Quinn tapped her thumb against the steering wheel, she was watching the parents of some of the Titans talking amongst themselves and she let out a bored sigh. She really tried hard to ignore her twin on the best of occasions, but in times like this she could practically hear Charlie telling her that she needed to start figuring out what she wanted with her life. She didn't know why everyone kept insisting that she figure it out. Not every kid was Charlie, who had known that she had wanted to be a hero since she'd seen Aunt Cassandra punching out a giant robot. Sure there had been a time that she had wanted to be a hero like Charlie, they'd even had a terrible nickname that Charlie had come up with.

Unlike her twin, she had found training with her abilities to be monotonous. She liked reading but she certainly didn't want to spend every waking moment thinking about the molecular structure of things. She didn't want to read chemistry textbooks for fun, she didn't want to spend every waking moment thinking about training. She had just wanted to be normal, but obviously with a family like hers that was near impossible.

Which was why she truly didn't understand why Emma was on her case. Brittany and Frannie hadn't known what they had wanted to be when they went off to university. She was pretty sure that Frannie had simply announced that she wanted to make a bunch of money, and retire early. Brittany was taking a bunch of art electives and had zero idea what the future held. Charlie was the abnormal one, as far as she was concerned, and Emma would be better off focusing her efforts on Charlie and leaving her alone. No one even knew if Charlie was going to get a degree, no one even cared if Charlie went to university but for some reason everyone seemed interested in her life, and getting her some extra-curricular activities.

Growing bored of simply waiting in her car, she decides it might be good to stretch her legs while she waits. They were late, which either meant that Charlie was being a tyrant again, or they had lost track of time. If they weren't back in fifteen minutes she was going to text Frannie to see what the hold up was. She heads towards McKinley's football field, maybe she could find a spot on the bleachers to read.

She can smell the cigarette smoke before she actually sees them sitting behind the bleachers hidden from the world smoking and staring at her as if she were an intruder. Taking a step back in shock, she quickly tries to recall all the various cliques at McKinley, her brow furrows for a moment before she blinks as it comes to her. "You're the Skanks right?"

"As if you don't know that Girl Scout."

"That's not Girl Scout, it's the other one," Another teen said, blowing a puff of smoke in Quinn's direction. "Besides, I told you that Girl Scout is a stupid nickname, Shiela. She's not a fucking girl scout."

Quinn sighed, of course Charlie would create a mess that she needed to clean up, "Look I'm sorry about whatever my twin did—"

"Mack."

"Mack. I need you to understand Charlie is an idiot which I know doesn't excuse anything, but she does have a rather low emotional intelligence, despite thinking she understands everything and everyone," Quinn said, hoping that was enough of an apology. She just wanted to find a spot to read quietly, not clean up the emotional collateral damage that Charlie left lying around.

Mack snorted and exchanged looks with Shiela and Lonnie for a moment, "We're not exactly your sister's type."

"Vapid blonde girls, who are hoping for someone to take them out of this shit town," Sheila sneered.

Quinn rolled her eyes and took a step back, she really didn't have to listen to this, she just needed to find a spot to get some reading done. "Whatever issues you have with Charlie, take it up with her. I'm hardly her keeper."

"Of course not, someone like you, you're probably going to be part of the problem," Mack responds coolly.

Quinn stops and rubs her temples, she really should just walk away, she had zero reason to engage but she had no idea what Mack's problem was. She turns to look at her, narrowing her eyes slightly as she crosses her arms over her chest. "I'm part of what problem? I don't even know you."

"Careful Mack, she seems angry," Lonnie mocks.

"Don't want to end up armless," Sheila adds.

Mack glances over at Quinn, the tick in her jaw was the only indication that she was annoyed. "Your family is one of the reasons everything is as shitty as it is."

"My family?"

"Hero dynasties. Last I checked, we weren't supposed to have fucking aristicrats here, and yet here you are," Mack flicks the cherry of her cigarette at Quinn, scoffing when it freezes solid and lands on the ground in front of her. "Strike a nerve?"

The sudden chill in the air causes Shiela to look over at Mack, "Maybe you should ease off."

Quinn inhaled, "Look, I really don't know why you have a problem with my twin, but if you are one of her many spurned lovers, take it up with her. As for heroic dynasty's I'm sorry my family saving the world has been such an inconvenience for you. I'll let them know that the next time that the entire planet is in trouble, they should take the day off, because some rando thinks that they're the reason that the world has a million problems."

"Right, we peasants are nothing more than collateral damage, who should feel honored to be protected by the rich and powerful, and if we lose a life so be it. As long as all the rich people have all their stuff."

"I am not getting into a philosophical debate with someone who isn't doing shit with her life to change anything. Anyone can sit on their ass and complain, but I'm the type of person who tries to change that." Quinn rolled her eyes, turning her attention towards the parking lot as the familiar sound of one of Frannie's portals opening up catches her attention and the Titans practically tumble out of it. Quinn raises a brow, and heads over, Charlie had clearly decided that death was an acceptable training method. Hopefully Marley had gotten something useful out of using Summit's facilities. Glancing over at the Skanks one more time, Quinn shakes her head, before turning to go and say hello to her girlfriend.

"I'm on the debate team."

Quinn paused and turned to look back at Mack. "What?"

Mack shrugs her shoulders, "You said you wouldn't get into a philosophical debate with someone who isn't doing with their life. Of course someone like you would make an assumption about a peasant like me. Someone who looks like her mustn't be my intellectual equal. And for your information I am fighting for what I believe in, and that includes confronting someone who is part of the problem."

"Quinn!" Marley called out, causing Quinn's attention to shift from Mack to Marley.

"How was Summit?" Quinn asks, deciding that the solution to her problem was to simply ignore Mack as Marley approaches carrying a massive duffel bag.

"Words can't even describe how informative that experience was, we got to use their lab, we got sit in on one of their design labs. They even helped with some of our designs, how to make it better, and I've got so much work tonight! I need to make sure that I remember everything that they suggested. I made notes and—"

"You raided their lab?" Quinn asked as she took the duffel bag and pausing at how heavy it was. She grits her teeth slightly and adjusts it on her shoulder.

Marley laughed, "No. I mean—not exactly."

"Marley!"

Marley flushed, "It was Summit's entrance exam for this year, each member of the team got one. Summit doesn't reuse the questions and one of the professor's gave it to us, to see if we could figure it out. I think I know what's wrong with it, but it's just an idea, and I could really use your help."

"Really?" Quinn asked.

"Yeah, I think I know exactly what's wrong with it, and I could really use your abilities to help stabilize the core—I could ask Charlie but she's on a warpath with the rest of the team, and I really don't want her focus on me and the rest of the support team."

Quinn looked over at the rest of the team, where Charlie was pacing. Charlie only paced when she was irritated or had a lot on her mind, and since she knew her twin better than anyone, she had to assume it was the former rather than the latter, Charlie never thought things through completely. "Well we can head to my place then, if you need to use my grandpa's tools. I have an essay that I've been putting off, so you work on whatever this is, and I'll work on the essay till you need my help."

"That sounds—" Quinn's attention turns to look back at her twin and her mouth goes dry as she notices sparks flying off Charlie and she groans, Charlie was definitely annoyed, and she needed to calm her twin down before her twin decided to simply get rid of most of the team. "Marley I should—"

"And you said you don't want to be a hero," Marley teases but nods, they needed to stop Charlie before she had a meltdown and thought it was a good idea to throw lightning bolts all over the place.

Quinn doesn't answer as she practically bolts towards Charlie. Flickering lights were usually the only indicator that Charlie was irritated, sparks meant that Charlie had passed irritated and was actually furious, and the only time that had happened was after Charlie's breakup with Dani. She briefly wondered if this was Santana's fault. "Charlie!"

"WHAT?" Charlie snapped at her twin and then blinked when she noticed Quinn. "I'm debriefing the team."

"It looks like you're about to murder the team," Quinn corrects, patiently.

"They blew a golden opportunity because—"

"Charlie," Quinn interrupts, still giving Charlie a patient look.

Charlie glared at Quinn, but for whatever reason Quinn didn't seem interested in backing down. She lets out a frustrated sigh, before turning to the team. "Tomorrow is our last practice at Summit, there were multiple recruiters watching and very few of you impressed them. Go home, sleep, rest, and stay the fuck away from the media. If I catch anyone listening to overpaid analysts, you're benched at Nationals." The pronouncement catches everyone off guard, but before they can argue with her she immediately stalks away. "Come on Quinn. I've got homework."

Quinn raises a brow at this and glances at the team once more, her gaze immediately falling on Rachel. She looked absolutely miserable and even though she wanted to say something positive towards her, Marley was watching and she had promised that she would stay away from Rachel. She would ask Charlie about it later, even though she suspected she understood what had happened from what Charlie had told her. When Charlie finally calmed down she'd talk to her about it. She glances over at Santana, "Next time give her a chocolate bar or something."

Santana rolled her eyes, "I'll take over the debrief, make sure she doesn't lose her shit completely. We do need her for nationals." She wasn't going to keep an extra chocolate bar for Charlie on her. Her body temperature ran hot, she couldn't remember the last time she'd even eaten a chocolate bar that wasn't just a gooey mess. Shifting her focus back to the team she shakes her head, "Normally I'm with you guys and think that Charlie is just full of shit, which she normally is, but this time I agree with her. You guys could have gotten seriously injured because you weren't thinking in the field."

~ O ~

Judy immediately stepped in between her mother and sister, she could feel the familiar pulse of a headache coming on. They always got like this, and it was almost impossible to be in the middle. She loved her mother and she loved Cassandra, they were family and there shouldn't be any sides when it came to helping family. "Mom, I asked Cass to come over. I think Charlie needs to hear other perspectives, and Cassandra was a hero too, she knows what Charlie is going through."

Artemis looked past Judy, focusing on the rather smug grin of Cassandra. "A failed superhero."

Cassandra scowled, "I had one bad week, I got angry at some dude who was fucking stalking me—"

"You put him in the hospital, you nearly killed him," Artemis interrupts, she wasn't going to simply allow Cassandra to paint herself in a better light. "You put a nil in the hospital, after what I can only imagine was a night of debauchery and drinking, he could have died, because you didn't want him snapping pictures of you. Not to mention that as a hero, you were reckless, incompetent, and dangerous. Billions of dollars of damage, you were brutal with the people you brought in, and quite frankly you killed more than you brought in. You consistently showed poor judgement, and hurt someone who was taking pictures of you."

"Enough," Judy interrupts again. "We're supposed to be a family and you two keep butting heads." Judy shakes her head and turns to her mother. "I entrusted Charlie's care to you, none of the other kids wanted to be a hero, and both you and dad did a really good job teaching them to control their powers, but Charlie is seventeen. She's just seventeen, she's a teenager, she should be thinking about girls, about university—about dumb teenager stuff that we all did when we were that age. Truthfully I didn't mind you being as hard on her as you were because I thought she would quit, she's shown remarkably little interest in other hobbies of hers. Remember her guitar phase that lasted a week. I know that you're doing this because you love her, but mom, can't you just let her enjoy her life?"

Artemis spared a brief glance at Cassandra who looked thrilled at this sudden development, Judy had never once questioned her methods before. Before she could defend herself, both Arte and Wolfgang start to bark as the door opens and they zip out of the house before anyone could move. "Perhaps we should have this conversation later."

Judy looks at the door and rubs her temples, as the lights dim and flicker for a second, she slaps on a smile as the kids enter, with her two dogs prancing and jumping up. "Hey Charlie, how was Summit?"

Charlie flicks her eyes at her mother for a moment, ready to dismiss the question when she pauses and spots her aunt. "What is she doing here?"

"When you worry your mother, she bitches to me about you. I came here because Nationals are next week and I came to ask you a favor on Shelby's behalf."

Judy glanced over at Cassandra, "Cass."

Charlie kept her gaze on her aunt for a second, before she tilts her head at her. "Do you want to spar?"

A grin Cassandra's face and she immediately rotates her shoulder to get it loose, "Old rules?"

At this all the tension in Charlie's body practically evaporates, and she cracks a smile, "Old rules, but I really don't want to piss off Brittany by needing medical attention so soon to nationals, so just enough to bruise."

Cassandra shakes her head, "Fine but next time, we'll spar for real."

"Fair," Charlie said as she began to stretch.

Judy immediately placed her hand on Cassandra's arm, "I thought you were just going to talk to her."

"We are going to talk after we spar," Cassandra replied, pulling away from Judy. "Don't worry we'll keep the property damage down to a minimum."

Judy rubbed her temples and looked at Charlie, before sighing, she wasn't going to be able to stop this and perhaps Cassandra could actually meet Charlie at her level and impart some wisdom on her.

~ O ~

"Santana! I know you can hear me!"

Santana slowed her pace, adjusting her duffel bag on her shoulder, she let out an annoyed sigh, and finally turned around to face the current pain in her ass. "You are currently one of the people on my shit list Rachel, so this had better be good or I'm going to rethink my stance on setting you on fire."

Rachel took a step back, there was something in Santana's tone that suggested that the older girl might not be kidding. "I was just hoping that you could talk to Charlie for me, and maybe smooth things over."

Santana's brows nearly flew off her head, from how fast and how hard she had raised them. "What?"

"I know I fucked up. But I just wanted to know what they are saying about me, about what m y chances are. It was somewhat positive and—"

"For fucks sake Rachel it's not always about you! No one gives a shit about your two gay dads, no one gives a fuck that you can sing better than most people. Your star is not brighter than hers, and we don't have time to deal with your weird attempts to get noticed. If you hadn't given any thought to what that no-name analyst had said the entire team could have looked good, but you got in everyone's head, and now you could have wasted a golden opportunity for everyone. It's like how upset you got about not getting your way about going to Fort Salem. If Charlie and her family are wary of this woman and think she's dangerous and sketchy as fuck then I'm going to trust them. Even thought they're dangerous and sketchy as fuck as well. But this was an opportunity and Blaine and I actually learned something, the support kids have gotten to learn shit too, heck I bet you could have learned something if you had stopped being a self-centered bitch."

"Self-centered? We've known each other for years, and I know the only reason you hate me is because you're just jealous."

Santana blinked before she snorted in derision, "Holy fuck. Did one of your gay dads tell you that to make you feel better? No wonder you suck so bad, you honestly think that life is like a shitty after-school special where everything gets tied up neatly into one little bow? Fuck that, haven't you been paying attention. Might makes right in this world." Santana said.

"If you truly believe that, then you haven't changed at all. You're still the same bully you've just learned to hide it better," Rachel responds, clenching her fists tightly.

"Oh fuck off Berry, you honestly think that Charlie doesn't believe that? You think Beiste doesn't believe that's the way the world works. If Charlie tomorrow decided that she was going to become an evil dictator, who the fuck is going to stop her? Seriously? You? Me?"

"As if Charlie wouldn't listen to you, she's in love with you," Rachel scoffed as if it were obvious, everyone on the team knew that they were in love with each other.

"Between the two of us, you're the only one that Charlie has actually dated, and I realized that Charlie is the type of person who would follow a serial killer into his creepy white van if he offered her some food. Charlie has the mental age of a four year old which matches her actual age because she's a fucking leap year baby, and I have many faults, but I'm not a fucking pedophile," Santana retorted. "But you didn't answer my fucking question, if Charlie loses her shit tomorrow and goes on a rampage, are you going to be the one to stop her? And if you are, how? With what power would you make her stop? The reason I don't fucking like you and the reason you were picked on, was because everyone was sick of you talking. It was always about you and how you're better than all of us, so we showed you that you weren't. It's really that simple Berry, and between you and I, once Charlie steps down as captain after nationals, we can finally put this experiment to an end. You aren't special, and I'm done with you trying to dim everyone else's star so you can shine the brightest."

Santana's words are like a sharp slap to the face, and for the first time Rachel wasn't going to take her shit, she had just wanted to apologize, she had no idea why she had expected anything different from Santana. This time she wasn't going to just let Santana get away with making her feel badly about herself. She wasn't going to just take Santana's shit anymore; she wasn't the same person she had been at the start of the school year, and her powers had grown. She probably wouldn't win this fight, but she would certainly give Santana a reason to think twice about picking on her. She quickly opens her mouth and lets out an ear piercing scream, ignoring the fact that it shatters the windows of Figgins new car, starting a chain reaction of noise as car alarms start going off throughout the parking lot.

Santana drops her bag immediately as she covers her ears, Rachel had never shown this in competition, and she grits her teeth, there was no other way to describe the pain then excruciating, nearly as bad as when she had faced that douchebag in fight club. It's nearly to much pain to think through and she barely has the wherewithal to send a blast of fire towards Rachel as she drops to her knees, struggling for breath. She had no idea how Rachel was doing this but she increases the temperature quickly, suddenly feeling relief when there's an explosion and Rachel gets knocked off her feet.

It's an opening and before Rachel can scramble to her feet she feels the wind being knocked from her lungs as Santana tackles her to the ground. Immediately her hands go up to protect her face and head like she was taught when Santana.

"I'm going to burn you from the inside out," Santana hisses her hand alight as she reaches for Rachel's face.

Before Santana can do anything at all she's forcibly pulled back by Shannon who looks incensed, "What the hell is going on!"

Santana struggles against her firm grip, and grimaces when she feels Shannon give it a rather sharp squeeze, "She started it!"

"I don't give a hoot, who started it, or who was going to end things. Nationals is next week, I don't care how angry you are at each other, I'm not going to let either one of you derail the team any further. Rachel, I was going to step back and allow the team to figure it out, but there is a reason that I warned against paying attention to analysts. Look I understand that you think this is your only shot, but you are young and your powers have already become formidable, you still have time and rushing things isn't exactly helping the team."

"I just—"

"No. Rachel, both you and Santan won't be joining the team at Summit tomorrow."

"What? How the fuck is that fair, she attacked me!" Santana yells, hopping to her feet, and getting away from Beiste.

"I did warn you about your relationship with Rachel, Santana. And what I saw when I arrived on the scene was you wanting to hurt her. The only reason that you aren't off the team is because you have stepped up—"

"Fuck that," Santana said pointing at Rachel. "She messed up my chances today, and I'm not going to let her be the reason that they don't get to see me. Unlike her I actually have a chance here, and I'm not going to let anyone stop me," Santana insists.

"You look like crap Santana, and I doubt you'll be medically cleared—"

"If I'm fine tomorrow, then can I go to Summit?" Santana interrupts, everything hurt but she wasn't going to allow this opportunity to pass through her fingers.

Beiste cast a quick glance over Santana, she was hunched over as if she was in pain and she personally doubted that there was a healer who could fix Santana that quickly. Even the best healers took a few days to get things done, and that was only if they knew exactly what was wrong with her. "If you'll be medically cleared—"

Santana immediately turned and hobbled to where she had dropped her bag, and grabbed it, but she can't seem to pull it off the ground and she shoots a dark look at Rachel before she drags herself over to car, she didn't care how pathetic she looked or how much ass-kissing she had to do for Charlie to get Brittany to heal her again, but she was willing to do anything to get to where she wanted to be.

~ O ~

Cassandra gasped for air as she surfaced from the pond, water splashed everywhere as she looked up at her niece who was floating in the air with a massive pleased grin etched on her face as she floated in place. She's torn between being impressed that Charlie's speed had increased leaps and bounds to being on par with some of the slower speedsters of the hero world. Despite Charlie's increased speed, and the fact that it had taken her far longer to catch up to her niece and land a blow. It had been the only one that she'd managed, and Charlie's left eye was currently swollen shut.

"Are you done already, Aunt Cassie?" Charlie jeered from where she was floating. "If you quit drinking you might be a step quicker." Charlie added, as she touched her eye and grimaced slightly.

Cassandra scowled as a bright yellow light enveloped her skin, drying her off as she exited the pond, as she floated in front of her niece. "I stopped drinking about a month and a half ago," she admits looking down at her hands, there was still a slight tremble. It would disappear with time. "I thought it would be like riding a bike," Cassandra admits, she was mumbling mostly to herself.

Charlie blinked and her face nearly cracked in two at the news, "You've quit drinking? That's amazing, Aunt Cass!"

Cassandra blinked in shock, she hadn't planned to mention it to her family and she honestly hadn't expected anyone outside of her father to congratulate her, or even react positively. "Wha—" Cassandra froze as Charlie suddenly wrapped her arms around her and she immediately flinched, expecting to be thrown back into the pond. She blinks in surprise as she realizes that Charlie was hugging her. "Get off!"

Charlie immediately lets go, but there is excitement on her face. "And you're training again—are you going to try and be a hero again?"

Cassandra narrowed her eyes and headed to the ground, trying to get away from her niece. She lands and scowls when Charlie drops down beside her. "Why do you care?"

"Because we can open up our firm! I'm not an annoying kid anymore Aunt Cass! You said if I ever got good enough you'd consider letting me be your sidekick. But you see how good I am, I think we can be partners! If I beat Flair, then I can put our firm on the map."

Cassandra stared at her niece, "You hate me." It's a simple statement, because she couldn't remember the last time that her niece had looked at her with anything other than disdain in her eyes.

"Aunt Cass, I'm not sure if you know this or not, but you're unbearable when you're drunk. You're mean and you're needlessly cruel. I mean I still have your action figures Aunt Cass, I nearly have a complete set. You were my favorite superhero, you're the reason I wanted to be a hero in the first place. I used to tell everyone you were my aunt and I still think you're like the coolest person ever, and a total badass when you aren't drunk." Charlie says, staring at her aunt Cassandra, bewilderment on her face.

"You want to open a firm together?" Cassandra asked, slightly stunned at what she was hearing.

"I think it would be cool. I mean if I beat Charlotte Flair, after I graduate high school we can announce that we're going to open a firm together."

Cassandra blinked and narrowed her eyes, "Like hell you're going to do that. You are going to give your mom a four year period to come to terms that you're going to be a hero. You are going to do that by getting the very best education that you can and getting the very best grades. You take every fucking internship, you learn about the business and you use that time to figure out what type of hero you actually want to be, and more importantly what justice looks to you."

"You want me to go to Summit?" Charlie wrinkled her nose, Cassandra was the last person she thought would be pushing her to go to Summit.

Cassandra nodded, "Of course I do, with my history my insurance rates are going to be insane. Do you have any idea how expensive insurance is for heroes who didn't go to a hero course? This isn't just about saving people, this is a business. A trillion dollar business Charlie."

Before Charlie can respond the sound of Frannie opening up a portal catches her attention and she turns to see who it is. "Britt?"

Brittany turned to look at her youngest sibling, her eyes narrowing immediately when she spotted Charlie's eye which had swollen shut. "Charlie. Please tell me that mom didn't drag me out here, because you walked into someone's fist."

Charlie rolled her one good eye, "I don't need you for a black eye Britt," Charlie points out. This wasn't a life threatening injury and she couldn't feel anything from her face right now anyway. "I mean since you're here—"

Brittany rolled her eyes and flicked Charlie's forehead hard, it was just enough contact to heal Charlie's face. "If that's all."

Charlie rubbed her forehead and scowled at Brittany, "I get that you don't want to heal me all the time, but I really didn't ask mom to call you here for my eye."

Brittany paused, Charlie walked around with injuries all the time, small ones that built up that she would heal and fix up because her sister treated her body harshly. "Then why did—"

"Britt! There you are, this way!" Lawrence informed his granddaughter. "Santana needs your attention."

Charlie blinked and immediately shifts her attention to her grandfather, "Santana's hurt? Where?"

"Just outside the garage—" Lawrence began but Charlie suddenly took off leaving them standing there. Lawrence exchanges a look with Brittany who had a delighted look on her face.

"They're so fucking cute," Brittany squealed, grinning at her grandfather.

"Santana still needs medical attention," Lawrence reminds her, watching as Brittany immediately heads into the house to get to Santana, and he sighs and is about to turn in when Cassandra waves at him. Well that certainly explained why his wife was in a bad mood, but that doesn't stop him from heading down towards the pond. "You look good," he said as he approached. "Charlie gave you a good workout I take it?"

Cassandra rolled her eyes, "She's only better than me because I spent over a decade drinking and doing hard drugs, by next christmas, I should be back to my fighting weight and be able to put the little shit in her place." Cassandra scoffed.

Lawrence blinked, there was no bite in Cassandra's words and she had a rather pleased smile on her face, "I'm glad that you two are finally getting along."

Cassandra shrugged, she was tempted to tell her father but she was going to wait until after her licence had been renewed. "I started working out again, I've lost a few can't keep up with her, you don't mind—"

Lawrence laughed, "Of course, someone needs to teach her humility!"

~ O ~

"Try to keep your breathing even—" Artemis began before there was a loud thud, and she turns and nearly gets shoved out of the way by Charlie who is suddenly in Santana's personal space and looking her over, carefully. She blinks as she watches her granddaughter before Charlie takes a step back.

"You look like shit," Charlie announces to Santana who shoots her an acidic look, that Charlie shrugs off. "Did the person who hurt you last time hurt you again? If you give me a name I can make it look like an accident."

"Firefly." Artemis reminded her.

Charlie blinked and realized that her grandmother was right there, before she can say anything in her defense Santana spoke up, causing Charlie to return her attention to Santana. "Calm down Rambo. We both know you're not going to hurt Rachel."

Charlie's brows nearly flew off her head, "Rachel did this to you? You let Rachel get the drop on you?"

Santana scowled at Charlie's tone, it was humiliating to be in this position. "I was heading to my car and she ambushed me, and Beiste stopped me before I could roast her inside out. I'm only here because she said I wouldn't be able to go to Summit tomorrow if I wasn't medically cleared." When Charlie doesn't immediately respond Santana slowly clenches her fist feeling the pain in her hands, all of her joints ached and felt stiffer than they should be. "I would have won."

Charlie tilted her head, "Of course."

"I'm not—"

"Santana, Rachel got the drop on you. I certainly would never have been able to predict Rachel snapping," Charlie said dismissively. "You don't need to prove yourself to me San, I know how strong you are. I'm honestly more surprised that Rachel isn't here with you with severe burns."

Santana huffs immediately, "She would have been but Beiste saved her."

Charlie is quiet for a moment, turning slightly when she hears the front door open and spots Brittany having a quick convo with their mother, "Rachel wasn't the reason you were hurt before—" she whispers.

Santana rolled her eyes, though she was slightly touched that Charlie still seemed concerned about her. "I got hurt while I was at fight club."

Charlie blinked. She had expected Santana to simply blow her off, "What?"

"Fight club, you know based on the movie?" Santana explained.

"I know what fight club is! Why didn't you invite—"

"Charlie I may need a bucket, so make yourself useful and stop stressing my patient," Brittany interrupts looking at her youngest sibling.

Charlie ignores Brittany's demand, "Me? I would have invited you to a secret fight club if I knew it existed!"

Santana rolled eyes hard, "Charlie, you're super annoying and I wanted to blow off some steam because you enjoy getting under my skin."

Brittany snorted as Charlie's jaw dropped and she flicked Charlie's ear causing her sister to scowl at her, "Bucket."

"She should get her own bucket!" Charlie insists, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Firefly," Artemis sighed, wrapping an arm around Charlie's arm and dragging her along. "It's not attractive if you're acting like a petulant child," she whispers to her granddaughter.

"She didn't take me to fight club with her! If that isn't a betrayal—"

Brittany tunes Charlie out and shakes her head as she quickly turns her attention back to Santana and lets out a low whistle, "You look awful."

Santana tears her eyes off Charlie, the amused smile at seeing Charlie acting childish fading as she looks up at Britt. "I'm pretty sure it looks worse than what it is." Santana flinched when Brittany poked her on the forehead.

"You have fluid build up in your joints, quite a bit of extensive soft tissue damage and your tendons don't feel right," Brittany informs Santana, taking a step back. Well she understood why her mother called her, but it wasn't something that would take her more than five minutes. "I don't need a bucket, I just wanted to get rid of her. I know how she can be."

Santana smiled, watching as she felt a certain warmth slowly start to fill her body as Brittany took her hand. "She's not that bad, I mean she is but not like all the time, she can be weirdly aware sometimes."

Brittany bit back the huge grin that threatened to split her face, Santana was Charlie's perfect partner, "True, but she's also very, very dumb. You need to remember that and be patient with her."

Santana raised a brow, she wasn't sure what Brittany was getting at. "I don't like her like that," she insists her cheeks flushing.

"Of course not, Charlie is very irritating," Brittany said in a tone that indicated that she didn't truly believe Santana at all.

Santana cleared her throat, "I mean, even if I do date her she'll still sleep with other girls right?"

Brittany paused for a moment, "Well that's a conversation with her then, Quinn and Charlie are not the same person and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised when Charlie stops being obtuse. You just need to wait for her to stop being obtuse, and defensive, and stupid."

"I have your stupid bucket." Charlie grumbled returning.

"I don't need the bucket." Brittany informs Charlie, grinning as Charlie huffs and storms away. She winks at Santana, "So just be patient."

Santana nodded, she had no plans to actually do anything about what she could only imagine was a stupid crush. "I feel better."

"I'm not done," Brittany informed her, pushing her back down.

~ O ~

Charlie tapped her elbow in a rhythmic fashion as she stared at her team, the vast majority of them had guilty looks on their faces, but she needed to actually lead the team. She was certain that she could single-handedly win nationals without them, but some of them had potential and she was loathed to see that wasted. "With the exception of Blaine, I'm disappointed in every one of you."

Santana narrowed her eyes slightly and looked at Charlie who immediately averted her gaze. The action is enough for her to roll her eyes hard. Charlie was clearly still pouting about fight club. She shakes her head and immediately glances at the rest of the team, well it would be good to be seen as one of them

"I shouldn't need to remind you, we're supposed to be in New York on Sunday. We'll be running scenarios all morning, if you guys show me that yesterday was an aberration, we'll spend the rest of the afternoon and evening learning from some of the top heroes." Charlie informed the team, looking at each of them. "I will be splitting my time all day giving most of you one-on-one attention." Charlie's gaze falls onto Rachel. "That doesn't mean that there will be no consequences. I just don't have the mental capacity to deal with your bullshit or whining right now. I also don't have the time right now to tear you down and build you back up into passable heroes, so I'm going to hope that my rather spartan training methods hold."

Rachel glanced around before raising her hand slowly.

"Put your hand down Rachel. I just said I don't have the mental capacity to deal with your bullshit or whining right now. With that said, it's time to go." Charlie said, turning around as a massive portal opened up. She was going to have to beat it out of them by the end of the day and hope that they were all rested by the time they did this again on Sunday.