Shelby frowned as she listened to her daughter, it was difficult not to be disappointed in Rachel's growth. They had been at this for weeks, and while Rachel's abilities had grown they were nowhere near what she had expected when she had taken over Rachel's training. "I don't feel what you're trying to portray Rachel. Our abilities work by transferring and magnifying emotion. When your father was killed I felt like I wanted to die, and when I sang—well they did die." Shelby stated, "I don't expect you to have ever felt something like that but I mean what about love? Or heartbreak, emotional pain, something that you can transfer and magnify Rachel."

Rachel swallowed, Shelby casually admitting to using her abilities in a way that implied that she had forced people to commit suicide, was troubling. It was terrifying, but confronting Shelby about it probably wouldn't change the past. "I have been doing everything you asked of me, I practice the breathing exercises you gave me all the time."

"I know, but I'm afraid there is nothing more I can teach you," Shelby admits studying her daughter, she can see a gamut of emotions flash across Rachel's face and she sighs. "Our abilities are forged through adversity, you're not going to grow more powerful unless you actually feel, unless you experience life." There was some confusion on Rachel's face and Shelby sighs, "Your fathers have been keeping you weak. Therapy after every little hardship, they're sanitizing your world, and they're coddling you."

"By making sure that I know how to handle my emotions?" Rachel responds angrily.

Shelby raised a brow and stood up, this was pointless. "Handling your emotions is fine, but there is nothing inherently wrong with feeling negative emotions. People are allowed to feel sad, they are allowed to feel grief, to be jealous, all of these emotions are part of the human condition Rachel, and if you don't experience them then how can you project and magnify those emotions? Until you experience some hardship, I can't help you. You have the emotional depth of a drying puddle Rachel, and I can't teach emotional depth."

Rachel clenched her fists tightly as she watched Shelby walk away, what did she know about her life? She hadn't been there, not like her fathers had been. Shelby hadn't been there as she'd been ignored or bullied, Santana and the rest of the popular kids had enjoyed tormenting her. There were days when all she could do was cry, as she felt the cold slushy drip everywhere. "You don't know anything about me."

"I don't need to know anything about you Rachel, you've lived a very privileged life. I can hear it in your voice, there is no emotion, just technical brilliance, but that won't make you a hero Rachel." Shelby pointed out. "I thought that Vocal Adrenaline was the best place for you, but it's becoming clear that I was mistaken," with that Shelby nodded her head and simply walked away. There was no point in wasting her time, McKinley wasn't a threat without Charlie, and if Cooper's last report was to be believed then Vocal Adrenaline would still be making an appearance at Nationals, and she would need to start rebuilding her team once Jesse graduated.

~ O ~

Santana stumbled back, nearly slipping on the blood that coated the makeshift ring as she desperately tried to block out the sounds of the crowd jeering. She clutches her left arm, holding it against her body as she stares at her opponent, mostly in shock. She had rushed right in hoping to end this fight quickly, but she hadn't expected to be forced back like this. "What was that?" She demands glaring at her opponent, narrowing her eyes. She had never seen him at the club before, and she currently had no idea what he had done when he had grabbed her arm after the bell had been rung. All she knew about him was that he was a level 3 AI, it wasn't anything impressive but she had just been looking for someone to take her frustrations out on. She hadn't actually been expecting this fight.

The man flashed her a smile, "What was what?"

"Your powers—what are they?" Santana asks as she glances at her arm, noting that it had begun to swell, and her movement in her wrist was limited, it had felt like he had taken a jackhammer to her arm.

"Why should I tell you that?" The man responds with a snort.

Santana scowled, not knowing made it difficult to assess how much power to use, but if just a touch was enough to cause her this much pain, then perhaps she needed to keep her distance and play it safe, this was not how she envisioned this night going, but if this douchebag wasn't going to give her the heads up about his abilities then she had no choice but to see him as a threat. She would need to keep her distance, keep him from touching her in anyway shape or form. Raising her good hand she throws a small baseball sized fireball at him.

She's not surprised that he dodges the fireball, she is surprised at the speed, as he closes the distance between them, forcing her to attempt to retreat even as she feels his hand tap her rib cage. The pain that follows is almost instantaneous. There were no words to describe what she was feeling as her body jerks away from him, this time her legs give out and she drops to the ground. The sharp bitter taste of iron filling her mouth, as she slowly realizes that she's bleeding. She's not sure from where, but she knows that at this moment she needed to do something drastic if she wanted to walk away from this fight. Whoever this asshole was, he was toying with her and she would not stand for it.

~ O ~

"It's been three days since she attended any classes, and from what I've heard a few nationally ranked schools have started to make pitches to her father. All Charlie wants is to face Charlotte Flair, I don't think she really cares how she gets there," Shannon reported frowning slightly. "I've attempted to contact her parents and her grandparents but I've been met with silence, and even Quinn isn't talking. The entire family has shut it down, it'd be impressive if it wasn't so frustrating."

Figgins frowned, he had pinned so much hope on the Titans going to Nationals. One appearance at Nationals would increase their budget significantly, and if they had won Nationals, he wouldn't have to pinch pennies for the foreseeable future. "Perhaps I acted rashly when I suspended her," Figgins mused. "Do you think an apology would suffice?"

"I don't think she cares about the suspension. This is about the resentment that's been building on the team as well as Charlie and Santana having what I can only imagine is a lover's spat. I should have insisted that they keep things professional but according to the two of them they aren't dating."

"Can we use Santana to entice her back?"

"The students are not chess pieces for us to move around, and even if they were I'd caution against using Santana. The last thing we need is for Santana to burn the school down." Shannon sighed. "I made a mistake somewhere, I should have focused more on team building, I thought that with Lauren gone it'd be better for the team. I was mistaken."

"Talk to your team, Charlie hasn't withdrawn from McKinley yet there may still be time to change her mind. And if that fails, perhaps we should work on enticing Quinn. It's not like Charlie is our only level 5. I'm certain that Quinn could get us to nationals if properly motivated."

"I doubt Quinn will budge, and I'm not sure if I want to cause a schism in the family. You want Lawrence and Artemis to pay for a new training facility don't you? It's perhaps best not to piss them off," Shannon reminded him before sighing as she turned when she heard the final bell. "I need to get to practice, morale is down and I need to figure out a way to motivate them."

~ O ~

Quinn sighed as she watched Marley working, she had been under the assumption that Marley joining McKinley would only strengthen their relationship, but they had barely had any time together. Anytime they did spend together all Marley talked about was the team, and her designs. She enjoyed hearing about that, but she couldn't remember the last time that they had talked about other things.

Maybe her sisters were right, and she needed to find her own thing to do while Marley was busy, but Marley barely had time with her and she wasn't quite sure how to balance her time, waiting for Marley to be done meant that she was always free whenever Marley needed her.

With another audible sigh, Quinn turns her attention back to the field where McKinley is currently struggling through a joint practice with Janes Adam Academy. It was clear that Beiste had arranged this joint practice in an attempt to boost morale, but for whatever reason McKinley couldn't seem to get it together. Personally she had no idea what Santana was doing, her abilities seemed to be flickering uncontrollably, and from where she was sitting she could see the mounting frustration on both Santana and Beiste's faces.

"This is painful to watch," Quinn murmurs mostly to herself as she watches as someone manages to take out Santana. She frowned, Santana was normally one of the last people standing under normal circumstances. If McKinley couldn't pull it together during a joint practice section with a lower ranked school then they would be laughed out of sectionals.

"I assure you it's painful to experience," Rachel says as she takes a seat beside Quinn rubbing the rapidly forming bruise on her shoulder. She winces slightly, and looks to the field. She had been taken out first, and had been excused to get some medical attention.

Quinn raises a brow and turns to look at Rachel, she hadn't noticed her approach. "You okay?" She asks as she passes Rachel her water bottle which she freezes solid so she can use it to reduce the swelling.

"No," Rachel admits as she places the bottle on her bruise and hisses quietly at the coldness.

Quinn waits for Rachel to continue but when she doesn't continue, she turns her attention back to the field. Without Santana the entire team was falling apart, "If this is about Charlie's tantrum, I have tried talking to her but you've met my twin, she's not listening to me."

Rachel frowned, "Well perhaps after this rather embarrassing loss, the rest of the team will be willing to put in the work that is required."

Quinn tilted her head, finally losing interest in watching McKinley as she looked at Rachel, "You're on Charlie's side?"

"No, Charlie's only throwing a tantrum because Santana's upset with her, but she isn't wrong. We don't practice enough, we're currently losing to Janes Adam Quinn, this is basically rock bottom. I hope that this convinces the team that we need Charlie, even if she's not the best leader, this wouldn't be happening if she was here."

Quinn nodded, and was quiet for a moment before stealing a glance at Rachel. She didn't have her usual determined look on her features, "Are you okay?" She asks again, something seemed off, and she's too caught up to notice that they've attracted an audience.

"I'm just a bit banged up Quinn, I'll be fine," Rachel lies as she lifts the frozen water bottle so she can take a look.

"Rachel," Quinn says, crossing her arms over her chest.

Rachel made a face and sighs, "You and Santana were right about my moth—Shelby. You were right about Shelby, apparently I'm a failure because I have healthy emotional responses. There is nothing that she can teach me, and she insulted my fathers for loving me and for caring for me."

Quinn raised a brow, "So what are you going to do about it?"

Rachel blinked and looked at Quinn, there was no judgment on her face but she was still thrown by the question. "What do you mean what am I going to do about it?"

"You're not just going to sit there and take it are you?" Quinn pressed.

Rachel bristled, "Of course not!"

"Good, take what you're feeling now, all those emotions and find a song that fits and sing Rachel. You'll know the right moment, and then take pride in the look on her face, when she realizes that she was wrong about you," Quinn grins when Rachel smiles. She adjusts and turns her attention back to the field, "My offer still stands, you know, if you need my help training I have nothing but time these days."

Rachel is about to nod, when she catches sight of Marley staring at the two of them. She has no idea why she feels embarrassed to be caught, they weren't doing anything, and she and Quinn were friends. "I'd like that," she says. "I do need someone to practice on."

"We'll make sure Brittany's close by then," Quinn said with an easy going shrug.

~ O ~

"Breathe." Lawrence reminded his granddaughter as her fists slammed into a heavy bag. The bag barely moved despite the effort Charlie was exerting. He looks over at his wife for a moment, even though she wasn't paying attention he knew she was using her abilities. "You're only hurting yourself if you don't breathe."

Charlie dropped her shoulder and slammed her fist into the heavy bag feeling the resistance through her body. It felt like she was beating her arms against a rock, but she quickly followed up with another punch trying to finish the combination.

"Each strike you breathe Charlie," Lawrence repeats himself, shaking his head.

"Still not right," Charlie muttered as she shook out her hands. Manipulating her own bioelectrical signals required far too much brain power. It was creating a bit of a lag, and remembering to do everything else, wasn't working either. She groans and takes a few steps back and crouches down staring at the heavy bag. Maybe she was going about this all wrong. Controlling her own bioelectrical signals was proving to be harder than she thought. Perhaps if she—

"It seems as if we have guests," Artemis spoke up, turning her head slightly as a few cars pulled up in the driveway. "I think it's time for a break," Artemis said as she stood up and extended her arm for her husband who grins and moves to her side. Before they can retire to the main house there is a loud bang causing both of them to turn their attention back to their granddaughter who hadn't noticed that there were other people in the room. The heavy bag that Charlie had been struggling with was now pressed against the wall, cracks forming around the point of impact.

Charlie lets out a breath and looks at her hands, she could feel the exhaustion hitting her immediately. She frowned, even though boosting her electrical signals had worked as intended, using this ability drained her stamina. She could use this in a pinch but in a drawn out fight this would only hurt her chances. "My control and stamina are lacking," Charlie mused out loud. She really did need to go back to the basics.

"Firefly," Artemis said firmly, causing Charlie to look at her. "You have guests, remember your manners."

Charlie blinked slowly at her grandmother and tilted her to peer out the garage. She hadn't expected to see most of the team at her house. She hadn't expected Quinn to agree to drive them over. She grabs her towel and wipes off her sweat as she heads to go see what they wanted. "I'm not offering anyone a cold beverage, there's too many of them," she calls over her shoulder, before turning her attention to Quinn. "Why?"

Quinn rolled her eyes, "Well if you're listening to pitches from various top ranked schools then the least you could do is give your team a chance to convince you to stay and be their captain. The entire team is here, so at least hear them out."

Charlie flicked her eyes over the gathered students, it wasn't the entire team that was present. Santana was missing. "Alright, you have three minutes. I need to get back to training."

There was a lull for a moment and everyone turned to look at Rachel who sighs, this probably would have been easier if they had managed to convince Santana to just seduce Charlie back. Suggesting it to Santana had caused a string of spanish that was terrifying because she was certain that Santana was describing all the ways that she planned to murder her. "This is your team, and I think we all realize that we can't make it to nationals or get recruited without you."

Charlie stared at Rachel for a moment, before shrugging her shoulders. "I know that my presence guarantees you a spot at nationals. This isn't about nationals for me, all I care about is getting my chance to fight Charlotte Flair. And if that is my goal staying at McKinley hinders my process. McKinley doesn't have world-class facilities, which isn't necessarily a deal breaker. What is a deal breaker, is that with the exception of a few people, none of you have the drive to better yourself. You want me to do all the heavy lifting for you, sacrificing my preparation time to help people who aren't trying to help themselves. This is going to be my debut. The world is going to be watching and I need to show up, I need to show the world that I'm ready. Unlike the rest of you I only get the one shot at a debut."

Rachel frowned and looked over at Quinn, she had hoped that bending the proverbial knee would be enough to get Charlie to reconsider. "Charlie—"

"Your three minutes are up, I'll be meditating. Since Quinn brought you here, she can give you guys a cold beverage and my mother can do the super host thing. I need to work on increasing my stamina. I plan on making my decision by Sunday. I've got a bunch of interviews tomorrow, and a few sparring sessions lined up. I'll be frank the school that can impress me, is the school that I'll be signing with. If you want to compete, then I suggest that you send someone as well."

~ O ~

Santana adjusted her black compression sleeve, inhaling sharply as she made the adjustment. It hurt, everything hurt, and trying to fight through the pain seemed to be a losing battle. She had nearly passed out at practice today, breathing was a challenge and moving her limbs freely was a luxury that she wished that she had. Santana glanced up at the Fabray's house for a moment, this was the last place she wanted to be. She didn't want to face Charlie and she certainly didn't want to bend the knee to Charlie fucking Fabray, but the team had held a vote and she was here under protest.

She had no idea what miracle that the team hoped that she could accomplish. She had never once beaten Charlie, if anyone was going to impress Charlie or even beat her it was Blaine, but he had quickly agreed with everyone else that she was their best bet to get Charlie to stay. The assholes on the team had all but suggested that they wanted her to seduce Charlie as if that would work.

With a grunt she opens the door to her car and steps out, trying to shift the pressure off her left hit. The asshole from fight club had managed to do some heavy damage before she had managed to put him down. Still she slowly makes her way past all the other cars in the driveway and up the porch. The door swings open before she can knock or push the doorbell, and she forces a polite smile on her face as she comes face to face with Judy. "Hey Mrs. Fabray—I'm here to audition, I guess."

Judy flashed Santana a rather large smile, "I didn't think that McKinley would send anyone, I'm glad you came. She's at the back right now, do you want a snack while you wait? It shouldn't take that long."

Santana shook her head, struggling to keep her face neutral as she matched Judy's pace towards the backyard. "No thanks," she mumbles before shooting a look over at Judy. "Were they impressive?"

"I think everyone that came here, tried their best," Judy smiled after delivering a perfectly diplomatic answer.

Santana snorted, either Judy had no idea how they did, or Charlie had simply run roughshod over everyone. She steps onto the back deck and spots Lawrence and Russell talking with a group of adults. Artemis was sitting on a patio chair sipping on some tea while she read the paper. "Afternoon, Mrs. July," Santana says respectfully.

Artemis looks up and frowns slightly as she looks at Santana. The frown is quickly replaced by a small smile. "Santana, I do hope that you impress," she says finally.

Santana's about to respond when Charlie drops down on the balcony, an unconscious body draped over her shoulder. She takes a step back as Charlie bends down to gently place the body on a patio chair, but their eyes meet when Charlie finally looks at her.

"I honestly thought that they'd choose to send Blaine," Charlie says, raising a brow. She immediately shrugs her shoulder and pulls away from Santana. "Come on, let's get this over with."

Santana takes a step forward, and nearly buckles over in pain. She manages to hide it with a sharp inhale of breath, "They want me to get back on your good side. They think that if I ask you, if I apologize and stroke your massive ego, that you'll go back to being our captain."

Charlie froze for a moment before slowly turning to look at Santana. "What?"

"Do you get off on it?" Santana asks looking at Charlie, who looks baffled at this turn of events. "Do you get off on reminding everyone that you're better than them? That we should all just be grateful that you deign to breathe the same air as us?"

"You think I'm doing this because I think I'm better than you?" Charlie snaps at Santana.

"Aren't you? You did this at regionals as well, things didn't go your way so you thought about quitting. Now the team is mad at you, because you slept with the enemy and you decide to grab your ball and go home." Santana takes a deep breath trying to steady herself despite the sharp pain in her ribs as she ignites, as best as she could. "But if all you want to do is fight, then let's get this over with."

Charlie blinks completely unsure what was happening and takes a step back, as she studies Santana carefully. Something felt off, Santana was normally far hotter when she ignited, while she was more or less fireproof, she could still feel heat and this barely felt warmer than a lightbulb. Then there was the way she was holding her arm close to her chest and her labored breathing. It takes a moment for her to put everything together before she decides to act, entering Santana's personal space before she could react and placing her thumb on Santana's forehead. Santana crumples immediately but immediately gets caught by Charlie before she can hit the ground.

"I'll set her down on the couch," Charlie says after a moment, ignoring all the looks that she was receiving. She needed to call Frannie, and then Brittany. Santana was clearly injured, and she was surprised that no one had noticed, and that despite the fact that she was injured Santana had challenged her.

~ O ~

Santana woke up in a start, her eyes snapping open as she took in her surroundings. It takes a split second to place the room she'd been in before, with the various textbooks and rather racy pictures of the 4 Horsewomen placed on her walls. She grits her teeth in frustration as she sits up, half expecting her body to scream in agony, but she feels fine. In fact she feels better than fine, her entire body doesn't hurt and when she pulls up the compression sleeve to check her arm, she can't see the horrible bruising and swelling that had plagued her for the past week.

She shifts her body slowly, half expecting to feel the sharp agonizing pain in her ribs but there is no stiffness, there isn't a hint of pain. She raises her hand—

"I know you're mad at me but please don't burn my room down."

Santana swivels on Charlie's bed to see her sitting on the ground, with her eyes closed, with a pair of headphones on her head. For once she doesn't have a snappy comeback, or anything at all to say. "Thanks," she finally decides on as Charlie opens her eyes, and she's taken aback by the fact that they're glowing.

Charlie studies Santana for a moment, she's not quite sure how to broach the topic with Santana, but Brittany had informed her the damage had been extensive. "Are you being abused?"

The words hang in the air for a moment as Santana stares at Charlie like she's lost her mind, "What?"

Charlie pulls off her headphones and looks at Santana carefully, "Is there someone in your life that's hurting you physically? Brittany said that your injuries were really—bad," Charlie decides on trying to keep her tone neutral.

"No one is hurting me," Santana informed Charlie bluntly as she slid out of Charlie's bed.

"Then how were you injured?"

"That's none of your business," Santana said briskly. "Thank Brittany for me, I should get home."

Charlie frowned, she knew that Santana was rather proud, but it had taken Brittany a couple of hours to fix Santana. The damage had not only been extensive, but it was clear that Santana had caused some damage to herself. She gets up and gently grabs Santana's arm. "Look if someone is hurting you—"

Santana jerks her arm away, "No one is hurting me. And even if they were, why should I tell you? Like I said you took your ball and went home, why should I trust you to save me? Why should I trust that when it gets too hard you won't just give up like you're doing now?"

Charlie opens her mouth to respond but there are no words, she doesn't really have a defense to Santana's accusations.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Look I'll see you at sectionals. Like I said, say thanks to Britt for me," Santana said as she grabbed her jacket and left Charlie standing there.

Charlie stared at where Santana had just been, she wasn't quite sure why she felt like shit. She hadn't done anything wrong. She crinkles her nose and raises her hand, using her abilities to pull her phone into her hand she does the only thing she can think of which is to bother Frannie and Brittany. Quinn was only on her first girlfriend and that was a disaster as far as she could tell, so her advice was useless.

~ O ~

I think I designed something that might help

Santana glanced at the text from Marley and sent her a quick thumbs up emoji. She doubted that Marley could design something that would actually stop Charlie in her tracks and make her vulnerable but if they were going to face off at sectionals, she wasn't going to make it easy for Charlie or her new team to take the Titans out.

"Santana! You did it!"

Santana blinks and turns to look at Sam and the rest of the freshmen as she slammed her locker closed. "What did I do?"

"You convinced Charlie to stay! She's currently in the office with her grandparents talking to Figgins. We ran into Quinn and she said that Charlie is staying," Artie explains with a grin. "We're still going to nationals! So whatever you said worked."

"What?" Santana blinks, she was certain she had just insulted Charlie and called her a coward.

"She's in a meeting with Figgins," Tina repeats. "She's staying!"

Santana immediately pulled away from the freshmen and made a beeline to the office, just in time to see Charlie leaving the office with a bag on her shoulder. "You're staying?"

Charlie turned to look at Santana, and nodded wordlessly before adjusting her bag on her shoulder before heading over to her next class. She had missed three weeks of school and the amount of homework she would need to catch up on was going to be a pain in the ass. Maybe she should copy off Quinn's work till she caught up.

Santana stares at Charlie in shock even as Rachel slides up beside her. "I knew that if anyone could convince Charlie to stay, it was you. Blaine might be able to give Charlie a work out but you and Charlie have history," Rachel pats Santana on the shoulder before she heads to her class. Now they could focus on sectionals. They had wasted time and they needed to spend the next couple of weeks catching up. It was only three weeks to sectionals.