-Part IV B-
The backlash was immense. Quinn practically had to live in isolation. It was all over the news that a woman had been shot three times in the chest with no explanation as to how she survived. It was followed up that a young man had survived several rounds of being tasered as well as six gunshot wounds to the back but still managed to stumble out of the police station. The backlash was such that even in towns that had less than two hundred people in them Quinn couldn't shake the feeling that she was being stared at. She had to resort to stealing what she needed because she couldn't get a job and ran out of money.
She and Puck found each other again a few months later. Quinn had made it up into Canada and was trying to remain as anonymous as possible. She ran into him just outside of the church where she'd been sneaking in and sleeping in the attic. They stuck together for quite a while as they moved around from town to town to avoid being spotted. He was a good con artist and got them what they needed to survive.
Rachel never left Quinn's mind. It was the first thing she asked Puck about when she saw him. He told her that he had done what the letter asked but he never found out the detailed aftermath. He had stayed for a couple of days to make sure Rachel would be alright. The brunette's fathers had come after she'd called them; they thought she was delusional until Puck proved to them that she was telling the truth. He left while they were still there so Rachel wouldn't have to be alone.
Whenever she got the chance, Quinn would find an internet café and scour the web to check the heat on their trail. She also punched Rachel's name into Google every single time. After a few months she found a little critic's piece in the NYU student paper about Julliard's spring musical and then a few months later there was a tiny piece on a theater-oriented website with Rachel's name mentioned as performing in a minor role for an off-Broadway show. The reviews got a little longer and Rachel's name showed up a little more as appearing in small off-Broadway roles and in leads in the Julliard productions. Suddenly, about a year and a half after Quinn left, Rachel's name stopped appearing. There was nothing. It was like Rachel fell off the face of the Earth.
...
September 2014
Lima, Ohio
Quinn stepped off the bus and gripped her backpack strap. Her eyes darted around the bus station, looking for any sign of anyone that might even look at her strangely. She walked the streets of Lima, it was all surprisingly familiar. She hadn't forgotten how to get where she needed to go. She and Puck had split up again after they got back to the states, wishing each other the best of luck. Puck was going to head back to New York City because he said he'd found that he kind of liked it. Quinn promised to try and find him if she went back there in her pursuit of Rachel.
The blonde decided to start at Rachel's roots in order to find her. It took forever to find a payphone, she had to walk three blocks from the bus station in order to find one. She stepped into the booth and flipped through the phonebook until she found what she was looking for. Quinn dug a quarter out of her pocket, dropped it in, and dialed. It took three rings.
"Hello?"
"Mr. Berry? Alex?" Quinn asked as she swallowed hard.
"Yes? Who is this?"
"It…it's Quinn Fabray."
"Quinn! Sweetie, how are you!"
"I…I'm fine. Listen…I was wondering if you could help me out. I wanted to get in touch with Rachel."
"Are you in Lima, honey? The phone had a Lima area code."
"Yeah."
"Come by the house, sweetheart. We still live in the same place. Do you remember where it is?"
"Of course. Is everything alright?"
"Everything's fine, just come by the house. We'd love to see you!"
Quinn hung up the receiver and stared at the phone. There was a bounce in her step as she exited the phone booth and started walking. Her feet carried her along a familiar path and rows of houses until she reached the one that looked the most familiar. She walked up the sidewalk and took a deep breath before she knocked on the door. Alex answered the door and enveloped her in a huge hug as he pulled her inside. Stan met her at the door and wrapped her in his arms.
"Would you like something to drink?" Alex asked as they walked into the living room.
Quinn shook her head. "Where's Rachel?"
"Why don't you have a seat?"
Both men looked at each other and gestured to the couch. Quinn dropped her bag and sat down, each of the men in recliners to her left.
"She'd called us after you left," Stan started. "She…honey, she told us everything. She was hysterical and upset and hurt. We thought at first she was maybe delusional so we went to the city and she showed us the letter. That young man, Noah, he was there with her. He left the day after we got here but he told us the same story and he showed us…he…well, he showed us."
Quinn nodded. "Yeah, Puck told me."
"Then, about six months ago Rachel called us and said she was on her way home. She wouldn't give an explanation, she wouldn't tell us why. Just that she wanted to come home."
"We knew something had happened," Stan said. "But she wouldn't tell us."
"And?" Quinn choked. "Wh-what happened?"
The sound of the front door unlocking made Quinn jump but the sound of a sweet voice calling out for her Dad and Daddy made her jump even more. She sprang from the couch and stood, staring at the doorway as Rachel stepped inside.
"Daddy, you are not going to believe what one of tho…se…kids…did…Oh my God."
Quinn locked eyes with the brunette standing in the foyer of the house. Quinn shifted nervously and clutched her lower lip between her teeth.
"Hey you," was all the blonde could think of to say. "It's…been a while."
Rachel nodded. "T-two years."
"We'll leave you two to get caught up," Alex said with a smile. He patted Rachel's shoulder on the way out the front door with Stan following close behind.
Rachel stayed in the foyer. "I'm sorry I just…I wasn't expecting to come home and be met with…you."
"Well after what your dads just told me I wasn't really expecting you to walk through the door."
"So you know?"
"They didn't have a chance to say much. I'm so sorry I took so long."
"I understand, Quinn."
"So what now?"
"I'd really, really love to kiss you." Rachel nodded.
"Why are you standing over there, then?"
That was all it took for Rachel to run into the living room. She flung her arms around Quinn's neck and smiled before pressing her lips to the blonde's. Quinn wrapped her arms around Rachel's waist and almost lifted the girl off the ground as she kissed her. Tongues dueled and Rachel started trying to pull the pair toward the staircase. Quinn eagerly followed. Lips barely left lips as they ascended the staircase and fell into a bed.
Quinn wasn't sure what time it was when Rachel's hands left her for the final time and the brunette finally snuggled up to her, the pair completely sated.
"I knew you'd come back for me," Rachel whispered. "I knew you would."
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
Quinn pulled the brunette closer to her.
"What do we do?" Rachel asked, pressing a kiss to Quinn's neck.
"What do you want to do?"
"I'd like to finish school."
Quinn nodded. "Why did you leave New York?"
The blonde heard Rachel take a deep breath and the brunette grabbed onto Quinn's hand and pulled it to her stomach. Quinn furrowed her eyebrows at something she'd missed, something that wasn't there two years before. She looked down to see her fingers running over a scar about three inches long on Rachel's abdomen. She scooted down Rachel's body and inspected the scar before pressing a kiss to it.
"Tell me," Quinn whispered.
...
April 2014
New York, New York
Rachel sifted through her bag just outside of her apartment building searching for her keys. She didn't see the man coming toward her and she barely saw the flash of silver before she felt a sharp pain in her stomach and her bag and its contents were ripped away from her. She cried out in pain before she hit the pavement. There was faint yelling as someone peered over her and she felt a little cold before everything went black.
There was beeping and someone calling her name when she awoke. Whatever she was dressed in was stiff and made her skin itch just a little. There was air shooting up her nose and a dull pain in her stomach.
"Rachel?"
Rachel grunted and opened her eyes a little to see an Asian woman standing over her with a clipboard, smiling.
"How are you feeling, Rachel?"
"Pain."
"We'll get you something for that in a little bit. Can you tell me where you are?"
"Hospital?"
"Correct. I'm Dr. Sims and you are one very lucky girl."
Rachel blinked.
"The knife nicked an artery, the surgeons barely got to it in time to repair it."
"The what?" Rachel furrowed her eyebrows.
"Witnesses say you were stabbed and the man ran off with your things. No one was able to find him that I know of. The police will need to take a statement from you."
Rachel nodded.
"You'll need to stay here for a few days at least, is there anyone you need us to call?"
Rachel chewed on her lower lip. She knew she should call her dads but instead she shook her head. She didn't want them to worry. She was fine and she could take care of herself, she determined.
After giving her statement to police and six days of hospital food and getting a clean bill of health, Rachel was released. She replaced all of the things that were in her bag and her landlord graciously had new locks installed on her apartment.
Seven days and seven sleepless nights later she had a re-check with her primary doctor and he told her she might've been suffering from mild PTSD from the event as characterized by her lack of sleeping due to nightmares. He recommended she find someone to stay with and Rachel could only mumble that she had no one and would be fine.
Rachel had her stitches removed and still wasn't sleeping. April turned into May and she hadn't attended a class since the night of the stabbing. She was afraid to leave her apartment when it was remotely dark and she wished for Quinn or even Puck to be with her to protect her. Finally, after waking up from yet another nightmare drenched in sweat and crying out for Quinn, she gave up. She packed her bags, sold her furniture, and called her dads.
...
"I'm so sorry I wasn't there, Rachel."
Quinn moved back up Rachel's body and held her close, the brunette's head tucked under the blonde's chin. She could feel Rachel's steady heartbeat against her skin and tears slipped out of her eyes at what she could've come back to Lima to be met with. She could've been met with another headstone of a girl she loved. She choked back a sob and Rachel's grip tightened around her and Quinn felt in her heart that this was how she wanted to spend the foreseeable future. She'd known it when she wrote Rachel the letter in the interrogation room two years before.
"Why didn't you ever touch it?"
"I wanted to be with you," Rachel mumbled against Quinn's chest. "Although I was fairly certain that you would return, I wanted to be sure. I wanted to know you'd never leave me."
"I'm here now."
"I know."
"Did you read the letter?"
Rachel's grip tightened. "Every single day."
The brunette pulled away just for a moment to reach into her nightstand and pull out an envelope. Quinn opened it carefully and pulled out the sheet of paper. She peered down into Rachel's eyes as the brunette recited the words on the paper without ever looking at them.
Rachel, my love, my everything,
You're going to hate me but I'd rather you hate me than be in danger. I'm not going to call you when I get out of here. You won't hear from me for a while. Things are going to get really intense for a long time. I don't know when I'll contact you but I assure you that I'll try to find you again.
You were right, baby. You were right, it's your decision. When Puck finds you tell him to get into the locked drawer in my nightstand and to give it to you. It's up to you what to do with it but please, please choose wisely. I'll tell you right now that I love you and I do want to be with you, I do and I'll come back for you. But consider what I've told you so many times. Everything has a season. Think about it. Don't do anything on impulse. I love you.
Forever yours,
-Quinn
"I meant it. It's your decision."
"And for that I am very grateful. It's been comforting knowing that you trust me, Quinn."
Rachel took the letter back and tucked it into the envelope with care and returned it to her nightstand. Quinn smiled at the return of warmth as Rachel curled into her again and she savored the moment she'd so desperately wanted for the last two years. She trailed her hands all over bronze skin, soaking up as much of the feel as she possibly could.
"I love you, Rachel."
"I love you, too."
...
June 2015
New York, New York
Quinn smiled at her girlfriend as the pair exited their apartment building and walked down the stairs with their fingers linked. Once outside the blonde gave Rachel a peck goodbye and smacked her backside as the brunette walked away. Rachel shook her head and looked around as she stepped out onto the street to cross while Quinn started walking the other way.
In March they'd moved into as nice a neighborhood as they could afford with Rachel's salary from the role she'd landed in an off-Broadway show for the summer and help from the brunette's dads. Quinn gave piano lessons as much as she could to help supplement the income and with all of the sources they drew in a pretty decent living. Rachel was headed back to Julliard in the fall and had promises of more roles to come after the show she was in closed at the end of the summer.
The blonde saw it before Rachel. The piercing scream that came from her mouth surprised her a little and she took off running. She was too late. She watched in horror as the car collided with her girlfriend sending Rachel up over the roof and rolling off of the vehicle. The driver skidded to a halt and Quinn's feet quickly carried her to Rachel's side.
"I swear," the young man gasped, "I swear I didn't see her…I was…"
"Shut up!" Quinn screeched. "Just call an ambulance!"
The young man nodded and walked off, Quinn took Rachel's hand and looked down at the brunette. Rachel's eyes were open and she was looking up directly into Quinn's eyes with nothing but panic.
"Quinn…"
"I'm here, Rachel."
"Quinn…it hurts…" Rachel choked. "It hurts…"
"I know…I know and we're going to get you to a hospital." Quinn pulled Rachel's hand up and kissed the back of it. "You're going to be fine. Don't move, okay?"
The blonde reached down and pressed two fingertips to the pulse point in Rachel's neck and prayed it stayed pulsating beneath her fingertips. When it began to slow and Rachel's eyelids started drooping she gripped onto the brunette's hand even harder.
"Rachel, stay with me!"
The brunette's eyes opened. "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…I love you, you know I love you."
"I love you, too. Don't leave me like this, Rachel. Please…hold on, okay?"
"It's really dark," Rachel whispered. "I feel…light."
"No, Rachel, no." Quinn pulled her hand away from Rachel's neck and dug into her backpack. She produced a gold ball that she'd taken to carrying with her everywhere yet again and held it up in front of the brunette's eyes.
