DISCLAIMER: I neither own Glee nor the characters. They are the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. This is purely for fun. Enjoy!
Chapter Twenty-One: This Means War
When Rachel opened her tired eyes once more, it felt like she had been asleep for a very long time. Her limbs felt heavy and achy, and there was a throbbing pain in her face that stung with every twitch as she tried to focus on her surroundings. There was a familiar kind of warmth around her, a pleasant feeling of calm that made her feel safe and protected. It made her feel like she was home.
So when her eyesight focused and she took in the pastel colored-paint, the plethora of Broadway posters surrounding a white four-posted bed, Rachel had to blink a few times, triggering the pain so she made sure the moment was real. What was she doing in her old bedroom when she hadn't stepped foot in her house in weeks? How did she get here?
The events of the afternoon came back to her in a flash of memory; the look of hatred in Ramon's bloody gaze reminding her why her face was in so much agony. She weakly tried to sit up, only managing to pull some of her comforter off of her and revealing the various bruises that mottled her flesh. If her arms and legs looked this damaged, she didn't even want to think about what her face looked like. She winced as she tried to touch the swollen skin above her eye, aggravating the bruised skin. Sighing in misery, she looked up when her door opened, revealing Santana with an ice pack, seemingly surprised to find her awake.
"Rachel!" She cried, her voice filled with relief. "Ay Dios, I'm so glad you're awake."
"Santana," Rachel replied softly, her head throbbing with every sound she uttered. "What happened? Where's Finn?" The last thing she could remember was the coldness of his angry eyes and the shining black gun that he was pointing at Ramon. It triggered a wave of panic that chilled her to the bone. "What happened to Ramon?"
"Calm down Rachel. Ramon got away and Finn is safe. He's downstairs talking to your dads." Rachel nodded her head until the statement finally sunk in.
"Wait, what did you just say?" Santana let out a huge sigh and tried to explain.
"Finn was able to chase Ramon off, and he brought you here in order to keep you safe. The apartment is now a target and there was really no other choice," she sighed and shook her head. "I think he's finally realized what he needs to do. He's talking to the Judge right now and they're trying to set up a plan to take Ramon down."
"I need to see them," she said instantly, taking the ice pack from Santana and placing it over her swollen face. "I need to talk to them right now." She tried to pull herself up from the bed, but she was still too weak as the Latina tried to hold her back.
"Just where do you think you're going, Rachel? Calm yourself!"
"Help me get to them, Santana," her voice was thick with worry as she held onto her hands. "I need to know what they're talking about." She squeezed them for emphasis and her friend hesitated before trying to help support her weight.
"You're one of the craziest girls I've ever known, did you know that? And that's coming from me," Rachel grinned as she helped her maintain balance while making their way downstairs. She could hear the raised voices as soon as she cleared the landing to the first floor, and she followed the sound until they were standing outside of Judge Berry's private office.
"We've searched the warehouses by the highway before," came the stern voice of her father. "No one has ever found any evidence of any drug storage units there."
"He's there," Finn reassured them, and Rachel poked her head inside to watch the scene unfold for herself. "I know he is, he has a secret unit there. I already told you where to look and now you're just wasting time. He could be clearing everything out right now."
"I already called the police chief, Finn. They're doing their best." She winced as Finn slammed his fist down on her father's large mahogany desk.
"That's not good enough! He needs to pay for what he did to Rachel." The anger in his tone was thick with vengeance and Rachel hated seeing him act this way. It was like he had completely reverted back into the guy he had been when they'd met, even though he had made so much progress. Her Daddy's eyes narrowed into slits of impatience as they stared each other down.
"You need to calm down, son. That anger is going to get you in trouble if you don't let some of it go. I want Ramon to pay for what he did too, but you need to remember our deal. If you want me to ignore your involvement in Ramon's operation in exchange for information then you can't get in trouble again. Not even a parking ticket, or else I can't save you from the repercussions of violating your parole and whatever other crimes you've committed over the past few months." Rachel's heart was pounding as she heard the terms of the deal and Finn nodded firmly as her father crossed his arms over his chest. She never thought that her father would be capable of reasoning with Finn Hudson of all people, but apparently his information about Ramon was too valuable to ignore. But her father's grim expression gave her pause as he continued angrily. "However, don't think of this deal as any kind of acceptance in regards to your relationship with my daughter. Nothing would have happened to her if you had kept your distance in the first place."
"I love your daughter," Finn replied angrily while her Papa watched the whole scene in silence. No one even noticed Rachel, who was trying her best to eavesdrop in secret with Santana at her side keeping her balanced.
"You're not good enough for her," LeRoy's response was firm and filled with condescension as they stared one another down. "You'll never be good enough for her." Finn's fists were clenched at his side and both men looked like they wanted to strike the other one down. Rachel could stay silent no longer and quietly rapped on the door-frame, signaling her presence and grabbing the attention of the men in the room.
Three heads snapped in her direction as the hollow sound filled the air, and as if they were of one mind they all stepped towards her, various looks of shock and concern on their faces as they called her name in unison.
"Rachel!" She would have laughed if the moment wasn't so stressful and held onto the door-frame for support.
"Finn, can you wait for me in my room? I need to speak to my dads," she said evenly, looking in their eyes for the first time since she'd left her house on her own personal independence day. Finn nodded, frowning at her fathers before stepping out of the room. She nodded to Santana, feeling stronger than before, and was left alone with her dads who were staring at her with barely concealed tears in their eyes.
"Oh baby," Hiram cried, "your beautiful face."
"It'll heal," with a shrug and shake of her head, she brushed off their concern as her skin continued to sting under the cold compress. It was another tense moment before either person spoke again.
"How are you feeling?" LeRoy asked firmly, standing behind his desk and looking like the epitome of a judge.
"Tired," she said honestly. "Very, very tired."
"Rachel," her father sighed heavily, leaning on his desk for support. "Why didn't you tell us about your connection with Ramon Ruiz before? We could have helped you."
"I wanted to," she said, thinking about the times she had begged Finn to go to the police only to have him decline. "But be serious, If I had told you the truth about everything, including my relationship with Finn, you never would have wanted to help me. You would have tried to get me as far away from Lima as possible."
"We only want what's best for you." Hiram said firmly.
"You want me to stay your little girl for the rest of my life but it's too late for that. We're in serious trouble now. Not just me and Finn, but you as well. He knows that I'm your daughter and he wants his revenge, especially if Finn helps you take him down."
"I already called the DA and the police chief, Rachel. We're working on tracking down Ramon right now thanks to the information Finn has given us." Rachel nodded her head as some of her fears were alleviated.
"What's going to happen to Finn?"
"We made a deal in order to get more information out of him. As long as he stays out of trouble I'm willing to overlook his crimes as a drug runner for Ruiz as thanks for his cooperation. He's given us invaluable information in regards to the trafficking scene in Lima and for that I'm grateful." Rachel nodded her head, her heart filled with pride that Finn finally did the right thing and went to the police to solve his problems. "But that doesn't mean he's in our good graces, Rachel. How could an innocent, sweet girl like you fall for a boy like Finn Hudson? I just don't understand."
"He's more than just his reputation, Daddy," she explained, finally having the opportunity to defend their relationship to her fathers. It was the moment she had been dreading since she had fallen for Finn. "He might have had his problems in the past but he's a good person whose simply lost his way. I know in my heart that he truly cares about me, and I feel the same about him."
"He's a menace," her father retorted while Hiram stayed silent. "He already ruined his own life and I'll be damned if I watch him ruin yours."
"I didn't even have a life until I met Finn," she seethed, her eyes narrowing into slits of anger as she countered her father's claims. "And since he's given me more love and support in the past month than both of you combined, you don't have the right to pass judgment on him." She stared down her father and they were locked in a silent war until she heard her Papa sigh in melancholy.
"Enough of this," he said, shaking his head. "I can't stand silent about this anymore."
"Hiram?" Her daddy asked, breaking the spell of tension that was cast over the room.
"Can't you see what we've done to her, LeRoy? Can't you see how much she resents us?" In that moment Rachel felt very small as a trail of tears slipped down his face.
"Papa?" She took a step towards him as he sunk into one of the plush chairs by her Daddy's desk, his head falling into his hands. "I don't. . .", she wanted to deny what he'd said but she couldn't bring herself to say the words. The truth was that she did resent her fathers for their overprotective nature, and it was a feeling that she couldn't just wish away. "I never wanted to feel like this but you're not giving me what I need. I thought you would be happy that I got into NYADA. Did you know that they only take in about 25 students a year? This has been my dream since I could walk and you've always pretended like it didn't even exist. Like I would wake up one morning and change my mind. Well guess what, Dads? It's 15 years later and I still want to see my name in lights. But what kills me the most about all of this is that you don't want that for me. You don't want to share that with me. You don't want to see me grow as a person, as a woman. You want to keep me as a child forever and I can't be that person anymore." She was crying by the end of her confession, the tears falling past her lashes before she even realized it as her vision blurred and voice hitched. "I just want your support, Dads. I want to go to New York and know that you're proud of me, with or without your money."
"Rachel," her Daddy's voice was soft, like the man from her past who used to look in her closet to make sure there were no monsters, or place kisses on her boo-boos so the pain would go away. "We will always be proud of you, no matter what future you choose. You're right about me, about us. We wanted to protect you so much that we were afraid to let you live. In doing that we pushed you so far away you were out of our reach." Her father approached her slowly, his tone hesitant. "From now on, we just want you to be happy. We said it before, but we truly mean it this time. These past few weeks have been torture for us and after everything you've been through we just want you to be safe and happy until it's time to leave for school."
A gleam of hope bubbled in her chest but she didn't dare believe it until she heard the words of confirmation from his own mouth. "You mean, you'll pay for me to go to school in New York?" Her father looked slightly terrified at the thought, but nodded his head anyway.
"It was wrong of us, of me, to try to hold you back because I was scared. It'll be hard to let you go, but I would rather know that you're safe halfway across the country than worry about you here in Ohio." His smile was strained, but sincere as she spanned the distance to his desk and enveloped him in a grateful hug, ignoring the urge she felt to mention Finn's plan to come with her. They would have to deal with that after they caught Ramon.
"I'm sorry I ran away, Dads. I just didn't know what else I could do or say to make you understand." Her father kissed her forehead tenderly.
"There's nothing more to say, Rachel. Your dads are going to fix everything. We're gonna find Ramon, you're going to go to New York, and everything is going to be fine." Hiram stood by their side, beaming as he tried to reassure his husband and daughter.
She could only hope that he was right.
"I need to go talk to Finn," she said, watching their expressions harden when she mentioned her boyfriend's name. Sure, they might be supportive of her plans for New York, but the topic of Finn was still raw and she didn't want to fight with her dads anymore. She was so damn tired of fighting.
"He did the right thing coming to us, Rachel. Let's just hope he continues to make good choices until this thing with Ramon blows over." He sighed deeply, rubbing his temples with his fingertips. "With him still on parole he can't afford to make any more mistakes, though I am surprised at his behavior."
"What do you mean?" Rachel asked, her head cocked to the side in confusion.
"Well, compared to the misfit I knew last year he seems like a completely different person now," LeRoy shot his daughter a weak smile. "I can only hope that some of your more positive attributes have rubbed off on him."
"He's changed a lot," she said proudly. "He wants us to be safe just as much as you do."
"I can tell. For that, Finn Hudson can't be faulted." It was the closest thing to praise she was going to get out of her dads, but it was enough for her. If Judge Berry himself could sense a difference in Finn, then he had truly changed for the better. "But do not take my kind words as acceptance. After this issue with Ramon is finished we're going to have to figure out his role in your future." She nodded her head, wondering the same thing.
"He's scared right now, I can tell," she said, knowing he must be out of his comfort zone. "Ramon has put him through a lot."
"Well hopefully he won't be able to hurt anyone else after tonight. Go and talk to Finn. I need to call Finn's parole officer and clear our deal with him." She gave her Papa a hug before leaving the office and went upstairs to her room, where Santana and Finn were waiting for her. Finn was pacing with his face pinched in worry and Santana was laying on her back and staring at the ceiling until she walked in and shut the door behind her. Finn was at her side in an instant, taking the cold compress that was still clutched in her hands and checking the bruises on her face. From where she was standing she could see her refection in her mirror, and she whined when she saw the state of her face. There was bruising from her forehead to the curve of her cheekbone, and her eye was black and slightly swollen.
"I'm going to kill him for this," Finn's voice was dark as he looked her over again and again. He began to pepper tiny kisses on the skin that wasn't bruised, lingering on her lips as she began to cry softly. How could he be so tender with her but threaten so much violence on another? Had Finn really changed at all or was he still the same angry, violent boy he had always been?
"You can't say that, Finn. You can't even think it," she looked into his eyes and begged for him to understand. "My dads told me about the deal you made with them. You need to stay out of trouble and let the police handle everything from now on."
"Yeah," Santana agreed from the bed, trying to avoid her eyes from the sentimental scene in front of her. "Like you should have done from the fucking start." Finn ripped himself away from her, the anger building around him as he faced Santana.
"Do you realize what he could have done to her?" He roared, his words triggering the memory of her lying helpless on the floor, suffering while Ramon wanted vengeance. No one needed to elaborate any further. They knew perfectly well what Ramon could have done to her, and none of it was pleasant. "He needs to pay for what he's done. For what he tried to do." Rachel shook her head as a terrifying thought entered her mind.
"Where's the gun, Finn?" She asked suddenly, grabbing his attention once more as he turned to face her. The look in his eyes were guarded, cold.
"It's at the apartment."
"You're lying," she replied instantly. "You would never leave your house without a weapon after what happened with Ramon. So where is it?" It looked like he wanted to lie again, but instead he pulled the gun out of the back pocket of his jeans, holding it in his hands while the blood drained from her face. She didn't like guns, and she didn't like seeing Finn with one.
"Put it on the dresser," she said in an even tone, trying to sound commanding. Finn's grip tightened on it instead.
"I need to protect you, Rachel. Ramon isn't going to stop, especially if the police find his warehouse. Then we'll really be targets and you're too vulnerable. . ."
"You can't protect me anymore, Finn!" She screamed, interrupting him and shocking them all as he looked at her, wounded. "This is bigger than you and me. This is bigger than all of us." She said, pointing to Santana. "You'll go to jail if you go after him, Finn. I thought you were coming to New York with me? You can't go to New York if you're in jail, and I won't watch you sabotage yourself." He looked like he wanted to argue with her, and the gun in his hands was making her more than a little nervous, but he broke eye contact and became very silent as he lost himself in his thoughts.
"I was the one who got you involved in this, Rachel. It's all my fault and I have to be the one to fix it." She shook her head, stepping closer to him while Santana watched in silence.
"No you don't, Finn. You're not responsible for what Ramon did, you can't blame yourself, and you can't stop him. The police can take over now, okay? Now please, hide the gun before my dad sees it. If he knew you were carrying a concealed weapon in his house he would rescind his deal in a heartbeat." Finally, after a few tense moments he nodded, and placed the handgun on her bedside table, next to her hairbrush and Santana's handbag.
"The police better find him," Finn spit through gritted teeth as he stepped away from the gun and went to Rachel's side. "I told them everything they needed to know." She tried to ease the stress from him by placing a soft kiss on his lips, feeling some of the anger dissipate as he held her. Santana coughed awkwardly and she broke the kiss, blushing slightly as she cleared her throat.
"Let's go downstairs and see if Daddy spoke to the police chief again. They should know something by now." Finn nodded and the three friends went downstairs together, calling Rachel's dads into the living room. They sat around and discussed the developing news as Rachel sat in rapt attention.
"They did a sweep of the warehouses and found the storage units that Finn described. Cocaine, Pills, Heroin; these guys had a little of everything. A few of his guys were arrested, but Ramon and the top members of his crew are still on the loose."
"I know where we can find them," Finn said instantly. "I can lead you to them." Rachel sat next to him on the couch, holding his hand tightly in hers while her fathers noticed the simple action. She refused to hide her affections for Finn in front of them, though. They were going to have to learn how to deal with their relationship if they wanted them to cooperate.
"We might need you to talk to the police for us, Finn. You might be our last chance to track him down." Rachel's pulse was racing at the thought of Finn being involved in Ramon's arrest, but he saw no issue in it. Finn was more than eager to describe all of Ramon's favorite haunts as LeRoy wrote them down to report back to the police. LeRoy hummed in appreciation as he scribbled down the information and Finn was about to give him even more details when his cell phone began to ring. Staring at the screen, his features became stern and angry as he read the name. "It's him," Finn said firmly. "Ramon is calling me."
"Put him on speaker phone so we can hear," Santana said. "We can all be witnesses." Finn looked to Judge Berry for approval and the man nodded as Finn answered the call.
"What do you want?" Finn growled, his anger thick as he spoke to Ramon. Rachel's blood chilled to ice when the familiar voice could be heard in her home.
"I knew you were going to turn into a slimy narc, Hudson," Ramon seethed, his gritty voice sounding far away through the speaker-phone. "It was bad enough messing with me, but when you fuck with my business that's when I really take offense."
"You should have stayed away from Rachel, Ramon. I did what needed to be done."
"Well, you're the one who started this war, Hudson and it's my turn to retaliate. Now the casualties are all on you." The phone call was cut off then, the flat dial tone ringing in the house, and Rachel was already frightened when the sound of squealing tires echoed down her block. She looked around her in fear as the noise registered on everyone's faces, and when she heard the loud piercing of broken glass Finn reached for her and supported her head while they ducked for cover.
"Get down!" The shattered glass rained on them in the living room, and Rachel looked up to see a fireball, a Molotov cocktail, ignite the curtains and carpet of her living room as it landed on the floor. Flames and smoke filled the air while a scream ripped from her lips. Hiram got up and quickly grabbed the fire extinguisher from the kitchen while her Daddy immediately called the fire department. Finn was at her side and got her up from the floor, being careful of her injuries, and made sure that she and Santana were away from the broken glass and charred fabrics and moving towards fresh air. Her fathers were yelling as they reached the back door, and she suddenly began to panic when she turned around and realized that Finn was no longer at her side.
"Finn?" She called as her fathers tried to get the fire under control. The flames were no longer spreading as a thick white smoke of carbon dioxide filled the air, depleting the oxygen and killing the fire. The alarms had gone off in the house, and she could hear the echoes of fire engines already heading down the road, followed closely by police sirens.
When the Judge's house was on fire, people moved very fast.
"Rachel, get outside!" Her Daddy gently pushed her towards the door while she tried to re-enter the house and look for Finn, but she fought against him as she started to panic. "You can't breathe this smoke in, it's not good for you. The fire isn't that bad but you need to stay away."
"Where's Finn?" She asked, and watched as he suddenly reappeared, walking down the stairs with a look of grim determination on his features. Avoiding eye contact, he walked up to her with apologies in his eyes as he placed a chaste kiss on her cheek, right in front of her Daddy. His behavior was scaring her as he started to back away from her.
"Finn?" She asked, not liking the look in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Rachel," was all he said, and with a heavy pounding of her heart she suddenly realized why he had gone upstairs. "I love you."
"Finn?" She repeated, a bit more hysterically this time, and he didn't say anything else as he turned around and walked out the front door, pushing through the cloud of smoke and carbon dioxide as Hiram finally extinguished the lingering flames. Half of the living room was charred beyond recognition as the fire engines came closer, and despite Hiram and LeRoy's command to exit the house she ran to the stairs, heading to the second floor and entering her bedroom to see the evidence for herself.
The first thing she noticed was that the gun was missing. The spot on her nightstand where the gun had been sitting was now vacant, and Santana's handbag was open with some of the contents spilling out. When she realized that her car keys were gone as well, Rachel ran back downstairs, heading out the front door while her lawn was swarming with cops and firemen.
"Finn?" She yelled, calling his voice in vain. She didn't have to look at the driveway to know that her car was missing, but the proof of it turned her stomach into lead. "Finn!" She wailed, the fear striking her right in the heart when she realized the choice he had made. Her fathers joined her in the yard, staring up at their battered home that looked just as broken as her heart as she collapsed into their arms and cried.
Finn had the gun, and he knew exactly where to go.
Ramon might have won the battle, but Finn was ready to end this war for good.
Only one more chapter to go before the epilogue!
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