Charlie wiped the sweat from her brow as she grabbed the last box and turned back to her new apartment. It was near the Mayo Clinic Campus. Minnesota had been the compromise, she didn't want anything to do with how crazy Florida was, and she would probably develop skin cancer in Arizona. The last few weeks had been pure bliss. Santana had been suspended for assaulting her, the suspension was supposed to have lasted until her contract was up but she had quit.

In a few days she would finally start her brand new job in one of the best hospitals in the world. The pay was fantastic, and she had been able to put a downpayment on her new condo. She had finally joined the ranks of adulthood. Things were finally looking up for her. She was looking forward to spending the next few years working under their new chief of Thoracic surgery. Dr. Mercedes Jones, who had been more than welcoming in her interview.

She pushes the button to the elevator, and waits patiently for the elevator doors to open. She would need to do some shopping for some basic necessities, and furniture shopping. This time she was going to get a proper mattress, and her furniture would match this time. She would be able to host dinner parties, like Quinn and Rachel. Once she got her place all set up she would begin work on finding her soulmate. She hoped that if she got all this done then her soulmate would think that she had it all put together, and wasn't a disaster.

The door dings and Charlie immediately straightens up with her box of things pausing when she realizes that there is someone already in the elevator who seemed to be engrossed with an app on their phone. She steps aside before the woman can smack into her and is about to head inside when she freezes and turns to make sure she isn't seeing things.

Her giant box slips out of her grasp and smashes against the ground with a loud crash causing the woman to stop and turn and look at her.

"Y—you!"

Santana tilted her head slightly and looked down at the box that was currently leaking and points to it. "Do try not being late on your first day." She turns and heads back out. "Also try not to walk in with a stain on your shirt. It doesn't exude confidence."

~ O ~

'I read over your contract Charlie. You can't just decide to quit, you'll have to pay back the signing bonus, and you'd need to sell your place and you know that place had been on the market for at least six months. You'd also have to pay to move again, and quite frankly your finances are absolute shit Charlie. Give it three years and you should be okay.'

"I just spent the last seven years of my life being bullied and harassed by her. You're saying I need to make it an even ten before I can get away from her?" Charlie snaps into the phone. "What about moving to Arizona? Is that still an option?"

'No. But I suggest going to your HR department, she did assault you at your last job—'

"Dr. Lopez is a big deal, I am not. They'll probably take her side and fire me for making trouble. I mean it's this whole thing Quinn, and a part of my life that I thought was over—do you think mom and dad will lend me the money?"

'Mom might, dad will tell you to grow some balls. And since he controls the purse strings, that means no.' Quinn sighs. 'Is she your soulmate? I mean I can't imagine blowing up my life and moving just to fuck with someone I hate. Does she have the emotional maturity of like a child, who doesn't know how to deal with their feelings so they resort to bullying to get the attention that they want.'

"Don't even joke about that—"

'You started aging when you started the job, you spent the better part of the last 5 years looking for your soulmate. She's started aging hasn't she?'

Charlie froze as she realized that Quinn had a valid point and now that she thought about it, she had noticed wrinkles around Santana's eyes. They weren't that noticeable, but for a surgeon to not notice the little details— "Fuck!"

'Well—' Quinn winced she couldn't think of anything that would make Charlie feel even remotely better. 'You found your soulmate?'

Charlie hung up immediately, and resisted the urge to simply throw her phone across the room. Instead she grabs her jacket and immediately heads out to her new place of employment. She grabs her keys and her wallet and immediately heads out. If Santana was her soulmate she was going to request a transfer to a different campus. She wanted a soulmate just as much as the next person, but as far as she was concerned, she was going to spend the rest of her life being abused by a psychopath.

~ O ~

Santana studied the MRI in front of her, a mitral valve replacement would be necessary. She generally prefered doing the most minimally invasive surgery that a situation required but from the looks of the MRI that may not be possible for this case. She quickly makes a note when there is a loud knock on her door and she glances up to spot an inscenced looking Charlie. "Come here, I need a second opinion," Santana said as she held up the MRI.

"That's not—" when Santana shoots her a look, Charlie makes a face and shuffles over to take a look at the MRI. "He needs a mitral valve replacement," Charlie said after taking a quick look at the MRI.

"I'm glad you know how to read an MRI Dr. Fabray. That wasn't why I needed your second opinion. The patient is booked in for a surgery next week and I'm trying to determine whether he needs to be opened up or whether I can do this with minimally invasive surgery." Santana asks.

Charlie turned to look back, never once had Dr. Lopez ever asked for her opinion on anything. Sam and Roderick had gotten that honor. "How old is the patient?"

"Thirty-six."

"Any other factors I should be aware of?"

"He's morbidly obese—"

"You're going to need to open him up," Charlie said briskly. "This is not why I'm here. You are no longer my mentor and I—" Charlie sputtered as Santana pulled away and took a seat at her desk and began to write her notes on the case.

"Listening," Santana calls out after looking up at Charlie who was glaring at her.

Charlie clenched her fist tightly. "Are you my soulmate?"

Santana looked up and then looked back down. She hadn't expected Charlie to figure it out so quickly, she always seemed slightly dim. "It does seem that way. When I quit and moved here, after a week my aging process stopped. I checked earlier after running into you and it seems it's started back up again." Santana explained as she finished jotting down her notes. She uses the time to take a deep breath and look up at Charlie who seemed to be processing this new information. "I understand if you want to keep this quiet, and you're right that I'm no longer your mentor—"

Charlie immediately held up her hands, stopping Santana, "Are you asking me out?"

"I'm asking you to dinner. So that we can use this as a fresh start, we're soulmates Charlie—"

"Dr. Fabray." Charlie corrected immediately, watching as Santana frowned. "I don't care if we're soulmates. I honestly don't care if we're fated to be. You treated me horrendously for seven years. You belittled me, bullied me and assaulted me. I'm only here to confirm that you were my soulmate. So I can spend the rest of my life avoiding you."

"Charlie—"

"Dr. Fabray," Charlie corrected again, immediately taking a step back. "I'm serious Dr. Lopez. I can keep this professional until my contract ends and then I'll move on with my life. But I don't want to work with you. I don't want to see you, I don't want to have anything to do with you. I'm not going to blow up my credit because of you. And I'm not going to give you any more free rent in my head. You don't get to treat me the way you have, for as long as you did, and think that a dinner and a shitty apology is going to make up for it. I don't care if you can change or whatever, you were supposed to be my mentor. I chose the program and I chose working with you because I was excited to learn from someone I considered to be a fantastic surgeon. Instead you made me miserable and made me doubt myself. It took other surgeons working with me to let me know that I wasn't the waste of space that you thought I was, that I thought I was. And I refuse to go back to that dark place again."

For the first time in her long life. Santana Lopez couldn't come up with a comeback. She had been rough with Charlie but it would be a cop out to try and say that she expected great things from Charlie when she didn't believe it. This was supposed to be the easy part, they'd have dinner together, and slowly get to know one another. Everyone was excited to finally meet their soulmate, and she had thought that Charlie would be no exception to that. She certainly had expected Charlie to be more willing to put their past aside and start fresh. That clearly wasn't going to be the case and she was unsure of how she was going to untangle the mess she was in. If only Brittany was still alive, or her parents—or any of the important people who had mattered to her in the past. "Shit!"