Chapter 7

Quinn was just getting out of the shower when Rachel caught up with her finally. She was surprised to see the petite brunet, but she was surprised to see the ire in her eyes. She couldn't understand why Rachel was upset about her taking a shower. She slunk after her workout with Danni and Santana.

"What's wrong, Rach?" Quinn asked her, grabbing her towel and wrapping it around herself.

"Were you ever going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Quinn replied in question.

"That Danni came to you and told you what happened to me," Rachel stated.

"Probably not. It didn't change anything. I was still coming to New York. I'd gotten in at Columbia and was going to need a place to stay. Once I talked to Santana and she told me how you were, I decided to move up our time line."

"Why?"

"Why what?" Quinn asked her as she slowly got dressed.

"Why did you decide to come to New York?"

"I thought that much was obvious, Rachel. I came for you. Santana told me about your crush and I had to admit to myself that I liked you, too. We'd become friends in the end. I could see you going places and I wanted to help you get there. I am and was content being in the background. Rachel. I don't need the limelight to feel important. I wanted to be there for you. I wanted to show you how much I cared. I wanted to prove to you that you deserved everything you wanted. I...I wanted to prove that I wasn't shallow like Finn had been with you, that no matter what I wanted I would support your dreams and you without any reservation or because I was settling. I did it all because I love you," Quinn said, pulling a t-shirt over her head.

Rachel was across the bathroom and in Quinn's face just as her head popped out of her shirt. She could see the fire in Rachel's brown eyes. She was just about to say something else, hoping to ease Rachel's mind when she kissed her.

It wasn't just a "shut up and kiss me" kiss that Quinn and Rachel had both perfected in their relationship. No, this kiss was heady and needy. It was like Rachel was trying to tell Quinn something and she didn't have the words or a song to express it. Quinn's mind reeled as Rachel continued to deepen the kiss. She reached out and held Rachel around the waist, trying to ground herself and unsure of what Rachel wanted as they continued to kiss.

"I'm still mad at you," Rachel said finally breaking the kiss.

"For not telling you that Danni told me what happened?"

"No, for not telling me why you were really coming."

"So, you aren't mad about Danni telling me?"

"Oh, no, I am, but I already knew that you knew. You had to have known the way you were acting around me. If it hadn't been Danni, it would have been Santana. I also knew that Santana had been calling you a lot more in the last months of school. I just didn't know why. I figured that she wanted to spend more time with you after graduation. You are her best friend. And at the time, we didn't know that Brittney had gotten the job with the record company to dance. We were all moving around in our world and trying to figure out how to stay friends. I should have known after everything with Santana that she would have found a way. She brought you back to me to begin with," Rachel explained.

"I know. She has her own way of showing that she cares. It can be brash and uncouth, but she generally has good intentions. It is just hard for her to express things because of her rocky exterior."

"Unless it's Brittney," Rachel added.

"Exactly, kind of how I am with you," Quinn stated earning herself another kiss.

"Stop talking like that. You know what I could do to you, if I wanted...which I do, but we have things to do. Danni is already downstairs waiting with Santana for you. Something happened while you were in the shower, though," Rachel told her.

"Like what? Was it bad? Is there another problem?" Quinn asked as she reached over to the vanity to grab the pair of jeans that she'd brought in the bathroom with her and put them on doing a slight dance.

"I don't think it is bad, but Santana managed to introduce herself to Danni's mom. I am not sure how Danni is taking it, but Belle seemed highly amused by the whole ordeal. But, I am not sure if that is what made Belle so amused or the fact that she and Danni have been having quiet discussions about things since last night. Danni seems on edge and I don't know why," Rachel explained.

"I'll talk to her," Quinn replied quickly grabbing some shoes and heading downstairs with Rachel on her heels.

She didn't know if Danni wanted to talk, but she knew that she needed to. After everything the day and night before, she knew that Danni was walking on edge. The talks that Quinn had with Belle had left her with an uneasy feeling, especially alter knowing that Danni didn't have her heart. That fact alone was causing Quinn more distress than she was willing to admit, but she was finding her way through all the fairy tale mumbo jumbo. She shook her head and thought to herself, we just can't have anything normal.

When she got to the bottom of the staircase, Santana was waiting for her. She didn't look upset, but she seemed to be trying to rush things. Quinn nodded at her and grabbed her cell off the kitchen table, running back to the front door. She gave Rachel a quick kiss and followed Santana out the door without asking where they were going or what they were doing. She could see that it was important in the silence and Santana's eyes. That was all that mattered and she knew that Rachel would understand.

As they left the large while house, Quinn noticed the brand new Sheriff's SUV parked in the drive. She hadn't seen it before and it certainly wasn't there early. She didn't want ask Danni because she seemed to be on a mission. She just followed Santana and got in the SUV. Santana got in the back, allowing Quinn to take the passenger seat.

"Do I want to know where we're going?" Quinn asked as she fastened her seat belt.

"Have you even been paying attention the last few hours?" Danni questioned slightly angry.

"Yeah, I have, but I was also dealing with Rachel and then we worked out. So, what have I missed and what seems to be the big rush? And, can you tell me why it is only the three of us going to wherever it is that we are going?" Quinn inquired in defense.

"Umm...how about I met her mother in this really cool mirror that they got and Danni isn't exactly happy about that. Don't ask me why. I don't know. She's been really quiet since then and left to get these wheels. She sand we needed to go find something. I didn't ask where, but there was talk of the cemetery. Q, you know I don't do cemeteries. I don't do dead people. But, besides that, it didn't seem like I needed to. This is her town, Q. She seems to know what she's doing," Santana told her from the backseat as Danni was conspicuously quiet.

"I get that. I really do, but what the hell is going on? I think that I deserve a little more than some parlor tricks and a run. I mean, come on, Danni. We're here for you. Let us help you. Tell us what's really going on. Let us help you. I get that it is hard for you trust people. I get that. I really do. I know that things weren't great for you growing up. They weren't for me either. We uniquely get that. But I can't let anything happen to Rachel and Santana doesn't want anything to happen to Brittney. So, just give me something. I know that you said that your Aunt Ruby is sick, but is there more?" Quinn asked.

"There always is with my family," Danni stated.

"Can I just say something?" Santana interjected.

"Go ahead," Danni stated as they pulled out of the housing area and into the main part of town.

"So Belle was talking in the mirror and all with the magical Skype or whatever, but dude, your Mom is actually kinda hot. What's up with that? She doesn't look much older than us," Santana stated.

"I told you that things were missed up. You didn't believe me. My Ma, Emma, who you so lovingly talked according to Belle, is about ten years or so older than all of you ad that is a long story. I don't really have time to explain it all to you."

"Does it have to do with your heart?" Quinn asked.

"Partially," Danni answered quickly and there was no more given as she continued to drive through town quietly.

Quinn looked out the window. She tried to familiarize herself with everything that they were passing. It wasn't that she was thinking of staying there in Storybrooke, but she was hoping that they weren't going to get stuck in Fairy Tale world. She could see the uneasiness settling into Danni and she wondered what was really going that Belle and Danni weren't telling them.

She knew that Danni could keep secrets. She hid everything about her past from them. She hid the magic. But, the more that Quinn began to think about it, she realized that Danni had a point and a reason to hide it. No one would have ever believed her. Quinn was finding it hard to do so and she'd seen proof.

When they got the edge of town, she saw the cemetery. She felt more than heard Santana start to get antsy about what was going on and she knew that with her beliefs that cemeteries weren't somewhere to hang out. She turned to look at the Latina. Their eyes met and there was a silent agreement that they were doing this for Danni so they could put their issues aside and help her. When Santana shook her head yes, it was all that Quinn needed.

Danni pulled through the cemetery and stopped at a large family mausoleum. There was a symbol on the front of it that Quinn was sure that she'd seen before. She couldn't remember where, but she knew that it was familiar. She didn't realize that she was staring at it until Danni said something about it.

"It's my mother's family crest," Danni said getting out of the car.

Quinn just nodded. She didn't know what to say. She just followed Danni out of the car and walked towards the mausoleum. Santana followed them, but she was obviously lagging behind. If Danni noticed, she didn't say anything. She just went into the mausoleum.

Quinn turned to look at Santana. She could see her visibly pale, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she held out her hand and Santana took it. She knew that San needed her.

"I won't tell anyone," Quinn told her as they entered.

"Thanks," Santana murmured.

They both looked on in rapt fascination when Danni pushed on a vault moving it over. But, that isn't what made them gasp. When they saw the stairwell leading down into the depths, they were a little scared and every horror movie they'd ever watched flashed through their minds as they watched Danni descend into the depths without a care. Santana and Quinn looked at each other and then down the stairwell. Santana shook her head and Quinn started for the stairs. She wasn't going to let anything happen to Rachel. She didn't know why that thought ran through her mind, but she knew that whatever was down there wouldn't hurt her.

She slowly started the descent. She turned to see if Santana was following her. She wasn't. She was still standing at the top of the stairs, staring down at Q, with a grimace on her face.

"Think of B," she told her.

It was all that needed to be said. Santana was down the stairs in a flash. She was mumbling under her breath in Spanish the entire time, but Quinn knew that she would be okay. She'd thought the same thing that she had about Brittney that she had about Rachel. They would do anything for them and Danni would too. She wasn't going to let anything happen to the four of them. Being in the mausoleum wasn't going to hurt them.

Their shock was instantaneous as they neared the end of the stairs. It opened up into what would be an old world family vault and there were ancient looking jars and vases and such in niches in the walls. Quinn looked around and met Santana's eyes. They were huge. The Latina made her way over closer to Quinn as they followed Danni deeper into the crypt.

If they were shocked by their initial view, they were astounded by what they saw next. The crypt opened into a laboratory of sorts and it had a door at the back of it. When Danni opened the door, their mouths dropped. The room beyond was immaculate. It was decorated in the same motif of the living room/office back at the house. It was all black and white.

"What is this place?"

"Home away from home for Mom," Danni replied as she continued to move through the room.

"Do I want to know?"

"She magically built this when some shit hit the fan and she needed a place to stay that no one would look for her in. She sealed the lock with blood magic so no one would be able to get to her in here without Henry or me, so…"

"She made herself a safe room?" Quinn asked.

"In a crypt?" Santana added.

"Can you think of a better place to hide?" Danni quipped in reply.

Quinn had to agree. No one in their right mind would come looking for you in the family vault. It was the perfect place to hide. Plus putting a magic lock on it that kept everyone else out made it even better. She couldn't help but wish that she'd had a place like this back in high school.

"You would have never left," Danni told her.

Quinn just cocked her eyebrow at Danni. She didn't say anything. She knew that Danni could read her. They had gotten close over the past few years, but ever since they arrived in Storybrooke looking for her, Danni and Quinn seemed to be getting closer. Danni just smiled at her, cocked her eyebrow like she was daring her to say something, and went back to looking for whatever it was she was hunting in her mother's vault.

"So what are we looking for exactly?" Santana asked as she headed for a couch to sit.

"You can sit down. I'll get what we need magic wise. Quinn, if you'll grab the green and red bound books over there on the shelf. We should be good."

"All of them?" Quinn inquired when she turned to look at the bookshelf in question.

Danni turned and looked at the shelf. She scanned it quickly with her dark eyes and then nodded at Quinn. She turned back to the cabinet she was looking at and began to go through it.

Quinn just shook her head and proceeded to collect the books. When she realized that it was only about five, she stopped caring too much. She grabbed them and then sat down on the couch with Santana. They both watched Danni move from cabinet to cabinet like she something was wrong. It was like she couldn't find the one item that she needed. It was her movements that made Quinn antsy. They weren't as sure as normal. She looked down quickly at the books in her lap when Danni spun around quickly and crossed the room. It was then that she noticed the title of the book on top.

"Magic Beings in a Non-Magical World," she said quietly.

"What's that?" Santana asked turning to face her.

"The title of the book," Quinn told her, holding up the book and showing it to her.

Santana frowned slightly and took the book from Quinn. She ran her fingers over the gold leafed lettering on the green leather volume. There was no author. She opened it and began to read the pages. Every now and again, she would make a huff or roll her eyes. Quinn held back her laughter, but smiled at her friend, knowing that she was still trying to wrestle her faith with what they had seen over the last few days.

"Can you believe this shit?" Santana asked as she shoved the book back at Quinn.

"What's wrong, Santana? Hit too close to home? Find out something that you didn't want to about yourself? Hmm, S? What is it?" Danni teased from across the room.

Santana reared back and aimed to throw the book at her. As soon as the book left her fingers, Danni waved her hand and the book stopped mid-air and hung there like it was suspended on a wire. Danni just laughed harder at the Latina's discomfort. She waved her hand again and the book sailed across the room to a table and sat down. The look that Santana was giving Danni was priceless.

"Oh, please, S, you aren't going to go all 'Lima Heights' on me. If you were, you would have done it already by now. Do you think that you can carry something for me? Or would that be too much trouble for you?" Danni asked her.

"Don't start with me, Wizard!" Santana told her.

"Don't worry, S. I am not going to do anything to you. But, seriously, can you help me carry some of this stuff?" Danni asked a little more seriously this time.

Santana stood up and walked over to where Danni was standing. She looked down into the trunk by her feet and then back up into the dark eyed woman's eyes. She knew that there was a lot of unknowns that they would face once that got to the Enchanted Forest. Damn, that's weird to think about, she thought, but they were friends and they promised to take care of each other.

"Really? Swords and shit? Couldn't be any more cliché?" Santana quipped.

"They really do work best against dragons and ogres," Danni replied, deadly serious now.

"Um…did you just say dragons and ogres?" Quinn asked from across the room.

"Yes, there are dragons and ogres, unicorns and griffins, trolls and other beasts. Not everything that you read or were taught about fairy tales was made up. It had a basis in real fact, well, fact from my world and reality. And, yes, we have knights and wizards, too."

"So what does that really make you in all this?" Quinn asked, still trying to digest it all.

"I already told you who I am."

"I know who you are, Danni. I know that you are the crown princess of whatever and such, but what does that make us. Who are we to you once we get there? How are we supposed to address you as? I mean, 'cause I'm going to have a problem calling you 'Your Highness' all the time."

"No, no, please don't. I hate that. Because of everything that happened before, which is a very long story that I am sure Belle would love to tell you all, I gave up my crown. Being the Dark One and in line for the throne didn't seem like a good idea. Besides, Remy is there to take my spot. I am merely a knight for my mothers."

"Am I supposed to call you Lady Danni, then?" Santana asked.

"No, there isn't all that protocol there. Well, there is but only for formal events, which we won't be going to. So, you can call me Danni all you want," Danni replied.

"What about the fact that Belle calls you Coraline?" Quinn asked.

"That was a long time ago and a story I don't want to tell."

"Will others call you that?" Santana asked as she started picking up some weaponry.

"I don't know."

"Danni…"

"Look, it's going to be hard enough for me to go home, okay? I don't know how anyone is going to react, least of all me. I've stayed away for my own reasons and I hate the fact that my aunt being sick and no one there being able to help her is the reason that I am going back. I wish that I could tell you something more, but I can't. I am sorry," Danni explained.

"I get it. No worries, Danni. We're just trying to prepare ourselves for this," Quinn stated.

"Just be prepared for everything that you read about in your fantasy books and you should be fine. Grab the books and let's go. We have another stop to make before we go back to the house. And, I have to figure out what else we might need."

Santana and Quinn shared a look and then they both sat down. Danni looked over at them unsure of what they were trying to do, but not happy with the situation either. Both of the former cheerleaders just waited for Danni to say something. When she didn't, Quinn decided she would start this conversation. She knew that Danni wasn't going to be happy, but it needed to happen.

"Danni, we need to talk," Quinn started.

"Now? You want to do this now? I am not sure what kind of timeline we're on and you want to stop and talk. This is great, just great. Sure, okay, what do you want to talk about?"

"Look, I am not trying to make you mad. We're trying to figure this thing out okay? You came into our lives when things were pretty hectic and we let it go. We didn't push and we didn't ask for too much of your background. When things finally slowed down enough for us to ask, and we did, you just gave us some generic answers. Rachel and Brittney wanted to know why you were still so guarded and upset by whatever and we, S and I, knew enough to let it go. But, we can't anymore, Danni. We just can't. It's been eating at you for years, probably more than I want to know about, but you've got to talk about it. You've got to let it out."

"I know that we aren't the easiest to talk to, and I don't do feels, but she's right, Danni. You need to tell us what's going on in that magical brain of yours. I get wanting to rip your heart out to make the pain stop, but from what I gathered taking your heart out doesn't stop your brain."

"No, Santana, it doesn't," Danni replied.

"So, you've been living with this for a while and not dealing. NO, don't even," Santana started raising her hand at Danni. "I can still see the pain in your eyes. So spill."

"I don't know what to tell you," Danni answered.

"The truth would be good. I mean, we're following you to some magical world with things beyond our wildest dreams and your butt hurt over something. So tell us," Quinn added.

"I left after I killed a man, but you already knew that. He was threatening my family and I had to destroy him so I did. But that wasn't the only thing that I destroyed that night. I destroyed my only chance at true happiness. I walked away to protect them all and in the end curse myself to be alone and unhappy. Part of me is okay with that and the other part isn't. I want love. I want a happy ending. I want all of it, but I guess being who I am and what I've been through that I am not destined to have it. I will always fight for my family and I will always make sure that Remy has a better life than I did, because she deserves it," Danni told them.

"And what about you?" Santana asked, trying to hide the fact that she cared.

"I don't matter. I am sure that Will has moved on. I can't be what they need. I couldn't love them any more than I already did, but somehow…somehow that didn't seem to be enough."

"Who's Will?" Quinn asked.

Danni turned sharply. Her eyes flashed green and her fists clenched. There was an air of warning between them, but she could see in Quinn's hazel eyes that she wasn't going to take the warning. Danni didn't want to do this. And, she damn well didn't want to do it now. They needed to go. They had things to do, places to be and all that.

"No."

"Danni…"

"No, Quinn, not now," she told her, grabbed some things and headed out of the room, not waiting to see if they followed.

"Guess we'll just have find out once we're over the rainbow," Santana said following her out.

"We're not going to Oz, S. We're going to the Enchanted Forest. Besides, didn't we already cross the rainbow when we all came out?" Quinn asked trying to lighten the mood as they walked up the stairs and out of the Mill family crypt.