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

A/N: I'm sorry it's taken so long to update. It's been hectic down in Aus at the moment. I have this chapter and the next ready to go so look out for the next update!


Chapter 7: The Training Months
February, 2022 (Past)

She was always tired. And it wasn't good tired like when the boys were born and she and Rachel were completely knackered – it was 'I'm about to drop dead' tired. It was still early days into her training and Quinn had enough experience as a soldier to know that being overseas was just another level of tired that she would surely endure at some stage during her time as a soldier again.

All she wants is to go home, curl up with her wife in bed and be woken in the morning by her two little boys. She hates that she sleeps in a cot, that her family are so far away, and most of all, that she is woken by the siren alarm, not the sounds of her giggling children.

Her unit's Basic Training had been fast forwarded to 6 weeks from 10, resulting in four extra weeks of Advanced Individualised Training where they were split for their specialties training. There were nine other people in her unit, including two medical officers, two officers with expensive weapons knowledge, two communication officers, a demolition expert, a team leader and one intelligence plus warrant officer.

There were two things that made Quinn feel a little better – she was not the only girl and she was not the only one with a family waiting impatiently for her to return home. Her two medical personal, Sgt Lauren Saxby and Sgt Ben Cummings, had children although only Lauren was married. Only one of her weapons specialists, Sgt Timothy Hawkes, was married with kids while her other, Sgt Michael Williams was single. Sgt Jacob Monroe and Sgt Daniel Taylor were her communication officers but only Jacob had kids. Sgt Brendan Cole was single and her demolitions expert. Sgt Jayden KcKey was her team leader, second-in-command and leader of the second group when they split up, had a wife waiting at home, while her intelligence and warrant officer, Sgt Samuel Parker, had a serious girlfriend at home expecting their first child.

Quinn knew it was important for her to trust in her unit and to realise that they would have her back, and although they were all getting closer through training she was still a little unsure. Waking up before dawn and going to bed well after nightfall caused sleeping issues that Quinn was sure she had put behind her, and being unable to think clearly as their training was ridiculous meant that all logical thoughts went out the window.


When their final days of Basic Training Recap came to an end, Quinn and Jayden were moved to a smaller tent in a more secluded area of the base when their higher-ups gave their strict instructions while testing them constantly on the rules, regulations and how they were to react in hypothetical situations.

Jayden left a previous tour three months earlier to come back and get ready for this mission. It was an important mission that they couldn't ignore, but Jayden spoke to Quinn during their downtime in their tent and she could understand his predicament – he was a Sergeant that left his unit on the front lines and it was hard for him to try to forgive himself. As one of his previous unit members in a tour years ago, Quinn knew how dedicated Jayden could be. She respected him for it and knew he would be an excellent team leader and second-in-command for their new mission.

Jayden knew Daniel and Jacob, both of whom went through Basic Training together with Jayden, while Quinn had also worked with Ben and Sam years before and the two men were near experts in their fields. She and Jayden knew the four would be big assets for their deployment. They were all still soldiers except Jacob. Jacob Monroe had retired only a year ago when he found out that one of his ex-girlfriends had given birth to a little girl. Olivia Monroe was the apple of her daddy's eye and Quinn knew exactly what went through Jacob's mind when he left for his daughter. He was forced to re-enlist about the same time as Quinn.

After many conversations, Quinn learnt that the ex-girlfriend that was his daughter's mother decided to move across the country to New York to be closer to her family when she was pregnant and never told him that she was pregnant. When Olivia was eight-months-old, Jacob received a request for a paternity test and child support if it came back positive. When the results arrived, he packed his bags, retired and moved to the coast to be near his daughter.

Quinn respected him for his decision and knew how hard it was to lose the soldier part of himself to make room for the father part. However, there was a lot of respect that went towards to Ben, Lauren, Tim and Sam for being soldiers and parents. Quinn couldn't ever see herself as a soldier and parent, but she knew there were many out there and they needed their own special awards for being able to leave often and miss many things for their duty, then come back and try to merge back into home life.


Rachel only ever stayed with Quinn once after deployment and it was very difficult to sleep and connect to the things Rachel found important when she was over-analysing the deaths she had seen and been a part of during her tour. Quinn had to train herself away from 'front fire' mode where she would be constantly in battle, dusting herself off and picking herself up when something went wrong. It was a fear of hers that she wouldn't be able to go back to civilian life once this mission was over.

She had only seen her wife and two boys twice since she had been at training; both times it took everything in her not to cry as she watched her family's faces on the small screen in front of her. Quinn felt like the twins were growing so much without her there to see and she could sense that Rachel wasn't coping as well as she portrayed.

"How are you guys doing?" Quinn would ask every few minutes, and every time Rachel would try to smile and reply "I'd only ever be your army wife, and only once".


A/N: I don't know anything about army training, especially for special forces. I made it up and used google a fair bit. I hope it makes sense and you like it.

Next chapter – Present!