After picking up Brittany's things from her cousins house, they headed over to Quinn's apartment.

Brittany looked over at Quinn, who was concentrating on driving. They drove in silence, which didn't really bother Brittany since she was already lost in her own thoughts.

After leaving the Quinn in the hospital in Afghanistan, Brittany tried her best to find out what happened to her. Since she hadn't heard about her dying she knew she was alive. It was the fact of getting in touch with her that would be difficult. She tried for months. She bugged her chain of command to see if they could get any answers but she got nothing. When she got back to Ft. Bragg, she only had about three months there then she left for Ft. Carson.

Brittany thought that she was never going to see Quinn again. But here she was. Sitting with her, on her way to Quinn's apartment where she was going to be living.

"Here we are."

The place was beautiful. It seemed brand new, maybe less than a year old. It was the perfect size for a pair of roommates which made Brittany wonder why Quinn would want such a huge place to herself.

"Wow, this place is amazing." They got out of Quinn's truck and walked into her apartment.

Quinn showed Brittany to her room and left her to get settled. She took a couple minutes to put her things away in the dresser that was readily sitting in the room. It was like she either had a roommate or was waiting for someone to move in and they never did. Brittany didn't have a lot of things, she wasn't much of a materialistic person.

She walked outside to the living room. Quinn was in the shower, she could hear the water running. Brittany started wandering around the living room. She came across a little case that was closed. Maybe I shouldn't open it, she thought. It was labeled 'Sergeant Fabray, Quinn L.'. So she knew that it was Army related. Brittany lifted the cover and saw that it was all of Quinn's decorations. One that stuck out in particular was her Purple Heart ribbon. It's given to a soldier when they are wounded or killed in combat. Brittany slowly closed the case and turned to sit on the couch when she realized that Quinn had just come down the stairs. She was in shorts and a PT (Physical Training) shirt, with her hair tied up in a messy bun.

"It's nice isn't it? The case." Brittany looked back at the box that was sitting on the coffee table. "My unit gave it to me when I got out."

"That's nice of them. I had to buy my own case, I didn't want to lose the things I worked so hard in the Army for."

"Staff Sergeant Pierce huh? It has a nice ring to it." Brittany chuckled, because she knew it did. "Let me see yours. I'm sure you brought it with you right?"

"I did. But it's nothing, I have just about the same amount of ribbons as you." Quinn stood up from behind the refrigerator door and shot Brittany a look. "Fine. Fine. I'll go get it. You have such a way with words."

They both laughed as Brittany walked back into her room to get her awards case out. She hadn't looked at it in such a long time. When she walked back into the living room Quinn was sitting on the couch with a bowl of cereal in hand.

"Seriously? Cereal?"

"It's my favorite thing to eat, alright. Don't judge me. And plus, you should've known that already." Brittany plopped herself down next to Quinn.

"Old habits die hard, huh."

"Something like that." She spoke with a full mouth of food. "Here. Trade. Let me see your case."

Brittany took Quinn's cereal out of her hand and handed her the case. She opened it and was surprised.

"Wow. You had all kinds of ribbons. Jesus. What is this, like four rows? Same amount my ass." Brittany just sort of sat there. She was always humble about her awards and ribbons, she never really showed them off.

"I was just doing my job."

Quinn continued to look at Brittany's ribbons.

"A.. Bronze Star?"

"Yeah. That deployment, was just hectic. After that roadside bomb, we got attacked at the FOB (Forward Operating Base) and the amount of casualties and wounded we had that time around was too much."

"Now this, is truly impressive." She shut the case and they traded once more. Quinn looked down at her watch and saw that it was almost 6 pm. "Oh hey. Let's get going. Santana's place right?"

"Yeah." Brittany didn't show it, but she was excited.

"Let's stop by the store first and grab her some ice cream. That usually eases the pain for her."

After making a quick run to the store, the girls made their way to Santana's apartment. It wasn't too far from Quinn's, and was just as nice as hers.

Quinn got her keys from her pocket and went to unlock the front door.

"Yeah. I have a key. And she has a key to mine. So if she just randomly is sitting on the couch in the living room one day, you'll know why." When they walked inside they found Santana sitting at the dining room table with a 6 pack of Corona sitting in front of her. "Corona?"

"I told you I wanted to try something new." She took another sip from her beer. "Hey Pierce. What you got in that bag?"

Brittany sat at the table next to Santana and gave her the pint of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream she bought.

"I hope you like this flavor. It's my favorite."

"Did you tell her I like this kind?" Santana turned to Quinn. She was now sitting on opposite side of Santana, grinning.

"No, I didn't actually. She picked that out herself I didn't say anything."

Santana turned back to Brittany and smiled. "Thanks Pierce." She placed a kiss on Brittany's cheek and she blushed.

"You're welcome."

"I'm guessing neither of you want anything to drink?" Santana looked at both of them, who were both nodded in agreement. "More for me then."

For the rest of the night, they tried to cheer Santana up. Which didn't take much, since Brittany was there. She constantly made jokes and had the two other girls laughing. As it got late, Quinn got tired and she went to lay down on the couch.

"Ha ha. Pierce you're funny. I really like that about you." Santana placed her hand on Brittany's and squeezed.

Santana looked into Brittany's eyes for a couple seconds before breaking contact. She took her hand back so she could drink from her beer. The short amount of contact caused them to get butterflies.

"Quinn's always tired. She never stays up past 11." Santana said, quickly changing the subject. She was looking over at the couch where the blonde was sleeping. "I always try to take her out to the club with me but she always ends up falling asleep."

"Oh so you're the club type?" It peaked Brittany's interest. "I like to dance."

"Well we'll have to go sometime." Brittany smiled, as Santana drank from her bottle.

"How did you and Fabray become friends? I mean, yeah you both work in at 51 but not everyone at the house is as close as you two are."

"Me and Quinn, we didn't have the greatest start. I was the only female at 51 before she became Lieutenant for Squad. When she came to the house I was just a little envious because she was doing amazing things. They all bragged that she was the best Lt they seen for any Squad unit in Northern Ohio. Possibly in all of Ohio." She took another sip from her beer to finish up the bottle. She opened the last one before starting again. "I was jealous and in a way I sort of held a grudge against her. I felt like she was purposely trying to make me look bad but that wasn't the case at all."

"How did you get past all of that?"

"This one day, everyone was in the garage and because I didn't like Quinn so much I was easily irritated by thing she said and constantly twisted her words. She said something that I thought she meant in a way to mock me. And a little after that she got up from the squad table and went inside. I followed her, planning what I was going to say in my head. I had enough of her. But when I found her in her quarters, she was crying. And I felt bad. As much as I didn't like her, I couldn't stand to see someone cry."

Santana was being genuine.

"I calmed her down and we talked. She wasn't crying because of anything I did or said. But I still felt guilty. I apologized for the way that I acted around her. And being the forgiving person that she is, she forgave me. She forgave me for something that she had no idea was going on in the first place."

"So why was she crying?"

"You know? She never told me what it was. As much as I asked, she never did tell me." Santana finished her last beer and took the empty bottles to the sink. "It's getting late. We should get some sleep."

"I'll just sleep on the recliner next to Quinn."

"Don't be silly. Come on. I have enough space in my bed for two." Santana was walking upstairs now, motioning to Brittany to follow her.

Brittany followed hesitantly, she didn't want to make things awkward between her and Santana. When she walked into the room, Santana took off her shirt and laid on her bed. Her body was amazing. Not to mention her breasts. She got under the sheets and patted the empty space next to her.

"Are you sure? I mean I really don't mind sleeping downstairs."

"Are you implying that you don't want to sleep with me, Pierce?"

Oh it wasn't that. The Good Lord knew it wasn't that.

"I- I uh.."

"Just come over here and lay down already."

Brittany walked around the bed and got comfortable under the sheets as well.

For years, the only way that Brittany could fall asleep was if she put her arms above her head. It came in handy when she was deployed, because she had the hardest time sleeping while she was out there. She raised her arms above her head and got relaxed.

Santana was asleep already, exhausted from a long shift and the 6 pack she drank. In her sleep, she moved closer to Brittany and placed her head in the crook of Brittany's neck. It caught Brittany off-guard, and for a second she wanted to jump out of the bed. But she didn't. She stayed.

The next morning, Santana wakes up and realizes that she's pretty much cuddling with Brittany. Slowly, she gets off of the bed. She's careful enough not to wake her up. The last thing she'd want is for the girl to wake up and find that they had been cuddling. For a couple seconds, she stared down at the blonde who was fast asleep on her bed. It didn't make sense to her. She only knew this girl for a short time yet she felt so comfortable around her. Like she was able to let go in front of her and tell her all of her deepest secrets.

Santana threw her shirt back on and headed downstairs, where she found Quinn making breakfast on the stove.

"Good morning." Quinn turned back and smiled. "Had a good night?"

"Shut up, Q. I didn't want her sleeping on the recliner."

"So you let her sleep with you in your bed?" Santana walked over to where Quinn was standing and punched her on the shoulder. "Ow. Damn."

"Nothing happened." Quinn rolled her eyes. "I swear!"

"Okay okay I'll believe you."

They talked about rumours that had been going around at the firehouse. That's when they came full circle to the topic of Brittany. They each made a plate of food and sat at the table.

"I told you. She's the kind of girl you need, San. She's perfect for you."

"I mean sure. She made me laugh like all night. She has a cute smile, and a great personality." As she was finishing her sentence, she started to blush.

"You're blushing!"

"Shut up."

"You like her."

Quinn was right and she knew it. Although she had only met Brittany yesterday, she did spend most of the time with her. Even though she had only scratched the service, she knew Brittany was a one of a kind person.

"Fine, you're right. I do like her."

AN: A bronze star is the fourth highest individual military award, and ninth highest by order of precedence in the US Military. So for Brittany to get this award is a very honorable achievement.

I will not reveal if Brittany dies or lives, lol. I know a lot of people have asked, but you guys will just have to wait till that's revealed later in the story.