"What did I say about emulating my sister?" Frannie demanded as she watched the team start filing into the locker room, Santana was carrying the newest banner while being helped to the bench by Finn and Blaine.

"It was a physics problem," Santana grimaced as the adrenaline began to fade and she began to feel the pain that was radiating from her knee, she didn't want to take a look at it. She had heard the crack. She had nearly passed out from the pain but she had managed to stay up right.

Rachel let out a laugh, and immediately cleared her throat when Frannie turned to look at her. "Force is mass times acceleration. If you can beat them with mass then you can make it up with acceleration," she mumbles.

"Congratulations you know basic physics," Frannie said looking at Rachel before turning to look back at the rest of the team. "I understand that all of you think that Charlie's cool—"

This is met with a loud cough from Santana, "No one thinks that."

"We let her think that we all think that she's cool because it's Charlie. She'd just be even more outrageous if we didn't," Blaine adds.

There were a few nods from other members of the team and Frannie snorted, before clearing her throat. "The point I'm making is the things that you see Charlie do. From the small things like jumping off a building and landing on her feet, to switching to hand to combat, something which you all know she's not that great with. Charlie is reckless with her body, because she can afford to be. As you get older dropping down on your knees like that, destroys them. Using your body as a weapon is something that you do because you have no choice. The assignment was to save the children, it wasn't to defeat the villain. Sure you got bonus points, but the result? Santana, the only reason that I am not more pissed at your recklessness is because Charlie can heal you. But that isn't something that any of you should rely on. Joint injuries are some of the hardest to fix, and for the most part they leave your body weaker. And this is your second knee injury in a year. You're shortening what could be an excellent career."

Santana waved off the ice pack that Coach Beiste "I beat the enemy, and saved children—we got bonus points, this is a hero competition. I know it's just a competition but I'm ready—"

Frannie sighed, they couldn't be expected to see the big picture. They were teenagers, and they were insulated. Charlie had made certain to keep them insulated, but Charlie wasn't there and they were nearly adults the time for ignorance was gone. Nationals was just around the corner and her maternal instincts were to keep them safe, and prepare them for the world. "Did you notice the increased difficulty?" Frannie questions. "Of course you did, everyone felt it."

Regina made a few tired gestures to Frannie, glad that there was at least an adult who was fluent in ASL. Emma was leaning against the lockers half asleep.

"No, the difficulty increase has absolutely nothing to do with Charlie. Part of the reason the Commission raised the difficulty was because of that stunt you pulled at regionals. Why in the world do you think Charlie was annoyed with you? But that high of a jump has nothing to do with you, I assume everyone here witnessed what happened in Chicago and at the same time all over the world?" Frannie questions the teens, her hands moving so Regina could follow along. "The numbers aren't official yet, but Chicago was a disaster, the death toll is still being counted. Queen Maeve, Charlotte Flair, Lady Liberty, Homelander, The Utopian and Charlie all arrived on the scene, and even with all that firepower it still took them several hours to catch the Villain called Wraith, who ultimately escaped. It was a massive failure. Thousands of civilians died. But while the news media is currently focused on the failure of six of the strongest AI's in America failing, they're ignoring the bigger problem. It was a coordinated attack. Part of my job is to get heroes to where they need to be. Hundreds of heroes from America went all over the world to help out. To contain the threat. And while Chicago was happening there were quite a few heroes that were killed in action."

"A third," Coach Beiste stated. "The United States lost a third of its registered active heroes. We lost far more in support heroes, we lost heroes in training. The only reason that this is being kept quiet is because of the panic that it would cause. For the past few years the threats have become bigger, I realized my limitations and retired. My knees are shot, as Frannie stated. Doing things that look cool when you can't heal yourself, is silly and I needed a double knee replacement."

"A third?" Santana whispers, no one anywhere had said anything about it. They were still counting the dead civilians and cleaning up downtown Chicago.

"This is not to be repeated outside the room, but the Commission and various politicians are worried about the level of most heroes. Something that my grandmother has been preaching about for years, before her death. The first family of AI's, The Utopian, Lady Liberty and Brainwave are all over 100 years old and are starting to show their age. Charlotte Flair has serious limitations in her abilities that have been exposed multiple times. Don't get me started on Vought Industries, and Homelander. As for my sister, that's an in-depth analysis for another day. Basically the Commission has decided that Nationals this year will start using real threats to start weeding out the weak from the strong. This is a plan that my family is against, and while we have a seat with the decision makers, we've been outvoted. Which is why I asked at the beginning which of you really want this, because at Nationals, you'll truly be on your own. Teenagers will die."

"What?" Kitty whispers.

"They'll of course say that it's safe, and they picked weaker than average monsters but it's still a level3 threat. Charlie estimates that maybe 4 or 5 people are capable of soloing a level 3 threat on their own and even that's only under the right conditions. Charlie's threat assessments are never wrong when she's aware that there is a threat. A team might be able to pull it off, but she'll be the first one to tell you that in New York Charlie wanted to run away. Even as powerful as she was, she wanted to flee. I needed to talk her through it. I know you think that I'm being a hardass because my sisters have convinced you that I'm a sadistic monster who attempted to murder them when they were young. In my defense, they were annoying. You've met both of them, you know how irritating they both are. I am trying to keep you alive, that's why Charlie called me. That's why Quinn didn't give you the heads up, when it was decided. But it isn't a game anymore, this isn't just because you want to get into Summit, or use this to become a celebrity, there are real consequences now."

Frannie looks around the room, which had gone silent. The celebratory mood that they had been in had evaporated at her words. Her eyes fall on Santana who immediately looks down at the ground and she points to her injured leg. "You become a liability if you injure yourself that badly on the field. Charlie isn't here to take New York to the dark ages if you get hurt. She won't be there to save you."

Jason raised his hand, "Can we refuse?"

"What?" Frannie questions.

Jason looked around the room, but he was alone here, he was also the weakest person on the team. He could make a tree grow, but he didn't have the stamina like the rest of the team did. "I don't want to die."

Frannie's look softened, "I'm not going to let that happen, but there is a lot of work that needs to be done before nationals. If I or my family can prevent this we'll do everything in our power to do so." Unfortunately Charlie had managed to inherit her grandmother's seat at the table and if she knew her sister it wouldn't go well, even if they were in agreement. Charlie was far to brash, and she was annoyed her grandmother hadn't prepared her properly. "With that out of the way, congratulations on your win. On Monday we will go over a post mortem to take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly. I'll be opening a portal home in an hour." With that Frannie nods at Coach Beiste before they leave the locker room, leaving a once jubilant team quiet and contemplative.

~ O ~

Rachel hissed as Quinn placed a cold hand on the bruise on her hip, it wasn't too cold but the sudden pressure did cause her some discomfort. "You know my dad could have gotten me an ice pack. You didn't need to invent a reason to keep your hands on me," she teases.

"It's an excellent excuse, and if you're going to get bruises and bumps then this is the least I can do to support you," Quinn replied, keeping a completely straight face. "You did great out there today Rachel."

"If you could tell that to Frannie, that would be great. She wants to do a post-mortem and that's after she tore into Santana for what was essentially my idea. I think she also broke Jason, I know you did warn me about her, and while I don't think Frannie's the monster that you make her out to be, she did cover me in spiders."

"Frannie," Quinn begins, before sighing. "Frannie wanted to be an only child and she's still salty that my parents decided that the best way to fix their problems was to have more children—I mean don't get me wrong I owe my existence to that. I mean she was semi-okay with Brittany, but twins were something else entirely and she alleges that Charlie and I were menaces who enjoyed tormenting her, so she was merely defending herself."

Rachel blinked and shot Quinn a look, she didn't trust Quinn's attempt to play innocent "So, her throwing you into lava was your fault?"

"I was a child and Frannie was a teenager, even if it was our fault she shouldn't have done it," Quinn insists immediately, defending her actions. "She's mellowed out since she was a teenager, and now that she's a mom, Frannie's a good mom. Her maternal instincts are top notch and she does care just in her—but it'd be a lie to say she doesn't get a thrill out of torturing people. We're pretty sure that she's a dominatrix in her free time."

"When you say we?" Rachel questions, before shaking her head. "You two share a brain cell sometimes."

"It's not just Charlie and I; Brittany thinks so as well! I mean Brittany could totally be fucking with us, but it tracks."

Rachel rolled her eyes at this. "Brittany is fucking with you, and I can only imagine the terror that you and Charlie reigned on anyone. With you as the mastermind."

"Me? You know how annoying Charlie is!"

"And since when did you ever follow what Charlie wanted?" Rachel scoffs.

"Right now. We're going our separate ways after we both graduate. It makes sense, Yale is on the East Coast and Summit is on the West Coast. We'll both be to busy—"

"Quinn, there's a reason that you don't follow what Charlie wants. You think she's an idiot, and she has her moments, but she's your sister, and you love her."

Quinn rubs her thumb against the bruise that's forming on Rachel's hip. "She thinks that I blame her, Rachel. She thinks everyone blames her, and saying I don't blame her—isn't exactly accurate. I just don't think she holds the most blame, and it's not like I'm not angry at her. I'm working through it with Linda. I'm not abandoning her, just she needs her space Rachel and honestly so do I."

Rachel turns so she can study Quinn's face for a moment, "Don't forget that you're family Quinn."

"We share a face, and I've checked Charlie's birth certificate, I'm aware."

"And Charlie gives you good dating advice, you really should have her write it down so you can study it—who said you could move your hand?" Rachel asks when Quinn rolls her eyes and drops her hands.

~ O ~

"Can I remove your pants for nonsexual purposes?"

There was an absolute stillness in the air, as Santana turned and looked at her ex-girlfriend who was staring at her rather intently. "Excuse me?" She hears a loud snort and shoots a glance over at Brittany who is trying her hardest not to laugh out loud.

"Can I remove your pants for nonsexual purposes Santana. This will go better if I can actually see what I'm working with," Charlie repeats again rather flatly, holding her hands in the air.

"Are you shitting me right now?" Santana questions, glad that she couldn't actually feel any pain.

"Santana, given our history and your accusations of sexual—impropriety on my part, I need to hear you give me consent. Consent is very important right Brittany?" Charlie said not taking her eyes off Santana, even as Brittany practically wheezes beside her.

"Very," Brittany manages to say, it sounds a bit like a squeak, but she hadn't expected to laugh this hard.

"I understand that Charlie, but when you say nonsexual purposes it's fucking weird. Just say you need to remove my pants to see my knee, this isn't complicated," Santana narrowed her eyes and tilted her head.

"Is that a yes?"

"For fucks sakes Charlie. Yes. You may remove my pants to look at my knee," Santana scowled at her.

Charlie raises her hand and a pair of scissors floats and she begins to use her abilities to cut Santana's leg free, she finishes and immediately grimaces at the sight of her knee, which was already turning a gnarly black and purple on top of the massive swelling. She reaches for it for a second before withdrawing her hand away. "Do I have your consent to touch your leg and knee in a nonsexual manner?"

Brittany immediately loses it and begins to laugh hard, wiping at her eyes at how ridiculous this whole thing was. Santana looked like she was about to hop off the bench and strangle Charlie, and her sister was currently looking at Santana with a completely straight face. Her sides ached horribly.

"Why are you being weird? We've had sex, you've seen me naked and I catch you staring at my boobs, far more times than I care to admit. I know you watch me leave whenever I get up and exit a room. So stop being a fucking weirdo!"

"I'm not being weird Santana, you're the one that called me unattractive. It's not sexual harassment if you're attracted to me! It's called flirting. Now I'm trying to heal you and I need your consent and you're the one making it weird."

"Okay, enough you two. I don't need to die from laughter," Brittany said, wiping a tear away from her eye. "Santana we need to heal your leg, I need to teach Charlie what to do and how to fix it. She's not a great healer, she'll do it when she's in the headspace for it, but she needs to know what to do on a one on one basis like this. You just relax, your leg will be fine in an hour or so. Two if she's still as slow as I remember."

Santana paused for a moment and looked over at Charlie for a moment, "Let's split the difference, she's going to be extra careful to not mess up which takes time."

"I'd get it done in five seconds if you just let me—"

"No, we talked about this Charlie. You can't cheat Charlie," Brittany interrupts, narrowing her eyes, the amusement gone from her features.

Charlie let out a breath, "Fine, what do I have to do?"

"Well—" Brittany begins, only for Santana to raise her hand.

"Look if this is going to take a while, can you hand me my phone and headphones, I need to get a shopping list for Charlie, all the food that we want to eat for coming in first. We are collecting on the promise of free expensive food, cooked by you. Don't worry the apron won't be too embarrassing."

Charlie rolled her eyes, but her lips quirk upward. "Santana you don't have to pretend that you don't want me only in an apron for your benefit, but the rest of the team will be there and I don't want them to feel inadequate. Also I need time to research recipes, and test out some cooking techniques, so we'll do it next Saturday."

"Fine, but you can't back out."

Brittany tilted her head, the aura around Charlie had been gray bordering on black at times, but the smile and the scoff, she could see a multitude of colors but mostly it was a flash of bright red directed at Santana. "Stop flirting, we need to fix your leg Santana."

Both Charlie and Santana turn to look at Brittany as if she's grown another head. "We're not flirting," they say at the exact same time. They turn to glare at each other.

"I'm mad at her!" Santana insists.

"She called me unattractive," Charlie says, calling Santana out.

"You broke up with me!"

"Right, forget I said anything." Brittany nodded before pointing to Santana's knee which was swollen, but even through the swelling there was a clear indent where the bone had been cracked in half. "Did Frannie give you the lecture?"

"Yes," Santana grumbled.

"Good." Brittany nodded and looked at Charlie, "Alright, so the first step is assessing the damage," she begins as Charlie gently touches Santana's bare leg.