Frannie had a harem. Brittany was very into free love, and while she had boyfriends, she loved everyone. Charlie—well her twin truly seemed to believe that she had everything figured out despite the fact that she was a mixture of both Frannie and Brittany. Charlie never even bothered to learn the names of 90% of the people that she slept with, let alone learn their faces. As far as she was concerned, they were all being hypocrites.
Personally she had zero idea why her sisters were making it some big deal, she wasn't Russell. How could she be? Rachel had kissed her, and she had lost her head for a moment. It wasn't a big deal, well it might be to Marley but it wasn't as if she had any intention of sharing her shameful secret with her girlfriend. Marley was already feeling uncertain about her relationship, and if she brought it up with Marley she was certain that Marley may insist that she end her friendship with Rachel. She would just need to have a much needed conversation with Rachel about how what had happened was a moment of weakness.
"Where's the good twin?"
Santana's words are enough to pull Quinn from her thoughts as she slams the door to her locker closed, and narrowed her eyes on Santana. "What?"
"Where. Is. the. Good. Twin?" Santana repeats slowly as if Quinn's an idiot, which in her opinion was an accurate assessment of Quinn's intelligence.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Quinn challenges the temperature dropping around them.
Santana blinked before smirking as she released her own abilities, heating up the area around her. "You know exactly what I mean. I don't see Charlie pulling the same stunt that you did at your party," Santana says, noting that they had attracted some attention. She suspected that Charlie probably didn't have a moral problem with cheating, in theory but she didn't see Charlie being sleazy about the whole thing.
"Quinn?"
Quinn immediately freezes, her anger immediately dissipating as Marley's voice reaches her. She glances at Santana who flashes her a smug smirk, as she's forced to reign in her abilities and turn to her girlfriend. "Hey Marley," she greets her immediately, extending her hand so she can take Marley's in hers.
Marley blinked and looked between Santana and Quinn, noting the obvious tension. "Beiste will make everyone run laps if you two get caught fighting. Everyone, and she seems to forget that the support team are nils."
For a moment Quinn is caught flat footed, as she tries to think of a way to steer the conversation.
"Quinn was simply taking exception to the fact that I think Charlie is the good twin," Santana replied, as she stepped away from Quinn.
Quinn scowled at Santana, before moving so she could stand side by side with her girlfriend. "Charlie is home until she wakes up. Come on Marley, I have shots of baby Mikey."
"Baby Mikey?" Marley asked. An amused smile flashes across Marley's face as Quinn begins to tug her away from Santana. "Frannie's actually accepting that as a nickname?"
Quinn snorted, "Of course not, she dropped Charlie in the Sahara Desert for like an hour. Charlie was basically a walking blister till Brittany helped her out. But it fits him, he's a baby. A cute baby, but still a baby." Quinn laughs as she pulls out her phone so Marley can see the multitude of baby pictures.
Marley leaned in so she could see the photos, "I met with a representative from Luthorcorp after the medal ceremony, and they suggested that I fill out an internship form for this summer! It's a paid internship and it's a lot of money! No one gets paid internships from Luthorcorp in high school."
Quinn nearly dropped her phone and turned to look at Marley, a huge proud smile breaking out across her face, "Are you serious?"
Marley grinned and nodded, "I got a few other people asking me for my application, but none of them were as big as Luthorcorp. I mean they're just asking for an application, I doubt they'll accept me, but it does mean that they noticed me right?"
"Who said that they won't accept you?" Quinn demands. "Your inventions were what helped propel the team to a dominant victory in the second round. That's what got you noticed. And you're headed to nationals, whatever you show there will impress them."
Marley squeezed Quinn's hand, grateful that she had someone supporting her just as much as her mother did. "It'll be in California somewhere Quinn."
"So? This is an opportunity and you need to go for it. We'll figure that out later, you know what Frannie can do. Distance isn't really a problem Marley." Quinn shrugged, hugging Marley tightly. It didn't help ease the guilt in the pit of her stomach. She just needed to be a super supportive girlfriend to make up for the fact that she had fucked up.
~ O ~
Judy sighed as she gently and carefully changed Mikey's diaper, her grandson cooing up at her as she did. It does bring a small smile to her lips, and she quickly finishes up and begins to fix his clothing, Frannie had always been particular about fashion, and her son was currently the best dressed baby she'd ever seen. "You know spending a fortune on baby clothes when he'll grow out of it in two weeks, is a bit foolish." Judy said, turning her head slightly to see Frannie standing there. Despite the fact that she'd just given birth, she looked incredibly put together. Brittany had even managed to help Frannie shed her baby weight, if anything her body looked as if she hadn't just popped out a child, or gone through labor for a couple of days.
Frannie hummed, as she headed towards the changing table and smiled at her son, it was a genuine smile and gently stroked his cheeks. "It's important he learns how important it is to look good, I don't want him thinking that how his father dresses is acceptable attire. Feel good on the outside, feel good on the inside," Frannie said as she picks him up.
"Is he coming?" Judy asks immediately, the entire family had been curious to see which man that Frannie had decided to reproduce with.
Frannie flicked her gaze to her mother, "Of course not, we're going to go see him. He's been rather patient all things considered, he wanted to be in the room while it happened. That was impossible, he waited until the bulk of my family left and now he won't stop texting me, because apparently pictures aren't enough. I just went through a traumatic experience, and he's already making it about him," Frannie sighed. "I plan on taking him after feeding him, then I've got a few interviews to do. It's a busy day mom."
"I don't mind watching him for you," Judy points out causing Frannie to pause and look at her mother. "You don't have to hire a nanny, with your abilities Frannie, all you would need to do is drop him off in the morning and pick him up when you're ready."
"Hard pass," Frannie said immediately. "I'm hiring a nanny because I can afford to, and because I would rather make sure that Michelangelo grows up in a normal, non-chaotic, environment."
Judy bristled, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that I don't trust Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dumbass, to not infect my child. I caught Charlie mumbling about nunchucks, plus she keeps calling him Mikey, and that irritates the crap out of me. Michaelis the only acceptable short form of his name that I will allow." Frannie said, adjusting Mikey in her arms. "Plus, I disagree with your punishment, which will only lead to more tension in the house, and Charlie running to complain to me about how you don't love her."
Judy blinked, "What?"
"I think Charlie's an idiot, I've never hid that from anyone, but she's observant and she noticed you pulling back. She was bothered by it, which is why she wouldn't leave me alone and attempted to paint this room a godawful yellow. I'm aware that I've only been a mother for about five minutes, but come on mom. She knows that you're afraid of her. I know that you don't really have any powers of your own, but come on. It's Charlie."
Judy swallowed, "She's going to get herself killed, she nearly died a few days ago. All she does is train these days, don't you want Mikey to have a normal life?"
Frannie frowned, she should have banned Charlie from seeing her baby until she learned what his name was. Now everyone in the family was going to call him Mikey and it was slowly driving her up the wall. "She wants to be a hero, you've known this since she could talk, because it's all she talks about. Like she really needs to shut up about it. Again, I've been a mother for five minutes. If you're worried about Charlie's safety then that's a conversation, it's not a punishment. If you're scared because she's not normal, the ship has definitely sailed on that end. You're just going to need to love her and accept the fact that you don't have any normal children. And that's okay. I just don't really get why you're so afraid mom, Charlie has an insane amount of control compared to the rest of us."
"The more powerful you are the bigger the threats that will come your way. Do you have any idea how many times I saw my mother in a hospital? Charlie won't be dealing with bank robberies, she won't be dealing with low level drug dealers and street thugs. She'll be the one that they call when the world is in danger. I thought her wanting to be a hero was a phase. But as she keeps getting closer and closer to 18, the stronger she is, the more danger she'll be in. I don't want that for her. I want her to have a family, I want her to have children of her own at some point, to settle down and do something where I won't worry about her safety every single day. Brittany can't bring the dead back to life."
"No, she can't," Frannie agreed. "Still, you should have that conversation with Charlie rather than punishing her for it. She's only going to resent you especially if she loses at nationals."
"If she loses at nationals, then it might cause her to rethink her career path," Judy said hopefully, even though it sounded unbelievable in her own ears. She sighs, "I'll think about it."
"Do whatever you want mom, but leave me out of it. Charlie might actually think I give a shit, and we both know I don't."
Judy smiles at Frannie, despite her attitude she really was a good older sister. "Of course dear."
~ O ~
"Santana doesn't have the ability to unilaterally kick you off the team Rachel," Quinn sighs, glancing around the empty classroom. This wasn't a good look for her and she was certain that if Marley heard about it there would be more questions, that she didn't have an answer too.
"She can make a very good case to Charlie though and since they have their thing—" Rachel bit her lip, it wouldn't be that difficult for Santana to seduce Charlie into doing what she wanted.
Quinn paused for a moment, "Charlie already knows about what happened at the party, I told Brittany and Charlie was there, she isn't talking about kicking you out. She hasn't said anything at all about it, probably because mom grounded her for getting injured. I think she was still stewing over that and hasn't given any thought at all about what I said."
This was news to Rachel and she blinks, "She's grounded?"
"Yes, and we have parental supervision again, our grandparents are watching us so we don't have any more parties. Until further notice, she's not allowed to train except at practice. It'll probably be a bigger deal when she wakes up," Quinn mused, making a mental note to check in on her twin. "Look even when she does think about it, she's probably going to put the blame on me and banish me from practices. And even if Santana somehow manages to convince her that you're the problem, Beiste has the final say Rachel. Which is why I think we need to keep our distance from each other for a bit. What happened at the party was a mistake," Quinn says keeping her voice firm. She needed a clean break.
It wasn't what she had expected Quinn to say, though she wasn't quite certain what she had wanted Quinn to say either. "What?"
Quinn swallowed and met Rachel's gaze, with a steely one of her own. "Rachel, what happened was a mistake. I have a girlfriend, and I love Marley. So a bit of space will be good for the both of us, because what happened between us can't happen again. Marley's got to focus right now, she's got a real chance at getting an internship at Luthorcorp, and if she does that we can spend our entire summer together in California." It was cold, and heartless but it needed to be said.
"You like me," Rachel points out immediately. "You want to be with me, because if you didn't you wouldn't have done what you did."
"I wasn't thinking straight Rachel, we'd been drinking and I was missing Marley—" Quinn immediately stumbled back when Rachel suddenly leaned forward, clearly attempting to go for a kiss. "What are you doing?"
"It makes no sense, I never told you no, I was just shocked and needed time to process how I felt. Before I can, you're dating Marley so either you didn't like me as much as you said you did, or Marley is just there to make me jealous," Rachel pointed out immediately.
The temperature in the room drops rapidly as frost begins to cover the windows as Quinn narrows her eyes. "You didn't have to say anything, I saw it on your face that you didn't want to be with me. That's fine, Rachel, but I am happy with Marley and I won't forgive you if you ruin it. Marley didn't need to think about it, she agreed to go out with me, and I need to be better. I will be better, you took advantage of a situation and you made me into something that I didn't want to be."
"You kissed me back!" Rachel snaps at Quinn, if anything Quinn had done more than just kiss her. She could still remember Quinn's hands sliding under her shirt, touching her. If Cassandra hadn't shown up, then they probably would have had sex.
Quinn stared at Rachel for a moment, there was no point in having this conversation, and she makes her way towards the door, but when Rachel reaches for her arm she reacts, using her abilities to create a frozen icicle wall in between them forcing Rachel back. "Stay away from me and Marley," Quinn snaps at Rachel, flinching when she spots that she's accidentally hurt Rachel, but she doesn't stop to check on her instead she just walks out of the room leaving Rachel alone to deal with the fallout. She was supposed to go and have lunch with Marley.
Rachel grimaces as she rubs her wrist, wincing at the ice burn on her wrist it hurts badly and it was evident that Quinn didn't care about her. Which is why she needed to talk with Charlie before Santana got to her.
~ O ~
"She's your secret weapon?" Cassandra asked, turning to look at Shelby.
"She was one of McKinley's pillars," Shelby pointed out, her tone defensive.
"Yes, the weakest pillar. Not only for her attitude problems that my niece let fester, but she couldn't even handle a bank robbery without making the situation infinitely worse. No school wants all brawn no brain, unless she plans on working for Vought, and with her face being what it is, she's not photogenic enough for them. They would also want her to lose weight, to fit their standards of beauty."
"I can hear you," Lauren scowled at Cassandra.
"Plus her inferiority complex is problematic," Cassandra adds and looks at her nails. "I'm not a miracle worker Shelby."
"Do you think I want to learn from the boozed up Aunt of my mortal enemy?"
Shelby's eyes widen and she immediately steps in front of Cassandra before she murders Lauren, "Zizes."
"Your mortal enemy? I'm not my niece's biggest fan, but I can assure you that the amount of time Charlie thinks about you in a day is zero. You're not even a blip in her radar, and why should you be? You're weak. I mean I thought Santana was weak but I mean your power is momentum. You claim you're unstoppable but I promise you that you aren't. All it would require is a much stronger opposing force to stop you."
"I haven't met anyone who was able to stop me, not even your niece—" It was the last thing that Lauren said before she got hit with an energy beam, it felt like getting a brick smashed in her face and she stumbled back.
"Cass!" Shelby snapped at her girlfriend.
"What? She's fine and I just proved my point, there's no point in running your mouth if you don't have the skill to back it up. She doesn't, and I'm not going to waste my time. If she wants to get stronger, she needs to want it, and more importantly she needs to work at it. You want to beat Charlie then you need to put in the work she does, and even then you might be able to close the gap. At the very least force her to acknowledge you." Cassandra said, side stepping Shelby and firing another blast at Lauren again, this one plants Lauren on her ass and she raises her hand to do it again when Shelby grabs onto her arm.
"Cass, I already got told off by parents that you're being too hard on them. You need to—"
"I can take it," Lauren grumbled as she forced herself up. If she could take whatever Cassandra threw at her then maybe she'd prove that McKinley was idiotic in pinning all their hopes on Charlie Fabray.
"See Shelby, she's got spirit. I'll have to break that out of her," Cassandra hummed as she narrowed her eyes. Lauren had no real idea what she was dealing with but if her goal was Charlie, then she could at least prep the girl to not die, in case Charlie actually took her seriously.
~ O ~
"I fixed the steps already, you don't have to float up and down the stairs," Lawrence commented, as he watched his wife do just that, before touching down on the ground. "How is she?"
Artemis paused for a moment, "Awake."
Lawrence immediately looked up at the ceiling, he hadn't heard a thing all day. Normally she would have shown up several times to empty the fridge. "What's she doing up there?"
Artemis was quiet for a moment, glancing at the stairs once before sighing, 'Training."
Lawrence frowned, "Judy said—"
"She's currently sitting in her bed, with crude little lightning stick figures, imaging the fight. Her ability usage is minimal, she's thinking," Artemis pointed out immediately.
Lawrence scratched at his beard as he studied his wife, "Artemis. That goes against the spirit of what Judy wanted, she wants Charlie to experience normal at least for a little bit."
"She doesn't want Charlie to be a hero, because our strength invites challenge. Judy is worried that Charlie will not be able to handle it," Artemis rebuts immediately. "Lawrence, she is far better with her abilities at 17 then I or Cassandra were at that age. Even when we spar, I know she's holding back."
Lawrence sighed, "That may be true, but Judy is her mother, and you are undermining her."
"I am not, Charlie doesn't simply train by doing physical activity, she watches tape, she reads those physics textbooks of hers not to mention all the strategizing she does when she's simply eating. Unless Judy plans on removing all her textbooks and policing her thoughts, stopping Charlie from training even minimally is nearly impossible. Suppressors have never worked on Charlie, and we can't ask Brittany to enforce her punishment. I simply believe that the punishment is silly, it's a conversation to have with Charlie about her recklessness. It's a conversation that Judy needs to have with Charlie, I'm merely being pragmatic."
Lawrence rubbed his beard and shrugged his shoulders, "Perhaps, but Judy's not wrong. I know you want what's best for her, but how can we expect her to be a hero for the people, if she doesn't live like them. If she can't empathize with them. I love our grandchildren, but I'm not blind to their faults. Frannie is arrogant, she does think she's better than everyone else. Brittany is selfish, she may be the most empathetic out of all of our grandchildren but she is selfish. Quinn has no idea who she is or what she wants, and Charlie," Lawrence smiles. "Where to start with Charlie?"
"When she was young I asked her a variation of the trolley problem, and I asked her who she would save. And with a straight face, she told me that she'd save everyone. It didn't matter that I said that she could only save one, she informed me that everyone was important. It's childish, but she informed me that day that she'd be strong enough to save everyone. That's the hero that she wants to be, Charlie is human, she's focused on beating an opponent, someone she respects as being a great hero. I refuse to be the person that crushes that out of her," Artemis pointed out crossing her arms over her chest.
Before Lawrence can comment the doorbell rings, and he sighs and goes to see who it is. He opens the door without checking. He immediately smiles when he spots Santana carrying a bunch of papers. "Is that her homework?"
"Yeah, for some strange reason, everyone gives it to me instead of giving it to her clone," Santana grumbled. "I don't even live here, and you guys live really out of the way."
Lawrence reaches to take the papers before pausing for a moment, "You know she's awake upstairs. I'm sure she'll be grateful that you're here bringing her homework."
Santana raised a brow, she couldn't think of anyone who would like getting dumped with homework, but she nods. She needed to talk to Charlie about Quinn anyway, "Sure, I can go make fun of her."
Lawrence grinned before pausing, "Door open though."
Santana rolled her eyes, she had no idea why everyone thought she and Charlie were a thing. "Right," she said as she headed up the stairs. She couldn't stay long because her abuela was coming for dinner, and the last thing she needed was her parents in her business. She knocks on Charlie's door which is only partially closed and pokes her head in where she spots Charlie looking up at from where she was seated at her desk. "Brought your homework." Santana said, waving the documents around.
Charlie blinks and tilts her head. "They couldn't just give it to Quinn?"
"That's what I said! You two have the same face and all that! By the way we need to talk about your sister."
Charlie makes a face, "Is this about Quinn and Rachel?"
Santana pauses, "She told you."
"Yes," Charlie said with a sigh.
"What are you going to do about it?" When Charlie looks at her, Santana frowns. "Marley is an integral member of the team. I know you're not big on support items but other members of the team need them."
Charlie makes a face, "I don't want to get involved in Quinn's mess."
Santana stared at Charlie, who immediately looked away. "Marley is an integral part of the team and you like her."
"Yes but I have to live with Quinn," Charlie pointed out before sighing. Santana wasn't going to let this go and it wasn't as if she was thrilled that Quinn had cheated. "I'll handle it."
"By kicking Rachel off the team?"
"Why in the world would I kick Rachel off the team Santana? The problem isn't Rachel. It's Quinn. Quinn, the same person who is crucifying our dad because he can't keep it in his pants. She's a hypocrite. Rachel is 15, expecting her to know better when faced with the Fabray charm is unrealistic."
Santana blinked, deciding to focus on the most egregious part of what Charlie had just said. "The Fabray charm," she repeats, her tone flat as she rolls her eyes.
"It's a real thing Santana," Charlie insists immediately.
"Sure it is." Santana rolled her eyes again, hard.
Charlie sighed, Santana didn't understand because she'd never been on the receiving end of it, at least the full force of it. "Santana—"
"What are you going to do about Quinn?" Santana says changing the subject.
Charlie made a face, "I don't know I've got my own problems to deal with. Apparently I need to be normal."
"Level 5's can perform miracles now?" Santana asked, snorting when Charlie looked at her. "Who wants you to be normal?"
"My mother."
"Well your mother and my parents should form a club," Santana scoffed. "Get a real job, after they met you they realized that I'd never be one of the top heroes."
"Your parents are wrong, and you showed that at Sectionals, sure I pointed you in the right direction but your plan was good. It just needed Matt, the scouts saw that as well. I'll admit I stopped paying attention like 5 minutes into the whole thing. I trust you, and that needs to count for something."
Santana flashed Charlie a small smile, before sighing. "Alright let's see it."
Charlie blinked, "See what?"
"This so-called legendary Fabray charm let me see it."
"I can't do it on command Santana!" Charlie huffed her cheeks turning red as Santana began to laugh at her. She scowls, she'd show her. She would just have to pick her moment and hit her with the full force of her charm even if that was irresponsible.