Hey guys! Thanks so much for all of your feedback. I really appreciate your comments. Again, I should point out that this FIC does derive from another BUFFY/FAITH fic which I wrote a while ago and deleted…which is why it may seem familiar (Thanks to whoever took it upon themselves to inform the commenter below them that I did point that out). And anyway…on with the chapter! I hope you enjoy :)
Chapter 2
Rachel groaned painfully as she slowly stirred in consciousness. As her senses gradually returned to her she shivered slightly from the cold that filled the car, her eyes flickering open. A soft whimper escaped her at the tight aching feeling in her chest and she automatically glanced to her left. Her eyes widened in alarm as they settled on an unconscious Quinn, slumped over the steering wheel, bleeding profusely from a head wound "Quinn!" she scrambled to unclip her seatbelt despite her ribs aching in protest at the movement and tentatively gripped Quinn's shoulders to push her away from the wheel. She moved quickly so that she was half kneeling on Quinn's seat, her other knee jammed painfully into the centre console "Quinn!" she gently tapped Quinn's cheek, being careful to avoid any area that may have been injured in the crash "Quinn, wake UP!" she demanded in her most authoritative voice. She held her breath for a long moment until Quinn shifted under her hands, a small cry of pain escaping her lips. Rachel released the breath she had been holding, relieved that the honey blonde was beginning to stir. Quinn blinked her eyes open after a moment, slightly disorientated to find Rachel so close to her.
"Rachel?" she mumbled only for pain to shoot through her head "Ow…" she lifted a hand to her head, surprised to feel blood cover her fingertips "What happened?"
"We crashed…" Rachel's gaze flickered to the left and right before she focused on Quinn, concern covering her features "Don't you remember? The car was coming right at us and…Oh my God you might have concussion or amnesia or brain damage or…"
"Berry." Quinn winced at the pain Rachel's higher than usual voice was sending through her head "Drop a couple of octaves. I can assure you I'm no more brain damaged now than I was before."
Rachel visibly slumped in relief but frowned when she noticed the questioning look Quinn was giving her "What is it?"
"Just…You can get off me now if you want." Quinn answered softly, her words not spoken unkindly.
"Oh!" Rachel blushed when she noticed she was more or less sitting atop Quinn, her hand still resting lightly on her cheek "S-sorry!" she practically fell back into her own seat, hissing sharply at the pain that jolted through her ribs "I'm…I'm just going to…I'll be right back." she quickly pushed the car door open, causing snow to fall down from the roof. She squeaked indignantly as the icy substance hit her but quickly removed herself from the car leaving Quinn staring after her in bemusement.
Rachel pulled her phone out of her pocket as she walked away and cursed silently when she noticed she had no signal at all "This is great…This is just great!" she glanced back at the car and groaned angrily when she noticed it was buried under what looked like 6 feet of snow. She turned around and kicked the snow under her feet in a sullen manner.
"Berry!" Quinn's voice sounded in a whisper yell from behind her "Where are you going?"
Rachel turned around and held her phone up in response to the question "I can't get signal here."
"Where are we?" Quinn asked softly as she stopped at Rachel's side and shivered slightly at the feeling of cold which was rapidly engulfing her. She glanced around but found she couldn't see anything apart from a dense collection of trees to her right and a steep hill to her left. There seemed to be only snowy ground stretched out in front of her, at least as far as the eye could see "I can't even see the road from here."
"That's because we're nowhere near the road." Rachel informed her, a hint of annoyance in her tone "We left the road over two hours before we crashed, remember?"
"We left the main road." Quinn corrected reasonably "We were still on a road." She glanced around again but frowned upon seeing on sign of the road they had been driven from.
Rachel huffed and continued walking forward "Well your detour was a great idea, I must say. Now we're not only going to be late for the performance but we're stranded in the middle of nowhere. Where may I add nobody is going to look for us even if they do notice we're missing. "
"Are you saying this is my fault?" Quinn snapped angrily "How the hell was I supposed to know that some nut job was going to drive us off the road?"
"I told you we should have stayed on the main road." Rachel stated calmly as she wrapped her arms around herself for warmth. Despite the three layers of clothing she was wearing she could already feel the cold getting to her. "But we just had to do things your way."
"Because what you say is always right, right Berry?" Quinn retaliated sharply "Your way or the freaking highway!"
"My way was the highway." Rachel corrected shortly "Whereas your way was the ominous looking road which nobody in their right minds would choose to drive on!"
Quinn almost laughed at the unintentional pun but quickly remembered that she was supposed to be angry at the brunette for blaming her for the accident "It still wasn't my fault that we were driven from the road." She pointed out stubbornly "The road we were on probably was a shortcut." She noticed Rachel was about to interrupt and quickly continued "Plus you didn't argue against it for very long."
"Would there have been any point in doing so?" Rachel asked pointedly "You would only have ignored me and possibly hurled your usual abuse at me for having the audacity to argue with you in the first place."
Quinn visibly flinched at the accusation, a reaction which didn't go unnoticed by the brunette "Whatever."
Rachel sighed and slowed her pace slightly "Why are we arguing about this anyway?"
"Because you're blaming me for the crash?" Quinn huffed.
Rachel paused for a moment before speaking "I'm sorry Quinn. I know the crash was not your fault. I'm just cold and annoyed that we're going to miss out on watching our adversaries perform."
"It's fine." Quinn shrugged reluctantly though she could still feel the bitter sting of Rachel's earlier comment. She ignored it and tried to change the subject "So where are we going?"
"I'm not sure." Rachel sighed, realising they had walked quite a distance away from the car "When I started walking I was merely doing it out of pure agitation but now I suppose it would be beneficial to find the road so th…" she trailed off, suddenly finding herself out of breath and coughed painfully causing Quinn to stop a couple of paces in front of her and turn around.
"Berry?" Quinn watched in alarm as the brunette in front of her doubled over in a coughing fit, her petite body shaking with the force of the episode "Berry!" she moved quickly forward, her hand coming to lightly rest on Rachel's back "Hey, are you okay?" she frowned in worry when Rachel gripped the front of her jacket in a vice like grip, tugging her down slightly "Rachel?" she unconsciously began to rub soothing circles on the smaller girl's back.
Finally Quinn heard the coughing begin to die down and the grip on her jacket loosened.
"I-I'm okay." Rachel gasped out as she painstakingly stood up and subtly wiped her hand on her dark pants. She paused when she noticed Quinn's concerned expression "Don't worry. It's probably just the cold." When the blonde merely stared at her sceptically Rachel continued "Come on. We should keep moving." Before the other girl could say anything more she continued walking at a rather rapid pace. Quinn hesitated in concern for a moment before she rushed to walk at Rachel's side.
"It's dark." Rachel murmured quietly after a few minutes of walking in silence. She glanced cautiously to her left as the back of her hand brushed against Quinn's.
"Yeah, it is." Quinn agreed softly, her breath catching at the touch of Rachel's hand to her own.
"It's kind of creepy." Rachel observed thoughtfully "It's like there's no stars or moonlight or anything…just darkness."
"Uh-huh" Quinn wavered uncertainly for a moment before boldly slipping her hand into the brunette's, earning herself a surprised look. When Rachel's hand remained limp Quinn bit her lip beginning to think she had overstepped unspoken boundaries and was about to pull her hand away when the grip tightened and fingers cautiously entwined with her own.
"I still can't see the road" Rachel murmured softly as they continued to walk. Quinn was about to respond when something in the nearby woods caught her eye and she ground to a halt, causing Rachel to stop abruptly with her due to their still linked hands "Hey what are y…"
"Shhh!" Quinn hushed softly "What…What the fuck is that?" she nodded towards the trees and Rachel followed her line of vision. The brunette stiffened when her eyes fell onto a hooded figure and she was about to walk forward when Quinn stopped her.
"They're everywhere." Quinn said in a hushed voice as she glanced around at the figures which suddenly surrounded them.
Rachel too glanced around, her nervousness only heightening when she noticed the hooded figures were slowly but surely moving closer to them.
"We should get back to the car" Quinn said warily as she tugged Rachel closer to her "Berry?" she glanced at Rachel who was till staring at the figures "Berry, c'mon!"
Rachel was shaken from her thoughts by Quinn's voice and they began to run back to the car, hands still tightly connected.
XxQRBSQRBSxX
"Who do you think they were?" Quinn gasped as they piled back into the car and locked the doors behind them.
"I don't know." Rachel responded, sounding even more out of breath than Quinn as she lifted a hand to her aching chest "They didn't seem very friendly though."
Quinn didn't respond as her gaze was fixed directly on Rachel's hand "Is there something wrong?"
"With me?" Rachel lowered her hand quickly "No, I'm just kind of out of breath. Despite my morning elliptical workouts it's obvious that I wouldn't be quite as in shape as you since you train extensively everyday. I have after all heard that coach Sylvester's training can be extremely strenuous."
Quinn had been nodding along to Rachel's answer but she still looked concerned. She was about to argue when Rachel spoke up again.
"How is your head?"
"It's fine." Quinn subconsciously lifted a hand to her head and winced when it collided with the cut there "Ow."
"Let me see." Rachel shifted in her seat and leaned closer to the other girl.
"You really don't have to…" Quinn began to protest but trailed off as Rachel's hand landed gently on her cheek "Um…I'll be fine."
"Either way I still have to check it to be sure." Rachel stated reasonably. She carefully applied pressure to the hand still on Quinn's cheek causing her head to turn slightly so she could see the wound "It looks deep." Rachel murmured as she ran a finger tenderly over the wound "And there's a bump."
"Which means what?" Quinn whispered shakily, not at all used to having anyone display such attentive tenderness towards her as Rachel was.
"It's going to bruise and…you might have concussion." Rachel concluded softly, her gaze dropping to Quinn's hazel eyes.
"Oh…"
"So you'll have to um…Tell me if you feel sick, dizzy, if you have a headache or anything like that." Rachel said, concern tainting her tone "You have to tell me right away."
"Right." Quinn nodded unable to stop her gaze momentarily flickering to Rachel's lips before she forced herself to look back up, her eyes slightly darker than a moment before "I…um…" she leaned unconsciously closer to the other girl.
Rachel too shifted forward slightly, her hand dropping to Quinn's shoulder. They were a mere breath away from each other when Quinn recoiled suddenly, her eyes wide in terror "Rachel, lock your door!"
"It's already locked." Rachel said, clearly startled by Quinn's sudden movement. She turned to make sure however and sucked in a sharp breath as she noticed one of the hooded figures from earlier standing a mere metre from the car just…staring at them intently. Rachel reached behind her and blindly grasped for Quinn's hand as the figure stepped closer "Quinn…"
Quinn fulfilled the unspoken request and grabbed the brunette's hand with both of her own, squeezing tightly "It's okay…It's okay. Just stay calm." She was unsure as to whether she was trying to reassure Rachel or herself as her own panic escalated.
Rachel scooted further backwards in her seat with every step the ominous figure took towards the car. Soon enough he was right next to the window and Rachel was beginning to hyperventilate, a reaction that proved to be more painful than it usually would have been. She whimpered in alarm when she felt one of Quinn's hands let go of her own "Quinn!"
Quinn wrapped her left arm lightly around Rachel's chest, pulling the other girl back against her own chest "Shhh Rachel." She whispered into Rachel's ear, her wide eyes glued intently to the figure "Stay quiet." She felt Rachel nod against her and resumed watching the figures action "I-I think he's leaving." Indeed the hooded figure had started to walk away and within a minute he had disappeared into the inky blackness of the woods.
"W-What do you think they want?" Rachel stuttered fearfully, maintaining her voce like grip on Quinn's hand.
"I don't know." Quinn murmured, dropping her arm from around Rachel's chest to allow the other girl to turn around to face her "But whatever it is, I'm willing to bet it's not a good thing…" she quickly faltered when she noticed Rachel looked even more alarmed than before "It's going to be okay. If he wanted to hurt us he would have smashed the window or something instead of walking away, right?" she waited for a tentative nod before continuing "We'll just wait it out until morning and then we'll leave."
Rachel nodded though she still didn't look convinced as they descended into silence.
"It's freezing." Quinn said suddenly as she shivered against the cold "Like…really f-freezing." She reached out an attempted to fiddle with the heating but found nothing would work on the car after the crash.
"Yeah…" Rachel whispered in agreement "W-wait, I have an idea…" she reached for the handle of her door but stopped short of opening it as Quinn's hand gripped her arm in a tight grip.
"Where are you going?" Quinn asked uneasily "You can't go out there!"
"I'll be right back." Rachel responded before she unlocked the door and got out.
"Berry!" Quinn exclaimed in a hushed voice "Berry come back damn it!" when the brunette didn't listen to her she sat up straight on the lookout for any figures emerging "Come on Rachel…"
"I'm back." Rachel said breathlessly as she got back into the car with a bag.
Quinn reached across her and pulled the door closed quickly, making sure to lock it "Did you see any of them?"
"No." Rachel shook her head in response "But I wasn't looking for them so it doesn't mean they aren't out there."
"What's in the bag?" Quinn nodded toward the bag in Rachel's hands "A heater and a power source? That would be all kinds of useful right now."
"No." Rachel smiled softly "The next best thing." she opened the bag and pulled out a large blanket.
"Where did you get that?" Quinn questioned curiously as she continued to shiver uncontrollably.
"You should always be prepared" Rachel stated "In case you get stuck in the snow with a bunch of possibly homicidal hooded figures." she made sure the doors were locked before she nodded towards the backseat "Are you coming?"
Quinn swallowed heavily as she watched Rachel clamber into the back seat "Um…" she hesitated for a moment before she followed the brunette cautiously into the back of the car. As soon as she sat down she found half of the blanket thrown over her "Thanks Rachel."
"No problem." Rachel muttered through chattering teeth.
"I'm still cold." Quinn complained suddenly as she tried in vain to pull the blanket tighter around herself "This isn't really helping very much…"
"I know" Rachel muttered. She paused in thought for a moment "Why don't we…" she trailed off, a pink tinge covering her cheeks "Um…never mind."
"What is it?"
"It's nothing." Rachel responded "You'll never go for it. In fact I'm absolutely certain that the idea would be positively nauseating to you."
"No, really." Quinn motioned for her to continue "I'm open to any suggestions which will stop us freezing to death."
"Well we could erm…Move closer?" Rachel stumbled over her words embarrassedly "Body heat and all, I mean…"
Quinn stayed silent and still for a moment before she slid closer to Rachel on the seat and wrapped her arms lightly around her waist before pulling her into her body and resting her chin on the younger girl's shoulder "Why didn't you think I would go for this?"
"I just…didn't think you would want to be this close to me." Rachel admitted in a whisper as she shifted further into Quinn's offered embrace "You made it clear what you think of me and my…appearance. I was under the impression that you wouldn't touch me with a ten foot bargepole even if it means certain death."
"Well you were wrong." Quinn said softly in response, remorse filling her voice "And I'm sorry."
"…Okay." Rachel shivered slightly as Quinn's cold nose pressed against her neck "This is…warmer."
"Uh-huh." Quinn nodded in agreement and closed her eyes along with Rachel "The doors are locked, right?"
"Hmmn." Rachel hummed tiredly in response and tightened her grip on Quinn's hands in front of her. Within minutes they had both fallen into a light sleep, their bodies' exhaustion overriding the feeling of alarm at the lurking presence of the unknown, hooded figures.
TBC