Archive of Our Own

The halls of McKinley had never been the safest place, at least if you were a Lima loser. The popular kids ran those halls and struck fear into everyone who was just slightly different from the norm, even among each other. On top were the cheerleaders, national champions, and the pride and joy of McKinley. They ran everything, including the football team—none of the sports teams ever brought home gold, none but the cheerleaders. The girls were annoyed with the lack of skill and standing the boys had in the district.

Coaches would come and go, those who couldn’t meet the standard of the school. Only one coach seemed to know what she was doing, Coach Sue Sylvester. She brought home the gold every year, and she ran the school behind the scenes. She had the principal under her thumb, and all her cheerios obeyed without question. Her top three cheerios, Quinn Fabray, Santana Lopez, and Brittany Pierce, were the perfect girls to carry out all her orders. They kept everything running smoothly and kept her up to date with anyone who dared go against her.

Today the cheerios had a double practice, which means they weren’t leaving the school until about seven or later. Sue wanted to put them through the usual paces; drills, routines, and initiation for some newbies. By the end, most of the girls had passed out from exhaustion. She loved to watch the girls crawl off the green; it made her feel accomplished. “Fredricks, Roscow, Peters - you better show me something new tomorrow, or you’re out. Now, get off my field!”

Quinn, Santana, and Brittany had to help several girls off the field, barely able to stand themselves. When they reached the locker room, Quinn smiled and praised the girl's good work. “Good job, today was a hard day. Tomorrow should be easier if you’re lucky.” The girls usually showered before going home, but many just wanted to be far away from Coach Sylvester. Quinn, Santana, and Brittany stayed behind to shower and go over Sue's few routines.

Deep in the underbelly of the school, something dark had started to come to light. A project that had been in the works for a couple decades. Many failed attempts, but this batch of serum looked very promising. The greenish-brown liquid congealed, a cocktail of pure, potent power. The three stared at it in wonder, would this mixture be the key?

“Do you think it’s ready?” The pudgy-nosed man with a swollen face stared at it intensely.

“We have to test it, but it looks promising.” The man in the lab coat picked it up and swirled it around, watching the sludge fall back into place.

“I need results. The board wants a win here, Landons. Nothing angers them more than failure.” The woman’s voice was stern, no-nonsense, impatient.

“We need to test it on someone strong but expendable, just in case.”

“I have just the brute for the Job,” The pudgy man chimed in, a small laugh leaving his lips.

By the time the girls were done preparing for tomorrow, the janitor was already gone for the night. It was almost midnight, “You two still need a ride?” Santana nodded. Her car was her dad's old clunker, and it needed some repair. So he was having it serviced for her, and it would be ready in a couple of days. Just as they reached the door to the parking lot, a scream echoed the halls, and they stopped dead.

“What the heck was that?” Brittany’s eyes went wide; she clung to Santana’s arm. Unafraid, Quinn started to move towards the screaming. Brittany was in full panic mode as Santana began to follow. “Santana, no,” Brittany didn’t want to be left standing alone, so she quickly followed behind and clung to Santana.

“She’s our ride, and she has the keys. If something happens, I’ll need those keys,” Santana didn’t want to go either, but without Quinn, they were stranded. They found her standing by the basement door. The screams were definitely coming from down there.

“We should get out of here,” Brittany pulled on Quinn and Santana, “I have a bad feeling.” Brittany’s bad feelings were usually spot on, but Quinn ignored her.

“She’s right. We need to get out of here. Quinn, come-” Before Santana could pull Quinn away, a voice echoed from the basement.

“Enough, you’re going to kill him!”

“The serum will work, or it won’t. You knew that.” The voices were male, and Santana recognized one of them.

“Coach Tanaka,” Santana placed a hand on Quinn’s shoulder, “Q, we need to go.”

“He’ll be fine. He is a beast among men. Hang in there son, you’re going to be a force.”

“What are you three doing here this late?” Coach Sylvester had turned the corner to see her girls snooping. “Well, answer me. What are you doing here this late?”

“We heard screaming, and I think Coach Tanaka has someone down there?” Brittany whimpered as another scream sounded; Santana was holding her close now.

“I normally like it when you sneak around in the shadows. You need to leave now, and I will take care of this. You will say nothing to anyone about this. Do you understand?”

“Yes, coach,” Quinn was quick to agree before Santana or Brittany started to ask more questions. She led them away from the basement door and headed out to Quinn’s lone car in the lot.

Sue made sure the girls were gone before heading down into the basement. She placed everything down on the table, “I told you to make sure the school was empty! Idiots, you almost ruined everything. A few of my girls were snooping around. Lucky for you, they can be trusted.”

“You’ve gone soft, Sue. How do you know they won’t snitch?”

“Because my girls are smart, they would not do or say anything that could jeopardize their standing.”

Quinn started to drive towards Santana’s house, saying nothing and focusing on the road. “What do you think is going on?” Santana finally spoke up, looking back and watching the school disappear. She was glad they didn’t go in that basement.

“Whatever it is, it’s none of our business,” Quinn said quickly.

“But-” Brittany was about to comment when Quinn held up her hand.

“No, we need to stay out of it. Coach said she’ll take care of it, and she will,” Or would she? She saw what Sue had in her hands, needles, bandages, bottles of something she didn’t recognize. Sue was a part of something terrible, and it didn’t surprise Quinn at all. However, she was terrified that Sue would come after them.

“I’m scared.” Brittany curled into the backseat, “San, can I stay with you?”

“Yeah, I don’t want to be alone either. Q, you want to stay with us?”

“Yes,” Quinn didn’t want to be alone either, but she played it cool. “Someone needs to keep you two calm and quiet.” She pulled into Santana’s driveway, and they went inside, locked the door, and hid in Santana’s room for the rest of the night. 

By the following day, they timidly made their way back to Mckinley. Everything seemed normal, but as soon as Quinn pulled into her usual spot, she could see Sue standing off in the distance. Standing on a patch of grass, sunglasses cover her eyes and arms crossed. She was just staring at them, “She wants us over there, doesn’t she?” Santana asked.

“Yeah, she does.” Quinn sighed, and they piled out of the car. “No fear, stay relaxed.” The girls agreed and walked over to Sue. “Morning, Coach.”

“Girls, follow me.” They hesitated, and Sue smirked, “If I wanted anything bad to happen, I would have done it while the three of you coward together in Lopez’s bed.” How the hell did she know that? “Let’s go,” She led them to the cheerios locker room. The office there was barely used, and it wasn’t a nice place to be. This room was used for lectures, beratings, schemes. “Sit,” Three chairs were already in place; the girls sat and said nothing. “I just have a warning for the three of you. Keep your noses clean and stay away from the basement. No questions, no snooping, and do not let on about what you think you heard or saw? Or else.” Sue leaned back in her chair, hands on the armrests as she looked over at them. “Things are going to get exciting here, and if you three want in. You will have to prove you deserve it.”

“What is happening?” Brittany asked, and Sue closed her eyes in annoyance.

“Do you three enjoy running this school with me?” They nodded, “Good if you want that to continue, I suggest you not ask any questions.” Brittany went to open her mouth, but Santana covered it with her hand. “Stay out of it.”

“Yes, Coach,” Quinn said quickly.

“Get out of my office,” Brittany was curious. She had so many questions. She couldn’t stop thinking about it; she couldn’t stop staring at the door every time she walked by. When people started to go missing, she became concerned and started to investigate. She needed to know more, and she began to snoop, keeping Quinn and Santana out of it. She found papers in the basement, a lot of big words she didn’t understand. A few names like the serum, superhumans, injections- those she understood. She saw a heavily locked door and tried to peak in but couldn’t open it. Instead, she took pictures and stuffed papers into her backpack; she left the basement and went to find Quinn and Santana.

“It’s bad; something horrible is happening here. I saw this big scary door and all these papers,” She handed them to Quinn, who was pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Brittany, why couldn’t you just stay out of it!” Quinn yelled in a harsh whisper, shoving the papers back in her backpack.

“Coach told us to stay out of it. Why didn’t you listen?” Santana felt sick; whatever was going on, they were not to get involved.

“People are missing! They took them, and I bet they are in that locked room downstairs. We have to help them. We-”

“No, we had one job, and now we’re in danger. Sue is going to be so angry. Did you not hear her say ‘or else?” Santana snapped.

“I couldn’t just stay out of it. What if it was one of us? Would you just stay out of it?” She took the papers back out of her bag and put them down. “Serum, supersoldier, testing- it’s bad. Azimio, Karofsky, and Finn are down there; I know it! We have to help them, Quinn, please, we need to help them.”

“You stupid girl,” They girls jumped when the door to the empty classroom slammed closed. Sue stood there with her arms crossed with a look of disappointment on her face. “I warned you to stay out of it; why did you disobey?” Sue stayed where she was and looked over to see the papers on the table.

“I needed to know," Brittany lowered her head and refused to look up. “It didn’t feel right not to try and find our friends.”

“Your snooping has caused a great deal of concern. You were caught on camera snooping around, peering into locked doors, taking documents, and now I’m in a predicament. Everyone involved is demanding action,” Sue walked over to the three of them and placed a hand on Brittany’s shoulder. “Everything I do, I do it for you girls. I want to make you winners, champions, and not just for high school. Many young girls have become so much more after leaving here, but you three could have been even more.”

Santana had been reading the papers thoroughly, wanting to know what she was about to be punished for. “We can be those people. We don’t need a drug or whatever. We’re already winners, Coach; we’ve taken home the most gold than any other school district.” Santana jumped when Sue snatched the papers from her hands.

“I told them you three wouldn’t dream of running your future. That you three respect me and my opinions, but I guess I was wrong.” Sue was not happy about this turn of events, “I was told to take, Pierce, but I doubt Lopez will stand idly by. You two have a second chance to walk away. Make your choice.” She looked right and Quinn and Santana. Quinn stayed where she was, but Santana moved in front of Brittany. Crossing her arms in defiance, she stared right into Sue’s eyes. “Stupid girl. Well, at least one of you has sense in your head.” 

“Coach, we have always followed you. We’ve done every horrible thing you asked and more. For once, I’m asking you to let her go. Just let us walk away, and I’ll make sure she doesn’t say a word, please.” Santana held onto Brittany’s hand; the girl was trembling.

“You don’t get it; this is out of my hands. I run this project, not the program. My word is not final.” Sue’s voice was flat as she spoke; she did not want to do this. “I don’t have a choice, now, move out of the way. Don’t make me use force, Lopez.” Sue took a step forward, and Santana charged her, but Sue was quicker than she looked. She took hold of Santana and slammed her hard against the wall, holding her there. “She almost ruined decades' worth of work. My bosses are angry, and they want loose ends tied up. I suggest you stand back and do the smart thing,” Quinn was inching towards the door, “You won’t get far. I’m not alone.”

“We can help. You don’t have to hurt anyone. We’ll do whatever you want,” Quinn would try anything to keep them from being hurt.

“You still want to stick your nose in, after all my warning?”

“We have no choice; either way, you’re going to take Brittany. At least we can be there for her. We can’t if we're out of it.” She could see Sue thinking about it.

“Alright, we’ll see how much you want to be involved when you see the work.” Sue released Santana, and Quinn took hold of her and moved her away. Sue unlocked the door and motioned for someone to come in. Azimio, Karofsky, and Finn went into the room, and they looked normal. “The night you heard screaming, It was Azimio. His tests went well, and then we moved on to the others. Soon all the football players will have the same agility, strength, and speed to win championships.”

“Superhumans…” Brittany was scared, worried that something was wrong with them. “You guys are happy?”

“Yeah, I’ve never felt better.” Finn smiled and walked over to Quinn, picking her up and kissing her. She slapped him, and he just laughed.

“Finn Hudson, we’re broken up.”

“I don’t want to be. Come on, I feel like I can take on the world. I can be everything you need now. I want you back.”

“Maybe, but you guys don’t have any side effects or-” Quinn was cut off by a voice from behind the boys.

“Doesn’t matter, it works, and that is a good step.” Coach Tanaka walked in and smiled, “a couple more days, and you boys can head back home. We’ll work on a background story before then, pull back.” Finn kissed Quinn’s cheek before leaving the room. “Is it everything you hoped for?” Tanaka grunted.

“You injected these guys with drugs. How is that good? Can it hurt them?” Brittany still didn’t think it was right, none of them did, but she was the only vocal one.

“All that matters is you three keeping your mouth shut.” Tanaka snapped, “Can you do that?” 

Sue looked at Brittany. If she went along, the other two would follow. “Coach, you were going to do this to the Cheerios? You were going to force us?” Brittany asked, voice trembling as Sue nodded her head.

“Britt,” Santana moved next to her, hand on her arm. Coach Tanaka and Coach Sylvester stepped a bit closer. Quinn moved in next to Santana, protecting Brittany. 

“You were going to turn us into freaks.” Santana snapped.

“Santana…” Quinn gave them a warning tone.

“No,” Santana stood tall; she wasn’t going to allow this. “I don’t want to be pumped full of drugs. I’ll keep my mouth shut, but you won’t be pumping any of us full of drugs.” Santana glared at Sue, “We and the other cheerios deserve better!”

Sue had reached her limit, knowing that this was only going to go one way. “Why couldn’t you just be obedient?” Before they could react, they were being grabbed—one hand around their mouths and another around their waists. Azimio, Karofsky, and Finn used the second door, sneaking in behind them. Santana was able to kick Karofsky between his legs, but it didn’t hurt him.

“See, told you we should wear the cups,” Karofsky smirked and held onto Santana harder. “I like the way you wiggle, Lopez.” Santana instantly paled at his words; She couldn’t break free or scream for help.

Quinn was able to move her head just enough to smash the back of her head into Finn’s nose. It didn’t phase him, but she split his nose, causing a gush of blood. “Damn it, Quinn!” He was careful as he slammed her hard against the wall, not wanting to hurt her too much. She was dazed and stopped fighting back, whimpering. Brittany was too scared to do anything but look at her friends with worry.

“You tried Sue, but this project comes first. Nothing we say will change it, so it’s time to shut up and do what you need to do. I’m calling the board, and we’ll see what they say, boys, basement.”

“We do not start trials until I talk to the board, do you hear me, Tanaka. I’ll skin you alive if you touch them. We don’t even know if the serum works on girls yet.” They continued to struggle against them, Brittany practically in tears as they got closer and closer to the basement door. “I tried to keep you girls safe; you just couldn’t go with the flow.” The halls were empty, and it was easy to get the girls to the basement.

London had the cage ready for them. It was big enough for the three of them. They wouldn’t be able to stand or move, but it did its job. Soon as Santana saw it, she started to pitch a fit. She did not like small spaces. When Karofsky released her mouth, she began to scream, “No, please not there. Sue, please don’t let them do this.” Quinn and Brittany were quickly shoved inside the cage, but Santana fought hard. She clawed, scratched, and jerked.

“Get her in the cage or knock her out because if she continues to scream, I’ll sew her mouth shut,” Tanaka yelled.

“Santana,” Sue walked over and grabbed hold of her face. “Just get in the cage. You won’t be there for long. I promise, just take some deep breaths and sit next to Brittany.”

“Coach, I can’t do small spaces.” Santana had tears, but the distraction was enough to get her into the cage. She clung to Brittany, sobbing silently. “Can’t-”

“Don’t punish her because of me.” Brittany hated seeing Santana like this; she just wanted her to be okay.

“It’s out of my hands. We are in charge of the project, but we don’t run it. It’s the entire school board, and they control the entire operation. I tried to warn you, but you three had to get morals.” Sue took Brittany’s hand and held onto it, “I don’t want to see you three hurt, and I will do what I can.”

“I’m sorry, Coach.” Brittany curled up around Santana and cried.

“Just stay quiet and let me handle this.” The girls did as they were told and said nothing, refusing to look around.

Santana was the quietest she had ever been in her life. Brittany knew all about Santana’s fear of small spaces. The fear went all the back to her childhood, “I got you.” Brittany knew it was all her fault, and she felt terrible.