Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or any of the characters.


Chapter 2: The Letter
January, 2023

She forced her eyes to re-read the letter that she clenched in her hands. Unseeing dark hazel eyes skimmed across the page again. It couldn't be right. She didn't want it to be right. She had fought so hard to get away from that job, that life she once had. There wasn't a way she could deny reading the exact same words six times. The same five words jumped from the page and into her face.

called back to active duty…

She gave them just under nine years of her life, she completed duty after duty, and she was able to retire from the army with many awards for her service. Why was she suddenly being called back? It didn't make sense. They swore to her. They promised once she was gone, she wouldn't have to come back. She knew that if her life wasn't where it was – she'd be happy to go back – but things change. She had two little boys who depended on her and she had a wife who would be crushed by the news.

She signed up early, on the afternoon she turned 18, and spent more time overseas then not while enlisted. She trained hard and threw herself into army life. Others her age were at college and partying, or beginning work, and some were even settling down and starting families. As a Private Officer she continued to do her duty, being promoted slowly to Private First Class. A few years later and more time deployed and she became a Specialist.

By the time she was honourably discharged she was Sergeant Lucy Quinn Fabray.

the Special Forces Unit have chosen you due to your years of service and successes you had while in the United States of America Army…

All she wanted is to tear up the letter and get back to sorting her lesson plans while the boys played in the lounge room. Teaching teenagers was no where near as petrifying as being reenlisted and back in action. Being a teacher at the local school means she could be with the boys every morning and every afternoon, and be there to put them to bed. Before she was left, she seriously considered the special operations community, but she knew that if she wanted to marry Rachel, she couldn't still be in the army. A year into marriage and they became mothers. Every night, without fail, she would lay the boys down and start to read whatever book has become their favourite and most loved. The old Mr Men and Little Miss series were always on hand in case they were being particularly difficult and hard to settle. How would she be able to read to her little boys if she was off as a member of some Special Forces Unit?

What didn't make sense was that the commonly known way to join the special operations units was to be an active soldier at the beginning of the process, and Quinn definitely wasn't an active solider – she hadn't been for four years. Another thing unusual was that it was also required for the active soldier to have three years left of service to join the special operations community, another factor Quinn couldn't check off. She was, however, a U.S. citizen; she was sure she could still score at least 229 on the physical fitness test – she would have been at level of fitness as a Cheerio all those years ago – and she knew that if still enlisted, she would be eligible for "SECRET" security clearance. When she was discharged, Quinn could complete the swimming component and she definitely had the general technical score to pass, so maybe they for her old records to be assessed.

The only thing going through her head was that they must be desperate for soldiers if they were reenlisting an ex-soldier without prior notice.

You will report to Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina for initial "catch-up" training, where a mandatory psychology evaluation will also be carried out…

With a deep breath, Quinn ran a hand through her blonde hair, finally at a happy length where she could look at it and not see her old army hairstyle. Nothing can explain the joy when, at long last, one could grow their hair out and style in a way that they wanted. Quinn knew plenty of old army buddies who kept the army haircut as they didn't know any different, but she was one of the ones who moved on from the army lifestyle as soon as the chance presented itself. She just wanted to be a normal person again, not Sergeant Fabray.

"Catch-up" training scared her more than she'd ever admit, even to whoever was stuck completing her psych eval. She only ever visited Fort Bragg for a day or two at a time when she was required to give "inspirational" talks to first-time deployments. It was one of the forts she had to visit on the never-ending list. It was a result of the awards she was presented with after a particularly hard deployment. She didn't remember anything specific about Fort Bragg without trying as the trip was a blur, although she assumed the layout was probably exactly the same as every other military base on American soil.

After four (4) months at Fort Bragg, it is planned that you will be relocated to Fort Hamilton in New York City, New York for further training and then final orders before deployment…

She'd be away from her wife for 4 months, the four months that soldiers would normally take to finally get used to the idea of being deployed away from loved ones. Why didn't she get the same treatment? Why did she have to be away from her family straight away? At least she would be brought back to New York for the final training stages, that way her family could stay in their family home.

Neither one of her boys coped well in the past when she hadn't been there for bedtime, although she couldn't see many three-year-olds reacting well. Cooper and Braxton were her children, her only children. Relocating herself away from her family seemed like an excellent way to get her sent to sleeping on the couch while the other three people in the house stayed angry at her. Quinn searched her brain for any kind of knowledge she had of Fort Bragg, finally settling on old information stored there from long ago. She remembered that Fort Bragg wasn't even the largest base in the country; however it was home to the 82nd Airborne Division and Special Ops units – making that the only logical reason for Quinn to be sent there.

Sergeant Fabray, your success as a soldier has been of great importance while we made this decision, and we also wish to pass along our sympathies for being taken from your family without prior notification…

Quinn had earned a lot during her years as a soldier, and shortly she would be able to add being apart of the Green Berets to her list. Something told Quinn that her President's Hundred Tab and Expert Marksmanship Badge were the main two reasons the letter turned up on her doorstep. And she now there was a possibility that Braxton and Cooper would wear them at her funeral if the deployment didn't go as planned.

For the last Veterans Day, Braxton had asked whether she had any medals, grabbing Cooper's attention away from the dogs and his cousins. It ended with everyone listening in as she tried to explain why she was awarded the Medal of Honour, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the Distinguished Service Medal, and the Valorous Unit Award. Quinn had never tried explaining what her time in the army was like to little kids. She couldn't even show all the medals or explain what they were for because it was impossible to censor the reason she got it.

After censoring many stories, explanations and details, she didn't think she'd ever try to explain it again to anyone under the age of 15.

In a few days time, you should receive a phone call to sort out the final details…

The only thing Quinn could focus on was that none of her family members would be pleased the letter turned up either.


A/N: The next chapter will also be in the past.