Until The End Of Time
Disclaimer: I own nothing. These characters belong to the creator of Glee and Star Ocean Til The End Of Time.
Pairing: Rachel/Quinn
Rating: M
Chapter Ten
Secrets In The Night
That night it rained.
The weather was different than what Rachel was used to, growing up there had been few storms, and when there was a storm, she had always had her fathers there to bring her a glass of water and hold her until she fell back to sleep. Tonight she was alone, in a random Inn on a random planet, and her fathers had been abducted.
Suffice to say, she was not handling it well.
As thunder clapped loudly she let out a loud scream and buried herself in the covers, on the verge of tears as her body shook. A few minutes of silence passed by and Rachel's heart had finally slowed down when there was a soft knocking at her door and she let out another yelp.
"Rachel… It's me." A voice whispered out through the door, soft and calm. It took Rachel a moment to register who the voice belonged to.
"Quinn?" She asked, startled. She pulled the blankets off of her head and sat up straight in bed, staring at the door with wide brown eyes. Honestly, that was the last person that she had expected to hear was at her door. Finn, perhaps, although he did not seem like the most perceptive of people.
"Yes. Are you alright in there, I heard screaming."
The blonde sounded worried and it caused an odd warmth to spread throughout Rachel's body. Hastily she moved out of the bed and across her room, looking her body over to make sure that she looked presentable before opening the door slightly to peer out. What she saw caused her heart to stop and her breath to catch in her throat.
Quinn was standing in the hallway wearing very little clothing. Her outfit consisted of a small pair of shorts and a tank top, leaving quite a bit of her perfect creamy thighs and a sliver of her toned abdomen on display for the brunette. It was strange to see the strong soldier look so normal. Rachel blushed at the sight and looked away respectfully.
"I apologize for worrying you Quinn; no one was attempting to hurt me or anything of the sort." She blushed a little deeper as she admitted, "I am just scared of storms is all."
"With war, illness, and murder in this world, storms seem to be a foolish fear." Quinn pointed out. Her personality had not changed with the clothing; she was still just as harsh.
Now feeling embarrassed and weak, Rachel attempted to explain and defend her fear, looking up she stared into the blonde's captivating eyes. "I know that they are foolish fears Quinn, but where I am from there were few storms, but they were quite violent. My fathers would always bring me up a glass of water and lay with me until I fell asleep, and now I have no idea where they are or if they are even still living, so I suppose the storm is merely adding to all of my anxieties."
"I see." Quinn muttered out. Never taking her eyes away from brown.
A silence surrounded them for a few minutes as they simply stared into each other's eyes. Rachel did not know how to respond. She did not know if she should invite Quinn in or if she should ask her to leave.
"I could lay with you." When she witnessed Rachel's eyes widen and her blush spread down her neck and over her naturally tan shoulders, Quinn quickly explained. "I mean, only until you fall asleep. Like your fathers would, just so that you feel a little safer."
She eyed Quinn suspiciously, searching for any deception. When she found nothing but honesty on her face, her lips curved up and she opened the door wider. "I would appreciate the company."
Another bolt of lightning filled the air, lighting up the dark room, followed by loud thunder. Rachel ran back to her bed, burying herself in the covers. She was embarrassed to be showing this weakness to anyone, especially Quinn who she assumed found it childish and pointless. The blonde soldier appeared so strong. 'But she offered to stay with me… In my bed… oh goodness… She is going to be so close to me.'
Quinn smiled softly as she climbed into the bed with Rachel, lying on top of the covers in order to keep some distance between the two of them. She tried to convince herself that she was only here to comfort the small diva, that she was not going to enjoy it in the slightest, but she already was. She loved just being around her and that was terrifying. She never cared to protect people. You lived and then you died, but the thought of Rachel dying made her physically ill.
"I'm right here Rachel."
Rachel lifted the top of the covers and peeked up at Quinn from beneath them. Just knowing that someone was there with her helped to distinguish her fears and she cautiously crawled out from under the blanket and rested her head on her pillow. Still looking at the other woman, she was beautiful even in the dark.
"Thank you for being here for me, Quinn." She whispered out into the darkness.
"You're welcome." Was the simple response. "Now, you should get some sleep Rachel. We have a long trip tomorrow and you weren't feeling well today." Quinn's eyes were fixated on the ceiling and she did not seem to want to talk any longer, but Rachel was alright with this. She was happy just having her near.
O
Rachel blinked her eyes a few times as the sun filled her room waking her from a deep sleep. Despite the storm, and the ancient bed that she was sleeping on, she had slept wonderfully.
The first thing that she noticed was that Quinn was no longer in her bed, this causing her to sit up and look around the room. It was not that she expected them to wake up holding each other, but in some ways she had hoped for it. In more ways than she was willing to admit. Pulling off the covers and crawling out of the bed she started to stretch her limbs and then caught sight of something on the nightstand out of the corner of her eye.
A glass of water. It made her smile.
O
"Quinn, can I ask you something?" Rachel asked the blonde as they all ate their breakfast in the diner downstairs. She found that she actually enjoyed a cooked meal, even if it was not as fast or affordable as the meals back home.
"What is it?" Quinn wondered, taking another bite of her bacon.
"Do you think that those women who we left behind got away from the Dragon Brigade?"
She noticed that the blonde cringed at the question before forcing a smile onto her lips and nodding her head. "They will be fine, Rachel. Those girls can fend for themselves."
Rachel chewed on her full bottom lip and nodded her head apprehensively. "I hope you are correct."
Quinn finished her meal and wiped her lips with her handkerchief before standing to her feet and pushing her chair in. Without looking directly at Finn or Rachel she told them. "Hurry up and get ready. Our pursuers are not far away."'
O
"This used to be a mine." Quinn explained as they walked through the dark caverns. "But they haven't dug here for decades… Not since the ore ran out. These days, it's only used as a passage through the mountains. But even that has become dangerous because of cave-ins and such."
These words did little to ease Rachel's fears as she carefully stepped through the cave. It was already nearly impossible to see, the ground was covered in a thin layer of liquid, and it smelt horrible. Now she had to worry about rocks falling on top of her? "I see."
Suddenly, the ground started to shake beneath their feet, nearly knocking them over.
"What was that?" Rachel asked as the shaking stopped. Her heart was pounding loudly in her chest and her breathing was rushed.
"I dunno." Finn said.
"Come on, we have no time to waste." Quinn told them as she once again led the way through the caverns. The group had to activate a lever in order to open the door where the hauler could come and pick them up. Rachel noted that the contraption was similar to the trains that they had back home; only they had to stay on the same course. The wheels seemed to be attached to the track. It was a bumpy ride to the end of the mine.
Near the exit, an old soldier approached the group and greeted them. "You came through on this hauler?" He asked them.
"Yes, we did." Rachel told him with a confused tone of voice. Who was this random man talking to them?
"Amazing! There are monsters prowling about, and the whole place has fallen into disrepair. There have also been some terrible rock slides and holes have opened up in some of the tunnels. It's a complete mess in there, you all are lucky to have made it through alive."
"If I may ask, who are you?"
"Oh!" He laughed and waved his hand. "I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Gregory von Dermein III, administer of these caverns. I'm a member of the Glyphian army. You can just call me Gregory though."
"Pleased to meet you Gregory." She said with a smile. Quinn glared at the young man and crossed her arms over her chest as she tapped her foot impatiently.
"Anyway, if you guys made it here on that hauler that must mean that the tunnels are clear."
Rachel nodded her head. "Yes, sir. There were quite a few dangerous parts, but nothing that prevented us from making it through."
"I see. Well then, I'll drive this one back. By the way, there is a wide expanse of wild-lands from here on, so be careful."
"You be careful as well, Gregory."
"Don't worry about me. I can still keep up with you youngsters."
"Come on, let's go." Quinn growled out, walking past the older man toward the exit of the caverns with Rachel and Finn right behind her.
They continued along the path for what seemed like days, Quinn was completely silent for the entirety of the trip whilst Rachel and Finn were goofing around here and there. After battling with the heat and the monsters of the mountains they finally arrived in a beautiful city. It was far more advanced than the last city they had been at, the buildings towering high above them, built from the finest materials that they could acquire on this planet.
"We made it. Arias—Aquaria territory." The blonde announced with a sigh of relief.
Rachel scanned the area and quickly realized that despite the advanced buildings the city was not perfect, a number of the houses had been destroyed. "Some of the houses look to have been destroyed…" She pointed out.
"Yes, that happened during the Airyglyph attack."
"Damn, they did alotta damage." Finn pointed out.
Quinn ignored his comment and pointed to a large beautiful building in the center of the town. "The mansion in the middle of the town is our base of operations here. We will check in there first." Rachel and Finn nodded their approval with the plan, and followed the blonde woman as she headed toward the large mansion.
O
Rachel glanced around the inside of the mansion, marveling at the beauty of it. On her planet, many people would simulate their homes to look similar to this one. It was a certain antique style that cost a lot of money. Following Quinn into what looked like some sort of conference room she immediately noticed that all of the people in the room were women dressed like the blonde.
Quinn approached one of the women, a beautiful Asian woman with blue streaks in her dark hair. "You are looking well, Tina."
The comment made the small diva's stomach twist in knots with unnecessary jealousy.
Tina's eyes brightened at the sight of Quinn and she rushed to her side. "I am so happy to see you have returned safely Quinn. When did you return?"
"Just now."
"Welcome home, you aren't hurt are you?"
"I am fine Tina; I see that you still worry too much." Quinn muttered out, frustrated with the other woman.
Tina sighed. "It's only because you're too reckless. If you don't want me to worry about you, you could try being a little more careful."
"That's the line of work I am in. It can't be helped." She shrugged her shoulders.
Rachel continued to watch the interaction with a clenched jaw and hands balled up into fists at her side, she was extremely angry and jealous and she could not rationalize the feeling. At this point she was aware that she formed some sort of crush on Quinn, but these feelings were so intense.
Tina turned her attention to Rachel and Finn and asked. "Are these the ones?"
"That's right." Quinn nodded, turning her attention to her companions. What she saw nearly made her laugh out loud. Rachel looked absolutely furious and she had a feeling that it was jealousy fueling the fire. She could tell that the short brunette was attracted to her, it was cute, but she was uninterested in starting a romantic endeavor. Especially with a prisoner. Still, she found it adorable the way that Rachel was scowling at Tina. "They are engineers from Greeton. They're still reluctant to help us."
"I see." Tina said as she approached the two foreigners. "I am Commander Tina Cohen-Chang of the Aquaria Runological Unit. I'm honored to meet you."
"The name's Finn Hudson." He said with a crooked grin and a nod of his head in her direction.
"My name is Rachel Barbra Berry." Rachel announced punctually. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance."
"I am very sorry for forcing our problems on you. However, you must understand our situation."
"Yeah, we got it." Finn said.
"Although, I am uncertain that we will be capable of—" Rachel started, only to be cut off.
"—I would like to hear what you have to say, and I will provide a thorough explanation of our situation as well. But, you must be exhausted. Why don't we continue this tomorrow? You need your rest." Tina smiled at them.
"That is right." Quinn said with a smile as she walked toward them. "She may seem fine now, but Rachel is still not feeling well."
She pushed her full bottom lip out and pouted a little at the comment. They kept treating her like she was weak, both Quinn and Finn, and she hated it. "I am perfectly fine."
The taller man beside her wrapped his heavy arm around her small shoulders, receiving a hazel-eyed glare at the motion. "Hey, never pass up a chance to take it easy, Rach. That was no joke goin' through those mountains."
"Alright…" She mumbled.
"There are two guest rooms upstairs on the second floor. Please feel free to use them." Tina said. "Quinn, stay behind. We have a lot to talk about."
"Right."
The jealousy returned to Rachel full-force as her head snapped up and she looked between the Asian Commander and Quinn. When the blonde glanced at her and smirked, a blush made its way along her skin and she turned and left the room.
O
That night, Quinn found her way into Rachel's guest room.
She did not join her, she did not say anything, she just stood in the doorway and watched the beautiful brunette sleep. She looked so peaceful and happy wrapped up in her covers and holding onto her pillow.
Rachel rolled over on the bed and revealed a small sliver of the tan skin of her abdomen and Quinn's heart practically leapt into her throat at the sight. Her body reacting oddly. She hated that Rachel made her feel these things, but at the same time she loved it.
Quinn watched her for longer than she should have that night.
O
Authors Note
Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews, they inspire me so much to add chapters quickly.
Please do keep encouraging me.
I hope that you all enjoy this chapter.