Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 41st cycle. Now cycle 42!

INTRODUCING "CHEAT SHEET" - If you want to know ahead of time when a certain series will be updated next, just reassemble the link below and check out the list, save it, print it, bookmark it, whatever you need!
Go to: gleekathon [dot] tumblr [dot] com [slash] cheatsheet

** UPDATED WITH CYCLE 42 CHEAT SHEET **

Countdown cycle #4 - Yes, it's that time again, where I select 16 favorite things (characters, ships, friendships...) from Glee and give them each a ficlet, and a chapter fic for #1. The previous countdown cycles, if you want to check them out, were c10 [days 190-210], c25 [days 505-525], and c29 [days 589-609]. Like the last countdowns, the #1 story is split in 3 blocks, the chapters posted on Tuesdays and Wednesdays over these three weeks, with #16 to #2 from Thursdays to Mondays.
Coming in at #9...

"Berry's Keeper"
Santana, Rachel (+ AU!Jesse/Quinn)
series (following Not Home Just Yet and Woke the Dragon)

She'd come to the conclusion sort of grudgingly, the sort of thing you swore people to secrecy for, should word ever get out. In this case, her unspeakable truth was that somehow, in all this madness of people leaping from one universe to the next, she had found herself feeling somewhat responsible for Rachel Berry. If it had been up to her she would have had no part in this. It wasn't even the same one anymore.

The Rachel who had recruited her was not the one she'd come to know in New Directions. It had taken her a lot to accept this, but then who wouldn't have had some difficulty believing that any of this was possible? For all she knew, Rachel Berry had just suddenly taken a turn, becoming this other girl who drew her attention for her actions and her attitude… She'd actually felt something like attraction toward her at some point, which had gone a long way in making her believe what they were telling her.

They understood each other, in ways she and 'her Rachel' never had, and so she'd started helping her, as best she could… It wasn't the easiest thing to do, none of them having any idea what they were doing, but she did it. And then one day 'fun Rachel' had gone all Narcolepsy Nancy on her and disappeared back to her own world, returning the original Rachel Berry back to this world. She had helped the now departed Rachel in hopes of helping her stay in place, and she had failed. By any means this would have meant that she had failed and that her job ended there.

But it didn't; she couldn't step away still. She realized this when she offered to drive her home. Rachel had been surprised… she wasn't the only one. Maybe she needed to see that she hadn't been going crazy about this whole thing, to see that this was old Rachel and she was nothing like the other one, to tell herself that it was okay to walk away. Sure, they looked the same, they were the same person deep down. Even being her more interesting self, new Rachel would look and sound just about identical to this one when she'd get serious about something. But then even identical twins were different people, so why should she care for one because she cared for the other?

Maybe it was the trauma of the thing. The whole ordeal, the exchange, had been very physical, draining Rachel of what energy she had and compelling her to sleep… Santana had actually been scared for her, unsure what to do. After it was done, they were left with one person returned to where she belonged, two others still left here, wanting to return home – together – where the one who had wanted to stay…

Guilt… It was guilt.

Up until the first Rachel had returned, she hadn't given much thought to the consequences of the other Rachel's demand. In helping her, she was banishing this Rachel from the very thing the second one wanted to hang on to: her happy family. No matter what, these were Rachel's fathers, the ones who shared the same memories she had from her childhood, who loved her, properly her. As noble as it would have been to give this home back to the Rachel who had lost it and found it again by being here, would it have been much fairer? All she would have done would be to keep that from one so that the other could have it. As messed up and confusing as it could be, she understood it, and it made her feel rotten. She could only imagine what it would be like, to suddenly land in a world where her parents were together, or where her grandmother wasn't in her life… or even the other way around, getting it back…

It was early yet. The freshly returned Rachel probably didn't understand her part in this. Jesse and Quinn sure didn't know it, not the real one, the sabotage part. And if Santana kept her mouth shut, in all likelihood she would never have to know. She could get away scot-free and that would be that.

But it wasn't her style, as much as she wished it was. So she would do it. She would look after her, the others as well but her most of all. She'd make sure she was alright, and she would help as best she could with Jesse and Quinn, to help them get back to where they belonged and bring back the Jesse and Quinn who belonged here. She may not have held any sort of esteem toward the first Jesse, but Quinn… she was her friend, too. She had no idea how things were like over there for her, if she was happy and didn't want to come back, the way the other Rachel had, but she doubted it. She would help get her back, Jesse too, and then… maybe she could finally walk away, stop being involved.

For now though, she was. It wouldn't get to the point where she had to pick her up and drop her off from school like she was afraid she wouldn't make it; though that would definitely have raised some red flags. Still she was thinking maybe it would be hard to 'do her part' when her showing interest in Rachel Berry was in itself a red banner. At least they had classes together, and Glee Club together, and then 'secret meetings' between the four of them as they looked for ways to precipitate everyone's return home… That would do just fine; she wasn't about to lo-jack her… then she'd really need to get locked away and fast…

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!