fic: cracks in the armor 9/?
Title: Cracks In The Armor
Author: takeanotherturn
Rating: PG-13
Length: 1800+
Spoilers: Season 2
Pairings: Sam/Quinn, Finn/Rachel, eventual Quinn/Rachel
Summary: Post The Substitute. All Sam Evans wanted to do was tell Quinn Fabray that he loved her. He never expected it to turn out like this.
“Go get help,” Quinn vaguely registered Sam telling her, before he took off running towards the fray.
Lowering his shoulder, Sam charged into Azimio at full speed and, as he bounced off the larger boy's back, pain shot through his shoulder and he remembered exactly why he was a quarterback and didn't play offensive tackle.
No sooner than he had gotten his balance after rebounding off Azimio's back, Sam once again found himself losing his footing as pain engulfed the entire left side of his face.
The sight of Azimio's fist colliding with Sam's face, knocking him clear off his feet, was enough to snap Quinn out of her stupor. She took off running, heading for the teacher's lounge, she sprinted past Holly Holiday -who was roaming the halls dressed as a pirate- and didn't even bother stopping, even in her panicked state Quinn knew the sub would be useless in a situation like this.
Skidding into the teacher's lounge, Quinn had never been so relieved to see Mr. Schuester in her life. Fuelled by pure adrenaline, Quinn had no idea what she was saying, she couldn't even hear herself speak over the sound of the blood rushing through her ears, but it must've got the point across because Schue, Coach Bieste and Mrs. Pillsbury all urgently jumped up from the table they'd been sharing and rushed down the hall behind Quinn as she led them back to the scene of the crime. She just hoped that they weren't too late.
-
“They won't get away with this! I've already got my fathers on standby to call the ALCU on Kurt's behalf!” Rachel furiously ranted, pacing the floor at the front of the choir room, so angry that she was very nearly in tears.
Once the news of Kurt's attack spread, the gleeks all decided to skip their first period classes and gather together in their choir room, which had become like a second home to many of them, to wait for news. They were upset and on edge and Rachel was grating on Mercedes' last damn nerve.
“Rachel, just shut up! You and Kurt aren't even friends, so stop trying to make this about you!”
Quinn wanted to stand up and yell at Mercedes that Rachel had had the balls to stand up for Kurt when nobody else did but she kept quiet, busying her still shaking hands with pressing an ice pack to the already impressive bruise that was blossoming from Sam's left eye socket and had already turned almost half of the side of his face a sickening shade of purple.
She didn't understand why this was affecting her so badly, it wasn't like she didn't see more graphic violence almost everyday on television...but these were people she knew, Kurt was her friend and Karofsky and his family attended her church, she knew that the boy was cruel but she'd never imagined that someone she knew could be capable of such brutality.
Seeing Kurt huddled on the floor, terrified, looking so small and fragile while the two larger boys drove their feet into him, again and again, had been like one big, reality filled bitchslap to Quinn face. It was a stark, shocking reminder of where they lived and exactly why her and Rachel could never happen. Sure, it may have been easier for them to hide with them both being girls, but all it would take was one wrong person, just one, to figure out the truth and their lives as they knew them would be effectively ruined. She couldn't put herself at risk like that, she couldn't put Rachel at risk like that. Quinn's bubble had well and truly been burst.
A sudden commotion made her look up to see that Mr. Schuester had entered the room, looking stressed beyond the telling of it, and had immediately been set upon by nine teenagers all desperate for news on their injured teammate.
“Guys, settle down!” The teacher had to raise his voice to be heard above the din.
They all immediately quieted down to hear what he had to say.
“Kurt's going to be alright,” he informed them with no small amount of relief. “He's got a lot of bumps and bruises on top of a mild concussion and badly sprained wrist but he's going to be okay.”
“And what about the punks that did it?” Puck growled, he was absolutely seething and the only thing keeping him from going all Death Star on Karofsky and Azimio's asses was the threat of being sent back to juvie.
“Azmio Adams has been expelled and Dave Karofsky's been suspended for six weeks.”
“Suspended?” Rachel shrieked in outrage. “He should be in jail!”
“Why is Karofsky getting off with a suspension when Azimio's getting expelled?” Quinn had to ask.
“Because Azimio hit Sam.”
Of course, Quinn thought. Beating up the resident homo is no big deal but lay a hand on the straight, white Quarterback and you're outta here.
“That's not fair,” Sam protested.
“I agree, Sam,” Schue said, rubbing at his wrinkled forehead. “Miss Pillsbury is in Figgins' office right now, trying to talk some sense into him.”
“What about the Po-po, what are they going to do about it?” questioned Artie.
“Nothing yet. It's being left up to Kurt to decide if he wants to press charges.”
“This is bull!” Puck suddenly shouted, springing up from his chair. “I got sent to juvie for trying to steal an ATM, I didn't even hurt anybody, but those two are just going to get away with assault?”
“It wasn't just assault,” Rachel quietly corrected him. “It was a hate crime.”
It was a sobering moment for them all.
“There's also another reason that Karofsky's getting off so lightly,” Schue reluctantly revealed. Better his kids hear from him now than later through the grapevine. “He's claiming that Kurt forced an unwanted kiss on him.”
“Oh hell no!” Mercedes loudly objected. “There is no way that my man Kurt would ever touch that jerk.”
Schue nodded in agreement. “I know, Mercedes,” he said placatingly. “But that's what Karofsky is saying provoked the attack. Look, I need to get back to Figgins office and try to get this mess sorted out. You guys can stay here until the end of the period but then you have to go to class, okay?”
The glee clubbers muttered their agreements, allowing him to maintain his delusion that he actually had control over them. Satisfied that they were going to do as they were told, Schue nodded and took his leave.
“I can't believe this has happened,” Tina said, as soon as the door had closed behind their teacher. “I mean, I knew it was bad but I never thought it would come to this.”
“Well I'm just glad that Sam and Quinn were there to put a stop to it before those two gorillas could do any permanent damage,” said Mercedes.
“Yeah, that was really brave of you, Sam,” Brittany added from her position in Artie's lap. Santana's jaw clenched as she looked away.
“Why are you all acting so surprised?” Finn yelled, startling them all. He'd been quiet since he'd heard the news about Kurt, from Puck of all people, he'd silently stewed in his volatile emotions until now he'd finally snapped. “I told Kurt if he kept acting the way that he does that something like this was going to happen, I warned him but he didn't listen! He brought it on himself by-” If Kurt was stupid enough to kiss Karofsky then Finn couldn't help but feel like he deserved everything he got. It's not like he liked feeling this way but having been on the receiving end of Kurt's intense 'affections', -now Finn was especially glad that Kurt didn't try to mouth rape him and felt kind of justified in his fear that he would- he could totally understand Karofsky's reaction. If a guy tried to kiss him like that he probably would've started throwing punches too.
“You'd best not finish that sentence, Finn Hudson,” Mercedes threatened. “Because I don't care how much of a giant you are I will take you to the carpet.”
Upset and confused, Finn couldn't stop himself. “Well, it's true! He wouldn't have been bashed if he wasn't so fa-” He managed to catch himself before the slur slipped out but it was too late, the damage was done, everyone knew exactly what he'd been about to say.
“Faggy?” Rachel finished for him. “Isn't that what you were about to say? That Kurt deserved to be bullied, to be beaten, for just being himself. For refusing to change himself just to make the small-minded idiots in this school feel more comfortable?”
By now Rachel had come to stand toe to toe with Finn and was practically vibrating with rage as she poked her boyfriend in the chest. Even as she was mentally retreating back into the closet, Quinn couldn't help thinking it was kind of the hottest thing she'd ever seen.
“That's not what I meant,” Finn weakly defended himself, even he was smart enough to know that he'd majorly stepped in it.
Rachel raised an eyebrow. “Isn't it? Well, what about me, Finn, do I deserve to be treated the way I am at this school? Do you think that I bring it on myself?”
Finn got that vapid look on his face that he always did right before he said something incredibly dumb. “Well, maybe if you dressed a little better and weren't so annoying-”
He was cut off by Rachel's open palm colliding with his cheek.
“I've never been so disappointed in you, Finn,” she hissed, tears streaming unabashedly down her face. Rachel turned sharply on her heel and executed the perfect diva storm out, that, for once, the rest of the group thought was completely justified.
Hand pressed to his stinging cheek, Finn turned helplessly back to his friends for support, only to find every single one of them glaring at him.
“You totally deserved that,” Brittany said, very matter of factly.
“Seriously,” Santana agreed. “For once I'm actually on Team Rachel...” She shuddered in disgust at the thought. “Gross.”
While Finn went on to try and plead his case to the others, Sam leaned into Quinn, who was looking longingly at the door Rachel had just stormed out of. “Do you want to go after her?” he whispered, preparing to take the ice pack from her so she could go and comfort her woman.
Quinn just turned to look at him with the saddest eyes Sam had ever seen. “I can't. I can't do any of it.”
Author: takeanotherturn
Rating: PG-13
Length: 1800+
Spoilers: Season 2
Pairings: Sam/Quinn, Finn/Rachel, eventual Quinn/Rachel
Summary: Post The Substitute. All Sam Evans wanted to do was tell Quinn Fabray that he loved her. He never expected it to turn out like this.
“Go get help,” Quinn vaguely registered Sam telling her, before he took off running towards the fray.
Lowering his shoulder, Sam charged into Azimio at full speed and, as he bounced off the larger boy's back, pain shot through his shoulder and he remembered exactly why he was a quarterback and didn't play offensive tackle.
No sooner than he had gotten his balance after rebounding off Azimio's back, Sam once again found himself losing his footing as pain engulfed the entire left side of his face.
The sight of Azimio's fist colliding with Sam's face, knocking him clear off his feet, was enough to snap Quinn out of her stupor. She took off running, heading for the teacher's lounge, she sprinted past Holly Holiday -who was roaming the halls dressed as a pirate- and didn't even bother stopping, even in her panicked state Quinn knew the sub would be useless in a situation like this.
Skidding into the teacher's lounge, Quinn had never been so relieved to see Mr. Schuester in her life. Fuelled by pure adrenaline, Quinn had no idea what she was saying, she couldn't even hear herself speak over the sound of the blood rushing through her ears, but it must've got the point across because Schue, Coach Bieste and Mrs. Pillsbury all urgently jumped up from the table they'd been sharing and rushed down the hall behind Quinn as she led them back to the scene of the crime. She just hoped that they weren't too late.
-
“They won't get away with this! I've already got my fathers on standby to call the ALCU on Kurt's behalf!” Rachel furiously ranted, pacing the floor at the front of the choir room, so angry that she was very nearly in tears.
Once the news of Kurt's attack spread, the gleeks all decided to skip their first period classes and gather together in their choir room, which had become like a second home to many of them, to wait for news. They were upset and on edge and Rachel was grating on Mercedes' last damn nerve.
“Rachel, just shut up! You and Kurt aren't even friends, so stop trying to make this about you!”
Quinn wanted to stand up and yell at Mercedes that Rachel had had the balls to stand up for Kurt when nobody else did but she kept quiet, busying her still shaking hands with pressing an ice pack to the already impressive bruise that was blossoming from Sam's left eye socket and had already turned almost half of the side of his face a sickening shade of purple.
She didn't understand why this was affecting her so badly, it wasn't like she didn't see more graphic violence almost everyday on television...but these were people she knew, Kurt was her friend and Karofsky and his family attended her church, she knew that the boy was cruel but she'd never imagined that someone she knew could be capable of such brutality.
Seeing Kurt huddled on the floor, terrified, looking so small and fragile while the two larger boys drove their feet into him, again and again, had been like one big, reality filled bitchslap to Quinn face. It was a stark, shocking reminder of where they lived and exactly why her and Rachel could never happen. Sure, it may have been easier for them to hide with them both being girls, but all it would take was one wrong person, just one, to figure out the truth and their lives as they knew them would be effectively ruined. She couldn't put herself at risk like that, she couldn't put Rachel at risk like that. Quinn's bubble had well and truly been burst.
A sudden commotion made her look up to see that Mr. Schuester had entered the room, looking stressed beyond the telling of it, and had immediately been set upon by nine teenagers all desperate for news on their injured teammate.
“Guys, settle down!” The teacher had to raise his voice to be heard above the din.
They all immediately quieted down to hear what he had to say.
“Kurt's going to be alright,” he informed them with no small amount of relief. “He's got a lot of bumps and bruises on top of a mild concussion and badly sprained wrist but he's going to be okay.”
“And what about the punks that did it?” Puck growled, he was absolutely seething and the only thing keeping him from going all Death Star on Karofsky and Azimio's asses was the threat of being sent back to juvie.
“Azmio Adams has been expelled and Dave Karofsky's been suspended for six weeks.”
“Suspended?” Rachel shrieked in outrage. “He should be in jail!”
“Why is Karofsky getting off with a suspension when Azimio's getting expelled?” Quinn had to ask.
“Because Azimio hit Sam.”
Of course, Quinn thought. Beating up the resident homo is no big deal but lay a hand on the straight, white Quarterback and you're outta here.
“That's not fair,” Sam protested.
“I agree, Sam,” Schue said, rubbing at his wrinkled forehead. “Miss Pillsbury is in Figgins' office right now, trying to talk some sense into him.”
“What about the Po-po, what are they going to do about it?” questioned Artie.
“Nothing yet. It's being left up to Kurt to decide if he wants to press charges.”
“This is bull!” Puck suddenly shouted, springing up from his chair. “I got sent to juvie for trying to steal an ATM, I didn't even hurt anybody, but those two are just going to get away with assault?”
“It wasn't just assault,” Rachel quietly corrected him. “It was a hate crime.”
It was a sobering moment for them all.
“There's also another reason that Karofsky's getting off so lightly,” Schue reluctantly revealed. Better his kids hear from him now than later through the grapevine. “He's claiming that Kurt forced an unwanted kiss on him.”
“Oh hell no!” Mercedes loudly objected. “There is no way that my man Kurt would ever touch that jerk.”
Schue nodded in agreement. “I know, Mercedes,” he said placatingly. “But that's what Karofsky is saying provoked the attack. Look, I need to get back to Figgins office and try to get this mess sorted out. You guys can stay here until the end of the period but then you have to go to class, okay?”
The glee clubbers muttered their agreements, allowing him to maintain his delusion that he actually had control over them. Satisfied that they were going to do as they were told, Schue nodded and took his leave.
“I can't believe this has happened,” Tina said, as soon as the door had closed behind their teacher. “I mean, I knew it was bad but I never thought it would come to this.”
“Well I'm just glad that Sam and Quinn were there to put a stop to it before those two gorillas could do any permanent damage,” said Mercedes.
“Yeah, that was really brave of you, Sam,” Brittany added from her position in Artie's lap. Santana's jaw clenched as she looked away.
“Why are you all acting so surprised?” Finn yelled, startling them all. He'd been quiet since he'd heard the news about Kurt, from Puck of all people, he'd silently stewed in his volatile emotions until now he'd finally snapped. “I told Kurt if he kept acting the way that he does that something like this was going to happen, I warned him but he didn't listen! He brought it on himself by-” If Kurt was stupid enough to kiss Karofsky then Finn couldn't help but feel like he deserved everything he got. It's not like he liked feeling this way but having been on the receiving end of Kurt's intense 'affections', -now Finn was especially glad that Kurt didn't try to mouth rape him and felt kind of justified in his fear that he would- he could totally understand Karofsky's reaction. If a guy tried to kiss him like that he probably would've started throwing punches too.
“You'd best not finish that sentence, Finn Hudson,” Mercedes threatened. “Because I don't care how much of a giant you are I will take you to the carpet.”
Upset and confused, Finn couldn't stop himself. “Well, it's true! He wouldn't have been bashed if he wasn't so fa-” He managed to catch himself before the slur slipped out but it was too late, the damage was done, everyone knew exactly what he'd been about to say.
“Faggy?” Rachel finished for him. “Isn't that what you were about to say? That Kurt deserved to be bullied, to be beaten, for just being himself. For refusing to change himself just to make the small-minded idiots in this school feel more comfortable?”
By now Rachel had come to stand toe to toe with Finn and was practically vibrating with rage as she poked her boyfriend in the chest. Even as she was mentally retreating back into the closet, Quinn couldn't help thinking it was kind of the hottest thing she'd ever seen.
“That's not what I meant,” Finn weakly defended himself, even he was smart enough to know that he'd majorly stepped in it.
Rachel raised an eyebrow. “Isn't it? Well, what about me, Finn, do I deserve to be treated the way I am at this school? Do you think that I bring it on myself?”
Finn got that vapid look on his face that he always did right before he said something incredibly dumb. “Well, maybe if you dressed a little better and weren't so annoying-”
He was cut off by Rachel's open palm colliding with his cheek.
“I've never been so disappointed in you, Finn,” she hissed, tears streaming unabashedly down her face. Rachel turned sharply on her heel and executed the perfect diva storm out, that, for once, the rest of the group thought was completely justified.
Hand pressed to his stinging cheek, Finn turned helplessly back to his friends for support, only to find every single one of them glaring at him.
“You totally deserved that,” Brittany said, very matter of factly.
“Seriously,” Santana agreed. “For once I'm actually on Team Rachel...” She shuddered in disgust at the thought. “Gross.”
While Finn went on to try and plead his case to the others, Sam leaned into Quinn, who was looking longingly at the door Rachel had just stormed out of. “Do you want to go after her?” he whispered, preparing to take the ice pack from her so she could go and comfort her woman.
Quinn just turned to look at him with the saddest eyes Sam had ever seen. “I can't. I can't do any of it.”