CHAPTER 39
The next afternoon was the memorial service of David Karofsky in Mexico and all of the cartel top members were going to be there, including Raul Mendes, his number two. The memorial was in full swing in a church at around noon, and that was when Finn strided into the cathedral, shattering the silence that was previously occupying the vast room. Every cartel eye turned to him.
"I'm sorry. Am I late?" Finn remarked as he strutted inside. He heard the cock of at least ten guns and they all trained on him. He didn't even flinch though. "I'm late, aren't I? I knew it. In fairness, though, there's like 20 churches in this town, first of all, so you can see how one can get confused."
As Finn pranced up the aisle to the front of the room, all of the guns were pointed straight at him and he raised his hands up.
"Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah. Guys, look, let's not lose our heads here. I mean, unless you have to shoot, in which case then, we all will. Lose our heads, that is."
Finn took off his jacket, revealing the grenade belt strapped to his chest. Concerned whispering echoed around the room from not only the cartel members, but their spouses too.
"Okay, I'm gonna use this opportunity, uh, for all those not involved in the cartel game to take their leave." He announced. All of the women and children in the room took the chance to run out of the doors, leaving Finn with just twenty of the highest ranking officials in the whole cartel. "First, I'd like to say a few words…" Finn stated, placing a hand on David's closed casket. "Oh… to the man, the murderer, drug lord, all-round human filth. Yes, David Karofsky killed a lot of people… destroyed many families. Mine included. I'll never forget you for that. Truth be told, I wanted to be the one who pulled the trigger. But someone beat me to it. And that someone is here today…"
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"San, I'd love to talk but I can't right now." Quinn whispered into her phone. She was in the electrical room of the church and was connecting her phone to the speaker system to play Raul's message to the entire cartel.
"Quinn, I got your message. So you're in Mexico with Finn again?" Santana snapped.
"Yes. I am at David Karofsky's funeral. And from now on, no more unilateral decisions. I'm gonna tell you everything."
Suddenly, Quinn heard the cock of a pistol behind her.
"And in the spirit of sharing, someone's here to kill me right now. I gotta go. I love you."
"Wait, WHAT?!" Santana shouted but she was cut off. Quinn hung up the phone and slowly faced the man. She lunged at him before he could shoot, throwing him into the wall.
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"Ladies and Gentlemen, put your hands together for Raul!" Finn exclaimed. "Come on, Raul, stand up. Take a bow. All right!"
Raul stood up and faced his fellow cartel men.
"These are lies!" Raul shouted in Spanish. "This Gringo Loco would say anything! As a matter of fact, this is the one that kidnapped David."
"My-my spanish is a little rusty. Um, it sounds like you're denying all this. Raul, take credit. Believe me, I would have loved to have been the one to do it."
Raul placed a gun to Finn's forehead.
"Maybe I should just kill you right now." He growled.
"That's a really good idea." Finn whispered. "Why don't you do it like you did David? Bang-bang. Two shots to the head. Come on, let's go. WHOO! Let's do it, Raul! Together!"
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Quinn smashed a glass over the cartel man's head and she scrambled away. She then tackled him and threw him into a wall. She grabbed a loose wire from the ground and began to twist and squeeze around the man's neck…
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Raul chuckled as Finn giggled maniacally with the gun to his head.
"You see these people?" Raul snapped, pointing to the 20 cartel officers. "They would die for me! Because I am their patrón. They will never believe you."
"Oh, no, I never expected them to believe me. That would be silly. They can hear it directly from you." Finn remarked. "HEY Q, PLAY THAT TAPE!"
No response. Finn raised an eyebrow. Maybe there were connection issues or something. He had no idea what was going on in the room.
"Whenever you're ready, Q, go for it!" He exclaimed. Still nothing. Finn sighed. "We seem to be experiencing some technical difficulties. Let me summarize what he said to the border patrol agent…"
Finn cleared his throat and put on a really rough hispanic accent, imitating Raul.
"You're gonna tell everybody that you're the one that killed Dave, and…"
Suddenly, the speakers turned on and Raul's voice continued the sentence, echoing across the vast cathedral.
"...And if anyone finds out that it was me, I'll kill your sister, and I'll make you watch."
Every gun in the room switched from pointing at Finn to pointing at Raul and Raul started trembling like a mouse.
"I can never get the tone right. It sounds so much better coming from him." Finn remarked, giggling playfully. "Ooh, it seems as if the tides have turned, my dear Raul."
Suddenly, Raul lunged at him, grabbed one of the grenades from his belt and tossed it down the aisle. The cartel men dived to cover from the massive exp… wait, where was the explosion. The grenade just laid there, motionless.
"Damn. LAPD cutbacks." Finn grumbled. That's when the bullets started flying…
Finn grabbed Raul and the two of them dived over a table, pulling it down for cover.
"You gotta get me out, man!" Raul begged. "I'll talk. I'll give you names, shipping routes, anything you want."
"I don't know, sounds like a lot of paperwork." Finn commented.
"Keep me alive, and I will give you everything you need to take out the cartel."
Finn sighed.
"You drive a hard bargain, but all right."
Finn and Raul sprinted towards the exit of the cathedral, keeping low to dodge the bullets and Finn firing shots back. The two of them jumped out of a cathedral window and that's when Quinn pulled up right next to them, already in her car. The two men sprinted over and dived into the car. As soon as they were in, Quinn started speeding away. She quickly dialed her phone and called Santana.
"Quinn." Santana shouted, worriedly.
"Hey, S. Yeah, it's me again. No, we fine. We got our man and we're heading back home."
Meanwhile, Finn leaned out of the window, the M-72 rocket launcher in his hand. He carefully aimed at the cathedral and pulled the trigger, causing the entire building to explode in a massive fireball of destruction.
"Quinn, what was that?" Santana shouted into the phone. She faintly heard the explosion - understandable given how deafening it was.
"Oh, that's nothing! We're good! Finn just shot off a rocket launcher!" Quinn exclaimed. Santana sighed and put her head in her hands.
"Okay, Q, I think that's enough sharing."
Quinn hung up the phone and Finn spun around to face Raul.
"So, Raul, what did it feel like to kill Tito Flores?"
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Kurt walked into his office, where Finn and Quinn were standing, a file in his hands.
"Erratic. Unprofessional. Capricious. Just a few of the descriptors the police commission used in their report." He remarked.
"What about unhinged?" Quinn suggested, smirking at him. "Loose cannons?"
"Ooh, yeah, we get that one a lot!" Finn exclaimed. "Although... We did solve the murder."
"And Raul's testimony will take down most of the cartel's management structure." Quinn added. "And that with barely a scratch."
"Oh, no, you misunderstood!" Kurt snapped. "That was their description of me. See, I spent so much time covering for you two, they thought I was the unstable one. No, you… you idiots get a pass. The police commission has officially approved your reinstatement."
Kurt put down two guns and two badges on his table and Quinn immediately took hers back gratefully. Finn, however, was a little bit hesitant. Kurt looked him in the eye.
"That is, if you want it…"
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That afternoon, Finn walked into the elevator and saw that it was already occupied with one person: Dr. Pillsbury. She nodded at him.
"I heard you guys blew up the cartel." She remarked. Finn shrugged.
"All in a day's work." He replied. Dr. Pillsbury spied a police badge clipped against Finn's side and she smiled widely.
"I see you're wearing your badge again."
"Well, you know, it's really, uh… more of a fashion statement, you know." Finn joked.
"Well, I'm glad you're back." Dr. Pillsbury said. "I like having you around."
"Well, I mean, you know, This isn't it, right? We can, uh… meet in the break room. Cheese puffs on me."
"I was thinking tomorrow, my office, 8 am. IA's order. Back on the force means back on the couch, Finn."
"Yeah, but David's dead, so I mean, I'm cured."
Dr. Pillsbury looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
"If you really believe that, you are crazier than I thought…"
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That afternoon, Finn sat in his trailer, pondering about the events of the past couple of days. For some reason, there was one memory that he couldn't get out of his head: Quinn telling him that she loved him. He was torn: his brain was telling him that he could never love again after Rachel, but his heart strongly disagreed. Eventually, Finn knew what he had to do…
Half an hour later, Finn parked his car in front of the most gorgeous cemetery in L.A. It was a meadow, trees shedding auburn leaves onto the soft, crunchy ground. Finn walked across the graveyard and over to one of the headstones at the corner of the field. He read the name: Rachel Berry-Hudson. He sighed and sat next to it and began to talk…
"I know I should have come by sooner." Finn murmured. "I, uh… you wouldn't have been proud of the man that I've become and I guess I just didn't want you to see me that way. I mean, truth be told, I thought I was gonna be with you by now. You know, that was the plan. But I guess nothing turned out like we planned, did it?"
Finn cleared his throat and continued…
"So, I've got this new partner. Well, she's not new, but new to you. And don't get jealous, but she told me the other day that she loves me. The worst part… she won't let me die. So… you'd love her."
Finn knelt down and started to dig a small, shallow hole in the ground right above her grave. Taking a deep breath, Finn slowly slipped his gold wedding band off his finger and he placed it in the ground, burying it right on top of his deceased wife.
"I'm never gonna stop missing you. I love you…"
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That night, Finn knocked on the door of a house he had been to hundreds of times. He had to do possibly the hardest thing he had done in years. The door opened moments later and Quinn stepped outside onto the front porch. Her face lit up when she saw him and she gave him a hug.
"Finn!" She exclaimed. "I heard that you took your job back!"
"Yeah, plenty of bad guys are still left on the street. I can't stop just because the one that directly affected me is gone." Finn replied.
"Well, for what it's worth, I'm really happy you're back. And, hey, I told Kurt to rescind my new partner request. So if you'll take me back, maybe we can work together a little while longer?" Quinn asked hopefully. Finn smiled faintly.
"That's great, Quinn. And I'm sorry." He said. Quinn furrowed her eyebrow.
"For what?"
"Well, I could be apologising for every single morally compromising position I've put you in since we've been partners. But I'm not. I'm apologising for the fact that I don't regret it at all. Every day in these past 6 months that we've been partners have been the best days of my life since Rachel passed. You and your family… you pulled me out of the pits of hell and I'll never stop owing you for that."
"You don't owe us anything. You helped me just as much as I helped you. Truth is, after my heart attack, I didn't feel like I was good enough to be back in the field. I was so close to just handing in my gun and badge and throwing in the towel. But you showed me how good it is to be a cop, and you gave me a reason to come into work every day. So I can't thank you enough for that."
Finn nodded.
"Anytime. And one more thing." Finn took a deep breath. This was going to be the hardest part for him. "About what you said in Mexico. That you… love me. Look, the reason why I didn't say anything back is that I felt guilty. Guilty to Rachel because I didn't think I would ever feel the way I felt about her about anyone else. I… I love you, Quinn. I didn't think I would ever love anyone again but I do. Everyday I spend without you just sucks. Everyday I spend with you is always amazing. I'm always thinking about you. I can't stand the idea of not having you in my life. Now, I'm not trying to pressure you into something you don't want but I just thought I should clear the air, let you know how I feel."
Quinn was speechless for a few moments as she processed what Finn had just laid on her.
"OK, well, I'm gonna go. I'll see you tomorrow." Finn murmured. He started to turn around and walk back to his car but he felt Quinn's hand on his shoulder. He turned around and Quinn leaned forward and kissed him, pulling him into her house…
Well, that's it. I think this was my best story yet. Please review or PM with feedback. Oh, and my next story is:
Just out of a 5 year stint in the Navy, Finn now has a new quest: finding true love and becoming a professional singer. He lives in New York alongside his four best friends in the world, Puck, Sam, Quinn and Santana and together, the five of them navigate life in their late twenties and thirties. Will Finn finally find what he is looking for?
