A/N: This is a short update, but we'll get back to the fight against Babel and the plan to take them down in the next chapter.

I skipped a few updates, I had a dentist appointment and then some adulting stuff popped up, so sorry for the wait xD

As the Babel shenanigans continue, we'll get more bechloe moments as well! A lot of the first couple of chapters are essentially to set up the grand over-arching plot

I don't own pitch perfect.


Beca tried not to think about the fact that Chloe knew her little secret and focused on the task at hand. There would be a time for that later. Right now, what mattered the most was getting Chloe out of jail.

Although, if anything, her little talk with Chloe about it did make her realize she needed to be more careful.

There was also the fact that Beca didn't know how Chloe felt about Beca being the mafia, or if it changes thing. She's not exactly the most morally upright person out in the world – and she is most certainly not the most morally corrupt – but somehow it did affect her a little. Beca worried Chloe might not be okay with it, or that she would think lesser of her. But she didn't let it get the best of her now. She didn't use to care this much about what other people thought of her. Chloe Beale, however, was not just other people, and for now she seems to be taking things in stride. If Chloe had any qualms about her past, that too was for a later conversation.

Time was of the essence.

And Beca didn't waste any of it.

One quick call to Tommy was all it took to find out where the Kommissar would be that night. Because it wasn't hard to figure out that she would be behind this. She was the one who plotted the researcher and Christopher Beale's death after all.

Beca found Luisa in a small gambling hall. She was sat in a poker table, looking a little too cheerful for her tastes about her winnings, both in her current game and framing Chloe with serious crimes.

"Mind if I join you for a couple of games?" Beca said more than asked, pulling up the seat next to Luisa, the Kommissar.

Luisa eyed her suspiciously, not expecting her for company, but she nevertheless agreed. A silent contest between them on who could win more games. Luisa started with feeling confident, but after a few good rounds and losing all of what she had previously won and then some, she looked quite irritated at Beca and her high pile of tokens representing all that she won.

She may not be the best at subtlety, but Beca knew for a fact that she did, in fact, had the best poker face.

Beca couldn't help but look smug.

Finally getting tired of losing, Luisa excused herself from the table. Beca followed her. "The least I can do is buy you a drink, a thanks for all the money you gave me," she then said. Luisa stopped on her tracks and practically glared back at Beca.

"So you can slip a poison in it?" she then dared ask.

"I don't know what you mean," Beca responded with a shrug.

Luisa marched back up to where Beca stood, her towering height could be quite intimidating to the uninitiated, and perhaps in a different life, Beca would find herself awkwardly fidgeting about with her presence. But Beca was not the uninitiated. She's used to it, practically eating death threats for breakfast on the daily back in Italy. "I know it was you, the one behind the incident at the laundromat."

"Good," Beca replied, completely unfazed and standing her ground. "Then at least we can have an honest conversation. Besides, I think you know I'm here for business, right? Killing you won't solve anything for me, at least, right now."

Luisa was deep at thought for a minute. She seemed to have a good idea of what Beca was doing there and was intrigued at what Beca had to say about it.

They grabbed drinks at the bar at the center of the gambling hall before choosing to seat themselves at a nearby booth. Once settled, Luisa quirked an eyebrow at Beca. "This is about Chloe Beale, yes?"

"Oh good, you're not that stupid," Beca remarked, holding Luisa's gaze. "We both know she's innocent."

Luisa scoffed. "Is she now? I have evidence to prove otherwise. If you believe that, maybe you don't know her well enough."

Beca shook her head. She was a good judge of character; one needs to be in her line of work. While Chloe didn't seem to have any qualms with what kind of person Beca was, she knew that Chloe wasn't the time to actively and willfully disregard the law and break them. At the very least, Chloe was one who was willing to bend it so that justice be what it promised to be, blind and does not favor one over the other because of biases.

"I'm here to make a deal," she then said after taking a sip of her drink.

"You have nothing that interests me." Luisa then said, unyielding. She even sounded a little bit bored.

"Everyone has a price," Beca then replied.

"I used to think that too," Luisa let slip. "But some people, despite being despicable, aren't willing to be bought."

"Who was it?" Beca then asked, quick to pick up on the sentiment. "You tried to bribe someone and failed, didn't you? A bank to back up Babel? A judge? Well?"

Luisa looked at Beca intrigued. "The district attorney, and the state attorney general."

Beca nodded. "Makes sense, they want to keep their seats and that's done by keeping their constituents," she commented, schooling her features. They were after the same people. They wanted to ally themselves with both officials but for Chloe's sake, it looks like Beca had to discard that plan of approach and hand it gift-wrapped to Babel. "Consider it done."

Luisa quirked an eyebrow at Beca. "For a doomed attorney?" she asked amused. "You want to help your enemies? Not even that, but work with someone who tried to murder you with no issues?" she went on to ask with disbelief.

But Beca didn't lose her cool. "Working with the enemy has worked for me before."

Luisa leaned back on her seat and regarded Beca with great interest. "If you can get all that done before Chloe's 48 hours are up, then I don't see why we can't drop those charges."

"Good," Beca said with a smile before setting her drink down. She stood up, not wanting to waste any time. She smoothed out her suit blazer and turned her attention to Luisa. "I intend to deliver, you better too. If you don't, I don't think I need to tell you what would happen."

Luisa simply nodded, still very much amused. It would seem that she had her doubts.

But the thing that Luisa didn't know about was that Beca always delivered on her promises, one way or another.

By the time she was in her car, Beca made three calls. One to Tommy and Justin, asking the two to keep surveillance on both the DA and the state attorney general. Two was to Lilly, asking her to dig up info on the two. The third was to Luke's international number. The last one was more of a plan to help keep Barden Tower and its residents safe.

She would have called Aubrey, but she figured that some conversations were best had face to face. They were throwing away one of their potential trump cards against Babel, after all.

Aubrey looked a little stressed out when she met Beca on the rooftop of the tower. Their problems were quickly piling up before they could even fully celebrate their win. She looked a whole lot more stressed out when Beca told her of her plans.

"I don't even know where to begin," she said at a loss. "If you help the Kommissar in 'buying' the DA and the state attorney general and it succeeds, we lose a powerful ally. If it fails, then we burn a bridge. It's a lose-lose situation."

"Really? I call it a win-win," Beca then said. Aubrey balked at her in disbelief. It was only natural that one would, but Beca had a sound reason behind it. "Would you like to ally yourself to someone who could be bought? Luisa and DSM failed to secure them for Babel but I think that it's all because the deal offered wasn't agreeable for them. For the right price, I think they would have joined."

"What makes you say that?" Aubrey asked, curious.

"Do you know Lilly is the definition of efficient?" Beca then asked with a smirk. Aubrey stood unmoved, wanting to hear an answer. "They're not exactly clean. What they are, however, is subtle."

"And you know their price?" Aubrey then followed up.

Beca nodded. "The DA is a lackey to the state attorney general, he was his underclassman in law school. They were part of the same associations too, so he would follow whatever the other one says. I just need to get the state attorney general to agree, and we're good. As a matter of fact, tomorrow would be a good day to seal the deal."

"How are you this confident?" Aubrey asked, looking at Beca absolutely confused.

Beca smirked. "Because an opportunity landed right in front of us without even realizing it."

"Do I want to know?"

"Why do you look scared to know?" this time, it was Beca who was asking.

"Because the way of the mafia is a little too efficient. As long as you don't kill anyone in the same place as I'm in, I suppose. Someone has to believe you're innocent if they need to defend you and clear your name."

This time it was Beca who looked at her confused and dumbfounded. Aubrey… she... she knows too?!

Aubrey chuckled at Beca's sudden loss for words. "What I like about you, Beca, is that you're not afraid of being who you are. You don't hide it, despite not saying much either. You also have a habit of wearing your heart on your sleeve for things that matter to you."

"Huh?" Beca replied. Sure, she'd let Aubrey have her lack of subtlety as clue number one, but she couldn't understand what Aubrey meant with her last statement. As far as Beca was concerned, she never wears her heart on her sleeve.

"A topic for another day," Aubrey then said. "You have to save Chloe, right? Don't let me down. I already know you won't even dare let her down."

Beca nodded in agreement. She turned to look over at the view of the city before her. "I'm surprised you haven't tried convincing me to turn myself in or something along those lines."

"You're not a bad person, Beca," Aubrey replied. "Even if you've done bad things. I'm not one to judge. Besides, we still need the devil on our side. Just keep your promise, don't kill anyone in front of me."

Beca chuckled. "There are worse things than death, you know?"

"You don't need to tell me," Aubrey replied.

With an understanding between them, Beca and Aubrey worked on finalizing a few of their plans. With Aubrey also taking on her additional work load, Beca looped her in on what her plan was to keep the tower residents protected. She offered Aubrey a chance to come with her to have a chat with the state attorney general, but she declined. Someone had to still work behind the scenes to ensure that Chloe's transfer wouldn't be hastened after all, and work on a back-up plan in case Luisa didn't keep her end of the bargain.

Which meant that Beca was alone to meet with the state attorney general the next day.

Richard Drake had the whole undercover celebrity look nailed down despite not being famous enough to be recognized. He was wearing a simple sweater from his alma matter, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a cap, and shades, while his assistant sat a few seats behind him on the bleachers of the soccer field of one of the premiere private academies in Atlanta.

Beca wouldn't be caught dead wearing something that shabby. So, despite not wearing any suits, she did still dress appropriately chic in a blue button down that was cut just around her belly button. She paired it with a pair of high waisted shorts with a white tied up belt, and a pair of her favorite designer sneakers. This was as muted down as she was willing to go for an outfit. Despite the cool morning breeze, it was still a nice sunny day, after all. She placed her sun glasses on her head as she made her way to join the good ol' Mr. Drake.

"You look nervous," Beca commented as he joined him in watching the high school soccer – it really should be football – field during their training. "Is it because of the rumor?"

"I feel like every parent here is," Richard Drake replied. "This could be a big break for whoever gets selected. From what I hear on the news, Maldini's only going to pick a handful. It'll be a very exclusive list."

Beca nodded along, remembering the interview she saw the night before of Paolo Maldini while visiting one of the colleges yesterday afternoon. "So, which one is yours?"

"My kid? Number 28, he's a defensive midfielder," he replied and Beca had to force herself to act all impressed.

The kid was not even remotely close to good. She couldn't help but wonder if this was a father's dream for his son and he bribed the school through donations to let him be part of the team.

"How about yours?" Richard then asked curiously, eying Beca up and down.

"Oh, I'm only here to meet a friend," Beca replied.

"That makes sense now," he commented before looking rather embarrassed to have said that out loud.

Before he could even ask who Beca was meeting, the whole field of students and coaches came to life as Paolo Maldini of AC Milan walked into their field followed by a dozen other members of his team. Beca smiled, it was nice to see a familiar face, a Paolo who wasn't keen on murdering her.

"Beca!" Maldini greeted and waved as he waived a hand towards her direction.

"Ciao, amico!" Beca then replied before turning her attention back to a starstruck Richard Drake. "Him and me, we're close," Beca then said to him. She turned her attention back to Maldini as he interacted with the kids in the team. "And he owes me quite a few favors, so, say, if I asked him, your kid will be guaranteed a spot in AC Milan's U-21. The rest of his career is up to him, but I think that would be a good start, don't you agree?"

Richard looked at her practically speechless. "Before you thank me, do know it comes with a price," she then said.

"Anything! Absolutely anything!"

"Agree to Babel and DSM's terms and work with them," Beca said coolly. "You and the DA, Francis Jameson."

"Beca, quale? (Beca, which one?)" they heard Maldini ask, looking at Beca expectantly.

"We will, you have my word. I'll call them and arrange for a meeting an hour from now," Richard quickly agreed.

Beca signaled the jersey number, "28" and Maldini looked at her confused. "Lui è il peggiore (He is the worst one)," he then commented and Beca simply shrugged.

Maldini chuckled and shook his head before picking Richard Drake's son.

"Maldini's list isn't final until he leaves for Milan, so be sure to get the deal done today. I expect a call no later than tonight to confirm. Otherwise, your son's future as a football star will be up in the air," Beca then said before putting her sunglasses back on.

Her part of the deal was done.

It Luisa's turn.

And if she knew what was good for, she better deliver her promise.


Everyone was quite tense. It's been two days since Aubrye had gathered all the tenants to explain the situation about Babel E&C's latest demolition attempt. Of course, her neighbors were worried about their own lives being put to danger once again, but Stacie can't also help but wonder if they were also worried the demo crew would discover the rumored gold that they each craved for themselves.

But that was beside the point.

Everyone had their hands full at the moment. Beca had been hard at work on getting the charges against Chloe dropped and get her released. What she was up to, no one was sure. But the residents barely caught a glimpse of her. Aubrey reassured them that a plan was in motion and that all they needed to do was to keep a low profile and stay safe.

Aubrey on the other hand, had been stretched thin, looking up what she could do on the legal end to protect the tower, all while juggling getting Dr. Mitchell's case, working on getting a retrial for the poor man. Stacie knew how passionate Aubrey felt about this case, as the trial was one of the cases that had originally occurred during her time in law school that helped her find her path within the Beale and Posen – formerly only known as Beale – law firm.

The tenants, were really the only ones who were free to resume their daily businesses, not that they were booming. Maybe that's why they also wanted to do something about the situation.

They weren't lying when they said that Beca inspired them, after all.

"I guess I'll have to put this to use again," Benji said sullenly, looking at a pair of shears that he carried along with him, while they all gathered at Flo's canteen.

"Aren't you always using that, you know, from being a tailor and all?" Ashley asked confused.

"I don't want to talk about my dark past on the regular," Benji started to say.

"Hard to believe you have one, but sure, go on," Jessica interjected.

"I used to be in a gang," Benji said seriously. "We were small, but we were called the razor sharps."

Everyone had to suppress a chuckle. They just couldn't imagine mild-mannered Benji being in a gang they never heard before.

"I do know martial arts," Amy then piped up to say. "I'm not fond of violence, but, if need be, I can unleash the Kraken."

Stacie looked at Amy with great confusion. The rest of the tenants though liked the idea of literally fighting back.

Maybe that's where it all started.

Around the late afternoon, Jesse returned at Cynthia Rose's restaurant after making a food delivery, his nose bleeding. Apparently, he had an unexpected run in with the Trebles on their way for the demo.

This was all the inspiration that the residents needed.

Flo and Cynthia Rose got a couple bags of flour and created a trap for the Trebles who would try to kick them out by force. They rigged it around the corners of the second floor since it would be the most accessible, by the elevators and stairwell. The flour would drop and scatter about, creating dust clouds, while Cynthia Rose made sure that the flour bag would pull on a fork or a spoon, depending on the set-up, and hit a pan or a pot to make a noise. This will alarm the residents.

Everyone was positioned, ready with a weapon of their choosing, from shears to rolling pins, to a long sweeper with a bamboo handle. Stacie tried to stay out of any physical approach, promising to call Aubrey if things got ugly and formulating her own back-up plan. Lilly, on the other hand, showed up with a sheathed katana and a shorter blade, where she got it, Stacie didn't know and she didn't want to find out. Even Jesse was all ready to fight back.

The flour bags dropped, and the pots and pans rang, and so a scuffle ensued.

Stacie raced for the law firm but only Emily was there, the young paralegal explaining that Aubrey had just gone and left to visit Dr. Mitchell in the hospital.

"Alright then, can I borrow your laptop?" Stacie asked. Emily quickly handed it to her and Stacie wasted no time in getting to work. "Also, I need you to do me a favor, can I borrow your phone?" she asked as well, and Emily obliged. "I'll sign you into this account, all I need you to do is livestream the fight. Leave calling Aubrey to me," she explained, doing as she promised before handing Emily her phone back, now fully signed in on a fake instagram account.

"Um, okay?" Emily responded confused. "Shouldn't we get help?"

"Aubrey said there will be help," Stacie replied matter-of-factly. "The two of us aren't physical fighters, Ems, so just do as I say for now, okay? Everything will be okay," she replied, already putting herself to work.

Emily nodded and left the office.

It was time for the tenants to strike back.


To say Chloe was confused as to why Chicago was outside her jail cell would be an understatement. But the bigger surprise was to see him there trying to convince Chloe to come back to DSM when DSM, the Kommissar in particular, was the reason she was behind bars.

Aubrey dropped by the other day, informing her that Beca was making plans upon back up plans to resolve the matter and that she promised she would only see Chloe again when she's about to be set free. Chloe's confidence never wavered at all, but she was a bit disappointed that she didn't get to see Beca for a day. They've been meeting up practically everyday since they started work on the BLSD trial, and she didn't quite like the feeling of knowing the absence of her presence.

Maybe that's why she was a bit ruder to Chicago than she intended when she responded to his offer. "Never in a million years," she replied with a huff.

"Chloe, I'm just saying, they're willing to take you back. They get the job done."

"Didn't we beat you the last trial?" Chloe retorted. But her annoyance was growing exponentially by the minute, partially because time was about to run out for her, but also partially because of his insistence. Chicago could be goofy and silly in the office, but he was good with his work and dependable. Why was he being stupid now?

Chicago looked at her exasperated. But if he had any counter arguments, Chloe didn't hear any. The police detective that placed her behind bars marched in at that moment to release her, "You're free to go."

"What?" Chicago looked confused. "How?"

"DSM dropped the charges on Ms. Beale here," informed the detective.

Chloe beamed. She was about to gloat towards Chicago but it didn't seem like he was paying any attention to her. If anything, he looked thoughtful. Here she though he might use this as a chance to drive home the point that DSM wants her back.

But then again, Chloe had hoped, her release was because of one Beca Bella.

And in the end, she had been proven right, much to Chicago's chagrin.

Beca stood in the middle of the precinct with a smirk on her face. She was wearing a light gray blazer, part of the collar that went around her neck made of a different black cloth than the rest of the suit, and a light lavender button down. She paired it with black pants and a sensible pair of black oxfords. She looked cool, calm, collected with a ready order of Chloe's coffee order in hand.

Chloe ran towards Beca and snatched the drink, twirling around to face her while sipping away. Beca's smug look became even more obvious when Chicago joined them.

"You're amazing, you know," Chloe commented. "And ready with my favorite 'dirty water' too!"

"Yeah, quite amazing," Chicago added dryly.

Beca simply shrugged as a response to Chloe's remark before turning her attention to Chicago. "What are you doing here?" she then asked.

"I wanted to work on setting Chloe free," he replied rather monotonously.

Beca nodded. "Well, sorry to waste your time then," she replied before placing a hand on the small of Chloe's back to usher her on. "Come on, we have a lot to catch up on."

This time it was Chloe who nodded, she waved goodbye to Chicago, who stayed rooted where he stood inside the precinct, as she let Beca usher her out.

"Seriously, you're totally the best," Chloe replied, linking her arm around Beca's own as they walked towards Beca's car. "How'd you do it? Did you make them an offer they couldn't refuse? Threaten to send them sleeping with the fishes?"

"Is The Godfather the only movie you've watched?" Beca asked amused.

"Well, it's my only basis for mafia activity, Ms. Consigliere," Chloe chirruped as a response before Beca shushed her. Chloe couldn't help but giggle in response to Beca's reaction. Sometimes she's simply too adorable that it's truly hard to believe that she's a mobster.

"No," Beca replied when they were safely in the car. "I made a deal with Luisa and delivered the DA and the state general attorney in exchange for your freedom."

"But Beca!" Chloe then begun to protest. Her freedom came with a massive loss to their side. Beca seemed unperturbed, however.

"You're freedom is worth more to me," she simply replied, keeping her eyes on the road, leaving Chloe a little bit speechless. "Besides, if they do help Babel and DSM in the end, I guess they'll just have to be punished as well."

"Now that sounds more like the mafiosa I know," Chloe retorted, to which Beca scrunched her face and shook her head.

On the way, Beca explained how she managed to make a deal with Luisa before having Chloe caught up with their other most pressing item, keeping the Barden Tower residents safe. She explained how she reached out to Luke to send some of his contact personnel to act as fake protesters wanting to preserve the tower, people with martial arts and combat training. They'll engage the Trebles, make a whole fuss and break into a fight, then file charges against the Trebles and their fellow hoodlums, while one of them will upload a video of the fight and showcase the brute force that Babel employs to cause an uproar.

"How very mafia," Chloe then teased as they got out of the car at the parking lot behind the tower.

"Can we can it with the mafia comments, please?" Beca replied in a hush tone.

"Would you prefer we diversify to the yakuza then?" she heard Aubrey say as she joined them, having parked her car two spaces away almost at the same time as they arrived.

Beca facepalmed, causing Chloe to let out a chuckle. For someone who was practically always cool, calm, and collected, Beca can easily get flustered too, and the thing was, Beca was incredibly cute when she was flustered. Chloe enjoyed the teasing a little because of it.

The two of them continued on their way to the tower's main lobby where they could hear the loud noises of the fights from the rioters. That's when Beca got a message on her phone, curiosity turned into concern by the look on her face, something that didn't escape Chloe's attention.

Aubrey noticed as well, "What's wrong?"

"The hired protestors… one of them had the flu and it spread to everyone so they cancelled on today's plan. They informed Luke ahead of time, but he just saw the email now thanks to the time difference."

"Why, where is he?" Aubrey asked.

"He's, uh, on vacation," was Beca's reply.

"Wait," Chloe then said, realizing Beca's cause for concern. "If those aren't the rioters, then…"

Beca nodded, reading Chloe's mind and the three of them rushed towards where all the hubbub was coming from.

Only to find their beloved Barden Tower residents completely overpowering the Trebles and beating them up with their fight. They were close together, like the residents were in a scrum. Amy was wrestling Bumper on the floor, Cynthia Rose and Jesse had two other Trebles in a headlock. Lilly was standing over the bodies of the Trebles she had knocked out with her sheathed katana – and on that record, where and how did she get one? – Denise was pulling on the hair of two of them, Benji stabbing a one Treble who pulled out a knife on the back of his palm with his shears. Flo was in the middle trying to hit one of the Trebles who was in turn trying to tackle her, with a long broom that was raised in the middle of it all. Another Treble held the arm with the broom up so it was almost like Flow as waiving it like a flag. Jessica was trying to tackle down the person holding up Flo's arm while Ashley was trying pull away Donald who was the one trying to tackle down Flo. Behind them was Emily recording the whole thing.

The scene looking all too familiar to Chloe, like she's seen it before somewhere.

The three of them came to a halt, the same expression of awe and wonder on their faces.

"Delacroix," Beca then said pointing at them in disbelief.

"The painting… Liberty Leading the People… the one Dr. Hannah Matthews was observing," Aubrey then commented

Chloe nodded in agreement.

She couldn't help but think that a revolution against Babel was coming, just like what the original painting portrayed.


A/N Pt 2: These chapters are getting away from me with how long they're starting to get. I realized I said this is a short update despite not being shorter than the last few, but compared to what's coming, this absolutely is.

Longer chapters mean longer waits between chapters, but I'll always update with two or three on the weekdays.

Anywho…

I guess Beca truly did inspire the Barden residents xD

It helps that Lilly is with them.

Next chapter will be a hoot, after all, there's a reason Calamity from Evermoist in PP3 is listed in the characters that show up in the fic xDDD

UPNEXT: A NEW PLAYER IN THE FIGHT BETWEEN BABEL AND BECA! PERSONAL VENDETTAS ARE PLACED IN ACTION!