Chapter 2
Reach Out And Touch Fate

The metal door of the exit at the side of the building opened and people started emerging. She was among them, though she didn't linger behind with anyone in idle small talk as they dispersed into smaller groups to smoke, wait for others or head off to the same subway stop. Their rehearsal went well. Very well, actually. She could say that she was confident the premiere later that night would be a success. She went over her mental checklist to make sure she remembered everything she needed to take care of, before heading back to the theatre. She also needed to call her manager. Rifling through her purse in search of her phone, the brunette walked towards the edge of the sidewalk to hail a cab home. The traffic wasn't as bad this time of the day, so it shouldn't be that difficult. Someone from the cast called out to her about whether she was still up for drinks after the show. Her head turned in the direction of the voice, while she kept on walking-

"Potestas Sylvester?"

"Quinn. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I have a pressing matter to discuss with you." Her tone was steady, resolute. She was ready for a fight if that was what it took to convince her superior.

"I see. And that is?"

She drew a deep breath, "I need to shed my wings. To become mortal and protect my… human," she added quickly before the other angel could respond.

Sue levelled her with a stare, but she held it, not backing down.

"I see." Sue said after a moment.

Sue was eerily calm about this. Quinn was thrown a bit at that, and her conviction wavered. "Are you not going to stop me?" she asked carefully.

"What would be the point? I am sure I would only be repeating arguments you've already heard. I am not surprised by your devotion Quinn. It is, after all, your purpose. At your core you are, and have always been, a messenger, a guardian, malakhim. I assume you have given this proper thought?"

"Yes."

"And yet here you are. You must know what you are doing."

"Yes."

"So you are convinced that your intervention is the only way to protect your… 'human'."

"Ye-I mean I refuse to believe that it is God's Design that she must die." She'd been in this position before. She would prove her point no matter how many authorities she would have to go through. She has always succeeded in making others see reason and this time will be no different. With that thought she straightened with resolution.

Whereas Sue only narrowed her eyes all the more menacingly. "And who exactly are you to question God's Design? Do you know it?" She took an intimidating step closer. "Do you defy it?"

Quinn opened her mouth, yet paused for a moment. She needed to choose her words carefully as this was a slippery slope towards heresy. "If… Fate is set in stone, what is the point of free will? And without free will, there is no point in humans having us guardians to advise them or demons to tempt them. Yet here we are." She eyed her superior. "On the other hand this can just as well be part of the Design. And-" she faltered for a second because while she had of course considered this option, it didn't make it any easier to admit, "-my intervention might not prevent anything and she will still die. But we will never know until it happens. So what I'm saying is that I'm not defying it, I am part of it." And at that she once again stared right back at potestas Sylvester who was clearly impressed to the point of half-smirking.

"You might wanna take that one up with Uriel," the elder responded, the smirk never leaving her face, but Quinn knew she wasn't being serious.

"I would say that your self-righteousness reminded me of an eons-younger Sue Sylvester, but then again that Sylvester would never have been this reckless with her immortality."

"Especially not for somebody else's benefit," she added.

"But it also unnerves me," Sue folded her arms. "Q, I was perfectly willing to let you go down there, fail valiantly in attempting to thwart the inevitable, then, seeing as your chances at survival would be less than favorable, it would be only a matter of time before I plucked your spirit from among the deceased 'newcomers' back onto my team," she finished nonchalantly.

Quinn was taken aback at this. She did not know whether to be flattered or offended at the back-handed compliment.

Potestas Sylvester leaned closer, almost towering, "But seeing your conviction and knowing your perseverance I am not so sure that moment will come all that soon."

This was definitely a compliment.

"Very well then." Sue relented and it was as if the air around them cleared up. Quinn visibly relaxed. She had won. "As I can see you cannot be swayed, let me at least give you some pointers…"

There was a flash of white and the wind in her ears faded out. Her first breath came as a ragged inhale. Her first breath came with the knowledge that she must act immediately. Her first breath provided oxygen swiftly to the muscles in her feet. Like a clockwork mechanism they set her in motion. Her hand reached out for the brunette's shoulder and her movement seemed almost intricately calculated, almost as if her body moved on its own. She needed to stop her, she needed to shield her.

But by the paradox of inertia, while stopping the woman from walking right in front of the incoming car, her feet stumbled, propelling Quinn in return directly in front of the incoming vehicle. It took a split second for her eyes to widen with realization of what would happen. It took another for them to seek out Rachel's equally incredulous gaze.

And in that moment everything slowed down.

Yet everything was still happening. As if she were hyperaware of each aspect and each action.

The approaching asphalt beneath her.

The screech of the brakes.

The roar of the car horn.

The cityscape reflected in the approaching car's hood.

Its slope and form connecting with Quinn's side.

Her ribs straining against the impact.

She could almost hear them snap one after another.

Then the images followed, worn around the edges like old cherished Polaroids.

Rachel nearly running into a glass door after she first learned to walk.

Rachel nearly touching the waffle iron.

Refusing to cheat on a test.

Being brave enough to tell the truth.

Saying no to an ill-advised engagement.

Pursuing her dreams.

Snapshots of Rachel's life passed in front of Quinn's mind's eye. The moments in which she made a difference. And of course they were all Rachel's, she herself has not lived a life of her own… yet…?

Her momentary fascination was quickly overshadowed by the cutting pain of her back scraping along the coarse surface of the road. It was quickly joined, magnified tenfold even, by the agony spreading from her side, engulfing all of her newly attained senses in white hot darkness.

And in that moment… everything lunged into fast-forward.