This is my new story, Taxes, a sequel to And I'd Do It Again and The Life I Lead. It was really hard to write this because Puck is one of my favorite characters but I wanted them to deal with a loss. Plus, Mark Salling never got his own tribute and although his crime was serious, he was still a human being and deserved to be treated as such.

So this is for him. The song Marcy gave Quinn is Love Lives On by Mallory Hope.

Enjoy and review!

NJPNJPNJP

Quinn Fabray looked over the sheet music for the song Marcy had given her. She'd told her little sister repeatedly that she was no longer angry with her but the Gemini was still trying to make up for her failings.

Quinn sighed as she thought about those failings. Marcy was a brilliant scientist but she wasn't magic. If the cure she was working on kept failing, she wasn't responsible. All she could do was work harder.

A horrible illness had come over Europe in the last few months. The media was calling it Black Pneumonia. It started off like the common cold but if you didn't get over it in a week, you were dead by the next.

Hundreds had died since it began and scientists were working around the clock to stop it before it got bigger. So far it was contained to Europe and oddly enough New Jersey in America but that wouldn't last for long.

Quinn felt bad for the families suffering but it paled in the light of her own. For one of her loves had caught Black Pneumonia. Puck.

He and Mike had gotten it at the same time but Mike had gotten better before his week was up. Puck had not. Medical professionals had found antibiotics that could stave off the inevitable by a few weeks but it all ended the same.

Puck had been a revolutionary case though. He'd survived from September to now, December. But he was so weak. They knew the end was near.

In fact, plans had been made. It started during his third week being sick when he'd caught an infection and had to be kept in the hospital.

He'd stayed in the hospital ever since, only leaving to go to hospice in America so his family could visit whenever they wanted.

Nadine had made plans as per his instructions (service on the Saturday after his death, buried in a Jewish cemetery) and she and Quinn had carried them out to the T. Nadine cried the whole time, distraught over her baby dying but trying to be brave for the world.

Nic was a mess. She cried all day every day and she'd begun acting out in school. The only person who could soothe her was Jake.

Ruth, Puck's maternal grandmother, tried to be there for her family but she was brokenhearted as well.

As for his friends, they'd all taken it in their own ways. Most of the girls stayed crying while the boys tried to be tough. Mike and Finn were hit very hard; as was Sam and Artie.

The twins didn't understand what was going on or why they couldn't see Puck. They hadn't seen him since he'd first gotten sick and missed him terribly.

Shelby had been alerted so that Beth could say her goodbyes and come to the funeral. Fortunately for the species after the sick became deathly ill, they stopped being contagious.

Puck had stopped being contagious a week ago…

Quinn sighed again as she set the music sheet aside and opened her laptop. She might as well look up the song. She hadn't looked at the lyrics but she just knew it was going to be something she didn't want to hear.

She found a video on YouTube and played it. She picked up the lyric sheet to follow along. And promptly wished she'd never heard of it…

She was bawling before the song ended and replayed it five times just to twist the knife. She saved the video to a playlist then went to her iTunes account to buy the song there.

The door opened and someone came in. She didn't know who it was until the person enveloped her in a hug. "Hi, Mercy."

"Hey, baby." Mercedes kissed her cheek. "Ms. Nadine is leaving now so we can go over."

Although Puck was no longer contagious, he was still prone to disease so he couldn't have many visitors at one time.

"Okay." Quinn wiped her face.

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"Don't the boys need you?"

"Mikey said he'd watch over them while they take their nap."

"Maybe we should take them with us? He's not contagious anymore. They'll be safe."

Mercedes thought about it. "What about the other sick people there? I don't know, Q."

Quinn grimaced. "You're right. Okay, let me put on my shoes- hey? You said they're taking their nap? Where? This is our room."

Mercedes looked around the hotel room. "Yeah, I know but they fell asleep with Rye."

"What about the twins? Maybe they want to go? They're older."

"I don't know." It was Mercedes's turn to grimace. "If they get sick, Marcy will never forgive us."

"I don't want to bury my niece and nephew. It's bad enough that my lover is dying."

"Oh, Lucy." Mercedes cupped her cheek.

Quinn closed her eyes.

Mercedes leaned in to kiss her lips softly. "Are you holding up okay? This is the third time someone's called you Lucy and you still haven't flipped out."

Tears filled Quinn's kiwi eyes. "I think I'm going back to Lucy."

"What? Really? Why?" Mercedes wiped her tears away.

"I needed a change from who I really was and I turned into a horrible person. I've gone through so much as Quinn and I think I want to lay her to rest with Noah."

She had been calling him by his first name since his death had become a reality. Which was behind Mercedes, who'd called him by his real name since he got sick.

"I understand, honey." Mercedes hugged her. "But you'll always be his Q."

"You're going to miss being his Mama." Quinn gave a watery smile.

"I am. The boys are going to have to call me Mommy their whole life or something. If I hear someone call me Mama, I'ma have a meltdown."

Quinn's lips twitched. "Come on. Let's go."