Disclaimer: Glee is not mine, and the only Pokémon I own are in my video games.

4 years later…

"My dads are gay and unless you want the force of the American Civil Liberties Union coming down on you, I demand you release me this instant!"

Quinn perked her head up at the familiar dialogue and internally groaned when she looked down the hall. She slammed her locker shut and sprinted to the scene.

"Ugh, you're just as annoying as you were when we were ten!"

"And you're just as barbaric!" Rachel huffed and attempted to cross her arms, only to remember they were currently immobile because of the neanderthal in front of her.

"Y'know, Berry, I'm sick of you using all these big words to talk down to me. You think you're so much better than everyone just 'cause Fabray's your bitch?"

"Don't you dare use that word in regards to Quinn! Why I ought to…" Rachel grumbled and attempted to wiggle free from her entrapment. Someone running towards the scene caught her attention. She sighed in relief and immediately stopped struggling.

"That's exactly what she is. She's like your damn lap dog—Hey, what the hell are you smiling about?" Rick sneered at the girl in front of him. He glowered when he noticed her smirk.

"Lap dog, eh?"

The hockey player's eyes widened. He slowly turned around and came face to face with head cheerleader, Quinn Fabray.

The girl stood with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face. Long gone was the shy and bespectacled girl the boy and his friends once made fun of. He gulped as she took a step closer. He didn't know what caused the change, but four years ago she stopped being such a pushover and slowly but surely became the Head Bitch in Charge. She was no longer on the end of insults and immature Pokémon pranks; however, that wasn't the case for Rachel Berry. Try as Quinn might to protect one of her best friends from being on the receiving end as well, she couldn't be with her 24/7. Most of the students steered clear of Berry when Fabray or Puckerman were around. But on the off chance that she was alone, people like Rick would take the opportunity to make fun of the girl or pull a 'harmless' prank. Except for Finn. The hockey player rolled his eyes in thought. Somewhere along the line, the tall boy developed a crush.

Movement out of the corner of his eye shook Rick from his reverie.

"Since you want to talk about dogs so much, how about this?" Quinn smirked cruelly before throwing out a pokéball. "Go, Umbreon!"

"Breon!"

"Umbreon, use Quick Attack!"

Before Rick could comprehend what happened, the dark type dog Pokémon ran at full force and knocked his Beedrill to the ground.

"Shit. Beedrill, return!" The bully returned his Pokémon to its pokéball. He nervously glanced at the girl glaring in front of him. "L-listen, Fabray… it was just a joke—"

"A joke where you had your pathetic bug use String Shot and attach Rachel to a wall?" The blonde arched an eyebrow. "What, were you just gonna leave her there? How is that supposed to be funny?" The hockey player opened his mouth to respond, but Quinn cut him off. "No, I don't want to hear it. You know the rules; Rachel is off limits!" She accentuated with a shove to his shoulder. "Now get out of my sight before I make my Pokémon use an attack on you like you did to Rachel."

"Fabray, I don't see the big deal. It was just String Shot!"

Quinn glared at the boy before she turned her attention to the girl stuck to the wall. Her eyes softened. "Rachel, are you hurt?"

Rachel huffed. "Honestly, Q, I'm just extremely irritated and uncomfortable and would like to be released so we can go home."

"Right, gotcha. I'll be quick." The cheerleader nodded and turned back around to Rick. "Umbreon, use Shadow Ball."

"Wait! She said she wasn't hurt—"

"Rick, I don't see the big deal. It's just Shadow Ball." Quinn mocked. A dark purple sphere formed in front of Umbreon. Rick's eyes widened before he turned and ran towards the exit of the school.

The purple ball dissipated as Quinn burst into laughter.

"Quinn." Rachel chided.

"I wasn't actually going to use it on him…" She grumbled. She walked towards her friend and started to tear the web off.

Once enough of it was gone that she could remove herself from the wall, Rachel jumped into Quinn's arms. "Thank you."

Quinn wrapped her arms around Rachel tightly. "Are you okay?" She felt Rachel nod against her shoulder. Quinn ran her hands through the girl's hair, and blushed when she caught her gaze. "Y-you had some of the web stuck there," she mumbled.

Rachel opened her mouth to respond, but—

"Rachel! Rachel, are you okay?"

She rolled her eyes instead and extracted herself out of Quinn's embrace. She turned to find Finn Hudson bumbling down the hallway towards them.

"Are…" The tall boy panted. "Are you okay? Azimio told me during lunch what Rick was gonna do!" He gulped in a deep breath.

"Because you know all about using a Pokémon to attack an innocent girl, huh, Hudson?" Puck growled as he made his appearance. He quickly drew Rachel into a hug and nodded to Quinn. "Sorry I wasn't here earlier. Once I heard Azimio laughing with his buddies about how that asshole Rick was gonna stick Rach to the wall and just leave her here all night…I just… I got so pissed." He clenched his fists.

"Noah!" Rachel gasped when she noticed the bruising on Puck's knuckles. She picked up his hand and examined it. "It's the last day of sophomore year! Couldn't you have gone just today without picking a fight?"

Puck withdrew his hand sheepishly. "Hey, it was just Azimio. Besides, he's lucky I didn't send Geodude out on them. Or even worse; Pikachu." He patted the part of his belt where his pokéballs were hanging securely. "I almost pummeled Rick when I saw him running to the exit, but figured Q here was the reason he was running in the first place. Am I right?" He chortled when Quinn just smirked.

"Bre!"

They all looked downwards at the moonlight Pokémon. "My bad!" He knelt down to pet her fur. "Big bad Umbreon here played a part in it too, didn't ya? Yes you did!" Puck cooed. He ruffled her fur some more before he noticed the amused expressions of those around him. He quickly stood up with a glare. It only intensified when he noticed Finn still standing there. "And what about you, Finny boy?"

"What?"

"What'd you do to help?"

"Well, I—I told you. I got here as soon as Azimio told me…"

Quinn interrupted with a loud scoff. "Oh, please. You just said he told you during lunch. I know you probably can't read a clock, but it's the end of the school day. Not like you would have done anything anyway; you're too much of a wuss to go against Azimio—"

"Quinn!" Rachel put her hand on the blonde's arm.

The cheerleader took a deep breath before leveling the tall boy with a glare of her own.

Puck broke the silence, "What would you have done anyway? Have Magikarp use Vine Whip?"

"Puck…" Rachel gently chided, but even she had to look away as she tried to stifle a giggle.

Finn's face turned red. "I don't need this shit." He kicked a locker before storming away.

"Oh, wow, Rach. I think he just gave you a run for your money with that diva storm out," Quinn said. "Umbreon, return!" A red light shot out, returning the Pokémon to its temporary home.

"Oh, please. No one can top our little diva here!" Puck teased as he threw his arms around the two girls and led them towards the exit.

"Hey Artie!" Quinn greeted as she and her two friends walked through the park together to their respective homes.

Artie paused his ministrations to greet his classmates. "S'up, guys?"

"Not much, bro. Hey, what's goin' on here?" Puck inquired.

It wasn't uncommon to see Artie in the park ever since Professor Schuester took him in as an apprentice. What was uncommon, though, was the gigantic delivery truck in front of the Pokémon lab.

"It's that time of year again! Professor Schue—"

"Sign here, please." A delivery man hopped out from the back of the truck and thrust a clipboard to Artie.

"Oh, yes, right." Artie signed the papers. The delivery guy grabbed the clipboard back from him, and then placed a box in the boy's lap. "Wow, this is awesome! Th—"

The guy hopped back in his truck and drove off.

"—ank you…" Artie trailed off.

"Rude." Rachel quipped from her spot on the ground. She was petting Artie's fire Pokémon, Arcanine.

Quinn's lip curled in amusement at the sight before she did a double take. "Wait, Artie, when did you get an Arcanine?"

Artie's eyes lit up in excitement. "Professor Schuester received a package of evolutionary stones a few days ago. I snuck a fire stone from the pack and used it on Growlithe," he stated with a cheeky grin.

"You sneaky badass!" Puck smirked. He took his pokédex out of his back pocket and pointed it towards the Pokémon.

"Arcanine: A fire type Pokémon. Arcanine is the evolved form of Growlithe. Arcanine is known for its high speed. It is said to be capable of running over 6,200 miles in a single day and night. The fire that blazes wildly within this Pokémon's body is its source of power."

"Amazing…" Rachel trailed off with wonderment in her eyes.

"Awesome! Oh, hey speaking of packages…" Puck nodded to the recent one the delivery man dropped off.

"Oh, yeah," Artie said as he started to roll towards the pokélab. He nodded for the others to follow. "School is officially out and it's the start of summer vacation," he stated as Rachel opened the door, "so you know what that means!"

"It's Pokémon Journey Time!" An exuberant Professor Schuester said when he caught the tail end of the conversation.

"Yep! And Professor Schue, your packages came just in time!"

"Thanks, Artie!" The curly haired man clapped as he walked towards the teens.

"But that doesn't tell us what's in the box." Puck pointed out.

Professor Schue motioned for them to follow him to his desk. He opened the box and…

"Oh, wow! Are those—?"

"Yep!" Professor Schue answered Rachel's unfinished question. "Starter Pokémon! One is essential to any trainer looking to start their Pokémon journey!"

The group gathered around and gazed at the plethora of pokéballs.

"Kick ass. Can we see 'em?" Puck asked. He reached towards the box, but was swatted away by Rachel.

"Noah, unless you're planning on going on a Pokémon journey this summer, it's ill-advised to look at any of these Starter Pokémon. I mean, what if once it's out of its ball, it expects to go on an adventure with you? You'll be disappointing the poor thing!"

"Rachel's right, Puck. Unless…" Professor Schuester trailed off before visibly brightening. "You are going to go on a journey?"

"Nah, sorry, Schue."

The professor looked towards Quinn.

"I'm lucky to even own a Pokémon," she deadpanned.

He finally turned towards Rachel.

"I refuse to go on a Pokémon journey without my best friends." She crossed her arms. Quinn frowned at this information.

Professor Schuester sighed. "That's too bad. The official Elite Four members changed the guidelines and made it so gyms and the stadium are only open during the three months of summer break. While journeys no longer interfere with schools or jobs, that does put a little bit of a time limit on anyone hoping to become Champion." He closed the box back up. "You three are, what, sixteen? Now's the perfect time to branch out and go on a journey." With those parting words, he walked through a backdoor of the lab. The atmosphere of the room became tense before the backdoor flew back open. "Oh, Artie! I almost forgot! Congratulations on your Arcanine! I don't know how you managed to evolve it without the use of any evolutionary stones. It's truly a phenomenon! You'll have to explain to me later every single detail that happened prior to its evolution!" Professor Schuester smiled at the group one last time as he once again went back to the backroom.

The tense atmosphere broke as the group laughed at the boy's expense.

"Good luck with that one, bro." Puck quipped.

Artie grimaced. "It's times like this where I wish I could go on a Pokémon journey…"

"Don't we all?" Puck sympathized.

"My chair unfortunately prohibits me from traveling across the lands and going on a journey, but you guys could go for me!"

Quinn shook her head. "We already told you; two-thirds of us can't go, and the other is stubborn and won't go without us. No matter how many times we tell her to… year after year."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Nope. Not without you." Puck coughed. "…without you…you two! Not without you two!" She quickly corrected herself.

Artie shrugged. "Well, suit yourselves. But if you ever change your minds, you know where to find me."

The three left the pokélab shortly after and eventually parted to head their separate ways home.

Quinn stopped in front of her home when she saw a few cars parked along the road. A weird sense of déjà vu went through her; she shook it off and opened the door. She dropped her bookbag to the floor in order to untie her shoes. She went to pick her bag back up when various voices in the kitchen caught her attention.

"—ideas in order to fund the research project?"

"What if we open up a casino of sorts—"

"Quinnie!" The blonde whipped her head around at the voice. Her mother stood in the hallway. "Did you just get home?"

"Uh," Quinn glanced at the kitchen. The voices quieted down as they noticed they had an audience. "Yeah. Just now."

Her mother shut her eyes in relief before she addressed her daughter. "Your father's having a very important meeting right now. Why don't you run along to your room until he's done?"

Quinn quirked an eyebrow but nodded nonetheless. She was halfway up the stairs before she remembered her bookbag by the door. She rolled her eyes at herself and trotted back down the steps.

"—almost found out."

"If worst comes to worse, I'll send her off like I did Francine."

Quinn gasped and alerted the men of her presence. She ignored their panicked expressions as she stormed into the kitchen. "What do you mean you sent Frannie away?"

"Lucy Q, darling—"

"Don't call me that! Only Frannie can call me that!" Had this been any other time or about any other person, Quinn would never have spoken up as she did then.

Russell's eyes narrowed. He looked around at his colleagues before standing up. "Quinn." The blonde glared at her father. He took a step and continued, "I've told you; your sister decided to continue her studies—"

"Stop lying to me!"

Judy's eyes widened as she watched from the archway.

It was silent as Quinn stared her father down. Her eyes widened as realization hit her. "You…" She gave a deprecating laugh. "You sent her away to that school because you couldn't stand the thought of your own daughter doing what she wanted, huh? You forced her away! If she's not here, then how could she be a problem for you? Isn't that right?"

Russell quirked his eyebrows up. He glanced at one of his co-workers, Dustin Goolsby, from the corner of his eye. Dustin subtly nodded his head. The older Fabray ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "Yes, I sent her away to that… school. It was for her own good."

Quinn scoffed. "It all makes sense now. The reason she didn't say goodbye? How quickly you packed away her things as if you never even had another daughter?" Her voice rose as she ticked off each moment.

"Quinnie—"

The blonde whirled around to her mother. "And you!" Tears started to leak from her eyes. "I can't believe you'd let him ship off your own daughter!" She choked back a sob.

Judy gasped at the accusation. Her hands shook as she spoke, "The situation was out of my control."

Quinn scoffed. "Keep telling yourself that, mom." She furiously wiped at her eyes and said, "Maybe one of these days you'll believe it."

Judy flinched at the words.

Quinn shook her head and continued, "You know what? I'm happy Frannie's gone." Her parents' eyebrows rose; Judy's in shock and Russell's in curiosity. Quinn took a step back towards the staircase. "Wherever she's at is probably better than living here!" she screamed at them and ran up the steps, her bedroom door slamming after her.

She heaved in a breath as she slid down against her door-frame. She buried her head in her hands and groaned in frustration. The pokéball attached to her skirt—specifically designed to hold them thanks to her cheerleading coach, Roz Washington, demanding the school dip into the budget for new and improved uniforms—opened on its own.

"Bre!" Umbreon appeared in front of her trainer. She looked at the distressed girl and barked. She stood up on her hind legs and hit her front paws together. Quinn gave a watery chuckle as she realized what her Pokémon was doing; she was using the move Helping Hand to cheer her up. "Umbreon! Bre!"

"Come'ere, you." Quinn grabbed the dark type Pokémon and hugged her to her chest. She idly noted how Umbreon was sprawled across her lap as opposed to how she used to fit perfectly on it as an Eevee.

Quinn sniffed and ran her hand through her Pokémon's fur. "What am I going to do, Umbreon…" She trailed off as Umbreon's ears perked up. The Pokémon squirmed out of her grasp and scuttled towards her bed. "Umbreon?"

The moonlight Pokémon looked back at her before crawling under the bed.

"Umbreon, what are you doing?"

Her answer came as a red backpack was being nudged out from underneath by Umbreon. The Pokémon hurried out from under the bed and sat next to the bag. She gave out a bark.

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "That's…Frannie gave it to me for my eleventh birthday… It was her old backpack she used when she tried to go on a journey before daddy stopped her. She told me to use it if I ever try going on one… Umbreon, I don't understa—"

The Pokémon growled—and Quinn swore she even rolled her eyes—and put a strap in her mouth and dragged the item to her trainer's feet. She gave a pointed bark.

Quinn's eyes widened in realization. She fumbled for her phone as she knelt down and examined the bag.

It was in mostly perfect condition.

The phone rang once, twice…

"Hey, Artie…"

Quinn stayed locked in her room for the rest of the evening and waited until morning to make her move. She opened her bedroom window and gulped. She took a steadying breath.

She wasn't head cheerleader for nothing.

With that mindset, she fastened the red backpack tighter and jumped. She landed shakily on her feet and fell down to her knees in relief.

"It's a good thing you changed outta that cheerleader uniform or else that woulda hurt like a bitch." Puck quipped as he emerged from the bushes. "Though," he leered at her in the morning sunlight, "it's also a damn shame to cover those legs—Ouch!"

Rachel huffed after bopping him in the head. She walked up to Quinn and held her hand out.

Quinn gratefully took the hand and picked herself up. She dusted herself off before addressing the boy with a glare, "We have to be quiet." They crept out of the yard and onto the sidewalk. Once they made it on the pavement, they started to run.

Down the street and out of sight from the Fabray manor, Quinn slowed her pace and spoke up, "I thought we agreed to meet at the park?"

"We were," Puck answered, "but then Rachel figured it'd be better if we went to your house to wait for you instead, ya'know, in case you had any trouble getting away."

Quinn ducked her head down shyly in thanks at Rachel. "What about you? How did your dads take the news?"

Rachel chuckled. "They were a complete mess! I told them you two would be there to take care of me, but it was still hard to say goodbye…" she trailed off with a frown.

The gang stopped. Quinn looked up to see they had made it to the park. She turned to her friends, "You guys… you guys don't have to do this. I don't want you to feel like I'm forcing you to—"

"No!" Rachel lowered her voice as the blonde looked at her. "You're not forcing us to do anything, Quinn." She grabbed the other girl's hands and gazed into hazel eyes earnestly. "I'm doing this because I want to go on a Pokémon journey with my best friends."

Quinn gave a tentative nod.

Puck spoke up, "People think I'm a screw up 'cause I think school is for suckers, but I got ambition. Besides," he waggled his eyebrows, "just imagine all the ladies that would miss out on a ride on the Puckasaurus if I didn't tag along!"

Rachel went to bop him on the head when a voice from inside the park caught their attention. "Psst! Hey, over here!"

The friends all nodded to each other before making their way towards the voice.

Artie was sitting in his chair next to a tree outside the pokélab with his arms cradling something in his lap. He looked up when the three friends appeared in front of him. "I can get in so much trouble for this!" He whisper-yelled at them.

"Yeah, whatever. Where's the sneaky badass that took an evolutionary stone and evolved his Pokémon?" Puck mocked.

"He's right here, suffering from a night of excessive questioning from a professor that's too naïve to realize you can't evolve a Growlithe without a firestone!"

"That's your own fault, bro."

"I thought you liked working for Professor Schue, Artie?"

Artie sighed. "Don't get me wrong! I love it in the lab; however, sometimes I wonder how Schuester even became qualified as a professor." He rolled his eyes. "I can't tell if the man's brilliant or just an idiot. In order to get these," he nodded at the items in his hands, "I called him up and said some BS about needing to analyze my Porygon's reactions to a generator in the lab. Next thing I know, he's personally dropping his keys off at my house and telling me to record any findings that occur!"

Puck laughed. "Hah, there's the sneaky badass we know!" He held out his fist for Artie to bump.

Artie sheepishly ducked his head before bumping fists with Puck. He looked back up at the friends and said, "Okay, let's do this." He picked up the three pokéballs from his lap and held them in his hands for the gang to see. "In my hands lie three Starter Pokémon; grass, fire, and water types." He nodded towards each respectively. "So, who wants to go first?"

Rachel piped up, "Quinn can!"

"Yeah, Q, go ahead!"

Quinn took a deep breath before stepping towards the boy. Her hand hovered for a bit before she hesitated. She looked back at her friends to see them smiling encouragingly. She nodded determinedly to herself and grasped one.

"Ah, good choice!" Artie beamed. "Why don't you let it out of its ball and get acquainted with it?"

Quinn gazed at the ball in her hand in wonderment before grinning. "Pokéball, go!"

"Quil!"

"He's…" Rachel gasped. "He's so cute!" She took out her pokédex and pointed it towards her friend's new Pokémon.

"Cyndaquil: The Fire Mouse Pokémon. Cyndaquil is timid and tends to curl itself up in a ball. It will protect itself by flaring up the flames on its back. However, if one has earned Cyndaquil's trust, the flames will not burn them. The fire that spouts from it burn hottest when it is angry. The flaring flames intimidate foes."

"Oh, that reminds me, Quinn! I also grabbed you a… Quinn?"

The blonde ignored Artie in favor of staring at Cyndaquil in awe. She knelt down and the little fire Pokémon startled and the flames on his back rose. She slowly stuck her hand out and he carefully sniffed it as is passing judgment on her.

"Cyndaquil!" She must have passed the test because the Pokémon jumped joyfully onto her. Quinn giggled as she fell back with the Pokémon in her arms.

Rachel watched the scene with a broad smile on her face. She subtly wiped a tear from her eye before turning back to Artie. "Let's give them a moment, yeah? In the mean time," she picked up the pokéball in his left hand, "I'll have this one!"

Puck grabbed the last one, "looks like this one is mine!"

Quinn and Cyndaquil sat up to watch the duo release their new Pokémon.

"Chika!"

"Dile! Totodile!"

"Oh, a Chikorita!" Rachel squealed. She pointed her pokédex towards the little green Pokémon as Puck did the same towards his blue one.

"Chikorita: The Leaf Pokémon. The leaf on its head is known for many uses. In battle, Chikorita waves its leaf around to keep the foe at bay. However, a sweet fragrance also wafts from the leaf, creating a cozy and friendly atmosphere. It can also use it to check the temperature, and even detect warm spots to sunbathe and soak up the sun."

"Totodile: The Big Jaw Pokémon. Totodile's jaws are very powerful. While the Pokémon may think it is just playfully nipping, its bite has enough power to cause serious injury. Despite its small stature, Totodile is rough and tough."

"Badass! You're a tough little guy, aren't ya—whoa, hey!" Puck quickly withdrew his hand when Totodile snapped at him after he attempted to pet the Pokémon. "What's the big idea?"

"Um, Puck…" Artie trailed off. The taller boy turned to him with a scowl. Artie scrunched his face up before continuing, "I think he's a she."

The taller boy quirked his head to the side. "Wait, you're a girl?"

"Totodile!" The blue crocodile-like Pokémon crossed her arms and turned her head.

"Oh. Well, that's even more badass!" The Pokémon looked at her new trainer before his enthusiasm caught up with her. She jumped up and down in excitement.

"Dile! Totodile!"

"—and you shall be called Mr. Arnstein. Or would you prefer Nicky?" The group turned towards Rachel to see her sitting on the ground with her new Pokémon. Chikorita looked up at her with a hopelessly confused expression.

Artie shook his head at the scene before addressing Quinn. "Quinn." The blonde stood up with Cyndaquil in her arms. "What I tried saying earlier was that I grabbed this for you from the lab!"

Quinn's mouth hung open as Artie held out a brand new pokédex. "Artie…"

"Remember what I said? If I can't go on a journey, I want you three to go on one for me. You won't be able to get the full experience without one of these babies!" He grinned.

Quinn set Cyndaquil down, "Cyndaquil, return!" and turned back to the boy with a smile as she took hold of the pokédex.

Rachel and Puck called back their Pokémon as well and walked up to the two.

"Oh, wow. That's the newest addition, isn't it?" Rachel inquired.

"Yep!" Artie stated proudly.

"Thank you." replied Quinn.

"No problem!"

"No, really. Thank you, Artie. You're a great friend." Quinn gazed at him sincerely.

Artie blushed. "Yeah, yeah. You're welcome. All of you. Now go on now! Start your Pokémon adventure!"

The three friends thanked him one last time before they turned to walk away from the lab.

"Wait!"

The three friends turned back around and were met with the sight of Mr. and Mr. Berry running towards them.

"Dad? Daddy?" Rachel questioned as her parents caught up with them.

"Wait! You…" Hiram set the bag he was holding on the ground and attempted to catch his breath. "…leave…. Shoes…."

Leroy rubbed a hand on his husband's shoulder and turned to the teens. "We know that you'll have each other, but Hiram and I got you all little going away gifts to help you on your journey."

Rachel's eyes instantly filled with tears. "Dads…" She threw herself into Leroy's arms.

"Oh, I told myself I wouldn't cry again after we said goodbye at home." Hiram choked out before he walked over and draped his arms around his husband and little star.

Artie watched the scene with an amused expression. "Now I see where she gets her dramatics, eh, Puck? …Puck?" He turned to the unusually silent boy. "Are you crying?"

Puck furiously rubbed at his eyes. "No. I…I just got something in my eye!"

Quinn shook her head at her friend before grabbing onto his arm and dragging him to the group hug.

Artie smiled at the scene before wheeling himself back into the lab. Those three classmates of his out there? Yeah, he had no doubt that they'd go far on this journey as long as they had each other.

Hiram looked up from his husband's shoulder and was met with Quinn and Puck adding themselves into the mix. He instantly started tearing up again. He watched these two grow up with his little star; they were practically family. He saw how the blonde gripped Rachel's waist. He wiped away a tear and stepped back from the group.

"Okay," he sniffed. "If we delay this anymore, I'm going to drag all three of you back home and lock you away so you can't leave."

Leroy chucked at his husband, but hurried and picked the bag up. Sometimes he couldn't tell when Hiram was joking or not. So he pulled three boxes out of the bag and turned towards the teens.

Rachel gave a watery laugh before she gasped. "Are those…"

Leroy nodded. "Yep. Running Shoes!"

Hiram beamed. "They'll put a zip in your step! We got a pair for all three of you!"

"Leroy, Hiram…" Quinn trailed off with a shake of her head. "We can't accept these—"

"Awesome! Thanks Papa Berrys!" Puck greedily tore into his box. He kicked his old shoes off and put the new ones on. "Okay, do I look badass or do I look badass?"

Rachel laughed from her spot on a bench; she was already tying her new laces. She turned to Quinn with a tentative smile.

The blonde sighed before grabbing her box with a chuckle. "Thanks. You didn't have to…"

Hiram shook his head. "Oh, honey, it's the least we can do." He grabbed the discarded boxes to throw away in a nearby trashcan. A piece of paper falling out of one of them caught his attention. "Hey, they come with instructions! 'Press the B button while wearing these RUNNING SHOES to run extra fast! Slip on these RUNNING SHOES and race in the great outdoors!' Hm, B button? That's peculiar. What do the creators think this is, a video game?"

Leroy waved off his husband's rambling and turned back to the teens. "You three should get going. But first…" He walked up to Puck. "If anyone, and I mean anyone, lays a hand on either of these girls, you have my permission to kick their asses."

"Dad!" Rachel gasped. She was ignored as he gave Puck a hug. She shook her head in indignation. "Daddy, Dad is advocating violence…" She trailed off when she caught sight of her daddy in a deep conversation with Quinn.

"I know you're going to be gone for just three months, but it's going to seem like a lifetime when Leroy and I have been watching you three grow up every day for the past six years." He choked back a sob. "Lucy Quinn, I'm trusting you to take care of my little star. Don't you dare leave her."

Quinn sucked in a breath. "I made a promise six years ago that I wouldn't. I never intend on breaking that promise ever again."

Hiram wiped a tear from his eye before calling the other three over for one last group hug.

After a final goodbye, the three friends walked the path through the woods that would inevitably start their journey.

Leroy grasped Hiram's hand. "Do you really think they're going to be okay?"

They watched Rachel loop her arms with her two friends as she forced them to skip down the path. The remnants of her voice singing The Yellow Brick Road faded as their figures disappeared in the trees. Hiram smiled. "I think they're going to be just fine."

A/N: Please review!