Disclaimer: I wish. But no. Just no.

Author's Note(s): Santana and Brittany are the main characters but there will be appearances from all the Glee club; particularly Rachel, Quinn and Kurt.

Put On a Happy Face
Chapter 1

Almost flawless, Santana thought as she stared critically at her face in the full-length mirror. The tracksuit bottoms she had donned were different from her usual attire, but it didn't matter because the tight tank top she was wearing made her look hot. The whole look worked for her. Most looks did.

Not much had changed in ten years, Santana reflected, except for perhaps a lingering look of tiredness that she tried to ignore. It wasn't something that many people would notice anyway, so she wasn't too worried about it. It wasn't like there was anyone around who would be paying that much attention to her at any rate.

"Mama!" a voice cried from the next room.

A small smile crossed Santana's face. Okay, so many a few things had changed in ten years.

"What is it, sweetie?" she called back, as she reached up and pulled her hair into a tight ponytail; something she hadn't done in a long time.

A moment later, a young blonde girl of four years, seven months and five days bounced into the room brandishing two t-shirts in front of her. She held them up to Santana and tilted her head in a way very reminiscent of her mother. Her other mother that was.

"Which one should I wear?" asked the girl.

"Which one do you want to wear?" replied Santana, watching her daughter in the mirror.

The girl looked down at the garments thoughtfully. "I like the pink but I like the ducks too."

Santana chuckled softly. She loved that Callie had inherited Brittany's adoration of ducks. Not that she'd had much of a choice. When they'd moved into their new home, Brittany had insisted that they decorate the nursery with ducks. By 'they', she had of course meant Santana. Brittany was heavily pregnant at that point and had insisted that painting fell under the category of 'strenuous activity', so she had just sat back and enjoyed watching Santana work. Not that Santana had minded of course.

"Wear the pink one with the badge of Donald Duck your mommy brought you back from Florida," said Santana.

The child's face lit up and she ran from the room. Santana turned away from the mirror and felt her smile fade a little. She walked over to the overlarge bed where her bag sat waiting for her and for the sixth time that morning, opened it to check she had everything she needed.

The phone started to ring and Santana practically dove for it. She didn't even need to look at the caller ID to know who it was.

"Hi, Britt," she said happily.

"Hey, San," said the cheerful voice on the other end. "How's it going?"

"Can't complain, I guess," said Santana reluctantly. "The house is nice. Bigger than ours. Ours is better though."

"Does Callie like it?" asked Brittany. Santana could detect a little worry behind her wife's voice.

"Yeah. She thinks it's all a great adventure. Although she loved the flight here so much that I think she's planning to run away to the airport so she can do it again," said Santana. "She's looking forward to seeing your parents too. Something about going to the pond?"

"Yeah, I called my mom and told her to take Cal to the park," Brittany told her. Then she added, "I wish I could be there." Santana felt her heart break just a little bit.

"So do I," she replied.

There was an awkward pause and Santana heard Brittany take a deep breath.

"So," she said, "Are you nervous?"

"Me? Nervous?" said Santana with a mocking laugh. "Of course not."

"San," said Brittany in a whiney voice.

"All right, maybe I'm a little nervous," Santana admitted. "I haven't been in Lima for more than two days in almost eleven years; let alone been to McKinley High School."

"You're gonna be great," said Brittany confidently. "Sue wouldn't have asked for you if she didn't know you were the best."

Santana smiled. "You're only saying that because it's true."

Brittany laughed loudly on the other end of the phone. Usually the sound would make Santana feel fantastic about herself, but for some reason all she could feel was a twinge of sadness.

"Okay, San," said Brittany. "I gotta go now. I'm supposed to be having breakfast with Britney in a few minutes."

"Yeah, okay," said Santana with forced cheeriness. "Have a good day."

"Good luck. You're gonna be fantastic, like you always are," said Brittany. "Give my love to Callie and tell her I'll call her tonight."

"Will do," said Santana.

"Love you."

"Love you too."

The phone was cut off and Santana let out a deep sigh. They hadn't seen each other for over a month now. Thirty-seven days to be specific, but who was counting? The point was, Santana missed Brittany. Missed her so much that it physically hurt.

When Brittany's career had taken off seven years ago, Santana had encouraged her to follow her dreams. They could live on phone calls for a while. But long weekend trips had turned into week long trips, and then that had evolved into months where Brittany would be away from home. When they had decided to have a baby, Brittany had been insistent that she would be the one to carry it, and Santana was perfectly content with that. It meant her wife would be forced to stay home and frankly, a mini Brittany would be a dream come true; and for a while it was. A year after Callie had been born, Brittany had been offered another job and once again Santana had smiled and promised that she would still be there when she got back. Right now, Brittany was touring as Britney Spears' head backup dancer and choreographer. Santana was proud of her wife for doing so well; especially after giving birth. It didn't stop Brittany's absence from leaving a painful hole in Santana's life though. They had been almost inseparable from the age of about ten and they just weren't accustomed to the separation.

Santana swallowed and her eyes came to rest on the megaphone on her bedside table. Why had she agreed to do this again? She had a job. A really good job that paid really damn well. Admittedly, it was one she could do predominantly over the phone if she wanted to; she'd built a strong enough reputation for herself now that she didn't even need to meet people in face-to-face meetings to get the job done anymore. It was fun though and she liked to make people nervous. Besides, it got her out of the house on those lonely days when Callie was in school. But really, there was no need for her to have dropped everything at the request of Sue Sylvester and go to Lima for a few weeks to coach the Cheerios.

When she thought about it, Santana was convinced it was the shock of the situation that had made her agree to such a bizarre demand. It wasn't every day one received a phone call from Hilary Clinton asking one to coach a high school cheerleading squad because Sue Sylvester was currently indisposed. Hilary had refused to give further details on why Sue wasn't available due to it being a matter of national security. It had been a most peculiar conversation.

Obviously, Santana had agreed and she had been provided with a large house on the expensive side of town to stay in for the duration of her visit. It wasn't home, but it would do.

Santana's phone rang again and she pulled a face at the name flashing up on the screen.

"What do you want, Berry?" said Santana once she had decided to accept the call. She had a feeling she already knew the answer though.

"Good morning to you too, Santana," said Rachel Berry's chipper voice. "I just wanted to wish you luck on your new endeavour."

She rolled her eyes. "Is that right?"

"Of course," said Rachel, sounding positively scandalised. "Although-" here we go "-now that you mention it, I heard on the grapevine that somebody has bought the rights for Wicked-"

"Let me just stop you there, Berry," Santana interrupted, "You're meeting with the director and two of the producers in three weeks. I've already sent the details to your email address."

Rachel squealed and Santana had to move the phone away from her ear until she stopped through fear of an eardrum being burst. "You're the best, Santana!" said Rachel giddily.

"Tell me something I don't know," said Santana, feeling just a little pleased with herself. She decided against telling Rachel how difficult it had been to set up that meeting. The director had wanted Idina Menzel to play Elphaba but Santana had, after some sly and unjustified comments on Menzel's age and some less than subtle threats and scare mongering, managed to convince him to consider other options.

"Maybe later," said Rachel in an offhand voice.

"Mama!"

"I have to go, Rachel," said Santana quickly, ignoring that last comment. "Callie is shouting me."

"Okay," said the woman, her glee still quite apparent over the phone. "Have a good first day!"

Yeah. Right.

The office was exactly the same. Santana had expected something to have been at least a little different; something that would signify the passage of time. Not even the trophies had changed, though Sue was bound to have many new ones she could have added to her extensive collection.

Her eyes fell on the two chairs opposite the main desk and she couldn't help the surge of emotion as she remembered the many…many times she had sat in one of them. At that time, Santana had practically lived and died based on whatever Sue had to say at any given moment. She'd been made head Cheerio here. Then she'd had it taken away from her. Then she'd got it back. Then Quinn had stolen once more. Eventually, Sue had decided to make them co-captains. When it had happened, Santana had thought it the most ridiculous idea she had ever heard, but as it turned out, she and Quinn made a pretty good team when they put their differences aside. Looking back on it, it was absurd. How times change; even if offices don't.

She took a step forward but then froze. She felt like something were pulling her back. It was as though the office knew she didn't belong there and she couldn't say she blamed it.

"Santana?" said a voice behind her.

She jumped and spun around.

"Mr. Schue," she said with relief. "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that."

Will Schuester's eyebrows lowered a little as though he believed he had done no such thing. It was an expression Santana had been very familiar with back in the day. Then he smiled warmly and she couldn't help but return it.

"I think that maybe it's time you started calling me Will," he said with a twinkle in his eyes. "We are colleagues now."

Santana nodded solemnly. "Yes. I'm under firm instructions from Sue's messenger that I'm to make sure you don't get any ideas above your station while she's away. She mentioned something about me signing off on a set list for the Glee club?"

Will's face dropped a little and Santana cracked and began to laugh. "You are too easy," she said.

"Not funny, Santana," said Will, but he smiled at her despite his words. Then he said, "You look fantastic."

"You're not looking so bad yourself," Santana replied. And it was true. Oddly, Mr. Schue didn't seem to have changed at all either. Maybe there were a few wrinkles around his eyes that hadn't been there before and she thought that if she looked closely she'd maybe be able to spot a few grey hairs lurking around, but other than that he still seemed to be the same old Will. "I hear you're engaged now?"

The smile on Will's face was almost blinding. He nodded happily. "Yeah, I finally proposed to Emma a couple of months ago."

"About time," Santana remarked. Their Ross and Rachel-esque relationship had become rather tiresome. "Until the whole dentist thing, Britt and I were convinced you two were having some kind of illicit affair anyway."

Will smiled at the memory and then shook his head. "How is Brittany?"

"Oh, you know," said Santana airily. "She's fine. Same old Britt. She's on tour right now."

As hard as she'd tried to keep any kind of negative tone out of her voice, she was sure Will had noticed. He looked closely at her and she raised her eyebrows. "Where's Callie?" he asked, thankfully choosing not to comment on the lack of Brittany.

"I dropped her off at Brittany's parents' this morning," replied Santana, unable to keep a smile off her face. "She's really happy to see them again."

"That's great," said Will earnestly.

Santana opened her mouth to reply but the bell outside the room rang. Wow. She'd forgotten quite how grating that sound was.

With a reluctant glance at the kids now trampling past outside, Will shot Santana a smile. "I'd better go to form then," he said, "If you need anything, you know where to find me."

It had taken Santana thirty minutes to force herself to sit down in Sue's chair. Her first thought had been that it was literally the most comfortable thing she'd ever sat on in her entire life. How that woman managed to swing so much money was quite beyond Santana. Being scary only got you so far.

She'd searched through all the drawers, all the while thinking about how much trouble she'd be in if Sue suddenly burst through the door to tell her that everything had been a misunderstanding. Sue actually had a surprising amount of paperwork stashed away. She'd done a good job of keeping that quiet after once insisting that she didn't need to fill in paperwork anymore because people should know what she wanted at all times. Santana had also found a drawer full of photographs; in it there was one of her, Brittany and Quinn along with another of the three stood with Sue herself. It was touching really that their coach had deemed them worth saving.

She was pouring over a laminated copy of the Sue Sylvester Master Cleanse recipe with utter revulsion when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," she said after a pause.

The door opened and in stepped a leggy looking blonde cheerleader with a bright, false smile on her face. Definitely the head Cheerio, Santana thought. She'd been wondering how long it was going to take for this inevitable suck-up visit.

"Hello, Coach Lopez," she said with confidence. "On behalf of the Cheerios, I've come to welcome you to McKinley High."

Santana kept her face neutral and stared at the girl. She faltered and looked around nervously. Santana knew these girls. She had been these girls. She knew they'd be trying to push the boundaries with her, and if she wanted their obedience she needed to show early on that she wasn't going to take any of their crap.

"Who might you be then?" asked Santana finally. The girl looked disappointed.

"I'm Dianne Apple," she said, hitching her smile back up. "The Captain of the Cheerios. Did Coach Sylvester not-"

"No," Santana interrupted. Then she said in a dismissive tone, "She must not have thought it worth mentioning."

The girl visibly withered and Santana almost felt a little sorry for her.

"Was there something else?" said Santana, looking back down at the piece of paper on her desk.

"Er…no, Coach," said Apple. "I just wanted to welcome you to McKinley and offer my services if you need help finding your way around."

"That won't be necessary," replied Santana.

"Oh…You've been here before then?" asked the cheerleader with curiosity.

Santana looked up and raised her eyebrows. Seriously?

"Right," said Apple with a nod. "I'll just…go then."

"I'll see you at practice," said Santana as the blonde turned around the left the room with a swish of her ponytail. Oh yes. The next few weeks were going to be interesting.

"So?" asked Christina as Dianne stormed towards them with a furious look on her face.

The group of cheerleaders looked up from their lunch table as their leader threw herself down in the free chair that had been reserved especially for her. The chatter died down and they all waited eagerly for news about how the next few weeks were going to go for them.

"She's a bigger bitch than Sylvester," said Dianne vehemently. "Couldn't even be bothered to look at me."

Christina looked unconvinced. "A bigger bitch than the woman who made Charlotte run six and a half miles with weights tied to her ankles because she caught her drinking orange juice instead of the Master Cleanse at the Spring Dance?"

"That was a bad day," said Charlotte sadly.

"Yes," said Dianne firmly.

"Did you get her full name?" asked Julia, pulling her iPhone 19 from her bag and opening Google.

"Santana Pierce-Lopez," said Dianne. "Saw it on an envelope."

It took the girl about thirty seconds before she had a list of results on her screen.

"Okay," said Julia, "Apparently she lives in LA and she's a talent agent. Her more famous clients include Rachel Berry, Finn Hudson and Mercedes Jones blah blah blah."

"Finn Hudson?" said Charlotte, practically salivating at the mere thought.

"A talent agent, hmm?" said Dianne, ideas running through her head at lightning speed.

"Anything else?" said Christina, leaning back in her chair thoughtfully.

"I found her Facebook page," said Julia, "It hasn't been updated in a while and everything is friend-locked. The picture is interesting though."

She held up her iPhone to show a picture of the woman in a Cheerio's outfit doing the splits while being swung six feet in the air by another Cheerio on stilts.

"She's hot."

"That explains why she didn't need me to show her around," Dianne remarked. "She must have been a student here."

"I wonder how long ago that was," said Christina.

"She looks like she's in her late twenties now," said Dianne.

"Really?" said Julia with interest. "I assumed we'd be getting someone about Sue Sylvester's age."

"According to Sylvester they probably are around the same age," said Christina with a roll of her eyes. "My ass is that woman twenty-nine. She looks about the same age as my grandma."

The girls chuckled at this. It had been one of the biggest challenges of the young Cheerios' lives trying to keep their faces straight when Sue Sylvester had announced her upcoming twenty-ninth birthday. They'd managed it of course. You didn't get to be a Cheerio without superb acting abilities.

"Well I'm excited," said Charlotte with a soft smile. "It'll be fun to have a new coach for a while."

"I guess we'll see at the end of the day," said Christina doubtfully.

Author's Note(s): I hope you liked the first chapter.