The next morning the paparazzi were waiting outside her apartment building when the town car she had ordered pulled up. An informant in the car company had tipped them off that Rachel Berry had ordered a car to take her to La Guardia Airport. The baseball cap and sunglasses on the small woman getting into the car with Tom Foley, who looked greatly displeased for someone who had also won a Tony, fooled no one, and the chase was on.

The couple was hounded throughout the airport with cries of "Ms. Berry! Who is the mystery man?" Phones were whipped out when the flight and its destination—Taos, New Mexico—was discovered. Tom saw her off with a hug and a wave, signed some autographs, and went home without comment.

By the time Tom, Emily, Santana, and Kurt were having a celebratory brunch, Miriam Threadgold, Rachel's look-alike understudy, was headed back from La Guardia to her own apartment to get ready for the night's performance. Rachel Berry was already in Pennsylvania, driving Kurt's old Range Rover, on I-80, headed west.

"And to think," said Santana, shaking her head, "We used to make fun of Berry in high school for making plans on how to handle the paparazzi."

They toasted her safety, and success. And they toasted Finn, wherever he was.

XXXxxxx

Rachel finally relaxed outside of Hazleton, PA. Tom called and told her the ruse worked, and wished her and Finn good luck. She knew how crazy the press would be over this: she listened to NPR talking about the buzz over the Tony awards show. To keep her whereabouts secret, she had put some cash on an untraceable, prepaid debit card. At hotels, Rachel planned on using her usual credit card to hold the room, but to pay with the untraceacble one. Nobody but a trusted few knew what car she was driving (she had moved her own car to a different garage for the duration, to make it appear she had taken it). Santana had gone shopping for her at the Orvis store, buying (stylish) outdoor clothing, and picked up some simple camping gear (Timberline Eureka tent, cooking utensils, etc), just in case. Contrary to popular belief, Rachel was actually well-versed in camping. During the summers they were together, Finn had taken her outdoors and taught her the basics, which, in typical Rachel Berry fashion, she obsessed over until she mastered them.

She thought about the show. When she made the decision to find Finn, she approached the producers, and told them what she planned on doing if she won the award. Much to her surprise, Billie and Jim were delighted. They knew ahead of time what this kind of thing could do to for the show's publicity, and brought Miriam in on the plan. Each show would begin with a reference to Rachel's absence, as a quest for love. The producers instinctively knew the fans would respond positively. Miriam was no slouch as Sally, either, and was grateful for the opportunity. Fortunately, a talented third-stringer was available, and began rehearsing in earnest with Tom just in case. As accommodating as all them were, Rachel secretly knew it didn't matter what they said. It was time for her to risk everything for him.

Fortunately, she wasn't going into this completely blind as to Finn's whereabouts. Kurt told her once that, soon after Finn's announcement, his mom got a notice from a VA hospital in Sheridan, Wyoming. Apparently it was sent to his emergency contact address by mistake. So, Rachel had one, and only one, clue for where to start looking. It seemed like a world away.

She thought about staying the night in Elyria, Ohio, but wasn't tired yet, the adrenaline still pumping. Eventually, though, around 10 PM, she had to pull into a rest area. After using the bathroom, she headed back to her car, enjoying being able to stretch her legs. The rest area was located adjacent to a patch of woods; a great horned owl hooted from somewhere in the trees. Rachel knew it was a great horned owl because she and Finn had taken an owl calling class at the local conservation area, so she stood, hands cupped to her mouth, and tried a call, as loud as she could make it: Hoo-Hoo-Hoo, Hoo, Hoo. There was a few moments of silence, then, to her delight, the owl called back, only this time much closer. Even after all these years, Rachel still almost grabbed her phone to text Finn about it. She was still crying when she called Kurt, to let him know she was going to catch some z's in the car. He said he'd inform the others that she was safe. Settling in, Rachel became excited again. Maybe soon, she thought, she wouldn't have to cry over him anymore.

Over the next day, Rachel made it through Chicago and headed northwest, into Wisconsin, now on I-90. She spent the night in a motel in La Crosse, WI, and overslept. It was late afternoon when she finally got underway.

In eastern South Dakota, Rachel encountered some heavy thunderstorms at 2AM, flashes of lightning illuminating the surreal landscape of the Badlands, so she pulled into a diner in the town of Mitchell. As she ordered coffee, she noticed strange pictures of a building lining the walls. It looked like the building was covered with-were those ears of corn? She asked the waitress, who told her it was the world famous theatre called the Corn Palace, and yes, every year it was covered with fresh ears of corn (birds had a habit of eating them). Top notch talent had performed there, she said, like Red Skelton! Being a performer, Rachel couldn't resist driving by the building before she left town. It was too early for a fresh layer of corn, so the old theatre looked somewhat grotesque, covered in bird-pecked cobs. She sent some pictures back to Tom and Kurt.

She caught 4 hours of sleep at a rest area northwest of Rapid City, at the western end of South Dakota. This was Black Hills country, which dominated the western horizon. Rachel knew she was getting near the Bighorn range; Sheridan was only 250 miles further. She wondered what other clues were there.

The mountainous terrain was all part of the Rockies complex. Pushing into Wyoming, she gazed in wonder at the scenery, so different from the rolling farmlands where she was born and raised, and so much more rugged than the older, worn-down mountains in the East. Rachel wondered if Finn chose this place because Afghanistan itself was so mountainous.

She found a hotel in Sheridan, showered, then headed right for the VA hospital. It was smaller than she expected, but looked modern, with red stone facing. She approached the woman at the desk.

"Excuse, me," she said, "I'm looking for a veteran who may be a patient here. His name is Finn Christopher Hudson."

The woman looked up the name, and shook her head. "I'm sorry, but we have no record of this patient being currently treated. He may be an outpatient. Are you family?"

She almost found herself saying yes. After all, this was her Finn we were talking about. The cruel reality struck her then. She had no lawful standing with him. All she could say was that he was her fiancée, once.

She looked down in sorrow. "We-we were going to be married," she said, softly. The woman shook her head sympathetically.

"I'm so sorry, I cannot give you any more information." The woman leaned forward and took her hand. "You might try asking those gentlemen over there." She pointed at five men sitting in the lobby. "They hang around here a lot, a kind of veterans social group. Maybe they knew or remember him."

"Thank you," Rachel said, and walked over to the men. Three of them were older, probably Vietnam era, and two were fairly young. All seemed to be fairly fit and healthy, with no obvious signs of wounds or trauma.

"Excuse me, "Rachel asked, "I'm looking for—an old friend of mine. He used to be treated here, perhaps he talked with you. His name is Finn Hudson."

All but one slowly shook their heads. It was the oldest looking veteran who asked, "Tall drink of water, well over six feet?"

She felt a surge of adrenaline/hope.

"Yes! Yes! Six-three, dark hair?"

"Sure, ma'am," he said. "Nice guy, but didn't talk much. I do know he mentioned hanging out at a bar called Red's, down on Madison. But that was a few years ago now."

He almost fell backwards as Rachel hugged him fiercely.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!" She rushed out of the lobby as fast as she could.

XXXxxxx

An older man was tending bar. A couple of customers were at a booth. She slipped onto a stool.

"What can I get you?"

"A beer, please. Do you have an IPA on tap?"

The bartender smiled. "We have a great local one, called Black Tooth."

"Then I'll have a pint, " Rachel said.

He drew the pint and put it before her.

"You're new here", the bartender said, "Welcome. I'm Red."

"Rachel Berry," she replied brightly, and took a sip. It wasn't generally known, but she enjoyed good beer, the hoppier and bitterer the better. Finn always loved that about her.

"This is very good," she said, and Red nodded. But it was time to get down to business. "Red, I'm new in town, because I'm looking for somebody, and was told he used to come here. His name is Finn Hudson. Do you know him?"

Red smiled and nodded in recognition. Then he looked at her more carefully.

"I got to know Finn very well. And you…you must be his Rachel."

Her heart raced in her chest with hope.

"He-he talked about me?"

Red laughed. "He tried talking himself out of it, but he couldn't. He loved you."

Please say he's here, she prayed.

"Do you know where I can find him, Red? It's been almost three years since he was discharged, and not even his family knows where he is."

Red shook his head.

"I'm sorry, all I can tell you is where he was about two years ago." He went to a small corkboard behind the bar, and pulled off a postcard. "Finn sent me this."

It was picture of a beautiful lake, ringed by majestic mountains. It said "Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta." Rachel turned it over and her heart clenched when she saw his familiar, messy handwriting:

Dear Red,

This may be just where I need to be. Even more peace and quiet than Sheridan.

Take care, dude

Finn

She kept turning it over and over.

"So he went to Canada?" She looked puzzled.

"It's pretty gorgeous up there," Red said. Then he kindly put a hand on her arm. "Rachel, he experienced something really bad in Afghanistan. He and I bonded because I saw some horrible things in Nam. He couldn't really talk about it with anybody, even me. But it affected him. He hated loud noises, for example, and was wary of crowds, and things like trash bags and untended boxes. But that's typical."

Rachel started crying, at the thought of him in such a state. Red patted her arm again.

"Don't worry, Rachel, " he said gently, "He's ok. He's not broken. Believe me, I've seen broken. But like me when I got back, he had the good sense to realize he had to adjust, and was in the position to take the time to do just that. He worked in a local garage here. The guys say he was very withdrawn at first, but seemed to acclimate quickly. "Integrate," is what he called it. But Sheridan didn't work out fully for him. I hope that helps."

She smiled and thanked him. Back in her hotel, she called Kurt and told him what she knew.

"Thanks Rachel, " he said, and, per their agreement, promised to keep the information to himself.

In her bed, curled up that night, Rachel wondered how different he would be when she finally found him. It never occurred to her to think how different she was, too.

XXXxxx

It was 550 miles to Waterton. Rachel left Sheridan very early, 4AM, and arrived there around 1:30PM. She checked into a motel, then drove through the small town, staring in wonder at white mountain sheep in peoples front yards. It wasn't clear how she should start her search.

As she drove by the RCMP station, she had an idea.

"Excuse me," she said to the tall, young female constable at the desk, "I'm trying to locate someone who lives, or maybe has lived here in the past couple of years."

"Is this person missing, ma'am?" the constable asked.

"Oh no, " Rachel replied, "Not in that sense. He's an old friend, and I'm trying to contact him again. His name is Finn Hudson."

At the name, the two other constables in the room turned their heads, and the one at the desk smiled widely, but looked at her very intently. It started to freak Rachel out, but then the woman, still smiling, said,

"You must be Rachel."