"That's what I'm talking about!" Beiste stated as the team finally entered their locker room. "That's how you prove yourself to the scouts and the heroes who are watching. The Deep and Beast Boy are A-list heroes, and McKinley took them down! You put every single team on notice, that you aren't just bodies for Charlie to use to get to nationals."

Santana wiped her brow and glanced around the room, "Where is Smurfette anyway?"

Beiste blinked and looked around the room, her eyes resting on Quinn who was on her phone. "I actually don't know where she went, or when she left, but I'm certain that she's proud of you. She predicted that you guys would win."

"She probably went to go on a hunt for a stuffed teenage mutant ninja turtle for our nephew," Quinn spoke up not looking up as she took a picture of the corner of the room. She looks up at the rest of the team, "Our sister just had her baby, his name is Michelengelo."

"I'm surprised that she didn't immediately try and get the kid a nunchuk," Sam said with a laugh, the rest of the team laughs, but the laugh dies out when Quinn shoots him a look.

"We had to talk her out of it," Marley said with a small laugh.

"Of course you did," Santana rolled her eyes, even as she smiled at the idea of Charlie attempting to give a newborn a nunchuck. "Frannie's going to murder her."

"Probably." Quinn agrees, before grinning, "I wonder where Frannie's going to send her this time."

Before anyone can answer the question there's a firm knock on the door, and Charlie opens it and pops her head in. "Oh you're back, Blaine, Santana, Finn, Rachel, Matt. I have reporters waiting outside, they want to interview you. Beiste, Rolling Stones wants to talk to you about doing a huge article and spread, on the entire team." There's a murmur from outside and Charlie turns her attention. "Oh and Marley and the rest of the support team, there's someone here from Luthorcorp, and they want to talk to you."

"What?" Marley questions her eyes widening as she looks at the rest of McKinley's support team.

"Someone from Luthorcorp wants to interview you guys," Charlie repeats, flicking her gaze to the corner of the room where a portal has just opened up. "And it's time for me and Quinn to go and meet the newest member of our family! Little Mikey!"

"Frannie's definitely going to murder you," Santana muttered under her breath, before glancing at the door. People wanted to interview them, and she quickly looked over at the team. "I'll hold down the fort while you're gone, I doubt that they're going to have a third event, it's redundant and most teams won't pass here and it'll go down to points. Tell Frannie that I said congrats, and I look forward to seeing the new baby when she's up for it."

Charlie nods and heads towards the portal with Quinn, "I get to hold Mikey first, he needs to bond with me because I'm going to be his favorite aunt."

"Brittany's going to be the favorite aunt, you're going to be like a distant third," Quinn corrected as they stepped through the portal together, leaving the Titans to deal with the press.

Beiste let out a laugh, "This is good publicity but I need you guys to be careful, again don't agree to anything until after we've discussed this with your parents. You can make a few statements, tell them how you felt, remember to talk up your teammates."

There was an excited murmur from the teens as Beiste headed to the door and opened it, this would be their first press junket, and she hoped that it wouldn't be the last. She had to give it to Charlie for setting it up, the world needed to know that the team wasn't just her and she had gone out of her way to make sure that the spotlight was on them. It was a shame that Lauren was no longer part of the team.

~ O ~

"Have you lost your mind!"

Charlie blinked, her mother was yelling at her and for the life of her she couldn't really understand why she was the one being yelled at. "I'm not the one that threw a party, Quinn did! It was Quinn's party. I didn't even have a drink!" She says defensively.

"You fucking rat!" Quinn snaps at her twin.

"I don't know why I'm being yelled at! The only thing that we did that was wrong was the party and that was your party! I'm not taking the blame for your shit," Charlie retorts, she looks up at her grandmother. "She also tried to make a deal with General Alder. Me and Aunt Cass shut that shit down, but somehow Alder managed to convince Beiste that it was a good idea to do a training session or something at Fort Salem."

Artemis blinked and looked at Quinn, "Lucy?"

"Quinn's not the one in trouble," Judy interrupts her mother, she'd deal with Quinn at another time, but right now she needed to parent her youngest daughter. "You nearly died!"

"Oh, that." Charlie stated flatly and shrugged her shoulders. Her mother was making this out to be a bigger deal then it was. Brittany was right there, and the healers had managed to get her fever down, and in an hour or two she'd be back to fighting shape. "Can I see the baby now?"

"No," Brittany said immediately looking at her youngest sister, "You've got an open wound, and who knows what else you did to your body. You can't see the baby until I'm done with you and from the looks of it, it might take me all night to get you back to normal."

"Well just—"

"Charlie, what were you thinking?"

"Mom it was an accident, it's not the first time I've hurt myself training, probably won't be the last."

"This wasn't a broken bone or sprained ankle Charlie, or even a concussion. I saw you, we all saw how injured you were and you still got on that field—for what?"

"To get to nationals, so I can face Charlotte Flair and get a date with Sasha Banks. I mean Sasha will have to consider it once I win right? Everyone loves a winner, right gramps?"

Lawrence pinched the bridge of his nose, "Leave me out of this."

Charlie scowled and looked at her grandmother, "I'm sorry I knocked down a few trees in the accident, but it was an accident, I don't know what I did, but there was just too much power, and I tried to control it but it sort of—exploded out of me? I'm fine, I did what you told me and blocked the pain, I couldn't block the infection that came, but I could still fight. I can still fight. They managed to push back the infection for a bit, and well Brittany's here, so this wasn't some disaster."

Judy narrowed her eyes and turned to look at her mother, "What?"

"There will be a time as a hero that she might get injured, she will still have to fight. I simply taught her a way that she could—" Artemis began defensively.

"The whole point of moving to Lima Ohio was so that you two—mostly you Charlie could have a normal life. We, and I mean all four of us agreed, that Lima didn't have the same pressures as LA did. We didn't want you to end up like Cassandra."

"I am not Aunt Cass," Charlie snaps defensively.

"No, and I'm not saying that you're going to become an alcoholic, but the pressure did get to her. It got to Cassandra and she's never been the same, and before we came to Lima, you trained, but you never trained like this. All you do is train, and it's always more and more, and it's unhealthy. You're starting to develop unhealthy habits, which is why until further notice, I'm grounding you. No more training outside of McKinley's Titan's practice."

Charlie blinked, "What?"

Judy took a deep breath, stretching her arm out so she could touch her daughter's face. She's not truly surprised that the moment that she gets close she feels a sharp shock from Charlie and winces, withdrawing her hand away. "It's for your own good Charlie—" The light's began to flicker causing Judy to look up before looking at her daughter, and taking a step back when lightning sparks begin to run up and down Charlie's hand.

"I'm training so I can beat Charlotte Flair, I met her today. I know I can beat her, I know that if I work hard until then I can win. I'm not out drinking, I'm not out doing drugs, my biggest vice is that I like having sex with women and I haven't even done that in weeks. Quinn's getting more action than I am. Quinn. I got injured, I have been injured before." Charlie points out, but her mother isn't budging and she immediately turns to the person who is always on her side. "Grandma!"

Artemis hesitated, stopping Charlie from training wasn't the smartest idea. Charlie was close, and she personally didn't want Charlie to forget the feeling of her little breakthrough. "Judy, perhaps she can—"

"I'm her mother, and he's her father and we both agree that something needs to be done," Judy said firmly, cutting off her grandmother. "Her destroying her body and calling it training, isn't healthy. Nothing you can say to me, that says that—" Judy points to Charlie's injured shoulder. "Is healthy."

Artemis met her daughter's look for a moment, Judy wasn't budging on this. "Very well," Artemis sighed, and turned to her granddaughter. "Charlie—"

The light bulb that had been flickering stops, and begins to get brighter before everything goes back to normal. It had been the only indication that Charlie had reacted. "Fine."

There was an eerie silence that fills the room as Judy exchanges a look with Russell who shrugs his shoulders. "Fine?"

Charlie stares at her mother for a moment, not saying a word before she turns to Brittany. "Patch me up enough so I can see the baby."

Brittany glanced between her mother and Charlie for a moment, "Charlie, I have no idea what you did to your body, whatever you did that night I could feel it, and I'm pretty sure you're the reason why Frannie went into early labor, there was this pulse, I don't know how to explain it but—"

"Patch me up so I can go see the baby, then I'm going home," Charlie repeats her tone cold.

Brittany blinks and tilts her head at Charlie, narrowing her eyes just enough, "Really?"

Before Charlie can say or do anything Quinn elbows her hard in the ribs, this wasn't Frannie. Pushing Brittany had never been a good idea, it usually ended up badly for them. "Britt, I need your advice on something," Quinn said hoping that it distracted Brittany. The last thing they needed was for Brittany to be pissed at them.

Brittany nodded and pushed herself off the wall that she had been leaning against and leaned forward, "Patching you up means doing a complete diagnosis, I'm not going to close a wound just for you to drop dead tomorrow because I missed something. So you will sit, and you will let me do what I have to do or I will knock you out and experiment on you, like the good old days." Charlie swallows and finally nods, causing Brittany to smile. "Now sit."

Charlie puffs out her cheeks but takes a seat on the terrible hospital seat, and allows Brittany to begin healing her.

Brittany hummed and glanced at the rest of the adults in the room, now was the time for them to leave and after a pointed look they began to shuffle out. She waits for a moment before looking at Quinn, "So, what do you need help with? It's probably sex, you're probably wondering if you should invest in sex toys the answer to that is always yes—"

"I cheated on Marley," Quinn blurts out. "Rachel kissed me!"

Brittany's hands drop and she turns to look at Quinn, she's not truly surprised that Charlie immediately follows suit and just stares at her twin. "What?"

~ O ~

Rachel blinked as Santana slid up beside her, pulling her aside as they made their way to the bus, that would take them back to Lima. "What's up?"

"Charlie's not here and she has a soft spot for you which is why I haven't mentioned it to her, but you and Quinn? Yeah, that needs to stop, you think I haven't noticed how close you two have been getting and how you both disappeared from the party? Not to mention Quinn's disheveled look?"

Rachel freezes and immediately looks around, "Nothing—"

"I've got eyes Hobbit. I like Marley which is why I'm telling you to back off. I don't even know why you're doing this, you're the one that rejected Quinn, remember?" Santana interrupts, cutting her off.

"That's not fair! I was caught off guard and before I could really do anything about it she was dating Marley!" Rachel argues immediately, but she doesn't find a shred of sympathy on Santana's face. "She was my first."

Santana stares at Rachel incredulously, though she had no idea why she was in a state of disbelief, "That has to be the most idiotic thing I've ever heard come out of your mouth, and I assure you there have been plenty stupid things that you've said in the past. It wasn't just stupid it was selfish as well. Marley was Quinn's first. Not that it matters, but it should tell you something that being the first isn't that big of a deal Rachel. So I'm telling you to end this with Quinn before our entire team blows up, and we lose our support team."

Rachel's jaw dropped as Santana turned around to leave, "I don't know why you get to do whatever you want and I can't. Your relationship with Charlie is far more toxic to the team than my relationship with Quinn is."

"Excuse me?" Santana turned to look at Rachel, a frown on her face.

"Charlie nearly left the team because you got upset with her for sleeping with Dani. We need Charlie on the team if we want to win Nationals—but you got mad at her, you two fought and she nearly quit the team. Besides Quinn hasn't done anything that Charlie hasn't done, and you let Charlie do whatever she wants."

Santana took a breath, "First off, Charlie and I aren't dating. We train together, we eat together, and we fuck, something we haven't done in weeks. I think Charlie is the most irritating person on the fucking planet Rachel. Dating her would give me a migraine, and she'd probably insist on treating me like a short order cook. Secondly, I clearly have more respect for myself than you do. Here's a newsflash for you: there is no happily ever after if you're the other woman. And as fun as it is to compare twins, Charlie isn't dating anyone. She didn't promise anyone, including me, that she was going to be monogamous, which means she isn't cheating. Quinn is in a monogamous relationship with Marley and right now you're the other woman. Quinn isn't going to break up with Marley to be with you, she's going to say it was a lapse of judgment, if she doesn't blame you outright."

"Quinn wouldn't do that."

"There's a lot of things that I thought Quinn wouldn't do, which includes cheating on Marley. I assumed that she wouldn't go after you while you were drunk and she wasn't, but again here we are. As far as I'm concerned, if you're going to insist on blowing up our team, then you're no better than Lauren. We'll get one of our alternates to step in for you, after that you can become a social pariah again by going after Marley's girlfriend," Santana snapped at Rachel pulling away from her. She hoped that Charlie would back her, they needed Marley far more than they needed Rachel.

~ O ~

Shelby wiped her brow, Vocal Adrenaline had come in fifth place. It was the first time that they had barely managed to squeak through to nationals. Still her secret weapon against McKinley was getting surgery that Carmel High was paying for. She wouldn't be ready until nationals, but the raw power that she possessed— "I want you to train her."

Cassandra blinked and looked up from her phone, "What?"

"The future of Vocal Adrenaline, Lauren Zizes. She needs a mentor, she needs someone that she can learn from and she's strong—"

Cassandra held up her hand, this was pointless. "Shelby, I'm not magic and more importantly there is nothing that I can do that can help you beat McKinley this year. You witnessed what Charlie could do while septic, and I assure you that my mother pounded in some awful toxic behaviors that Charlie carries as the gospel truth. Not to mention McKinley didn't look as terrible as they normally do, if they continue whatever it is that they're doing that gap will only grow smaller. As weak as I think that Lopez girl is, she kept it together and with Charlie in her corner, she's a danger all on her own."

"Blaine is coming to Carmel, according to his brother—"

"That's not happening, at least not after what Charlie did. Your idea of trying to make it so that McKinley doesn't have enough players to field is the stupidest idea I've ever heard. Charlie is a one-person team and now that McKinley is finally stepping up they're becoming far more dangerous," Cassandra frowned. "Shelby, this job is beneath you. Come with me to New York, there are hundreds of schools that will want you there. You don't even like your daughter."

Shelby swallowed, it was clear what Cassandra was asking her to do in a roundabout way. "You know what it will take to get me to move in with you Cassandra."

"Which is why I've reapplied for the reactivation of my heroes licence, and I've been spending quite a bit of time in Ohio, I've cut back on my drinking and drug use."

Shelby paused, she had never thought that Cassandra would reapply to get her license reactivated. She hadn't been a hero in over a decade. "Let me get through nationals, and once it's over, then we can talk about moving in together."

Cassandra smiles and relaxes, "I'll train Lauren, but if she gives me any attitude."

"She won't. I'll make sure of it," Shelby promises.