A/N: I couldn't remember the name of the store that Terri works for, so sorry in advance for that...
Rachel is flying through the empty halls, cursing her choice of footwear. Her ballet flats are adorable, but they keep slipping off her heels which is not cutting it. But then she hadn't expected to be chasing after her Glee coach when she got dressed this morning. Mr. Schue is pulling ahead, slamming through the gymnasium doors. He hadn't taken things well. She wishes that she had had the time (or possibly the tact) to break things a little more gently. But there is no good way to tell someone that their unbalanced wife has probably been threatening a pregnant high school student. When she had asked if there was any place that his wife might go--that Quinn might be meeting her, he had barely paused to tell Ms. Pillsbury to send security to the football stadium before taking off. Finally, he's stopped at the edge of the team entrance and is scanning the rows of seats.
"W...What are we doing here?," Rachel asks, breathing hard. The stadium is empty at this time of day, but Rachel can hear Coach Tanaka shouting at his gym class and the marching band must be practicing nearby, because 'Oye Como Va' is filtering in. Everything seems just as usual which only adds to the implausibility of the situation.
Mr. Schue looks at her almost as though he's forgotten who she is. "Terri...Terri loves this place. Best moment of her life, being a Cheerio. Her goddamn uniform is still in our closet." His hand passed over his face as if erasing a memory. "Oh shit, no..." he breathes as he stares up and over her shoulder. Rachel spins around and follows his gaze.
At the far end of the stands, all the way to the top row sits Terri Schuester. Quinn is lying motionless on the bleachers with her head in Terri's lap. Her body looks wrong, sprawled out with one leg pulled up and the other hanging a little over the edge. Terri is looking down at Quinn, stroking her hair tenderly. About ten rows down from the two, Noah and Finn stand together, still, but tension screaming in the way they are carrying their bodies.
Mr. Schuester lunges forward, but Rachel clamps her hand down on his arm. "Slowly," she says quietly although she has no idea how she is going to follow her own advice. She can't bear to look at Quinn, so she focuses on Noah almost blindly, stumbling once, but Mr. Schuester catches her elbow. 'Breathe!' Rachel tells herself fiercely as they close in on the boys who are still frozen in place. Puck turns his head slightly, sees the two of him. He looks pissed to see her. Fair enough. She's not thrilled to see him under these circumstances either.
Finally on the seat next to Terri, she can see the reason the boys aren't advancing. She's never seen a real one before. Certainly, her dads would never have one in the house. It's smaller than she would have expected, it looks almost like the toy water pistols she sees her small neighbors play with, but those are brightly colored and this one is a dull black. Ridiculous, but threatening.
Terri looks up. "Will!" she says as if it were a pleasant surprise.
Mr. Schuester looks stunned. "Terri, what have you done to Quinn?" he asks, voice cracking.
"Nothing!" says Terri, frowning. "I'm just looking out for our little girl, Will." At this Mr. Schuester sits heavily into one of the seats, gripping the edge to steady himself. Honestly, Rachel had hoped for more from the one functioning adult in the group.
Terri looks down at Quinn again. "She's just...sleeping. I gave her something to help her sleep. She didn't want to take it at first, but I made her, just like I made her take the prenatal vitamins." She leans over Quinn and places a hand on her bump.
Finn growls and Puck puts a hand on his arm. It's enough to draw Terri's attention to the boys. "Are you the father?" she asks, looking directly at Puck.
"I am," says Finn tightly.
Terri purses her lips. "Oh sweetie...remember when you asked me in the nurses' office whether a girl could get pregnant in a hot tub and I told you that school nurses see it all the time?" She doesn't finish but it's enough for Finn. He shakes Puck's hand off and mutters, "You fucker, I'm going to kill you." Puck replies softly, "Yeah. Absolutely. Just not now."
Rachel hears movement from behind her. Ms. Pillsbury, Principal Figgins and a security guard are at the bottom of the stands, the guard is calling something in on a radio. Rachel knows that she should be relieved to see the cavalry arrive, but there are already too many people here.
As Terri notices the newcomers, the uneasy balance starts to slip. Her eyes widen, her hand tightens on Quinn and for the first time, she looks at the gun.
"Yeah, I'm the dad, what do you want to know?" Puck asks loudly, pulling Terri's attention away from both the newcomers and the weapon. Rachel could cheer, but she hears multiple sirens in the distance; how much time do they have? Terri stares at Puck and her eyes narrow. "You. You're the one who wants her to keep our baby. How can you be so stupid?" Again, she looks at the gun.
So on the upside, thinks Rachel, Terri is not noticing the two uniformed police officers currently arriving at the stadium. On the downside, her focus on Noah is just as dangerous. The situation is delicate and requires someone who is not perceived as a threat.
She steps forward up on to the next riser. "Rachel," Mr. Schuester hisses, "what the hell are you doing?" but she's already out of his reach. Terri's eyes snap to her. "Hi, Mrs. Schuester, it's Rachel. Rachel Berry." She takes another step up, and another after that, inwardly pleased that her legs aren't shaking. "You remember me from Glee, right?" She smiles at Terri, keeping eye contact. She's almost level with the boys now. She'd like to alter her path just enough to brush past Noah, to feel a little bit of his warmth, but she calculates that she can't take the risk, he won't chance any big movements in her direction, but if she gets close enough to him, he probably won't hesitate to try and stop her.
"Rachel?" Terri asks, puzzled and Rachel nods encouragingly. "Mrs. Schuester, I wanted to ask you about thread counts. You're a manager at Bedrooms 'n Things right? Well, my father has very sensitive skin, so I was wondering if you could recommend anything in sheets above 600 threads per inch?"
"Rach...." Puck's voice is hoarse. Not now. Terri is actually smiling back at her a little. Rachel inches a little closer to Terri and continues, "What about Egyptian cotton? Or do you think organically grown, naturally dyed cotton is better?" She slips into the seat in front of them, eyes on Terri, ignoring Quinn.
"No..." says Terri slowly, peering at Rachel.
Uniformed officers are moving into position several sections away on either side of them. "Not organic cotton?" asks Rachel, trying to keep her voice steady.
"No. Ralph Lauren. Matching accessories."
"That sounds great. Can you show me?" Rachel reaches out her hand and touches the back of Terri's hand. Terri looks doubtfully at Quinn, and Rachel looks too, relieved to see the rise and fall of Quinn's chest. She hadn't been sure. "She'll be fine. Sleep is good for people." She takes Terri's hand, pulls gently.
"Babies too." says Terri matter-of-factly.
"Yes," replies Rachel weakly. Terri gently lays Quinn's head down on the metal seat and Rachel leads her away from Quinn, away from the gun, past the boys. She sneaks a look back, Finn is next to Quinn, lifting her into his arms, but Noah is staring at her, so she gives him what is meant to be a reassuring smile. As she reaches Mr. Schuester, he falls in step with the two of them.
At the bottom of the risers waiting to meet them Rachel sees what she can only assume is either a plain clothes officer or hopefully a qualified mental health professional. Mr. Schuester says with a voice that carries, "Here's Rachel's dad. We'll go together with him to find the right sheets. Rachel really should be getting back to class." He pushes Rachel gently to a seat in the bottom row. The other man nods and he and Mr. Schuester continue to lead her down the bleachers, around the corner and out of sight.
Rachel just sits bonelessly in her seat. She thinks she'll never move again, but suddenly there's Noah, with his arms around her, his lips on her hair, her eyes, and finally her mouth. Policemen swarm around in the background, she hears Finn carrying Quinn down the steps beside them, Ms Pillsbury's soft voice to them, urgent then fading.
Eventually, he stops and glares at her. "Don't ever do anything like that again," and kisses her a few more times, just to send the message home.
As soon as she has an opportunity, she smiles shakily up at him. She knows her heart is in her eyes--she thinks that his is too. "I feel that I can safely promise that," she says.
"Puck, Rachel..." Ms. Pillsbury is back. "The paramedics are loading Quinn into the ambulance right now. Finn is going with her. Puck, do you want me to...would you like a ride to the hospital?"
His hand closes on hers tightly and he looks at her with panic in his eyes. She nods, stands up and speaks. "Both of us please, Ms. Pillsbury."