Title: 12 Minutes
Author:Fortheloveoffaberry
Fandom: Glee
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Quinn Fabray/Rachel Berry
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or the characters. All grammar mistakes are mine, unfortunately!
Summary: After each Quinn and Rachel's lives goes to Hell they do what they must to survive. They rob the bank. The thing is neither of them knows that the other is going to rob the bank too. On the same night, at the same time, on opposite sides of the building.
AUTHORS NOTE: This is my first fan fiction and it would be greatly appreciated if you could review it! This is just the prologue right now and it will get into more of the plot later on after I make Part 2 of the Prologue retelling Rachel's past.
PROLOGUE (PART 1) -
12 minutes. That's all the time she had to get in, get what she needed, and get out. Simple. She was Quinn-Fucking-Fabray she could do anything. In the last two years her life had been going downhill and fast. Once at the top of the pyramid, Quinn had everything she could ever hope for. Of course, there was always the loneliness and sadness, but in the world of William McKinley High School she would just put on a cold glare and sashay down the hall and students would part like the Red Sea. In that Hell hole that was all you needed to survive and be at the top of the pack. It was a 'eat or be eaten' kind of lifestyle – and Quinn refused to be eaten. That was until sophomore year when she un-expectantly got knocked up by the school's so called 'Resident Badass.' She got knocked down the totem pole in a matter of weeks and for someone who was always used to being on top, being knocked down was like a million bricks hitting her in the head. The feeling was horrible and she knew she'd have to regain her position as Head Bitch in Charge once the whole pregnancy thing blew over.
After she'd made sure her child was going to be able to have a good life by giving her up for adoption, she made her climb back up. It only took a little convincing of her former Cheerio coach to give her back the position of Head Cheerio. She adopted her old glare and came up with a fresh round of insults for anyone who dared look her way. But it seemed that wasn't enough. She still felt like she did when she fell down to the bottom of the pack. Even more alone, even more lost, even more confused. She thought once she was on top again things would go back to normal. She still expected the sorrow and pain, but now it seemed to be tripled. She would never admit it but there was one thing that did make her somewhat happy… Glee Club. Yes Glee Club, the nerdy show choir that is compiled of just a bunch of misfits. Artie Abrams - the kid in the wheelchair, Tina Cohen-Chang – the girl who faked a stutter and wears a lot of black clothes, Kurt Hummel – The gay kid who dates the guy that always wears bowties, and a whole handful of others. Then there was the girl that stood out most… Rachel Berry. Quinn had been the girl's torturer for years. She antagonized her and would make sure she got a daily slushy facial. If she really thought about it she hated treating the girl like this. To tell the truth, Quinn wasn't better or bigger than Rachel at all. And in all honesty, Quinn might even go as far as to say she was a little envious of the petite brunette. Rachel's voice was magical. When she'd sing, she'd capture Quinn in somewhat of a trance. Quinn would always get a flutter in her stomach when Rachel would sing or even look at her. Those feelings scared her. And that is why she tortured her. She didn't want to think what those feelings could mean. So she did what any smart Fabray would do. She shoved her feelings out the door and on their ass in the freezing cold. She ignored them for as long as she could until she broke down. And somehow, those breakdowns always came when Rachel was around. Then something even odder, Rachel wanted to become Quinn's friend. For some reason, no matter how lonely Quinn was, Quinn pushed her away. She became more vicious until that final blow-up where she ended up slapping Rachel in the bathroom during junior prom. Immediately after, Quinn had apologized. And even after all that, Rachel still wanted to help Quinn and become her friend. Once again, Quinn turned her down, but laid off on the abuse. You could say that they came to an understanding with each other.
Junior year ended quickly enough after prom night and Quinn's summer was all about self-discovery. Glee Club's trip to New York opened Quinn's eyes. She realized life in Lima, Ohio would end in less in a year and she would finally be free to set off into the unknown. What mattered in high school wouldn't matter in less than 12 months. What mattered was Quinn becoming happy. Finding herself, doing what she wanted to do for the first time in her life. She wasn't going to live by other peoples standards, she wasn't going to uphold the 'perfect' image. She was just going to be Quinn. Who Quinn was… she didn't quite know yet, but that is why the summer before senior year she sort of went a little crazy.
First day of senior year Quinn walked down the hall acutely aware that all eyes were on her. As they should be because her perfect blonde hair was dyed bright pink, her dainty sun dresses exchanged for black dark jeans and long t-shirts, her cute little flats crushed with tall combat boots, and a very ironic tattoo of Ryan Seacrest painted across her lower back for all to view. This was the new Quinn with not a care in the world. She'd skip classes and hang out under the bleachers with her new friends, who were cleverly coined as "The Skanks." She even decided that she didn't need Glee Club anymore. She was perfectly content with this situation, or so she thought, until Rachel Berry came along and opened up her feelings once again. Rachel had found her under the bleachers the second day of senior year and said those fateful three words, "Whenever you're ready." Who the hell does that?
No one's ever told Quinn 'Whenever you're ready.' It's always been, "Quinn do this, do that," "Quinn you're disrespecting the family name," "Why can't you just do this one thing for me?" No. Now it was, "Whenever you're ready, Quinn." Meaning that she can do whatever she wants and that it is still her decision with no pressure put on her shoulders, just pure understanding. And those simple three words somehow made a spark ignite in her brain. A flicker of hope, but at the same time a feeling of dread because right when she thought she found herself, she lost herself again. Except this time it wasn't a scared lost it was, "Am I really a Skank?" Also more like a feeling of hope that, "I can make something bigger of myself and I can take my time because I make my decisions and I can do whatever I want when I'm ready."
But then, all Hell broke loose.
Quinn's father died. He was coming home from the bar drunk one night and got in a bad car accident. He died in the ambulance. Now, to say Quinn was desperately grieving his death is quite an overstatement. After her pregnancy her parents had kicked her out, well… her father kicked her out. He wasn't very understanding. He was a person that had an image to uphold and having a 16 year-old daughter that is pregnant out-of-wedlock wasn't something to be proud of. So he did what any conceited person would do: he kicked his daughter out of the house with nowhere to go. So yes, saying that Quinn was bawling her eyes out would be the polar opposite of reality. Her father, Russell Fabray, was abusive and a senseless drunk whose daily life consisted of going to work, church, and the golf course with the work buddies. His wife wasn't much different. Judy Fabray would chat away at society meetings and club gatherings making a solid and perfect name for the family.
Judy and Russell eventually separated once Quinn was kicked out. Judy had apparently turned over a new leaf and wanted to make it up to Quinn. The first step to do this was to have Quinn move back in again, and that's what happened. Everything was actually going swell, to say the least. Judy had quit drinking, Quinn was on the Cheerios again, and everything seemed respectively normal. Until two weeks before senior year, Quinn's father came back begging for forgiveness. And, of course, Judy said yes. Quinn knew she was lonely, but she didn't think her Mother was that lonely. To crawl back into the arms of the man that threw out his own daughter and turned his wife into a drunk, to Quinn it was inconceivable!
When Russell moved back in it meant his income would be moving back in as well. While Mr. Fabray was out of the house, Quinn and Judy had been living off their ever diminishing saved funds and the small bit of alimony they were able to weasel of Russell during the divorce. But now that Russell's income was back that meant they wouldn't have to watch every penny.
Unfortunately they were wrong. Russell was a gambler. Neither Quinn nor Judy knew this little secret that Russell so perfectly kept hidden. Russell was gambling away their life savings hoping to come home big, only to come home empty handed. Their bank funds were quickly depleting, only to become moth balls and dust in the end. The Fabray family was definitely spending more than it was earning and that was going to be a major downfall.
When Russell died that meant his income flew out the window. Judy found out soon enough that they were in major debt from Russell's reckless gambling and inability to fucking balance a checkbook. Judy had to end up selling the house, Russell's old car, and anything that could bring much needed money into their household. They moved into an older apartment and sold things they didn't need to thrift stores and pawn shops. Though, this wasn't enough. They still were in major debt and with the interest rates through the roof, they were just burrowing further and further into the pit.
Quinn was actually feeling pity for her mother. She loved her Mom, she really did and to see her in such a lowly place broke her heart. It didn't much effect Quinn to be out of their "perfect" life-style because she had been there before. Being kicked out and pregnant at sixteen doesn't leave much room for job opportunities. But Judy wasn't as keen to the environment. Her normal high-society clothing had been traded for mere "commoners clothes" - as the people of the board would of put it. Judy wasn't used to this - Living in a small place, living on a budget, commuting place to place on public transportation. Judy was so depressed she picked up drinking again. How she got the money to buy alcohol again was beyond Quinn, but she was determined to get her Mother out of her rut.
And that's when Quinn got an idea. Through all of her self-discovery and doing things whenever she was ready to do them, Quinn got an idea. A crazy, insane, and perfect idea. An idea that could either help her and her mother out of poverty or one to come back and forcefully bite her on the butt.
