"Okay, I probably won't be home until about two this afternoon, I need to go to the faculty lunch at Carmel after I go to your parent-teacher conference at McKinley," Shelby informed her son over breakfast. "Do you have any plans later?"

"Nope, no plans." Ryan kept eating his breakfast. The garage was closed for the day since Burt was out of town. "I might go over to meet Quinn though."

Half an hour later, Shelby was at the front door, ready to leave. "You have everything?" she asked Ryan as he opened the door for her.

"Yes, mom," Ryan drawled, before sending her a reassuring smile. "I can survive at home without you for a few hours, okay?"

Shelby sighed, laughing at herself slightly. When had she gotten this neurotic? Maybe it had something to do with all the coffee she'd consumed last night while finally finishing the reading and grading of 44 final papers for her senior students. Along with the coffee she'd used up four pens' worth of red ink. Also, the meeting at McKinley was going to be the first official parent business she was going to tackle. "Okay. I'll see you later. Leftovers are in the fridge if you need lunch."

"Have fun at school."

Shelby shot him a nasty look, only relenting when Ryan leaned over to give her a hug before pushing her gently out the door.

Ryan spent most of the morning in Shelby's music room, listening to one CD after another, trying out any song that struck his fancy. He hadn't had a chance to take Shelby up on her offer to coach him, since his mom was busy with finalizing her resignation from Carmel. He hoped to change that this week, though.

Then at around 11am, his phone chimed.

Hi Ryan. – Quinn

Ryan typed out a reply guiltily. He'd pretty much forgotten about her last night, after the unfolding drama with his mom. Hi Quinn. You okay? – Ryan

The reply took a while. Where are you? – Q

That didn't sound good. I'm at home, the garage is closed for a couple of days. You can come over if you want. – R

He hesitated before adding the last sentence. Shelby hadn't said he couldn't have friends over, but she hadn't said he could, either. Oh well, hopefully she wouldn't mind too much.

I'll be there in a few minutes. - Q

True to her word, Quinn arrived at the house within fifteen minutes. Ryan scrambled for the door at the first knock quickly opening it. "Hi." He stood back. "Come in."

"Thanks," Quinn replied quietly, looking around. "Nice house."

"Thanks. Living room's on the right," Ryan said, directing her to the said room. "Do you want anything, water, or something else? We've got more than ice cubes now, which is more than I can say for my first time here."

Quinn sent him a small smile at that. "No, I'm good, thanks."

"So what's up?" Ryan asked looking carefully at his girlfriend. She seemed tense, and sad.

The blonde girl looked at him, clearing her throat. "Ah, my dad came last night."

Oh. Oh god. He'd completely forgotten that Quinn had told him her dad was coming on Sunday night. And that was last night. He felt like a horrible person now. "And?" Ryan prodded apprehensively. It couldn't have been good if Quinn was like this.

"Yeah. It wasn't pretty. We got into it after dinner. He, uh, he basically said it was my fault our family fell apart, and none of this would have happened if I hadn't gotten pregnant." Quinn had spent half the night crying after her father had left.

Ryan felt a sudden surge of rage for Russell Fabray as Quinn spoke. How dare he say that? Even Hiram and Leroy, who would never win any Father-of-the-Year awards, hadn't outright blamed him for what had happened. "That's not true. It wasn't your fault," Ryan said firmly, holding her by the shoulders and looking her in the eye. "Even if you made a mistake – and granted, it was a pretty huge mistake – it was wrong of him to kick you out. He's the one who's at fault for what happened."

"But he's right, in a way," Quinn said quietly. "I'm the one who ruined the idea that we were the perfect Christian family. I messed up; if I hadn't we'd still be a family." And she wouldn't be feeling so broken up over the baby she'd had to give away.

"That's not true," Ryan whispered again, wrapping her into a hug. "It was his choice to do what he did. You didn't wreck your family, he did." To his surprise and slight panic, he started to feel tears soaking into his shirt. He gamely kept his hold on the crying girl though, trying his best to soothe her. "Why didn't you call me last night?" Ryan asked as he felt Quinn starting to calm down.

"It was late." Quinn's voice was muffled, with her face pressed into his shoulder.

"I would have stayed up with you."

Quinn looked away. She knew that, but she hadn't known what to say. "Did I tell you what my dad said, when he found out about…you know?" she asked, pulling back from Ryan, who got her to sit down on the sofa.

Ryan, understanding that she needed to talk, shook his head, though he'd heard a bit of it from Finn. "See, my dad invited Finn over for dinner, he was my date for that chastity ball," she snorted derisively. "And Finn decided it would be a good idea to sing You're Having My Baby at the dinner table." She stopped, thinking back to that day. "Dad told Finn to get out. Then he told me to get out too. I – I begged him to change his mind," her eyes started to fill up again, but she blinked them away. "Then he said he didn't recognize me anymore. I wasn't his little girl."

Ryan pulled her closer, but not before Quinn saw the absolute fury in his eyes. She hadn't known he could look like that, he hadn't held that expression even when he talked about his own dads. And deep down she found it comforting that he cared enough to be that outraged on her behalf. And even deeper down, she thought it was sort of hot.

The two were quiet for a while, both recognizing that nothing needed to be said. Only the presence of the other. Ryan finally broke the silence. "You were right, you know, last week," he said quietly. "You said you realized it wasn't your fault."

Quinn shook her head. "That's what's confusing me. I know it's not my fault, I figured that out months ago. But seeing him, and having him say it again… It brought back everything. He said he didn't recognize me, like I was just some useless tramp –"

"Stop," Ryan said forcefully, making Quinn look at him. "You are not useless, you're not worthless, you're not a tramp. Understand? You're an amazing person. True, you were a bitch before," he said jokingly, "but you've matured so much since then. You are one of the most important people in my life now. If your dad can't see what a special person you are, then it's his loss." He looked at her intently. "You helped me figure out that what happened with my dads wasn't my fault, and now I'm going to do the same for you," he said determinedly, wrapping an arm around her. "What he thinks doesn't matter."

"It still hurts. And you know what the sad part is?" Quinn continued unhappily. "I still miss him, in a way. He's my dad."

"I know," Ryan admitted. While he was happier with Shelby, it still hurt that the men who had raised him didn't love him or want him. "You don't have to see him again, do you?"

Quinn shook her head. "No, thank God."

"Good." Ryan hoped he never saw Russell Fabray either – there was a new person on his list of people he wanted to slug on sight.

Quinn moved even closer to Ryan, which was quite a feat since they were already packed tightly together. "Thanks," she said quietly. "For listening. And for what you said." And he was right. Her father had cared more about being seen by the rest of the world as the perfect husband and father, he'd completely disregarded what his family needed. She had needed her parents, and they'd turned her away. She wasn't completely at fault.

Ryan smiled slightly. "Hey, that's our thing, remember? I'm here to listen, no strings attached." He considered. "Although I guess it's a bit different now," he mused, pressing a kiss in his girlfriend's hair.

"True."

The two of them stayed in that position for a few minutes, just content to be near each other.

Grrbbrrrr…

"Sorry," Ryan apologized. "I haven't had lunch yet."

Quinn nodded. "Neither have I." They pulled apart. "Sorry about that," she said, gesturing at his shirt, which now had a large damp spot on it.

"Not a problem. I think I handled the first Crying Girlfriend Crisis pretty well, huh?" Ryan smiled charmingly at her, trying to get her to laugh.

He succeeded in drawing a watery giggle out of her. Rolling her eyes, Quinn nodded. "Yes you did." She gave him a quick kiss, causing his smile to widen. "Do you want to go out for lunch?"

"Actually, my mom left some food," Ryan said. "We can share, I saw the container, there's enough for both of us. For the next two days."

Quinn quickly agreed, she didn't really feel like going out in public today. The two of them headed into the kitchen to fix lunch.

Ryan took out the plastic container of leftover pasta. Quinn eyed it, commenting, "The next two days? Try the next four. Although," she added thoughtfully, "the way you eat, it might barely last for one."

"Ha ha," Ryan deadpanned. He stuck the container into the microwave and set it to heat. Then he went over the cabinet and pulled out two plates and matching cutlery. Quinn leaned on the counter, watching him move around affectionately. It was amazing how one person could turn her whole day around, could make feel so much better about herself.

She was pulled out of her musings by Ryan. "Take a look in the fridge, Mom stocked it with stuff the other day, there should be drinks."

Soon they were both digging into their late lunch. "This is pretty good," said Quinn. "Where'd you get it?"

"Oh, my mom made it," Ryan answered after swallowing a large mouthful.

"Really? Huh," Quinn nodded in slight surprise. "Your mom doesn't look like the cooking type."

"I know, right?"

"Must be the sophistication." The two times Quinn had seen Shelby Corcoran, the older woman had been dressed to impress in an outfit that wouldn't be out of place in New York City.

Ryan snorted. "Sophistication? You should see her when she comes down for breakfast on weekends." He glanced up in alarm. "Don't tell her I told you that."

Quinn mimed zipping up her mouth, smirking at him.

"I take it you're feeling better, if you can mock me like that," Ryan snarked at her as they started clearing up their dishes.

"Yes, I am, thank you very much."

Earlier that morning

Twenty minutes after leaving the house, Shelby arrived at McKinley high school for her parent-teacher chat. She'd actually done this countless times before in her teaching career, but this was the first time that she was going to be on the parent's side of the desk.

She entered the administration office and asked the elderly lady at the receptionist's desk for directions. The letter hadn't been very clear, not even specifying which teacher she was supposed to see. "Hi, I'm supposed to be meeting with one of my son's teachers?"

"Student's name?"

"Ryan Berry." As much as she didn't want to use those men's last name, she knew her son was registered here under that name. She'd need to change it during registration for the coming year.

A few minutes later, during which Elderly Receptionist Lady squinted down her glasses at the computer screen, Shelby finally got an answer. "You're meeting with Miss Pillsbury, she's the guidance counselor. Down the hall, turn left. It's the office with glass walls."

"Thank you." Shelby made her way out of the office and strode along the halls following the directions. She found the glass office easily enough, spotting a small redhead sitting at the desk. She quickly knocked on the door, causing the guidance counselor to look up and motion her inside.

"Good morning, what can I do for you?" Emma Pillsbury asked the unfamiliar person in front of her. The brunette reminded her of someone, but she couldn't quite place her.

"I'm Shelby Corcoran. I'm Ryan Berry's mother," Shelby introduced herself, smiling inside. This was the first time she'd introduced herself as a mom.

Recognition clicked in the guidance counselor's eyes. She stood from her desk and offered her hand. "Nice to meet you."

Shelby shook her hand and took a seat in front of the desk, raising her eyebrow slightly when the other woman spritzed sanitizer on her hands before offering Shelby the bottle. After looking at it in surprise for a second she took it slowly and sprayed some as well, deciding not to comment.

"I have to say, this is a bit of a surprise. I thought Ryan lived with his two gay dads," Emma commented.

"A few things happened this summer, he's been living with me for about three weeks now," Shelby explained. "I'm his main guardian now."

"I see. I'll just find his papers." Emma turned to the filing cabinet behind her, flicking through the neatly catalogued files.

Shelby studied the guidance counselor for a few moments before remembering why she seemed familiar. "I've seen you before. You chaperoned Ryan's glee club's Sectionals competition last December."

Emma glanced over at Shelby. "Yes, I did. Were you there?"

"Yes I was. You did a good job leading them, considering the stolen set list, and I was quite impressed by your speech to the other two choir directors."

Finding the appropriate file, Emma turned back to Shelby with a smile. "Thank you, Miss Corcoran. But I can't take credit for New Direction's set list. That was actually Ryan's work, he came up with most of it." Shelby's eyebrows went up in surprise. Ryan hadn't told her that. "He can be a good leader, if a little bossy," Emma continued. "Congratulations on Vocal Adrenaline's win at Nationals, by the way. Here's Ryan's grades for the year, as you can see he's scored quite highly in most of his subjects."

Shelby took the card and scanned down her son's grades, which consisted of mostly A's, with the occasional B. Good, no problems there. She smirked at the B in English. Maybe she should try to help him fix that.

"Would you mind telling me what happened with his fathers?" Emma asked carefully; family issues were often sensitive. "He seemed a bit off when I spoke to him early this year, and I had the sense that it had something to do at home."

Shelby thought for a moment, deciding if she was going to answer. She didn't have anything to hide, so sure, why not? "You know about his adoption circumstances?" she asked, and at Emma's nod, she went on. "Neither of them are actually my son's father, so they've apparently been feeling a sense of…disconnect…with him." She just managed to keep her feelings off of her face. "We all decided that it was best if they reverted custody back to me."

Shelby Corcoran was a good actor, Emma thought. She could barely pick up on the disdain and irritation from the other woman, but her training in psychology let her see through the show face. She smiled inwardly at the similarity to Ryan. "I see. You know, Ryan mentioned you at when we talked at the end of the school year, and I can say with certainty that you've had a positive effect on him. He was much happier once the two of you started building your relationship."

This time, Shelby let the surprise show. She hadn't known Ryan had talked to anyone about her. Then she smiled, warming at the thought that she made her son happy. "That's good, at least I'm doing something right," she quipped. It was good to have someone objective, someone who had known Ryan before she'd found him, tell her that she was good for her child. It alleviated some of the worry that she was only screwing him up even more.

Emma nodded. "I'm a little concerned though, that your coaching Vocal Adrenaline might cause some strain on the two of you, since Ryan is very much invested in the New Directions."

Shelby raised an eyebrow at the comment, but decided not to take offense. "That won't be a problem, I've resigned from Carmel. I made the decision at the start of the school year."

"Oh. May I ask what your plans are?"

"None yet," Shelby admitted. "Though Ryan seems to think it would be a good idea for me to replace the English teacher here," she added with a slight smirk.

Emma nodded. "You know, that might not be such a bad idea. Mrs. Gage is retiring this year, and as far as I know, Principal Figgins doesn't have a replacement yet."

Hmmm. "Maybe. I told my son I'd think about it. I'm not exactly thrilled at the prospect of helping coach another glee club," Shelby said wryly. "I just know Ryan will somehow drag me into it if I took the job."

Emma smiled. "Yes, he can be very persuasive when he wants to be. Ryan's a good kid, if not a little…single-minded, I think is the right term. Once he decides he wants something he'll pretty much do whatever it takes to get it." Privately Emma had no doubt Ryan would be able to rope his mother into assisting the New Directions somehow.

Shelby nodded. That sounded like her son alright. "Well, if there's nothing else…?"

"No, I think that's it," Emma answered. "Thank you for meeting with me, Miss Corcoran."

"Thank you."

Several hours and one minor headache later, Shelby was heading home from the Carmel faculty meeting. She was so happy to finally be rid of those sharks masquerading as teachers.

She finally pulled up to her house, got out of the car, and unlocked the front door. As soon as she entered, sounds from the TV in the living room could be heard. Going into the living room, she was surprised by the sight of two teenagers watching a Big Bang Theory rerun, and she couldn't help but notice how close they were. Both Ryan and Quinn were facing away from her, and her presence hadn't been noticed yet.

"Ahem."

Two heads immediately whipped around to face her. "Mom!" Ryan exclaimed, checking his watch. "How long have you been standing there?"

Shelby looked at him, giving him a slight smile. "Just now, actually. Why, was I interrupting something?"

"No, of course not," Ryan said, giving her a nervous smile. At least she didn't seem to be mad. "You remember Quinn, right?"

"Hi Miss Corcoran." Quinn gave her a wave.

"Yes, I remember," Shelby answered, nodding at the blonde girl. "When did you get here?"

"Just before lunch," Ryan said. "We ate the pasta you left."

Shelby wasn't entirely sure what she thought of her teenage son and his girlfriend spending all that time by themselves…unsupervised... She shook her head and walked over to her son, leaning down on the back of the couch. She pulled his report card out of her pocket and handed it to him. "Here you go."

Ryan quickly picked it up and opened it, running his finger down the column of grades. Quinn took a peek as well. "What do you think?" he asked his mom.

"Well, I didn't think much of that English grade, especially when compared to the others," Shelby replied dryly. "But overall, good job. I'm proud of you." She ruffled his hair.

Ryan beamed happily. "Thank you. And about the English, I'm sure I'd do better if I had a decent teacher," he hinted, nudging Quinn ever so slightly.

Quinn looked at him incredulously. Was he expecting her to back him up on this? From what Finn and Puck had said, and from what she'd seen when they'd sneaked into her auditorium, Shelby Corcoran was a hard-ass. Then Ryan shot her a pleading look. Stupid brown eyes. Fine. "Yeah, Miss Corcoran, our English teacher is horrible…" she trailed off when Shelby directed her gaze toward her, one eyebrow raised.

"Is that so?"

Okay, now Quinn understood why VA was so scared of their coach.

Shelby relented, smiling inwardly at the effect she could have on kids. It never got old. "Well, like I told Ryan, we'll have to wait and see. I will tell you, though, that I heard your English teacher is retiring this year."

"See mom, this is practically a sign!" Ryan said happily.

Shelby just rolled her eyes. "Just go back to your TV show."

"Fine," Ryan drew the word out.

"Actually, I have to go," Quinn said, standing up.

"Don't leave on my account," Shelby told her.

"Thanks, but I told my mom I'd pick some stuff up for her."

Ryan stood as well. "I'll walk you out."

A few minutes – and one or two kisses on the porch – later, Quinn had left, and Ryan and Shelby were in the living room. "How was lunch?" Ryan inquired.

"Oh, the lunch was fine, well, as fine as a lunch with a pack of vultures can be." The meeting had been mostly the other teachers vying for increased funding for their individual pet projects, who were under the impression that VA's funding might be getting cut now that she was leaving. "It was basically a politicking party for who could get the most funding." She was so happy to be getting out.

"If you came to work at McKinley you probably wouldn't have that problem," Ryan wheedled. "Mostly because the other teachers are incompetent, but there's only a few teams in place, and you wouldn't be involved."

Not involved? Shelby thought amusedly. It seemed her son knew nothing about what went on in the school faculty rooms. Everyone got involved in everything else. Case in point, two of McKinley's teachers had already taken it upon themselves to pry into her relationship with her own kid, and she wasn't even working there yet! "I told you, we'll see, okay?" But she was starting to think maybe she should do it, if only to get Ryan to stop nagging. "Anyways, we need to talk about who you let into the house."

"Right," Ryan said a bit guiltily. "I actually invited her over. I didn't know if you'd be okay with it, but you didn't tell me not to, either."

"It's fine for you to invite your friends over," Shelby assured him. "Just tell me next time. But I'm a little concerned with you and Quinn being alone together."

Ryan blushed. "We're not doing anything! We've only really been together less than a week!"

"Still, I'd prefer it if you had someone else, preferably me, in the house. And you can't be in your room alone together."

"But –"

"No buts," Shelby said firmly. "Those are the rules your Grams set for me and Josh, now they're in place for you too." Of course, she wasn't going to tell him both she and Josh had broken the rules on occasion. "And I believe you when you, but that doesn't mean you won't eventually want to do something."

Ryan finally conceded. "Fine," he said irritably.

"Good." Shelby decided not to let his attitude get to her. At least she won the argument.

"Oh, I just remembered, your answering machine was beeping a while ago, I guess someone called," Ryan said belatedly.

"Thanks." At least he remembered to tell her. Suddenly alert, Shelby hurried to her office to check on the voicemail, closing the door behind her as she entered. She took in the flashing light on her rarely-used answering machine. She went over to it nervously, as if it was a ticking bomb.

And in a way it was. If the message was from James Walker, like she suspected, it could upset the balance she and Ryan had been working on for the past few weeks. She sat down at the desk. Finally, after a few more minutes staring at the phone, she picked it up and pressed play, and the prerecorded voice started up. You have one voicemail… She snorted at herself. How stupid would she feel if it were a wrong number or something ridiculous?

It wasn't though. Hi Shelby, it's James. Yeah, I was a little surprised to get your email, particularly since you haven't used it since I gave it to you seven years ago… Anyways, I'm in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, so Vince was right…I'd like to catch up too, I've got a few days of leave coming up, so if it's okay with you I can come to Lima this weekend. So, yeah, call me back. Beep.

For a few minutes, Shelby just sat frozen in her seat at the desk. He wanted to meet with her. This weekend. So soon? Oh hell, what was she supposed to do? She wasn't ready for this at all…And what was she supposed to tell Ryan? He'd asked if he could get back to her about meeting James. What if she told James and he wanted to meet Ryan, and Ryan wasn't ready?

She didn't know how long she was sitting there, with all these thoughts whirling through her mind when she heard a knock on the door.

"Mom?"

Shelby stood up and opened the door for her son. "Are you okay?" Ryan frowned, looking at her.

"Uh, yes, why?" Shelby blinked at him confusedly. Okay, she wasn't exactly fine, but never mind that.

Ryan looked at her speculatively. "You've been in here for a while."

Shelby glanced at the clock. Surprisingly, she'd been in here for almost an hour already. "I didn't notice the time." She hesitated. Might as well get it over with. "Can you come in here for a minute?" She stood aside to let the teenager into her office.

Slightly surprised, Ryan obliged, stepping into the office. "What? If this is about Quinn and me not being alone together again, you made your point earlier –"

"No, it's not about that," Shelby cut him off before he could build up steam. She was unsettled enough as it was, she didn't need him to rile her up any more. "Okay. Remember, I told you I was going to tell James about you after we talked a few nights ago?" Ryan nodded. "I emailed him already."

That got Ryan's attention. "Did he answer? What did he say? Was –"

"Let me finish," Shelby said, a bit sharply. She winced inwardly when Ryan immediately shut up. Great, now he probably thought she was mad at him. "Sorry. Anyways, I told him in the email that I wanted to talk to him, in person. I didn't tell him yet."

Ryan could get that. It seemed like news that should be given face to face, not over an email. "Did you get a reply?" he ventured, sitting down on the small sofa that resided in Shelby's office.

Shelby took a deep steadying breath. "That voicemail from earlier was from him."

Ryan blinked. That phone call earlier was from his father? He should have answered it, maybe he could have talked – no. It was probably for the best that he didn't answer it. The man didn't even know he had a kid, it would have made a hell of a first impression if he'd picked up the phone.

Shelby was still talking. "He said he was okay with talking to me, and he also said if it was okay, he could come to Lima this weekend." She looked seriously at Ryan. "Are you okay with that?"

Ryan just stared at her. "Oh."

Oh? Was that it? Shelby had been expecting a little more than 'oh'. "Eloquent," she said dryly. Now her sarcastic side was making an appearance. "Questions, comments, violent reactions?"

"I don't know," her son answered in a small voice. "Do you think he'll want to meet me?"

Shelby looked at him, trying to predict the possible actions of a man she hadn't seen in years. "I don't know either," she admitted. "I think he would though." Once he got over the initial shock.

"I can't really stop him from coming here," Ryan said. "But…I don't know." He was really confused now. On the one hand, he was really curious about James Walker – much like he'd been about Shelby. But on the other, he didn't know if he wanted another father-figure in his life. Once burned, twice shy, and he'd been burned twice. "I don't know if I want another dad," he admitted softly.

Shelby went over to sit next to him. "It's up to you if you want to meet him, I can tell him no if that's what you want. Think about it a bit though. I can guarantee he's not going to be anything like Leroy or Hiram."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." That was something she knew absolutely. The man she knew all those years ago would never treat any child, much less his child, like that.

Ryan looked at her, trying to decide. Finally, he came to a decision. "I guess…if he's okay with it, I'll meet him. Only if he wants." If his mom said James wasn't going to be like them, then that was good enough for him. He couldn't help the slight caveat though. He didn't want to meet James if he didn't want to.

Shelby let out a slight sigh of relief, and nodded. "Okay." Looks like she had a phone call to make.

Several hours later, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Master Sergeant James Walker returned to the military-provided base housing he'd been living in for the past seven months. He'd been on duty for the past eight hours and he was tired. The thirty-nine year old had actually been invited by some friends for a night out, but he'd declined, pleading exhaustion. In actuality though, he wanted to get back home since he was expecting an important phone call.

He unlocked his door and entered the house with a sigh. Shelby Corcoran had called him a few days ago. He hadn't seen or heard from the woman since 2003, when they'd run into each other in New York by accident. Well, not really by accident, but that wasn't important. She had crossed his mind once in a while (okay, more often than he cared to admit) since then, and even before. He even asked about her when he called his old friend Vince Petrucci, though he hoped he hadn't been stupid enough to mention it to Shelby.

Honestly though, he didn't quite know what to expect from Shelby Corcoran, but he could definitely say he'd missed her over the years. She'd been his first friend, then his first love, though it hadn't worked out. The two of them had been a pair of ambitious, mildly selfish teenagers. He knew Shelby thought it was her fault they had broken up, but he knew he had a hand in it too. He could have stayed, tried to work something out.

James had thought maybe something would come of their reconnection back in 1994, but Shelby had told him she wasn't quite looking for a relationship, and he'd been slated to go to Japan. Wrong timing. It had been a fun week, though, he thought with a smile. And in 2003, he'd been in a relationship, and he'd suspected she had been in one too. For the short time that they'd talked, she couldn't seem to look him in the eye.

He took a look at his answering machine, and found the light blinking. Feeling slightly apprehensive, he pressed the playback button. Hi James, it's Shelby. Thanks for getting back to me, and yes, this weekend is fine. Just tell me when you're getting here, maybe we can have lunch or something when you arrive. See you.

James smiled. He'd already set up his leave with his CO, anticipating Shelby's answer. While he didn't know what Shelby wanted to talk to him about, he couldn't help but feel a sense of hope. Maybe this time.

Look, we just broke 100,000 words! It feels weird… Anyways, hope you liked this, James will be showing up in Lima in the chapter after the next one. I also thought we'd tackle a bit of Quinn's issues, they'll be coming up some more in a few chapters. Their talks have mostly been focused on Ryan's stuff, but in fairness Quinn's got her own baggage, which only came out right around season 3 in the show. Hopefully having Ryan around will keep her from going all punkster in this universe. See you soon. Thanks for all the reviews, they really inspire more writing :)