Yay! An update finally! And I lied, there is one more chapter after this one and then the epilogue. I hope this was worth the wait. Enjoy! :D
"I just wanted to be queen. I never wanted to harm anyone. I knew Sue planned to use me to kill the King but I was never going to go through with that part. I really did want to be with you, your Majesty; what woman in the kingdom wouldn't?" Quinn started to explain to the group.
"Why should we believe anything you say? You're clearly a liar and you're working with Sue," Puck spit at her.
She glared back at him. "I was trying to get away from my mother and my old life. Once I was married to Finn I was going to confess Sue's plot to him and help him capture her. It was the only way to start over."
Finn shook his head in confusion. "Why would you need to start over? What did you do?"
"I got pregnant. Puckerman's daughter is my baby. That's why Jesse took her. He was a servant in my home and he was quite charming. Charmed me all the way into bed. My father was furious when he discovered I was pregnant. He was going to kill Jesse and throw me out of the house but my mother intervened. She killed my father. She tried to make it look like an accident but everyone knew. My mother was going to go to jail or worse and I was going to be stuck alone on the street with an unwanted child. Then she went to Sue and traded whatever we had to offer for protection. Sue made the law disappear and we were to continue our cushy lifestyle. I couldn't keep my baby though for her plan to work. Jesse offered to take her but I knew that wasn't an option. He had nothing more than I did. So Sue found her a home. Neither of us knew where she had ended up and Jesse was furious that I wouldn't let him have her or even see her. Sue made sure Jesse would never find her and would stay away but then we needed to find Rachel for the new plan to work. My mother traded the promise of reunion with our child for his ability to find people. She figured he was desperate enough to agree and he was; which is why your baby, your husband and Rachel are all in danger." Quinn looked at each of them in turn. "I never wanted anyone to get hurt."
"Well, it's a little late for that," Puck said in response to her story.
Finn looked at him. "Puck, we all have people on the line right now. Instead of using our energy to blame Quinn, let's use what she knows to get everyone back alive, okay?"
"Finn's right. We can't change the past. We can save the future though. Let's make a plan," Brittany chimed in.
"I say we take all our forces and storm her castle. We could take it," Puck offered unhelpfully.
Quinn rolled her eyes. "Are you an idiot? It's not a sandcastle you can just kick over. Sue's castle is a fortress and any show of strength against it will fail and quite miserably. Your men will be bowled over in minutes before even getting near the gate," she barked at him. "You'll need cunning and stealth to get inside and most importantly…me."
Mike perked up as Puck snorted. "Why do we need you? We can't trust you."
She whipped her head in Mike's direction to bore her gaze into him. "The baby girl I gave up to protect from a criminal asshole is now in the hands of that criminal asshole. You can trust that I will do whatever necessary to get her back and to safety. Plus, I already have a plan to get us inside if you would stop interrupting me and let me finish," she growled lowly at them. "As far as Sue knows everything is going according to plan. She has no idea we've been found out as I broke her only looking glass. We're supposed to meet tonight for an update. Usually we meet in a secluded area but I can arrive to her castle and make up some excuse. I doesn't matter what, we just need to get in.
"What do we do when we get in then? How do we know where to find Jesse and Rachel?" Brittany asked worriedly.
"During my pregnancy while I stayed with Sue, I got bored a lot and would go for walks throughout her castle. I know the place like the back of my hand. If I can have a pen and paper I can map out the routes that will best hide you after I help you get in. As for where Rachel and Jesse will be…Rachel is a prisoner. She'll be in the dungeon. Jesse will be the tricky one. Damn it! Why did I have to break that looking glass?"
"Did Nigel hear anything else or just that they were moving Rachel and Jesse was with them?" Finn asked. Brittany shook her head no solemnly.
"Wait a minute." Mike paced around, a growing smile on his face. "Doesn't Professor Schuester have a looking glass? We could use it to find everyone and navigate better."
Finn's face lit up. "That's right! He does! Mike, go ask to use it, Puck, start arming up. We'll need reinforcements for once we're in. Brittany-"
"You're not going, Finn. We discussed this," Puck cut in, dampening Finn's slightly improved mood.
"I have to go, Puck. With Professor Schuester's looking glass we'll know exactly where everyone is and will be able to see anyone coming. I will be fine."
Puck, Brittany and Mike all protested. "Finn, even with the looking glass it isn't safe. You need to stay safe," Brittany said softly, trying to reason with him.
"Well why do you all get to sacrifice yourselves for the ones you love but I can't? Just because I'm the king-"
"Because you're the king, Finn!" Puck yelled at him. "And we aren't sacrificing anyone. We're going to get in and get everyone out. We just can't take the chance that something may go wrong. You have to stay here. Do not make me leave behind guards to watch you."
Finn slammed his fist into the wall and gritted his teeth as he took a deep breath through his nose. He did not want to get left behind. He was going to get Rachel back himself; it would just be a lot easier if he didn't have to sneak behind everyone's back to do it. "Fine. I will stay here."
"Alright then. Mike, go talk to Schuester, I'm gonna go rally the troops and get armed up, Brittany keep an eye on Quinn and if she tries anything funny, punch her."
"Oh that's your big plan to keep me in line? Punch me?" she yelled at Puck as he and Mike walked past her and toward the stairwell out of the dungeon. "Wait, are you just leaving me in here?"
Finn and Brittany shared a look before Finn took the key from her. "You need to get ready to meet with Sue. Brittany will keep an eye on you though. You're not going anywhere alone." He let Quinn out of the cell and led the way out of the dungeon.
"I'll need a few things to get ready."
"And what is that exactly?" Finn grumbled.
"I'll need my bag I came with. It has my clothes in it. I refuse to leave the castle wearing this." She pointed at Rachel's clothing which was a little too small and didn't look right on her. Finn really liked the way Rachel dressed but it did not suit Quinn at all.
They made it to Finn's bedroom where Quinn's things were and Brittany covered her as she changed. They reconvened down in the Great Hall where Mike was arriving back with the looking glass. "He only has one so we'll need to be careful with it. Where's Puck? He'll need to see where everyone is too."
"He's in the armory getting his men ready. Why don't you and Brittany go there and get yourselves ready? I can watch Quinn and we can all meet back here before you go," Finn suggested. Mike looked skeptical at leaving Finn alone with the prisoner but did as requested. When he and Brittany were gone Finn turned to Quinn. "You have to help me get into Sue's castle without Sue or Puck knowing. I have to save Rachel. If you help me, I can promise you a fresh start away from Sue, from Jesse, from everyone; I can give you a new identity if you want. You just need to help me."
Quinn eyed him up and down. "You really love this woman you've only just met so much so you're willing to put your life and your kingdom on the line for her?"
"I'd do anything for her. I just…I have to save her. Please help me."
She nodded and dug around in her bag. "Here…" She handed him a shard of glass. "It is broken and doesn't show the whole picture anymore but it's better than nothing. You'll at least get a glimpse of where everyone is." He looked into the glass to see it was a mirror, except instead of his eyes staring back at him he saw fog. "Just say the name of who you want to see and it'll show you them wherever they are."
Finn looked at the glass. "Rachel." The fog cleared from the glass and he saw Rachel, back against a wall, holding her legs, crying. The image started to waver until it disappeared. "What happened? I wasn't done."
"I told you, it's broken. It won't last long but it should help. Now, if you want to get in undetected, you'll have to take a different way in from the one I'll lead Puckerman and his group to. I need some paper and something to write with."
Finn led Quinn into an antechamber off the main hall. He went to the desk and pulled out some paper and feather quill and ink. Quinn drew a map of the grounds of Sue's castle and explained the best way in for a single man. "It's a fortress against an army but there are cracks that allow people in and out without detection. Sue never knows when she may have to run and keeps these open. The passage you'll want to use to get to Rachel is this one. It leads directly to the dungeons."
Quinn pointed to a river she had drawn on the grounds. "That's a river. How does that help me?"
"It's a river that flows under her castle. There's a tunnel through it that leads to the dungeon. It's how she gets her dead out without anyone noticing the bodies. The entrance marker is subtle and isn't even technically on her grounds. It's about a mile out and a large cropping of boulders."
"A mile? I'll have to go a mile underground to get in?"
Quinn glared at him. "You could always try knocking on the front door and see how that works out for you. Look! I am giving you a straight shot into where Rachel will be kept. Take it or leave it!"
"Alright. Calm down." Finn picked up the map. "You don't happen to know the layout of the dungeon do you?"
Quinn ripped the paper from his hands and drew the dungeon to the best of her ability. "I can't get any more specific than that. Now you better hide that map if you don't want Puckerman and your other friends to know what you're up to." Finn nodded and folded the paper before slipping it into his pocket. "We should see if they're ready yet."
They walked back out to the main hall and waited only a few minutes before Puck, Mike and Brittany returned with a large group of more of Finn's men. "Alright, we need that map now so we can find everyone. We brought paper and a pen for you," Puck said as one of the other men slammed a table down in the center of the room for Quinn to draw the map on. "Quickly now, we haven't got all day."
She narrowed her eyes at him before beginning to draw the grounds again for everyone else. "Sue's security is tight and nearly impossible to penetrate but like anything, it has its weak spots." She glanced at Finn quickly before looking to Puck and his group. "You'll want to take the forest passage. It's the way servants get in and out as Sue will not have them seen in the front. Besides me, only the servants know about it and they won't talk if they see you entering. They hate Sue more than anyone and would gladly see her fall." She pointed it out on the map where it would be located. "The entrance marker is a Y-shaped tree. There's a knot in the tree that you press and it splits the tree. You should be able to get a decent amount of people in without detection. Once you're in…that's the hard part. It's even harder to be stealthy inside as Sue has eyes everywhere. But she has her passages which most don't even know about that aren't guarded or watched. As I'll be occupying Sue's time, they'll be free to move through." She mapped them out and explained how to access them. "We'll need to see where everyone is located now then you should probably check once more upon arrival since they may move."
Brittany ripped the looking glass from Mike's hands and asked to see Artie. The fog in the glass cleared and revealed her husband, sweaty and dirty in a dark place. He was still alive though. Brittany started crying at how pained he looked. She couldn't discern where he was located however. It looked like a dark hole.
Puck took the glass from her and asked to see Beth first. She was in a crib asleep peacefully and unharmed. "That's the nursery. It's on the second floor."
"Why does Sue have a nursery?" Finn asked, surprised that his aunt would have one. She hated children and last he heard she couldn't even have them.
"It's where Beth stayed before Sue found her a home," Quinn explained a little sadly.
Finn still didn't get it. "It still doesn't make sense why she would keep it."
"Does it really matter? We know where she is now. Let's find Jesse," Puck said as the mirror showed them Jesse. He was speaking with Sue and another woman. "That's the Witch. We forgot to take her into account."
"Leave her to me. She'll be with Sue and preoccupied. I will need more potion from her after all. It looks like they're in Sue's study. That will be where I meet with Sue. Stay away from there." Quinn looked around at everyone.
"But how do we get Jesse if he's in there?"
"He won't be in there when I arrive. Sue won't allow him to be. That's why you'll need to check where everyone is again when you get there." She yanked the mirror from Puck and handed it to Finn. "Now you can check on Rachel."
Finn said her name and watched as the fog cleared. She was in the same position as she was before, still crying, but he could see more of her surroundings now. It looked dark and dank and beyond unfriendly. He wanted to leave now and go to her but he knew if he tried Puck would tie him up and post guards on either side of him. He needed a little patience then he could make a break for it.
"Alright, we know where everyone is now or at least everyone in the castle." Puck looked at Brittany who was still crying and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Once we get Jesse we'll find Artie. We'll get him back Brittany." She nodded and tried to dry her tears. "Why don't you tell us the best routes to get to all these places now?"
Quinn helped them map out how to get to each room in turn and handed over the map to use in the event anyone moved. They made sure everyone was prepared to go where they needed to before Finn asked Quinn how she was to get to Sue's. "You can't exactly show up on a guard's horse or something."
"I have a man waiting for me to take me to the usual location. I'll just tell him plans have changed and go to the castle. Watch me in the mirror. Once I'm in the meeting with Sue, then you can enter. You'll need to move fast though. Our meetings don't always last that long."
Everyone nodded at her. "Okay, let's do this." Puck gripped Quinn's arm. "If you betray us in any way, I'll see to it that you never see the light of day again. Understand me?"
Quinn gulped and shook her head. "I promise. I won't betray you."
"I'll walk you out." Puck sent Mike to lead his men to the stables to get their horses leaving Finn, Brittany, Puck and Quinn alone. "Your Majesty, we'll get her back. I swear." Finn could only nod. "We'll be back soon."
They left the room and Finn sat alone holding his head. When he was sure no one was around he went back upstairs to change and watched from his balcony as Puck and his men rode out to save their loved ones and stop Sue's plan. When they were blips in the distance he grabbed his sword from the armory and headed to the stables. He found Rodney there who was surprisingly antsy. He tried talking him down and into a saddle but he refused.
"Rodney, I need to save Rachel. You need to help me." Rodney shook his head at Finn again. It was like he knew Finn wasn't supposed to leave the castle and was trying to stop him. Then he heard a loud neigh from behind him. Finn whipped around and found Nigel in the stable. He shook his head at him before lowering himself so Finn could hop on. Finn smiled at his old horse and quickly got on sans saddle. Rodney didn't look happy but he wasn't stupid. He'd never last in a fight against a unicorn and therefore didn't protest.
Finn rode out fast and prayed that he'd get to Rachel before something even worse could happen to her than being locked in a dungeon cell.
Inside that dungeon cell, Rachel had been crying all day. Her eyes hurt and her vision was horribly blurry. She had been thrown in there to rot after their journey from the Witch's cottage having no one else around her and no visitors since the burly guard literally tossed her in the cell. The only advantage she had at Sue's was that she at least had control over her body again and some space to walk around. It wasn't much but it was a little better than being tied to a chair.
She was so tired and drained and hungry and worried. How long had it been since she had been free and with Finn? Was it even 24 hours yet? She couldn't be sure with how time passed when moving between worlds. Rachel missed him so much and wanted nothing more than to be held in his arms again, to kiss him and stare into his whiskey eyes and count the freckles on his face and look at those cute dimples of his. Her hand moved to her abdomen where she cradled herself wondering what their baby would look like. Would he or she have freckles and dimples and whiskey eyes? Rachel smiled at the thought of their baby looking like Finn. She hoped he or she would.
A loud clanging sound broke Rachel out of her thoughts on her and Finn's unborn child and she looked up to see light flooding the area. More light filled the space as a torch went around lighting lamps throughout the crusty hallway. Rachel shied away into the shadow more, scared that someone was coming for her. She was surprised when she saw a man with curly brown hair and piercing blue eyes standing in front of her cell carrying a tray of food.
"Hungry?" he asked. She recognized the voice. It was the man who had come in with the baby before. When Rachel didn't make a move he sighed exasperatedly. "It's not poisoned. They won't kill you…yet. They need you for their grand scheme. When they're ready to off you, you'll know." He smiled at her, trying to comfort her, but it wasn't really having the effect he hoped for. "Fine, I'll leave it here and you can eat when you're ready."
The man placed it on the floor and stepped back about to exit. "Wait," Rachel said quietly. She cleared her throat as the sound came out a little roughly. "Wait." The man stopped and moved closer to the cell, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why are you doing this? Why are you working with them?"
"That's really none of your concern."
"I think it became my concern when I got kidnapped." She didn't know with certainty but Rachel was pretty sure he was the man who had kidnapped her. She just had a feeling.
He ran his hand through his hair and chuckled a little sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry about that. It wasn't anything personal."
"Nothing personal? You bludgeoned my friend over the head and kidnapped me! That's pretty damn personal!" she yelled at him.
"Look, I just wanted my baby back. I saw a chance to get her and I took it. I'm sorry you had to get kidnapped in the process. Like I said, it wasn't anything personal."
Rachel huffed sourly. "You ruined my life and you're helping to kill the king. Doesn't that bother you at all?"
The man shrugged and shook his head. "Not really. I don't know you and I've never liked the king. I think he's an idiot and incapable of ruling this kingdom."
"Oh and Sue is a better option? You don't know anything-"
"And you do? You aren't even from here! What makes you think you know anything about how our world works?" he barked at her harshly.
Rachel got to her feet and stepped forward. "You think your world is so different from mine? You're just as pathetic and petty as people where I'm from. I see no difference between you and them."
The man picked up Rachel's food tray and started walking away. "You waited too long. Now you don't get anything to eat." He put out the torches so Rachel was draped in darkness again and started for the door.
"You're just proving my point!" she yelled at him as he slammed the door, cutting off all the light except for the few rays streaming in through the tiny windows in the cell opposite Rachel's.
She pouted as she walked back to the wall to sit down again. Just as she sat the door opened once more and in walked Terri with the tray and another lit torch. She reignited the others and slid the tray of food under the cell door. "You need to eat. I persuaded Jesse to hand over the tray. Don't waste the food. That baby needs all it can get." She walked back out through the door and closed it behind her.
Rachel moved to grab the food and found beef stew, bread and some water. She took the water and pushed the food away. There was no way she could eat all that. Rachel had been a vegan since she was 16 and she wasn't going to change that now just because she was locked in a dungeon…although that stew smelled really good. Since when did meat smell good? She drank the water and eyed the food, pushing it further away with her foot. When the water was gone however the urge to eat the food overpowered her and she practically inhaled it.
Rachel never thought she'd enjoy the taste of meat but the stew was fantastic. It made her feel warm and fuzzy inside and suddenly she realized why it smelled and tasted so good, she was pregnant. Apparently the kid was a meat-eater and was insistent on making her one as well.
The door slammed open again and the man from before came in. "Are you done?" he growled at her. She pulled the bread off the tray and shoved it back to him.
"So is this your job now? To bring me food?"
"What?" He looked at her not understanding.
"At the Witch's cottage Sue said she had a job for you. Is this it? To watch after me?" By his nostrils flaring and the way he stiffened Rachel figured she was right. "I hope it was worth it to steal an innocent child from its parents."
"I'm her parent! I am her father and Quinn should have given her to me, not some strangers who don't deserve her!"
"I don't know; seems to me like she made the right choice to give her up instead of giving her to you."
"Shut up!" He blacked out the lamps again and left Rachel alone in darkness once more.
She leaned back against the wall and rubbed her stomach absent-mindedly. "Don't worry, baby, your Daddy would never be that mean." She felt much warmer suddenly at the mention of Finn and found herself drifting into sleep as thoughts of her man filled her brain.
Outside the door to the dungeon, Jesse was seething in anger. He shouldn't feel bad for taking back his child. She was his and he had every right to her, but for some reason he couldn't shake the feeling that maybe what he was doing to her wasn't so good. After all, what did he have to offer? He was a criminal who could barely take care of himself most days. How could he take care of a needy child?
Jesse shook the thoughts from his head and went back upstairs. As he walked past Sue's study he found Quinn, Lady Fabray, the Witch and Sue talking quickly and in hushed tones. He stared at the woman he once thought he might have loved. She had been the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen and he had to have her so he did. Then he found out she was pregnant. At first he was over the moon; they were making plans for the future and were going to be together as a family, but then her father found out and everything changed, she changed.
Quinn had ripped his heart out and stomped all over it when she told him she was giving up their baby and didn't want to see him anymore. He begged her to change her mind but she was steadfast in her decision. Then she made it impossible for him to even see his child much less get to keep her. If Rachel wanted to blame anyone for the state of her life at the moment she should blame Quinn. If she had just done what he asked in the first place, he never would have needed to kidnap Rachel.
He made a small noise as he shifted his weight and suddenly all four women's angry eyes were on him before the door slammed shut on its own. With nothing better to do he decided to check on his baby and make sure she was okay. As he ascended the stairs he could hear some shuffling sounds that should not have been coming from where they were. Then he saw a mohawked man walk out of the nursery with his daughter in his arms, holding her protectively.
Jesse's eyes widened as he realized Puckerman had found him. Without thinking further he turned the other way and started yelling, "Guard! Intruders! We have intruders!" He ran down the stairs and found one of Sue's guards. "We have intruders! Puckerman is here and I'm going to bet there are more men with him." The guard immediately went into defensive mode and called everyone else to arms. Jesse went to alert Sue but was abruptly pulled into the wall and silenced by a rag over the mouth.
Inside Sue's study, the women were discussing the next phase of the plan when a guard burst through the door. "Your Highness, we have a breech in security. Puckerman is here and heading for the girl."
Sue's face hardened and she stood up and turned to the wall directly behind her desk. She pressed on a panel and it slid open. "All of you follow me." The women followed behind Sue, Quinn bringing up the rear, grabbing the thin knife she knew Sue kept just under her desk before slipping into the door and shutting it behind her.
They walked silently through the passageway and Quinn hoped to herself that none of Finn's party would happen to be using the same hidden hallway. They made it to the spiral stairwell that led directly to the dungeon and took the stairs down quickly. They exited right at the entrance to the dungeon and burst through the door awakening Rachel from her semi-peaceful slumber.
Rachel stared at her captors questioningly and was surprised to find Quinn with them. Sue opened the cell door and dragged Rachel out of the small room. "What is going on?" Rachel asked in a small voice. Every other time she'd been moved she was incapacitated.
"We're moving you." Sue and the others moved swiftly down the hallway.
"Where?"
"The graveyard," Sue answered menacingly.
Rachel's eyes widened as her words sank in and Terri started getting hysterical. "Your Highness, you can't kill her! The potion-"
"Is pointless. If Puckerman is here that means the plan is shot. They know and we no longer need her…or you two for that matter." Sue turned around and plunged an unseen knife into Lady Fabray's stomach. The women froze and Lady Fabray looked down at her stomach as Sue withdrew the knife. Quinn caught her mother as she stumbled backward, clutching her bleeding stomach. "It's nothing personal. I just don't need you anymore and you both know too much."
Before she could defend herself, Sue stabbed Quinn in the side. "Sorry Q. You failed me though and I don't accept failure." She smirked at the girl before pulling her knife from her body and watching her and her mother fall against the wall. "And now you…" She turned back to Rachel and was about to stab her in the abdomen as she had the other women until a booming voice shocked her into stopping.
"Drop the knife, Sue! She isn't the one you want," Finn yelled as he emerged from a hole in the floor, sword drawn. If Rachel wasn't so incredibly terrified, she'd be completely turned on by how hot he looked in his armor and with his sword.
Sue spun Rachel around so her back was to her chest and held her against her, holding the knife to her side, digging it in a little. "How did you know about that little passageway of mine?" Sue asked.
"You're not the only one with your spies, Aunt Sue."
"Finn!" Rachel cried out before Sue dug the knife into her side more.
"Be quiet!"
"Rachel, baby, just remain calm. I'm going to get you out of this."
Sue snorted and laughed without humor. "Please, you? You couldn't fight your way out of a burlap sack. Now, let me leave or I'll have no choice but to let you watch your little lovebird bleed to death on my floor. Your call…"
Finn swallowed and tried not to let his eyes flicker to Quinn who he could see crawling toward them, knife in hand. "Okay. Just put the knife down and hand Rachel over to me unharmed and I will let you live to fight another day. Just hand her over." He put his hand out and waved it to signal for Sue to let her go.
"Check them all! She's gotta be here!" Puck's voice yelled from down the hall.
Sue was growing more panicked as she looked behind her. She was trapped. Finn was blocking her secret passage out and Puckerman and his goons were at the other end blocking the only other way out. "You want her, you can have her." She stuck her knife all the way in and twisted it making Rachel scream in pain and drop to the floor as Sue dropped her, ripping the knife from her body.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Finn watched Rachel scream in agony as the knife pierced her skin. He saw Sue move to the right and he could have easily stopped her from escaping but he didn't really care about her anymore. Instead, Finn dropped his sword and ran to Rachel who was falling to the floor. As he got to her, a knife flew past his head and he watched its trajectory. It flew right at Sue's back and stabbed her square between the shoulder blades. She fell to the floor face first and stopped moving completely. Finn looked back at where the knife had come from just in time to see Quinn collapse back onto the floor holding her side.
Time sped up again as Finn looked back at Rachel and held her body against his. She was staring up at him smiling through her pain. He moved his hand down to the knife wound and she screamed a little as he tried to move her tattered and dirty nightgown to look at her wound and stopped. But then he noticed her blood…it was blue. He looked up as the Witch came over and knelt down next to Rachel.
"We need to stop the bleeding. Oh my…" The woman grabbed at her hair and looked like she was trying not to cry.
"Why is her blood blue?" Finn asked as his eyes started to burn with unshed tears.
The Witch ignored him and tried to apply pressure to Rachel's wound. She screamed again.
"What the hell?" Puck said in shock as he entered the area they were all sitting in. He found Quinn passed out on the floor but still very much alive. "Mike, help her. I gotta check Sue."
Finn was unconcerned with everyone else at the moment however. "Is she going to be okay? You have to fix her! You have to stop the bleeding!" he yelled at the Witch.
"I am trying! I don't have anything with me to help though."
"You're a witch! Say a spell or something."
"I can't! It doesn't work that way! For a wound like this she needs more than a spell. Sue hit major organs; I'm so sorry." Tears began to spill from her eyes.
"Finn," Rachel lifted her hand and caressed his face and he held his hand over hers, "I thought I would never see you again."
"I'm here now. You'll be okay." He looked at Terri again. "Please, you have to do something."
"There's nothing I can do." Finn started crying and he held Rachel tighter. "This doesn't make sense," she muttered to herself over and over again.
"She's still alive!" Puck called from over by Sue's body. "Barely, we need to get her and Quinn out of here before they both die. Unfortunately there's nothing we can do for Lady Fabray. She's gone. We caught Jesse though. I know this is hard right now, your Majesty, but we saved Artie and Beth and Sue isn't a threat anymore." He tried to place a comforting hand on Finn's back but was shoved away.
"Don't," Finn growled. He looked up at Puck through his tears. "Do what you need to do and leave me alone."
Puck just nodded at him and got some men to carry Sue, Quinn and Lady Fabray out of the dungeon. Puck watched as his friend clutched Rachel to his chest and cry silently. "If there's nothing you can do for her you'll have to come with me. We have to take you into custody." Terri was so upset for Finn and Rachel and their unborn baby she didn't even protest when Puck put shackles on her and walked her out of the dungeon.
Finally, Finn and Rachel were left alone. He stared at her and she smiled up at him. "I'm so sorry, Finn," she whispered to him.
"You don't have to be sorry for anything. This isn't your fault."
"I'm sorry I didn't say yes. I should have said yes." Rachel started crying more and Finn let out a loud sob that he couldn't keep at bay. "I love you, Finn. I really do love you."
"I love you, Rachel." He kissed her fiercely and pulled away to hug her again. They stayed quiet, nothing but the sounds of Finn's crying as Rachel's eyes slipped closed. Finn could feel when she stopped breathing and let out another loud sob.
He sat on the floor holding her limp body until the torches that had been lit burned out. The only light came from the moon above through the small windows that allowed in minimal air. He stared at her dried blood on his hand and on the floor and noticed that it sparkled and had a slight glow to it in the darkness. Finn didn't understand why her blood was blue but he supposed it didn't really matter now.
As the moon rose higher, the beams of light shifted and hit Rachel's face. It made her look like she was only asleep and would wake up any minute but Finn knew she wouldn't wake up ever again. He knew they couldn't stay in that dungeon forever. Rachel deserved better and Finn would make sure she got the best in death if she couldn't have it in life. He shifted her in his arms to stand up and as he did so he noticed that her stomach didn't look so bad anymore. It must have been a trick of the light but he could swear it was like the wound had healed itself. That was impossible though. He needed to accept that Rachel was gone, that the woman he loved was not coming back.
He got on his feet and felt a fresh wave of tears hit him when Rachel's limbs dangled lifelessly as he carried her down the hall to the door. He had made it up the stairs before he fell against the wall and slid to the floor to stop and cry again. Rachel couldn't be gone, not when he had just gotten her back. She didn't even look like she was dead. She really could have just been asleep. There was color in her cheeks and she was warm still. Finn couldn't help himself as he leaned down to kiss her one more time.
As he pulled away, Rachel's eyes flew open and she gasped for air. She started coughing and rolled out of Finn's arms onto the floor. She pushed herself up on her hands and knees and took deep breaths as Finn stared at her completely dumbfounded. Her hair flew back as she sat up and clutched at her chest. Rachel could feel her heart beating in her chest again and she could move again. Her hand slid to where she had been stabbed and found nothing there but clean and unmarred skin. She looked back up at Finn who was still sitting against the wall in shock. Rachel smiled at him.
"Hi," she said as she sat back on her haunches.
Finn looked around like he was possibly seeing things. "You were just dead then came back to life and the first thing you say to me is 'hi'?" he asked incredulously. Rachel smiled sheepishly and was about to say something else but the thought flew out of her head as Finn picked her up and spun her around, kissing her everywhere he could reach. "I love you, I love you, I love you, so much. I thought you were dead. I mean, you were dead. Why aren't you dead anymore?"
Rachel couldn't help the giggle that escaped her mouth. "It must be the magic in me because I wasn't ever really dead. I don't know, it was weird; I was alive but I couldn't do anything. I couldn't move, my heart wasn't beating, I couldn't breathe but I could hear everything and I could feel everything. I could feel my body healing. Then you kissed me and it was like everything switched back on." She stared at Finn lovingly and kissed him again. "I love you so much, Finn. I really didn't think I'd ever get to see you again."
"I love you and I'm never leaving you again. I don't care if you kick and scream at me to leave you alone, I won't. I'm not losing you again."
"Well that's a really good thing because I do not plan on ever letting you go. If that proposal is still on the table I'd really like to say yes."
Finn nodded and smiled at her. "Rachel Berry, will you marry me?"
"Yes, a million times yes, Finn." She pulled his head to hers and kissed him deeply. He spun her around again and smiled against her lips before pulling away and pressing his forehead to hers. He drew back however and his brows pulled together.
"What do you mean by 'the magic in you'?"
Rachel bit her lip, a little embarrassed for some reason. She motioned for Finn to put her down and stared up at him. "Well, as you may have noticed my blood is blue."
"Yes, I did notice."
"Do you know the only two kinds of people who have blue blood are people who were conceived in the Crystal Lake and their mothers while they're pregnant with them?" She stood there biting her lip waiting for Finn to understand. As he realized what she was saying, he lit up and a huge smile spread across his face.
He kissed her again and picked her back up. "You're pregnant?" he screamed in joy. "I can't believe you're pregnant. But why is your blood blue?"
Rachel shrugged. "Terri, the Witch, she says that it's because of how magical the lake is. Apparently we're going to have a very magical child. It seems they didn't really want Mommy dying and saved me."
"Smart little tyke. Daddy didn't really want Mommy dying either." She giggled as he kissed her again and began carrying her down the hall to get out of that wretched castle. "I can't believe it. We're going to be a family."
"Yep, we sure are."
"And you're sure you want to stay with me here in McKinley? I know it's not New York but…"
She smiled again and leaned forward to give him a gentle kiss. "I wouldn't want it any other way."