Title: Anthem Of The Angels

Chapter: Never Bloom Again

Pairing: Quinn/Rachel

Rating: M. Has a death theme, but no character death. Also, femslash.

Spoilers: Takes place after EP22 'Journey'. May contain spoilers.

Timeline: Continuation

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, the songs, or even the characters.

Author's Note:Un-beta-ed so feel free to point out errors. Happy Reading and please R&R. Reviews are my lifeline. Read A/N at end. Story Title is the name of a song by Breaking Benjamin. Chapter title is from The Perishers


"Thanks honey. Mr. Fabray, if you don't want to be arrested, I suggest you go. Now."

"I'll go, but I'll take that cunt with me. And I'll make you pay... I will do things to you that-"

"No! You sick bastard. Get the fuck out." The sheer volume of hatred in Shelby's voice surprised both Quinn and Rachel. Rachel had never heard Shelby speak in anything remotely resembling the almost growl her voice took on now. She watched, stunned, as Shelby shoved Russell out of the door with more strength than Rachel would have thought she possessed. She assumed he had fallen down outside by the soft thump she heard.


"Like I said, your family was more dysfunctional than usual. But the fact that my dads are gay doesn't imply that we're- we were some big, pink happy family. You don't have some rainbow shining on your head just because you're gay."


"Sometimes... Sometimes we do thing impulsively, in anger or hurt, and then aren't able to take them back, even though we may want to. They asked you to leave because they were angry, and then I suspect their pride stopped them from taking you back in. It happens, but that doesn't imply that your parents don't care. They're your parents, Quinn. They can't not care."


"Ms. Corcoran, this is Janice Berry, Rachel's grandmother." As if she wouldn't recognize that old hag's voice anyways.

"What can I do for you, Mrs. Berry?"

"I wished to speak to you regarding the issue of Rachel's guardianship, which currently rests in my hands. My husband and I are planning to leave Ohio very soon, and Rachel will need to come with us."


"I'm sorry, what did you just say?"

"I believe you heard me just fine, Ms. Corcoran. Rachel is legally my responsibility, and the only reason I allowed her to stay with you was because she insisted and we were still in the area. But now that we're going back home, my husband and I feel that it will be better for Rachel to come with us. I wouldn't like to explain to the lawyers why the child placed under my care isn't even in the same part of the country as me."

"Your care? Your CARE? Are you freakin' kidding me? God, woman, you have nerve."

"Don't take the Lord's name in vain. But then, why am I expecting something else from you? And I'm sure you have some new fangled notion of there being no higher power or some tosh like that."

"I- What the heck does that have to do with anything?" Russell's visit had already frayed Shelby's nerves, and she just wasn't in a mood to handle this demented bat.

"It has everything to do with Rachel. My granddaughter will grow up a heathen in your care, and I refuse to allow that. It's already been so long, with my son allowing her to be brought up as a Jew, of all things. But now I have a chance to repair that damage, and I will use it to the fullest."

"Repair the damage? Your talking as if she's been abused or something. I get that you basically think her entire life was a sin. I get that, even though it's stupid."

"You hav-"

"Don't interrupt me while I'm talking," said Shelby, the authority in her voice enough to shut Janice up for the time being. "I get it. But no matter how horrible you may find it, I will not allow that child to be exposed to such views day in and day out. That was her life, her reality. She had two men for parents; two men who loved her and loved each other enough to be able to keep their family together despite people like you telling them every day how horrible they were. That's how she remembers them, and you're not going to change that."

"Are you implying that I would try to portray my own son in a negative light?"

"Oh, yeah. That's exactly what I'm saying, and don't use any emotional bullshit to prove otherwise. You'd do anything to put Rachel into that little box you've labeled 'normal'."

"And what, may I ask, is so wrong with being normal? The world was made a certain way for a reason, and defying it just because you want to prove you're something too great isn't a good idea. I saw my baby being tortured every day because of the way he chose to be. God was punishing him for going against His wishes, and he'll punish Rachel too. Don't you see? What happened was a sign from him. A sign that she can still be set on the right path."

"Oh my... I- Are you for real? Do you have any fucking emotions in you? Your son is dead, and you think it's a damn sign from God? You think that God sends his signs in the form of a bunch of drunk college kids?"

"God works in mysterious ways."

"And you, along with a bunch of other psychos are the only ones who can decipher those ways because you guys get have little chats with him every day, right? He tells you what's right and what's wrong, and then tells you that you've been given the job of enforcing His will because you're just so damn special."

"I don't wish to speak to someone who can't complete a single sentence without the help of crass language. The bottom line is, I am her legal guardian. Let her go willingly, Ms. Corcoran, or I will take her by force."

"We'll see about that, you bitc- you git. She's my kid, and I will make that legal."

"I'd love to know how you plan to do that."

"I-I will. Rachel may not be an adult, but she's not two either. She can chose who she wants to live with."

And she'd chose to live with you, wouldn't she? With the woman so caring that she couldn't handle being around her for more than a day. I am her family, whatever our relations in the past may have been, and you were a stranger till just a few days ago. How do any of us know that you won't suddenly decide that you can't deal with Rachel yet again and throw her out of your life? Get real, Ms. Corcoran."

"You don't even- Hello? Janice? Hello?... Damn her." Because Janice had just hung up on Shelby, who was now left to think about what she'd blurted out in the midst of a heated discussion.

Perhaps she shouldn't have cursed quite as much as she did, but it was a subconscious reflex, to annoy the person in front of her in order to get the upper hand. And anyways, Janice deserved it. That woman and her warped ideas made Shelby sick, and it was likely that Janice had the exact same thoughts about her.

But that wasn't important right now; Rachel was. She knew that sending the girl with her grandparents would make her life a living hell. They'd probably ship her off to some brainwashing reform school or something similar. But she wasn't very sure of how to stop that. Because evil though she may be, Janice was also correct in her assessment of the situation. Or that's what Shelby thought, anyways.

She had run out of Rachel's life even when the girl had begged her to stay, and she'd never even had the decency to explain her actions, however valid they may have seemed to her. She'd seen a happy, well adjusted girl who didn't seem to need a mom in her life, and had taken that at face value.

Shelby, after all, was a complicated person to have around. She had a dark past which sometimes gave her certain brusqueness, and laced her persona with a rigidity and intolerance for mistakes. In all honesty, she hadn't wanted her only child to have that impression of her, or to have to walk on eggshells around her all the time because of the way she was. It wasn't Rachel's fault that Shelby didn't know how to interact with people in a personal way.

She could take orders, and she could give them, but small talk wasn't her thing, and that had caused more than a few problems when she'd initially come to Carmel High. The parents were almost all high society snobs, and for them, it was pretty normal to drop in at school to interrogate the new teacher; looking out for their child's best interests, they'd said. Yeah right. She'd been more than a little offensive with some of them, and after Vocal Adrenaline had started winning every competition they took part in, the parents were more than happy to never see her face again except to make big donations to the club.

And Rachel… She didn't fit in any of the categories Shelby used to classify people. Then why should that girl have to deal with Shelby blowing hot and cold every day till she tried to figure out what place Rachel held in her life? It was so much better to just cut her off altogether, to save her from being hurt twenty times a day by just hurting her once. At least it had seemed like it at the time.

Now, as Shelby looked back on the events that had transpired, she came across as a little cruel, a little immature, and even a little heartless. What was that thing about hindsight?... Maybe she should have given them a little more time. Or given Rachel some decent reasons without leaving the girl to grope in the dark to try to figure out what she'd done wrong when it hadn't really been her fault at all.

It was done, though, and she couldn't take all that back. But maybe she could prevent Rachel from getting hurt even more than she already had. Shelby promised herself that she wouldn't jump to conclusions or act without consulting Rachel this time around. She didn't have any exact idea of how to keep Rachel here, at home, but her lawyer would be the one to deal with that. First, she needed to talk to Rachel and ask her what she wanted. The rest would be taken care of easily.


"Mom, can I talk to you for a minute?" said Rachel, poking her head into Shelby's room.

"Sure, honey. Come in." Shelby sat up a little straighter on the bed and waited as Rachel came and sat next to her. She'd been meaning to go talk to her, but this was a bit fast.

"I... Um, I'm not disturbing you, am I?"

"Of course not. What's up?"

"Nothing. I just... Well, I wanted to talk to you."

"Yeah? What about?"

"I didn't actually have anything particular in mind. It has recently come to my attention that I know next to nothing about you, and I was hoping to rectify the situation," said Rachel, flashing Shelby a reasonably bright smile.

"So you want to know stuff about me?"

"Precisely. I've even prepared a questionnaire, if you find that more comfortable." She proffered a sheet of paper which Shelby pushed back into her hand.

"No," said Shelby. "No, I think we can manage without that. Just... Just ask me anything you want." She relaxed against the headrest and waited as Rachel thought out her questions.

"Okay then. Where are you from?"

"I hail from Cleveland, Ohio."

"Cleveland? Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?"

"Uh huh. Although I never actually went to that place."

"Why not? I would have considered it of utmost importance. Or weren't you musically inclined at that age?" asked Rachel, although she was pretty sure she knew the answer.

"Was that the best reason you could come up with? No, I had thought about going, but I never seemed to remember. And I didn't live very close either, so I couldn't just pop in any time I wanted. And then I moved here," said Shelby, avoiding any mention of where she had lived exactly. Rachel didn't need to know that her mom had once lived in the dark underbelly of the city.

"Hmm... Well, although I'm a little disappointed, I suppose you can take me there someday. That way, I won't have to put up with just a description, and you can rectify your mistake."

"Sure. We'll work something out." Maybe after she was dead, because no way in hell was she ever going to go back there again.

"And maybe we could see your family as well while we're there," suggested Rachel a little tentatively. She'd sensed that there was some sort of backstory involving Shelby's family, but hadn't had the guts to ask about it. This was a more roundabout way of figuring out, and low though it may be, it worked for her curiosity.

The slight darkness that passed over Shelby's face pretty much confirmed Rachel's theory about the whole family thing. But what was it exactly?

"Now that we're talking about family... I got a call from your grandmother and she... She..."

"She what? Wants to meet me?"

"You could say that, I suppose. But she actually... They're going back home, and they want to take you with them," said Shelby, waiting for Rachel to absorb the information. She wanted to see Rachel's reaction before saying anything else.

"T-They want to... What?"

"They want you to leave Ohio and go to their house."

"Go to... They live on the opposite side of the country," said Rachel in a flat voice. On the other side of the country. She didn't even want to process what it meant for her to have to go with them.

"I know. It's really far away and for you to move all the way there... Do you want that?"

"Wan- Do I have a choice? I mean, after my parents, aren't they the ones responsible for stuff like this?"

"Yeah, but you still have a choice. If you don't want to go with them, you don't have to. You could maybe stay here?"

"With you?"

"With me, yes."

"I- Don't take this the wrong way, because I do want to, but I really don't think I can. Grandma won't agree."

"You don't need to worry about your grandmother. I'll deal with her. But just tell me what you want to do. Because honestly... I'd really like it if you stayed. I know we have this crazy thing between us, but I'd like to get to know you, Rachel. And properly, this time around."

"I'd like to get to know you too. But I don't want you to have to go through all sorts of trouble for me."

"I do. I was nuts to throw away the first chance to get to know you. I really was, but we'll get around that. You're right; your grandmother will most likely be a handful. But I know some of the best lawyers around."

"Lawyers?"

"Um, yeah. She is your guardian. So if she wants you to go, and you want to stay, we need to have a court hearing to decide what's better for you."

"And what if I can stay with you? What does that mean? Does she still have a say in everything? Do I have to call her and ask her for permission before I do everything?"

Shelby thought for a moment before replying. Truth was, she didn't know the answer to most of those questions. She hadn't had any time to think or get the desired information before talking to Rachel. Her priority had, after all, been to just make sure that she and Rachel were on the same page. What they wanted was possible, for sure, but how they would have to go about it wasn't something she knew about.

"I don't think you'll have to do that. But about the other stuff- I don't know. She just called some time back and I didn't really get time to do anything before speaking to you. We could get all the information you want tomorrow, if that's okay?"

"Tomorrow's fine. Tomorrow's good, actually. This will give me time to prepare a list of queries." And for once, Rachel's planning seemed very, very reasonable. As the girl left the room, Shelby brought out her own laptop and taking a leaf out of Rachel's book, began to type out every little thing she needed to know.


The next one is coming pretty soon. I didn't want to fuse it because this chapter would become way too long. More of Rachel and Quinn next time. And I added a new story. One-shots, the first of which is sort of, kind of a back-story to this one, with minor adjustments. Do read.

Nice: Thank you:) And yeah, Quinn needs a nice guy. Sam seems nice enough so far, but I still get that gay vibe from him. Like RM is trying to make it a big surprise for later, but it's just a bit obvious.

Episode 4 was amazing. A personal favorite of mine except for what happened with Brittany. That was so, so sad. But otherwise, this episode was so essentially Gleeful. This reminds me of all the reason's I got hooked onto Glee in the first place. They're not all trying to kill each other, Rachel is crazy, but is still nice, and the whole bonding between all of them through the episode was nice to watch. And of course, Faberry. Granted, Rachel was trying to get Quinn to sing with someone else, but still. It was interaction, and it wasn't part of our imaginations. Nice.

Puckerman in Juvi. Awesome. It's so him. And the way Kurt performed was brilliant. Plus the little shot in there of Rachel feeling bad about him having to do it alone because of her. Yes people, they are not total power hungry hounds. They do care.

Even the Finn/Rachel thing wasn't irritating, because it sort of seemed real. It wasn't the over-emotional and over-serious relationship we'd been getting so far. They were actually discussing something other than their relationship, and it was nice to watch. Not the I-need-to-chuck-my-tv-away kind of thing I felt every damn time I saw them in the past three episodes.

And did anyone else understand why Kurt was said to be 'pursuing' Sam? I actually thought that he was being far more toned down than he had with Finn, and his enthusiasm wasn't so much that he thought the dude was gay, but more a part of his personality. He's a bit forward most of the time.

"Lucky". Dianna is singing. Need I say more?

Now for the actual questions:

Any ideas for how Janice could argue her case? Other than the obvious, "I'm her guardian."

Was Shelby's rudeness over the top?

Was the Shelby/Rachel interaction awkward? I don't think it's one of my best.

And lastly, one thing that I can't understand is why Rachel and Finn's duet was offensive. Forgive me for being an idiot, but I'd really like it if someone could explain the entire thing. I get it has something to do with a priest or someone, but that's it.