Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 37th cycle. Now cycle 38!

PRE-CHRISTMAS NON-CHRISTMAS: It's already my third holiday season of Gleekathon, woo! So happy about that :D Anyhoo, just to explain what I'm doing for it this year: How it goes is I always have a set of stories with Christmas-y titles but non-Christmas-y plots, so to give an air of the season but not too much ;) First year was '12 Days of Christmas', last year was 'Reindeer'. This year's theme is "Christmas Movies" :) It'll run from December 8th to 19th, after which I have a slightly bigger undertaking to take us to Christmas Eve (stay tuned and find out, ha! ;)). So here we go!

"Unaccompanied Minors"
World A (Canon): AU!Jesse/AU!Quinn, AU!Rachel, Santana
World B (Alternate): Jesse/Rachel, Quinn, AU!Brittany
Berry-St #22 (following 'Deal with the Devil')

They were not at home; this much was clear to them. Were they real, or were they just a creation to compensate for others: one version of them, let's call them World A, could have been the real ones, the first ones, while the others, World B, would only believe to have existed just as long when in fact they had come into existence only at the moment people were moved out of their world and had to be deposited somewhere. If that was the case, then what would happen to World B if and when the people of World A went home? Or was it the other way around? What way was there to know, really know, who had come first? And what if they had actually, both of them, always existed, parallel and unknown to one another, until this had happened? So for the purposes of clarity, we would declare the world of Rachel Berry of McKinley and Jesse of Carmel as World A, and the opposite as World B.

The road was not easy for either of them. They didn't know what it was that had caused this switch, and as such they had no idea what they had to do to get it undone. So far any attempts any of them had made had gotten them nothing but frustration and an addition to their team of 'reality displaced citizens.' Now they had both found new allies, but even then the progress was not that much better.

World A

Uncertain as they might have been about letting her in, Jesse and Quinn were more than happy to have Santana on their team now. They may not have gotten any developments on the 'getting home' front, but she was making herself very useful in keeping them safe. For one thing, she'd been teaching Quinn all about the other one, the Quinn from this world. Rachel had been hearing about how odd it was for her to see this girl who looked just like the former Cheerio, but behaved so differently from her. She was the same person, that much was clear, but the things that had happened to one but not the other had made all the difference, and Santana was seeing it. If she didn't believe them before, spending time with the three of them, especially the girls, had made it pretty damn clear.

World B

Brittany was not the most conventional of allies, but she was appreciated. Being pretty near exact to the Brittany of their world, having her there was like a touch of home. They were all more or less sure she still thought they were aliens or some other creatures who weren't human, but she still helped them. Rachel and Quinn had both had to keep Jesse from joking around with the alien angle after one of his looks to Brittany one day had nearly spooked her away. If that happened, she could run and tell someone what was happening, and they couldn't have that. So Jesse promised he'd behave. Even then, it wasn't so easy to sidestep the 'Santana factor.' If they weren't careful then the other girl would start to wonder what Brittany was doing hanging out with them so much. So they contacted her only when they had to, as far as being out in the open.

World A

Rachel yawned as she quietly worked through English homework. She was pleased to see, at the very least, that the other version of her had been keeping grades similar to her own. She hated to think what would have happened otherwise. A sudden drop in quality, or a sudden rise, would have drawn looks, raised questions, and they didn't need that.

"Done yet?" Santana asked as she dropped in across from her in the library. Rachel looked up, left and right. "I think it's high time you and I worked on a duet for Glee Club, don't you think?" she asked, her eyes saying 'there, now we have an excuse to talk.'

"I agree," she put her pencil down. "Have they said anything?"

"Nothing to indicate they've got any big new idea about how to get the three of you home," Santana reported about Jesse and Quinn. "So you're in the clear for now." Rachel let out a breath. "Not like there's anything to be done, I mean none of you has found a single thing and how long has it been since you all got here?" Santana pointed out.

"Doesn't matter," Rachel frowned, resting her face in her hand, elbow on the table. "If they find… anything… they'll just drag me into it."

World B

They were meeting, all four of them, at Brittany's that day. It was neutral territory, out of sight… Also they were pretty sure they couldn't convince her to come to any of their homes if they tried.

Here they didn't have to pretend about the actual relationships going on. Jesse didn't have to pretend he was with Quinn, which suited her plenty, but also worked out for him and Rachel. With each day that passed, trapped in this world, he could feel her lean on him a little more. He'd let her stay the night at his uncle's with him, when being home with just one father got to be too much. In particular he could count on her dropping by when she'd had to overhear one father arguing over the phone with the other. Having Jesse so attentive to her in those times, it was the only way she'd manage to sleep. That day they showed up at Brittany's together. When Quinn saw this she didn't say a word, but she gave the brunette's arm a squeeze – I'm sorry, it said. Rachel would give a thankful nod.

"I thought I saw a shooting star last night, and I wished on it for you guys to get to go home," Brittany spoke, unaware of this. "But then I saw it was just a street light," she bowed her head.

"Thanks for trying," Rachel rubbed at her eyes.

World A

"Maybe there's a way to send them home without it having to include you," Santana found herself playing cheer up for her. Rachel looked back at her, unimpressed. "Hey, I'm trying, okay? I didn't ask to be pulled into this, but I'm here."

"I-I know, I'm sorry," Rachel sighed, which stretched into a yawn. "Just really tired today, I guess," she pinched at the bridge of her nose. "Thanks," she looked back to her.

"You're welcome," Santana nodded as though to say 'that's better.' "It's not that bad, you know? Helping you guys… Kind of makes things interesting."

"Glad I could be of assistance," Rachel replied sarcastically, though she still laughed, half yawning.

World B

"Do we need to fix something? Is that what it's going to take?" Quinn wondered as the four of them just sat around Brittany's room. Jesse and Rachel were on the ground, backs against the side of the bed, with Brittany sat on the mattress and Quinn on a desk chair facing the rest of them.

"Fix what? We don't even know if we're the problem or they are," Rachel pointed out, her voice flat. Jesse looked at her, then back to Quinn – they worried about her, more and more.

"We will," he told her as she rested her head on his shoulder.

World A

"Jesse, come on, not here," Quinn whispered as he pulled her into an empty classroom, though she wasn't exactly resisting. And the moment he turned those eyes back on her, she couldn't help but smile. "Maybe here…" she breathed, holding a finger up. "Let's just keep this from getting out of hand."

"So, no hands?" he smirked.

"Maybe hands," her eyebrow curved.

World B

"Yeah, Rachel, in movies like this there's always a reason, right?" Brittany nodded down at her. "There's always a way to undo it. Cheer up, okay?" she reached to nudge her shoulder.

Rachel almost fell over, jerked back up like someone who was startled back, on the verge of falling asleep. "Sorry, I just…" she yawned. "I'm falling asleep…" Jesse rubbed at her arm.

World A

"Rachel, are you okay?" Santana frowned, seeing the way she was slowly but surely losing the ability to stay seated up, shoulders slouched.

"I'm… falling asleep…" her voice slurred. "Can't… stay awake…" Santana moved across the table, to her side, patted at her cheeks.

"Stay with me, come on…" This wasn't normal, and something told her it had to do with whatever they were doing. So she decided. "Let's go for a walk," she got her up on her feet, which was no small task now, having to support her, drag her along. "One foot in front of the other. You may be small but you're dead weight right now," she groaned. They left the library, somehow managing not to be stopped. Santana pulled out her phone, dialling. "Quinn, where are you? Need to find you, it's urgent."

World B

"What's going on?" Brittany asked. Then it hit Quinn.

"Jesse, how are you feeling?" she asked him, moving to kneel on Rachel's other side, trying to see her face. Her eyes were not staying open for more than a second or two at a time.

"I'm fine," he shrugged.

"Not falling asleep?"

"No, why?" he frowned.

"Because that's how it starts…" she looked at him. He had no idea what she was talking about. "She's going back, Jesse," she spelled it out for him. He looked back to her now.

"Rachel?" he gave her shoulder a shake. Her voice was small.

"Going… home?"

World A

"Help me with her," Santana was out of breath when Jesse and Quinn moved to get Rachel from her. She rubbed at her arms once she was free of the weight. "What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know…" Jesse helped to put Rachel on the ground, as he and the other two crouched around her.

"She keeps saying she can't stay awake," Santana revealed, and Quinn's head snapped back at her, then back to Rachel.

"Rachel," she grabbed her hand. "Rachel, can you hear me?" Somehow the brunette's eyes found hers. "You tell them what we've been doing, okay? You tell them we're trying. I know you don't want this, but we can't stop it."

"What's going on?" Jesse asked.

"Please, you have to help us. You have to tell them everything you know about this place. Say you will," she begged. Rachel's eyes grew wide, like she finally understood what was happening, but she couldn't manage to maintain the shock, the draw to sleep was stronger.

"Don't… don't want to go… back… please…" tears began to run down the sides of her face, her voice choked up. Quinn squeezed her hand.

"I'm sorry, it's too late…"

World B

"But this is good, right?" Brittany asked. Jesse was still trying to get Rachel to stay, while Quinn seemed to have given up, started waiting for the inevitable.

"Why only her though?" she asked.

"Rachel, wake up, wake…" Jesse let out a breath. "She's sleeping… does that mean she's gone there?"

"Get her on the bed," Brittany moved back and Jesse lifted Rachel, put her head down on the pillow.

"Now we wait…" Quinn breathed.

World A

"Rachel, stop fighting it, you can't fight it," Quinn tried to soothe her. "I was in water when it happened to me, I almost drowned. You have to let it happen." Rachel kept staring at her, barely holding on, but then she finally let go, let it come over her.

"You'll be okay," Santana offered up. "Find the other me and she'll help you, too."

"What are you…" Jesse asked her, but Santana ignored him.

"She's out," she declared. "That means the other one's coming, right?"

"Shouldn't be long," Quinn said, even though she had no idea. She hadn't exactly been aware of time passing when she made her own trip. Then there was a gasp, and Rachel jerked awake, out of breath. Her eyes searched, confused. "It's okay, you're safe, you're home."

World B

"No!" was the first word that ripped from Rachel's throat as she regained consciousness. She looked from face to face to face, and as difficult as it had been to hang on a moment ago, now she was wide awake… and livid. "Why me? Why… I didn't want to come back!" she scooted back from them. "Send me back!"

"Rachel, it's okay," Jesse told her, slightly unsettled at seeing her, knowing she wasn't 'his' Rachel. She glared at him, at all of them, moving off the bed and stalking off to the bathroom, slamming the door.

"Just delightful," Quinn sighed.

"She'll be okay. She'll adjust… We did," Jesse shrugged. Quinn looked back to him.

"Let's hope you're right."

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!