Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 63rd cycle. Now cycle 64!

"Calling Claudia"
(Older) Quinn, Brittany, Santana - Claudia (OC)
Trinity series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

Some years ago, somewhere near the state of New York

Somewhere in the middle of the job, there had been this feeling. None of them could explain it, but they knew enough little things had gone wrong, that maybe they were in trouble and they wouldn't pull through on this job. But then they had gotten out of the building, with what they'd come to retrieve safely packed into the cases they had brought with them. Now all they needed to do was to get past the perimeter, into their car, and make their getaway.

"Maybe we should split, regroup once we're clear," Optic would suggest as they ran.

"Have the guards seen us?" Sneak asked, and Breaker stole a glance back.

She'd seen him then, one man alone, but a man with a gun, and that was all it took, especially as he was pointing it at the three retreating figures. They were not meant to have names, not their names, but in a flash it didn't matter anymore whether it was Optic or Santana, Sneak or Brittany, Breaker or Quinn. He's going to shoot. Brittany, move, he's going to…

She'd acted quick, needed to pull Brittany out of the way, so she had all but tackled her down. She didn't even feel the pain, not right away.

Brittany had needed a moment to realize she wasn't hurt. She'd heard the shot and then she was down on the ground, somewhere in her brain this meant she had been hit, only then she saw she wasn't.

Santana had dove for cover at the sound, immediately turning to make sure the other two were alright. In the dark clothes that were meant to keep their features disguised, it had taken a beat for her to see which was which, but just as she was seeing that Brittany wasn't hurt, she was also seeing that Quinn most certainly was. They had helped her up and out of there, without a second to think. Any more time spent here could mean more injuries.

How they'd made it to the car without incident, they didn't know. All cases and bags were tossed into the trunk and then they were peeling off. Brittany drove, while Santana had Quinn in the backseat.

"Where am I going, what do we do?" Brittany sounded terrified as soon as it was just the three of them in the car, driving.

"Just aim for New York," Santana ordered, pulling her mask off and Quinn's as well. The injured blonde was looking on the pale side. "Let me see."

"It's not-ah!" she'd started, gritting her teeth, but then as soon as Brittany had hit a bump in the road, she cried out.

"Sorry!" Brittany told her. Santana had managed to tear the sleeve off Quinn's shirt, and if the grunts and cries as she did this hadn't been indication enough, seeing the wound told her all she needed to know.

"Quinn Fabray, I know you have your pride, but don't even tell me you were going to say this isn't that bad," Santana looked at her, panic rising as well.

"I had to try," Quinn shrugged, cringing.

"We need to go to the hospital."

"We can't!" Quinn told her.

"Don't you think I know that?" Santana shouted, taking the sleeve to put pressure, trying to control the bleeding. The screams had been nearly enough for Brittany to swerve off the road. "I know, I'm sorry."

"It's okay…" Quinn sounded like she was going to pass out any moment.

"The client, call the client!" Brittany shouted back.

"Harris? Are you kidding?" Santana frowned.

"Not that one, the woman with the elephants, in New York. She's close enough and she knows…"

"… nothing. She knows nothing…" Quinn panted.

"She's the closest we've got, and she's a doctor," Santana agreed with Brittany. "Pull over and switch places with me, I'm a better driver," she insisted. They had done this, and as they pulled off again, Santana took the phone. "Do you remember the number?" Quinn had given it; she always remembered. It was already after midnight, but they would apologize for this later.

"Hello?" a woman's voice picked up.

"Claudia MacManus?" Santana asked, trying to sound as normal as possible.

"Yes?"

"You don't know me, but I know you, and I know you're a doctor. I need your help." There was a pause.

"I'm sorry? Who is this?" Santana could hear Quinn mumbling something, and she strained to listen, repeating the words for the woman on the phone.

"These should be yours. Keep them safe. You remember that, Doctor? When you got back your elephants? That was us, me and my partners, one of whom you met, not long before. You told them about what had happened to those things, they'd belonged to your grandfather, is that right?"

"How do you…"

"Look, I don't have much time, someone's hurt, and we can't go into a hospital, they'll ask too many questions. We're just outside of the state, there's a motel nearby, we can't drive her much further right now, please…"

"What's the address?" Claudia had cut her off.

They'd made it to the motel, getting Quinn into the room without anyone noticing. Once she was on the bed and they weren't in motion, they could try and do more for her, until Claudia would arrive. The knock at the door, after a while, had startled them, and Santana went to check at the window. There was the short blonde woman, alone, so she signalled for Brittany to let her in. As soon as she'd passed the door, it was closed again.

Claudia MacManus had taken only a brief moment to survey the situation, and then she'd seen the woman on the bed, the one who had saved her from oncoming traffic just weeks before. If there was any part of her that was shocked or confused, she had filed it away, instead doing what she'd come there to do. She would tell the two women, still strangers to her, what to do in order to help her, while she tended to Quinn's arm.

"I've done what I can here, for the rest, you need to come with me to the hospital," she stood from the side of the bed after a while. "I'll get you in, no one will know, but we don't have a choice, alright?" she went on when they were about to complain.

"We'll follow you," Quinn had answered for them.

They had gotten in their cars, and one more ride later, they were in New York, in the hospital. Santana and Brittany had to keep out while Claudia dealt with Quinn alone. As she imagined, it was now that the questions started.

"It was you?" Claudia asked.

"Yes," Quinn breathed out. "You can't tell anyone."

"I know," she promised, then after a pause. "I don't understand…"

"We help people. We help them get what's rightfully theirs," Quinn explained, and Claudia considered this. She looked at the woman sitting before her, and she gave her a nod.

"If you need help, you call me. Medical help, I mean. Try not to make a habit of it?"

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!