A Reward for Brotherhood

By a stroke of luck, it would be Ethan that would be the first of his group of friends to discover that something quite unexpected was happening as June arrived. He had arrived home early, and had collected the mail. He had discovered that there were two identical envelopes in the pile, both of the same high quality paper, each containing a card. One was addressed to him, the other to Flint. He turned it over, and paused as he read the return address on the back; then he opened the missive carefully and read the card inside. He was certain that there had to have been some kind of error in the admin department of the organisation in question. That was the only possible explanation for the fact that The American Theatre Wing would have sent him, and presumably Flint, an invitation to the Tony Awards. Later that evening, he was as shocked as the rest of them to discover that most of his closest friends in the Warblers had also received one. The big question on their minds was exactly why…

It was the question that was still on everyone's lips as they made their way to the Radio City Music Hall on the 11th of June. It was a Sunday evening and that meant that for those such as Cooper, Rachel, Sebastian and indeed Mason, they had already spent the bulk of their day at a theatre, and all they really wanted to do was head home and relax. Instead they had all donned their best outfits, and were escorted by their partners to the annual gathering of all of the glitterati of the Broadway world. They had all found time to grab a quick bite to eat before they had left their respective shows, and now they were meeting the others at the venue.

Nick had to admit that when he saw her, his sister looked lovelier than she ever had before. Grace was in a dress that Isabelle had lent her from the Vogue closet; the fact that it happened to be a KEH Collection number made it all the more pertinent that evening. Rachel's dress that evening had also been designed by Kurt, but was in a different style which suited her perfectly. Sam felt a little out of place, as he always did when he was in the most formal of attire, but Blaine had worked with him on his look, and he looked every inch the star himself. As for Cooper himself, he had opted for the standard tuxedo, albeit one that Kurt had made tiny alterations to, so that it fitted him better. He had also agreed to his brother-in-law's suggestion that he should wear a small candy cane brooch on his lapel; it wasn't something he would usually have contemplated, but Kurt had pointed out that the media would pick up on it, and adore the symbolism.

As a nominee, Cooper was in the fortunate position that he had been given a ticket for an additional guest, and so his mom was also there that night. She looked more radiant as they stopped on the red carpet for photos than he could remember for a long time, and in the dress that she had also been privileged to select from the legendary closet with the assistance of Isabelle, she looked a million dollars. Once they were inside and seated at their table, Pam looked around her, enjoying the atmosphere and the knowledge that later on her son could be leaving here with one of the most prestigious awards in theatre. The only regret she had that night was that it felt as if the wrong son was here at times; after all, a few years ago this would not have been Cooper's environment. Blaine could not be here, however, and if his brother won in his stead, then she was certain he would be looking down in happiness at the scene…

The son in question was, of course, seated in line of sight of Cooper and his friends, with Kurt, Wes and Finn at his side. None of them had wanted to miss out on this night, given that Cooper was up for an award. Rachel had missed out by a whisker, but whereas the old Rachel would have made complaints to the committee about the gross injustice, now she accepted it. She would have other opportunities after all, and her show was up for a lot of awards in any case. What pleased her most was that one award was more or less guaranteed in her opinion; Bette was a definite for the win as Best Actress in a Musical, and most of the world agreed with her.

Wes had come for another reason; he was curious as to why quite so many of his boys had been invited tonight. Yes, as Kurt had said, everyone that was involved in making Broadway shows work was invited to attend, but they all did so on a nightly basis, whereas most of his flock had appeared for one night only… He smiled as he looked up and saw Sebastian warmly welcome his friend Jenny to the table they were all sat at; her success in the tour of the show was well known, and she was a big beneficiary of Sebastian's moment of madness. Moments later Sebastian was hugging the woman he called Auntie Bette, and was then introducing her once more to Jenny, who was still a little awe struck, Wes noticed. Looking around, he saw Julian Smythe enter the room, with Isabelle on his arm, making their way over to the Vogue table. He smiled too as he realised how inventive his boys had been with their plus one tickets. Jane, Dave, Elliott, Mercedes, Tina and Izzy were all in the room as legitimate partners. Roderick, Kitty, Artie, Santana and Brittany had made it through the door thanks to Ethan, Nick, Jeff, Trent and Rory respectively. It was going to be a night for them all to remember, that much was true…

The awards for musical actors were at the very end of proceedings, so Cooper was able to just relax and watch as the awards for plays were given out. It all seemed perfectly normal as Sally Field introduced her little montage on the history of the Tony Awards - but then something unexpected happened. At the end of the film, rather than moving on to the award for Best Actor in a Play, Ms Field instead returned to the podium, and spoke.

"Ladies and gentlemen, as you have just seen, the history of the Tony's is a long one, but tonight we are going to see something of a first. It is my delight to have been asked to present a special award for which there was only one nominee…" There was a spattering of chatter at that, which quickly died down. "If I say to any of you those immortal words 'The show must go on!' you will all immediately think of a brave actor carrying on regardless in the face of adversity or despair. In tonight's case, the adversity was caused by some dodgy shellfish. It looked as if there was no way whatsoever for the show in question to go on, but then one young man rounded up a group of his friends, and between them they brought the house down…"

In that moment, the mystery was solved. Wes found himself on the point of squealing in delight like a little girl. Beside him, Kurt and Blaine just stared, open-mouthed. In the audience, Cooper turned to Grace and mouthed the words "Oh, my, God!".

Not that far away, a group of young men were all slumped down in their seats in a state of complete shock, staring at Sebastian, wondering if this was actually happening or if it was all some mad communal dream. I mean, could that one night stand as Mormons to help out one of their bird brothers have actually lead them not just to a seat in the award ceremony, but to an actual award? Could the Warblers just be about to win a Tony?

"It is a brave director indeed that risks the reputation of his show with an untrained cast, but the young men in question had at one time been members of one of the two best high school show choirs in Ohio, if not the United States. What happened on that one night last summer has gone down in the annals of Broadway, and thanks to a number of well placed phone calls from the Dean of a certain performing arts school, it was reviewed favourably by the most respected of this city's theatre critics. Those in charge of the Tonys all agreed that such an event should be recognised, and to that end, we have this new, special award. It gives me great pleasure to present this Tony Award to those young men, and lady, that ensured that the show did go on; and therefore I would ask them to join me on stage now. Ladies and Gentleman, please give your warmest congratulations to Mr Sebastian Smythe, Mr Mason McCarthy, Mr Trent Nixon, Miss Jenny Garrison, and the group of young men that supported them ably in the show, collectively known as The Warblers!"

As the crowd started to applaud, and indeed a few began to cheer, including a certain Ms, Midler, a shell-shocked Sebastian was being helped to his feet by David and Thad; Nick and Jeff were doing the same for Trent; and Mason was being propelled forward by Roderick and Jane. Jenny joined them, and grabbed Sebastian's arm, helping to steer him in the direction of the stage as he blinked back happy tears. He could now hear the shouts of delight from his current fellow Mormons in the show from their table at the back, and he could certainly hear Wes screaming in joy far above them all, with Blaine joining in from time to time. Once he was on the stage and could see the audience, he saw above the glare of the lights the Hello Dolly! table, where Bette and Rachel were on their feet; at their table nearby, Cooper and Grace were also standing and applauding… And then he spotted the Vogue table, and his brother. Julian was crying and clapping like mad, being partially propped up by a smiling Isabelle. It was still all so unbelievable, but it was real; it had actually happened. He was leading his friends up on stage to collect a Tony. He had won a Tony! Then he almost smirked as he suddenly realised that for the rest of time, Santana would remind Rachel of the fact that he had won one first…

Of course, actually taking the award into his hands rendered him speechless for a while - and that was when he realised that he now had another problem; he had to make an acceptance speech. He turned round frantically in the hope that someone else might step up, but his eyes saw only Thad; as if he was reading his mind, Thad shook his head, making it quite clear he would not be stepping up; and if he wouldn't, then it really was all up to him… But what on earth did he say?

"Okay, Meerkat, as Wes and Blaine are still in raptures, you've got me. Just repeat everything that I say…"

Never before in his life had Sebastian been so grateful that Kurt Hummel existed, and was invisible to the bulk of the audience. He was happy to do just what Kurt suggested…

"Well, what can I say? We never expected this in a million years. It is such an honour and for most of the guys up here, this will be their only chance to actually win one. For me and Mason though, well we both hope that we will be back up here someday…" He paused, as the audience chuckled. "In the finale of the show, the song lyrics include the line 'we're there for each other, every step of the way.' Well, that is exactly what the Warblers are like. I needed help to realise my big chance; I asked them, and in the end, they came through for me. So this award isn't really for me, it's for all of them, and for the lovely Jenny, of course, even if she did think I was mad at the time… Anyway, Jenny and Mason, you'd best grab hold of this whilst you can, because no doubt Thad will be mentally deciding where this will be going in the trophy cabinet back at Dalton Academy…"

Another burst of laughter filled the air, not just from the words Sebastian had just said, but at the fact that Thad had adopted an innocent and nonchalant look; whereas in his mind, he had already moved the items in the cabinet in question around so that the latest trophy could find a prominent place. Sebastian smiled, and then knew exactly what to say as a finish. "There are a few other people I need to thank; the director of the show, for allowing me to go ahead; the half of the cast that weren't sick, who supported us brilliantly; those behind the scenes, who worked overtime to help us; Mr Mike Chang, a brilliant friend, who used his dance skills to choreograph us at a rate of knots; and finally, to three of our number that left us far to early. Kurt and Blaine, you guys should be up here with us, as was your dream - and finally, Wes, without you, we'd be nothing! Thanks for making us the team we are. Thank you, and see you next year…" At that, they walked off the stage, Thad smiling to himself at the last words, knowing that they would have reduced the man he loved to tears. He hoped he would have a chance to speak to him soon, but for now, they had to head back to their seats, and just admire the trophy sitting proudly in the centre of the table.

The surprise of the award for the Warblers impromptu performance meant that Cooper nearly missed his own cue to step up on stage and perform a song from his own show; a performance which earned him a standing ovation from the audience made up mainly of his peers. Time then seemed to drag as they ran through the awards one by one, and then suddenly, Tina Fey was there on the stage and uttering those words…

"The nominations for Best Actor in a Musical are:- Andy Karl, for Groundhog Day; Josh Grobin, for Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812; Ben Platt, for Dear Evan Hansen; David Hyde-Pierce for Hello Dolly!; and CJ Hummel-Warbler for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

Cooper held his breath, a smile fixed on his face, as Grace reached out and gently squeezed his hand.

"And the winner is…" - Cooper would subsequently swear that the pause that followed was the longest few seconds of his life so far - "…CJ Hummel-Warbler for…"

The rest of the sentence was drowned out as around him noise erupted; the sounds of applause, of yells of delight from the Warblers, of screams of joy from his mom, Blaine and Kurt. Just as everyone had told him he would, he had managed to do it. He had gone from a bit part actor in infomercials in L.A. to a bona fide Broadway star - and the proof of that was about to be placed in his hands. His name was going on record as being amongst the winners at the 71st Tony Awards…

It took Cooper a lot less time than Sebastian to make his way out of his seat and up onto the stage to collect his trophy. He looked back at his table as he stood there; at everyone now up on their feet and cheering for him. He could feel all the hands that had patted him on the back as he had walked through the maze of tables to reach this spot; could even feel Bette Midler's lips on his cheek where she had surprised him with a kiss as he walked past. He had rehearsed this moment, just in case, for the last few weeks, going through it step by step in his mind; he had even written himself a speech of sorts. He knew that as a consequence it was highly unlikely that Kurt would come and whisper in his ear as he had done for Sebastian…

He found himself being handed the award itself by Tina Fey, who was smiling broadly, and then he had no choice but to make his way over to the podium as the applause began to die down. He smiled at the crowd, then took a deep breath. "Well, this was something I never imagined winning, at least not this year; after all, I was up against a group of people that are much more talented and experienced than me. The judges obviously however disagree with my personal opinion; either that, or they confused me with someone else…"

As a ripple of laughter sounded round the room, he smiled and went on. "I would like to thank the entire cast and backstage crew at Charlie, because I am only standing here now clutching this award because of all of you, and the magnificent work that you all do, every single day. I would like to thank my director for taking a chance on a relatively unknown actor like me, instead of recruiting the A-lister that the backers all wanted. I'd also like to thank the Dean of NYADA, Carmen Tibideaux, who might have been the person that mentioned my name in the first place; my friends, some of whom were Latter Day Saints for a night; and naturally, my family - my lovely mom, my brothers-in-law to be, Nick and Jeff, and my fiancée Grace, who has to be one of the best looking women here tonight. Finally, though, I would like to dedicate this award to two young men who aren't here tonight; my brother Blaine and his fiancé Kurt, who were taken from us all in the cruellest fashion, and who both harboured dreams of being where I am now. I came to Broadway for them, and I think I might have done them proud… Thank You!"

Cooper walked off as the applause echoed around the room, and a few tears formed in his eyes. He had done it, and it did feel pretty special to be holding such an iconic award in his hand… "First of many," Tina Fey suddenly whispered in his ear, as they nearly made it back into the auditorium. "I've seen the show, and you deserve this…" With that, she left him to walk back to his table, where he immediately handed the award to his mom, who just beamed with pride at the fact that her son had managed to come here, beat the odds and win…

Eventually, with the last of the awards handed out, including of course the Best Actress in a Musical award for Sebastian's 'Auntie' Bette, the ceremony was over. There were photographs to be posed for; Thad organised his boys and Jenny into a tight group around their award, somehow engineering a pose that allowed Sebastian, Trent, Mason and Jenny to all have a hand on it at the same time. Cooper posed with his mom and Grace, then found himself posing again with Bette and Sebastian for another photographer, and then with the two of them, the Warblers and Jenny for Vogue. Then of course there was the official award winners party to attend, open to recipients and their invited guests; with help from Bette and her connections, they managed to get Rachel and Sam in. Commandeering a corner of the room, Bette then insisted that they all sit with her there, and when Broadway royalty told you to do something, you complied.

It allowed them all to check their phones for the first time, most of which had messages galore. Mason was left smiling by the video message that he had received from Alistair and Spencer, in which the two of them were literally jumping around for joy, screaming at the top of their voices about how they could not believe that he had just won a Tony. Nick had a message from his mom, which immediately made him cry, and the one he then opened from his grandparents made him cry all the more. Jeff's parents had also left one that had the same effect. Trent's phone had messages from his parents, his sisters, Burt and Carole, and Séamus and Becca.

Amongst all the joy, there was a sudden horrified gasp, and all eyes turned to Flint. He was very pale as he scanned the message, but then he smiled, before reading it out to them all. 'Apparently you were in a Broadway show. This is a big surprise as you never mentioned it, although I can guess why. Your mother is conflicted; she is horrified that you were playing a Mormon, but also desperate to boast to the Ladies Circle about how you've just won a Tony. Expect a call. Love, Dad.' There was a little laughter at that, and then Beats just smiled and said that at least his parents were delighted he's kept his clothes on this time. That comment brought the house down, and earned him a questioning look from Bette. Sebastian knew he would need to explain that one…

Ethan was not really paying attention to what was going on; he had opened his phone expecting to find nothing, but found a message from an unknown number. He opened it, and immediately knew two things; he could say nothing about it to the others, and also just how Mrs Wilson felt. The message read 'OMG! Wish I was there! D.' He smiled that Drew had seen their moment of triumph on television, but now he was so worried about what Lucy would do when she found out…

Sebastian meanwhile was reading one from his maman, which had him smiling but tearful. "My little brother, Broadway star and Tony winner," came a voice, which had him jumping up to hug his brother. "Isabelle can get you in anywhere," Julian whispered, to explain how he had gained entry. As his brother greeted Bette, and took his brother's Tony in his hand, just for a hold, Sebastian turned back to his phone, and saw he had a new message, from a surprising source. 'You've done well. I should have had more faith in you and your choices. I'm sorry that I misjudged you. I really am proud to say you are my son tonight.' He paused, then smiled at the praise from his father. He resolved to show it to Julian later, but for now, he simply replied 'Thanks, dad. That means a lot. I really am trying to be good…'

It was early in the hours of the following morning before everyone finally made it home. As none of the Warblers were prepared to give up their Tony award quite yet, Sebastian and Dave found themselves en route to the West Village, instead of Murray Hill, where they would spend the night in one of the guest rooms at Nick and Jeff's place, whilst the others crashed in the houses around about. Artie and Kitty were still awake when they returned home, and all of them agreed that both of them could have a turn at posing with it, just as long as Artie promised to return the favour when he won his first Oscar. The Tony ended up on the bedside table next to Sebastian, who smiled quietly as he drifted off to sleep, well aware that the first thing he would see when he woke up in the morning was that glittering trophy. He was also fully aware, although the others were not, that a small replica of the award would be making its way to all of them individually, given time; Bette had informed him that it usually happened when a Tony was awarded to a group, so that all the cast and crew in a show for example got something. She didn't see why this should be any different…

Across town, Mason and Roderick had headed straight for bed, both of them enthused by Mason's success. He had been more than happy to clutch onto Cooper's award all the way home, knowing that wherever the award he had actually won ended up, he could still say that he had one at home. Pam too had headed straight for bed, tired from the joy of the ceremony and the party, where she had absolutely refused all of the offers of champagne, sticking to fruit juice and soda water. Before she headed upstairs, she had kissed Cooper on the cheek, and then uttered the words "I am so very proud of you tonight, Cooper. You've proved to everyone just how talented you are, and I should never have doubted you. It is just such a tragedy that your brother isn't here to witness this; I think he would have been the proudest of us all, albeit tinged with a little jealousy…" She smiled, then headed up to her room to sleep.

As for Cooper and Grace, well they had a reason to wait up, even just for a short while. As Grace began to make hot chocolate for them both, she felt the by now so familiar gust of air in the room from two pairs of wings, and she smiled.

"You took longer than I thought," joked Cooper, as Blaine and Kurt materialised in front of him, both of them grinning madly as they eyed the trophy on the table, which did look a tad incongruous next to the cruet.

"We had to wait on mom going to bed," huffed Blaine, "not to mention on the two of you getting back from the party! Would it be alright if we…"

"I think that your brother knows better than to deny us the opportunity to hold an actual Tony award, my love," laughed Kurt. "We would also like to thank you for the dedication, although your talent was always going to be appreciated in whatever line of work you embarked upon."

Cooper blushed as he watched his little brother pick up the award, and saw the huge smile appearing on his face as his mind pictured it being his own; in that dream he was standing with Kurt at his side, listening to the adulation of the crowd. After a few seconds he passed the trophy over to Kurt, whose own face lit up as he pictured his dad and Carole on their feet, applauding him as he lifted the trophy, and prepared to make his acceptance speech….

He was stirred from his thoughts by Grace returning to the table with four mugs of hot chocolate and a box of cookies. "I thought that the two of you might appreciate a mug of this yourselves, plus it will allow you to gaze at the prize for just a few more minutes…"

Cooper chuckled as he watched the two of them take a seat, plunking the Tony down between the pair of them, their eyes twinkling and their faces aglow. "We should have kidnapped Jeff tonight and got him to draw this scene," he mused to Grace, who had to agree that the fond look the two angels were giving the Tony was adorable to say the least. She resolved to suggest the idea to her bother-in-law the following day…


After the excitement of the Tony's, life quickly returned to normal, more or less. Ethan was a few minutes late for work the following day, but no-one in the office was going to pull him up for it; indeed, he arrived at his desk to find a cardboard cut out of a Tony award waiting for him. Flint walked into his office and was immediately given a long round of applause, which made him as red as a lobster, and things were no different for Beats. David was fully expecting a similar response when he got back to his own work in L.A., not to mention a lot of love from Mercedes, who was so very pleased for him. He only hoped that she would not have to wait too long to win a Grammy of her own.

As for Thad, he was sent a photo by Mrs Carmichael of the music trophy cabinet at Dalton, with a space already cleared in it, front and centre, in anticipation of something new… He could only laugh, wondering how she had known he would be bringing it to Dalton. He put it down to her extremely good knowledge of him and the others, or to the fact that Wes might have told her…

In the case of Jeff, he agreed wholeheartedly when Grace made her suggestion, and had raced over to Murray Hill to make his initial sketch, given that both the Tony and the two angels in question were available. Everyone had to agree that his initial rough draft was spot on and captured the whole mood perfectly. That mood lightened all the more when a UPS man arrived with a package for Mason; his shriek of delight as he pulled out the small replica Tony was almost drowned out by that of Roderick. Jeff was delighted to discover a package of his own when he arrived home, and the photo he took of his, Nick's and Mike's standing side by side on the mantelpiece got a lot of likes. Santana had liked it the most; she could now taunt Rachel that even Mike had won a Tony before her…

For Cooper, the day went on without further incident, and it was only on the following day that it really hit him; that was when he walked up to the theatre as usual and suddenly spotted that the posters and the marquee had changed slightly; they now bore the legend 'CJ Hummel-Warbler; Tony Award Winner 2017' on them. That was the moment it truly hit home, and he realised that he really had arrived; finally, he was one of the princes of the Great White Way…

The faces of the Warblers, along with those of Cooper and the other winners were splashed across newspapers, magazines and most other media outlets that month, but for Jeff, he would make a second appearance as the press covered a gala for upcoming new artists at the Met a few days after the Tonys. Nick was unable to attend as he had to undertake a few days a week, as part of his law course, interning at a law firm, and they were unable to allow him to have the time off to attend the daytime party. Nick had been disappointed to say the least, but Jeff understood that his husband's work was important to him, and the idea that he would be able to take time off work for relatively minor moments like these, well it was even more unlikely.

The firm Nick was working for was small, and based in Brooklyn; it took on a lot of cases that no-one else would handle as the potential fees were too small. He had visited the firm that Grace worked for a few times, and Nick was not sure that he liked the atmosphere there. Money seemed to be all that mattered to most of the people there, not the justice that people really needed. Grace got round that by spending a couple of evenings a week volunteering at a free law centre in Harlem, and Nick knew that he would do the same if he ended up working for one of the big firms. The lawyers he was interning with were a married couple, who were happy to take on cases that would never get near the courts otherwise, given the financial situation of their clients.

Nick admired them as they had the same ethical outlook as him; to them justice was more important than cash. It had always been the case, long before he had inherited so much money himself, or found out that his husband was so much wealthier than they could ever have imagined. The two lawyers immediately saw this in Nick, and that he had a strong work ethic; in fact, they often had to virtually throw him out of the office at night. Even with that, he still found time to go to the store, and cook for himself, Jeff and sometimes Mike. Jeff had been working on improving his own skills in the kitchen, conscious that Nick was pushed for time, and they had agreed that he would make dinner twice a week, so that his husband could come home and just relax.

Jeff's trip to the Met was made with Artie at his side instead; it had been Kitty's suggestion, as it would also force Artie to take a break from his editing on his big documentary showpiece, Dalton Boys. He had completed all of his interviews with the young men that had been at the school during Hunter's reign of terror, and had also interviewed Burt, Cooper and many of the current and former staff at the school. Now it was just a case of piecing all the information together into a coherent narrative, along with placing the entire film of the Splenda incident, which had been the tip off to the outside world, comfortably into the film itself. He was also pondering whether he should speak to Elspeth, to ask for her views on her younger son, but he knew that would not be an easy discussion for either of them…

Artie had to admit that it was nice to get away from all of those images for a while and support Jeff. He was, of course, filming the entire thing, and afterwards he guessed he could ask Jeff for his opinion on how his mother would react if she was asked to talk about her prodigal son. Neither of them had anticipated quite the size of the crowd that would be assembled, with the great and the good of New York's art scene in place to support one of its brightest new stars in his moment of glory. Jeff spotted the mayor amongst the crowd, and a spattering of the glitterati who like to claim art as one of their interests. This time he took the whole thing in his stride, his now long hair tied back as he stood by his own work, hanging there proudly in the gallery, and chatted to the invited guests. Artie was mistaken for Nick twice, but he quickly corrected them, using it as a chance to mention his own work in the sphere of film. Kitty would be so proud of him…

As the world around them seemed to turn more and more crazy, the lives of the young people connected by two boys that fell in love on a staircase carried on in what seemed like the usual pattern. Sebastian found himself offered the chance to play McKinley in the show for a week, and he took it. He was an instant hit in the part, even if he did feel guilty about taking it over others in the cast that had been there much longer. In addition, Mason was now in the spot that he had been the previous year, and he couldn't help but feel he might have done the part more justice. On the first day that Mason had been there, his presence had felt strange to Sebastian, and he almost felt that he was waiting for the others to appear, but now it was normal. Mason was also lucky in that the group he was in were much friendlier.

Sebastian also knew that Carmen was using his performance in the role as a part assessment for NYADA. He had ended his junior year with Sam as his closest rival amongst the males, but he knew that his senior year would be the make or break one. It was what happened after that that would be the real test. He would be leaving school behind, and he would have to go out and find himself a full-time role. That would be when he found out just how good he was…