Puck's Dryad Spell

Chapter 4 – Beth

The rescue operation commenced just before dawn, and Puck was definitely ready to bust some heads after being cooped up in that jail cell with everyone. Including Kurt, who somehow still smelled like the woods, even though he'd been traveling away from them for three days. Damn nymphs! Kurt probably didn't even know he was being so ... desirable, especially now that he had his magic back. It was a survival strategy. Puck knew that. Hell, before he'd been fully human, magical seduction was a big part of his survival strategy, too. And a great way to make some extra cash "cleaning pools."

"Nobody knows ... the trouble I've seen," someone with a deep voice started singing, and Puck wished there existed such things as guns, so he could shoot himself in the head.

"Shut up," he hissed meanly, not at all surprised that it worked. Everyone respected Puck's badassness (except Finn), especially since no one besides Santana and Kurt knew how much more badass he used to be.

Speaking of, the dryad appeared at Puck's side, asking, "What is your problem with singing? I was just trying to pass the time."

"That was you?" Puck cried, remembering how the singer's notes had been so deep. "But your speaking voice is so ... girly."

"If you must know," Kurt sniffed with a hurt frown, "I have an exceptional range to my singing voice."

"Good for you," Puck scoffed, turning away. "But keep your gob shut, alright? This is a dungeon, not a concert hall. Besides, dawn's almost here."

After a moment of silence, Kurt asked, all vulnerable-like and obviously manipulative, "Are you mad at me, Puck?"

"No," Puck groaned, trying to escape the dryad but having no place to go. "Why would I be mad at you, dude?"

"I did practically force you into kissing me," he pouted, touching Puck's arm like it wasn't a teasing, dick move. "I'm sorry about that."

"No one forces the Puckasaurus into anything," he insisted, shrugging off Kurt's hand when all he wanted to do was pull the nymph closer and kiss the hell out of him again. "Now leave me alone, fairy," Puck growled, keeping his back turned, even when he heard Kurt sniff sadly. Why didn't he get that it was just too hard for Puck to look at him? Sure that if the dryad didn't back off, Puck was going to do something stupid and potentially coma-inducing, he snarled, "I said, beat it! Get the hell away from me! Take your little homo ass and-"

Puck's words were interrupted by an explosion rocking through the castle. "Finally!" Tina cried, throwing off her tattered robes to reveal a dress that appeared to be made out of bubbles and a short, shiny blonde bob haircut.

Confused about why he couldn't quite see through the bubble-dress, Puck cried, "Whoa! What the fuck?"

Both prison cells popped open suddenly at a flick of Tina's wrist and a sword appeared in Puck's hand at a snap of her fingers. "Alright, men," Tina smirked, turning her hand to make a crystal wand appear before pointing it at a rat in the corner of the room. And then, poof, the rat became a pony. "Put Artie on the pony and let's get outta here!"

Using the regular rope that had bound Finn's, Blaine's, and Artie's hands, Puck and Blaine managed to get Artie strapped to the pony, while Kurt supervised and Finn kept watch. Tina disappeared somewhere with an order to, "Head for the tower!"

Hurriedly, Blaine shoved the pony's rope into Puck's hand and took off after Finn, yelling behind him, "Secure their escape, Noah! We'll meet you once we find lady Rachel!"

"Fucking hell," Puck groaned, looking over at the dryad and down at the hermit. Once again Finn and Blaine got all the glory while Puck got the dangerous job of sneaking two incompetents out of the castle. "C'mon, dudes. Try to be quiet."

Kurt sighed and said softly as he followed Puck from the dungeons, "I'm sure that'll be no sweat with that pony clomping around."

Sure that it was his harsh words that had pissed off the dryad, Puck almost apologized before he realized how dangerous being back in Kurt's good graces would be. Fine. Let the dude stay mad at him. As soon as this quest was over, Puck could go back to bedding scullery maids and horny ladies-in-waiting to his heart's content. Oh, alright and maybe the odd stable boy if one caught his eye. Yeah. That's the way Puck rolled.

Carefully he led Artie's pony up the dungeon stairs and into the chaos of the courtyard above. Knights and squires were running around all over the place and not for the first or even the hundredth time in the past two years, Puck mourned the loss of his magic. Damn, it would be so much easier getting through this mess if only he could make them invisible, or at least less noticeable. 'Cause right now, with a beautiful woodland creature on his right and a mouse-turned-pony with a dude strapped to it on his left, Puck was feeling more than a little conspicuous.

Another explosion ripped through the air from near the front gate, startling everyone (except Puck) and he took that opportunity to pull his companions toward the back of the yard, and hopefully toward another, less-well-guarded door. When he got closer, after killing some guy who tried to grab Artie away from him, Puck could almost feel his ears prick up at the clawing sound of a young child screaming.

Puck shoved the pony's lead into Kurt's hands and took off after the noise, unable to understand why he couldn't just let it go. Something about that noise called to him on an instinctual level. And where was it coming from? Puck rushed from building to building searching for the sound, Kurt and Artie bumbling along behind him until finally, he made it to the stables.

It was her! Standing next to a carriage, waiting to get in and make her escape from the battle, was Puck's greatest enemy.

"Shelby!" Puck cried out, getting the witch's attention. The green-skinned woman turned, revealing the source of the crying noise. In her arms sat a small girl, with hooves instead of feet and small spiral horns budding from her head, her light-brown, wavy hair falling around them.

There could be no mistake. She had to be Puck's daughter, Beth, unable to hide her heritage because of her youth. He'd been looking for her for so long that disregarding the danger, Puck dropped his sword and swiftly grabbed the child from Shelby's arms. Ignoring the way she screamed he finally, finally yanked her free of her kidnapper and back where she belonged, in his arms.

Scrambling to pick his sword back up, Puck retreated toward Kurt and Artie as they came barreling into the stable. He didn't know what good the weapon would do, since Shelby was a witch and could probably decimate all of them, but it was better than nothing.

Puck waited for something to go down, seeing no way in or out of this mess, when Shelby opened her mouth to cast what was surely the spell that would kill him once and for all. Ignoring the witch, Puck turned Beth around in his arms so he could look at her face, saying, "Hey, darling. I finally-" Puck choked off his words when he saw terror and tears in the little girl's eyes, rather than relief.

Then, gaining her balance, Beth tried to head-butt him in the face, which he narrowly avoided by putting a heavy hand on her forehead. "It's me!" he cried. "It's your dad, Beth! Quit tryin' to take my eyes out!"

While Puck tried to handle the toddler without injuring her, Tina appeared behind them, fighting Shelby in a magical show-down of epic proportions, while Kurt had picked up Puck's sword and was daintily trying to fight off Shelby's raggedy-looking troll of a chauffeur. Then, all of a sudden, Tina was knocked down and Puck just nearly missed having his head taken off by a sharp blade, while Beth was torn from his arms again.

"Think again, bandits!" a proud voice smirked as a curly-haired man handed Beth back to Shelby and turned to face Puck, sword raised.

"Sir Jesse St. James," Puck sneered, grabbing his sword from Kurt and hefting his hand to get a good grip on it. "That's my daughter, flesh and blood, and you've given her back to her kidnapper."

"What are you talking about?" St. James asked with an evil sort of smirk. "Elizabeth has been with Shelby since she was born. I can attest to that fact. Can't you see the resemblance?"

"Fuck you," Puck cried, noticing Tina gaining her bearings off to the side. "The only reason you're not dead already is because your MILF stole my powers along with my kid. You'll both get what's coming to you!"

"I don't think so," a harsh voice said from behind them, the speaker's arm wrapped around Tina's neck in a choke-hold. Damn! Just when she was getting ready to get them all out of this mess, Sir Karofsky had to go and grab her.

Puck held onto his sword, but he felt less than helpless as Karofsky rounded the room with Tina in tow, joining the rest of Puck's enemies at the carriage. Puck had avoided looking at Beth and Shelby while Jesse St. James was the main threat, but now that he might as well just give up, Puck let his eyes find his daughter and his heart broke. The little girl snuggled into Shelby's embrace like the witch was actually her mother. What the freaking hell?

A bellow from the courtyard preceded the battle overflowing into the stable and in Puck's haste to protect Kurt and Artie, Shelby and Sir Jesse got away with Karofsky, who dumped Tina, bruised and unconscious, just outside the castle wall. Puck ran after the carriage for as long as he could, but with Countess Sue's protein-powder-fed horses drawing the damn thing, there was no way he was gonna catch up on slow human legs. "Fucking fuck, fuck, fuck!" he cried, collapsing onto the road when he couldn't go any further, the tears hot on his cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, Puck," Kurt said in his light, airy voice, falling into the dirt beside him while Artie's pony wandered toward the grass at the edge of the road. When Kurt's arms tightened around him, Puck shuddered and pushed the nymph away.

"Don't you dare, twinkle-toes!" Puck growled. "I've put up with enough shit in my lifetime, I don't deserve any more. Just keep you and your damn manipulative, seductive ways the hell away from me alright? You're cursed, damaged goods and I don't want you! Got it?"

Tearing up and hand going to his lip reflexively, Kurt nodded and ran back down the path, toward Kaofsky's castle and presumably the knights Puck still supposedly worked for. But what was the point? With Karofsky, Sue, and Jesse St. James on Shelby's side, there was no way being a full-fledged knight would make any difference in Puck's ability to get his daughter back.

"That's harsh, yo," Artie said quietly and Puck agreed with a nod, taking the rat-pony's lead and following Kurt back into the fold.

Finn and General Beiste decided that a long-term occupancy of Secret Castle Karofsky was unnecessary ("As useful as eyelashes on a mule"), so everyone, including Rachel (who had been rescued, of course, by Finn and Blaine), got back on the road toward the capital of Kinley, New Directions. Puck had always thought the city name sounded like a dirty pun, but people always gave him a look that said he was being stupid and childish when he pointed it out.

Somehow, Puck ended up walking beside Rachel's horse to make sure it stayed on the path, and the annoying maiden looked down at him with sad eyes. "I heard from the dryad and the hermit about your daughter, Noah. I'm so sorry! I wish I could say that she's in good hands, but..."

Puck growled in acknowledgment. He knew how fucking bad it was. Beth was gonna grow up thinking Shelby and her lackeys were normal. She'd never understand right from wrong and she would always hate him.

"But you should have seen Finn," Rachel gushed, smiling over at her boyfriend who rode at her side. "He was so heroic, fighting off Jesse and slaying my other captors. And Blaine, too! Kinley has such a wonderful friend in Dalton, don't you think?"

Normally Puck thought Blaine was an alright sort of dude, but looking back for about the millionth time, he saw Blaine riding with Kurt tucked in front of him on the saddle. Puck knew he'd told Kurt to fuck off and it was totally his fault that the guy had turned to Blaine, but it still hurt to see them cuddling together. Puck still didn't understand what Blaine thought he was getting if he couldn't kiss the dude. Maybe kissing didn't matter as much to douchy assholes who, though freaking charming, would rather just skip that part and get directly into someone's pants.

Wandering around the barn where Puck's friends were resting for the night, as everyone else slept, Puck came to where Kurt laid, his hand entwined with Blaine's. In the moonlight, you couldn't tell that Kurt's skin was a little too green and his ears were a little too pointy. He looked almost human, but he wasn't. Puck had been so proud of himself when he learned to hide his true nature behind a human mask, and now it just felt wrong. Everything about Puck was wrong.

Nothing made sense anymore. Beth didn't recognize him, maybe because of what Shelby had done to him, and maybe because it took him too long to get to Beth and she forgot him. Now she loved Shelby and hated him. She didn't need Puck. Nobody needed him.

In a stroke of craziness, Puck looked down at Kurt again and wondered how any nightmare dreamed in a hundred years of cursed sleep could be any worse. Maybe it would even be better. Beth would live out her life and pass on, never knowing that her father was Puck, the legendary prankster, and her mother was Princess Quinn. Finn would get over losing Puck soon enough, and so would Blaine. Quinn didn't even remember being with him and was betrothed to Prince Sam. And Kurt ... Kurt had Blaine.

So, filled with thoughts of hopelessness, Puck leaned over and kissed Kurt soundly on the lips, no magical rope or anything to protect him. At first, it felt like nothing was going to happen and just as Puck began to hope that he wouldn't be cursed and that he and Kurt were meant to be together, he felt himself losing it. "Aw, shit," he sighed, falling back into the hay, asleep.

Please Review! I'd love to know what you think will happen next!