Two Years Ago
Colleen Schuester sighed impatiently as she stood in the doorway of her father's office at McKinley High school. They were definitely going to be late now. The appointment normally took forever to get through and now her dad was making them run even further behind.
"Just a second, hun," Will said as he sat at his desk and loudly dug through the top drawer. Colleen rolled her eyes, leave it to Will to forget something as important as his wallet.
"Can't mom just take me?" Colleen was pretty sure she was allergic to the halls of William McKinley High School. It was already bad that both of her parents worked at Colleen's future high school, but on top of that every single teacher and staff member knew her name. And Colleen's perfect older sister Lillibet also attended McKinely, and there was no way Leena could ever be who Lillibet was. Not that Colleen wanted to be, she'd much rather stay her normal, friendly self than end up with the mean streak that popular Lillibet had.
"No, because your mom has appointments," Will replied. "Ah, found it!" he added triumphantly as he pulled his wallet out of his desk drawer.
"Can we go now?" Colleen asked.
Will stood up from his desk. "Ready to rock and roll?"
"Really dad?" Colleen said, resisting the urge to smile as she rolled her eyes playfully. Her dad could be such a dork sometimes.
-BANG
Will sped over to Colleen, quickly shoving her underneath his desk. Certain his youngest was down, he began moving anything not bolted down in front of his office door in a make-shift barricade.
"W-what's going on?" Colleen asked him, though the answer was obvious. There were tears in her eyes and she was shaking like a leaf.
Will took a deep, shaky breath as he leant calmly, almost casually, against his desk. "There's a lockdown right now Colleen. Just stay underneath the desk for now and I'll let you know when it's safe to come out." the father reassured his youngest, praying his voice would remain as calmer than he felt. "This is normal, everything is going to be fine." He told her again, as if saying the words out loud would make the situation all okay. All normal. All fine.
And definitely not an active shooter lockdown.
Having been a teacher for nearly thirty years, Will dreaded the day he'd hear a bang like that. The kind that would put him, his wife and two daughters in danger.
Oh god where was Emma? And where was Lillibet? And where were his glee clubbers?
Quietly pulling his phone from his pocket beside the damn wallet, Will quietly dialled Emma's number and prayed she'd just pick up.
"Will?" Emma whispered into the phone, her voice trembling as she spoke. "I can't talk right now, there's a shooter at McKinley." She added, assuming her husband and youngest were safely on their way to the paediatrician's office.
Will sucked in a quiet breath, "I-I know sweetheart," he stammered out, he didn't want to worry Emma anymore than he had to. "Leena found out through Twitter. I just need to know you're okay sweetheart," Will begged her quietly. As much as he needed to know Emma was okay, he also didn't want to scare Colleen further.
"I'm okay now, Will." Emma answered calmly, and Will wished he could sound half as collected as she did. "I'm under my desk. There is no one with me right now." There was a little something that broke in her voice, and it tore Will's heart in two. "Can you stay on the line with me, please dear? She pleaded softly.
"Of course Em. I'm right here, sweetheart." Will promised her. "Like in our wedding vows, to always stand by one another. I'll always be right beside you."
There was a muffle of movement, and Will feared the worst. "Don't get sappy on me, I don't want Leena to worry about me. Is she okay?" She asked Will urgently, with all the worry a mother could muster.
"Leena is fine. She's safe." Will lied, praying Emma would believe him. "Have you heard from Lillibet?
"No I-
-BANG
"Emma!" Will breathed in shock, and it took every ounce of self-control in his body to not race out the door to find her.
"Dad?" Colleen's voice rose from underneath the table, reminding Will why he was there. "What happened to mom?" She attempted to crawl out from the table, but her father quickly blocked her path.
"What did I say about staying under the table!" Will whispered sharply, his tone coming out a lot harsher than he intended. He just wanted Colleen to be safe and dammit he was going to make sure she stayed that way. Why couldn't he have just remembered his wallet?
"What's going on?" Colleen asked, hot tears filling her eyes as she began to panic. She wasn't stupid, she knew there was more going on than what her father was telling her, and more importantly she knew what a gunshot sounded like. "I want mom!"
Will bit his lip hard to stop his own tears. "It was the police, one of their guns fired. Turns out this isn't an ordinary lockdown." He told his daughter confidently; hoping, praying, wishing it was the truth. "Emma, hun, you okay?" Will spoke quietly into the phone. There was no answer, just silence and Will braced himself against the desk. "I know, that was loud," he continued shakily, pretending Emma was still on the other line. "Sure you're okay?" There was a beat, "Promise?" Another beat. "Good. Okay, you go with the police sweetheart I'll catch up with you later okay?" And with that, Will hung up the phone.
Blinking back tears, Will noticed the lack of messages from his eldest daughter, Lillibet.
Under the desk, Colleen tucked her light brown hair behind her ear and wiped the teared from her eyes. "What about Lilibet?" She asked quietly, as if reading Will's mind. "Can I call her?"
"N-no sweetie, Lilli has a test right now," Will said with a deep breath. Sliding down under the desk, he pulled his daughter into a tight hug. Colleen clung to her father, when suddenly there was a loud knock at the door.
A tall, surprisingly skinny police officer was standing on the other side, he flashed his badge through the window and Will breathed in a sigh of relief, they were saved. Will quickly removed his makeshift barricade and greeted the man. "Lima PD, come with me please." The officer looked at Colleen in surprise.
Will nodded, quickly taking Colleen's hand. "Is everything okay?" He asked the officer.
The officer just shook his head, taking his jacket off. "Have your student cover her head and eyes with this. I'll escort you both out of the building."
Will took the jacket shakily, "Daughter, Colleen is my daughter… I'm Will Schuester."
"Mr. Schuester, I'm Senior Sergeant Windsor," he nodded at Colleen again. "Please have your daughter cover her head and eyes."
Turning to Colleen, Will handed her the jacket. "Come on Colleen, can you do that for us? It's only for a short trip. Mom told me the lockdown was due to some students defacing a lot of the walls. There's a lot of very graphic things and we don't want you to see them."
Colleen looked between her father and the police officer. Deep down she knew he was lying, but Colleen was far too scared for anything, so she shakily took the jacket. "Is mom okay? She…she got shot didn't she?" She blurted out her fears to the surprise of the two men.
Windsor nodded, sensing Will didn't know how to answer Colleen's question. "Your mom a teacher? She's probably already outside waiting for you darlin'."
"Come on, Leena, he needs to help other students and teachers," Will said, dropping the act, Colleen clearly knew, and he was tired of pretending.
Colleen nodded and put on the jacket, Will pulled up the hood to cover her head, and held her close to his side. Once Senior Sergeant Windsor was sure Colleen was sheltered, he took Colleen's other hand and began to lead them outside.
McKinley High was a maze of corridors at the best of times, but never more than in the moment, Will thought. There was just chaos… everywhere and he silently thanked the officer for shielding Colleen from it all. Windsor led them down the hall outside of Will's office, around towards the cafeteria and the girl's bathrooms. Will leaned down to check thatLeena's head still pressed into his sides. Soon they were almost near the main entrance, and the chaos was starting to clear. The entrance looked nothing like the rest of the journey had, it seemed almost untouched from the madness of the lockdown.
"DAD!" An unmistakable feminine voice yelled from behind the small group.
Keeping Colleen pressed into his side, Will looked over his shoulder to see a bloodied and dishevelled Lillibet just a few feet behind them. "Elizabeth!" He cried in relief, his tight grip on Colleen gone as he raced over to her. Lillibet's cheer uniform was bloodied, her thick red ponytail falling out and her eyes bloodshot from tears.
"Dad!" Lillibet sobbed as she hugged her father tighter than ever before.
"Mr. Schuester!" Senior Sergeant Windsor called, "We have to keep moving." He had Colleen held tight beside him, and Lillibet quickly escaped her father at the sight. The two sisters embraced quickly before following the officer and their father outside.
Senior Sergeant Windsor was quick to spring back into action. "I need a med team over here, another cheerleader's been shot!" He called as two paramedics came running over with a stretcher.
Will ignored them all, his wild eyes fixing onto Lillibet's bloodied appearance. "You were shot?" He asked, feeling very light headed at the thought of both his wife and daughter being injured.
And of course Lillibet had the audacity to look confused. "No, Dad I…" she was cut off by a paramedic.
"Miss? Darling, can we please check out that foot?" One of the paramedics, a young woman not much older than Lillibet herself with the same red hair as her. "Have you been shot at all darling?"
Lillibet looked at her in confusion. "My foot?" She asked as she glanced down at her bloodied ankles. "Oh, that foot." She answered in a very small voice.
Her right ankle was twisted almost thirty degrees outwards and very purple above the sock.
The red-haired paramedic nodded. "Yes, that needs an x-ray darling. Let's go." And with that, the paramedics lead a shocked Lillibet towards their ambulance.
Colleen pushed the hood of the officer's jacket back and glanced at her surroundings for the first time, students were being filed out of the school and loaded onto buses. Police cars lined the area as well as ambulances. She glanced back at the school, and pulled away from her father when she saw a red haired teacher being rushed out on a stretcher.
"Mom!" She called as she ran towards the figure.
Standing beside the stretcher was Coach Shannon Beiste, and the formidable woman quickly grabbed the small middle schooler. "Hey pumpkin, let's give them a little bit of space hey?"
"But Mom!" Colleen struggled.
"Lee Lee!" Emma's weak and thready voice called back. Her use of Colleen's childhood nickname shattered Colleen's heart into a million and one pieces.
"Let me see her!" Colleen shrieked louder than a banshee as she kicked against Coach Beiste's tight grip.
"Emma!" Will called as he came running over, directly to the paramedics surrounding his wife. "I'm her husband, can my daughter and I ride with her?" He asked.
The older gentleman pushing the stretcher just nodded. "Done. Braithwaite, put the daughter in the front with you!" The older paramedic called to a tall youngster that reminded Will awfully of Sam Evans with his beach blonde hair. "Just please try to keep out of our way." The older paramedic asked Will, snapping him back to reality.
"I will, I promise, just please let me be with her please," Will pleaded as he led Colleen over to the Sam Evans imposter. "Colleen, you're going to ride up front, okay, won't that be fun?"
"O-okay," Colleen said shakily as Braithwaite opened the ambulance door and helped her inside. Once he was confident Colleen was secure, Will raced to the back of the ambulance and climbed in where he was handed Emma's spare hand. With a quick mumble, Will prayed to a God he hoped more than ever existed that his wife and daughters would be okay.
So, here we are. I wasn't going to do this, but I was too inspired by this idea not to.
Welcome to our SYOC, I'm Baby Bear and this is TheRealGalwayGirl! We are your fabulous co-authors for The Journey Forward. (Such a damn good title!)
The actual story will take place 2 years following the school shooting at McKinley High (as seen in the above chapter), and will showcase how the students are healing/growing as well as how the new students are adjusting to the school still dealing with the aftermath of the tragedy.
To break it down - freshmen and sophomores weren't there during the shooting, juniors and seniors were, with the exception of Colleen.
Just so you're aware the shooting resulted in: Deaths: 24, injuries: 47 injured (18 from gunshots, 29 from other injuries).
If you'd like to make a character, please send me your idea in a PM. Once approved I will send you the full form.
Thanks!
Baby Bear
P.S.
Here are the canon couples you can apply for:
Shannon Beiste & Cooter Menkins
Sue Sylvester (via sperm donor - no partner)
Holly Holiday & Carl Howell