Sorry it has taken a while to update. Work has been insane lately. Thank you all so much for taking the time and following this story! And a huge thank you to everyone who has left such kind reviews! 38 reviews! Thats amazing, thank you! This chapter is a bit drier than the rest, but I assure you it is accurate on all levels. The next chapter will be much jucier, I promise. Now on to the story...
Chapter 10
After a totally botched attempt at surprising Quinn at a party, their first major fight as a couple again, their first (well, technically second) time having sex as a couple making up from that fight, their first visit with their daughter since they said their goodbyes at the hospital 2 years prior, and a much needed weekend trip back to Columbus, Puck thought he had a pretty fantastic winter break. While the few weeks off was much needed, he was ready for the next challenge: Ranger School.
Quinn drove Puck to the airport early the next morning where the couple met up with Finn and Rachel, who had decided to make the drive to the Columbus airport from Lima that morning. They both looked exhausted when the foursome met up at a coffee shop inside the main terminal, and Puck and Quinn couldn't help but exchange knowing glances and smile at the shared thought as to why their friends looked as tired as they did…and it really had nothing to do with the fact they had to get up and leave Lima by 5am to make it in time for the boys' flight.
Rachel and Quinn ordered coffee and a few pastries to share while the boys checked in, and after the boys got their boarding passes and were all good to go, they rejoined the girls to chat about their respective breaks. After catching up for a bit, the boys' flight was called to start boarding and it was time for another round of goodbyes. Finn and Rachel had their usual 'so cute it makes you want to vomit' goodbye, with plenty of kisses, some baby talk and a mini argument over who loved who more. Quinn and Puck, on the other hand, had already physically told each other how much they loved the other over the past weekend and the night before, so they simply told one another that they loved and would miss the other before indulging in a final kiss and embrace, parting with a "see you soon" instead of goodbye.
The boys passed through security, boarded the plane and got themselves situated before it pushed away from the gate and took off while the girls watched from the windows in the terminal. Quinn and Rachel decided to stick around the airport coffee shop a while longer to catch up and have girl talk about what really happened over their breaks. Rachel told Quinn all about Finn surprising her in NYC and taking her out for a romantic dinner and a stroll in the park one night and treated her to a Broadway show another night all while enjoying their alone couple-time before they were slated to return to Lima for Christmas. Quinn was a bit surprised with how open Rachel had been chatting about her and Finn's sex life, as Rachel apparently had no filter when it came to discussing her and Finn's relationship, but strangely, Quinn didn't seem to mind. She was actually a bit flattered Rachel liked her enough and trusted her enough to have this kind of conversation with. The only other people Quinn ever had a similar type of openness with were Brittney and Santana, and even then it was a bit awkward now seeing as the two girls were dating and Quinn was sleeping with Santana's ex/best friend. It was a bit more complicated now, so she was glad to have someone else to have this kind of girl talk with.
Rachel noticed Quinn's slight unease and asked if she was offering too much information, since Quinn had once dated Finn as well, but Quinn just told her that she appreciated Rachel's candor and was glad to have someone besides San & Britt to talk to about these things, especially since they really didn't have to deal with the whole "boy-problems" issues anymore. Quinn filled Rachel in on all about how Puck tried to surprise her in Columbus and how it had turned into a giant mess when he caught her with Taylor. Rachel gave her a fairly condescending look and asked her how she could do that to Puck, so Quinn told her all about the fight and the real reason she was at the party with him that night. She even told her all about her and Puck's make-up, to which Rachel squealed with glee, her smile extending all the way up to her eyes before asking a million questions about how it was and told Quinn she was glad they finally hooked up again, since Finn had apparently been telling Rachel all about how angsty and sexually frustrated Puck had been all through training. Quinn couldn't help laugh at some of the stories and jokes Rachel made about herself and Finn and some of the crazy things the two of them had done over break, and while Quinn couldn't top some of her stories, it was funny just to listen to the girl and swap whatever tales she could with the brunette. She also told Rachel about their visits with Beth and their subsequent trip to Columbus before dropping the boys off and Rachel seemed genuinely interested and happy for the duo for getting to spend time with their daughter again.
All and all, it was a solemn parting from the men in their lives, but a greater step toward achieving a friendship neither could have fathomed having with one another in high school. They each had their respective friends at school and what not, but each woman realized they had much more in common with one another than just their boyfriends being friends. They sat and talked, telling stories and laughing in the airport coffee shop for over 2 hours, finally realizing how much time had really passed once they each got a text from Finn and Puck letting them know they had already landed in Georgia. The girls decided to head their separate ways, but not before promising to keep in better touch with the other over the next semester.
Upon arriving back at Fort Benning, Georgia, Finn and Puck were shown to the barracks they both knew they probably wouldn't spend much time in and unloaded their gear. They had been able to catch up on the true stories of what each of them did over break and were all filled in on each other's lives by the time they landed. They had in-processing for a few hours to make sure all of their information and files had been passed along to the correct people and were given the night to rest up and mentally prepare themselves for the grueling few months ahead.
Both boys had done their research and discovered that less than a third of the three hundred men they would start Ranger School with the next day would end up earning their Ranger tabs at the end of the 61 days, and overall, less than one percent of the soldiers in the Army were actually Ranger qualified. That meant the Army Rangers were among the elite of all the military Special Forces, equal to Marine Recon and the Navy SEALs. Their training would take place in three different locations so they could experience all different terrain and thus be prepared for anything they ever may face. Puck was excited to see what kinds of things they would have to do once their training took them away from Fort Benning and into both Florida and Colorado, but he had read some horror stories online so he knew he needed to be wary of every situation they may throw the men into. They also knew they were in for an extremely grueling experience over the next few months and took their time preparing themselves for the next day.
At 0400 hours, the men were harshly awoken by the sound of mortars and gunfire. They sprang out of their bunks just in time to hear the Ranger instructors bust in the doors yelling at the men to get their gear and report on the field outside. All 300 Ranger candidates hastily threw on their BDUs and grabbed their gear and reported in. They were then divided into pairs and told these men were their partners for the next 3 days and that they were to do everything in pairs as the Rangers almost never do anything as an individual and they never leave a man behind. Finn had been paired with an officer who was trying out for the Rangers, and Puck could tell already that Finn was not a fan of this guy. Puck, on the other hand, was paired with a Specialist Daniel Miller, who he quickly learned was from Amarillo, Texas and had an extremely thick Texas accent.
Their first task seemed simple enough, they were all told to fight their partner in hand to hand combat, trying to wrestle and take the other down. Then the Ranger instructors would blow a whistle after several minutes and the men would help their partners up and they would run around the dirt track surrounding the combat pit, switching off carrying one another over their shoulders and even bear crawling or rolling through the mud when the instructors would blow the whistle to signal such activity. Then they would do it again. They went at this for hours on end, Greco wrestling one another, then running, then carrying one another, then rolling through the mud.
After what seemed like an eternity to the men, they broke momentarily for water and were told they then had to run to the Ranger O-Course, an obstacle course with 12 major obstructions the men had to maneuver with their partners. They had to complete each activity successfully as a pair or they would have to start the obstacle over. Even if a pair completed an entire revolution around the obstacle course the instructors may have them do it again if it was not completed within a certain amount of time.
Finn had wanted to punch his partner after taking a few cheap shots during the wrestling activity earlier but after eating the equivalent of a Cliff Bar and being awake and working hard for 18 hours, his patience was waning and his partners could do no right on the O-Course. They had to restart every activity in the course at least twice, and after crawling through the mud under barbed wire and traversing the most ridiculous cargo net web possible multiple times, he was about to kill him.
Puck and his partner were getting along much better. He discovered his partner was known as "Tex" and was a few years older than him but had a similar drive and sense of humor, so the pair got along fine even after practically kicking each other's asses during the hand to hand combat earlier. Even though they had to restart a few of the activities during the O-Course, neither of them looked like they despised each other the same way Finn despised his partner. They each fell off the monkey bars a few times, falling into the waist deep and freezing water below, making gripping the bars that much more difficult, the friendly competition between the two helped them both make it through the O-Course twice during the night.
Once the men had completed a solid 20 hours of physically demanding activity and running on little food and sleep, the men were dismissed and returned to their bunks to salvage what little sleep they could before getting up and doing it all over again the next day.
After 2 days of hand to hand combat, running with logs or carrying other men, and doing the O-Course repetitively, the men were told to report to the waterfront to engage in Combat Water Testing. This required the men to individually climb up a 50 foot tower that was suspended over the water and walk across a 50 foot ledge, stepping up and over an obstacle, before crawling onto a rope and shimmying out to a wooden Ranger placard suspended on the rope. They were to touch the placard before allowing themselves to drop into the water and swim an additional 50 yards to the shore. All of this was to be completed with a calm and controlled demeanor.
By the time the boys had arrived to the beach front, the Ranger candidate group looked a bit smaller, and after asking around a bit, they discovered about 70 people had already dropped out of training after the first few days, Finn's partner being one of them. Finn was glad as he was convinced the wuss couldn't hack it, but after looking up at how high the tower was and hearing about the task they had to complete, both Finn and Puck were pretty sure the Combat Water Testing would weed out a good chunk of the men as well.
And boy were they right. Several men in the line in front of them had climbed up the ladder to the platform but simply couldn't let go of the handrails on the tower to begin the 50 foot walk on the plank. Many ended up coming back down and were thus disqualified from Ranger School. Several more decided to just go ahead and quit before they even got up there. Puck thought they were all pansys for quitting before they had even tried anything, thus letting their fear control their decisions. He and Finn figured it was for the better, as men who were afraid of something as simple as heights may not be the best dudes to be fighting next to in a special forces type of situation, where anything could happen and you had to be able to trust the man next to you to come through for everyone to get out alive.
Finn and Puck inched closer to the front of the line and when they were almost to the front, they rock, paper, scissored for who had to go first. Puck chose rock while Finn chose paper, causing Puck to curse and turn to step up to begin his water testing.
He climbed the ladder and decided not to look down at all until he absolutely needed to. He had never been afraid of heights but one glance down at his feet caused him to feel a little bit of vertigo from that altitude. The reality sunk in that if he misplaced one step, he would plummet into the water 50 feet below. So he swallowed the lump forming in his throat and began to walk calmly, placing one foot in front of the other and balancing himself with his outstretched arms. He made it to the midway point, stepping up and over the small stairs obstacle before finishing out his walk on the plank.
He got to the rope tie-off and that is where things got tricky. He had to basically fling himself off of the plank, clearing a gap between the rope tie-off and the plank and grab on to this rope in such a way where he could suspend himself upside down so he could shimmy down and touch this Ranger placard. He had watched a few men go before him so he kind of had an idea of how to do this, but he couldn't take the time to overanalyze the right way to go about hurling himself off this ledge, so he just went for it. He leapt, clearing the gap with ease and clutching for the rope, flinging his arms and legs around it once he felt it under his palms. He shimmied down the rest of the rope before reaching out to tag the Ranger placard hanging from the rope. He let his legs down and looked down at the water below him and almost lost his wits about him when he saw how far down it looked, but he reasoned it was the lack of sleep and his mind playing tricks on him and it couldn't be any worse than when he and the boys had gone cliff jumping at the lake a few summers back, so he took a deep breath and let go.
He thought he had been falling for a while when he suddenly felt the water smack his feet and engulf his whole body. Once the shock of the cold water had registered and he stopped sinking, he swam to the surface and did his best freestyle stroke toward the shore, which was exceedingly difficult considering the water temperature was in the low 50's and he was wearing his full camouflage uniform and boots. However, Puck paddled hard and made it to the shore in good time, earning him a pass for the testing portion.
Puck climbed back up on shore and gathered near some flaming barrels the instructors had lit to help keep the candidates who completed the testing warm while the others went, glancing back up at the apparatus just in time to watch Finn go. Puck knew Finn had a slight fear of heights as he was always the last to want to jump off the small cliffs and rock outcroppings at the lake, but he figured that Finn wouldn't back down now, especially after watching Puck complete it successfully first. Their friendly competition their entire lives had helped shape each man into who they were today, and if it weren't for the other pushing them, there is no way they would have been half as successful as they were in football their junior and senior years, or made it as far as they had in Glee Club, or even done half as well as they had in their Army careers up until this point. Puck would be the first to admit their competitive nature with one another had caused a few fights over the years, namely the fact that both of Finn's girlfriends had cheated on him with Puck, one of which ended up pregnant and the drama that ensued almost ruined their friendship permanently, but overall it had benefitted the both of them. That and Puck would never admit that sleeping with Quinn in the first place their sophomore year was mistake. Quinn had a point when she said the drama and the baby had brought them together and they were together now and very happy, so he could not feel bad about the one night that changed his whole life for the better and led him to Quinn. The whole kissing Rachel thing while she was dating Finn junior year however, was a total low blow, and he did feel really bad about that. But now everything had worked itself out for the better. He had Quinn and his best friend was with Rachel and both couples were happy. No harm, no foul.
He had been so lost in his thoughts he almost missed Finn's turn on the tower. By the time he looked back up at where he was at, he saw Finn leap across the gap and snag the rope with easy, shimmying down to touch the sign and letting go easily, plunging into the water. He watched his friend surface and swim to the shore, the instructors waiting to tell him he passed. Puck walked down to where he was climbing up the sand, slapping his friend across the back and congratulating him on making it look easy.
They sat around the fires watching the other men attempt the apparatus or simply quit before even trying. An hour later, the instructors excused them to get changed into fresh uniforms and grab all their gear before being told to report back at the beach for their next assignment. They ran as fast as their sopping wet uniforms would allow them to run, and changed in record time, meeting back down at the waterfront.
Their next assignment was a 10 mile run, in all their gear with their 70 lb packs on, to the next barracks location. Any man who stopped running along the way was dropped from the Ranger class as well. At this point, it was every man for himself, and it became a test of endurance, both physical and mental. As the boys ran, they saw several of their fellow classmates stop running, conceding to instructors that they wanted to drop out and being picked up by the trucks that drove along the side of the soldiers to make sure everyone was still following instructions.
By the time they arrived at their next encampment several hours later, their class had once again dwindled in size. Puck looked around at the remaining men and after a quick count, figured that over a hundred of the 300 men that started out with them 3 days prior had already dropped. He was exhausted and his stomach was starting to hurt from the lack of food, but he quickly steeled himself, telling himself that focusing on stuff like that was what the weak-minded did and that kind of thinking was the kind of thinking the men who had already dropped had, so he couldn't let himself go soft mentally, no matter what. He could hear Finn's stomach grumble as well, so he told Finn the same thing and the boys made a quick pact that they would make it through this thing no matter what. They were hell-bent on getting their Ranger tabs and berets and the only people that could stop them were themselves.
Once they made it to the encampment, they were allowed a small MRE (meal ready to eat that usually comes in a freeze-dried pouch) and water before they turned in for bed. These days, it seemed like as soon as their heads hit the pillow, they were jerked awake again by their instructors telling them of another assignment.
Early the next morning, they began their first official Ranger School cycle. The first few days had been more of a weeding-out and evaluation process, and the next several weeks were the actual training. The next 20 days they were all to be split up into smaller companies and groups and would each individually be put in charge of leading an assault mission on a particular target. Puck and Finn had been separated into different groups, but Puck was reunited with Tex, so he was glad to have one familiar face in his group.
The first several days and nights were a series of different missions, each with a different man in charge of planning and executing the operations. Puck was the youngest and lowest ranking of all of the men in his company he didn't care. He liked the fact that everyone treated him like an equal and there were no distinguishing factors when it came to rank among the men. They had to treat everyone as equals in Special Forces, because if everyone was hung up on who was higher ranking, nothing would get done. He understood the higher the rank, the more respect they had earned, and he got that, but it was nice to be treated normally, instead of lowly like he had been treated the past 6 months.
However, after taking part in several simulated missions and watching each of the different individuals try and lead the group of men in their own way, he learned a direct approach to issuing orders and accounting for his men was the best way to go. His company was rather large and the instructors seemed to be picking men who were a bit higher ranking to plan these missions. Puck knew he was lower on the totem pole and knew they were all being evaluated heavily on the success or failure of their operations, and while he had seen the instructors rip apart those who were deemed to have failed and found things to yell about even with those who had succeeded and he didn't want to get ripped a new one, he did find himself wanting an opportunity to show the instructors he could do it, regardless of his age or rank. He wanted to prove it to himself and the instructors that he was worthy of that Ranger tab. Even though their time in the woods in Georgia was almost up, he still had plenty of time in the next few phases of Ranger School to take the initiative and lead.
After 20 days of training out in the woods near Fort Benning were up, the men were slated to return to their original camp and load up onto a plane to fly to their next destination: the mountains of Colorado. The instructors issued each man a parachute and loaded the men up on military transport planes. Puck was excited to see Finn again after all this time and they were able to sit next to one another on the plane. It would be a good opportunity to catch up and compare how their respective groups had done and speculate on how the rest of school would be. They would even be able to catch a bit of sleep, as the instructors had only been allowing the men a maximum of 4.5 hours of sleep a night. The men were all practically walking zombies at this point, chewing coffee grounds to try and help them stay awake on missions and trying to prevent themselves from falling asleep while standing up. Puck was keen to get a few hours rest as it was, but seeing Finn again gave him a slight renewed burst of energy.
Once they had taken off, the instructors briefed them on what to expect in the upcoming 20 days they would spend in Colorado. Nearly every war that has been fought has had some mountain element in it. It is key for Special Forces soldiers to know how to traverse and fight in mountain conditions and where better to train for any type of mountain terrain than in Colorado. They were told they would be jumping out over a landing zone or valley area in the mountains and they would find maps and the proper orienteering materials in their packs to find their designated encampments. They would have to hike in and secure the area the first night, then their respective instructors would conduct war simulations and missions similar to those they did in Georgia over the remaining days.
Puck and Finn swapped a few stories before they were both lulled to sleep by the plane engines. Four hours later they were awakened by the instructors telling them to pull on their packs and get ready to jump. Finn and Puck helped each other strap their chutes on and prepare to jump when Finn suddenly looked at Puck and said that since they weren't in the same company and would be in different places, he figured he would wish Puck a happy birthday now since he wouldn't get to tell him in a few days time. Puck thought about it for a second and realized his birthday was coming up soon and was slightly bummed he would be running war missions all day, but in the end it would be worth it. He thanked Finn and told him he would see him soon before Finn lined up in front of him and followed his company out the back of the plane, jumping out into the sky.
Puck lined up behind his company and followed suit shortly thereafter, pulling his chute and landing in the designated area. His company regrouped and headed off toward their encampment.
After several more days of grueling mountainous hiking, combat mission training, and shooting target practice that Puck thought was more appropriate for people training to be snipers, the day came when he heard his name being called out by the instructor and being told to report in. He emerged from the group and snapped to attention in front of his instructor waiting for orders. The instructor explained that it was Puckerman's 19th birthday and as a present, he was now in charge of the mission that was to be executed that day. Several of the men laughed at his "birthday gift" but Puck saw it as a chance to show what he was made of.
He spent several hours pouring over the logistics of the mission they were execute that night, and while ambushing a hummer on a mountain road seemed easy, he knew nothing would ever go as planned. As the operation got underway, Puck led his men through the danger zones and the kill zones to ambush the humvee, suppressing the enemy fire along the way and retreating out of the danger zones once again, accounting for all of his men in the process. It was shaky at times and did not go as smoothly as he would have liked, but all in all it earned him a coveted "go" grade, the equivalent of a pass.
Puck was ecstatic he was able to make the best of his opportunity and earned a "go" rating over some men who were older and more seasoned in combat than he was who had earned "no go" on other missions. All he had to do now was keep his nose clean and work hard, no matter how tired or hungry he was.
After their 20 days in Colorado were up, they were airlifted from the valley they initially dropped into by helicopters and flown to Peterson Air Force Base, where they loaded up on their transport planes to fly to their next destination for the remainder of their training: the beaches and glades of Florida.
Finn was able to search Puck out and sit next to him on their flight back across country and the boys talked all about their missions in the mountains. Finn and Puck both agreed that, under any other circumstances, Colorado would be beautiful and that they should come back sometime for vacation to hike or snowboard or something. Puck figured Quinn would love it and the scenery would make for some amazing photographs, but until they were able to go back and enjoy it for any other reason besides freezing their asses off and running through the snowy mountainous terrain on war missions, Colorado would remain a bad experience on their list of experiences in the Army thus far.
They chatted a bit before Puck felt himself starting to drift off to sleep, only to be nudged by Finn again. "So, do you miss her?" Finn asked.
"Quinn?" Puck responded, "Yeah, of course. Why?"
"I dunno. It's just sucked this time around you know? When we were going through basic, we were at least able to get letters and stuff. Now, it feels like we're going through hell times ten, and when I could use the pick-me-up letter from Rachel, we're not allowed to receive them since we're all over the country training."
Puck thought about it for a moment. Had it really been over a month since he had heard from Quinn? "Dude, I feel ya on that one." He replied, "Don't get me wrong, I love Q and all, and I think about her a lot…but does it make me a shitty boyfriend if I've been too damn tired and worn out from all of this to wonder why she hasn't written me yet?"
"Kinda," Finn joked with a laugh, "But I don't know man. I can't stop thinking about Rachel. Worrying about how she is doing or if she is alright? I know I need to focus on what's going on here and its obviously been a distraction since I got a 'no go' on my mission for being too tired and miscounting the men in my company at the end. I just want to know if she's ok is all. I hate the uncertainty."
"I know how you feel. I hope Quinn is doing alright too. I miss her like hell and can't wait til I see her again. But at the same time, I know she's a tough cookie and she's taking care of herself right now. And if she's not, Santana is taking care of her so its all good. Rach is the same way Finn, If not an even tougher cookie than Q is. She is probably sitting there singing about how her boyfriend is out there kicking asses and taking names right about now. Hell, she may have even written her own damn Broadway production about it at this point," Puck joked. "Dude, she totally supports you, and she's totally fine, and she would want you to stay focused and give it everything over the next 18 days. We're almost done." Puck raised an eyebrow and managed one of his signature smirks, albeit a slightly exhausted one, "Then after that, you can fly to New York and show off the new super badass addition to that uniform she loves so much: that sweet Ranger tab."
"Very true," Finn nodded in agreement, "When the fuck did you get so wise?"
"No clue dude, I guess I just have my moments. Just don't tell anybody. It would ruin my rep."
Finn laughed before getting serious again, "I won't. But I swear to God, if I survive this ordeal and graduate Ranger School, the first thing I am going to do is ask that girl to marry me."
Puck snapped his eyes open and stared at his best friend, "Woah, what did you just say?"
Finn looked at him and nodded, "You heard me, if I survive this, I am asking Rachel to marry me. The next time I see her, I'm asking her."
Puck scratched his head before responding, "Don't you think this is a little sudden? I mean you're both only 19, she's in New York and you're gonna be stationed who knows where." Puck saw Finn's jaw clench in resolve, so he continued, "Are you sure about this, man? This is a big step."
Finn relaxed a bit after seeing his friend concede, "I am positive. I've loved her since I met her, don't tell Quinn that, and I knew I wanted to be with her and only her after going through our separation and getting back together after nationals our junior year. After being apart from her for this long, I know I wanna spend the rest of my life coming home to her. If that means cutting my military career short to live in New York so she can perform on Broadway, so be it. Or if she wants to move around with me wherever the Army sends me, so be it. I just need her in my life permanently, and I see no reason to wait. Life is too short, Puck." Finn closes his eyes and lays his head back against the wall.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Puck replies, "Look, if you need any help planning it or whatever, just let me know. You're my boy and if she makes you happy and you're sure about this, I'll support whatever you wanna do."
"Thanks man, I appreciate it."
Puck smiles and elbows Finn, "Yeah, but asking Rachel to marry you isn't going to be the first thing you do if you survive this."
Puck is now grinning that shit-eating grin and Finn looks up at him nervously, "What do you mean, not the first thing I do."
"Oh please, if we survive this shit, the first thing we're doing is finding a tattoo parlor and we're getting inked to remember our victory over Ranger School."
"Hell no."
"Um, yes…and girls find tattoos, especially military ones, to be super hot." Puck smiles at Finn's hesitation before adding, "And plus, you think your uniform makes Berry hot? What happens after you get out or it stops working? A tattoo would permanently ensure her panties are always wet for you big guy."
"Hey! You better get that fucking image out of your head before I beat it out of you, Puckerman."
"Calm down Frankenteen," Puck jokes, "I'm getting one too, and the only panties I want in belong to a Ms. Quinn Fabray. And mmm, I can't wait to see her reaction…I did tell you about the way she practically jumped me in my camo after our fight. It's gotten ten times better since then and I need to stop talking about this right now or the mental images in my head will make shit kinda embarrassing for me the rest of this flight."
"Whatever dude," Finn just laughed and leaned his head back against the wall again and shortly thereafter, both boys were fast asleep.
After jumping out of their transport plane over Florida and finding their respective encampments, the Ranger candidates spent the next several days running similar missions to the ones they had already been doing, this time in sand or swampland conditions. Everyone was getting more and more irritable as the days went on, as they were all functioning off of very little sleep and just enough food so the men wouldn't pass out. They all knew it was a test to see if they would be able to survive and stay mentally and physically as strong as they could in high-stress combat situations. As a Special Forces soldier, you have to be tough enough to deal with the worst conditions imaginable, and Ranger School is the way the Army determines who the toughest of the tough are and who can survive real combat missions under all conditions so they make it as real as possible.
Toward the end of Ranger School, day 59 to be exact, each of the companies are assigned a company leader and are briefed on their final assignment which is to storm a makeshift depo in the Everglades where some instructors have taken people as hostages to simulate the Rangers storming a compound, and they are to execute all of this the following night. The companies assemble and plan out their strategies.
At the last minute, hours before they are to storm this compound, the instructors throw the companies a curveball, usurping the leadership from those initially selected and given to the youngest member of the company. Both Finn and Puck are placed in charge of their respective companies at the worst possible time, after all the logistics have been set and everyone is set to go. This comes as a surprise to their other company members, but Puck and Finn know they need to keep control of their men and execute this so they can all pass Ranger School. They both think this is a crazy move, but they have come to realize that the Army operates and functions under a very organized chaos theory so they have stopped asking questions at this point, and resolve themselves to just trying to complete this mission and graduate.
This is a huge test and a huge opportunity to fail for both Puck and Finn, and at the onset of their respective missions, things are a bit chaotic. The boys manage to regroup with their men and reorganize their attack, breaking into the compound only to be met with tear gas and instructors in padded fight suits. The men spread out and neutralize the combatants using close-quarter fighting techniques they were forced to practice the first day of Ranger School, and managed to secure the safety of the hostages before making sure everyone got out and made it to the extraction point.
From there, everyone was picked up by the Army choppers and flown back into Georgia and back to Fort Benning, allowing all of the men to finally breathe and relax a little, knowing it was all over and they would find out if they passed and would graduate in the morning.
Upon landing at Fort Benning, the remaining 70 Ranger candidates left from the original 300 were ushered into a classroom where they filled out peer evaluations on the other soldiers in their company. It is important to know whether the men in your company trust you enough to want to go to war with you, so the instructors take these evaluations very seriously in considering whether to award men with their Ranger tabs or not.
After filling out their reports and evaluations, the men rush off to the mess hall to grab a hearty dinner and then their bunks to get their first night of solid sleep after two months of hell.
X-X-X-X-X-X
Puck and Finn woke up around 8am the next morning after a refreshing 9 hours of sleep. They got dressed, went to the mess hall to eat and then returned to Ranger camp to gather their things and pack before they were required to attend the final debriefing and would find out whether they passed Ranger School and could finally call themselves Army Rangers.
After while, they found themselves standing out in front of the O-Course while the Ranger instructors read off the names of the men who graduated Ranger School and would earn the right to call themselves Rangers. They read off the names alphabetically by last name and as soon as they called out a man's name that started with 'G' Finn found himself closing his eyes and waiting anxiously to hear if they called his out. As soon as he heard the word 'Hudson', the goofiest smile broke out on Finn's face and he turned to Puck, who was waiting with an equally proud smile. If they weren't required to stand at attention, Puck would have gone over and hugged his friend.
One of the instructors came around and pinned the Ranger tab onto Finn's right arm signifying his right to wear that badge for the rest of his life as proof he was now an Army Ranger, before moving on to the next candidate.
Puck heard his friend Tex's real name, Miller, called and was happy for him as well, but hated the wait he was having to endure, having a last name close to the end of the alphabet. After what seemed like forever, the instructor called out a candidate with the last name that started with 'O' and Puck felt himself hold his breath in bated anticipation. He sent up a few quick prayers before he heard the name 'Puckerman' called out. He couldn't control the grin on his face as well, even though he tried so hard not to let the instructor who pinned his tab on his arm see his smile. The instructor gave him a slight smile in return and congratulated him, referring to him as 'Ranger.'
After they were dismissed, Finn bounded up to Puck shaking his hand in congratulations before pulling him into a man hug. Tex came over and congratulated both of them as well and they stood there for a while longer basking in their success and overall survival through one of the most grueling military training courses in the US military.
Once they were finished, they headed back to their bunks to collect their gear. They needed to stop by the admin office to find out about their next assignment before they would head out on the town with a few of their fellow Rangers for a few drinks to celebrate. Their classmates knew a few places that were less than strict on carding minors, so they figured they would snag a few beers before figuring out what they were going to do with their weeklong leave after they left Georgia.
They both were anxious to pick up their new postings and assignments, wishing and praying they were not posted somewhere across the country and even further away from their girlfriends, but they also hoped they would be posted together again as well. It was nice to have someone who was practically your brother nearby for moral support once in a while, and Puck didn't know what he would do without Finn. They figured they may get posted together though, since they still had about 9 months of more specialized training in a Ranger unit to go through before they could be sent anywhere else and not too many places had these specialization schools.
They gathered their things and made their way to the admin office, picking up their folders and their new assignments. They decided to open them at the same time and Finn practically lost it when he saw his posting. He started bounding around the office and thanking whatever Gods he could think of after he read the assignment: 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, New York. Puck chuckled at his friend's reaction and was incredibly relieved to see he received the same posting as well. The two of them would stay together and he was ecstatic for Finn, seeing as now he would only be 3 hours away from New York City and thus much closer to Rachel than he was here in Georgia.
Puck looked on the map and attempted to figure out how far it was to Columbus from there, giving up rather quickly to log on to Google Maps and discovered it was a little about 9 and a half hours drive from Columbus to Fort Drum, and a little over 8 hours from Columbus to NYC. While he was slightly discouraged by the distance, he tried to be optimistic about the fact that he was much closer to Quinn in Fort Drum, NY than he was in Georgia or any other state he could have been sent to for that matter. After doing a bit more digging, he discovered that plane tickets on certain airlines that flew to and from Columbus to both NYC and Syracuse, NY (which was only an hour and a half away) were fairly cheap, so he was hoping to work something out where he could fly her out and they could meet up more often these next few months while he was stationed there.
Finn was already back at the admin counter making arrangements to hop on a military transport flight that would drop them off at Fort Dix, NJ the next day and they could then hop on a bus or train to NYC to meet up with Rachel. He was also hell-bent on going out ASAP and finding a ring that would be perfect for her. He had already been looking into it for a while now and knew pretty much what he wanted to get her and what she would like, so it was just a matter of picking it up from a jewelry store. After making arrangements for the next day, Puck convinced Finn to get the ring in New York, as it would be easier to insure from a place closer to where she lived, and they went out to meet up with their friends.
As they walked off the base, Puck pulled out his cell phone and called Quinn, only to have her practically screech in his ear that she loved him and missed him and was sorry she missed his birthday but didn't know how to send him a card or anything. He told her to calm down a bit and that he had some news for her. He told her he and Finn both graduated Ranger School and were now Army Rangers. She started screeching again and was so excited and yelling at Santana and Brittney that he had to hold the phone away from his ear for fear of blowing out his ear drum. He then asked her what she was up to and she told him nothing, since they were on their spring break but there was really nothing to do, so he told her of him and Finn's new posting in New York and asked if she wanted to make an impromptu road trip to New York City this week to spend time with him. He filled her in on Finn's plans and was confused when he was met with silence for a while. He called out for her and she responded that she dropped the phone while throwing things in her suitcase and packing to come out and see him. He gave her all the details he and Finn had come up with in the past 2 hours and they agreed to stay in contact and meet up the next day in NYC.
After hanging up with Quinn, he and Finn set off toward the bar their new Ranger buddies were meeting up at to have a few drinks. He knew military guys could drink, but he was shocked at how several of them were already three sheets to the wind by the time they got there. Puck just rolled his eyes and called them amateurs, to which they responded by lining up drinks on the bar for him and Finn to take down. He knew this would probably turn out somewhat ugly, but he threw caution to the wind and started slamming them back. He was a Ranger now, might as well celebrate that fact!
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Puck woke the next morning to the sun beating down on him through the blinds. His head pounded and his mouth tasted like cotton, dirt and cheap whiskey. His whole body hurt, most likely from the combination of the harsh beating it had taken over the past several months and the amount of alcohol he consumed last night.
He took a look around the hotel room he was sleeping in and figured it was the place he and Finn reserved yesterday that was near the airstrip so they could hop on their transport plane quicker the next day, but he had no recollection of how he got there. He looked over at the other bed to find it neatly made, no sign of Finn having slept there. Oh shit, he thought, I just hope he makes it back before this fucking flight this afternoon. His head was throbbing so he sat up to grab a glass of water before looking down and realizing he wasn't wearing a stitch of clothing. As in no shirt, no boxers, nothing. Completely stark naked.
He began to rub the sleep out of his eyes when he heard the water shut off. Was the water even running? He hears the shower curtain slide to the side and begins to panic. If Finn is nowhere to be seen, who the fuck is in the shower? Images of Quinn begin to flash before his eyes, and his heart begins to race when he hears the doorknob to the bathroom begin to turn…
Dum, Dum, Dum... TBC
A/N: Thanks again for all your kindness and support! I appreciate you all sticking with my story!