A/N: Okay everyone, this is the penultimate chapter. If you wanna get the real feel to this chapter, listen to Barcelona - Come Back When You Can, it really gave me feelings for this particular chapter! It jumps around a little but I've tried to make that clear. Thank you so much to anyone who has supported this journey. I hope you enjoy.

29. Come Back When You Can

A loud hammering on the front door of her apartment awoke Rachel Berry with a start. If it hadn't come again a second time she would've thought it was just from last night. She struggled out of bed to her feet, her head still spinning a little. Okay, so maybe she was still a little buzzed. Maybe.

And then the voice came.

'Berry open this door right now or I swear to Hades I will…'

The door swung open revealing Rachel in last night's rumpled clothes draped in a dark grey blanket.

Santana looked her up and down. 'Well shit…you look worse than I remembered…'

Rachel rolled her eyes and walked away. She certainly hadn't missed uncensored Santana. She left the taller brunette standing in the doorway while she flunked down onto her couch. Santana walked in and slammed the door shut behind her.

Rachel groaned gripping one side of her head. 'Santana, can you not?'

Ignoring the smaller brunette's request, Santana dumped her bag on Rachel's kitchen counter and retrieved her cellphone.

'Puck it's Santana. I'mma need you at Rachel's ASAP…Yeah she's fine. Just get here…'

Less than twenty minutes later, another knock came on Rachel's door. Santana greeted Puck at the door and let him in. Rachel had fallen asleep on the couch, gently snoring. Santana found it irritatingly cute. Jerry Springer was droning on to himself in the corner.

Puck looked over to her. 'She was drinking again last night?'

Santana nodded, keeping her voice down. 'I was at Quinn's. She kept drunk dialling her and leaving messages. Q told me they hadn't spoken in weeks. She leaves today and I just don't want them to part like this…'

Puck's expression dropped. 'Wait, she leaves today?'

'Her flight to JFK is at 1.'

'…And you want my help to get Rachel to the airport to say goodbye to Quinn…'

Santana smiled. 'Y'know, you're a lot smarter than you let on Noah Puckerman…'

Puck shrugged. 'Comes with the territory.' He rubbed his hands together thinking. 'Okay let's get her into the bathroom and we'll put her in a cold shower. That should jumpstart her.'

'And if she bites?'

Puck smirked. 'Then we'll just have to make sure neither of us gets bitten. Come on.'

Santana pulled off the grey blanket draped over Rachel's middle. Puck picked up her small body from the couch and hoisted her over his shoulder, in a fireman's lift. For once Santana was grateful for Puck's macho side. She didn't really feel like dragging an unconscious Rachel to the bathroom by her legs like a dead body. That kinda shit freaked her out a little.

Puck pointed to the shower and she pulled back the clear glass door. Together they manoeuvred Rachel in between them both, and stood directly under the large round silver shower head. Puck angled her so he'd take a lot of the water instead of soaking Santana too. He steadied Rachel leaning toward him and nodded to the temperature control.

'Twist it towards the wall, that'll lower the temperature.' He whispered carefully.

Santana followed his instruction and twisted the handle a few times. He nodded to the brushed chrome button on the wall, just above the round handle.

He nodded, readying himself. 'Push it.' He whispered.

A bitterly cold gush of water rained down on the three of them making them gasp. Rachel's eyes bulged open, her arms shot out to her sides; almost knocking Puck off balance. Puck nodded to Santana, telling her to stand steady while Rachel came round properly.

The cold water began to soak through Rachel's clothes to her skin. Her eyes shot to Puck. 'What the hell are you doing?' she shrieked, her voice sounding even louder echoing around the bathroom.

Puck nodded to his accomplice and Santana shut off the water.

Bringing a shuddering Rachel out of the shower, Santana passed her a warm towel. Rachel snatched it towelling her face. 'Are you both out of your minds?'

'Well I'm glad you haven't drunk away your ability to chastise.' Santana replied sarcastically.

Puck smirked. 'Well it's not the first time we've showered together is it Rach…?'

Santana shivered at the thought. 'Okay, so did not need to hear that.'

Puck winked at her and she grimaced in return.

Rachel wrapped herself in the towel. 'Seriously what are you both doing here? Unless you only came to piss me off which…well mission accomplished.'

Santana narrowed her eyes. 'Watch your mouth Berry; we're here to help you.'

'Help me to what…? Get wet…?'

Puck lowered the tone in his voice. 'Usually yeah…'

Santana slapped his arm in disgust. 'Puck, focus!'

Puck nodded, snapping himself out of his half-daydream. 'We're gonna take a little trip Rach…'

Rachel narrowed her eyes at them both.

The cab driver dumped her suitcases on the sidewalk outside LAX. She smiled at him and paid the fee. 'Thanks.'

She made her way inside the busy terminal. Thankfully the check-in was open for her flight. She threw her two heavy suitcases down onto the conveyer belt beside the desk. Of course she was way over the baggage allowance. She always was. Reluctantly she paid the excess fees for both bags and watched them roll away.

Making her way to the departure lounge, her phone buzzed in her cardigan pocket.

Sam:

Hello stranger! I hear you're coming back to the big apple? I hope Rachel's coming with you… X

Her heart sank a little further, painfully aware that Rachel wasn't with her.

Reply to: Sam

Hey stranger, who'd you hear that from…? I'm at the airport now, alone x

She clicked send and dropped her phone into her bag as she was approaching the security checks. She put her bag onto the desk next to the x-ray machine, and waited to go through the metal detector.

Santana huffed. 'Can you not drive any faster?'

Puck gripped the wheel tightly, eyes glued to the freeway. 'As much fun as it would be to have a little reuniting with the LAPD, that would kinda slow us down, so not really!'

Santana kept her voice down, still trying to hide their destination from Rachel sitting in the backseat. 'I've tried to slow her up as much as I could but we still need to be quick Puck…'

Puck's eyes slid over to his brunette accomplice. 'Oh no…San, what did you do…?'

That little glint in Santana's eye re-appeared.

Quinn stepped through the metal detector without a problem. She moved over to the other side of the x-ray machine, patiently awaiting her bag to come out onto the desk for her to retrieve.

A sombre dark-haired man in security uniform stared at the screen attached to the machine. He waved over a woman dressed in identical uniform and they both examined the screen, nodding and whispering to each other. Quinn had noticed the machine had stopped, with her bag inside.

The woman turned looking at her. 'Are you Lucy Quinn Fabray?'

Quinn's pulse began to quicken under the woman's stare. 'Yes.'

The man pulled Quinn's bag out of the machine and held it out to the woman. She took it and tucked it under her arm. 'Ms. Fabray, I would like you to come with me please.'

Quinn followed the woman's lead into an interview room, just across from the security checks. The woman placed Quinn's bag on the metal desk. She cleared her throat.

'Could you have a seat please, Ms Fabray?'

Quinn sat quickly, feeling very uneasy. 'I have a flight to JFK to catch in half an hour…'

The woman nodded. 'I am aware of that Ms Fabray.' The woman unbuckled Quinn's brown messenger bag. 'Did you pack your own bag Ms Fabray?'

Quinn nodded quickly. 'Yes I did.'

The woman nodded, lifting the flap and looking inside.

Quinn swallowed hard. 'Could you tell me why you brought me in here please…?'

The woman pulled on a pair of white latex gloves. She turned her attention to the inside of Quinn's bag and didn't make eye contact when she answered.

'When your bag went through the scanner, my colleague and I saw what looked like some suspicious items.'

The blonde's jaw went slack. 'S-suspicious items…?' she stuttered. 'What kind of suspicious items…?'

The woman continued to fish through Quinn's bag, placing her phone, diary and other items on the table. 'Have you ever taken or possessed drugs Ms Fabray?'

'Drugs?' She squealed. 'No! Never!'

'And you say you packed this bag?'

'Yes, I'm the only one who's touched it.'

The woman nodded, still rifling through Quinn's possessions. 'What we saw on the scanner looked like narcotics Ms Fabray…'

Quinn felt herself go pale. She couldn't believe this was happening to her.

'Why are you going to New York Ms Fabray?'

'I live there. I-I work there.'

'What is your occupation?'

'I'm an actress.'

'And how long have you lived there?'

She grimaced, feeling like she was back in the therapist's office. 'Since just before I started college a few years ago.'

'So you're not a New York native?'

Quinn shook her head. 'No, I'm from Ohio.' The woman nodded but didn't respond, just pulling more and more out of the bag. 'I swear I've never taken or held drugs…'

'Try to stay calm Ms Fabray, this is standard procedure.'

Puck's car screeched to a halt in a parking bay outside the airport. Rachel lifted her head to the window. 'Wh…why are we at LAX…?'

Santana unbuckled herself and looked round to Rachel. 'Because we've reached your destination.'

Santana got out of the passenger seat and made her way around the car.

'Noah why are we here?'

He simply smiled at her in the rear-view.

Santana wrenched Rachel's door open and dragged her out of the car. She slammed the door and signalled for Puck to wait there. She rushed them both inside, doing her best to ignore Rachel's intense questioning. She directed them to the departure gates, sprinting across the terminal. Rachel trailed her, almost pulling her arm out of its socket.

The woman continued to dig through the bag. Quinn anxiously glanced at her watch. The flight would now be boarding. Finally the woman's hand hit something, and she pulled out a white packet.

She finally smiled at Quinn, recognising the packaging. 'Get headaches Ms Fabray…?'

Quinn found the question a little odd. 'Sometimes…'

The woman placed the white packet back into Quinn's bag, followed by the rest of her possessions. She removed her latex gloves and slid the bag to Quinn's side of the table.

'Have a safe flight Ms Fabray. You're free to go.'

Quinn quickly picked up her bag and dashed out of the room, she would have just enough time to get to the gate before they closed it for departure. Digging through her bag, she brought out the same little white packet that the woman had been looking at. Headache pills. She gritted her teeth and grumbled to herself, knowing exactly who would plant something like that in her bag. Santana.

She raced towards the gate and thrust her ticket at the attendant, panting from her run. The attendant smiled patiently. 'Just in time.'

Quinn smiled gratefully when he gave her back her ticket. She checked her phone for a final time.

Sam:

Oh just a little birdie told me… Have a safe flight! X

Santana and Rachel flew into the departure lounge, headed in the direction of Quinn's gate. They saw the unmistakable glimpse of blonde hair just before the attendant shut the door to the gate.

Rachel's chest heaved, finally recognising why they were there. 'Quinn…'