Finn was dead under her hands.
The boy who had captured the heart of Rachel. The boy who was going to be, if she'd had her way, the father of her baby. The boy who'd lead them to victories, who made her smile with his goofy charm, who simply tried harder than anyone she knew. He was dead.
Rachel still had her head buried in the crook on Quinn's neck, small breaths escaping her lips and warming the blonde's skin. The girl couldn't stop staring at the body of Finn, couldn't bring herself to take slender hands away from that gaping wound where the mass amounts of blood was starting to dry. Not until she heard Noah slam the skull, if that's indeed what it could still be called in it's condition, against the floor one last time before standing to look over the mangled body.
And cry.
The mohawked boy's hands were more than likely broken from the force of the hits he delivered to the shooters face. They were cut and already bruising; but that didn't seem to matter as he raised them to press against his eyes, trying to stop the tears that threatened to follow those that had already escaped. Without looking back to Rachel, to Quinn, to the body of his best friend, he began the walk back to the choir room.
Quinn closed her eyes, and quickly realized that wasn't a good idea. Maybe it wouldn't be a good idea for the next week. Or month. Or year. Or ever.
Noah with his hands forming a gun, pointed to Finn's head. Mike's falling body. Her hands coated in his blood. Tina listening for a long gone heartbeat. Finn's throat, bubbling blood and gargling. Rachel's screams. Noah's hands, covered in blood that was either his own or that of the boy who'd killed his best friend.
It all haunted her the second she closed her eyes.
"Rachel, we need to go. We need to get back to the others", Quinn said in the softest voice she could manage.
When Rachel didn't respond, Quinn stood slowly, wrapping her arms around the girl to guide her though carefully keeping her blood soaked hands off of her. Rachel gave a few small noises but stayed close to her, those dark pooled eyes wide and refusing to look anywhere but Quinn.
The walk to the choir room was quite possibly the longest walk of Quinn's life.
The group was where she had left them, pressed up against the wall. The blonde had barely stepped into the room before a body hurled itself at her, flinging arms around her waist and holding her close before proceeding to speak quickly in Spanish.
Rachel stepped to the side blankly as Santana continued to shower her oldest friend with unintelligible words, tears streaking down her face.
"Don't you fucking do that to me again, you hear me? Noah comes in like….like that, and you make me fucking wait forever to see you. My God, Quinn!"
Quinn looked past Santana to notice Noah, who had simply drawn up one of the choir room seats and stared blankly at the opposite wall, rubbing his hands back and forth against his jeans in an attempt to rid them of the blood.
Rory asked first. Blaine stood, asking his own questions. Mercedes demanded an answer. Sam mumbled a comment on everyone talking over the top of each other. Brittany mentioned Quinn looked very pale.
The door was flung open, hitting the wall with a bang. Quinn reached out and grabbed Rachel's arm, spinning her around and pressing her against the wall, shielding the brunette with her body. Noah threw himself to the ground behind the chair, covering his head with his arms as his body trembled.
The police squad carefully ushered them from the room, talking in gentle, kind voices. Quinn supposed this meant that there was only one shooter, or at the very least the others had been captured. Or killed. Or took their own lives after this final stand. It didn't really matter.
The blonde refused to allow herself to be taken until all the members of the glee club had been taken out. They were lead onto a bus which would take them to where their parents were waiting. Apparently the lock down bell had rung out over five hours ago. News had swept the town quickly, parents being kept at a safe distance from the school.
Quinn refused to sit, instead demanding she be allowed to stand in the walkway of the bus so that she could look over her group. She was responsible. She was in charge of keeping them safe, and that was exactly what she was going to do. Every minute she'd do a head count. She'd watch Brittany looking out the window as Santana looked at her, as if half expecting her girlfriend to vanish from sight. Kurt with his head on Blaine's shoulder, the ex warbler humming a soothing song against his boyfriends temple. Sam, Rory and Artie, talking about who they thought might be responsible for all this. Mercedes had her arm around Tina, the girls head in her lap as the diva ran her hands through straight dark hair. Noah sat up the back alone, eyes flickering to everyone as if expecting them to attack any second.
Rachel stared blankly where Quinn had placed her, having not moved a muscle. The singer simply stared out the window, watching the world rush by her. Quinn moved to offer some sort of comfort, but the bus had reached it's destination.
Outside the bus, chaos ruled. Parents where moving in swarms, shouting at any teacher or police officer they could get their hands on, desperate for information. As the new busload of students arrived, a hush silence broke out. It was as if despite the madness and desperation, an unwritten agreement had been formed. Everyone was entitled to watching each student step off the bus.
Rory and Sam, knowing their parents wouldn't be there to greet them, instead chose to help Artie off the bus, grinning in the joyous reunion. Mercedes parents screamed in happiness as they ran through the crowd, sandwiching their daughter in a hug. Santana and Brittany's parents held hands together, smiling in unison as the girls appeared hand in hand. Blaine's father merely placed his hand on the boys shoulder, giving a nod and a squeeze.
Tina was sobbing once more when she stepped off the bus. One look at Mike's mother, and the woman collapsed to the ground, shaking her head as her husband tried to steady her, barely holding it together himself.
Kurt stepped off, Burt wrapping his son in his arms within a second. Laughing heartedly, the man placed a kiss to his son's head, pulling away to look past him.
"Where's your brother?"
Kurt could only shake his head in response, as Burt pulled Carole against him, the woman shaking her head and repeating 'no', her eyes on the bus as if expecting Finn to step off any second.
Noah got off and walked away.
Quinn jumped off, blinking as the sun hit her eyes. Nobody stepped through the crowd to embrace her. No family was crying, overjoyed by her survival. Instead she was faced with endless eyes staring at her, shocked and blank looks across their faces.
It took her a moment to realize she was covered in blood, none of it hers.
The only thing that bought her back into it was a name .
"Calm down, LeRoy. I'm telling you, Rachel will be fine. She'll be fine"
LeRoy was clutching Hiram's hand so tightly, it looked like the blood flow may have been restricted. The man didn't do anything to stop it, simply continuing his soothing mantra, eyes on the door.
Rachel was the last person to step off. Glassy eyes found her fathers, who rushed over to her, gentle and careful.
Quinn stayed until the sun was setting. She couldn't help it. She found herself walking between groups, keeping tabs on which glee members were still here, how they were looking, if they'd received medical attention, until their parents finally took them home.
The parents of lost children banded together, joined in grief.
"We're so glad you're okay, sweetheart", Hiram said softly, as the family sat on the grass together, continuously wiping over Rachel's bloody hands.
"You…You should thank Quinn for that. She got us all out okay. She got me out", was Rachel's reply, looking up and finding Quinn instantly.
And suddenly, Quinn was caught in hugs
And 'Thank You's'
And 'Oh honey, let's clean you up'
And as Quinn sat beside Rachel, the men fussing over her and doing their best to fix her physically, she felt for the first time what it was like to have a family.