There will be a rewrite of this at some point. Probably by next week.
Leroy came home and barely made it through the door before his fatherly senses went off. He looked up and found his children, plus the additional ones he'd seemed to gain over the last few months, standing in the living room. Sue and Emma, as well as Judy, was there as well. He frowned and closed the door behind him. He didn't even see their cars. Rachel
"We parked down the street and walked," Sue answered. "We were only following instructions."
"From who?" he asked warily.
"From them," Sue said, pointing at the children.
Specifically, his daughters and one son.
"What did you do?" he asked fearfully.
"Nothing," Quinn said. "But I think you should take a seat. We have something we need to talk to all of you about."
Leroy noticed Rachel had her face hidden by a hood while Santana seemed content to stare at the floor. He sighed. I guess he would have to wait to ask them about earlier. He locked the door and put his briefcase down on the table. He sat next to Emma and watched Quinn stand in front of the room. He glanced at Sue, who shrugged, while Emma smiled.
"Do you have any idea what's going on?" he whispered to her.
Emma winked. Leroy took that for what it was and sat back against the couch. Quinn cleared her throat and produced a folded piece of paper from her pocket.
"I will be the first to admit I never thought I would be here, at this moment," Quinn started. "Not even a year ago, I was torturing one of the girls I loved and being abused by the man I called my father."
Leroy saw Judy wince from the corner of his eye but was surprised to see Puck place a hand on the woman's shoulder in comfort. He tuned back into what Quinn was saying.
"Since then, so much has changed. I've lost so much, but I've gained even more. Lima has been my home since I was two years old. It's the only thing I know, what I remember, and I grew up disillusioned that this town would be my home forever. But after the last several months, I'm confident that is no longer the case. So, it is with great reluctance that I propose the idea of us leaving."
"Us?" Leroy repeated.
"Leaving?" Sue chimed in.
"Okay, enough with the mystery. Quinn, what is going on here?" Judy asked.
LJ and Tori rose in unison. Quinn remained standing.
"Dad," LJ said. "We want to move back to Seattle."
Leroy blinked. "P-pardon?" he stammered.
"You let us come here to keep an eye on Rachel, but it seems like the whole town is against her. We can't be everywhere at once. Hell, today is a prime example of that! Rachel can't even go up to the school without being terrorized in one way or another. Had Santana not been there…"
"Wait, what? What happened?" Emma asked.
Leroy shook his head. "Rachel went up to the school to get her books during her suspension with Santana. Apparently, some jocks and Cheerios decided to get a little handsy with Rachel. LJ and Tori got there in time, but Santana, unfortunately, got a couple of good hits in."
Santana finally looked up. Her face was clean, but her knuckles were so red and purple he knew the two jocks she hit would be in the hospital for a while. Leroy waved off the questions from Sue and Emma.
"Look, we can talk about the other stuff later, but Seattle?" he said. "Are you guys nuts? We can't just up and move."
"Why not?" Tori challenged. "You have more than enough money to keep this house paid for while we're away. You're a lawyer, you can get a job anywhere, and it's not like we don't have a way to transfer schools."
"Because it's not that easy," Leroy shot back. "You…are all of you in on this?"
"It was our idea," LJ huffed. "Dad, we're not safe here!"
"But that doesn't mean we up and move to the other side of the country!" he exclaimed.
"Leroy," Emma said softly. "Listen to them."
He turned on her. "And you, you knew about this?!"
Emma smiled sadly. "Rachel called me two hours ago. She explained their plan, the timeline, and at first, I was just like you. I was angry at them for even suggesting something so reckless, but they're right. Lima has become a very toxic place to live." She put her hand on her belly and added, "I don't know if I want to raise a child in this environment."
Sue kneeled in front of Emma. "What? Why didn't you say anything?" she asked.
Emma placed a hand on Sue's cheek. "I didn't know if you would go for it. You've been here for so long, the house, the car, the school," she paused and looked down at her stomach, "it seemed selfish to ask you to think of uprooting your entire life."
Sue leaned forward. She put her hand on top of Emma's and said, "I would move the ends of the world for you and our child. It would not be out of the question to move to the other side of the country. I can always find work. I have connections in high and low places. Anything to keep my family safe is on the table."
"There's nothing left for me here anyway," Puck said emotionlessly.
"Me either," Santana grumbled.
"Your Dad?" Sue asked.
Santana looked away. Sue got the hint. Leroy jumped from the couch and threw his hands into the air.
"I cannot believe you are considering this!" Leroy shouted at Sue.
"And I can't believe you aren't," Sue replied.
Leroy ran a hand over his head. He looked at Judy, who was surprisingly quiet.
"And you, surely you can't agree with this," he asked her.
Judy swallowed and stared at her hands. She then laughed and looked up at him. "I do agree with you Leroy," she said softly. "More than you think."
"But Judy-
Judy cut off Quinn with a look before she turned back to Leroy. "Though I agree with you, I also know that they're right," she said.
"You do?" everyone but Emma said.
"I do. When I first moved here, I expected this to be a good Christian home for my family. But with Russell, it's only been a pain. So much pain. I'm in a wheelchair for Christ's sake! And where is my husband? Hmm! Where is he? Out gallivanting with his friends while his wife might be paralyzed for the rest of her life! Lima tore my family apart, or at the very least, showed me exactly who the man I married is. And my child," Judy's voice cracked as she took a deep breath, "my child was beaten every day since the age of thirteen. Treated like trash, like she was nothing but a ragdoll he could do with as he pleased. And I. did. Nothing! NOTHING!"
Leroy blinked in shock. Judy covered her mouth with her hand as she trembled. The entire room was silent. Even Quinn didn't know what to say. Judy collected herself and shook her head.
"Which is why, though I don't like the way they handled this, should there be a move out of Lima, I will be with them," she said. "No matter who I leave behind."
Leroy rubbed his face and put his hands on his hips. "I can't…I need…" he trailed off and shook his head. Leroy left the room. Rachel watched him go. She stood up gingerly and held out her hand to LJ and Tori.
"I got it," she whispered.
The room watched her go.
Rachel found him standing in the backyard. He was staring at the mountain of dirt. She came up beside him.
"The contractors will be here tomorrow," he said.
"We both know this isn't about Seattle or the timing or anything of that nature. This is about Dad."
Leroy stiffened. He folded his arms. "No, it isn't," he huffed.
"I get it, you know? Lima's your home with him. Leaving Lima would make it all real."
Leroy's eyes watered. He placed a hand over his chest and dropped his chin. "I've only known him, and he left me like it was nothing."
"You're not the only one he left," Rachel snapped.
She had her own tears, and Leroy flinched away from her. She spun him around and put her finger in his face.
"He left me too! I'm his SEED! How do you think I feel? Huh?"
"That's not what I meant," he said.
"No, but it's what you said. You're not the only one he abandoned. I've only known Lima too. Yeah, I remember bits and pieces of Seattle, but this is my home. But Quinn is right. We can't wait around for anything else to have. Finn is dead. Judy is probably paralyzed. Santana only has one more fight before she's arrested. Puck has no family. Daddy, Lima is tearing us apart. Who's to say I won't be next? Or LJ? Or Tori? Can you really promise that we'll be okay until graduation? If we even graduate this year? We've missed so much school, they'll probably make us stay another year. Can you guarantee we'll be okay until we walk across that stage?"
Leroy didn't have anything to say. He just stood there. Rachel swiped at the tears on her cheek and stepped away from her father.
"You're waiting on something that won't happen. And I'm sorry…but I'm not going to stick around and wait for you to catch up," she said softly.
Rachel left her father standing outside. Despite the pain in her heart, she meant what she said. If it came down to it, she would leave him behind, and after the conversation she had with LJ and Tori, she knew they would do the same.
Puck stood in the kitchen alone with a bottle of whiskey. Sue, Quinn, Emma, and Judy were having their own conversation. The Berry siblings disappeared upstairs, and he was positive Santana was-
"Mighty selfish of you not to share."
…Standing right behind him. He turned and found her leaning against the island. He held up the bottle of whiskey. She waved him off.
"I need you to come with me," Santana said.
"Where?"
"Home."
"Why?"
Santana scuffed her shoes on the floor. "I need some things. If Leroy comes around, then we'll be leaving, and I have some stuff from…my Mom that I can't…" she trailed off.
Puck nodded. "Say no more. I got you. I'll ride with you."
