Quinn was startled awake by sounds of soft crying. She gently sat up as best she could and looked down at her baby girl.
"Hey.. what's wrong baby?" She cooed. "Shh.. its okay. Shh..."
"Mama." Beth sobbed. "Want Mama. Quinn.. want Mama." Quinn noticed that Beth seemed really distraught and tired. And she had a runny nose.
"Oh, I know baby. Shh... I know you miss Mama. But I've been looking after you pretty good, yeah?" Quinn tried. She didn't really know how to explain their situation to her two year old.
"Don't feel good." Beth hiccuped. She rubbed her little balled up fist across her eyes. Quinn melted. "Mama..."
Quinn reached around for Beth's bottle of apple juice she prepared for her at night. Beth felt kind of warm, so Quinn rubbed her back and put her cheek on her forehead to gauge her temperature. She had a small fever. Maybe swimming wasn't the best idea, and Quinn cursed herself for not considering this outcome. Quinn nudged Rachel awake so she could grab Beth's baby bag.
"Mmf.. what's wrong?" Rachel murmured, looking around for a source of danger. Santana stirred as well.
"Nothing serious, Rachel, I just need Beth's baby bag." Quinn said. Rachel leaned over and grabbed the bag, unzipping it and waiting patiently. "Um, I need a face wipe and her baby Nyquil." Rachel grabbed the items and handed them to Quinn. She sat the bag aside and sat up to get a better look at an unhappy Beth.
"Oh honey.." Rachel sighed. She brought a hand up and felt her warm forehead. Beth sniffled at the attention.
"Hey mini Q. What's the matter?" Santana asked the toddler. She reached down and grabbed the pacifier that had fallen during Beth's cries, and wiped it with one of the face wipes.
"Don't feel good." Beth said softly. Her eyes shiny with tears and exhaustion.
"Well, Quinn's gonna make you all better." Santana smiled, wiping away Beth's tears with her thumb. "Right Q?"
"That's right," Quinn smiled at her daughter, thankful for Santana's encouragement. Beth seemed to be calming and staring at them with the most trusting eyes. Quinn vowed to the end of the end to make her all better. She fixed a dose of the medicine and dried Beth's face with a face wipe. "Open up, Sweetie."
Beth opened her mouth to accept the syringe of medicine. It tasted weird, but Quinn promised to make it better. And Beth trusted her. She accepted a few sips of juice to chase the medicine and then allowed Santana to replace her pacifier before replacing her head on Quinn's chest. After a few minutes her breathing evened out again, and she was asleep.
—AiZ—
Quinn was dozing off in the grass beside Rachel. It was a nice warm day, and they were relaxing under a large tree in the expansive backyard of the Fabray manor. Rachel was listening to some music and singing softly to herself, while Quinn loosely skimmed through one of her her favorite books. It was high noon and sunny, but not too hot. It felt nice to just sit with Rachel like this on days like these. She looked over at her girlfriend, and when Rachel caught her eye, they smiled.
Suddenly something else caught Quinn's attention. It was small and white, and crawling across the yard. Immediately Quinn knew who it was. "Beth?" She questioned, and quickly got to her feet to follow the toddler. She was wearing a cute little white sun dress, with adorable white sandals and her golden blond hair was tied back by two green ribbons. Beth seemed to have her heard name, and in response turned her head to smile at Quinn, but she didn't stop her trek towards her destination. Quinn noticed she was headed dangerously towards what looked like a cavern created by visible surface roots of a large tree. "Beth! Beth no!" Quinn yelled as she ran quickly after her daughter, as the baby went down inside the hole. "Fuck!" She yelled. "Rachel get Mom!" But Rachel hadn't followed. Quinn wasted no time sliding into the hole after her daughter.
—AiZ—
Quinn sat up abruptly gasping and frantically looking around at her surroundings. The movement stirred both Santana and Rachel, but Santana simply curled up and turned over, murmuring about breadsticks. Quinn felt like her heart was beating out of her chest and her brow was wet with sweat. She was holding a sleeping Beth tightly to her chest as the baby sighed in her sleep and chewed on her pacifier. Quinn tried desperately to regulate her breathing and heart rate.
"Are you okay baby? It was just a bad dream.." Rachel whispered. She reached up and pushed Quinn's loose bangs out of her face.
"I'm fine" Quinn muttered. The dream was quickly fading but reality was filtering in, and it really wasn't much better. "What time is it?" Quinn asked as she settled back down in her spot.
Rachel glanced at the glow of her Ranger's watch they'd snagged at the outdoor sports store. "It's a little after 3am. Do you want to talk about it?" She asked. Quinn knew she was concerned, but she really couldn't talk about anything at the moment. She couldn't grasp onto a thought long enough to process it.
"No. I'm okay" she replied, leaning over to give Rachel a reassuring peck on the lips. "Go back to sleep. I'm sorry I startled you."
Unsure of what else to do, Rachel cuddled up to Quinn again to do as asked. Their relationship was still in its early stages, but she'd known Quinn most of her life. It was impossible to coerce her into talking if she wasn't ready, and pushing too hard yielded unwanted results. So she placed a calming kiss on Quinn's cheek, and closed her eyes.
—AiZ—
Later that evening, the guys were playing frisbee while the girls—and Beth—were sitting around singing songs. Quinn was strumming on Sam's guitar, while Santana laid back with a giggling Beth sitting on her stomach, and Rachel made faces and sang to the baby. Beth was delighted to hear Rachel's singing and Quinn's soft strumming, while Santana tickled her belly.
"I've been thinking Q, and I say we head North. You know, Canada. I know this is technically a medical phenomenon but there's no way those things can survive a winter there." Santana said. She blew a raspberry on Beth's tummy and the baby squealed with joy. Quinn smiled.
"I'd have to agree with Tana, Quinn." Rachel mused. "I mean, we'd of course have to find somewhere warm before winter hits—its already October, mind you—and I honestly can't think of any place safe to go. It may be a fair assumption that if we suffer physically during the cold that a... corpse... would certainly fail to survive under such conditions."
"Also, I might know a place where we can stay," Santana added. "It's a cabin that Mami and Papi liked to visit on their anniversary. We could go there. I don't know exactly where it is but I'm sure we could find it. Its in an area called Algonquin Woods."
Quinn really couldn't see an issue with that idea. It was going to get cold really soon and camping just wasn't going to cut it, especially not with Beth. She glanced quickly towards her baby girl and noticed that her nose was runny. She used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe Beth's nose clean. They couldn't stay outdoors forever.
"Okay" she sighed. "We'll talk to the guys to see what they think at breakfast tomorrow. Let's just consider it as our first option for now."
The girls agreed and Beth yawned. The sun would be going down and soon, the guys wouldn't be able to see their frisbee. Quinn stood and scooped up Beth and headed toward the Rav-4 to get her some more medicine with the hope that it would help her sleep off the cold she'd picked up.
—AiZ—
"Take off your shirt, baby" Quinn whispered. Rachel was straddling her in the back seat of the Rav-4, while Beth slept soundly on blankets in the cargo hold with aid of some more Nyquil, Jesse's ipod—which was set to his ballads playlist—and her pacifier. They rarely got moments alone these days, so as soon as Santana mentioned she wanted to bunk with Jesse for the night, and Quinn got Beth to sleep after some discerning coughs, they took the opportunity to cuddle and talk quietly in the privacy of the car.
Rachel giggled softly and threaded her arms through the long sleeves as she looked down into Quinn's adoring eyes. She gasped as she felt Quinn's cool hands on the bare skin of her torso, trekking upwards.
"You know, I never thought I'd get to be with you" Quinn murmured as she moved her hands to gently cup and knead Rachel's chest. "When I lived with Mercedes, we'd talk about.. you know.. guys, and I'd pretend that I wanted to make it work with Puck because.. that's what every one expected right?" She leaned up to kiss Rachel's neck and nibble on her collar bone. "But I know Cedes didn't buy it. I guess she figured that if I wanted him I wouldn't have jumped at the offer to move out." She continued, sliding her hands down to aid Rachel by gripping her hips while she rocked against her. "What really drove me mad was that when you'd sing those sappy love songs to Finn," she punctuated her distaste over the boy by thrusting her hips up into Rachel roughly. Rachel moaned. "I'd lay in my room at the Jones residence and wonder why a girl like you, who's so talented and beautiful, would ever waste time with a flat tire like Finn. And why did that bother me so-fucking-much"
Rachel was panting loudly into the night and didn't anticipate Quinn flipping their positions so that Rachel was on her back while Quinn settled between her legs. She whimpered when she felt Quinn resume grinding in this position.
"Then, Jesse entered the picture. I was sure I'd lost you then." Quinn murmured into Rachel's neck. "He seemed perfect for you. I couldn't believe there was this guy who you completely bonded with on every level. I'd just come to terms with my feelings for you, and I thought 'Wow, I'll never be able to compete with him'" Quinn sucked on Rachel pulse point."I at least thought that he had the potential to be good for you, since you were both ambitious and talented. So, so talented, baby"
Rachel felt Quinn releasing the button on her jeans. She lifted her hips so Quinn could reach inside, and groaned when she felt Quinn fingers press against the damp fabric of her panties.
"I knew you were destined for greatness, Rachel." Quinn rubbed.
Rachel squirmed, reaching back to brace her hands on the door.
"Now I'm with you." Quinn pushed. "And I love you so much." Quinn squeezed. "And I wish I could give you everything you deserve. You deserve much more than this Rachel. I want to make you happy, I want to fix this, but I can't." Quinn whispered.
It was the most emotion Quinn had shown since that evening at the diner back at NYADA. Rachel couldn't even focus on that because Quinn was busy touching her for the first time. She gulped audibly and tried to grab hold of her thoughts, against Quinn's insistent probing. "W-wait.. Quinn, baby..." she moaned "S-stop for just a—"
They both froze. Rachel had been interrupted by what sounded like gun shots. A few seconds passed before they heard it again.
"Fuck!" Quinn whispered, scrambling off Rachel and immediately shifting into action. Rachel realized that the conversation that needed to be had, had once again evaded them. "Rachel, grab Beth and get into the passenger seat." Quinn ordered before stepping out of the Rav-4. She rounded the Range Rover and knocked on the windows to wake the group. Sam, who'd slept reclined in the drivers seat, rolled down the window.
"Guys, we need to go, now. Someone is shooting. Follow me out and keep the lights off." She demanded shortly. They sprung into action and Sam started the vehicle, waiting for Quinn's lead.
Quinn got back into the Rav-4 and started the engine. The shots had been brief but they had no idea the circumstances nor which direction which they came. But they knew that no one in their right mind would be wasting rounds. There was a reason shots were fired, and any hostility—be it from them or rogue survivors—was bad.
They set slowly and quietly on the exit road to avoid arousing any attention in their direction. Rachel was holding a still sleeping Beth tightly as she watched Quinn. The Rav-4 pushed ahead, and Quinn squinted in the low moonlight to make sure they stayed on the road, the Range Rover right on their tail. They heard the shots fire again, and every one of them was absolutely terrified.
When they hit the main road, Quinn immediately pointed North. They didn't have a chance to discuss their options but she figured they could stop somewhere far away from their current position. She glanced over into Rachel's concerned and frightened gaze and sighed. she mentally noted that they really needed to find a carseat for Beth on their next run, which would probably be sooner rather than later. But then, Quinn found herself wondering if it would be a dangerous decision to trap her daughter in a seat should they ever need to escape quickly. Quinn realized she didn't know what was best for Beth at the moment, and the thought made her long for Shelby. That's why she'd trusted her to raise her daughter in the first place. Quinn bit her lip and fought back her tears. Her grip tightened on the steering wheel as she wished that Shelby could be here for Beth, because surely she'd know what to do. She allowed a single tear to escape as she again thought that Russel would too.
—AiZ—
They'd been driving for close to an hour now, and Rachel watched Quinn grow more and more distressed. She wished disperately that she could get inside Quinn's mind and ease her fears somewhat. They were all afraid, but Quinn was the only one who was fighting so valiantly against it. Rachel knew that when her girlfriend got trapped inside her own mind, the backlash was usually devastating. She couldn't just sit there and watch it.
"Quinn, sweetheart, pull over." Rachel spoke firmly.
Quinn shook her head, not even sparing a glance in Rachel's direction.
"I mean it, Quinn. Pull over."
"No." Quinn growled. She checked the rear-view to make sure the Rover was still behind them and sped up.
"Quinn, goddamn it, pull over!" Rachel yelled, causing Beth to stir. Rachel rocked her slightly but kept her eyes on Quinn, who tightened her jaw and slowed down onto the road shoulder.
Quinn put the car in park and Rachel surveyed her surroundings before opening the door and stepping out. She walked around to the drivers side and with one arm tight around Beth, pulled the door open. Quinn was staring ahead and breathing roughly through her nose. Rachel ducked down and settled herself onto Quinn's lap, and tangled her free hand in Quinn's hair, pulling her head against her. Beth was awakened by all the movement, but was resting her head on Rachel's other shoulder, watching them drowsily while the music played in her ears.
"I love you too Quinn," Rachel whispered. They both acknowledged that it was the first time they'd exchanged I love you's. "I wish the world was better for you too. And Beth. We all deserve better, especially her." She placed a kiss on Beth's head. "I can't fix it either, but I won't stop trying for you. I love you."
"I have to keep you both safe." Quinn whimpered into Rachel's neck. "I love you both so much. I cant lose you. I'll die.."
"Shhh.." Rachel whispered. "I know, baby. We're together in this okay? We don't have the answers but we are together. Our group looks out for each other and we're gonna figure it out, okay?"
Quinn just buried her nose further into Rachel's hair and shrugged. Beth started to squirm and reached out to grab Quinn's hair in a show of support. The action caused Quinn to giggle and she shifted, prompting Rachel to get up and get back into her own seat on the passengers side. They noticed Santana standing outside the Rover with her hand on her weapon, eyes alert. When she saw them get back into their seats, she made her way to Quinn's window.
"We need walkies." She stated seriously.
"We need a lot of things," Quinn retorted. "Listen, tell the guys to keep following. We're gonna head North until we need gas, then we'll fill up and find a campsite. Come back though cause we need you to hold Beth in the back while Rachel navigates."
Santana nodded and went to relay the message. When she returned, Rachel passed her the baby and they all strapped in, Beth under the waist Belt in Santana's lap. She held onto her as they set off, hopefully to a quiet and relatively safe rest stop.
A/N: Thank you guys so much for the reviews! I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll let you sit on the questions a while though, but they will be answered! This fic is complete and is 8 chapters long, and I'm working on the sequel still. I'm glad some of you like St. Lopez, haha. Anywho I am participating in FaPezBerry week, and will be posting a fic for that today as well! :)