Title: On a night of falling stars (I put my wish into my white breath)

Pairing: Blaine/Kurt (as of now. More later on!)

Rating: PG-13 (depends on chapter)

Genre: Drama, Romance, Adventure

Summary: Archaeologist Quinn Fabray had discovered a rather bittersweet piece of historical evidence: skeletal remains of a couple who were locked in an embrace. She embarks on a journey to find out what exactly happened 1500 years ago, in the city that was buried 10 ft. deep. Not soon afterwards, her team had uncovered yet another pile of bones: of which was what identified as the body of a long exiled Prince. She investigates further, trying to find out why the Prince's body looked as if it was waiting for someone, and at the same time, uncover the real story in which most history books opted to intentionally forget.

A/N: Trolololol. Lol.

Chapter One.

Honey colored eyes scanned the headline warily.

Pictured: Roman lovers buried holding hands for 1500 years

Snort.

'The skeletal remains of a Roman-era couple have been unearthed showing the pair had been holding hands for the past 1,500 years. '

Yes, the pair died whilst 'looking into each other's eyes.' No matter how horribly cliché that sounded, it was the truth. Yes, they discovered the skeletal remains in Modena, Italy. Yes, the date was accurate. Judging the way the remains almost combined with the earth for so long, and then they were correct on assuming that the bodies were buried sometime 5th and 6th century A.D. She skipped on a few lines. Blah, blah, blah. Ah, there we go.

'"We believe that they were originally buried with their faces staring into each other's," said Donato Labate, the director of the excavation.'

A pretty doll-esque blonde, holding the newspaper, rolled her eyes at the name. Of course they would mention Professor Labate. He was the director of the excavation after all. And to those who really knew him, he was one of the most distinguished professors in the University. However vague his comment might be, it proved to be already a fact to the readers and to pretty much everybody. She continued reading the article. Her name was not mentioned. Despite the fact that she found the Roman Lovers, only a part of the general "Archaeologists" in one of the sentences pertaining to the hypothetical assumptions about the background of the skeletal remains.

'The skeletons will now be studied by Giorgio Gruppioni, an anthropologist at the University of Bologna. '

Her eyes widened. Now that was new. From their last phone conversation, Professor Labate reassured her that yes, for now their archaeological findings would temporarily reside in the University of Bologna. After all, they were in Italy, so that was understandable. But they were still going to search an anthropologist preferably from their own University. As part of the excavation team, she was not informed of this development at all. And when was this newspaper dated? She checked. Oh, it was an issue from last year. She growled and hastily flung the newspaper to her side. How could she have not seen this coming? If the skeletons were now studied in the University by this unknown Giorgio Gruppioni, who knows what important facts they might omit once they presented their findings to the public.

She couldn't help it. She was paranoid like that. No, no, it was partly due to the fact that she was a woman. And as modern as this society now is, they still bluff at the idea of a woman working in what was supposed to be a man's job. Back when she was in the University, nobody ever trusted her or even took her seriously. They were all sexists. And that was probably the lowest form of discrimination she had ever experienced in all of her life. But it made her strong. It made her push harder. It made her confident. Nobody was allowed to talk her down.

And she showed them.

Quinn Fabray graduated the top of her class. A Summa Cum Laude in the field of Archaeology in the prestigious Harvard University. Nobody expected that her life would turn an unexpected 180 degrees. Not her friends, her classmates, her Professors. Not even her parents. All they knew was that she was the blonde cheerleader captain from high school, owning the whole student body, with everybody wrapped around her finger. She finished high school. And what everybody expected of her was that she was going to get knocked up during her first year of college. Surprisingly, she didn't. Then everybody thought that the course she was going to take was education, since she was obviously good with children, or journalism, or even modeling. But then again, she wasn't one to follow the trends. She was the trend setter.

She always had a knack for history since she was in high school. And figuring out the past of other people, as well as what happened a few thousand years ago interested her. But she knew that the men who wrote history were a bit sort of...biased. After all, that was why they called it history right? His story. A way to gratify all numbskull male species who made the mistake of repeating the same error twice. There were such few mentions of female figures in the books. And most of them, such as Marie Antoinette, did not reflect or give out a positive response that would somehow uplift the status of women. They were already listed as slaves, caretakers, homebodies, and governesses. They weren't allowed to read, to write, to speak out, and especially think. No, no. Only men were allowed to do that. And so, instead of taking a degree in History, Quinn wanted to experience something new. Something like discovering the unraveling of historical pieces firsthand. Something that she could work hard on and assess that it was the truth. She didn't trust the higher-ups, or anybody else in authority for that matter.

Hence, Archaeology.

"Hey, Quinn", an obviously dyed blonde guy peeked his head from the flap of the tent. "We found something." His blue eyes sparkled with excitement.

Quinn nodded. A small smile curling on her lips. "Thanks, Sam. I'll be right out."

"Cool", Sam nodded back and disappeared.

The blonde girl shook her head, deliberately putting her past behind her. What was important now was that she was the head of this excavation. It was a simple follow-up of what they did the previous year. But it was severely difficult for the proposal to be approved by the University. Scratch that, nothing was ever easy there. It had taken several months for the right papers to be signed, passed around, distributed, filled out correctly, analyzed so and so forth before presenting it to the coordinators. They summoned Quinn, as she was the one who proposed the whole thing. At once, a barrage of skeptic questions were fired at her. What was the purpose of the whole excavation? Limits? Scope? Range? What were her objectives? Not to mention the whole financial matters of the proposal were also handed to her. Those were fine. She was over prepared. She had definitely put those factors into consideration as she planned the whole thing down to the tiniest detail. Several sponsors and friends helped chipped in for the whole financial matter. Her team was composed of the people she trusted from the previous excavations she went to. Her proposal paper was submitted perfectly. All answers to questions that were obviously going to asked could be found there. Along with the contact number and addresses of people needed and responsible for the event. The map of the location was also laid out, marked from where up to the specific limited range only. In short, Quinn was that determined to go back to the site.

There was one question that completely caught her off-guard though.

One of the elders stares at her, a sneer cruelly set on his face. "Is it possibly that the only reason why you want another excavation, Miss Fabray", he almost smirks at the name, "is that you want to follow Professor Labate's footsteps? Hopefully rise up to fame through this excavation?"

Oh.

Oh.

Shock had rendered her speechless.

"Well? Miss Fabray?"

Putting herself together, she took a deep breath as she calmly listed down several reasons to herself that strangling and beating the daylights out of an old man would most likely end her ass in prison, and in no way would it help in achieving her dreams. Clenching her fists, she managed to pull off a somewhat winsome smile directed at her aggressor.

"Absolutely not, Professor. That thought did not even cross my mind. Because seeing as I'm valiantly making effort in changing the perspective of history through just a man's point of view, I have been concentrating all my time in researching the possible lifestyle the skeletal remains ("I found", she silently added) Professor Labate found. I think it would be a good point of interest to further expand. Who knows what underlying facts and undiscovered culture or important event we have overlooked just because we are busy in asserting whether or not a diligent researcher's motive is pure and not sought for fame." She finished her little ramble with that same (cold, calculating, taunting) smile.

Needless to say, that got their excavation approved.

And now, already on their third day of their second week, there had been not much progress. Some old (yet entirely meaningless) artifacts, more hideously preserved skeletal remains, and what seemed to be an old part of a book (the cover survived, were the only ones they have dug from exactly 10 feet under. But aside from those trivial things, there was no other founding that have caught Quinn's interest. She was already beginning to lose hope. Did she, somehow, make a mistake in the location? One thing she was sure of though: She would never be able to show her face again if nothing came out from this.

Boots trudging into the dirt, she placed her hat on as the sunlight's rays hit her sensitive skin.

Sam was patiently waiting outside, talking to another of their team member, Mike Chang.

"All right Sam", she clicked her tongue, "What is it?"

The other blonde shared an excited grin with Mike. But before Sam could fully dish out and present where this 'mysterious' finding would be, Mike intervened. "But...Sam! She's going to get mad."

"What? Why? Why should I get angry about this?" Quinn asked.

"No reason", Sam glared at Mike before grinning at Quinn. The mood shift was astounding. But the Asian just stared at her worriedly. Sam elbowed him, earning a yelp. "I said, 'no reason' right?"

Silence.

"Dude!"

"What? I still need to graduate, you know. And if she finds out what we've—scratch that. If she finds out what you've done, it's going to be worse. Nobody would ever find my dead body because she's going to scatter the tiny pieces to the ocean! I'll be fish food, Sam! And it's because you want to woo her with your—mmff!" A hand suddenly flew to Mike's mouth and pulled him backwards rather harshly. "Hahaha!" Sam laughed nervously. "That's a great joke Mike! Sorry about that, Quinn. He's just hungry and the sun and—"

Quinn sighed exasperatedly. She didn't know if she should strangle him for keeping her waiting or laugh at him for being so goddamn adorable.

"Sam", said guy abruptly stopped at whatever he was doing, "just show me. Please. Now."

With a sigh, Sam hung his head and gestured towards the direction they were going to: the excavation site. "This way, then." Mike quickly jumped in the whole thing and began another string of arguments with the sudden depressed blonde. Quinn shook her head. Boys were so predictable.

The site was still ever so diligently working. Shovels were scattered around. Random deep dug holes filled out an entire section. People were busily shuffling past them, trying to connect evidence that they found with another if ever the pieces they saw were further broken into pieces. The range she had stated in the proposal paper stretched out from their previous excavation up until the little opening in the forest nearby. When they had entered the forest, she tilted her head in curiosity.

They were going off-track.

Where were they leading her?

"Okay. Mike, you head down first", she heard Sam instruct the taller. With an excited grin, Mike glided down the gravel-filled slope almost gracefully. Wait. Gravel? Slope? They definitely weren't allowed in here anymore. So this was what Mike meant about her getting angry once she finds out. And rightfully angry she was! If word got out that she was willingly 'bending' the rules just so she could dig out some dead—

Sam caught on almost immediately what was going through her head. "Woah, woah. Jesus, Mike's right. Chill Quinn. There's nothing-"

"Nothing?" Quinn almost screeched. Seeing him wince, she huffed out exasperatedly and tried to calm down just a little bit.

"Nothing?" She hissed. "What do you mean 'nothing'? Sam, you know this is prohibited! We could literally get our asses arrested once they find out that we've broken our own word about crossing certain boundaries!"

"Relax", he rolled his eyes. "What could be worse—"

"What could be worse? Has it ever crossed your mind that after they strip us of our authority on all things related to our field, they would publicly humiliate us, and get us into prison, that they have the power and the right to confiscate whatever findings that we have in our grasp? Huh? Sure say we have the noble motive of sacrificing things in order to search out for the truth. But once they have all the facts that we worked hard to uncover, and in the end, they're the ones distorting history, then we're the losers."

An awkward and tension-filled silence hung between them. They were currently a few steps outside the forest. The dirt-ridden path changed to gravel ones, sloping downwards, leading to a flat land filled with fallen trunks, some mosses, and patches of grass, with a picturesque view of the vast ocean reflecting the colors of the pretty sky above. She peered down, seeing the tall Asian guy kick pebbles childishly. Crossing her arms, a scowl etched on her usually passive expression. What the hell were they going to do now? She glanced past Sam's back. What if somebody followed them? What if somebody overheard their conversation? How will she explain this?

Sam's jaw was clenched. His whole posture was tense. "I...I am sorry for not thinking this through, Quinn. But trust me on this one." She looked nonplussed so he continued. "And I swear, nobody's following us. I made it sure to be as discreet as possible, didn't I? Aside from Mike, I haven't told anyone else."

A suspicious brow rose. "Why?"

But before Sam could respond, Mike shouted from below. "Yo dude! What's taking so long? You guys okay?"

"We're fine! Just give us a minute!" The tall blonde yelled back. When he turned to the petite archaeologist, she was still patiently waiting for his answer. 'Do I really have to answer this?' was written all over his face. And honestly, Quinn really wanted to laugh at him. He was so pathetic. Pathetically adorable. But carefully, she kept her emotions in check. "Well?" She urged.

Heat flooded his cheeks. Eyes averted, looking at anywhere else except her. "It's because I wanted to impress you...Okay? Mike and I were checking out the whole place and we accidentally discovered something we think that might be important. So we didn't tell anybody else...And I...I went to you so yeah..." Scratching his head sheepishly, he gave her a timid smile.

"Dude! Quit flirting with her and get down here already! I haven't eaten lunch yet!"

So much for being his wing-man.

Rolling her eyes, Quinn offered him a small smile. Just to let him know that she understood his perspective, not the 'to impress you' part, rather the 'we think it might be important' part. As an archaeologist, it was rationally better to follow your instincts when dealing with decision making. Sam was right. If this was something that was worth taking a risk for, then she was all up for it. She just hoped that it wouldn't disappoint her.

Like the former, she copied his graceful movement of gliding down the gravel, albeit in a slower manner. Once she reached down, Mike politely assisted her since the part was dangerously slippery due to the combination of moss and wet patches of grass. The little opening from the forest led to a cliff. She walked towards the edge of the cliff, ignoring the slight bickering going on behind her. The view of the ocean was breathtaking. It stretched out beyond, seemingly infinite. Glancing downwards, she caught sight of a makeshift rope ladder which was firmly tied around a boulder to her left.

"It's a bit far ahead. See the cave over there?" Sam explained as he caught her puzzled expression. Honey brown eyes gazed to where he was pointing at. Just a few miles from the cliff, there was a rocky part of the ocean wherein a series of connected caves which formed labyrinths was seen. The one Sam was pointing at was the cave with the biggest mouth, and already, Quinn could feel it calling to her. "How are we going to go there?"

"We already have one of those fisherman boats prepared down there." She gazed downwards. At the end of the rope, there was a boat tied to one of the sharp rocks. "Since it's kind of dangerous, I'll—"

Mike cut in smoothly, nonchalantly positioning himself by the rope. "I'll go down first. That way, Sam won't ever have the chance to perv on you while you descend." He threw in a little teasing wink at her.

"Oh, and you won't?" The tall Asian guy was anything but sweet to her. And it wasn't because she was confident that she was heartrendingly beautiful or that she was practically sex on legs-despite accusing majority of guys as sexists, she couldn't help but view general male species to be rational beings thinking with their genital organ instead of their brain.

Chuckling good naturedly, he began to lower himself down carefully. "Don't get me wrong, Miss Fabray. You're pretty and all but..." he grinned, "I honestly prefer my girlfriend more."

A sound which somewhat resembled a peal of bells filled the air. Startlingly, Sam identified it that it was actually their petite team leader laughing. He had been awe struck by her beauty, elegance, intelligence, and not to mention that sheer confidence, the one that made her strive harder, that helped her survived in a pack of wolves in sheepskin—he didn't notice that he was blatantly staring at her at that moment.

And he would have continued to do so, if it weren't for the fact that Quinn coughed just to pull him out of his thoughts. "So, the location's pretty hard to find under radar."

"Well, I like exploring", the taller flashed him an honest grin.

"Guys! I made it!" They both heard Mike shout from below. With an encouraging gaze from Sam, Quinn descended the rope carefully. The air was a bit drafty at this part, and the rope was beginning to become slippery in between her fingers. But with utmost concentration, she had managed to safely get in the boat with Mike. A few minutes after, Sam followed suit. Everything else had went on smoothly as planned. Quinn was the one who untied the boat from its parking spot, despite protests from the boys, who were claiming that she wasn't supposed to do anything, not because of her gender, but because they had invited her and so, they were the ones who were supposed to do the work.

The blonde girl waved it off impatiently.

It was a twenty five to thirty minute ride, comparatively short to most of the boat transportations they have been on. As they reached the mouth of the cave, silence came over them. It wasn't because they didn't have any words or comments to say. It was simply because there was no need. The cave was absolutely breath-taking. And as Sam tied the boat to one of the makeshift posts, Quinn and Mike quickly jumped off and entered the underground lair.

"It's so...beautiful in here..." Quinn absentmindedly ran her delicate fingers against the tainted, cold, hard, wall.

"Wait 'til you see what we discovered", the Asian smugly grinned as he lit up a piece of wood with his lighter. Sam did the same thing. Since it was only afternoon, there was still some light entering the cave. But as soon as they dived deeper into it, their natural source of light was slowly diminishing. "The body could be found somewhere relatively far from the opening. We theorized that whoever it was living in here could be hiding from someone outside."

"Or he could simply be a hermit", Sam deadpanned.

Mike scoffed. "Right, because considering all the possessions we found alongside, we could say that he was a religious man shutting himself from the outside world."

Before Sam could retort back, Quinn intervened. "What do you mean by 'possessions'?"

"Well, if you look closely—"

"Oh my god Sam, why don't you just draw her a picture, huh? What's the use of showing her if you're going to yap about it in here?"

"What? She was asking", he defended. "And I was merely answering."

Mike snorted. "If she asked you to find the Lost City of Atlantis, I bet you'd do it so willingly."

"And I bet if your girlfriend asked you to stop being Asian, you'd do it so willingly."

"Hey! That's racist!"

"No, that was merely stating a fact."

"You just couldn't stand the thought that I'm spilling all your dirty secrets to Miss Fabray here."

"I was—"

Quinn sighed loudly. What, were they children or something? "Guys!" She snapped. "Focus! Where's the body you uncovered?"

Mike and Sam had the decency to look sheepish. And then they shrugged. "Oh that?" Mike raised his torch. "We're already right here." He gestured to where they were standing.

And then that was when Quinn saw everything. Her eyes widened, and she was sure that her heart stopped beating. Because among all the excavation sites that she went to, this was probably the most exhilarating one she ever went on. Her eyes hungrily took everything in. And she unknowingly let out a gasp.

"Oh my god."

A/N: Lol. I'm tired. *sigh* Sorry if Quinn seemed like she was too much of a feminist. But in the show, wasn't she a feminist? I kinda got into that whole thing when my Phil. Lit Prof talked about the standings of women in society and stuff. She explained the whole history thing. LOL.

Hope you enjoyed! If there are reviews...You'll all get a flashback (and a majority of a chapter filled with Kurt/Blaine. Huzzah.)

*Dies*