A/N- Sorry this update took so long, its hard to write something so dark with such a great holiday feeling in the air. Hope you enjoy this, and keep in there with me, we are ramping up for the final two-ish chapters. Thank you for your continued reading and reviews, they keep me motivated!
(October 17, 2014. 8:24 AM)
"Dave?" Quinn's confused statement was hardly more than a whisper, but the boy's head whipped around. The rest of his body- led by a gun followed shortly after.
His eyes widened as he took in the scene before him, Quinn as in the Quinn Fabray, holding a pale Rachel Berry who had a brilliantly red towel pressed to her bicep, "Quinn?"
The boy's hair was mussed up from where he must have been wearing a ski mask which had become a casualty at some point. That small detail, the ruffled hair seemed to contrast so wildly with the gun, Quinn could hardly believe her eyes.
They stood in silence for what could have been hours or seconds, nobody daring to even breathe too loudly, Rachel was the first to break the quiet when the towel slipped a bit from her grasp and she let out a small strangled gasp of pain. The noise reminded Quinn of the warm weight in her arms, and she held the brunette a fraction tighter as if her arms would protect the girl from Dave
"Listen David, Rachel is hurt pretty badly and she needs help. We need to get her out of the school." That seemed to spur him into understanding as he nodded minutely and dropped his gun slightly, the action put Quinn slightly more at ease- at least he still had some rationality left.
"Ok so I'm going to take Rachel outside now and she can get to a hospital." The blonde was able to take one step towards the door before a different expression crossed Dave's face and suddenly the gun was leveled right back on the girls.
"Wait, why are you helping Berry, Quinn? You've been tormenting her since middle school."
"Dave, I'll explain later. Right now there isn't time, she's losing a lot of blood."
Quinn tried to edge nearer to the door again, but was stopped short, "Don't you dare fucking move." The gun was trained on Quinn's chest and against her will, her body froze, "I'm in charge here. Why are you helping Rachel when you've been making her life hell for the last seven years?"
A range of emotions all competed for dominance on Quinn's face, everything from guilt and apprehension, to hope danced through her features. She couldn't tell which would end worse, the truth or a lie.
Throwing caution to the winds, she decided to put her heart on the line- if it meant saving Rachel she would put anything on the line, "Because I love her."
"Bullshit."
"I'm serious David." Her hazel eyes gave away no hesitation as she held his stare, "I love Rachel, now please, I'm begging you, let me take her outside so she can get the medical care she needs."
Something seemed to break inside of Dave and the gun in his extended hand seemed to shake slightly, "Fine, Berry can go. But Quinn, you have to come back in. If you don't, I'll shoot her."
Quinn nodded her agreement to the terms of the deal while Rachel weakly tried to protest in her arms. The arguments fell on deaf ears as the blonde finally made it all the way to the doors with Karofsky trailing her the whole time. Once they made it to the doors, Quinn paused, not wanting to do anything to set the boy off again.
A shove to her shoulder was all she needed before stumbling out the doors, Rachel heavy in her arms. She was amazed at the circus in the parking lot, news vans, police trucks, ambulances, barricades with parents behind. It was all overwhelming and if not for the strangled gasp from the brunette as she was jostled around a bit, Quinn may have been stunned still.
As it were, she could see Dave over her shoulder hiding behind a pillar with his gun trained on Rachel. Gingerly, Quinn kneeled down, ignoring the sting of the concrete biting harshly into her knees, and she laid Rachel gently onto the sidewalk.
At the end of the pavement, across the road was the closest vehicle- a police car- and an officer behind it was motioning for her to run towards the for safety.
Instead, Quinn pushed a strand of Rachel's hair behind her ear and leant down to kiss her softly on the forehead, "I love you." She promised.
Rachel's hand trying to grasp her wrist was weak, "Stay." She begged.
"I can't, but always remember what I told you: I've loved you ever since I met you, I love you with every fiber of my being, I can't imagine a day without you and pray I never have to." She recited, "I mean every word of that."
With a final lingering kiss to the brunette's forehead, Quinn reluctantly stood up and returned to the school, turning back just in time to see paramedics rush forward to stabilize Rachel. The door slammed shut with a deathly finality.
(October 17, 2014. 8:03 AM)
"Alright Puckerman, where do you think Rachel went?" Santana sighed in exasperation, the sooner they got moving and found the munchkin, the sooner she could get to Quinn.
"It's Rachel, if she's still in the school she's probably in the auditorium."
Santana ran through the layout of the school in her mind, the theatre was right down the hall from the gym so it wouldn't be too hard to go from searching for Berry to searching for Quinn, "Ok, let's go." She stood and pressed one ear flat against the door listening for any indication of movement. Hearing none, she felt Puck sidle up behind her, ready to explode forth and make the run to the theatre.
"On three?" Santana asked.
"One, two, three." Puck whispered, on the last syllable, Santana threw open the door and took off at a sprint for the correct end of the building, Puck was hot on her heels with a glance thrown over his shoulder to confirm that the hall behind them was deserted.
The run to the theatre was short and blissfully uneventful. The pair found themselves panting inside of the first set of doors in no time. Just one more double door stood between them and whatever was waiting for them inside the auditorium. Puck took the lead this time, nudging the door open and slipping into the darkness quietly. The emergency floor lights were on and he began following them down to the stage when a sound to his right drew his attention, his body instinctively moved to shield Santana.
"Who's there? Show yourself you damn coward!" Puck yelled, fully expecting the gunman to emerge from the shadows.
Instead a quick movement just behind him made Santana shriek, "Puck look out!" Before a heavy weight impacted him in the ribs and he crumpled to the floor.
Puck heard another body hit the ground beside him, and a pained whimpering before Santana was whispering, deadly and low, "Who the hell are you?"
"Let me go!" Was muffled as Santana must be pressing this person's face into the carpet, "Santana, get off."
The mention of her name made the Latina falter as she released her grip and allowed the thin body to roll over between her legs where she had been sitting on his back to keep him secured, "It's me you crazy."
Puck lifted his head enough to see the annoyed person still trapped between Santana's legs fixing his hair, "Why did you attack, Puck?" Santana demanded.
"Same reason you tackled me, I thought he was the shooter." Kurt explained easily.
"Well now that we've established that none of us is the gunman, we need to get moving." Puck said standing and rubbing his shoulder, "What did you hit me with?"
"Fire extinguisher."
The mohawked boy nodded in approval after making sure the joint wasn't dislocated, "Do you know where Rachel is?"
"No. We were separated."
(August 2015)
Kurt strolled down the sidewalk with the biggest smile on his face, the sun was shining, there was a light breeze in the air, and Central Park had never looked greener. Rachel beside him was muted. She had been for months now, there had been a period when she began looking up, her smile had returned, and she seemed just brighter.
But it was hard now, they were in New York going to NYADA.
Kurt was hopeful that getting off campus and exploring the city a bit would be good for Rachel, and she did seem to be enjoying herself. She was smiling, even if it wasn't quite as radiant as it used to be.
"I'm excited for that first showcase coming up, what do you think everyone will perform?" Kurt prompted. NYADA talk was always a safe option to engage Rachel with.
"I'm not sure, I'd be willing to bet there will be plenty of classics." The brunette volunteered as they headed closer to the park.
Kurt hummed in agreement, "I swear if someone does something from Evita, I'm going to leave." He could practically feel Rachel roll her eyes beside him, "It's been done to death!"
A motorcycle at a stoplight beside them backfired as it revved up to fight through the traffic, making loud echoing cracks. Kurt rolled his eyes as the cyclists need to display his bike.
"What, no defense for Evita?" Kurt joked, looking to his left where Rachel had stood mere moments ago. She was gone.
Shooting his glance around, Kurt saw the brunette crouched behind a nearby bench. Her hands were firmly pressed over her ears, and her eyes were clenched shut tightly, Kurt could feel the terror radiating from her trembling shoulders.
City dwellers shot her curious looks as they passed by and Kurt wasted no time in leaping over the back of the bench and kneeling next to the girl.
"Rachel!" He put his hands over hers on her ears to pry them off gently, "Rach honey, it was just a motorcycle. You're totally safe."
A few of the survivors had been getting panic attacks since the shooting, but Kurt had never witnessed one. He had no idea Rachel suffered from them this severely.
"Rachel, it's Kurt. You have to open your eyes and look at me. We are totally safe, nobody is going to hurt you."
Slowly, Rachel cracked one eye open, then the other. The tension gradually drained off her shoulders and Kurt watched his best friend melt before him, he wrapped her up in his arms and sat there on the ground behind a bench just outside of Central Park, holding Rachel and promising that they were safe until he was beginning to believe it himself.
A/N- And thank you to Kelly for giving me a kick to get this chapter done ;)