Title: Urban Strangers
Rating: Teen, for language and themes
Summary: She walked home every day after practice, and every day in tandem she saw Her sitting against the brick wall of a building. They never spoke to one another until that day. Kindness from strangers will never cease to amaze Rachel.
Warnings! Maj. Character Death, mentions of rape (it doesn't happen) and drug-use.
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, all belongs to RIB.
A/N:So it's my birthday and I figured I'll actually post a completed story for once. My sincerest apologies for those who have read my other stories that are unfinished. I'm lazy and I hate posting things, I have no excuse. I swear they will finish eventually, I just need a muse and a writing kick. Anyways, here's a stream of consciousness one-shot for you all, aka non-Beta'd. Enjoy!
Upon waking up inside the hospital Rachel was surprised to see her co-worker and life friend Kurt Hummel waiting beside her bed.
"Oh my Streisand, Rachel, you're awake. I have to inform the police, I'll be right back". And suddenly he was gone leaving Rachel to stare into the white ceiling panels of her room.
True to his word Kurt returned with an officer in tow shortly after, "Good Afternoon Miss Berry, I'm officer Greene and I'm here to collect a statement on what happened last night" the man finished by pulling out a notepad and pen.
Acknowledging the legal process, no matter how much Rachel wanted to forget what happened, she agreed to answer the policeman's questions with Kurt clutching her right hand.
"Why don't you start from the beginning?" Officer Greene offered with a small smile.
"Yes, well I was walking home from rehearsal last night…"
It was a foggy night in the city, the clouds around the banks had sunken just low enough to form a haze amongst the pavement. Rachel's practice had run later than she anticipated and being confident in her self-defense abilities, thanks to many years of krav maga, decided against a taxi for the mere five blocks home.
On her way back, just after passing her third block she saw the familiar eyes of an unknown addict. Her hair was thin and ratty, with an unnatural hue of an off-pink crumpled in dirty blonde. Rachel couldn't tell if the woman was following her with her gaze or was lost in another drug induced haze. It wouldn't have been the first time.
Rachel couldn't tell you the first time she saw that woman on that corner, there were so many homeless people in the city; she never had this issue in Lima. But for reasons Rachel could never decipher she thought she knew that woman. However, that would be impossible. How could she possibly know any addict in this city, it didn't make sense.
Turning her eyes away from the woman in rags for fear of having her snap Rachel subtly picked up the pace of her stride. After hearing a wheeze Rachel glanced back across the street to see the woman struggling to stand. She was panting when a wet cough broke through, her fingers immediately grasped for the bricks beside her. Her coughs became violent shortly after and Rachel couldn't stop herself from crossing the street and cautiously approaching the stranger.
"Are you okay?" Rachel said slowly while digging out a Halls drop to give, "Here. Try this".
The woman's eyes snapped to Rachel's and just as quickly down at the cough drop. Shaking her head in the negative, "no need Berry" she hoarsed out, "some of my dust went down the wrong way".
Eyes growing into saucers Rachel blanched, "How do you know me?"
With a small smile and sad eyes the woman gestured behind Rachel. Squinting through the dark Rachel saw a playbill with herself on it posing, her name clearly printed underneath. Rachel's mouth formed an 'O' while the other woman's lips upturned a bit more. "Well, I'll see you around". Then the stranger collected what little belongings she had and dragged herself through the neighboring alley.
"How odd" Rachel thought as she returned to her walk home. She glanced at her wristwatch as she continued walking, it was a little after eleven. She took a heavy sigh realizing that she would have to be up in six hours in order to go back to rehearsal. "Well at least I'm almost home".
"Hey there sexy, where you going?" a gruff voice startled Rachel from behind. Whipping her body around she tilted up her head to find a large and stocky build of a man who was more than a foot taller than her. "Shit".
"I don't want any trouble I'm just on my way home. Although I should warn you that I do have mace and I'm not afraid to use it" she cautioned, hand digging into the pocket she placed the aforementioned spray earlier in the walk.
"Uh-uh sweetheart, we're not gonna let that happen" the man grinned as Rachel's arms were yanked behind her back by a second man and the mace canister clinked to the ground. "Double shit".
Opening her mouth to scream the first man reared back and punched Rachel across the jaw, her head snapping to the side as she nearly lost consciousness. "I wouldn't do that if I were you" he chuckled and Rachel felt her body being dragged off the main road and into a smaller alleyway.
"Damn, you couldn't have picked a chick with larger knockers?" the man holding Rachel complained as he pushed her into the corner of a dumpster and wall.
"Shut up, this chick is in that new show. High publicity. We can get a shit-ton of money, she must be loaded". He crouched down to her face as he snatched her purse ripping out its contents as he stood back up.
"Yeah yeah, okay. But I still say we have a little fun with her," the shorter man of the two hovered over Rachel as she tried to clear her fuzzy vision. He reached out to her face when she spat at the man; anything to stall. He growled in anger and raised his fist when out of nowhere a large rock flew into his face knocking him out cold and leaving Rachel stunned.
"What the fuck! Who the hell are you!?" the taller man was looking past Rachel. After her savior stepped forward Rachel realized it was the addict from the corner, the one she offered a cough drop to.
"Whatcha boys doin' on my turf? Don't you know this is my area? There will be consequences," her voice was ice cool with a nasally undertone as she stepped forth into Rachel's view.
"Bitch back off" he bit out with spite.
"Or what?" she cocked her head and eyebrow in tandem quickly glancing to Rachel as she gestured for her attention and made a odd hand sign. Without notice, the mystery woman charged at the man knocking them both to the ground with a painful thud. Punching the man in the face as he landed a blow to her body they continued struggling.
"RACHEL! PHONE!" the woman cried out as the man flipped their position so he topped while they continued their violent struggle.
Rachel finally realizing what the woman was gesturing for scrambled to get her cell phone that had been strewn somewhere on the ground.
Finally finding the device she frantically pressed the emergency number, and just as Rachel hit the "call" button the man had managed to gain the advantage over the woman and punched her face into the ground followed by forcing all weight into his hands as he attempted to strangle the woman beneath him. Impulsively Rachel chucked her phone at the back of the man's head just as the operator had connected in a rash attempt to save her saviour. Unfortunately her plan worked too well as the man let go of the girl's throat and bounced up to charge at Rachel while the homeless woman was left sputtering for air. As the man charged Rachel used her mace, that she had relocated beside her phone, on the man causing him to scream in anguish while holding his hands to his face. But before he could reorient himself his body fell to the ground. A heaving woman revealed holding a cinder block over his body for a moment before promptly dropping it onto his limp back.
"Thank you" Rachel all but whispered to the stranger, her eyes studying the woman's bloodied
face.
"Don't thank me yet" she replied while looking behind Rachel to the first man who fell.
"You fucking bitch! You're gonna pay for this!" he screamed as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a handgun. Without hesitation, a crazed look in his blood covered eyes, he pulled the trigger multiple times but not before the pink-haired stranger yanked and spun Rachel's position with herself. Eyes widening on both faces as Rachel watched the woman fall forward onto her, her blood spattering both their faces and bodies.
As the man laughed and cocked his gun for a second round, sirens could be heard and red-and-blue lights could be seen approaching the entrance to the alley. Deciding against the cops the man dropped his weapon and bolted down the alley and turned away from the scene.
Stunned by what just happened, Rachel couldn't form a sentence when the cops finally reached her. They had a hard time getting her to stand after they had managed to flip the dead weight off her torso, but eventually managed to get her into the backseat of an ambulance. En route to the hospital Rachel was able to fully acknowledge the pounding in her head and with her fading adrenaline rush, passed out from exhaustion and pain.
It hit her like a freight train. The woman!
"What happened to the woman!?" Rachel nearly screamed. "She-she got shot! Is she okay? She..." Rachel took in the sad eyes of those around her "She saved my life...and I didn't even know her name".
"Actually Miss Berry, I'm also here to inquire about the woman because it appears she did in fact know you" the officer interrupted, "we've come to discover these photographs on her person". He finished while handing her a few pictures all rough and torn around the edges of her old Glee club and one of Quinn and herself on Valentine's day.
It was then that Rachel learned the truth about her mysterious life-saver and broke down into heavy sobs.
Rachel had walked home every day after practice without knowing. She saw her every day sitting against the brick wall of a random building, unsure. They never spoke to one another until that fateful day. Not since high school it turned out. Rachel never knew that Quinn had a horrific falling out with her family after high school ended and that eventually all her friends abandoned her too leaving her with no one and nothing. Quinn had turned to alcohol and weed initially they told her, but then it turned more serious when she became more tolerant, bored, and curious. And the deeper Quinn fell in life, the higher Rachel rose.
Rachel can never forget the sacrifice made for her by an almost stranger.