Author's Note: So this is pretty much my way of coping with whatever is going to happen in season four. I really don't know much about the army or their ranks, so I took some creative license. If I'm saying something glaringly wrong, please correct me. I hope that you all enjoy this!

Disclaimer: I don't anything associated with Glee. The story title is taken from Jason Mraz's "I Won't Give Up." The chapter's title is from "Show Me What I'm Looking For" by Carolina Liar.

June 17, 2017

1500 Hrs

Kandahar, Afghanistan

It hurt. Everything hurt.

Staff Sergeant Finn Hudson stared up at the sky, only vaguely aware of the sounds of gunfire going off around him. He tried to push himself up, but fuck, his left wrist killed.

"Hold on, Huddy!" A hand pressed on his chest, keeping him still. Finn recognized the voice of Corporal Nathan James. He saw Sergeant Jack Carter laying cover for them before his vision began to tunnel over. He welcomed the darkness that seemed to come; it was hurting too much.

Then Nathan began to move Finn. Everything came back into sharp relief, the pain pulsing through him in time with his erratic heartbeat, and Finn groaned. It felt like he was on fire. Nathan stopped and appeared in Finn's line of vision.

"You're going to be okay, Huddy," Nathan said. "The chopper is here. We just have to get you on it. Stay with me, man."

Finn struggled to keep his eyes open. Now that the after effects of the blast had worn off, the pain was quickly eclipsing any and all other feelings. But he suddenly remembered why he was in so much pain to begin with.

"Davis," Finn gasped, attempting to lift his head and look around. His left side pulled painfully and it hurt to breath, but he kept talking anyway. "Is Davis okay?"

Nathan smiled at him and patted his uninjured side. "Jack is with him. He's a little beat up, but he'll be okay. You have his life, Huddy."

Good. That's all that mattered. Finn let his head fall back to the ground as two medics with a stretcher arrived. Sergeant Lucas Davis had a wife and two little boys at home. Finn knew what it was like to grow up without a father. He couldn't let that happen to Davis's kids.

"Just hold on, Huddy," Nathan repeated. "You're going to be okay."

June 19, 2017

5:00 PM

New York City, New York

"There. Perfect."

Kurt Hummel and Rachel Berry stared critically at the mantel. Centered right in the middle of it, in the spot of honor, was their pride and joy: Rachel Berry's first Tony award.

"Seriously," Kurt said. "That placement couldn't be any better if I had tried. I should add interior designer to my list of many accomplishments."

Rachel smiled and nodded her head in agreement as the door to the apartment swung open. Santana Lopez sashayed in, dropping her purse on one of the chairs.

"How was your shift, Santana?" Kurt asked with a smile as the Latina in question disappeared into the kitchen.

No one had really expected Santana to become a nurse—at a children's hospital, no less. She had come to New York City with the hope of making it big. Shortly after graduation from McKinley, while in Central Park with Rachel (the two of them had quickly found each other and were already looking for an apartment at that point), they had witnessed a little boy falling out of a tree that he had been trying to climb. The result was a very nasty compound fracture. Due the lifeguard job Santana had had over her summers in high school, she had some first aid training. She had expertly applied what knowledge she had as they waited for the ambulance to arrive. She had even managed to keep the little boy calm, despite the fact that his tibia was sticking out of his leg. Santana was hooked from then on and had applied and been accepted to a nursing school for the spring semester.

Santana reemerged from the kitchen with a wine bottle in hand. She took a swing straight from the bottle before speaking. "I hate people," she announced. "I swear to God, some of those parents…" She started mumbling darkly in Spanish under her breath.

"Santana, glass," Rachel said when Santana drank from the bottle once again.

Santana rolled her eyes. "Calm you tits, Berry. Now you have one less glass to clean." She peered closely at her roommate. "How are you feeling today?"

Now it was Rachel's turn to roll her eyes. Two days ago, Rachel had felt like complete and utter crap. She didn't have a fever, and she didn't throw up or anything like that. She just felt as if she couldn't get out of bed. Santana had played mother hen all day, and had refused to let her move until she knew exactly what was wrong. It must have been one of those twenty-four hour bugs, because she had been fine the next day.

"I feel fine, Santana. Now would you two come over here? I have something that I want to tell you."

"Oh God." Santana sat on the arm of the sofa and shared a wide-eyed look with Kurt. "You're not pregnant, are you?"

Rachel's cheeks flamed bright red. "Santana! No!" Her roommate knew very well that she hadn't done anything in… well, in a while.

"You never know. Someone might have cracked that chastity belt." Kurt snickered into his hand at Santana's comment, and Rachel glared at both of them. Really? These were the people that were supposed to be her best friends?

"If you're done making fun of me, I'd like to tell you what news I have." Kurt and Santana just nodded their heads, and Rachel took a deep breath. "I've decided to take a break."

They both stared at her. Finally, Santana said, "Wait, what?"

"What in Gaga's name are you talking about?" Kurt exploded.

Rachel was nonplussed by the screeching quality his voice had taken on. "The show that I have my eye on won't start preparations for another six months at least. That gives me plenty of time to take a little break."

"How do you know that you'll even be getting a part in the show?" Santana wasn't asking the question to be malicious. She just wanted to make sure that Rachel had everything in order before up and leaving.

"They called me," Rachel said simply. She had been quite surprised when she had received the call. But the director from the show she had just finished, Wicked, had referred her to the revival of Rent. According to her director, they had jumped at the chance to have her on the show.

Kurt was looking as if he was trying not to explode from excitement. "But… you just won a Tony for featured actress!"

"I know." Rachel couldn't help the smile that spread across her lips at that statement. She was only twenty-three, and she had achieved one of her biggest dreams. It had been amazing, hearing her name called that night. "Which is exactly why I'm leaving them wanting more. Until Rent starts up, that is."

Kurt could no longer contain himself. He jumped up and hugged Rachel tightly. "Excellent! I wouldn't expect anything less from Broadway's newest diva."

"So where exactly are we taking this little break?" Santana asked as she inspected her nails. Rachel laughed good-naturedly at how Santana automatically assumed that she going with her. "Please tell me that we're going to Hawaii. I have a lot of vacation time saved up and they just hired two new nurses. I plan on cashing that time in."

"Sorry, Tana. We're not going to Hawaii. I was actually thinking about heading back to Lima."

"Really?" Santana raised an eyebrow. "Berry, we haven't been back there since winter break your senior year."

"I know. It won't hurt to go back, will it?" Rachel said. She crossed her arms defensively, prepared to argue for her choice of vacation spot.

"Of course not," Kurt said in a placating manner. "I just never thought I'd see the day when Rachel Berry wanted to go back to Lima."

Rachel lifted a shoulder. "I haven't seen my dads in a while. They're too busy to come up to visit, so I thought I would go down for a little bit. And I think it will be nice to get away from everything for a while, since I just won the Tony…"

"Oh, I see what this is." Kurt smirked at her. "You want to go back to brag!"

"What? No. That's not it!"

"Yeah right," Santana said. She was smirking, too. "I'm calling bullshit on that one, Berry. But I'm down. Let's go show those backwards hicks what real talent can do. In fact, I'll call Britts and Quinn. We can make a whole trip out of it!"

"What do you say, Kurt?" Rachel asked. "Want to head back to Lima with us for a little while?"

"I don't see why not." Kurt grinned and hugged Rachel again. "I can't wait to tell everyone that you were wearing a Kurt Hummel original at the Tony's!"

Kurt had recently had his original line picked up by Bergdorf's, and he was practically beside himself with excitement. Music was still a big part of his life, but he had found his home in fashion design. And he was an absolutely brilliant designer.

"I'll call Blaine, too," he added. "Now that the school year is over, I might be able to convince him to take a breather."

Blaine shared an apartment with Kurt not far from Santana, Brittany, and Rachel's. Blaine going to be starting his first year at Columbia Law come the fall. He had just graduated from NYU, so Rachel was sure that he would want to join in on their vacation as well.

Just as Kurt hung up with his boyfriend, Santana came back into the room, waving several pieces of paper in the air. "I just ordered tickets for Friday. We are a go for Trip Lima!"

June 20, 2017

0130 Hrs

Kandahar, Afghanistan

"Nice to see you awake, Sergeant Hudson."

Finn blinked slowly. He did it several more times as the room he was in came into focus. He slowly took stock of his surroundings and how he felt. Everything had sort of a dull fuzziness to it. He raised his hands to rub at his eyes, but found that his left hand, from his knuckles down to mid-forearm was encased in a white cast.

"What…" He cleared his throat and swallowed, trying to get rid of the cotton feeling in his mouth. "What happened?"

The doctor looked down kindly at him. "You were caught in a blast from a roadside bomb," he explained.

"Huddy, you did good," Nathan added as he came up on the other side of the bed. Jack was behind him, and in the bed next to him, Finn saw Davis. They both nodded their heads in agreement with Nathan's statement.

Jack patted Finn's uninjured hand. "They're going to send you home, man."

Finn could only stare at his teammate. Finally, he said, "…Why?"

The two soldiers looked at the doctor. He nodded his head and said, "Sergeant Hudson, you sustained some pretty severe injuries in the blast. You have several cracked ribs, a concussion, and extensive burns on your left shoulder and arm. And your left wrist was nearly shattered. It will take time to heal, along with extensive physical therapy to get back a range of motion close to the one you had before."

Finn blinked at the doctor. "So what you're saying is… I'm done. Forever."

The doctor nodded his head. "I'm sorry, Sergeant Hudson. But you did an amazing thing."

Finn turned away from the doctor and looked at Nathan and Jack. "When are they sending me home?"

"In two days."

Author's Note: Well, I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading!