AN: My beta and I stayed up late on vacation just to get this out to you guys. Thanks for the patience, hope you enjoy this chapter.

They'd gotten their sea legs after the first day and quickly became accustomed to the slow, steady roll of the waves. Quinn had even started looking forward to being rocked to sleep by it each night. It was constant, a powerful force that lulled them into slumber; it had even started to seep into her dreams. The nightmares were there, always, but as Rachel had predicted they had become few and far between.

When the nightmares did rise up from the depths of her mind she came to gasping for breath, cheeks wet - only to have those tears wiped away. Sharing her bed had been awkward at first but she was so thankful, that after so short a time someone was there. She hadn't slept alone in years, but sharing a space - a bed - with Rachel was different. Luz, Chevy, Alex - they were her friends, but they were soldiers and they didn't react the same way to nightmares. Their instincts were to brush them off and drive on. Rachel, who felt everything so strongly, wouldn't dismiss any feeling. Where Luz would make a joke and move on, Rachel offered comfort and attempted to talk through things. Something Quinn didn't know she wanted, but realized that she needed. It helped even more to be the one able to offer comfort when Rachel tossed in the throes of her own nightmares.

Quinn woke to the sun streaming through the porthole. Sighing, she blinked the sleep clear from her eyes and tilted her head on her pillow to observe her bedmate.

Rachel had proven to be exactly what Quinn had always imagined - a possessive, cover-hogging, cuddle monster. Perhaps out of concern for Quinn's skittishness when it came to closeness even in her sleep, she hadn't started like that. They'd woken up close but not touching beyond their hands or feet.

That hadn't lasted long.

First it had been the spooning. Quinn had been awakened by a hand pressing against her stomach, pulling her back into the soft warmth of Rachel's body.

That had turned into both arms wrapped around her. Slender, lean arms that wound around her waist and kept her close. Rachel's breath stirring the hair at the back of her neck.

And then…

Quinn reached down to move Rachel's hand off her breast and tried to nudge Rachel's leg from between hers. Rachel frowned, squeezing her hand and mumbling.

"Rachel?" Quinn said, stifling a laugh. "Broadway, can I have my body back?"

Rachel's eyes opened to half mast and she groaned, rubbing her cheek against Quinn's shoulder. "What's it? Walkie?"

"No, but it's morning, I have to pee, and you're tagging second… plus I guarantee someone's going to be knocking any minute." Quinn sighed as Rachel slid away and reluctantly tossed back the blankets on the bed. She may have gotten used to the rocking of the ship, but the cold floor was something else entirely.

She had tiptoed halfway across the floor when there were three sharp raps against the door. Turning around she smiled at Rachel and pointed at the door. "Told you."

"Broadway! Hollywood! Wakey, wakey! Some of us would like to sleep off our watch shift!"

CJ was sea sick. Quinn shouldn't have found it funny - but it was so absurd after everything else they'd all survived. She couldn't help herself, even though she felt bad about laughing. The cool, collected Englishwoman could often be found swaying down the halls or clinging to the rails on the deck muttering and groaning about the "bloody ocean".

Even more amusing was watching her try to avoid Rory. He followed her like a worried puppy, constantly asking if she was alright and wondering how he could help.

"I'm a doctor, too - remember?" He'd say, exasperated as she glared at him and refused to let him near her.

"You know," Quinn commented, holding CJ's dark hair as she leaned over the rail. "Rory's kind of cute and sweet."

"Oh, don't you start," CJ said, rubbing at her forehead. "Rachel's badgering is enough."

"I'm just saying, one friend to another, he's quite the catch. Especially in the apocalypse pool, you know?" Quinn grinned and helped CJ turn around to sit on the deck. "That curly hair, tan skin… all those muscles. Don't think I didn't see you sneaking a peek when he was fishing topless the other day."

"I am not interested in apocalyptic romance." CJ started to shake her head, seemed to think better of it and settled on glaring at Quinn. "Smarty pants... how about we discuss your love life. It's much more interesting than my non-existent one."

Quinn bit her lip and looked out at the ocean to avoid the keen eyes of her friend. "There's nothing to discuss."

"Of course not – just you shacking up with Rachel immediately upon arrival. I mean, how could that possibly be interesting?"

"We're not – I mean… we just sleep together."

CJ's eyes widened and a smirk started to curl up her mouth. Quinn clapped a hand over her mouth and shook a finger.

"Sleep as in actual sleeping, you perv. I thought Brits were only that pervy on TV."

"Oof moornt mpfh," CJ replied. Even with her mouth covered Quinn could see that she was smiling. She groaned, pulling her hand away.

"What?"

"I said you wound me. I had no such thoughts; I was merely going to say that some relationships start out that way. Also, it's cute."

"We are not cute." Quinn shook her head and took a seat next to CJ, sighing as she stretched out her legs. "We're not anything. We're two people who knew each other Before and had a sort-of friendship that has turned into a bond only two such people could have." She reached over and thumped CJ's shoulder. "There's nothing going on beyond that. We're friends."

"Who share a bed?" CJ tapped her lips. "There's a term for that…"

"I told you, just to sleep. We're not fuck buddies."

"I was going to say – if you'd kindly quit interrupting me with your vicious assumptions of my character – I believe the term is denial."

"There's nothing to deny!" Quinn dropped her head back against the rail and winced up at the sky. "And – and even if there was something simmering it wouldn't matter. If you're going to avoid apocalyptic romance why would we consider it?"

CJ leaned her head over on Quinn's shoulder and gestured at the children playing further out on the deck. "For them. For all of us, of course. It brings hope to us all to see that despite this terribleness people can still find each other. Love will keep us alive and all that."

"I hear you making my case for me – you should give Rory a chance. He's obviously smitten."

"Yes, well, I'm in no mood for his advances. You two, on the other hand, you two are doing that deep staring, swooning, will-they-or-won't-they thing. It's maddening. Then you tease all of us with your hand holding when you think we aren't looking and shacking up."

"Oh my God," Quinn said with a groan and slapped at CJ's thigh. "Stop that. Rachel's not even, uh, like that."

"Like what? Human? Pretty sure she's human. Is she a Terminator? I had some suspicions."

Quinn laughed. "She's human. I meant that she's not into women."

CJ tilted her head and peered up at Quinn. "How do you know? She seems into you."

"She – I – she wasn't when we were kids," Quinn stammered, looking away again. "She chased after my boyfriend, stole him, and then made the rest of us gag with their 'epic' romance."

"Hmph, but you weren't even friends as you've said. How do you know? Certainly she wouldn't have told you such sensitive information when you were frienemies."

"She isn't."

"They do say that assumption makes an ass out of you," CJ said, laughing when Quinn bounced her head against her shoulder in retaliation. "What about you?"

"I don't care about – it's more about the person as a whole."

CJ nodded. "And Rachel as a whole person?"

"Yeah…" Quinn sighed and leaned her head against CJ's. "There's that."

"Have you considered talking to her about it?"

"No."

"But – " CJ reached over and took Quinn's hand. "You're doing so much better and I think it's because of her. You smile more and look, you're not even shaking even though I'm touching you."

"It could ruin what we have now and I need it."

"Quinn, I've seen the way she looks at you. How she chases after you, follows you wherever you go. You don't know what's going on with her. Maybe she's Quinnsexual."

Quinn snorted. "Please, never say that again."

"It would be a shame," CJ said softly and squeezed Quinn's hand. "An outright shame if you were forever stuck in this limbo. You're already good together; I imagine you could be more. In this environment having someone - finding that connection is really very special and it should be celebrated."

A door clanged open above them and Quinn glanced up to see Rachel standing on the observation deck. "I guess we'll just wait and see."

Rachel stepped out onto the observation deck squinting over at the sun. She didn't wait for her eyes to adjust to the glare, instead plucking her sunglasses out of the breast pocket of her plaid over-shirt and quickly putting them on. It still took her a moment to be able to make out the shapes below. She sighed as she caught sight of a familiar blonde-haired head leaned against an equally familiar dark-haired head. A pang of jealousy echoed in her gut but she ignored it. CJ and Quinn had bonded somehow, somewhere along the journey. Besides, Rachel liked CJ – she knew better than to be jealous.

That didn't stop her from feeling that initial sting, but at least she had knowledge to soothe it.

The door groaned open behind her and she didn't bother turning around. There was no danger from those onboard the ship.

At least she didn't think there was. Sometimes she wondered. Andrew, in particular, had been acting strange. They were all twitchy and irritable at times, but ever since the attack by the raiders in the desert he'd been borderline explosive in temperament. She couldn't completely blame him - he had lost an eye, after all. It was hard not to feel at fault for that. Trying to intervene between him and the others during a squabble had become difficult due to her guilt. Maybe if someone else had been on watch that night she could have prevented all the trouble. She'd know about Andrew's aversion to being ordered around and had hoped that giving him more responsibility might make him feel part of the group. Instead she'd made him worse.

But Luz stepped outside and as threatening as she could be, Rachel knew she wasn't a real threat. Not a looming one like Andrew might be.

"Hey," Luz said as she leaned backwards against the railing Rachel had folded her arms on top of.

"Luz." She sighed and turned her head just enough for a glimpse. "What can I help you with?"

"I'm here to help you." Luz bobbed her head from side to side and arched one dark eyebrow over the lenses of her sunglasses. "Maybe."

"Maybe?" Rachel repeated, raising her own eyebrow. "That sounds ominous. What do I need your help with?"

"Q."

Rachel snapped her head fully in Luz's direction and narrowed her eyes, even though Luz wouldn't be able to see it. "Let me stop you right there. You think you're big and bad but I promise you – you don't know me; I'm a thousand times the bitch you are. Think hard about what you say next or I'll toss you over this railing without second thought."

"Down, Loba." Luz laughed and shook her head. "Q's not someone I'd ever talk shit about – unless she was present, of course."

"Of course." Rachel let her sneer fall into a frown and rubbed at the back of her neck. She's not Santana, Rachel. She's not. "I bet I know what you're going to say, but let's hear it in that colorful vernacular of yours."

"Alright. You pulled a U-Haul with Quinn, and before you get your panties in a bunch let me finish." Luz tipped her face up towards the sun and sighed, long and heavy. "Is she doing okay?"

Rachel's frown deepened. "Why aren't you asking her?"

"Because she lies," Luz answered simply. "Look, I'm not pissed or whatever about you moving in together, or whatever that was. I'm generally concerned as a friend of both of you. You've got some strong vibes going and… it seems to have been a good thing, but I want to make sure."

"She's fine." Rachel wrapped her hands around the rail and snuck a look down at Quinn. "She's… she's doing better. We both are."

"Yeah, that was my next question."

Rachel cracked a smile. "Do you have a list?"

"No." Luz snorted. "Do I look that organized?"

"I figured the Marines would have drilled some organization skills into you," Rachel said, ducking her head. She felt a blush rising on her cheeks. "Quinn's fine, Luz."

"And you?" Luz asked and Rachel could feel the burn of her stare even through the thick lenses of those intimidating sunglasses.

"I'm… trying."

"This next question is awkward, but I'm just gonna ask it 'cause you seem the blunt type anyway." Luz turned away from her lazy position and crossed her arms over her chest. "Are you fucking her?"

Rachel coughed, embarrassed at first, then straightening as anger replaced the discomfiture. "Excuse me? Over the railing, Luz. I mean it."

Luz held her hands up. "No, no, not – Jesus, you think I want to hear about – no. It's kind of a thing, you know? Some people in these situations shack up and it don't mean anything and here at the end of the world it fucking means something. I know it would mean something to Q with her whole 'I die inside when people touch me' thing."

"I don't think that's really any of your business. Change the subject."

"So you're not." Luz sighed. "That's – well it's not good, obviously, because you both need to get laid. The tension is making us all feel antsy. Like, I'm a little afraid I can get pregnant just looking at you two. But it's good that you didn't jump the shark."

The laughter that burst from Rachel's mouth surprised her, and Luz, too, if the sudden jerk was any indication. "You are the most peculiar person I've ever met. Did you really just ask if I was fucking Quinn and then say it's good I wasn't because it would be like when two main characters on a show got together too soon?"

"I don't know you, you don't know me, Loba. I'll surprise you and you'll surprise me."

"Right." Rachel relaxed against the railing again. "I wouldn't do that to Quinn, so change the subject before my amusement gives out."

"You're – I – fuck this was not that awkward in my head." Luz swiped at her mouth and then inclined her head down to where Quinn and CJ were sitting. "You're good for her, okay? And I wanted to encourage you to keep doing what you're doing. But you have to be patient with her. I don't know what – I don't know if you're interested in her and I'm not going to ask. You know, don't ask, don't tell. What I will say is that Q is. She gets this look on her face when you're around and it's… it's like she's in pain. The deep kind that'll tear you up inside if you let it." Luz took a deep breath and then reached over to grasp Rachel's wrist. "Be careful with her, but more importantly be careful with you."

"I don't know what we're doing yet... where this is going or what it will be," Rachel whispered and brushed her hair out of her face. "I promise you I'm being careful, for both our sakes. Right now it is what it is and it's fine. It's what we need right now. There are things that need to be – not fixed, but – wounds that need to scar. Everything's still bleeding and we've smacked bandaids over them. That's what it is. What we are to each other, we're bandaids."

Luz pushed her sunglasses up into her hair. Her hard brown eyes softened as she looked at Rachel and then she slid Rachel's aviators down her nose until they were staring right at each other. Open and vulnerable. Rachel let her look, let her see how her eyes blurred as tears welled. It was the biggest gift she could give.

"Cariño, you're so much more than a bandaid," Luz whispered.

That night Rachel lay awake in the bed, staring up at the ceiling. She should have been exhausted after her deck watch period. Midnight to three was a bitch - which was why she'd asked for it. She didn't envy Jed taking the shift after her. He'd explained that second watch, three to six, was the hardest night shift. When most of the mistakes were made. Her shift was the second hardest, the hour between two to three especially. With nothing to look at but the pitch black ocean and the deck lit by small lights, it was hard to stay focused, to watch for anything that could pop up.

No one had made iceberg jokes - not after they all realized just how scary and demanding a job steering a ship at night was.

Rachel had started to dream about the Titanic and that was enough to keep her mind sharp most nights.

She normally fell asleep soon after her head hit the pillow, lulled into it by the rocking of the ship and Quinn's soft, raspy breathing. Not to mention the sheer comfort of having an actual warm bed to crawl into.

But Quinn wasn't sleeping and neither was Rachel. She could feel Quinn's brain turning in the dark, hear the difference in her breathing. Quinn slept with her mouth open - said it had something to do with a broken nose and the rhinoplasty; she couldn't breathe through her nose while she slept. But Rachel couldn't hear her breathing and that meant she was awake.

Which meant that Rachel was awake, staring at the ceiling with heavy eyes.

"Quinn, I can feel you thinking. Are you okay?" she finally asked.

"I'm - I'm awake. It's like…" Quinn trailed off and Rachel heard her shifting, sheets rustling.

Feeling eyes on her, Rachel was tempted to roll on her side and meet Quinn head on, but something else told her to stay as she was. "Like?"

"When I was little," Quinn said after a long pause. "When I was Lucy, I ran away once. My parents didn't pay much attention to Lucy and - I ran away because I thought then they would miss me. It was storming out and I didn't care, I ran. I didn't get very far. There was this fence and I was scared so I didn't stop to wonder why the fence was different than all the others I'd seen. It was electric, but I didn't know that so I grabbed it with my wet bare hand. That's what I feel like right now, like there's current flowing through my body."

Rachel felt her nostrils flare at the mention of Quinn's parents and little Lucy. She didn't know much about her, just the things that Finn had mentioned. He'd told her about Lucy to help her understand Quinn better - one of the few moments between them where he'd sounded mature. He had loved Quinn before, but he'd loved her more for Lucy. Little Lucy Fabray who hadn't had a friend in the world, whose parents scorned her. A leper like Rachel. It had been a turning point for Rachel with Quinn - she'd wanted to be her friend before she'd known, but after learning more about her past…

Her hands shook as she pushed her hair out of her face. "What happened after?"

"After?"

"After the fence. Did your parents come and find you?"

"You're not going to -" Quinn huffed a laugh. "Coach Sylvester found me crying and burned, sitting outside her fence. She took me inside, gave me hot cocoa, and took me home after I'd spilled the whole sad story to her. She's the one who suggested gymnastics to my parents and mentioned her cheerleading squad at McKinley."

"You're kidding me." Rachel sat up on a hand and turned to look down at Quinn. She could see her faintly, smiling in the dark. "That's how - really?"

"The beginning of the end of Lucy," Quinn remarked softly. "Obviously the change didn't really happen until middle school, years later. I never forgot about the weird woman with the shocking fence. When it got too bad I begged my parents to call the number of the gymnastics coach Sue had given us. Lucy was murdered and Quinn born."

Sadness fell over Rachel, so thick and cloying that her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth and she choked on her own spit. She hid her teary eyes by turning over, lying back down and resting her head against Quinn's shoulder. Unable to speak for several seconds, she settled for wrapping an arm around Quinn and offering silent comfort. For Quinn and for Lucy, lost somewhere within.

She licked at her lips and forced words through the lump in her throat. "W - why did Coach Sylvester have an electric fence?"

"For her dogs. She had too much property for a regular fence and didn't want them getting out."

"Were they rottweilers?" Rachel asked, snuggling closer into Quinn's warmth.

"Mutts, rescued from the shelter."

Rachel groaned and knocked her head on Quinn's shoulder. "God save me, I'm starting to like Coach Sylvester."

"She always did like rescuing strays," Quinn murmured, hesitantly curling some of Rachel's hair back behind her ear.

"Why do you all have to have these cool hidden personalities?" Rachel wondered aloud. "I don't have a cool hidden personality, I just showed all my cards all the time."

"You didn't need a hidden personality to be cool, it came naturally," Quinn said. "Think about it. You're so cool that you… well look where you are. Who you are."

Not knowing what to say to that, Rachel slid up the bed and laid her head on Quinn's pillow. Their foreheads touched and Quinn's face was so close.

So close.

Rachel smiled and ran her fingertips down Quinn's nose, along a cheekbone. The urge was there, to go bold or go home, to close the scant distance and try the barest of a kiss.

Instead she closed her eyes and curled her hand into the crook of Quinn's neck, thumb rubbing against the lump of Quinn's collarbone. "I wish I'd known you then."

"Me, too," Quinn murmured and rolled over onto her back. "Rachel?"

"Yes?" Rachel hummed and scooted up against Quinn's side again. She could feel the tremble in Quinn's body.

"Can we talk more about Lucy? Later, I mean."

Her eyes almost opened, but Rachel managed to keep them closed and nodded. "We can - I would love to hear more about you."

Quinn's breath hitched, her heartbeat stuttering under Rachel's ear, but then she sighed, sagging into the mattress and the tension that Rachel had felt slipped away.

"Can you sleep?" Rachel asked groggily. Counting the beats of Quinn's heart in combination with the rocking of the ship and the warmth of the bed had sapped her energy.

"I think so."

Rachel stayed awake, listening intently for Quinn to drop off first. When she heard Quinn start to breathe through her mouth she cracked an eye open. Quinn's head was facing her, her lips parted and eyes closed. It was cheating, but Rachel couldn't help but lean in and brush a kiss to Quinn's hairline.

She'd steal all the moments she could until she could pay them back in full.

Quinn made a soft sound at the contact, a cross between a whimper and a sigh. Rachel smiled and wiped her eyes on her shoulder.

One more bandaid was on its way to being applied, and even though it was an old wound and deep cut, she hoped it would work.

She would do her damndest to make sure it would work.

"Goodnight, Lucy."

TBC...