Pearl Harbor – A Glee AU
Plot: A group of youngsters form a deep bond of friendship at Pearl Harbour's Jazz bar "The Glee Club". They are nurses like Rachel Berry and her best friend Quinn Fabray, Brittany Pierce and Santana Lopez, locals like Tina and Michael Chang and Sugar Motta and pilots from the base like new arrival Blaine Anderson and his buddy Samuel Evans. It's an endless summer in Hawaii and relationships bloom, likely and unlikely - between Rachel and Blaine, the bar singer Mercedes Jones and Sam, young doctor Kurt Hummel and Navy Lieutenant David Karofsky or nurses Brittany and Santana.
But then dawns the morning of the 7th of December 1941, the day Pearl Harbour is attacked by the Japanese, which will change all their lives forever.
Rating: M
Status: Chaptered
Pairings: Blainchel, Fuinn with mentions of Quick, Samcedes, Kurtofsky, Brittana, Tike, Wemma and Sugartie
Note: Blainchel will be the main focus but the other couples will get episodic mentions.
Chapter One
9th of November 1941
West of Honolulu, in the Pacific ocean, lies the island of O'ahu, an idyllic piece of land which turned even the bitterest men into calm souls. It was hard holding on to grudges and troubles, faced with the mesmerizing sight of the turquoise ocean, shimmering and sparkling, hitting the shore of white sandy beaches, so soft you'd feel like walking on a cloud. It doesn't do good to brood in the midday heat and people that pass you are always smiling, their skin just as tanned as yours and hands extended for a polite wave. It is hard to be sad on O'ahu.
Rachel Barbra Berry, 20 year old nurse from Ohio, thought just that as she stood on the porch of her shared quarters, as per usual a solid hour earlier on her feet than her colleagues. When she'd touched down on the island almost five months ago, in June 1941, called to duty at the military hospital of the US Naval base of Pearl Harbor, her best friend from nursing school, Quinn Fabray, linked under her arm, she felt she had found heaven on earth.
If she was honest, she had expected her job at the hospital to be much, much harder but as it turned out their biggest tasks were giving shots and the most severe injuries they had to treat were the occasional bar fight wounds, sunburns and minor training or sport accidents.
That was unless of course you didn't count poor Arthur Abrahams, who'd crashed his P-15 into a pineapple field on a training flight and would never be able to walk again, even though Dr. Hummel had tried his best to save the young pilot from that fate.
She took a second to think of Artie who still recovered from his injuries and once again admired his optimism and strength – he was already eager to learn how to get from his bed to his wheelchair and back, even priding himself in conducting all his sanitary business – safe for scrubbing – all by himself. She thought that if she were in his place she would have gone mad by now. She wouldn't even want to have lived.
Just the thought of being stuck in a wheelchair and hospital building most of the time had her feeling sad, especially considering which wonderful things awaited outside, which remarkable sights and wonders the island held.
She made a point to go on hiking trips to explore their surroundings with the girls in their free time, even if they complained to her sometimes. Her friend Brittany Pierce especially, she claimed that too much fresh air made her dizzy. A smile rushed over Rachel's features as she thought about her sweet, albeit a little dense friend. Brittany wasn't, as they said, the brightest bulb on the tree but she was sweet and kind and in her own simple way, she worked wonders cheering up grumpy patients, if they ever had any.
Rachel took a deep breath and made a last once-over of her view of the beach – the girls had been really lucky when they'd been assigned their bungalow, it was just a couple of palm trees away from the water and Rachel was very glad that even after five months, she could still fully appreciate the view.
Following her morning ritual, she finished the pot of coffee she had held in her hand and then made her way inside to set the table for breakfast and then wake up the rest of the girls in the house.
She heard the girls in the other houses took turns with that but Rachel didn't mind and in return, Quinn always took care of the laundry and Brittany did the dishes while Harmony bought the groceries. It worked very well for them. Even if Harmony had once again forgotten to buy new eggs, as Rachel noticed, discarding her plan of making scrambled eggs and bacon.
Quinn would be disappointed, she was profusely fond of bacon, so Rachel ended up putting some in the pan anyways. To her, eating bacon without eggs didn't feel complete but Quinn didn't have similar qualms about breakfast.
Like every day the three other girls were quickly wakened, if not by Rachel's happy morning song then by the smell of fresh coffee and toast waving to them from the kitchen. Quinn took over the honors for Rachel, filling the girls glasses or cups with coffee, table water or orange juice while she went into her bedroom to change out of her Pajama shorts and top into her white nurses uniform.
Rachel was the only one who had breakfast already dressed for work because she was the only one who'd never gotten a single drop or crumb on her attire, the others had tried but failed miserably – Brittany even ruining a complete set of clothes spilling a nearly full cup of coffee all over herself.
The girls blabbered over their food about the weather and what they'd do on their breaks, having a week where their shifts were one and the same and in the middle of Rachel's attempt to warm them to another hiking trip to the hills, Harmony cut her off when she remembered something.
"Hold on, my friends", she announced with a broad gesture, sometimes Harmony was even more theatrical than Rachel, the two of them in general so similar they were often mistaken for sisters, "We're forgetting what day it is today…a new shipment is coming in"
"Oh", Brittany said delighted, "New boys"
"Also a group of nurses we get to torture", Quinn joked, eyes glossy as she remembered how the older nurses inducted them into their jobs – skinny dipping on the beach right in front of their house.
"That's right, you don't care about newboys", Harmony quipped and Quinn blushed.
Looking at her, it was really no surprise that Quinn had been the first of the four to find herself a dedicated admirer. Her pale skin, light brown eyes and waves of beautiful blond hair, paired with even and fair features making her a shoo-in for attention, she'd caught the eye of Finn Hudson, a pilot from Texas, on her first week on the island. They'd been seeing each other ever since.
"Well, I for one, am very excited for the new boys", Harmony stated and took a large gulp from her coffee before proposing her plan, "What do you say, ladies, once Madam Sylvester lets us off the hook we'll take a trip down to The Glee Club and see what the tide has swept in?"
"Finn and I wanted to go anyway", Quinn said and nodded.
"Although I want to repeat that frequent physical toughening beyond walking to the hospital and back is only good for you, I willjoin you for a fun night in town", Rachel declared, "And just maybe Miss Mercedes Jones will give me one song of the night to sing for you"
"I think a frog slept on my face last night", Brittany said, completely out of context but the others were so used to her often topic-unrelated musings they didn't even took notice.
"So I gather it's decided, then?", Harmony closed, "We're going out tonight"
She met two nodding heads and Brittany, who touched her face as if trying to figure out if the frog was still sitting on her.
Blaine Anderson and his friend Samuel Evans came with a shipment of young, hopeful recruits for the Pearl Harbor naval base that morning in early November. The moment they'd found out about their transfer to the Hawaiian island they'd popped the bubbly. After all Blaine had just turned 21, catching up to his best friend, and they were headed for paradise. Getting to Pearl was like a win in the lottery for anyone in the military and Blaine couldn't wait to fly across the Pacific, across the hills and valleys of these islands and finally feel alive.
Not that he'd never felt alive but in a way he had always missed something greater, a purpose, a certain point when he felt like he'd arrived, succeeded, found a place where he belonged. On a plane, soaring above the clouds had always been the closest thing he got to it. Maybe, he thought, flying over a wholesome and perfect landscape like O'ahu would be the kick he needed so badly.
His friend Sam had no such wallowing needs, he just wanted to fly and shoot things. Not in a bad way, more like a child that searches thrills. He'd always been looking for thrills, since Blaine met him in middle school and when booze and girls weren't enough, he'd enlisted with the Air Force, dragging his friend Blaine with him. Sam was a bit reckless but in a cheeky way, so charming with his huge winning smile that nobody could be mad at him for long.
The other guys on the ferry from Honolulu were already betting that he would be getting the most girls to swoon over him upon their arrival and first trip to the local Jazz bar, "The Glee Club".
They'd been told it was a must. Especially since they had their very own "Black Soul Diamond", a veteran Commander told them, explaining the harbor to them as they passed through the bay.
"Miss Mercedes Jones", he said, glancing off into the distance with a content smile on his face as if he was picturing her on the deck with them, "She is phenomenal and Friday nights are her nights so you arrived just in time"
"Tell me, Commander", Sam said, testing the waters, "Is that Miss Jones a pearl of the Pearl?"
"She's a mighty whole lot of woman", he laughed, "Too much for a small town boy like you, I'd say"
Sam laughed and pursed his lips in silent disagreement, shooting Blaine a short glance before turning back to the Commander.
"See my friend Blaine here has been looking for a lady friend all over, but I hear competition is tight with all these men at sea", he glanced at the white uniforms roaming the decks of the ships they were passing, "D'you think a guy like him will find a honey none the less?"
Sam put his hand on Blaine's shoulder and the smaller man couldn't help but feel embarrassed. It wasn't like his friend was lying but Blaine didn't necessarily want to talk about it with every man in hearing distance.
"No worries, son", said the Commander with a smirk, "You're a dapper young fella, you'll find a gal or two on this island – but mind you boys -"
He turned to the rest of the group that had gathered and spoke louder now, "You're not just here to distract our nurses and civilians from their jobs, your duty is first and foremost to your country. Don't forget that, lads. At least from tomorrow on, tonight I want you all to have fun at The Glee Club to celebrate your first night at Pearl"
The hospital ward that Rachel and her house mates were assigned to was empty except for Artie still asleep in his bed. The four of them settled in around the desk at the back, preparing for another day of occupying themselves until their shift was over.
Harmony was quickly off to roam the hospital to flirt with some mildly injured jacks while Brittany went to order and then reorder the medicine cabinets.
Quinn and Rachel sat on an unoccupied bed far enough from Artie to not wake him and talked about what they wanted to wear for their night out.
Quinn had just told her about a baby blue dress she'd saw in a store which she would maybe sneak out to buy when someone politely knocked against the open door, standing on the threshold.
It was a slightly overweight man with his hand like a paw on the shoulder of a meticulously styled and impeccably overdressed young lady in her late teens with a pointy nose and caramel hair.
"Excuse me, ladies", said the man with an air of authority but still charming in a fatherly way, "My daughter here would like to volunteer to help out – lately she lost sight of what's really important in life, help people and give back, isn't that so, birdie?"
The girl sighed deeply and then nodded, "Yes, I would like to help"
Quinn looked to Rachel, unsure what to tell them.
"Well, I'm sure you will be welcome to volunteer, we just need to get permission from our head nurse Madam Sylvester", Rachel said and walked across the room to lead the girl in, "You can wait here with us if you like"
"Very well, I will leave you in these good hands then, sweetheart", said the man and when he showed his half profile in turning, Rachel realized that he was the admiral, she recognized his picture from the paper.
"You're Admiral Motta's daughter?", Rachel asked when he was gone and the girl nodded, looking at her sheepishly.
"He's not so happy with my life costs going up when my grades are going down", she explained, "So now I have to empty bedpans for the rest of the month"
"Well, if it's any consolation, you can help with Arthur here", Rachel pointed at the sleeping soldier, "He can't walk anymore but he's eager to adjust, you would observe his recovery and inform the staff in case anything happens, for better or for worse. And he can go to the toilet by himself"
She let out another sigh, relieved this time, "Thank you...I'm Sugar, by the way"
"Sugar?", Quinn said and sat up from her comfortable seat on the bed, "Your name is Sugar?"
"Is there a problem with that?", Sugar snapped back and suddenly you could see that she wasn't used to being denied anything or joked about, she didn't know how to take it.
"No, I'm sorry", Quinn said quickly although Rachel knew it was probably boiling in her. Still, her friend knew better than to make bad blood with the admiral's daughter.
Into the awkward silence that followed rang echoes of a stingy voice and a couple of footsteps being hurried down the corridor passing their ward and a moment later, Madam Sylvester stopped with a group of new recruits who curiously peeked into the nearly empty room.
"As you can see, we're not very busy here at the moment but in a short month we'll renew all shots older than a year and that's when your time will come", Madam Sylvester said and was about to leave when her eye fell on the teenage girl in the widely inappropriate dress, "Miss Motta, what are you doing here?"
"Dad sent me to volunteer", the girl answered and Rachel figured the head nurse and Admiral would've probably met before. Just the best for the captain.
"Hm", Madam Sylvester noted, "Very well, now, Miss Hollister and Miss Lopez, you're assigned to this ward now, so you can stay here and your new colleagues will show you the ropes"
Two nurses broke free from the group as Madam Sylvester moved the others along and the girls introduced themselves. Jane Hollister was from Tennessee and Santana Lopez came straight out of a nursing school in New York City which was enough to stir Rachel's interest to question her later.
Quinn and her were quickly explaining anything that could be confusing and new to them and when they were nearly done, Brittany was through with the cabinet and she seemed to notice for the first time that their group had just grown to three more members.
"Wow", she breathed out, starring at Sugar, "Your hair looks like caramel liquorish"
Blaine, Sam and the rest of the new recruits for the air defense were taken to their assigned hangar in an open top jeep, the head wind from driving working in their favor as the boys were all sweating like pigs in their tightly fitted brown pilot uniforms. Blaine took everything in with fresh eyes, marveled by the bright colors, the happy people they passed and clear blue sky over them.
"Man, if this isn't the most beautiful place you've ever seen in your life", said Sam just as astonished and hit Blaine's shoulder playfully, "We really lucked out, huh, pal?"
Blaine was still rather speechless as they drove onto the airport area, passing some worn out planes, some that were being fixed and some shiny new ones he felt the urge to conquer straight away.
Once their jeep had dropped them off, the Hawaiian sun burned down at them relentlessly again and with no wind to cool them, the short walk to report to their new hangar crew already had Blaine feeling like he was swimming in his uniform. The first thing he'd do after being assigned his quarters was to get out of these clothes and change into one of the khaki pants he brought and by the humidity he'd probably even ditch a shirt and just roam the island in his undershirt for a bit.
"Air defense recruits, reporting to duty, sir", said a tall guy who'd taken the lead walking up to the men working on a plane near the biggest hangar. They looked a little amused, dressed informal and glistening with sweat.
"Noted", said a mechanic with a smirk who was sporting a weird hairdo Blaine had never seen, he had one patch of hair in the middle of his head, going to the back and the sides trimmed, making him look a bit like a weasel.
"Boss", the weasel waived his tool as he turned to yell into the hangar, his barking voice echoing from the wide open construction, "The rookies are here"
"Hey, we aren't rookies", interjected Sam with a grin, "We're the best of the best"
"Sure, trouty mouth", laughed the guy and walked a few paces toward Sam, eying him up before extending his hand, "Noah Puckerman, but for y'all I'm Puck, the wrench"
"Sam Evans", Sam said and once again took it on himself to introduce his friend, "This is Blaine Anderson"
Blaine nodded and one at a time they shook hands with the other residents, Rory Flannagan, an electrical engineering technician and Irish man, Finn Hudson, a tall Texan and lastly, their Master Sergeant Figgins, a short Indian with a thick accent who greeted them warmly with a "Welcome to paradise"
Senior Airman Finn Hudson led them to their quarters after a tour of the airport, a huddle of bungalows about an half hour march away from the hangar which had a sign greeting them: "United States Army Air Force – Camp 3"
"Gentlemen", Hudson announced and turned to them, making them halt just at the sign, "the three houses to your right will be your new home, Airmen Anderson, Avery, Collins and Evans take the first. Farnsworth, Ivanowski, Jameson and Kline move into the second and the rest, you can guess, will room in the third. Three basic rules – no drinking on the perimeter, unless you don't get caught, no fights, unless it's a prize fight and most importantly and lastly, no girls in the quarters, unless they're really good-looking"
A cheesy wink followed his speech and the guys all had a nice laugh before Blaine grabbed his sea bag and darted for the bungalow, Sam not thinking ahead about picking rooms and so Blaine ended up with the double-doored one facing into the forest behind the house and Sam got the clammy one next to the toilet.
"You bastard", the blond said joining his friend as Blaine changed out of his uniform, "This is a palace!"
"Well, you for one have the bowl right beside your bed when you've had too much to drink", Blaine quipped, "That's a great tactical advance for you, my friend"
"Oh shut up", said Sam and flung himself on Blaine's new bed, "So what do you say, we walk around town a little and buy ourselves some nice Hawaiian shirts to impress the ladies at the Glee Club tonight?"
The Glee Club was filled to the brink that evening, jazzy music and cigarette smoke billowed from the joint onto the street. This wasn't unusual though, seeing that the joint was mostly a big porch with just a little room behind the bar to hold the roof – and a little bureau and guest restrooms.
In the pacific climate you hardly needed walls anyway and a soft, soulful voice sang of summer nights, more fittingly than anyone could have come up with, Miss Mercedes Jones' voice ringing in the happy crowds ears as night fell around them.
Rachel and her friends sat at a table in the back, swaying with the music as Santana Lopez, one of the new nurses, led Brittany out to the dance floor where they danced closely, like two wildcats, much to the entertainment of the gawking soldiers lining the bar.
"Ladies, what can I get you?", asked Tina Chang, a sweet Hawaiian girl who waited at the club with her husband Michael tending the bar.
"Three beers", smiled Quinn, looking over to Rachel and Harmony who studied the card, deliberating if they wanted snacks too, "And some bubbly for our new arrival Miss Lopez over there"
"Oh, a new nurse to torture?", Tina said enthusiastically and lingered at their table for a moment as they'd become her good friends, being regulars at the bar.
"Far from it, actually", Harmony said, eying the Latina dancing with their ditzy friend, she was moving in circles around her with fluid motions like a snake.
"Yeah, Miss Lopez is more one to torture us, I think", Quinn said, "She's nice enough but with that foul New York mouth of hers, you really rather not mess with her"
"She got into an argument with our other new recruit, Jane, and made her cry in under three minutes", Rachel said, "She didn't even want to come out with us anymore"
"But that's horrible", said Tina, shaking her head.
"It was", Rachel nodded, "But Brittany worked her magic and got them both to calm down, it's impossible to be angry for too long with her in the room"
"Fair enough", Tina laughed, "Now, three beers, bubbly and some peanuts?"
"Peanuts, yes", declared Harmony happy that Tina made the choice for her, "Peanuts are great"
Just when Tina left to get their order, Mercedes belted out a last, glorious note to her song and the crowd applauded and cheered her on. The bigger girl took a graceful bow and grinned at her audience before taking the mic and silencing them, all awaiting another song.
"Thank you, thank you", she said instead, "I see the cat dragged in a dear friend of mine today"
She pointed to Rachel who grinned and rose to her feet, knowing that Mercedes had sensed how badly she wanted to sing a song or two as well.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome to the Glee Club stage with a warm applause, Miss Rachel Berry", Mercedes announced and gestured to Rachel, who was with her on stage in less than a minute, waving to Michael behind the bar. She shook William and Emma Schuester's hands in passing too, after all they were running the bar and Rachel wanted to pay her respects to them as well.
She gave Mercedes a big hug, thanking her with many words for the stage and then turned to the band to quickly agree on a song.
Rachel turned around to the audience, already moving with the rhythm of the song she'd picked, her voice falling in perfectly with the quirky, happy tune of the number.
Fittingly, Rachel had of course chosen a song from Broadway. She loved the great songs and shows from the Big Apple and she was sure if she hadn't felt inclined to help her country in critical times by becoming a nurse, she would have surely become a Broadway singer.
The song was called "How High The Moon", from "Two For The Show" and her favorite part was the scat bit and the many free measures where she could just improvise and do some runs, really show off her voice for the buzzing (and halfway buzzed) audience who danced in front of her.
Blaine Anderson heard the familiar Broadway tune from the street and before he even saw anything over the heads dancing and tumbling through the hut, he couldn't help feel enchanted by the words he heard – it wasn't like any other voice he'd ever heard, clear while still carrying an unmistakable and unique edge, this Mercedes Jones was surely and purely a diamond.
He quickened his steps, dragging Sam and the others with him to get there faster, turning to Finn Hudson who joined them because he wanted to meet his sweetheart at the bar for a night out.
"That Mercedes Jones surely has one set of amazing pipes", he said to him.
"What, that?", Finn looked at him a little puzzled, "That ain't Miss Jones, that...is Rachel Berry"
He said her name just when Blaine saw her, running up and down notes and swaying on the stage, already a star brighter than any on the clear night sky, "Rachel Berry", he whispered to himself and hardly noticed the guys pushing him inside anymore.
All the crowd just disappeared and his eyes narrowed to the slender figure dancing and singing there, her long black wavy hair at the twisted up at the top into a fashionable knot with a flower tucked into it on the right, full lips accentuated with red lipstick that formed the words sensually, big brown eyes sitting above a defined nose, sparkling at the crowd. She was magnificent.
He wondered what the odds were, that the first girl he truly saw, truly took in at Pearl, was already the most enchanting, the most gripping, the one that seemed to pull him through a mess of bodies all the way to the stage, leaving his friends behind somewhere at a table in the back.
Mercedes Jones had sat with her friends from the hospital and watched Rachel bring the house down, like she always did. If the tiny brunette had a regular gig at the club, she would have been worried for competition but as long as Mercedes was the number one and could be the one to decide when to give Rachel Berry a bit of her stage time, she was fine with it and happy at how ecstatic she was at the chance.
In the middle of a quick exchange with Quinn Fabray, the blond girl neglected their talk as she saw her boyfriend, pilot Finn Hudson, walk into the bar with a bunch of guys Mercedes had never seen before, probably new recruits from the main land.
Quinn flew up to her feet and ran into Finn's arms, who picked her up and spun her around a couple of times before kissing her in a way that made all the bystanders uncomfortable. Or Mercedes would have been uncomfortable, hadn't it been for the look a tall blond guy shot her. He stood behind Finn and Quinn and pulled a slightly appalled grimace, causing her to laugh loudly.
"How rude of us", said Finn with a smirk then and turned to his entourage, "I didn't introduce y'all yet. This over here", he pointed at Mercedes, "is the famous Miss Jones we talked about, next to her Harmony Bingley and this right here", he kissed Quinn on the head, "is ma baby Quinn Fabray, the one and only"
The boys politely shook hands with everyone, Harmony ever so eager to talk with all of them at once or best, hitch someone up straight from the bar. Mercedes however, had only eyes for the blond one, Samuel Evans, who sat down next to her with a sly smile.
"So you're the singer I've heard so much about?", he asked her.
"That may very well be", she smiled despite the looks some of the guests already shot them. No one ever minded her talking to Shaun or Leroy when they and their navy friends dropped by but the second she talked friendly with a white boy, people got all wary. She had to take a beat to swallow her anger at these hypocrites but then focused her attention back on Sam, who didn't seem to mind their difference in race at all. Good on him.
Rachel finished her song under rounds of applause and bowed lowly before Mercedes came and took over again, whispering "Hudson brought new boys" as Rachel squeezed her tightly.
"Harmony must be delighted", Rachel laughed.
"Oh she is", nodded Mercedes and then the stage was all hers again.
Rachel walked a little more aware of herself as she stepped down, knowing that the one, unfamiliar boy who stood in front of the stage was still keeping his eyes on her. And what gorgeous eyes it were, she thought, recalling when she'd caught them for them first time.
He'd just stood there, not dancing like the others or sipping on a beer, no, just stood there and watched her sing. It had felt almost a little naughty, like he was leering and for a while it had seemed to her like he was the only one there with her.
Just Rachel singing for the dark and curly-haired stranger, a little taller than her but not by an awful lot, with those haunting eyes of amber that were still following her.
"Excuse me, Miss?", a voice said behind her and sure enough it was that boy who tapped her shoulder, seeming a lot shyer than she had thought him to be, "If it's possible, I thought your rendition of that song was even better than on Broadway"
That sure enough got Rachel's attention.
"You know 'Two For The Show'?"
"I've seen it twice over the summer in New York", he replied and smiled, going from looking at her to down his shoe-laces and back, she could swear he was blushing.
He had a perfect, gentle but still defined, masculine face, high cheekbones and a warm smile. Rachel smiled back beside herself, she'd never seen a boy like that at Pear. Not ever since she's stepped on the island.
"I saw it over the summer too", she said excitedly before she got lost in starring at him, "Are you from New York?"
"Jersey", he shrugged, almost apologetically, "Are you, if I may ask, Miss...?"
He made a pause there to get her name.
"Rachel Berry", she said, "And no, I've just been on vacation but I love New York"
"Who doesn't?", the boy said and then seemed at a loss of words for a while before his hand shot out to her, "My name is Blaine Anderson by the way, US Air Force"
Rachel's gaze fell on the chain of his dog tags disappearing under his Hawaiian shirt and she smiled, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Blaine Anderson"
Author's Note: Please tell me if you'd be interested in reading on and what you think so far. xx