Quinn swore loudly as she ransacked the bathroom looking for sunscreen, there was no way she was going to sit in an open stadium in Texas of all places without it. The last thing she needed was to get horribly burnt, and while she was certain that Rachel would help her, she was not pleasant company when she was in any sort of discomfort let alone pain. "Charlie, did you finish using all the sunscreen?" Quinn yells out, after checking every last bottle to make sure it wasn't sunscreen. When she doesn't hear a reply she lets out a loud groan and heads across the hall to Charlie's bedroom, knocking on it but entering without waiting for a response. "How are you not ready yet?" Quinn asked.

"It's Adventure Time," Charlie responds without taking her eyes off her phone that was currently floating above her eyes.

"Are you seriously not coming?" Quinn questioned.

"Not only has Santana told me that she doesn't want me anywhere near sectionals, she also told me that I was unattractive, which hurt my feelings. Plus it's a bright sunny day in Texas, I'll burn. And while I can heal myself, Brittany has informed me that I'm not to do anything of the sort without her supervision. I'll probably catch the replays after. Besides Frannie's there."

Quinn blinked, "Well Santana's not wrong, brooding and moping around isn't attractive to anyone. I'm pretty sure you told me that last year. Not that this matters, where is the fucking sunscreen? I don't think lobster red is attractive and things with Rachel are still new, and I want to look my best for her."

"Quinn, I'm watching Adventure Time, you can make a run to the store or you can go to Texas and get burnt and have Rachel taking care of you. Or you know, find Frannie, because you know she has sunscreen on her person. I mean there are a million options that don't involve me, Quinn, so let me watch Adventure Time in peace."

Quinn rolls her eyes and turns, spotting Charlie's keys on her dresser and grabbing them. She opens her mouth to say something before deciding against it, they were going their separate ways soon, and while they managed to pretend that things were alright in front of everyone else, she could feel the strain. "Enjoy your show." Charlie doesn't even bother to respond.

~ O ~

Frannie looked at the team that she'd—co-opted from Coach Beiste and flashed them a smile, watching in delight as they shuddered and stood at attention, perhaps she had missed her calling, she should have been a drill sergeant. "The world knows that I am helping you so anything other than a first place finish will reflect poorly on me. I don't think you want to find out what your training will look like if you guys place instead of a first place finish." Frannie waits a beat before turning to look at Santana. "As Captain you should probably say a few words to light a fire under their ass. Remember no one that you face today is going to be more terrifying than I am."

Santana grimaced as she took a step forward and turned to look at her team, "Well that was the stick, anyone remember what the carrot was if we win? Charlie in the most ridiculous apron, I already have one picked out, a funny short order cook hat, and the most expensive all you can-eat food from around the world. I'm talking melt in your mouth, seafood, steak, whatever vegan and vegetarian dish that Kitty and Rachel want. The goal is to make her wallet hurt, while also enjoying the fact that Charlie is such a massive foodie we're going to be in for a culinary treat." Santana grins, "See Finn's already drooling! So let's go out there and kick some ass, because I think tomorrow we will feast."

There was a loud whoop from the team, before Regina makes a few quick gestures to Emma who clears her throat, "Are we a hundred percent sure that Charlie knows how to cook?"

"I've eaten Charlie's cooking before, she's really good at it," Marley reminds the team.

Santana glances at Frannie who shrugs her shoulders, "No one enjoys food more than my sister, and she's really good at making it. If she promised you a feast, then I suppose I should show up, free expensive food is one of my favorite things. Plus I can totally trick her into buying some really good wine and scotch for the adults."

Coach Beiste blinked, "Is this an open invitation?"

"It'll be a nice team event," Santana declares, knowing she should probably check in with Charlie but she really couldn't think of a reason why Charlie would renege on their deal. She takes a shaky breath, she needed to show the world that she had fucking arrived and all the extra practice and all the blood and sweat and tears that she had put in for the last few days would help people take notice. Would help Summit take notice, she had no intention of going but she wanted to know that she was good enough to get in. "No holding back, we need to show them the new McKinley, and we need to make them very afraid of us."

With that there's a knock on the door to let them know it's time, and they start making their way to the field, she takes a look at the roar of the crowd and quickly looks around and smiles when she spots her mother and abuela in the audience sitting near Quinn who is talking with Rachel's parents. Her smile freezes when she sees the empty seat beside Quinn. She immediately puts it in her mind, she didn't have time to fixate on Charlie she needed to be focused on her career, just like Charlie was.

~ O ~

"So what do you think?" Jerri Hogarth asked Charlie as she stood in the penthouse apartment. The panoramic views were something else, letting in the natural light and giving Charlie a view of Downtown LA. She had managed to get it for a steal, all 4600 square feet and she had already gotten an interior designer to furnish the place getting it ready for her client. This was normally a job for one of her associates, but with a client like Charlie and the massive amount of money that was coming her way she had decided to make sure that she gave Charlie her personal touch. She had been surprised that Charlie had asked her to find her a place in downtown LA, but Charlie was putting roots down. And she had already begun to reach out to the various powers that be to see how much they were willing to pay to have Charlie as their hero. The numbers that were being thrown around were immense, and she knew that Charlie would need a business manager sooner rather than later. But her client had rejected every application so far.

"How much was it?" Charlie questioned looking at the furniture.

"Do you actually want to know? I mean you paid cash for the place so it's yours. It belongs to one of your corporations so no one will know that you own it."

"My father?" Charlie questions.

"No, he has no idea. He will notice the missing money at some point, and ask questions but I'm your lawyer and all this is strictly under attorney-client privilege."

Charlie nodded absentmindedly. If she could afford it then it didn't matter, this was her own little place away from everyone. "The security?"

"Top of the line," Jerri answers. "It also has a pool and hot tub, and you should see the view at night."

Charlie looked around, "Alright, what about the rest of my properties? I want a property manager to make sure that everything is taken care of. Someone discrete, I would prefer if they weren't aware of who I was. I value my privacy."

"I'll start the process, and get it done through one of the many L.L.C.s. that you own, I'll move the money around and find the best person for you."

"Pay them above market rate, I can afford it," Charlie said, reaching for her headphones that were around her neck. She would start moving her things into the building and then the day after she turned 18 she was going to be gone. Being in LA meant that she wouldn't need to be in a Summit Dorm.

Can't stop these radical dudes

The secret of the ooze made the chosen few

Emerge from the shadows, to make their moves

The good guys win and the bad guys lose

Charlie sighed and reached for her wallet and pulled out her license and sighed. "Duty calls, do you want me to open a portal back to New York for you?"

"I would like that," Jerri hesitated. She didn't get much alone time with Charlie and she was still worried about her impending doom. "Before I head off, my disease—"

"Has been fixed, you should go and talk to your doctors," Charlie answers as she looks at where she's supposed to meet. She opens a portal for herself and before Jerri can say anything or do anything she steps through it leaving a portal for Jerri to walk through.

~ O ~

"Good of you to join us," Carmen Tibideaux said as she returned her attention to the field, the observation deck at the Texas Stadium along the walls were live feeds to the other sectional events that were happening across the country.

"What is she doing here?" Walter Sampson demands getting up from his seat.

"Please Walter, she more than deserves to be here. She's one of us whether you want to admit it or not," Sheldon Sampson, The Utopian says, speaking up in her defense.

"Hey Charlie," Sasha waves at her. "Your girl is impressing the recruiters."

"Hey Sasha, and she's not my girl we broke up." Charlie responds, her tone relatively flat and she nods at Charlotte and the rest of the 4 Horsewomen. Before her eyes flick over to Homelander who looks utterly bored with what was going on, as did Queen Maeve. "I thought that this was an emergency."

Carmen glanced at Charlie for a moment, "It is an emergency, you've heard about the deaths? We've lost hundreds—thousands of heroes. Many firms are unable to meet their obligations—"

"You've been giving hero licenses to anyone with a pulse for the past 70 years, doing the bare minimum of training. The standards have slipped since the 60s which is the only reason that a mind rapist and a psychopath are currently sitting here as if they were relevant," Charlie interrupts Carmen. "Homelander consistently kills people, he is a sadistic lunatic who attacked me for reasons I have yet to figure out. The union is filled with jackbooted thugs, who quite frankly are just as problematic as Homelander and yet you denied my Aunt her license."

The room went silent Charlie's anger was palpable, and there was an uncomfortable tension in the room. "And you disagree with the decision? Even after everything that has happened?" Carmen Tibideaux questioned, finally looking at Charlie and meeting her gaze. When Charlie doesn't answer and her eyes glow she sighs, "Your grandmother came to me and questioned the wisdom of allowing Cassandra to become a hero, given your relationship with her—"

"Do not blame your shitty decisions on me. I am not my grandmother, and I damn sure not my aunt. I am my own person. There were a million reasons to deny my Aunt's application. But don't sit there on your fucking throne and tell me that you did this in my best interest, when you allow that fucking psychopath a hero license. He's done far worse than whatever my Aunt did to lose her license."

"Okay I think I've heard enough of your wild hysterical accusations," Homelander said as he stood up, his eyes glowing a deep red as he got ready to blast her.

Charlie shoots him a look, her eyes glowing, "Sit. Your. Ass. Back. Down." It's almost an instantaneous thing as he is forced back into the chair. "I really don't like most of the people in this room, so tell me why I'm here Carmen?"

Carmen sighed, this hadn't gone well but she hadn't truly expected it to. "The world is in crisis, and we've lost hundreds of heroes. The Inter-High event has always been about looking for the next group of heroes. And your grandmother was one of the many people who was fostering and sponsoring talent. That seat, her seat now belongs to you and as the youngest member and quite frankly the strongest AI that we have, we are hoping that you could shed some light—"

"Close down most hero schools, and only have a few select universities. Everyone should intern for a hero firm. Hero Firms, should have a strike system implemented, a civilian oversight board that isn't fucking cozy with psychopaths. This isn't complicated."

"On our plans for nationals," Carmen finishes. "We plan on using live monsters, nothing higher than a level 3—most of us are in agreement that at your age you should be able to handle a level 3 monster."

"Have you lost your collective minds?" Charlie questioned. "There are maybe 5 teenagers that I saw last year who could handle a level 3 threat. Santana, Dani Harper, a few students whose names I didn't catch, the speedy one that doped himself last year. A level 3 threat is a threat that endangers a whole city and major infrastructure. You'd need a minimum of 10 level 4 heroes to take them out. 1 Level 5, and even then that's not a guarantee. Especially the monsters that are capable of evolving mid-fight. Do not look at me like I'm the norm, you're going to get teenagers killed."

"Charlie, we don't want to see any dead teenagers," Sasha says, speaking up. "But you've felt it Charlie. There are more and more monsters that are appearing that are level 4 and above, the threats are getting more serious and we need to start producing people who are capable of working together to take down threats. Those that can take them out on their own as you said, Santana Lopez and Dani Harper are capable. That's what we're looking for. Santana Lopez's actions at regionals was the one that gave us this idea—"

"Just so I understand, you saw Santana acting recklessly, and she was acting recklessly, and thought this is what we need in more heroes? Actually you know what, please don't answer that." Charlie said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I object, if I haven't made myself clear. In fact I want it on record that I think that this is one of your shittiest ideas and people are going to die." Before anyone can say anything, Charlie opens a portal and shoots a look at Carmen, "I hope it goes without saying that you shouldn't call me using my license unless people are actually dying, you know actual emergencies. The world is on fire, the oncoming apocalypse, an alien invasion, not whatever the fuck this is." Charlie threw in angrily before storming through the portal and closing it behind her.

Charlotte hummed, "That actually went far better than I expected. I honestly thought she was going to punch someone."

"I mean my money was on Homelander," Sasha said, giving the side eye to him.

"Really, I had money on it being Brainwave or Bayley," Becky comments.

"I didn't even say anything!" Bayley grumbles.

~ O ~

Santana let out a breath of hot steam, her mouth was dry and her lips and she was exhausted. The very idea that Charlie had gone around the world, and fought multiple threats for most of the day and well into the night. She needed to keep pushing herself, and keep fighting. She was certain that Sectionals was far harder than it had any right to be but she couldn't complain. They were currently in first place by a wide margin, but anything could happen in the last event that would drop them down and she wasn't going to take that chance. She didn't want to see what a bad day with Frannie looked like.

"You good?" Blaine asks as he rotates his back trying to get it to pop. He was drenched in sweat and his hair was now a massive ball of frizz.

"Exhausted," Santana admitted as she turned to inspect the rest of her team, it wasn't a terribly hot day, but compared to Ohio at this time of year this was summertime, and the sun beating down on them was draining all their stamina. "But there's enough in the tank for whatever they're going to send to us next."

"I don't think we're going to have the full team," Blaine grimaces as he uses his sweat to try and tame his out of control hair. He tosses Santana his water bottle, "Hydrate."

"Right," Santana says, taking a sip and grimacing, as a massive amount of steam comes from the water as it touches her skin, causing it to instantly steam. "Fuck," she mumbles, she would need to take a break but she had a feeling that if she stopped using her abilities now there was a real chance that she'd collapse with exhaustion. "How are the other teams doing?"

"You mean the teams we have to look out for or the teams that are left?"

"Both? I think? I don't fucking know, are they as exhausted as we are?"

Blaine shrugged, they had started off strong and they had kept that momentum up but now their tanks were running on empty, as Rod Remington began to speak once again. "Even if we lose this event Santana I think we'll still come in first."

"Losing isn't an option Blaine, Frannie won't accept that. We have to win, unless you want to be the one covered in tarantulas or you know whatever that tentacle monster is. Where the fuck does she keep it? What is it? I mean I thought Charlie's fear of the sea was silly, but she's very strict on the whole she doesn't fight tentacle monsters. I understand why. I have more questions than I have answers."

Blaine shuddered, "I dare you to ask her the next time she brings it out."

"I like being alive Blaine," Santana grumbled as she stretched out her back, listening to Rod drone on. If this was sectionals then they'd have to work even harder to get first at nationals. "This doesn't sound so bad," Santana said she was certain she could solo it, but the recruiters looked for people who could play well as a team. "Save the kids from the villain, before they become infected. I'm pretty sure we can do this in our sleep."

~ O ~

In all the time that Rachel had known Santana Lopez, which had been since they were children she had never once seen her flames die, but as the fight dragged on she was witnessing the flames that had once tormented her start to sputter. It was clear at least to her that Santana, who had been spreading herself thin for the entirety of the competition, was running on fumes. They needed to end this before Santana's stamina ran out completely.

She immediately reaches for her earpiece, if her voice could be used to give Santana the bit of energy then she'd sing her heart out. Because it wasn't just Santana who was struggling with stamina they all were. She wasn't even sure where Emma and Regina had gone off to. "Santana, your flames—"

'I fucking know Hobbit, and for the love of god focus on getting the children Life Model Decoys out of the building and getting them to safety. I've got this.'

Rachel chewed on her lip, as she picked up the smallest child and looked over at both Finn and Sam who had grabbed two children and had them tucked under her arms. Between the three of them Sam had the most firepower. "Sam, hand off your kids and go and help Santana. She's going to need help."

Sam looked over at Santana, with each punch and kick that she threw, the LMD of a villain simply fought back, punishing each of Santana's mistakes and her lack of power with heavy blows to the body and face. This was far more difficult than last year. "Alright, I don't know how much help I can be, I tried to get past its shield and it repelled me. Santana caught the brunt of it."

Rachel frowned, there wasn't much she could do, a scream probably wouldn't work and it was a robot her voice wouldn't work. They were running out of options and they needed more offensive options. What would Quinn do in this situation? If freezing it wouldn't work, she would have tried some ice spears and if that failed to yield the results she'd move to other offensive options. But right now there weren't any, which meant that she needed to rely on her training. She had spent most of her summer with Charlie. She should have picked something—Rachel freezes and reaches for her communicator again. "Santana, this is a physics problem."

'I'm not in physics I'm struggling through AP Calculus—the fuck do I know about physics. If you aren't going to be helpful—'

"You don't need math, you need to beat its force with your force. You need to accelerate as fast as you can. You can make up the difference in mass by increasing the acceleration," Rachel explains. "That's how Charlie fights with people who are far stronger than her."

"Rachel we really need to go," Finn whispers to her, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her along. As Santana's flames finally sputter out.

"Finn we can't—"

"Sam." Finn says handing over a child life model decoy and placing it on one of his shoulders, before wrapping an arm around Rachel's waist and picking her up as if she weighed nothing, ignoring her struggles as he booked it, trying to get to the safe area. It wasn't as if he didn't want to help Santana, but he wasn't quite sure what he could do. He didn't have the offensive firepower that Santana had, or Artie or even Regina and Emma. But he was strong enough and he needed to get his team to safety. Santana would be fine, he had to believe that.

"Finn, we've got to go back!" Rachel insists as they exit the warehouse to the roar of the crowds. She looked up to see the big LED display board that had the scores and video of what was going on inside the warehouse. She squints because she could have sworn—

Before Rachel can process anything there's an explosion of flame, and what sounds like thunder as the warehouse suddenly explodes sending debris everywhere as it catches on fire. "Santana!"

Finn turns and lets out a breath as he sees Santana dragging her left leg as she slowly exits the burning building, and throws what appears to be the head of the Life Model Decoy that was a villain at his feet. In that moment she looked like a conquering hero, covered in bruises and cuts, her hair which was pure fire at this point was whipping around in the wind. Finn blinked, "Holy. Shit."

The words are out of his mouth as the buzzer sounds ending that this part of the competition was over, and before anyone can do anything a portal opens up and Charlie steps out and looks around the arena which immediately goes crazy at her presence. She barely acknowledges the crowds as she moves to support Santana's weight.

It takes a few seconds before the cuts and the bruises are healed, but Charlie doesn't let go immediately helping Santana to the rest of the team, transferring Santana to Blaine. She opens a portal a few steps away but before she enters she turns around and heads back before raising Santana's hand. "That was badass," Charlie mumbles to her. "You need to do a heroic victory pose so people know that you're a badass. This is like heroics 101 Santana."

"Fuck off," Santana said even as she flushes when Charlie flashes her that crooked grin of hers.

"I will, Frannie's not going to be pleased you did just shatter your knee cap," Charlie said looking at Blaine. "She needs to stay off it until I can have a better look at it and some time and quiet to fix it."

"Understood," Blaine said immediately, noting as medical personnel began to make their way towards him.