It's me again. Fillin' prompts. I think I'm keen to go for the whole week, provided I can write enough.
A blonde head bobbed up among the crowd and Rachel grinned. She'd recognise that hair anywhere. And that face. And the feel of being within fifty feet of Quinn Fabray. It was an unidentified tightening in her chest that she both savoured and dreaded, but not in equal measure. When Quinn spotted her through the crowd, her face lit up. Rachel's own smile grew impossibly wider. Unselfconsciously she stuck a hand up high, waving enthusiastically at her friend. Quinn shook her head indulgently, making her way more quickly through the rush of people. They embraced warmly.
"Hey Superstar." Quinn murmured in that soft, husky voice of hers.
Rachel quivered in her arms, squeezing a tiny bit before letting her go.
"Hello yourself. Can I help you?" she asked, waving a gloved hand at Quinn's little wheeled suitcase.
With a light laugh the blonde shook her head. "I think I can manage, but thanks." Reaching out she grabbed her friend's hand. "Lead the way."
Rachel was about to turn and make her way out of the cavernous station when they both felt the earth heave beneath them.
In seconds Grand Central was filled with the sound of panicked screams and scurrying feet.
The two girls looked at one another, stricken.
The scream of tearing metal startled Quinn into action. Casting her gaze around she located the stairs. Her grip on Rachel's hand tightened as she set off at a jog to make it to the escalator.
People were already cramming onto the stairs, eager to get out of the subway tunnels. Pulling Rachel into her Quinn claimed a place for them both.
"Quinn." Rachel said, sounding terrified. Her face was pressed into the lapel of Quinn's pea coat. "What's happening?!"
As she tried to answer the power suddenly went out, plunging the whole station into darkness. Screams of terror blocked out Quinn's reply.
The escalator screeched to a halt and almost instantly they were being pushed up from below. Fortunately the people in front had the same idea, so there was somewhere for them all to stumble in the dark.
Once they spilled out into the open however, they were truly blind.
Quinn moved forward, tugging Rachel along behind her, her suitcase still in her other hand by some small miracle.
In a smooth movement she pressed the extensible handle back down into the case and picked it up by its fabric handle. Using the luggage as a shield she forged ahead.
"Watch it!" she heard in the dark, but carried on unperturbed.
It was realistically only a few metres until they hit the wall. Rachel stumbled into Quinn, looping her arms tightly around her friend and looking around. Unsurprisingly there were what looked like several hundred cell phone screens bobbing about in the darkness. Nearly face palming Rachel reached for hers in the pocket of her coat.
Squeezing her friend's hand to get her attention she said into her ear, "I'm going to call Kurt. Will you look at the news?"
By the light of her screen she saw Quinn smile at her and nod obligingly.
Suddenly there was a flash of bright light as a flood lamp was switched on.
Both girls flinched, reaching to shield their eyes.
"Ladies and gentleman, please remain calm." A security officer stood by one of the ticket offices with a megaphone in hand. "The station will be closed until further notice, please exit in an orderly fashion."
Kurt's phone rang out. Rachel bit her lip, leaving him a short message asking him to call her back to let her know he was ok. Quinn was focused on her screen, waiting for it to load.
"Earthquake." she said, without looking up. Her brow furrowed, the white light from her screen throwing shadows across her face. "But it says the origin is unknown. Not naturally occurring tectonic movement."
"What? Weird." Rachel replied, her grip on her own phone tightening. "We'd better get moving. Hopefully the apartment is fine."
Quinn nodded her acquiescence, slipping her phone back into the pocket of her pea coat.
As they were passing by the ticket booths the German Shepard that sat by the security guard began to growl. Its growl became a sharp bark and it strained and pulled at its leash.
"Calm down Zephyr." Quinn heard the handler say, as he stroked the animals head. There was no comforting it though and the blonde felt a niggling fear blossom at the back of her mind. Once again she looked around. A ticket officer was leaning in a door way in the corridor, talking into a phone. People were filing out up the escalators to street level. Then she felt it.
Once again the earth bucked beneath them. Wasting no time she dragged Rachel to the open doorway, elbowing the ticket officer inside before following her.
"Hey! This is a restricted area!" the lady yelled, indignant.
"Can't you feel that?!" Quinn replied, drawing Rachel close as the sounds of screams and shifting masonry began to filter in.
There was a tremendous crash, followed closely by several others. Suddenly a plume of flames shot up through the staircases across the grand hall. The earth heaved and plaster and stone reigned down from the ceiling, striking people down.
All of this the three women observed in horror through the serving windows of the ticket office.
The sound of rushing water caused Rachel to whip around in Quinn's arms. A jagged crack in the wall revealed a burst pipe that was steadily spilling water into the office. It ran down the wall into a power socket that sparked and smoked ominously. Then the whole place trembled. Having survived even the toughest of challenges set for her on Sue Sylvester's survival camps Quinn was quick to act. She drew Rachel closer still and threw them under a desk, even as all around them supplies were being vibrated right off various surfaces, crashing to the floor.
The ticket officer screamed, following Quinn's lead and diving beneath a desk. Rachel was crying, both her arms tight around Quinn as they endured the shaking, listening to the cacophony of horrible sounds that seemed to come from all around them.
In moments the shaking had subsided. Cries of pain and terror echoed in the great hall, the hiss of escaping water was louder and the sparks from the socket occasionally lit up the room. One of Quinn's hands went to Rachel's hair, stroking it in an attempt to soothe her.
"We're going to be ok, Rach. It's going to be ok." she murmured, pressing a kiss to the brunette's forehead and rubbing her back simultaneously.
Rachel just gripped her more tightly. Again there was a slight tremor, only this time it was followed by what was the most unearthly roar either girl had ever heard.
They burrowed closer together.
"Try and get some sleep, hmm?" the blonde said softly, her thumb now stroking over Rachel's cheekbone. Rachel nodded, replying "You too." Allowing herself a small smile she tried to find Quinn's gaze in what had become complete darkness.
"When I invited you here for a sleep over, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind."
She felt Quinn stiffen, before she placed another kiss on her forehead.
A wave of comfort washed over Rachel, followed closely by embarrassment when the blonde chuckled before replying.
"Me neither, but I could think of worse places to be."
I kind of have ideas for a continuation of this, but don't count on it. Just a fill for the prompt at the moment. Hope you enjoyed this hastily written little drabble.
