Disclaimer: I do not own anything mentioned in this story

A/N: This is the sequel to Curse or Gift

The Curse of Having a Gift

Chapter 1:

Frannie POV:

I open my eye and see white. White everywhere, like a sterile room. No furniture or belongings in the room. I turn and catch sight of familiar blonde hair. "Quinn!" My sister turns to look at me and relief cools my panic. She was alright, a few stitches on her hairline but she was fine. The last thing I remember was the crash and then cold creeping up on me. Rachel's touch burned away the cold and I was left feeling warm and content.

Quinn clings to me. "Fran!" I can feel the tears on my neck as she sobs in relief. "I am so sorry. This is my fault. If I wouldn't have bee- Wait! Where's Rachel? Rachel?!" Her fingers grip mine in a vice like grip as she spins around, trying to catch sight of chocolate brown hair. Finally, cowered in the corner is Rachel. Her body shakes. Quinn tugs me over to her and lay her hand on Rachel's shoulder. I hear a gasp and Rachel turns around. Her veins are black as they lead to her eyes.

"Fuck." Escapes my mouth before I can stop it.

Quinn's POV

Frannie's curse floats by my ears but I am focused on my girlfriend. My Rachel. She looks like death warmed over. "Hey. You guys look better." Her grin is familiar and my heart clenches like it always had.

My fingers clutch at her shoulder as I pull her into me. She died, I swear I saw the black take the life out of her eyes. I was cold, so cold and I thought I had died. There was no light, only darkness as it pulled me away from two of the most important people in my life. But the darkness was chased away by light and warmth. I felt it deep inside of me and I slowly focused on the soft brown eyes I had grown to love. I saw the fear in them but also the hope. "I thought you had died." My fingers tighten on their own accord in the back of her shirt. She is a mess. Frannie and I are clean and stitched up but she isn't. She looks like I last saw her. Bloodied and black overcoming her features.

I hear a sniffle before Rachel pulls Frannie into me. "I love the both of you. This is the last thing I could do. I'm weak. I love you so much." Tears escape my eyes as I see the black ones bleeding out of hers. I shake my head as she gives me a sad watery smile. It doesn't reach her eyes like normal. They don't spark with the life Rachel has, had. "This was no one's fault." Her fingers move across my cheeks as she brushes away the tears and her grip tightens. "Do you hear me? No one's fault. It was a freak accident." She kisses my lips softly. I can taste copper and salt on them. Blood and tears. One of her hands move to grab Frannie's. I see Frannie's tear tracks out of the corner of my eye. "I love the both of you so much. I didn't think I could handle letting more people in but you wormed your ways in and left your mark. Look after each other." Frannie's hand tightens in mine and I return the favor as Rachel pulls the both of into another hug. The warmth slowly dissipates and I cling tighter to Rachel as the white room slowly flickers and fades out. Beeping fills my ears and Frannie's and Rachel's touch is replaced by the wool of a blanket and needles.

My eyes blink open on their own and I am met with bright light and tear filled dark brown eyes. They watch me with worry and heartache. My heart doesn't skip because I know these eyes. They are the dark brown of Santana not the soft brown of Rachel. Not the eyes I saw love in. The eyes I looked into before everything went black. Something tugs at the back of my mind. A white room. What was the white room about? Why did I taste copper and salt? Words rang around in my head before it throbbed in pain. My fingers moved on their own to press into the tight area near my hairline. I hiss and hear someone move. I turn my head and see my mother asleep to my right. Beside her is another hospital bed filled with blonde hair. I can see her stirring. Frannie was waking up. What happened? Screeching fills my ears and I flinch as the crunch of metal greets my eardrums. Arms hold me down like the seat belt. "You're okay Q. You're not in the car anymore." Santana's voice pulls me out of the memories, her grip loosens as my muscles relax. Car crash. We were hit by a truck. I flex my feet and sigh as I feel the wool scratch against them.

I blink as I try to remember. Rachel's eyes were happy in the mirror. The burn of glass against my skin and then cold. Why was it cold, no now warm? Why were Rachel's eyes black? I struggle against the hands holding me down. "Wher' Rach?" The words catch in my throat as if someone pulled them away at the last minute. I clear my throat but the words still come out scratchy. "Where's Rachel?" Santana's face crumples and I clench my jaw as my chin wavers at the emotions in her face. "Santana, where is Rachel?"

She licks her lips and her eyes dart to Frannie. I can hear Frannie moving about. Santana's eyes turn back to me. "Quinn." Her words are broken and everything shatters. My cool, my heart, my resolve. It all shatters into pieces like the windows of my car.

Santana's eyes water. "NO! Take me to her San. Now!"

I see her chin tremble in a way it had never before. Santana never cried. Not unless something terrible happened. She only cried once when her abuela disowned her. She was strong. She was resilient. She never cried! "Quinn." She whispers my name again, trying to console me.

"NO! No. Take me to her San. Now! I need to see her." I pull at my I.V. and tug the heart monitor off of me. "I need to see her San." Santana's fingers pin my arms to the bed and I thrash in retaliation. "NO! Please Santana. Please." My chest constricts and I can't breath. Everything hurts. No pain medication could take this pain away. "Please Santi. Please." Santana pulls me into her arms and I can feel her body trembling, or maybe i'm the one trembling. My fingers wrap into the back of her shirt and I see a flash of the white room again. For some reason this makes me sob harder. Santana mumbles spanish words into my ear as I sob with every fiber of my being. She was gone. She just couldn't be gone.

Frannie POV

I hear and see Quinn struggle with Santana before she crumples. What happened? Quinn shakes with the force of her sobs and I force myself to sit up. I had to look after Quinn. The bed creaks before it is replaced by the sound of metal twisting. My nails dig into my palm but the pain is replaced by the feeling of not being able to breathe. Cool hands grip my face. That was wrong. The last hands to touch me took away the cold. Why did they pull the cold? Why were these hands cold and not warm? I blink and blue eyes fill my vision. "Brit." The word cuts off and I clear my throat. "Brittany, what's going on?" I look around the room. Quinn is still folded into Santana. The shaking hasn't stopped and Quinn's fingers are buried into Santana's shirt. Santana clings to Quinn and her lips move as she speaks softly to my sister. What was wrong with Quinn? Was she in pain? My mom is blinking awake from the chair in between our beds. Something was missing. "Where's Rachel?" She was in the car with us. I remember her singing.

Brittany's eyes are so different than normal. They don't spark with innocence or joy. They are dark and sad. Why was Brittany sad? "Frannie. It's. She didn't." Her words are disjointed and rough, like shes been sobbing and has to force the words out of her throat. Like they keep getting stuck with emotion. I furrow my eyebrows as I look around again. If Rachel wasn't in the room with us wher-. No.

The word forces itself out of my lips. She can't be. My lungs constrict and my stomach drops. Tears spill out of my eyes and I hear the most pitiful wail ever. I turn and see Rachel's fathers clinging to one another. The taller darker one shakes and silent tears stream down his face as he hugs a smaller paler man with glasses, to his front. Santana's father talks to them and I can see the despair on their faces. This confirms what I had thought and the tears fall at a faster pace as Brittany's arms wrap around me, my shoulders shake. She pulls me into her and she rocks me as I see two grown men break apart in front of me. Tears race down my face but I don't make a sound. The taller one, Leroy, crumples into the wall and the shorter man, Hiram, falls into him. They cling to one another and Santana's father watches on solemnly. A nurse walks up to them and murmurs quietly. She looks devastated as they pull her in for a hug. Their bodies shake with grief and my insides feel dead. We made it and Rachel didn't. We were alive and she wasn't.

I feel my mother's fingers brush against my face. She says something. Her face is tinged in relief, worry, sadness and grief. I don't hear a single word she says before I see her shuffle over to check on Quinn. How could this happen? What went wrong? Freak accident whispers in the back of my mind. No one's fault. Look after each other. The words were just whispers, like a forgotten dream or a conscience. The sound of many different people grieving fills my ears as Brittany rocks me like a child. I turn into her and hear her humming in my ear.

Santana's POV

I step out of the car and help Brittany get out. Everything is bleak. Black. My fingers tug at lint that isn't there before Brittany's hand wraps around mine. She tries to push some good into me but I shake my head. She didn't have any happy left to give. She would only exhaust herself. Her eyes are watery as we walk to Judy's car. Quinn hasn't touched the wheel of a car since the wreck. It had only been three days but it felt like time had both dragged by and sped up simultaneously.

Quinn exits the back seat, her face is stricken with sorrow. The black stitches glare against the paleness of her skin. They both had gotten away with minor injuries. Ten stitches in Quinn's head. Fifteen in her left shoulder and Frannie had ten scattered about on her chest along with a few scattered on her shoulder. They both were bruised badly all over their body but the doctors said they were lucky. Their fate could have been worse. They didn't know the half of it. Brittany said Rachel had saved them both from death and that she died saving them from the worst of their injuries. How do you tell someone that the person they love is dead because she sacrificed her life to save theirs? The answer is, you don't. Guilt of driving and claiming the front seat had already eaten away at the two Fabray's. Knowing Rachel sacrificed her life for theirs would throw them over the edge.

We walk as a unit as they bring Rachel to her tomb stone. Everyone leans on one another. I catch one boy hanging around in the back. He doesn't look to out of place except for the fact that he isn't walking with anyone. He is by himself. I shake my head and watch my steps on the grass as Frannie and Quinn support on another, arm shakily wrapped around the other. Their mother walks beside them, her fingers always touching one of them as if to make sure that they are really there. My heart clenches again and I feel Brittany pull me into her side tighter than before. This wasn't suppose to happen. Teenagers weren't suppose to die. We were suppose to grow up, grow old. She hadn't even finished high school yet. She would never graduate.

Rachel's family either stand or sit in the place that is reserved for family members. Leroy, Rachel's father, pulls Quinn into a chair. Frannie follows and then he motions for us to sit. He stands silently by his husbands side, his hand laced into paler, smaller hands. The chairs are full of Rachel's family and friends. Finn sobs openly into Selene's abdomen as her fingers run through his hair. Tina's eyes are red rimmed as her fingers clutch at Mike's hands. He is stiff with emotions as he stares at the hole. The place where Rachel will be while we continue to grow. While we age and get wrinkles she will decompose. She is dead and there is nothing we do. They wouldn't even let us see her because she was so broken. My papi said it was a fate no one deserved to see or to happen to them.

My hands shake as someone begins to speak. I can't hear what he is saying. It all blurs together as tears leak from my eyes. It was final. The second she was going to be lowered into the ground it would be final. Rachel would be dead. It would the final nail in the casket literally. I keep waiting for her to pop up. To tell us her powers worked to save both Quinn, Frannie and herself. But she never did. This wasn't suppose to happen, she was quirky. She accepted Brittany without a doubt. She loved Quinn. She helped each and everyone one of us. Tina and Mike found each other through Rachel. Mike stood up to his father and Tina got a best friend. Finn became the man he needed to be. Quinn finally learned to love. Frannie found the best friend she always wanted and needed. Brittany found someone as exceptional as she is and I found someone that was like a sister to me. People like her weren't suppose to die.

The voice carries on before he says his last words. Rachel's father stands and his fingers brush delicately across the wood of her casket. "My daughter was an exceptional young woman." Hiram leans into the side of another man that has similar features to Leroy. "She was special and died too early. Parents aren't suppose to bury their children." His voice hitches and I can hear Hiram crying. "This was no ones fault. My daughter's last thoughts were of the people she loved. Her last moments with people she loved." His voice cracks. "It hurts to lose a child especially one so young. But we shouldn't dwell on her death." Tears leak down his face and his entire frame shudders. "She lived a life full of close friends and family. We need to focus on the light she shined in our lives, not on the darkness. She loved each and everyone of us. Her heart was big and continued to grow. Remember her love for you. Remember her smile and her quirks." His smiles is watery and broken. "I've never seen someone go through so many phones as Rachel does. Did." His voice cracks as he corrects himself. Brittany openly cries and I pull her into my side as twin sets of tear roll down my face. Her familiar muscles twitch with each sob racking her body. I can feel her sorrow from deep within her body as my arms tighten around her. "Just, remember my daughter for who she was. Love is the most important thing in this world. We can never have to much of it and we can never give to much away."

He licks his lips as he sits down next to Hiram. They cling to each other as people begin to pay their respects and drop flowers on the casket. I stand next to our group as they lower Rachel into the ground. Quinn's entire frame shudders and shakes in grief. She had grown to love Rachel deeply in the last six months. They had a love that was hard to find. One Brittany and I fought to salvage. Quinn's heart was shattered.

We stand there for what seems like hours as we look into the hole where Rachel would be forever. My eyes brushed over her grave stone. 'Rachel Barbra Berry. Beloved daughter. Gone to soon but never forgotten. "There is nothing more in life than love."' I hear Quinn choke on her sobs as Tina breaks apart in front of Mike. Tina had the shakes and her face was unusually pale. Finn stood looming over everyone. He was weeping openly as he stares at the grave. Frannie hugs Quinn into her chest tightly as Judy pulls them both into her own arms. I was wrapped around Brittany, her whole body shaking from her own grief along with everyone elses. Would anyone ever be happy again? How can someone be happy when they lose a small piece of themselves? I hadn't realized it but slowly Rachel had claimed a piece of my heart like Frannie, Quinn, and the others did. Brittany held most of my heart but the piece that belonged to Rachel was empty. I could only imagine what it felt like for Quinn, or Rachel's fathers. To lose someone that you loved that dearly would kill me. My body shudders as I remember the way Quinn had clung to me when she found out. The way 'please' had left her lips so brokenly as she begged to see Rachel. No one would ever see her again. She was gone forever.

Rachel POV

Six Months later

The white room glares at me. Sometimes I would catch glimpses of blonde hair before it was gone. Other times a dark fog hung around the corners of the room before disappearing. Time seemed to stand still. No clocks glared at me telling me to sleep or go to school. I was trapped in the white room, no way out. I never felt tired or hungry. I simply felt lost, like I was missing pieces of myself. Pieces I would never get back.

The white room grew fuzzy and my stomach cramped. Beeping filled my ears. My heart hammered in my chest in fear. Beeping meant something. Beeping and sirens. Sirens and beeping were important. I blink my eyes and for the first time I see grey instead of white. My body protests at the sudden movement. I feel funny. I groan as I try to get up only to have a hand hold me down. "Be still." Warmth floods my body as I see them inject something into my blood.

Time flies by and people come and go. They move my limbs without my permission. Poke and prod at me as the drug keeps me from moving. My chest aches and I want to scratch at it. To see if that will lessen the ache. Finally someone familiar comes in. I recognize him but can't think of any names beside agent. His red hair shines under the light. "Rachel, how do you feel." I open my mouth to speak but an odd groan comes out. He winces. "The drug will wear off in a few more minutes. We had to make sure everything was functioning alright."

We wait in silence until I can move again. I pull myself into a sitting position, my muscles protesting. "What happened?"

His face is grim. "What do you remember?"

Screeching fills my ears. Red floods my vision before blackness does. Dull hazel eyes flash in between beeping and sirens. The sound of glass breaking and metal crunching causes me to flinch. The agent watches me quietly. "There was a crash." I remember taking blackness. They were dying. "I saved them."

He nods his head. "Do you know what today is?"

My eyebrows furrow and my head throbs painfully. "June twenty something. What does that matter? Where's Quinn and Frannie? Did they make it?"

He steps closer as if to offer comfort but he doesn't settle a hand on my shoulder or pat my back. He just stands there. "It's December twentieth."

"What? No, you playing a joke on me. Was it Santana's idea?" My heart monitor sky rockets. "She loves to play pranks. She wouldn't be this cruel." He steps closer and my eyes water at his solemn expression. "Are Quinn and Frannie. Are they-"

"They are alive. They suffered minor injuries thanks to you." Relief floods my veins.

"When can I see them?" My eyes spark with excitement. I couldn't wait to see that they were alright with my own eyes. The last memory I have of them is full of blood. White flashes behind my eyes and I catch a glimpse of a white room. What was that all about?

"Rachel. You have to understand something." He swallows and his adams apple bobs. "You have been in a coma for six months. You can't see them."

"What? Why not?" I start pulling at the wires connected to me. "Where are they? You told me they are fine. Where are they!?" The heart monitor begins to beep faster.

His hand moves to push my shoulders down and I slap them away. Thankfully my bare skin hit his covered arm. "Rachel, please sit down. You are going to hurt yourself."

"No, I have to see them." My feet touch the cold floor and I stand up. My legs crumple underneath me and the agent catches me.

They feel like jello. "You can't see them."

"Why!?" He doesn't even flinch at my yell of indignation.

"Because to the world you died in the car crash six month ago." Something cold and harsh floods from my stomach until it is flowing through my entire body.

Disbelief has me blinking as he picks me up and helps me back into bed. "What?"

He pulls the blanket over my legs. "It wasn't my choice but they decided to tell everyone you died in that wreck."

Tears fill my eyes. "Why would you do that?! My family thinks i'm dead."

"The company makes decisions for the greater good. It is safer for you to be here than out there alone." His face remains passive as if he is reciting a long remember line.

"The greater good! My fathers think i'm dead, I just started opening up to them! My friends, I-. They think i'm dead. Tina will break and so will Finn. I made new friends. I promised i'd always be there for Frannie." How could these people make this horrible decision. How could they take me away from the people I love the most. "God Quinn, I was opening up to her about my feelings! They are all broken now. Why would you do that? I love them all, they are my family! How could you take me from them!" This blackness appeared in the veins of my hands. "How could you do that to them!" The blackness thickens in my veins.

"Rachel, calm down before they have to sedate you." His hands move into a placating manner. It only serves to piss me off. How could they? It was my life and they killed my identity.

My blood feels hot in my veins. "How could you do that! You monsters! How do I even know they are okay? How can I trust you?"

He holds his hands up again. "We can show you video that they are alright. We sent Felix to check on them." I narrow my eyes and he holds up a finger before typing something in his phone. Someone brings in a laptop and then leaves. "Here. Just take a deep breath and look."

He hits the space bar and a shaky video feed comes on. I can see masses of black. I catch sight of blonde hair and my heart speeds up. Finally the video settles on a group of people standing in front of a casket. My casket. A man speaks but my eyes are trained on the people in front of the hole in the earth. I can make out two masses of blonde hair sitting close together. My fathers cling to eachother's hands and bright blonde hair mixes with dark brown. I can make out a huge frame folded into a smaller blonder more feminine frame. God Finn was sobbing mercilessly. Tears prick at my eyes and roll down my face.

Time passes and I see my father get up. His words cause my heart to ache and then its over. They sit there after they lower a most likely empty casket into the ground. People leave but they stay. My fathers, my friends, my girlfriend. They stay there and stare at the hole like it holds answers to everything. And it does, if they would open that casket and find it empty then more questions would arise and they could find me. They would realize somethings wrong, especially Brittany. She was perceptive enough to realize that an empty casket meant something. But they don't. They don't open it, they just continue to watch the hole. My dad stand up and his pale skin is whiter than I had ever seen it. His eyes are bloodshot and a sound escapes my throat at the pure anguish on his face. He drops a flower into the grave and his knees shake and buckle before my daddy catches him, his huge frame shaking but supportive and strong as always.

Shakily and slowly the rest of them get up and drop their flowers into the grave. I can make out Quinn's trembling frame, Frannie's arms wrapped around her. They lean on each other. Each of them had someone to support them. Tina had Mike, Finn had Serenity, Santana and Brittany had eachother. Suddenly Quinn lets out a low sob and Santana pulls her into her own slightly less shaky frame. Brittany comforts Frannie and I see DeLaney hugging my fathers. She had always been close to our family.

Quinn seems to collapse into Santana's arms. Slowly but surely everyone makes their way to their respective cars. Felix moves behind them, watching each of them and I feel something inside me fester at knowing he was there. He was watching my family grieve and hadn't made a sound. Something was wrong with this company, they trained the others from a young age. I knew that much, but what all did they train them in. Felix's voice comes over the video as he starts his car. "No mentions of Rachel's powers. I think it's safe to say the only one who knows is Dr. Lechy."

"See, they are fine." I stare into his eyes as he speaks softly to me.

"They're fine? You call this fine? They think i'm dead!" I throw the laptop across the room. It shatters against the wall. He doesn't even flinch. "They think i'm dead!" Tears fall faster down my face. They think i'm dead. It's been six month and they think i'm dead. "I want to see them. I need to see them."

I start to get out of bed again. "Rachel, you can't do that. You showing up will only break them farther. It's been six months since they buried you. I know you aren't really dead but they think you are."

My chin trembles as tears trail down my face. "Why would they tell them I died?" My voice is hoarse with emotion.

His eyes connect with mine. "It was the company's idea. They put an order out once they heard you were in an accident. You have to understand, we had monitors on you to watch you. Make sure you were okay." His eyes bore into mine, dragging the breath from my body with each word. "The ambulance showed up. Some doctors from the company took you in another ambulance. You were almost completely dead. You heart rate wasn't showing up and your blood pressure was too low. They didn't know if you were going to make it or not. You died on the way here and they brought you back to life." I just stare at him, waiting to process all the information. "They brought you here to save you. They managed to stabilize you. You have to understand that there are only three other teenagers with abilities in the United States. You are top priority and this lab cannot be discovered. They told everyone you had died. And you were brain dead for the first week. It was a closed casket because the doctors said your body was mangled. A site that couldn't be unseen. The company believes that having no ties makes it easier for you to learn." I just stare at him. They had told everyone I was dead so that I wouldn't have ties to anyone. My family believed me to be dead. What kind of place was this?