Glee: Teamwork Is Everything Prologue
Fic title: Teamwork Is Everything
Fandom: Glee
Disclaimer: Glee and associated are not mine. Plots are usually mine, unless stolen from Supernatural, Buffy or the like.
Summary: When their world was destroyed, New Directions took their name seriously and did something no one would expect: they fought back.
Warnings: AU, language, possible smut, violence, supernatural themes, character death.
A/N: This is going to be extremely AU, rather dark, and rather weird. I have no idea how long it's going to be, or whether any pairings will be permanent. I've only seen up to Sectionals, and a few random episodes after that, so people are going to be out of character. Then again, they have good reason to be. Comments and criticisms all welcome - and can have an influence on how the story goes, if people spark ideas. So don't be shy.
-TIE-
"…And that's how you clean a shotgun," Kurt handed the weapon back to Brittany. She nodded silently, eyes not nearly as bright as they used to be. Then again, none of them were as happy as they used to be.
Looking around the bus, Kurt took stock of how everyone was doing. Will and Emma - as everyone now called them - were at the front, Will driving as he usually did and Emma getting some sleep. The two of them did the best they could to look after all of the kids, and Kurt respected how hard it had been for Emma to fight alongside them instead of giving up and staying at one of the many towns they'd passed through.
A little way behind them sat Rachel, typing away at her laptop and researching their next stop, Finn next to her. Rachel had quietened a lot - finding her dads corpses the way they were had shaken her more than anyone would have thought possible. Finn had matured in the last few months, taking his position as quarterback and naturally stepping into the role of leader for their shell-shocked group. He still wasn't exactly the smartest guy around, but he could think in terms of battle strategy, especially when backed up by the rest of them.
In the middle of the bus, Kurt had been showing Brittany and Tina how to clean their shotguns. They'd removed several of the seats, and generally remodelled the interior of the bus, so that there was room for them all to sleep or prepare for their battles. Brittany had been given a harsh lesson in the realities of their new life early on, and though she had bounced back with remarkable resilience, everyone knew that she was no longer as naïve as she had once been.
As bad as it sounded, the last year had been good for Tina. She was much more self-assured now, and she had been on the front lines since the start. There was a great deal of rage in the small Asian, and she had learned to harness it enough to complete some of the rituals and spells they had required. It might not have been the pure magical energy that the books said was needed - but it worked better for them this way.
A little further back, Mercedes smoothed a bandage over Matt's side. The whole team had been hit pretty hard during the last fight, Matt taking the worst. One of the creatures had taken a chunk out of his side - and though they had tried, they weren't going to be able to save him. They'd have to leave him at the next town. Mercedes in particular was taking it hard, not wanting to lose another of their close-knit group, but knowing it was necessary. Thankfully they were getting close to Toledo, where they'd left Artie, Quinn and Mike, so they'd be able to keep track of him. Maybe when he was up and about again, they could come back for him.
Right at the back of the bus, Puck sat on the back seat strumming at his guitar, Santana sitting next to him and singing softly in Spanish. On the surface there didn't seem to be much about either that had changed. Puck was still big, still aggressive, still a jerk to people he didn't like. Santana was still a complete bitch, still manipulative, still concerned with only her clique. The rest of the team, however, could see the changes that had happened. Puck now used his aggression and size to protect his team - his family. While he would bicker with some of the others on occasion, he was Finn's lieutenant and would make sure that everyone else was safe and protected. Santana used her manipulative powers to gather information and convince others to pay for their supplies, and her clique now consisted of New Directions, and no one else.
As for Kurt… he looked down at the gun in his lap, swallowing hard. He'd taken all of the weapons his father had kept in the house - which had been more than he had thought - when they left, vowing that he would put them to good use. He was the one who had taught most of the others how to shoot straight, and he knew that he had changed from when they were all at school. While he still loved fashion and 'all that jazz', as Puck had so eloquently put it, he now put survival above looking fabulous. Whenever they went into a town, he made sure that he was more than presentable, but he no longer cared if the rest of the team saw him looking less than his best. They had seen his Ice Queen mask crumble and fall when they'd found Burt's body.
They were all victims of Lima's destruction, even though the authorities refused to admit what had really happened there. They were all determined not to let the same fate befall another town - and so they had become hunters of the supernatural. It had been a hard year of fighting, of constantly moving, of worrying about the three left behind. But they needed someone to stay in one place to gather information for them and keep an ear on what was happening in the real world - and with Artie unable to do much in a fight, he had agreed to be left behind. Quinn hadn't wanted to stay, but being pregnant didn't leave her with many options. She had to do what was best for the baby - and that was staying somewhere safe. Mike, meanwhile, had told the others that he couldn't seek out the evil to fight it - but he would stay with Artie and Quinn to protect them.
So it was that the three stayed together in a rented house in Toledo - paid for by the various inheritances of the rest of the team - and acted as a home base while the others roamed America in their converted school bus, searching for unnatural creatures and destroying them.
And if Kurt believed sometimes that they were destroying themselves at the same time… he never said anything about it. After all, the authorities had claimed that no one had survived the Lima tragedy.
At this rate, they were going to be proven correct.