know if she should bring it up.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Jack wasn't quite comfortable having Gwen in the room. He liked her, but the looks she sent him right now was a little disturbing, and he wondered what was eating her. Technically, he didn't wonder so much as he was worried about what she could say. "Why didn't you want Ianto to know what happened that night?" When Gwen finally spoke, Jack knew that his worries had been legit. He could see that Ianto froze up for a second, but then he continued with his task. Jack looked up briefly and he could feel that his cheeks were heating up a bit. "I, it wasn't like that. I just didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea." He held up a cover and tried to look busy reading the tracklist on the back of it.

"What was 'the wrong idea' then?" Gwen couldn't just let it go. "I don't even know what the right idea was. What Jo said, made…" Jack flipped his head around and gave her a penetrating stare. "What Jo said should not be taken seriously. She was very drunk." He could feel the anger coming on, but he did his best to hide it.

"But you asked me specifically not to tell Ianto. You didn't say 'tell nobody', and I'd just like to know why?" Gwen must have noticed that he was clenching his fists. He wasn't going to hit her or anything, and he hoped that she knew that, but she still got up from the armrest and took a few steps away from the couch. "I can see that it bothers you, but why? You and John would be so cute together. Right Ianto?"

Ianto got up from the floor with the last few CDs in his hand. He put them on the table and turned to his cousin. "Gwen. Will you please leave. This is none of your business, and not mine either. We are trying to do some school work here, and you are creating disturbance with your conspiracy theories." He pointed up the stairs. "Whatever happened or not happened, it has nothing to do with us. Please go."

Gwen just shrugged as she started to walk away. "Well. If you say so dear." She did throw them a smile as she left, but it was clear that she wasn't happy about it.

The Pink Floyd album had been playing in the background through the whole little intermezzo. Jack hadn't payed much attention, but now he leaned back and listened as Ianto walked around the table to sit down next to him.

"So, so you think you can tell

heaven from hell

blue skies from pain…"

He stopped breathing for a moment when he realized what he was listening to. He turned slowly towards Ianto and stared at him. "Was that what you meant?" It felt like he had a swarm of butterflies in his stomach as he waited for Ianto's reply.

The guy looked puzzled for a second, but then it obviously hit him. His face turned red in an instant, but he was not ready to cop to it. "What are you talking about?" Ianto leaned forward and picked up a couple of CDs from the table. "We should try to find…" Jack put a finger to Ianto's lip. "No. I mean, yes we should, but first..." He inhaled deeply, "If you hadn't been so cryptic about it I would have replied immediately."

"Running over the same old ground

What have we found?

the same old fears

Wish you were here."

He didn't know exactly what to do, but he moved his hand to caress Ianto's chin and jaw. "If you'd just told me to come, I would have."

Ianto jerked his head back. "No, no, no. Don't do this. We are going to work together. I was drunk and it was all just a joke." He pushed Jack's hand away gently. "It's not what you're thinking." He chuckled a little but it sounded a bit forced. "I never meant to send it. It was an accident."

Jack looked down. "Okay if that's what you're going with, it's okay. But I have to say that it pleased me to get a text from you even if I didn't understand shit."

Ianto scoffed. "Yeah, right. I was just stupid. Forget about it. We should get to work."