In Paths of Falling Stars

Coffee had turned into cocktails, because Rachel had had an event with her Showcase Kids. Quinn changed her dress for the 80th time, finally settling on the one she'd had on to begin with. Checking herself in the mirror, she grabbed her purse and made her way through the expansive mansion. When she got to the bottom floor, she peeked into the smaller dining room and waved at the other two women.

Santana whistled at her. "Looking good, Q!"

"Thanks. You two in for the night?"

"Yeah," Brittany said. "Imitator took my watch with Purple Mist."

"Goodness…those two are inseparable. They'll be announcing the wedding any day now."

The other two just laughed as she waved goodbye.


"I hear A Kind of Delirium is closing in two months," Quinn said.

They were sitting in a secluded booth in one of Sylvesteropolis's best restaurants. They'd shared appetizers, and spent the last hour and a half talking about anything and everything. The night was going better than anything Quinn could have hoped for.

"It's true," Rachel said, nodding. "I'm a little sad, but it'll be nice to take a break for a while. Of course, this means you'll have to find another play to stalk," she added with a sly grin.

"You can recommend a few I'm sure."

"Maybe I could take you to some of my favorites."

Quinn blushed and nodded. "I'd like that."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence. Quinn looked out the window, seeing flashbulbs.

"I think the paparazzi found us," she said calmly.

"I blame you," Rachel said, laughing. "They can't get enough of the infamous Quinn Fabray."

"Personally, I think they're less interested in my lifestyle and more interested in any freebies I carry…." Quinn told her. "Don't worry…I picked this place for a reason."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. It's one of my favorites, so I have an escape route." She nodded at the waiter and stood, taking Rachel's hand. "Just follow me."

They walked through the back of the restaurant to the kitchen. The head chef nodded at them, but everyone else went on about their business. At the very back, next to the back exit, they stopped before a large silver door.

"The freezer?" Rachel asked in a low voice. "Is this where you chop me up into little bits and I become Tuesday's special?"

Quinn snorted, and led her not into a freezer, but a lounge-like room. "It's where they come when they need a breather. But we're not staying." She pushed a button on the far wall, and the floor began to sink. She smiled when Rachel jumped and held onto her arm tighter. "Sorry, should have warned you."

"It's okay. There's an underground garage? I really need to move into movies…theater isn't getting me VIP status, apparently."

Quinn led her over to her Bentley and held the door open. "Where to?"

"I should get home. We're planning another camp for the Showcase Kids. I live at Sylvester Plaza."

Quinn nodded and peeled out of the garage. She smiled as they sped away from the crowd, some of whom seemed to realize that their stars had escaped.

The ride took a little under ten minutes, and the lights of the plaza gleamed before them. She pulled up to the curb, and gave a slight shake of the head to the valet. "I'll be right back."

They walked in silence to the door. Rachel turned to her with a bright smile.

"I had fun tonight," she said.

"Me too. I…uh…." Quinn stammered, holding the necklace box in her pocket. "I'd like to see you again."

"How about next Wednesday?" Rachel asked. "The theater companies are throwing a big fundraise. I have an extra ticket."

Quinn grinned. "I'd love to go. I'll call you."

Rachel leaned up and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Good night."

Quinn waited until she saw Rachel enter the lobby's elevator before heading back to her car. "WOO!" she yelped as she drove off.


"Five more minutes…."

"Get up, Q! Blaine's here. We need to go over the information we got yesterday."

"We've been over it ten times," the older blonde whined.

"And President Sylvester wants us to go over it again."

Quinn groaned and sat up, rubbing her eyes. She glanced at the clock. "She couldn't just let me sleep until eight, could she?"

"Guess not," Brittany said, smiling. "Come on. Nigel made pancakes."

Smiling, Quinn swung her feet over the edge of the bed. Their butler made world-rocking pancakes. "Fine, fine. Hope Blaine's cool with me in my Yummy Sushi pajamas…."

By the time they got downstairs, Blaine was already tucking into a stack of five pancakes. He also had three glasses of milk, two glasses of orange juice, a plate of bacon, and a few grapefruit slices in front of him. "Morning," he mumbled through a mouthful.

"Morning," Quinn chuckled. "Good thing you're used to alien and magical appetites, Nigel."

"I can't help but agree, Miss Quinn. Will you require your monstrosity of a smoothie in addition to your pancakes this morning?"

"Pancakes will do it, Nigel. Thanks!"

They passed around the notes as they ate. Schue's message was thoroughly syrup-covered by the end of it.

"I don't get it," Blaine said. "If the serum is so powerful…why isn't he fucking shit up already? Pardon my French…."

"Because he's not doing this for anything concrete," Brittany said. She sighed when they stared at her. She had a habit of saying one sentence out of the paragraph in her head. "I mean…he's not out to make money. Sylvester would have paid him a fortune for this. Imagine…being able to give this to special groups of our military or our high law enforcement. He's doing it for show. Just to mess with us. The money he makes along the way is secondary. Part of messing with us? Keeping us guessing. If he starts showing off before he knows he can control his minions—"

"Wait, minions?" Blaine asked.

Quinn looked up from her bacon. "Think like a video game. This guy's the boss. He won't appear until the very end. We've got to cut through the peons first."

"Right. And if he just starts injecting people, who's to say they won't just go off the deep end? Or turn goodie two shoes for our president. He may not have a plan, and he may not want to gain anything from this, but he does have to make sure no one will screw things up for him."

They ate quietly for another few minutes, until Blaine's phone went off.

"Press for Wonder Kids," he said. "Keep me posted. Thanks, Nigel!" he called into the other room as he rose from the table.

Nigel appeared in the doorway. "My pleasure, Master Blaine."

"I'll come by the training center later," Brittany told him. "Make sure Finn's not giving you a hard time."

"Thanks."

Quinn stretched and watched him go. "What should we do today?"

"Santana's in surgery until two. Fixing some kid's brain so they don't have seizures anymore. We should plan a party!"

The older woman smiled at her best friend's childlike glee. Brittany loved throwing parties at the Fabray mansion. And Quinn had to admit, she was good at it. "Let's do it," she said. "What kind?"

"Well…it's a month and a half to Halloween…."