I'll Stand By You (Finn Hudson x OC)

SIXTY FIVE

Season 3, Episode 21:  Nationals

Ownership of Glee:  FOX, Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk

/ / /

Will walks into the girl's hotel room. "What's going on? How bad is it?" He asks.

"Her temperature's 101 degrees. Given the fact that Weezy's complaining about an upset stomach, it's either Amazonian dengue fever or the H1N1 super virus." Sue deducts.

"Or I have food poisoning." Mercedes states.

"We all wanted burritos for lunch, so we went to Chipotle, but Mercedes tried some dive called 'Señora Salsation.'" Santana reveals.

After talking with Sue for a minute, Will makes a decision. "So here's what's gonna happen:  Mercedes, you're on bed rest, Quinn, you're stepping in." He says.

"No, no, no, I can't dance that number. I can't sing it, either, not like..." Quinn is cut off by Angie.

"The Trouble Tones need you." Angie says.

Tina nods. "And you're better than you think you are."

"Tina, you, too. You're in the Trouble Tones." Will decides.

"Mr. Shue, this is my last competition. I don't want to miss it." Mercedes states.

"Amen, to that, sister. That's why I'm putting you on a vitamin B-12 drip. We're flushing your system with Pedialyte, and I'm gonna fill that bathtub with ice and see if we can't get your ambient body temperature back down to normal. Worked in Jacob's Ladder." Sue informs.

"All right, we all have our marching orders. Let's do it." Will says.

/ / /

While New Directions are rehearsing, infighting breaks out among a few of the members.

"Hey, calm down!" Beiste says.

"Hey, hey, calm down! Calm down!" Will encourages.

"Fight, fight, fight!" Sugar pushes.

"Hey, cool out!" Beiste tells Finn.

"He's studying for geography while we're trying to rehearse! It's bogus!" Finn points to Puck.

"'Cause I already know the dance! You dance like you got your feet caught in bear traps. You're trying to gnaw them off." Puck states.

"Cut it out, Noah! Finn's trying his best!" Angie defends her husband.

"Mr. Shue, are you aware that while we're arguing about jazz squares, Unique is being handed the key to the city by Rahm Emanuel?" Kurt asks.

"Really?" Rachel asks.

"And plus my pillow and my blanket fell into the pool. Disaster." Brittany states.

"Look, I think everybody is just a little tired." Will says.

"We've been rehearsing for three straight hours." Sam states.

"Yeah, and we'll rehearse all night if we have to. We can rest after we've won!" Finn says pointedly.

"Just because we've lost Mercedes doesn't mean we can be anything less than perfect. Perfect!" Santana says loudly.

"That's easy for you to say." Artie says.

Angie loses her patience. "Okay, you know what? You know what? Hey! I don't want to hear any of this, "We can't do it without her," because guess what? We don't have a choice." She tells New Directions. Finn's taken aback by her sharp tongue. It's scary but also sexy.