It's been a while. I've been playing around with this one; re-wrote is about six times. Also, I started a new job and moved to a new city. I'll try to be better. Anyway, enjoy!

It started with a box. Chloe is the only one home at the time, so she accepts the delivery with her usual chipper hello, expecting to see the Bella jackets she'd ordered a few nights before. The box carefully transferred into her open arms is much heavier than she expects, though. It is most certainly not the jackets, so she sneaks a peak at the label to find Beca's name. She sets it on the kitchen island and sits beside it, waiting for her to come home. Beca's afternoon class ended ten minutes ago, so Chloe doesn't expect to wait long.

"Chlo?" Right on time.

Beca's voice carries through the hallway, growing closer as she approaches the kitchen and finds Chloe sitting beside the box with a broad smile.

"What's up?" Beca knows this smile and steps backwards, to what she considers a safe distance.

Chloe shakes her head, "Not much. This came for you today."

She cautiously creeps towards the box and glances at the label. Chloe doesn't miss the recognition in her stare, but Beca doesn't say anything other than a quick thank you before she bounds up the stairs with it under her arm.

Maybe she's paying more attention after that, but suddenly Chloe notices Beca's absence more. An offhanded comment from Fat Amy one morning reveals that Beca is already up and out of the house by the time she's up for her morning run. When prompted, Amy mentions that this is not the first time. In fact, very few of the Bellas are up before 8 AM. And now that it's summer, she wonders what would could be getting Beca out of bed when usually she was amongst the rest of the Bellas sleeping until noon. It takes another full week for the rest of the Bellas to notice the absence of their smallest member. Emily is the first to comment as they gather around the breakfast table, pointing out that there's still bacon left on the plate. No one dares to dig, though. The girls just assume that Beca is picking up extra shifts at the radio station and leave it at that.

Then, on a rare afternoon when Beca hasn't disappeared, Chloe manages to drag her to the grocery store to pick up food for a last minute barbecue. They're standing in the middle of an isle when a flash of something barrelling towards them catches Chloe's eye.

"Miss Beca!"

She looks up from the bags of chips in her hands to find that the brunette, who spent the last ten minutes staring at her phone grunting in response to questions, is being rendered immobile by a child only tall enough to wrap her arms around the short girl's legs. And, instead of threatening the little girl or trying to peel her off, a smile replaces the scowl on her face. Beca lowers her knees to the ground as her legs are finally released and, to Chloe's absolute surprise, returns the gesture.

"Hey Savannah, how's it hanging?"

Chloe watches the interaction is awe; this is a historic and rare event, after all. She squints, trying hard to figure out how Beca might know this little girl. She glances between their faces, looking for similarities, but comes up empty. It was a long shot anyway; Beca doesn't have any siblings that she knows of, step or otherwise. Babysitting? No. No way.

Eventually, a woman who's clearly relieved to find her daughter shows up by her side. Chloe turns and smiles before her attention is drawn back to Beca.

"Savannah, darling, you can't just run off like that," The mother gestures to her daughter to join her. "Sorry, Beca. She just gets so excited."

At that, Beca finally acknowledges that Chloe is standing there and raises a knowing eyebrow in her direction. "Don't worry, I know someone else like that. I'm used to it."

"Bye, Miss Beca!" Savannah hollars, grabbing her mother's hand. "See you tomorrow!"

Beca waves enthusiastically at her as she disappears around the corner and then, suddenly remembering that Chloe has never seen this side of her, lifts herself off the ground. "So, chips?"

Chloe doesn't take the bait, throwing both bags into the cart without another thought. "What's happening tomorrow?"

Beca's smile becomes a smirk, but she remains silent and only shrugs. Neither moves, a game of chicken they're both stubborn enough to stay in for the long term. Then Beca's phone makes a reappearance and a picture of Fat Amy flashes across the screen. It gives Beca the out she wants and, unfortunately, once she's back from reassuring the Australian that they have indeed remembered all the weird food items she requested, it's as if nothing happened.

As the week goes on, Chloe forgets to be a detective. Aubrey comes back from visiting her family in Virginia and she's too focused on catching up with her best friend to take notice. That is, until she finds herself searching through the brunette's bag for a phone charger and accidentally unearths a mysterious ID badge twisted amongst the cables. She pulls at the charger, hoping it will come undone, but the attempt is unsuccessful. So now, the charger, badge, and several other cables lay on the island in front of her.

The curiosity returns at full force.

Chloe can't help herself. She reaches across the badge and studies the picture with a grin; Beca was obviously thrown off guard at the time and is making a goofy face. Above it, bold lettering reveals the name of a museum in downtown Atlanta.

Somewhere in the house, a bang draws her attention back to reality and, in guilt-induced panic, she rushes to return the badge to the depths of Beca's purse.

This time, Chloe doesn't let the clue go. Another opportunity falls into her lap three afternoons later. It's humid outside and the Bellas don't feel like doing much besides sitting around the living room. She casually brings up the idea of visiting a museum; specifically, the science center in downtown Atlanta. As she says it, the conversation comes to a halt and several raised eyebrows turn to face her. They silently question the choice of activity, but eventually agree to pile into her car for the half hour drive because there's nothing better to do at home.

Chloe works on her plan on the way there. However, arriving at the large, glass-clad building, she starts to wonder if running into Beca will be harder that she thought. That is, if Beca is even here.

Even the lobby is bigger than it seems on the outside. There are several hallways leading to different exhibits and crowds of people trying to stay out of the heat. Distracted as she studies the crowds looking for familiar faces, Chloe doesn't notice Fat Amy veering sharly to the right and disappearing into the dark until the other girls prompt her to follow.

They split up to cover more ground and Chloe ends up with the dinosaurs.

"Didn't think you liked science museums, ginge."

Chloe turns towards the voice to find Fat Amy attempting to climb into one of the exhibits, foot mid-air. "Well, I thought it would be fun to try something different for a change. Plus, it's air-conditioned, so that's a bonus."

Fat Amy straightens and backs away from the display. "Really, that's the reason you're going with? This has nothing to do with Beca?"

"What - what do you mean? Why would it have to do with–"

"The ID badge," Amy explains, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "I remember it's for this museum because for, like a week, I had these killer jokes–"

"Okay, but Amy, how'd you find out?"

"Well, uh, you know we do this thing every month where I take $20 from Beca's purse and she pretends not to notice," She admits with a wave of her hand, distracted only when her eyes land on the next target across the room. "I found that badge weeks ago."

The words grow softer as Fat Amy turns another corner and disappears into the dark again. The words grow softer as the Australian turns another corner and disappears into the dark again. Chloe stays where she is, ignoring the responsibility of keeping track of Fat Amy until she hears the others come behind her, out of breath and expecting to find the girl trapped. It takes another hour and a half for them to give up on the chase and actually enjoy the exhibits. They double back, visiting those they had run past in the rush. The way they see it, Fat Amy would either be waiting for them at the end or picked up by security for breaking countless museum rules. Either way, she would be found eventually.

Sure enough, as the entrance comes back into view, so does Fat Amy. The girls are exhausted from running around all day and more than ready to get home. So, even though there's no sign of Beca, Chloe is willing to concede in favour of collapsing on the couch and having a movie marathon. But, as they pass the front desk, a door opens and a familiar voice floats through the air.

"Shawshank!" Fat Amy leaps from her seat at the window, despite the stern look from a nearby guard.

The sound of her voice echoes in the cavernous room, intensifying an already enthusiastic greeting. Heads turn towards its owner – the last Beca's, whose cheeks are already pink. The quick glare in their direction is accompanied by an eye roll which doesn't stir fear as much as make the girls giggle. Beca turns back to the conversation she was having before spinning and stalking towards her friends.

"What on earth are you guys doing here?"

The badge is around her neck now, hanging alongside ribbons that confirm her employment with the museum (and, apparently, her love for science). Beca twists her fingers in the lanyard, inadvertently bringing everyone's attention to it. She only breaks contact with her friends when another group of adults call her name to wave goodbye.

With the exception of one blue-eyed Bella, the girls' attention is on the wall behind Beca and, she guesses, the numerous posters plastering them.

"Lasers! We're here for the lasers."

Everyone else nods their heads in agreement.

That's when Beca finds Chloe's eyes and smirks, catching the tell-tale twitch of the older Bellas lips as she smiles back. "That's cool. But you guys might want to come back in a month when the laser show is open."

Mouths are shut in stunned silence.

"Right," Beca claps her hands together. "Well, the museum is about to close, so I guess I'll see you guys at home."

Even Fat Amy is quieted by the intensity of Beca's stare as they slip out of the museum and cross the parking lot. In the safety of Chloe's car, a flurry of jokes and theories fill their ride home. Beca isn't far behind, arriving only an hour later. She briefly acknowledges the girls sitting in the living room before flying up the stairs and shutting herself in her room to avoid questions.

The next morning, a few of the Bellas make the journey again. They know Beca leaves around this time and are more determined than ever to find out exactly what it is she does at the museum. Upon their arrival, Fat Amy is eyed by the security guard, her actions yesterday clearly not forgotten. They veer towards the help desk, behind which the secret door Beca came through lies.

"Excuse me," Chloe smiles at the receptionist. "We're looking for Beca Mitchell."

The woman seems confused at first, but points them in the direction of a hallway they hadn't noticed before. "She's running a little late, but her class is down there."

"Class?" Amy makes a face at the girls before running ahead.

There are several glass enclosures at the end, only one has a group of children waiting patiently for their teacher. The girls waste no time entering and settling down at a row of empty desks. The seats are intended for elementary schoolers, but they squeeze their legs under anyway.

Not much later, Beca storms in with an apology. She's carrying a cup of coffee and a box, which Chloe recognises as the one she signed for a few weeks ago. She settles them on the desk and sits at the front of the desk, blowing the hair out of her face. She has yet to notice anything unusual about the group.

"Okay, I know you little dudes are excited to unleash our robots on the innocent, but who wants to tell me where we left off?"

It's only once she's searching the sea of hands that her eyes land on the group. Her smile becomes strained, but Beca powers through and picks a little boy in the front. Chloe watches her half-listen to the answer.

"Thank you, Ben!" Beca claps her hands together. "Now, everyone get started on your projects. I brought a few parts from home for you guys to look through, so feel free to come up to my desk. I'll be walking around if you have any questions."

The distraction works perfectly. Twelve kids surround the desk in a flurry of excitement, reaching into the mysterious box. Beca steps around them, approaching her friends with an even tighter smile than usual.