Summary: The journey of one Rachel Barbra Berry as she learns that there is more to life than just dreams of Broadway and life outside of Lima thanks to a few of her friends.

Pairings: Puck/Rachel/Santana/Sam friendship, Faberry friendship, Puckleberry, Bartie, Chang-squared, hints of Sam/Santana

Warnings: This contains spoilers up to "A Very Glee Christmas". It pretty much goes AU after that for obvious reasons.

Disclaimer: I don't own this show or anything related to this show. If I did there would be many more songs featuring Santana, Puck and Artie. There would also be a lot more Mike and his wondrous abs.

Author's Note: Not too much to say this time around. Glad you all are still enjoying the story. This chapter is slightly more cracky than the other ones, if the title didn't give that away entirely. So I hope you all enjoy. Ciao!


Britt and Puck Saved the Day aka The Time Quinn Was Not a Crack Addicted Ninja

Rachel cleared her throat as she paced in front of her audience. She was aware of their eyes on her as they waited to address this serious and troubling concern. Finally, after having built up enough dramatic tension, she whirled on her heel to face them.

"Ladies," she paused at the not at all subtle throat clearing. "Ladies, and gentleman, we are here today to discuss an issue of the utmost concern and importance."

"Really, Berry? Utmost?"

"Noah!" Rachel hissed in his direction. "This is a very serious matter."

"No, it's not. It's your crazy working overtime," Puck replied, grumpily. "I can't believe Sam just left me here. You guys know I can't move that well. You do this crap on purpose."

Brittany patted him on the shoulder, which just served to make him pout more. Ordinarily, Rachel would have been more concerned with his sadness but he was physically fine. She had more pressing concerns at the moment. Namely one Quinn Fabray. Sensing that Brittany was keeping Puck occupied, she turned to address Santana and Tina once more.

"I'm sure you've all noticed that Quinn has been acting oddly lately."

"If by odd you mean that's she constantly got 'appointments' and 'things to do' instead of hanging out with us," Tina said, complete with finger quotes. "Or the time when we ran into her at the mall after she dumped us and when she saw us pretty much bolted in the other direction."

"Exactly! Something is going on with Quinn and I think it's time we got to the bottom of it," Rachel agreed. "And as the four of us are her friends, it is our female responsibility to help her."

"I thought our female responsibility was our…."

"If you say the P-word I promise I will run out of here," Puck interrupted Santana. The Latina smirked. "I hate you all. Besides, has it ever occurred to you that maybe Quinn has a boyfriend or something?"

"If she had a boyfriend why wouldn't she just tell us?" Tina countered. "We all have boyfriends." Santana raised her hand and was promptly ignored. It wasn't their fault she was too stupid to realize that she was practically dating Sam at this point. "Quinn would tell us if she were dating someone."

"Rachel's right, there is something serious going on."

Puck huffed and rolled his eyes. He sat back in his seat muttering about crazy females and stupid pointless plots. Brittany leaned over and whispered something in his ear that caused a smile to spread across his face. He pulled away and nodded in agreement with whatever she said. Rachel started to say something as they both left the room shortly after their hushed conversation. Despite the feeling of terror that filled her at the idea of Brittany and Puck unsupervised, she was just relieved that he would be occupied while she, Santana and Tina figured out what was going on with Quinn.

"Alright, ladies, let's get down to business!"


"How much longer do we have to sit here?" Tina griped, shifting in place for the tenth time that hour alone. Rachel repressed the urge to glare at the normally sweet tempered Goth.

"Seriously, midget. How does hiding in the bushes help us figure out what Barbie is up too?"

Rachel huffed and glared at her two friends. "We're not hiding in the bushes! We're merely staking out the parking lot from the most strategic location while we wait for Quinn to leave. She didn't drive this morning and we need to see who picks her up so we have an idea of where she's going."

Santana snorted but was blissfully silent…. For five minutes at least. Then both she and Tina were complaining once again. She was seriously considering giving it up for today, if only to get away from them when Santana sat up straight and cocked her head to the side in surprise.

"Is that..."

Rachel leaned over her shoulder and also frowned in confusion. "Noah, Brittany and David Karofsky?"

She blinked and then rubbed her eyes but nothing could erase the sight of her boyfriend, Brittany and the enemy sitting together at one of the tables. Nothing could also erase the sight of the enemy crying.

"Did Brittany and Puck just make Karofsky cry?" Tina exclaimed. "And if they did, why couldn't they do that while he was being a jerk to Kurt?"

Rachel just shook her head in speechless wonder. Part of her told her to find out just what the hell those two were up to but the other part was distracted by their original target who was exiting the building. She too seemed to be momentarily confused by the trio sitting together but it didn't distract her from her mission. She paused in the parking lot and answered her ringing phone. Whoever was on the other line was not someone she wanted to hear from as her face shut down. She was tense and they could clearly see her pacing back and forth while talking frantically. Finally, she slammed the phone shut and put it back in her bag.

The three girls were going to jump out of their hiding spaces and confront her when Mercedes and Kurt walked past her. She practically attacked them at that moment. Rachel couldn't hear the conversation but she saw them nodding their heads in scared agreement and leading her towards Kurt's car.

"Ok, did Barbie seriously just ditch us for Kurt and Mercedes?" Santana snarled. "She's so out of the Glirl club."

Rachel narrowed her eyes. She was in agreement with Santana but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something else going on. Who was on the phone that made Quinn so angry? Where she was going with Kurt and Mercedes? And why were Puck and Brittany making Karofsky cry? Ok, that last part had nothing to do with her mission but she was seriously concerned about that.

"Focus, Rachel," she whispered to herself. She turned to Tina and Santana who were looking at her expectantly. "Look, its Kurt and Mercedes. There aren't a lot of places they go to hang out after school. Let's check the mall and if they're not there then we go to Breadstix. When we find Quinn, we force her to tell us what's going on once and for all."

The two girls agreed and they made their way to Tina's car. Rachel cast one last look over her shoulder at Karofsky who was now openly sobbing on Brittany's shoulder. The blonde was looking slightly panicked while Puck was sitting as far as from them as possible on the benches. Satisfied that they were not in any danger, or at least it seemed that way, Rachel was content with continuing with their Save Quinn mission.

A half an hour later, Rachel was rethinking their somewhat overzealous approach to this mission. They found Mercedes and Kurt seated in the food court at the mall. Santana went charging over to them and had Kurt pinned against one of the pillars while Tina was giving Mercedes a look that promised pain if she tried to stop this. Rachel supposed they could have gotten through this without resorting to physical violence and threats but really it was best to just indulge Santana every now and then. It made life easier for everyone.

"Where is Quinn?"

Kurt blinked and rolled his eyes. Impressive. "You're seriously ruining my new Prada vest for this?"

Santana frowned and glanced over her shoulder at Rachel. The brunette shook her head and motioned for her best friend to release Kurt. "Sorry about that. San just gets a bit carried away," Rachel apologized, trying to smooth things over. Kurt remained less than impressed. "Do you happen to know where Quinn is?"

"She accosted us in the parking lot, not unlike what just occurred, and told us to drive her home. Halfway there she got a phone call and then told us to drop her off where we were. We waited for a few minutes and another car pulled up. She got in and drove off with whoever it was."

"You didn't see who she got in the car with?"

"We didn't think it was a big deal," Mercedes shrugged. "What's going? You guys have been like super tight since New Years. I figured you all would know everything about each other."

"We thought that too," Rachel replied, sadly. There was clearly something going on with Quinn but for whatever reason she wasn't sharing it with her friends. That hurt. A lot. Because Rachel was finally used to the concept of having friends and the fact that one of those friends didn't trust her was heart breaking.

"Don't worry so much, midget," Santana whispered, putting an arm around her. "We'll figure out what's going on with Q-ball and royally beat her ass for making us worry. Ok?"

"Ok," Rachel sighed.


"Girls, Noah and Sam are here," Hiram's voice wafted up the stairs to Rachel's room where she and Santana were sprawled across her bed brainstorming on the next move. Rachel was midway through attempting to convince Santana that kidnapping Quinn and locking her in a porta-a-potty was not the most ideal way to confront their friend when the boys appeared in her room. Puck was panting slightly from the exertion of taking the stairs but she wisely kept her mouth shut. They came dangerously close to breaking up the week before about his obviously stupid obsession with going upstairs when he was clearly still walking with difficulty. It took four hours for him to calm down long enough to actually talk to her. She was not looking forward to a repeat of that conversation.

"You guys still plotting?" he asked, as he and Sam got comfortable.

"Have you tried locking her in the janitor's closet?" Sam suggested. Santana smiled in his direction and Rachel flung a pillow his way. She didn't need the not-a-couple colluding with one another and making her life more difficult.

"Have you tried talking with her?" Puck asked. "I mean its Quinn. You're making this whole thing into a cloak and daggers situation. Have you tried just asking her what's she been up to?"

"Duh, Puckerman. She's been dodging us for the past two weeks! She even manages to duck us at school. It's annoying!"

Puck shook his head and started to reply when his phone vibrated. He checked it quickly and smirked at the message he received. "Well, lovely ladies and Sam, it's been wonderful hanging out with you but I have to go."

"You just got here," Rachel protested. He smiled softly and kissed her forehead.

"I know but I have something to care of at Blaine's house. I'll see you tomorrow at school." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips before making his way downstairs. The second he was gone, the two girls turned on Sam.

"What's he up to? You know don't you?"

Sam shrugged, not at all worried about being trapped in a room with two girls who redefined the word 'insanity'. He leaned back on the computer chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't know and I don't want to know. All I know is that they practically kidnapped Karofsky this afternoon and had him bawling for like an hour. Then they took him to the mall where he spent another hour practically crying all over Kurt's apparently very new and very expensive wardrobe. Then they split up but only after making plans to meet up and go to Blaine's house for some reason that I seriously don't want to know about."

Rachel raised an eyebrow. All this sounded very suspicious and worrisome but she knew better than to interfere. Besides, she had more than enough on her plate with Quinn's mysterious behavior. She didn't have time to try and figure out the anomaly that was Brittany and Puck. At any rate, one or both of them would crack eventually and tell them what they were planning. So she ignored it for the third time and went back to plotting her next move with Santana while Sam ignored them and watched The Backup Plan.

"This is seriously so bad that it hurts but I can't stop watching it," Sam muttered at one point. "How are you actually sitting through this without cringing?"

"We're cringing but it helps that Alex O'Loughlin is pretty damn hot."

Sam frowned and cocked his head to the side staring at the actor. "I don't see it."

"Keep telling yourself that, Sammy."

He glared at them for a moment but soon his attention was back on the screen. Rachel smiled. It was the little moments that made friends such a great thing to have around.


"I officially quit!" Tina announced, dropping her lunch bag onto the table with dramatic flourish. "Either Quinn has become a part time ninja or we seriously suck at life!"

"I cannot believe she managed to avoid us for like every single period for the past three days!" Santana agreed, shaking her head. "I think its drugs."

"What?"

"No, she has to be on like crack. It makes you move super fast like that. And it makes you all weird and secretive. She's definitely on crack," Santana said, firmly. Rachel was starting to think that Santana was on crack. Before she could share this theory with her darling best friend, the others arrived at the table, including their prodigal friend and an unexpected face.

"Blaine?" Rachel asked.

Their Warbler friend only frowned grumpily and sat down at their lunch table. It took Rachel a few moments to realize that he wasn't wearing his uniform. He was wearing regular clothing and his hair was ungelled. He looked almost… normal.

"Why is Hogwarts here?" Santana asked, voicing Rachel and Tina's confusion.

Brittany beamed as she took her seat next to the still frowning Blaine. "He's one of us now."

Santana put a hand over Brittany's gently. "Sweetie, I know you like Blaine and you want him to be with us but we talked about this. You cannot kidnap a human being and force him to do your bidding. They have laws against that kind of thing. And the police really only look at it as an accident if you do it once. Twice and it's a felony."

Rachel's eyes widened. Sometimes she wondered what her friends did before they all started hanging out. And then there were times when she was glad she didn't know. It would probably be to her benefit later that she wouldn't have to lie in a court of law.

"I didn't kidnap him, San," Brittany replied, patiently as Santana was the one in the wrong here. "Right, Blaine?"

"No, they didn't kidnap me," Blaine answered, though he was still frowning. "Apparently, I go to this school now."

"Since when?"

"Since Tuesday night. That's when I got a text message from Puck telling me that Mike needed to talk to me about something important. Should've known better but I trusted Mike."

Mike shrugged. Blaine rolled his eyes.

"What happened?"

"Well while I was out dealing with the dancing Asian traitor over there, my parents were visited by the McKinley High School choir director and recruitment team of New Directions. The team that basically consists of Kurt, Puck and Brittany. Their pitch included pointing out that the Warblers only won Sectionals because Kurt was there and now he's not. And that we couldn't win Regionals on our own. According to the so called recruitment team, it would be a 'fucking smart idea to switch him to a team of proven winners'. They also pointed out the cost effectiveness of switching from Dalton to McKinley."

Puck and Brittany exchanged entirely too smug looks and shrugged. "But I thought you transferred to Dalton because of the bullying at your own school. Don't you parents know about what happened with Kurt?" Tina asked.

"We took care of that too," Puck grinned.

"And by took care of that, you mean….?"

'They forced Karofsky into coming out," Blaine responded for them. Rachel's jaw dropped. Karofsky was gay? "They basically annoyed the hell out of him until he confessed. And then they made him apologize to Kurt until he was forgiven. Then they made Kurt tell my parents that the bullying was over and had been addressed. And he did it because Puck is exploiting the fact that they didn't press charges against Finn."

"Whatever works," Puck shrugged again. "And you know you're happy, Blaine. So just drop the act. Grumpy dwarf doesn't fit you. You're supposed to be Happy."

"For the last time, I'm not a dwarf!" Blaine retorted, though a smile was spreading across his face. "Also would it kill you to just let me have my moment?"

"Probably yes," Puck smirked. He looked at the still silent Quinn and that damn smile got bigger and more evil. Was it wrong that Rachel was a little turned on? "Oh, Q. How's Nick?"

Quinn choked on the soda that she had just taken a sip from. Artie thumped her on the back and helped her clear her throat. "How is who?"

"Nicholas Acosta. Does that ring a bell?" Brittany asked, innocently.

"Or should we say sweetie pie?"

"I personally preferred pookie-bear."

Quinn buried her burning red face in her hands. "How?"

"Nick's mom is my physical therapist," Puck grinned, stealing one of Sam's fries. The blonde was too busy laughing at the look on Quinn's face to even notice. Not that he would've tried to stop him if he had noticed. Rachel knew that Sam had long ago resigned himself to half an order of fries whenever around Puck.

"Dr. Connors is his mother?" Quinn moaned.

"Yeah," Mike patted her on the shoulder in false sympathy. "You can try and deny it but we saw you on Saturday when you met him for lunch."

"Secret's out, Q," Puck smirked. "You've got a boyfriend. Quinn and Nick sitting in a hospital supply closet… let's just hope k-i-s-s-i-n-g was all that was going on in there."

"Didn't sound like it," Sam added.

"I hate you all so much!" she hissed without any real heat or venom to it. Rachel would've laughed if she wasn't busy feeling betrayed by Quinn. The former head Cheerio caught the disappointed and sad looks of the only three that apparently didn't know about Nick. "It's not what you think!"

"It's not that you don't trust us?" Santana snapped.

"No! Of course not. I totally trust you all. It's just that he's… well… older than me. And he's been so worried about us being out in the open that I think I caught his paranoia. I was so worried that you guys wouldn't approve of him. I'm sorry."

"How much older?" Rachel asked, ignoring the rest of the statement.

"He just turned twenty last week," she replied with a bit of red creeping into her cheeks.

Rachel hesitated. He was twenty and Quinn was barely seventeen. Her gaze flickered towards Tina and Santana who were both looking to her for the answer. Rachel found it amusing that she didn't even have friends five months ago and suddenly she was their leader. She finally settled for looking at Puck. He nodded. And that was that.

"Quinn, we don't care about that. We just want you to be happy. As long as he's making you happy then his age doesn't matter… that much."

"Really?"

"Yes," Rachel assured her. Quinn let out a happy squeal before pouncing on her and Santana as they were the closest.

"Oh goddamn it! Before I started rolling with you, Berry, this hugging crap hardly ever happened!" she pulled away from Quinn with a disgusted frown. "And seriously, Q. That was the big secret? We thought something seriously bad was going down. We thought you had a drug problem."

"Actually you thought she had a drug problem," Tina corrected.

"Well, it's better than thinking she was part ninja!"

"That would be pretty bad…. Damn it!" Puck trailed off as he caught sight of something over Sam's shoulder. "Britt, Blaine we gotta roll."

Blaine looked up and groaned. "This is your fault, Puck!"

"Got to admit, he has a point," Brittany added, packing up her belongings quickly. Puck was too busy doing the same to do more than flip them the finger quickly. Rachel looked away from the trio to see Karofsky making his way to the table. By the time she looked back to her boyfriend and friends, they were already halfway across the courtyard. Clearly Puck was not letting something like being in the hospital only the month before stop him from racing towards the school. Rachel hadn't seen him move that fast since before the accident. If she wasn't so confused, she would've been proud.

"What the hell…."

"Was that about?" Santana finished Rachel's question.

"Apparently since they forced him into coming out, Karofsky now views them as his new best friends," Sam snickered. "He's been texting Puck and Blaine non stop for the past two days."

"I thought you didn't know what was going on," Santana pointed out.

"I didn't know then. I knew they were up to something. My part in this whole thing was to keep you occupied so you didn't start wondering where Britt and Puck were. They did all of this on their own."

Rachel shook her head but turned her attention back to her lunch. She had long been of the belief that Puck and Brittany were probably the savviest members of their group and they just proved her right. It worried her how much they managed to accomplish in the span of four days. She was just grateful that neither one of them wanted world domination. They didn't want that right? She muttered a few choice curses under her breath before kicking Sam under the table.

"What was that for?"

"You and your damn Syfy movies!"

"I don't know why you guys are so mad," Artie spoke up. "I mean everything is just how it's supposed to be."

Rachel hated to admit it but he was right. Quinn had a boyfriend and she seemed happy with him. And that meant that she was less likely to start pining for either Sam or heaven forbid Finn again. Santana and Sam were still dancing around being together but it was only a matter of time before they got their act together. Chang-squared and Bartie continued strong as did Puckleberry. And now they had Blaine with them full time. She supposed that Artie was right. Everything was exactly how it should be. There was just one little thought that wouldn't go away.

"Does this mean that Karofsky is going to join Glee?"


*The end for now. Please forgive any typos or mistakes found in this chapter. I tried to edit to the best of my ability but I'm pretty much running off of Dayquil right now. The bright side is when I'm sick I write a lot. The down side is that it's not usually in any language anyone can understand. LOL.