After a few days had passed, the girls had no more instances of super human abilities but the video didn't lie. It had happened and Quinn was determined to find out why and how so she decided to go back to the clearing. They all went back because, who wouldn't? Quinn needed to know what triggered these abilities? Was it when they'd touched the flowers or because they smelled them? This strange phenomenon had intrigued them all.
"Wait a minute! You will not be using my girlfriend as your guinea pig!" Rachel says, standing protectively in front of Brittany.
They'd decided to come back as a group but no one said anything about Brittany being used as a test dummy. Quinn wants to see if she will fly again if she touches the plants but she also wants the other girls to join her. Santana didn't really enjoy being a human flame. Yeah, it's fun in theory but not so much in real life and Rachel despises not being seen, which was no surprise to, well, anyone but Brittany on the other hand is...well, Brittany.
"It's okay babe. I want to do it." Rachel's head whips toward her girlfriend.
"What if something bad happens? I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you and I could have stopped it." Brittany smiles warmly at her.
"Rach, it's not poison. It's power and when has power ever hurt anyone?" Rachel sighs heavily as Santana intervenes.
"I hate to admit it but Berry has a point. We don't know what we're messing with. Maybe we should just go home and forget this ever happened?" Santana says to which Rachel nods.
"Yes, finally someone agrees with me." Santana's nose turns up with disgust.
"Oh god, don't acknowledge it. Anyway, Q I don't want you to experiment with this shit." Quinn rolls her eyes.
"Then what did we even come back here for? Come on you guys, don't you just...want to see? We could've just discovered the next step in human evolution or something! This could be huge!" The excitement in Quinn's eyes and that smile makes Santana's heart melt and now is not the time.
"Ugh, fine but you're not doing it. Let Berry try. Maybe one of these flowers will grant her the power of selflessness, humbleness..." Santana gasps mockingly, "Or maybe the ability to -"
"San!" Santana groans when Brittany calls her name.
"Oh come on B. This is our dynamic! I ruffle her feathers a little bit and laugh at the outcome." Brittany's flat affect is enough to steer Santana away from the subject.
"Whatever, I'll do it then. Since Berry is too much of a pussy. Guess you really are what you eat." Santana smirks smugly before walking towards the flowers as Rachel sputters.
"I am not! And I'm pretty sure that counts for you as well." Santana's smirk never falters as she reaches down and picks a blue flower, carefully touching it's petals.
"Not really, if anything I'm just an ass." Brittany giggles while Quinn turns away to hide her embarrassment as her cheeks heat up.
"Okay! Do you feel any different?" Quinn asks and Santana shrugs.
"Not really. It took a few minutes the last time right?" Quinn nods and begins to walk toward her until Santana puts a hand out to stop her.
"Stay back, I don't know what might happen." Quinn nods as she comes to a stop.
"You didn't have to do this you know." Santana shrugs.
"Love makes you do crazy things, right?" Quinn couldn't fight her smile as she continues her journey to Santana, who is watching her confused.
"What are you doing?" Santana begins to step back so Quinn jogs to her, stopping her movements by taking Santana's hands.
"Love makes you do crazy things, right?" Santana chuckles lightly as Quinn's hands settle on her hips.
Sometimes Santana wishes she'd seen how special Quinn was years ago but it doesn't matter much now. For the past year she's been lucky enough to have Quinn by her side and she's never been happier. She'd do anything for her and she knows Quinn would do the same.
"Seriously, I don't want to hurt you when I light up again." Quinn shrugs, her smile still in place as she gently rubs her nose against Santana's.
"I'll be okay. Thank you." Santana's eyebrow quirks.
"For what?" Quinn smirks playfully.
"Being the guinea pig." Santana laughs softly.
"Yeah. You could've at least pretended to object." Santana playfully adds.
"If I honestly thought you were in any danger, then I would have in a heartbeat but I don't think anything bad is going to happen." Santana nods her head as Quinn's hands come to rest on her shoulders.
"I love you. So much." Santana smiles at her words, her cheeks heating up now but it's not from the flower.
"I love you too." Santana tells her before pressing their lips together for a tender kiss.
Quinn has no doubt in her mind that Santana is her other half but since she is going off to Yale, it scares her slightly. She knows she won't meet anyone else but with Santana going to Kentucky, will she find someone else? They'll be further apart then they've ever been and between school and the jobs they'll inevitably need, will they have time for each other? Those thoughts plague Quinn constantly but she'll never stop putting forth the effort for Santana because she'll always be worth it.
"Now get back, I'm starting to feel weird." Santana says while taking a step back. Quinn does as she's told and moves a safe distance away, watching as Santana stands still and closes her eyes to prepare for what's next, but nothing could truly prepare her. The girls hear a loud sickening crack and Santana yells out pain, falling to her knees. Santana wasn't sure what was happening. It didn't feel like the last time. She isn't hot or sweating but it feels like her bones are breaking and her organs are shifting.
"Santana!" Quinn rushes towards her but is stopped by two sets of hands on each arm.
"Let me go!" She cries out as she struggles against their grip, all the while Santana's bones continue to crack and shift as her body contorts into something else. Something beastly. Quinn had finally given up once she saw Santana's new form slowly approaching as if the three were her prey.
"I thought she was going to be on fire, but this is way cuter. Hi San." Brittany coos, reaching out to her friend.
"Brittany! That is a wild animal. A black panther to be exact! You have to be careful!" Emerald green eyes lock onto Rachel as she grabs Brittany's arm to stop her.
"Rachel. This isn't just some animal. It's Santana." She tells her as she slips out of her grip and continues to walk towards Santana, smiling all the while. Brittany holds her hand out and Santana moves closer to her to smell her scent. Soon a warm pink tongue swipes across Brittany's fingertips causing the girl to giggle.
"See? She's harmless." Brittany says as she begins to scratch behind Santana's ear, causing her to purr ever so slightly.
"Santana is never harmless." Rachel grumbles. Brittany lightly shakes her head at her girlfriend as Quinn moves next to her, gently stroking Santana's head. Santana's eyes lock onto Quinn's and she moves closer to her, brushing her head against Quinn's leg. Smiling, Quinn sits on the ground and is immediately greeted with a few licks to her cheek.
"Okay, I get it." Quinn giggles. As strange as it is, Quinn can still see Santana when she looks into her eyes.
"Come on Rach, she won't bite." Brittany says as convincingly as she can.
"I'm perfectly fine where I am. Santana and I have barely touched before so there's no need to change that now." Rachel responds.
Honestly, she's afraid. Rachel is aware that she's Santana's least favorite person for a variety of minuscule reasons and she doesn't want to press her luck now that Santana could very easily eat her. After hearing Rachel's rejection, Santana directs her attention to her and begins slowly stalking towards her. The smaller girl takes a few steps back so Santana picks up her pace, circling her to keep her in place. Rachel holds her fists close to her chest as she spins in a circle, following Santana's movements.
"Rachel, she won't hurt you." Rachel shakes her head at Quinn.
"No. She won't hurt you and Brittany. I'm fair game." Rachel's voice trembles and that's when Santana has decided she's had enough fun so she sits at Rachel's feet. Rachel continues to stare at her in terror so Santana licks the material of her skirt just above her knee. Rachel's eyebrows shoot up in surprise.
"Oh -Oh okay. I'm just going to...umm..." Rachel trails off as she tentatively puts her hand out, recoiling a few times before gently patting Santana's head.
"Good Santana, nice Santana." Rachel says and she could have sworn she saw Santana roll her eyes before walking away. She makes her way back to her girlfriend and nudges her chest with her nose until she gets Quinn to lie down. Once Quinn is on her back Santana lies her head on her chest, reveling in the immediate attention and affection she receives from Quinn.
"You're not nearly this needy any other time. I could get use to this and the best part is that you can't talk so no smartass quips or remarks." Quinn jokes and laughs as Santana playfully nips at her hand.
"I'm just being honest, S." Quinn says before placing a kiss on Santana's head causing her to purr once more.
"Hm. Now who's the pussy?" Rachel comments from her spot next to Brittany after seeing the display, earning herself one very aggressive stare accompanied with a growl from Santana, effectively scaring Rachel so bad that she's now hiding behind her girlfriend.
"Cut it out San." Brittany says in between her giggles and Santana returns her attention to Quinn.
"How the hell did you end up as a panther? Why didn't you burst into flames again?" Santana just watches as the wheels begin to turn in Quinn's head.
"Different flowers, different power? Last time we had the purple one. This time you picked blue." Quinn continues.
"Does this mean San is going to be a cat until tomorrow?" Brittany asks. The first time this happened to them, Quinn realized they'd had their powers for at least a whole day.
"Maybe. Unless we can figure out how to control it. Everyone's power stopped at some point and that's why we went home but how did we get it to stop?" Quinn asks, absentmindedly scratching underneath Santana's chin. Brittany shrugs as Rachel moves out from behind her.
"Maybe you just have to clear your mind and focus on what you want?" Rachel adds.
"That might work." Quinn states before looking down to Santana, "Let's try transforming into your own body." Santana let's out a puff of air before sitting up and staring out past the tree line.
The girls spent 3 hours trying to figure out how to get Santana's body back but they were finally able to. It seems like clearing your mind and envisioning what you want works but Santana has a hard time clearing all of her thoughts. Once she returned to normal, they all picked a Blue flower which resulted in Brittany transforming into a hawk, Quinn into a lioness and Rachel into a Grizzly bear. Brittany seemed to have the easiest time controlling her power even though it was everyone's first the girls went home, Quinn somehow got them all to agree to continue experimenting with these flowers for her to document.
In just a few weeks time, the girls discovered that they're abilities only last 24 hours and each person has two variations with each color flower chosen giving them 6 powers total. They'd also discovered their powers are granted after touching the flower in anyway. But the catch is that they can only posses one power at a time. One night, Quinn had taken the flower home and as she reached her 24 hour mark, the flower disintegrated before her. It was fascinating and exciting but also mildly worrying because if the flower disappears forever, then so does their new found power.
The girls were enjoying their newfound abilities even though they were all so different. Among her ability to transform into an animal and fly, Quinn had the power of super strength, accelerated healing factor, the ability to shapeshift into other people and convert sound to light. Santana discovered she could grow 30 times her size, generate electricity from her body, manipulate the earth at her will and heal other people, though she finds that one a little useless.
Brittany has fallen in love with her cryovision and ability to immerse anyone into an elaborate illusion. She also can teleport and breathe underwater but that's not as fun. If you asked Rachel what her favorite ability was she'd tell you telekinesis. Sure, the ability to stretch beyond natural limits, self replicate endlessly and understanding all languages were also very nice abilities but being able to control objects and people with her mind proved the most useful.
Now that they'd graduated and summer officially has begun, they were beginning to have less time for their fun. Santana needed to focus on maintaining her physical fitness to maintain her cheerleading scholarship, Brittany is going to be attending a summer internship at M.I.T soon and Rachel will be back and forth to New York with her friend Kurt to ensure everything is set for their move in date in August.
Quinn certainly wasn't as busy as the rest so she needed to find something to do that would get her out of the house. Her mother had always had too close of a relationship with alcohol and it always got worse in the summer and since living with her father was not an option, she needed somewhere to go, even if that meant she'd have to be alone. Sighing softly to herself, Quinn sits on a log in the clearing near the flowers.
"Bored?" Quinn looks behind her to find Santana walking towards her and a wide grin spreads across her cheeks as the girl sits next to her.
"What are you doing here? I thought you'd be too tired to do anything other than lie in bed." Santana shrugs before leaning in to kiss Quinn. It's true, Santana was tired. She'd been pushing herself further physically but she's never too tired for Quinn.
"My options were lie in my bed alone...or sit by these freaky ass flowers with you. Pretty easy decision." Santana smirks as Quinn snorts lightly.
"You know rest is just as important as working out, right?" Santana playfully rolls her eyes.
"I am resting...with you. So, what's up? Why are you out here?" Quinn shrugs before resting her head on Santana's shoulder.
"Nothing better to do. Everyone's busy." Santana nods before resting her head on top of Quinn's.
"You can always condition with me." Quinn physically shivers at the thought of going through any more of Sue Sylvester's conditioning. She definitely doesn't miss that part of her cheerleading days.
"Hard pass, but I can't complain about the results." Quinn slyly smirks, snaking her hand under Santana's shirt then splaying her fingers over her taut abs. Santana chuckles lightly while wrapping her arm around Quinn's waist.
"I found a new power last night." Santana smirks as Quinn's head lifts.
"You did?" Quinn curiously questions.
"Yeah, I vibrate. We can go back to my house and I can show you exactly how it works." Quinn rolls her eyes but can't fight her smile as she lightly slaps Santana's shoulder who laughs in response.
"Stop the violence." Brittany smiles from behind them. Quinn and Santana look back to see Rachel and Brittany walking hand and hand towards them.
"What are you guys doing here?" Quinn asks. Earlier she'd asked everyone what they were doing for the day and they all had plans so she's surprised everyone ended up here.
"We figured you would be here and we finished our stuff early." Brittany tells her, sitting next to her on the log.
"Though if you two would like some privacy, we could come back." Rachel says to which Santana shrugs.
"You're already here so whatever." Rachel sits next to Brittany and the foursome easily fall into conversation.
Time seemed to fly as they enjoyed the company of one another.
"We should be superheroes!" Brittany shouts, liquid sloshing out the top of the beer bottle she had in her hand. Teleportation has its perks when you're too young to buy alcohol. Giggling as she misses a step near the bonfire Santana made, Brittany is caught by Rachel.
"Heroes?! Lame. Think big B. We could be villains." Santana smirks, her lips just barely grazing the opening of her bottle.
"Villians?" Quinn asks, looking up at the brunette. She'd drunk a little too much and Santana's lap looked just soft enough for her to rest her head.
"Hell yeah! What's being a hero ever gotten anyone? Villians are the only ones smart enough to get something out of it."
"Yes, I'm sure the prison yards look absolutely stunning this time of year." Rachel comments.
"That's for the idiots who get caught plus that's fictional. Duh the bad guys get caught but we're in reality Berry. There's literally no one who could stop us. You two can be invisible for fucks sake! We could be the greatest villains of all time!" Quinn laughs at Santana's excitement.
"You do have a point. We could literally do anything we want and probably get away with it." She adds.
"I don't want to hurt people though. Villains always hurt people." Brittany says, gently swaying her body to the music playing in her head.
"Yeah, on like TV and in movies but why would we hurt anyone?" Santana responds.
"You'd be hurting people indirectly by performing any crime Santana. Ever hear of an actual victimless crime? No, because that doesn't exist." Rachel tells her.
"God, you are a literal buzzkill." Santana says, taking a swig of her drink.
"Relax Rachel, we're just talking about it. It's not like we're actually...I don't know, planning to rob a bank or something." Quinn laughs dismissively but she'd just unknowingly peaked Santana's interest.
"Yeah babe, loosen up a bit." Brittany giddily takes her girlfriends hands and begins to make her dance with her.
"We should totally rob a bank." Santana smirks as she drains her bottle and Quinn laughs.
"Yeah because four 18 year old girls can pull that off." Quinn responds.
"They can with super powers." Santana says casually.
"Why would we even rob a bank?" Rachel questions.
"Money, duh." Brittany tells her.
"I mean think about it, we're living in some weird twisted reality where magic really fucking exists. We'd be idiots to not take advantage of this and I'm sure we could all use a couple million in our pockets." Santana says, now sounding much more sober than before.
There's no way Santana is really considering this, is it? Rachel always thought Santana was a little insane but this was extreme, even for her. There are so many things that could go wrong and Rachel is not made for prison. They would eat her alive. Of course she could use the money but what about her ethics, morals and values? Though, it would really help her fathers right now. After hearing how they'd been struggling financially, Rachel dug deeper into her parents finances and discovered they're over a million dollars in debt and are on the brink of Bankruptcy.
The more Santana spoke about it, the more Quinn began to consider it. It may be the alcohol speaking but she doesn't think it's the worst idea. People have pulled huge bank jobs and gotten away with it and they didn't have the capabilities available to these four. Quinn's college fund was drained last year when her mother decided booze was more important than her daughter's education so she'd been left to take out loans which she'll have to pay back.
Brittany has never really worried about money because her parents have always supported her but she likes the idea of being a millionaire and being able to pay them back in some way. Growing up in Lima Heights Adjacent, Santana quickly learned the value of a dollar and it's why she's worked her ass off to get her scholarship because without it, there's no way she'd be able to afford college and she wasn't going to take out loans when she didn't even know what degree she wanted. All across the board, the idea is definitely far fetched but there could be a large benefit for everyone involved.
"You're drunk. You all are. Do you realize how insane you sound?" Rachel asks the group.
"No more insane than flames bursting from my skin."
"Or me turning into a Lion and Britt trapping people in illusions." Quinn adds.
"Or you being able to move stuff with your head." Brittany finishes and Rachel shakes her head at them.
"I can't believe we're really having this conversation."
"I believe a lot of shit now that I never would've dreamed was true. We could pull it off...but if you're too pussy." Santana shrugs nonchalantly to which Rachel rolls her eyes.
"That's not going to work Santana. Nothing good comes from bad deeds, no matter what." Santana sighs, grabbing another beer from the pack.
"Sure, just don't ask Brittany for any of her cut." Santana jokes and the other girls chuckle.
As the night begins to wind down and the girls sober up, Rachel still can't move past that conversation. Could they really get away with it?