AN: Thank you for all the reviews. We are incredibly close to catching up with the flash forward, if everything goes as planned it'll be chapter 40. I mean chapter 40 we'll come full circle. It'll be a cliff-hanger but I am expanding the scene a bit so you know who is talking, what their thoughts are. Anyway, review please and thank you.
"So—what are you going to tell her?" Charlie asks pouring her twin another shot of vodka and pushing it to her before pouring herself some.
"The truth," Quinn says as she drains the shot and slams the shot glass down. She shudders at the burn and she motions for Charlie to push the bottle of vodka to her.
Charlie does and pauses for a moment, "You can't be serious," she says as she drains her own shot glass, watching as Quinn pours herself another shot before sliding it back to her.
"That I made a choice between the life of my child and the life of my ex-girlfriend when I was sixteen and I chose my child, it's a situation I would do again and again. I love Beth—is what I'm going to tell her," Quinn says draining a shot. "And then I'm going to tell Blaine to get his bitch in line or I'll kill him," she adds in an annoyed tone and she's met with Charlie's drunken laughter. "What?"
"Blaine's totally the bitch in that relationship," Charlie responds and a grin appears on Quinn's face.
"Probably. Kurt keeps telling her about poor Finn—and Rachel feels sorry for him. Even though he was coming close to stalking to her. I want to kill him but we can't—and I hate having my hands tied," Quinn lets out a frustrated growl. "I sent him to the fucking Hamptons. There's so much shit to do in the Hamptons. I should have sent him to Siberia—he could guard snow and get eaten by a polar bear."
Charlie snorts at the image of Finn getting chewed on by a polar bear. "I don't know why they don't like us saving them or helping them. So what if you punched Finn in the face. I would have shot him. The whole thing is infuriating, Norah won't let me help her ever. I can't help her with her loan, or give her the money to help her start up. I even said I'd just cosign a loan for her. And she doesn't want to move in with me—or and I told her I loved her Quinn. I finally said it. Cause that's what you're supposed to do and I said it and she didn't say it back—she thinks that our relationship is just—sex and fun." Charlie babbles drunkenly.
Quinn scrunches up her face and pours herself another shot before draining it. Norah seemed relaxed and nice, and she was perfectly agreeable to the fact that Rachel was in the wrong here. She approved of Charlie's choice in partner. "Is it?" Quinn asked her twin. "Do you buy her flowers and do romantic things for her? Make her know how much you care?"
"I try—I got her a flower and I listen really carefully and I try and make her feel better when she's had a bad day. And I totally let her win when we play video games. The sex is fun—but no. It's not just sex to me it's not just about having fun—I know I love her Quinn and it's terrifying. I don't like it half the time but I can't just shoot it in the face."
"Shooting things in the face doesn't solve everything Charlie," Quinn admonishes before giggling. She tries to school her features but Charlie giggles and they both break out into a fit of laughter. "I should have shot Finn in the face, would have solved all my problems." Charlie nods like it's the gospel truth. "Rachel makes me feel happy and light—and like I'm special. She's got a lot of love—and I don't think I deserve it sometimes but she loves me. She chose me. Even though I'm the Ice Queen. "
"Norah makes me happy and I feel—normal. She makes me feel human again. I can't tell her how much she means to me—how I feel without telling her everything. And I can't tell her everything because who wants to be with—someone like me? Who wants to be with the Reaper?"
Quinn's smile fades and she sighs but she doesn't say anything, because she's in the same boat as her twin. "Maybe we don't have to tell them and we can just kill him, pretend to be sad that he's dead and then just be with them and live happily ever after."
"Like in the fairy tales?"
"Like in the fairy tales," Quinn said with a smile. "Rachel's infuriating—and she gets huffy with me but—I know she loves me. She's not trying to hide me—and she introduces me as her girlfriend. And she can sing and she makes me feel things—things I never felt with Harmony. Acceptance and stuff and good things. And the sex Charlie—she's really good at sex." Quinn grins at this statement not sure if she's flushing because of the alcohol or the frank admission to her twin.
Charlie laughed and she waved her shot glass in the air not caring that some of the alcohol spilled out of it, "So is Norah—and we have a lot of it—like a lot Quinn."
Quinn raises her shot glass clinking it against Charlie's and the two of them drain the glass in unison. "He was wrong—we could have been loved. People could have loved us. Now they can't not with everything we've done. Not everyone was like Harmony. Rachel isn't—she loves me—even though she doesn't know all of my secrets—and maybe she'll love me when she does. We're playing a dangerous game aren't we?"
"We are." Charlie answers before pouring her some more vodka. "At least you know that Rachel loves you. I suppose there are worse things than being someone's fuck buddy—I just thought that she felt it back."
Quinn nods and a quiet fills the room. "We are very drunk."
"Yes we are," Charlie says laughing.
"Want to spar?" Quinn asks after a moment, and she can see Charlie thinking about it hard. It's probably a terrible idea. They are both very drunk and they are probably going to end up hurting one another.
"What could possibly go wrong?" Charlie asks as she takes another shot and she wobbles on her feet.
Norah and Rachel stared at what had once been Quinn's pristine living room. One of the twins had passed out on what had once been a white couch, now it was splattered with what Rachel believed to be blood and whiskey. It certainly smelt like alcohol. Another twin was passed out on the rug which Rachel was sure cost a fortune, which was now stained with alcohol and possibly blood and dangerously close by broken glass.
"Well—at least they know how to throw a party," Norah said completely unaffected by the unrefined position she found her girlfriend in as she nudged a body with her foot to make sure that Charlie was still very much alive on the ground. She was met with a low groan.
"We were barely gone for twelve hours," Rachel hissed quietly at Norah. Clearly she shouldn't have left the twin to their own devices. "What should we do? Why didn't anyone stop this?"
"Well I'm going to help Charlie across the hall and you help get Quinn to bed and I'll make my hangover cure for the both of them," Norah said as she shook her head before pausing for a moment, and walking to the door and opening it and looking at Dave who was having a casual chat with Brittany, Sam and Mike. "Dave—we're going to need your help."
Dave gave her a puzzled look but quickly followed her, he let out a sigh and picked up his boss and slung her over his shoulder, "I'll be back to help you with Quinn," he informed Rachel who nodded as he walked through the hallway, watching as Brittany unlocked the door and he walked Charlie into her room and dumped her unceremoniously on the bed.
Norah glances at her girlfriend noting her split lip and the bruise on her cheek and the dried blood around her lip as well as the bruising on her arms and she sighs as she heads to Charlie's kitchen watching as the Red Panda hopped onto the counter and stared at her. She really did hate Charlie's choice in a pet.
It was the glorious smell of bacon that filled her apartment that finally stirred Quinn from her alcohol induced sleep and she opened her eyes, wincing as a stray beam of light hit her directly in the face. She groaned, and brought her hand to her face only to wince in more pain. She really needed to stop letting Charlie talk her into doing stupidly dangerous things when there was alcohol involved. She rolled of the bed wincing as her back protested at the movement and licked her dry lips, wincing once she realized that it was swollen. Hopefully her twin was in just as much pain.
"Whose bright idea was it to drink like we were in our early twenties," Quinn grumbled as she began to walk to where the smell of bacon was emanating from, slowly because the room was still very much spinning. She rested her hand against the wall to steady herself before she finally opened her eyes fully. At least the room was relatively dark and she made her way to her kitchen, pausing when she saw Rachel trying to wipe down her ruined couch. "Don't bother—Charlie's paying for damages. This was probably her idea," Quinn said glancing at the plate of bacon on the counter. "What are you doing here Rachel?"
"Norah—talked to me and I realized that I might have been a bit unreasonable. And I came to apologize for my appalling behavior last night. I made you some bacon?" Rachel said fiddling with the rag as she looked at Quinn's bruised face.
"You made me bacon?" Quinn asked blinking at this revelation.
"Well Norah made bacon for you and planned to perfect her hangover cure concoction on your twin. I just made coffee and started to clean up—what happened last night?"
"A fifth of vodka shared between me and Charlie happened," Quinn said taking a seat on the stool in the kitchen island. "And I'm sure Charlie had the bright idea to spar and here we are," She picked up a piece of bacon taking a bite, letting out a low groan. Quinn flicked her eyes at Rachel who was still standing away from her and she sighed. "You want to know about Beth."
Rachel sighed and nodded, "I do—a child is a big deal."
"Is it a deal breaker?" Quinn asked looking at her carefully, still chewing on her bacon slowly.
"I'm not—I wish you would have told me earlier. All of this was sprung on me rather quickly and we promised to be honest with one another. Charlie mentioned that she's with your father—and I know you two don't like to talk about it, but you both have said that he abused you. Why isn't she with your ex?" Rachel asked wincing at the questions she was bombarding Quinn with.
"My father has—custody of Beth. As far as I know he's never laid a hand on her, he ignores her existence for the most part and she's being raised by a wonderful nanny and has a normal childhood. Which is what I wanted for her. My job isn't child friendly," Quinn says simply. "I didn't bring her up because I don't see her as often as I want to. You'd ask about her, you'd want to meet her and I need—permission to visit her. Which means that I'd need to introduce you to my father, something that can never happen. Even if I did, he wouldn't have let me see her not with you. A lesbian relationship would corrupt Beth, make her think it was okay. His words."
Rachel's froze as Charlie's words came back to haunt her as things began to click into place. The twins were merely doing what they needed to do. They weren't the real monsters in this, a man who would hold his grandchild hostage and force his children to do his bidding. The things a mother would do for her daughter. "And your ex-girlfriend?"
"I loved her dearly, even though everyone—and I do mean everyone warned me. Harmony only loved the things that I could provide for her. My relationship with her was unhealthy—she alienated me from the people who cared for me and for the next four years my relationship with Charlie was—strained. But she did give me the greatest gift in the world, and for that there will always be a place in my heart for her."
Rachel swallowed there was a sense of finality to Quinn's word and that coldness was creeping into her voice. "What happened to her?"
"She's dead," Quinn said exhaling slowly. She noticed Rachel's eyes widen and there was a flicker of panic, "I was sixteen and I was given an impossible decision. Save my child or my ex-girlfriend. I chose Beth. Maybe I was angry—maybe I was selfish. I was also sixteen, and Harmony had ripped my heart out and stomped on it."
"Do you regret it?" Rachel asked curiously. There was more to the story, there had to be more to that story but she couldn't pry without tipping her hand.
"I'm haunted by my decision." Quinn admits truthfully, "But regret? I can't regret something that gave me Beth."
Rachel bit her lip, "If—something like that were to happen again. Would you make the same decision?"
Quinn froze and looked at Rachel, "No. I love you, and I'm no longer sixteen, selfish and stupid. I would have saved you," she admits. She would save Rachel—she'd make sure that she'd never be in any danger not from him. She'd kill him this time, she'd pull the trigger and kill him. She looked at Rachel curiously for a moment, "Does that mean that it isn't a deal breaker?"
Rachel shook her head, "Family is important to me Quinn, I'd never hate you for protecting your daughter. I would like to meet her one day," she's rewarded with a grin and Quinn getting up to walk over to her, before she freezes and looks at the bacon in her hand. Rachel rolls her eyes and walks up to Quinn kissing her cheek. "I love you."
"I love you too," Quinn said suddenly wishing that she could kiss Rachel. "Give me one moment—I'll go brush my teeth," she said pulling away and walking to her bathroom grabbing her toothbrush smiling when she saw Rachel follow her and wait.
Charlie flicked an eye open after she felt a pressure on her chest and something wet licking her face. Hiccup's furry face was inches away from her face and she pulled back. The sudden movement seemed to scare him off as he jumped off her body and onto the bed before onto the floor and running off.
"I told you that it was going to eat your face in your sleep," Norah said an amused smile on her face as she looked at her girlfriend. "I had Dave bring you back to your room. How do you feel? I mean you look like shit."
"I feel like shit," Charlie responds as she rubs her eyes and looks at Norah carefully. "What are you doing here?"
"Rachel came to apologize to Quinn, and I tagged along. Even though I'm still mad that you dismissed me like you did last night. But you look like shit and even though it's your own fault for doing something stupid while drunk I sort of feel sorry for you. So I made you one of my famous hangover cures." Norah said handing Charlie a bottle filled a green liquid.
Charlie looked at it and then back at Norah who had an expectant look on her face and she bit her lip before taking the bottle and sip the juice—it's not actually that bad. She gulps the rest of it down quickly and she does feel slightly better after she's done drinking it. She eyes Norah and looks at the bottle, "Thank-you," she says before sighing. "Quinn was upset and—I'm sorry that I dismissed you. I was angry with you."
"Because I wouldn't take your money?" Norah asked raising a brow.
"I'm upset with you because you won't let me help you ever. You always need to do everything yourself and I get it that you want to be independent. I mean even if you didn't want my help financially there were other things I could have done. I mean I could have helped you with your bank proposal, or with your online classes but you haven't given me a chance to help you."
Norah frowned and sighed, "Money complicates things Charlie. If we start combining finances—things will change and I like what we have right now. Things are good—things are steady between us and I don't want to do anything that will change that."
"The sex or the fun?" Charlie asks in an irritated manner before sighing.
"Things are good between us Charlie—you love me and I love you and it's not complicated by things like money right now. I don't want us to complicate this, not right now anyway, maybe at some point in the future we can come back to this issue again. We can figure it out then. But I don't want to feel like I owe you something—or that if you give me the money your opinion on me will change. We are good right now so long as never ever dismiss me again."
Charlie opens her mouth to say something but closes it a grin spreading across her face, "You love me?"
"And you totally didn't hear the rest of what I just said, did you?" Norah said with a sigh, trying to keep the smile off her face.
"You love me, I love you. I told you from day one that you're stuck with me no matter what happens between us. I'm never going to dismiss you again, and you're going to let me help you with other things that aren't necessarily financial and we can figure out the financial situation as we go along," Charlie says simply before a huge grin breaks out on her face. "The important part to all of this is that I know you love me now."
Norah rolled her eyes before motioning for Charlie to scoot over as she crawled into the bed with her sitting beside her. There was silence between them for a long moment, and Charlie kept staring at her expectantly. Norah sighed and the smile slipped onto her face, "I love you Charlie."
"I love you too, Norah," Charlie said in a cheery tone before kissing her on the cheek.
Norah rolled her eyes, "You don't have any kids that I need to know about?" She asks after a moment.
"No. I just have a niece. Hiccup is actually hers, I'm just holding onto him until Quinn realizes that she's being unreasonable and caves."
"You said your father has her?"
"Technically—she's raised by a nanny. Our father ignores her existence and will continue to do so until she can serve a purpose. It's for the best that she remains under his radar. Quinn doesn't get to see her often—but she would do anything to protect Beth. I'd do anything to protect Quinn."
Norah pauses for a few moments, "Have you ever tried to get her back? Beth I mean."
"Quinn won't do anything that puts Beth in his radar—she won't endanger Beth," Charlie says, "She has a normal life right now and Quinn also doesn't want to disrupt that."
"I didn't ask if Quinn had ever tried to get Beth back—I asked if you did," Norah questioned.
"Once—when I was a teenager, and I thought I was invincible. I wasn't all that smart—and I certainly didn't have any real plan. I haven't made another attempt since then. It puts Beth at risk and Quinn would never forgive me if I got it wrong. So I won't get it wrong."
Rachel shut the metal door behind her resting her head against it, her mind a blur after all the information she had just found out. "I'm out," she says after a moment.
Norah pauses from where she is about to sit on their beaten up couch and looks at Rachel, "What do you mean you're out."
"Will Schuester was wrong. The twins aren't these sociopaths—I'm sure they have their moments but Quinn isn't doing this because she enjoys it. She's doing it to protect her child. Her father has her child, and I'm sure he killed her ex-girlfriend or something equally horrible happened to her. Which means Charlie's probably only doing this to protect Quinn. If you wish to continue with the mission I'm not going to stop you but I'm not going to continue. I'm out," Rachel said firmly.
Norah tilts her head at Rachel, who has her head held high and is looking at her in a challenging way. "You want to stay with Quinn?"
"I do. I'm going to stay beside her."
Norah doesn't say anything for a moment, "What do you think they'll do when they find out that we're FBI agents?"
"I know that they'll kill us. I'm aware that it's what they're going to do but I can't do this anymore. The more I find out, the more we investigate the more I realize that Will was wrong. That if he had done even a little bit of searching of investigating that he'd realize that they aren't the bad guys. He's holding Beth hostage he's using a child against them. He's the one that—"
"Messed them up, I know. If they hadn't been near him, then maybe things would have been different," Norah interrupts with a sigh. "So you aren't going back?"
"No, I'm not. I'm not going to be upset if you choose to keep up the mission—it's our job after all."
"What mission? Even if the twins were to tell us tomorrow that they were criminals it'd be our word against theirs. They don't leave evidence and the moment you wanted to stay with this life I knew you weren't going to go through with it. So I stopped caring a while back. I always knew this was a shitty plan right from the start."
Rachel smile, she had thought that Norah was going to put up more of a fuss and she'd have to spend the next few years convincing her that it was best to just leave the twins alone or at least focus the investigation on the person who was truly to blame for the twins reign of terror. "We're going to need to deal with the Will situation. He can't—keep popping in on us. They didn't get suspicious last time because Will was unhinged and Quinn was distracted by the whole Finn thing, but next time—if he approaches you. You're going to call the twins immediately. They trust us—and I'm not going to do anything to abuse that trust. I want to help her get her daughter back."
AN: The downfall of Will is next—what will he reveal to the twins as they get their revenge on him. There maybe some other things that I haven't quite decided yet.
Review please