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Rachel took a deep breath before she knocked on Quinn's door, hoping the blonde was home. She'd been given her instructions by the human doctor the day before with an order to work as fast as possible, because the longer Quinn went unidentified, the more vulnerable she became. A moment passed alone with her thoughts and then the door was being thrown open by a smiling Judy Fabray. As soon as the door was open Rachel began radiating her power, hoping to inspire honesty from Mrs. Fabray, maybe this would be quick and the woman would blurt that the whole family was Fae. She could tell the moment the power hit the older woman as the false smile was wiped from her face and replaced by a forlorn look.

Quietly she spoke, "Good morning Rachel."

The little muse frowned powerfully, unhappy that honesty from Mrs. Fabray meant the woman was suddenly giving into misery, "Are you alright Mrs. Fabray?"

The woman shrugged and replied tiredly, "This is just a hard time of year, I'm miserable, Lucy, sorry Quinn, is miserable, I'm sure somewhere, even Russell is miserable."

The older woman ushered Rachel into the beautifully appointed home, "I'm sure having you here will cheer Quinnie up though."

Rachel was a powerfully curious person, but she wasn't going to pry further, having stumbled upon something that was obviously deeply personal for the whole family. She shifted the focus of her power and began radiating hope and comfort, hoping to inspire more positive emotions in the older woman. After about a minute, which was an unusually long time for her power to take effect, Mrs. Fabray offered her a smile, not as large as the first one at the door, but less false.

The woman called out, "Quinnie! Rachel is here to see you!"

The woman gave Rachel a nodded and turned to head into the kitchen while Rachel frowned after her. For her power to have taken so long to take effect, the sadness Mrs. Fabray was feeling must have gone deep.

A moment passed and then Quinn was rushing down the stairs. As soon as Quinn was at the bottom of the stairs Rachel cut her power off viciously, refusing to influence her friend in any way, at least not just yet.

To her surprise Quinn's face lit up as she stepped forward. Rachel, knowing from Mrs. Fabray that Quinn was feeling sad, took a step forward and caught the blonde girl in a hug. Quinn, who was normally pretty stand offish with physical affection, melted into her embrace with a sigh. Rachel held the blonde for a long moment and offered her a warm, gentle smile when Quinn pulled away.

Quietly she asked, "Are you alright? Your mom…"

Quinn glanced towards the kitchen and then dipped her head, "I'm ok. It's just a hard time of year." She scowled after a moment, "Even Russell's probably feeling like crap somewhere."

Rachel nodded slowly, taking in Quinn's tired eyes, "Have you been sleeping ok?"

Quinn shrugged, "Nightmares, and dreams. I just… It gets better."

As Quinn took her hand to guide Rachel up the stairs to her room Rachel registered what Quinn was wearing. The faded Yale hoodie, that had clearly seen better days, was zipped and clearly well worn by Quinn.

As they entered the blonde's room Rachel fingered the material, "This isn't new is it?"

Quinn shook her head and opened her mouth to speak, before closing it, and then releasing a deep sigh, "It was my sister's. She gave it to me when she graduated from Yale Med."

Rachel's eyebrows shot up, she'd known that Quinn had a sister, but she'd never heard Quinn speak of her, honestly she'd been under the impression that there must have been bad blood there, but if Quinn was going to Yale as her sister had, "Your sister is a doctor?"

Quinn turned to look at her for a long moment, before coming to an unspoken decision as she breathed, "Was… she died six years ago during some insane crusade in the Congo."

Rachel's face fell as she considered that piece of information before sitting down next to Quinn on the bed and taking her hand, "Around this time of year?"

Quinn leaned into Rachel as she whispered, "Five days ago, that was the anniversary." She squeezed Rachel's hand, "I was twelve when we got the news and I knew that she was supposed to be coming home from the Congo around my birthday which is in a month. Dad took the call, and then he just… he lost it. He started screaming and throwing things, I'd never seen my dad cry before, and the whole time my mom is asking what was happening. He took her into his study and then after… she came out and… the look on her face. I have nightmares about that look. She walked right by me and up to their room, and didn't come out for days. She wouldn't eat, just stayed up in their bed and stared. Dad was the one that told me. He cried through the whole thing, could barely get the words out." She was quiet for a long time before breathing out, "I made things harder on them. There wasn't a body to bury, international law or something, just her ashes, and I flat refused to believe that she was dead. I used to call her cell phone, four or five times a day, begging her to call me back, begging her to be alive. My mom and dad used to watch me and I know it hurt both of them to have me not believe, because I think they didn't want to believe either."

Rachel shifted even closer and had to fight off the instinct to make Quinn feel better with her powers as she asked, "When did you finally accept it?"

Quinn's eyes closed as she spoke, "On my birthday. She didn't call, or write, or show up, and I knew that she couldn't. She never once missed my birthdays, not even when she was in the army. She always found a way to be there for me, so I knew that she couldn't. Mom and Dad did too, so that was probably the worst birthday I've ever had."

They sat on the bed for a long time, hands clasped together, breathing in sync, before Quinn spoke again, "I still call her. When I need to talk to someone, I still tell her all about my life. I tell her everything." She let out a deep sigh, "I wish I could just sleep without seeing her die, mom's face, and dad's freak out. I just want to sleep."

Rachel made a snap decision and suddenly her power was pulsing from her, radiating outward, lulling Quinn to sleep almost before she slumped back towards the pillows. Rachel arranged the blonde gently on the bed and pressed a kiss to her forehead as she pulsed her power even more, inspiring happy dreams, memories of Quinn's sister that would make her happy, not sad, dreams that would give the rest she needed. As soon as Quinn's light snores filled the room Rachel took a deep, cleansing breath and removed the tools Lauren had given her to collect the DNA sample, two cotton swabs and the thin plastic tubes that held them. She smiled down at Quinn who had made her job much easier by dropping her mouth open and releasing tiny little snores and grumbles. Rachel uncapped both swabs and quickly scrapped the inside of Quinn's cheek before capping them and placing another kiss on Quinn's forehead. She slipped from the room and down the stairs.

She paused in the living room as she stumbled upon Mrs. Fabray sitting on the couch pouring over what looked like old photo albums. The woman's eyes were red and teary as she traced a finger over one of the pictures.

Rachel spoke softly, "I'm going to go. Quinn fell asleep."

Mrs. Fabray snapped her head up to look at her, and the motion was so familiar that Rachel's eyes narrowed almost involuntarily, "Oh alright Rachel, thank you for stopping by."

Rachel hesitated before speaking, "I'm very sorry for your loss Mrs. Fabray."

Mrs. Fabray's jaw dropped before she asked, "Quinnie told you?"

Rachel nodded and took in what might have been relief as it flooded across Mrs. Fabray's face, "She never talks about her, and I know that isn't healthy, so I'm glad she was able to tell you."

Rachel dipped her head as she looked at the photo album, "Are those of her?"

Mrs. Fabray cast a soft, fond look over the photo albums and motioned Rachel over, "This one is my favorite, she took Quinnie to Disney land for her eighth birthday, no parents allowed." She held up the picture and Rachel's whole body went cold as she stared at a familiar face whose arm was wrapped around a younger and much chubbier Quinn who was staring up at her big sister like she was a super hero.

Lauren. The human doctor.

She forced a smile as she spoke, "She's beautiful Mrs. Fabray." She stepped back and continued, "I should go. I hope you have a good day Mrs. Fabray." She turned on her heel and all but fled the house.

She came to a halt outside on the porch as she glanced around the street through slitted eyes. The street was deserted, and so Rachel made a rash and anger fueled decision as she shimmered away.

Lauren let out a heavy sigh as she settled back into her chair with a report Hale had sent to her. She mentally corrected herself, the Ash; the Ash had sent her the report. Hale had been her… friend, or a least he'd regarded her as a respected ally, but she'd learned long ago that Fae could be changeable, and if he had to, the new Ash would treat her much in the same way his predecessors had. He'd given his word to Bo that he would never ask for her fealty, but Bo didn't know enough about Fae double talk to know that the Ash would never ask for fealty if he deemed it necessary, he would demand it. The new Ash was fond of humans and Lauren new that he respected her, but he was still a Fae, and like it or not, his new position might force him to bring her to heel, whether Bo liked it or not. And so, he could never be Hale again, from now on he would always be the Ash.

She set the report aside and rubbed a hand across her face. She was tired but she didn't want to risk taking a nap on the off chance that Rachel returned with the DNA sample more quickly than anticipated. As much as it pained her, the first test she would have to run would be to determine if Lucy was even biologically related to her. If she wasn't her sister by blood then that would certainly explain how she could be Fae, and Rachel was right, she had to be with her healing factor.

But if Lucy was her blood, it raised another possibility that Lauren wasn't sure she wanted to deal with. If Lucy was her sister, biologically, and she was Fae, then logic dictated that Lauren too must be Fae, which was… it was unthinkable.

She'd been a slave for nearly six years, treated like chattel by one side of the Fae, and threatened with death on a bi-weekly basis by the other. If she was Fae…

She wasn't proud of the first thought that had crossed her mind when she'd realized it was a possibility. She and Bo had been ignoring the blue elephant in the room when it came to Bo's feeding. Lauren had admitted to herself that Bo must be taking less than a little of her chi for her not to have felt the drain in the slightest, but if she was Fae, then it might explain why she'd felt nothing of the drain and Bo seemed healthy for the most part. She knew that beyond the Morrigan's attempts to hurt Bo, her girlfriend was taking far fewer risks than usual, and Lauren knew that it was Bo's way of assuring that she was able to stay faithful. The woman in Lauren warmed at the thought; the doctor scolded the woman, knowing that Bo needed to be taking more chi from her to stay completely healthy. If she was Fae though… there would be no reason for Bo to feed on anyone else.

She pushed that thought away as soon as she had it. She was thirty-four years old, and there was only one species of Fae that could go that long without manifesting their abilities. The idea that she could be… no. She had to resign herself to the fact that Lucy was probably not her sister by blood, and she could even be happy with that, because blood or not, Lucy being Fae meant she would have her back. She could be there for her little sister again. She could deal with being human as long as she got her sister back in the end.

She stood and stretched her back as she cast a glance over her apartment with a tired sigh. She needed to clean after Kenzi and Bo had descended upon her the night before. For two women, both Bo and Kenzi had a habit of being as messy as a pair of bachelors. She quirked a grin as she considered that having Kenzi on Team Lauren now might be bad for her fridge.

She felt a shift in the apartment a second later and whirled around to face a very angry muse whose arms were folded as she stared at Lauren through narrowed eyes.

The little muse spoke softly, "Hello Dr. Fabray."

Lauren closed her eyes as a chill skittered up her spine.

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