Fic: The Fast and The Gleeful (6/7)
Title: The Fast and the Gleeful
Author: cranberry_pi
Rating: R for language.
Spoilers: Absolutely none.
Summary: An attempt at this prompt
A/N: I'm not totally happy with how this one turned out, but I'm going to put it up anyway so I can move on to the next part and stop staring at this one - sorry!
“So, what exactly is this ‘Copperfield’ plan?”
“Aw,” Quinn grinned, “I don’t want to take all the surprise out of it. If I just ask you to trust me, can you do that?”
“Of course,” Rachel smiled at her.
“So - how did we get away? I mean, I doubt you had some spare handcuff keys hidden on you. And if you got the same cavity search I did, they would have found them anyway. If that lady cop’s fingers were any further up my-”
“My dad,” Rachel interrupted hastily, not really wanting to hear the details. “He let me go - made it look like I attacked him. He gave me Beth’s keys, too.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because I told him I wasn’t going anywhere without you - and that you were worth giving everything up for.” The look Quinn shot at her was smouldering, and she shivered.
“You have no idea how much I want you right now.” Quinn turned down a side road, emerging on 20th street near the water. Rachel looked around, confused.
“There aren’t any homes around here, Quinn. Or any beaches.”
“Don’t ask me - Santana’s the one who called it beachfront. I think she’s a bit soft in the head, personally. Don’t tell her I said that, though, or she’ll murder me in my sleep.”
“I guess the beachfront place isn’t a house, then?”
“Nope - old factory. It was condemned, actually, which worked out well because we bought it for a song.”
“You’ve been living in a condemned factory?” Rachel frowned. “That can’t be sanitary.”
“No,” Quinn laughed. “We’ve only been inside twice; it’s been shut tight since then. It was just here in case we needed it.”
“What’s so special about this factory?”
“Aww, that’d spoil all the fun,” Quinn winked. “Now,” she grew more serious, “we’ve only got a few minutes to spare after we get in - the cops are going to be on us really fast. I need you to do exactly what I say, and don’t ask questions. Okay?”
“Will do,” Rachel saluted. Quinn nodded and turned into the driveway of a towering brick building. Not bothering to stop at the locked entrance, she drove through it instead, and it swung open as the lock was crushed. Not bothering to turn the car off, she simply put it in park and jumped out, and Rachel followed suit. Quinn quickly shut the warehouse door again and turned back.
“That blanket,” she pointed. “Grab it. It’s heavy, so be careful. Put it in the passenger seat.” She left Rachel to it while she loaded a similar bundle into the driver’s seat. “Have you got it?” she yelled.
“Got it,” Rachel grunted, pushing the heavy pile of blankets into place before closing the door. “Now what?”
“This way!” Quinn called, leading her to a dark corner where she knelt down and scrabbled along the cement with her hands. “Come on, come on!” she muttered, finally exclaiming happily as she found what she was searching for. With a sharp tug, she dislodged what Rachel could only describe as a trap door. “Get in,” Quinn urged her, and she dropped into the dark hole. Quinn followed, easing the section of floor back into place above her. “This way,” Quinn led her through the dark. “And keep your voice down, okay?”
They’d gone what felt like several hundred feet in the darkness when Rachel bumped into Quinn, who’d come to a sudden stop. “What-“
“Shh.” Quinn reached out and pulled something off the wall - Rachel couldn’t see what it was, but it had obviously been placed there on purpose. “Down on your knees, okay? And cover your ears.”
“But-“
“Just do it,” Quinn hissed. She waited until Rachel was in position, and then she jabbed her finger at whatever she’d grabbed from the wall - and the world seemed to vanish into an incredible cacophony of noise. Rachel stayed down, hands over her ears, waiting for the tunnel to collapse around them. Amazingly, though, it stayed intact - and then it was suddenly alight as Quinn brandished a zippo lighter. She was dusty and dirty, but her bright smile in the dark was breathtaking.
“What was that?” Rachel whispered, putting her hands back down at her side - at least, she hoped she was whispering. The noise had deafened her a little, and she couldn’t be sure she wasn’t yelling.
“The building coming down.”
“What? My god, Quinn, we may have killed -“
“We didn’t kill anyone, Berry. The cops weren’t going to just barge in without waiting to make sure they had us surrounded - and even then, they’d try to make contact with us before they just charged in. There was no way they could know we didn’t have the place filled with weapons. And there was no one else around. It was an implosion, not an explosion, and the lot that warehouse was on is huge. The debris wouldn’t even have made it to the next building.”
“Did you guys dig this tunnel? This must have been an extraordinary amount of work!”
“Come on,” Quinn helped her to her feet, leading her away. “No, we didn’t. It dates back to prohibition. No one even knew there was a tunnel here until Artie found a map and figured there was an exit in the warehouse. So we bought it, rigged the place with explosives, and waited for a rainy day. And now here we are. The cops are going to find the car, with the two bodies in the front seats-“
“The what?”
Quinn winced. “We didn’t kill them, don’t worry. Anyway, the last thing all those cops saw was us going inside, then the building collapsing. It’ll be days before they get Beth out, and a few more by the time they figure out those bodies aren’t us. And by then, we’ll be out of the country.”
“But how are we going to get across the border? We have no papers.”
“Santana’s got it covered. Did you ever decide on a name?”
“Uh - how about Lea?”
“Lee? Like L-E-E?”
“No, L-E-A.”
“Oh, okay - I like it. I was going to go with Dianna myself.”
“It’s very pretty,” Rachel reached out and pushed a dusty lock of blonde hair behind Quinn’s ear. She leaned closer, hoping for a kiss, but Quinn backed away.
“No time for love, Doctor Jones. We’ve got to keep moving.” She winked and took Rachel’s hand, leading her further into the darkness. “We can’t be sure the tunnel won’t collapse, so we’ve gotta get out as soon as we can.”
“Wait, what?”
“The thing is reinforced with wooden beams, Rach. They’re ninety years old, and it’s humid down here since we’re so close to the water. Throw in a massive implosion at one end,” she shrugged. “Hard to say if it’ll stand up.”
“How far do we have to go?”
“A few miles. The house we’ve been living in sits right on top of the tunnel, and Santana and Britt dug into it to make us an exit.”
They were silent for a few minutes until Rachel spoke up again. “I hope everyone made it out okay,” she said softly. “When I rescued you, I mean. When we were on the phone with Santana that day, there was a lot of gunfire in the background.”
Quinn’s face hardened. “They better have.”
“Quinn, please tell me you’re not planning some sort of elaborate revenge scenario in your head right now. No matter what may have happened after we escaped, the most important thing now is to flee the country before the police find us. My father won’t be able to help us escape if we get caught again.”
“I know,” Quinn sighed. “It’s just - those guys are the closest thing I have to a family, you know? If anything happened to them because they were trying to save me, I-“ she waved her free hand helplessly.
“I’m sure they’re okay,” Rachel assured her. “And there’s no sense worrying - we’ll see them all soon enough.”
“Yeah, true enough.” They walked on in the darkness, Rachel looking nervously over her shoulder every time the wood creaked around them. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“This is the last chance you’re going to get to decide if this is really what you want. If you turned yourself in now, told them you’d been taken in by an evil criminal who made you do everything you’ve done, your dad could probably swing you a sweet plea deal.”
Rachel tugged Quinn’s arm, hard, and pulled her to a stop. “Obviously I haven’t convinced you yet. Quinn, I don’t want to be anywhere but with you, okay? I - you make me feel something that I’ve never felt with anyone else, and I don’t ever want to have to be without that feeling again. And if that doesn’t convince you, maybe this will,” she stepped closer and smashed her lips against Quinn’s in a fierce kiss. Her tongue probed at Quinn’s lips, and they parted to allow her access. Their tongues found each other and duelled for supremacy until they both needed air and broke the embrace with twin gasps.
“Jesus,” Quinn reached up and dabbed at her lip, her finger coming away bloody. Rather than being angry, though, she grinned.
“Got the message?”
“Loud and clear - now let’s pick up the pace before I decide I can’t wait and fuck you on the floor of this tunnel, okay?”
Rachel grinned and they started to run, their hands still linked. Finally, as both of them were nearing the end of their endurance, they saw an old corn broom leaning against the tunnel wall. “There,” Quinn pointed at it. “That’s the exit.” Releasing Rachel’s hand, she grabbed the broom and banged the handle against the top of the tunnel - six times, then a pause, then once, then a pause, and a final nine times. The dim space was filled with light as someone opened a hatch above them and dropped a rope ladder down. “Go ahead,” Quinn gestured. “You first.”
Rachel took a hesitant hold of the swinging ladder, and held tight as it was pulled up through the hatch. As she reached the top, Brittany pulled her aside and Santana dropped the ladder again. “Hi, Rachel!” Brittany greeted her brightly. “You’re all dusty.”
“Yeah,” Rachel confirmed, pulling the blonde girl into a tight hug. “And now you are too. It’s so good to see you! I heard you took out some of those mafia guys - ran them over?”
“That was an accident,” Brittany frowned. “I was trying to find something in the glove box and I accidentally put the car in drive.”
“Uh,” Rachel hesitated, seeing Santana’s warning look over Brittany’s shoulder. “Well, I’m sure they’ll be okay.”
Santana pulled Quinn up and embraced her tightly. “I wasn’t sure we’d ever see you again, Q.”
“Hey, you know me, babe - nine lives. How awesome is Rachel, though?”
Santana whooped excitedly. “She’s amazing, Q - you were totally right about her. You know that stunt you pulled with Jessie put him in the hospital, right? On top of that, they found a whole shitload of unregistered guns in his car, so he’s going away for a long time.” She released Quinn and pulled Rachel into a bone-crushing hug. “You did good,” she murmured. “Thank you for bringing Q back to us.”
“Well, I have to confess to being a bit selfish - I wanted to save her for my sake too.”
Santana chuckled. “I’ll forgive you. Now, let’s get upstairs - everybody’s been waiting on pins and needles for you two to get here.”
“Who’s everybody?” Quinn asked nervously.
“It’s all good, Q - everybody made it. Puck’s a bit banged up - took a bullet through his shin - but other than that we’re all fine. I picked Artie up at the safehouse once the dust settled, and Finn’s too thick-headed to get hurt.” Santana led them up from the basement into the house. “I’ve got everybody’s papers ready except yours and hers. I need pictures and names.”
“Ooh, can I name you?” Brittany clapped. “Quinn, you can be Ducky, and-”
“We’ve got it covered, Britt - thanks, though,” Quinn grinned. There was a brief party as they emerged into the living room, with lots of hugs exchanged and stories told, until Santana loudly cleared her throat. When that failed to elicit a reaction, she screamed instead.
“HEY! Can we save the celebration? I need to finish these papers, so you two go get scrubbed up. The rest of you, double-check everything’s packed,” she smirked. “When we leave for the night, we ain’t coming back.”
“Kesha, babe? Really?”
“Weren’t you supposed to be getting scrubbed up?”
Quinn shot her a one-finger salute, laughing. “Come on, Rach. We’ll find you some clothes. You should maybe think about a haircut, too.”
“Do we have time for that?”
“Well, not a professional one. Just gather it up and cut it short. If they put our faces on the news, we should look at least a little bit different.”
“What about you?”
“Got it covered. Go hop in the shower, I’ll have some clothes waiting for you when you get out.”
“Could I convince you to join me?” Rachel raised an eyebrow, smiling with satisfaction when Quinn shivered a bit.
“We definitely don’t have time for that.”
Author: cranberry_pi
Rating: R for language.
Spoilers: Absolutely none.
Summary: An attempt at this prompt
A/N: I'm not totally happy with how this one turned out, but I'm going to put it up anyway so I can move on to the next part and stop staring at this one - sorry!
“So, what exactly is this ‘Copperfield’ plan?”
“Aw,” Quinn grinned, “I don’t want to take all the surprise out of it. If I just ask you to trust me, can you do that?”
“Of course,” Rachel smiled at her.
“So - how did we get away? I mean, I doubt you had some spare handcuff keys hidden on you. And if you got the same cavity search I did, they would have found them anyway. If that lady cop’s fingers were any further up my-”
“My dad,” Rachel interrupted hastily, not really wanting to hear the details. “He let me go - made it look like I attacked him. He gave me Beth’s keys, too.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because I told him I wasn’t going anywhere without you - and that you were worth giving everything up for.” The look Quinn shot at her was smouldering, and she shivered.
“You have no idea how much I want you right now.” Quinn turned down a side road, emerging on 20th street near the water. Rachel looked around, confused.
“There aren’t any homes around here, Quinn. Or any beaches.”
“Don’t ask me - Santana’s the one who called it beachfront. I think she’s a bit soft in the head, personally. Don’t tell her I said that, though, or she’ll murder me in my sleep.”
“I guess the beachfront place isn’t a house, then?”
“Nope - old factory. It was condemned, actually, which worked out well because we bought it for a song.”
“You’ve been living in a condemned factory?” Rachel frowned. “That can’t be sanitary.”
“No,” Quinn laughed. “We’ve only been inside twice; it’s been shut tight since then. It was just here in case we needed it.”
“What’s so special about this factory?”
“Aww, that’d spoil all the fun,” Quinn winked. “Now,” she grew more serious, “we’ve only got a few minutes to spare after we get in - the cops are going to be on us really fast. I need you to do exactly what I say, and don’t ask questions. Okay?”
“Will do,” Rachel saluted. Quinn nodded and turned into the driveway of a towering brick building. Not bothering to stop at the locked entrance, she drove through it instead, and it swung open as the lock was crushed. Not bothering to turn the car off, she simply put it in park and jumped out, and Rachel followed suit. Quinn quickly shut the warehouse door again and turned back.
“That blanket,” she pointed. “Grab it. It’s heavy, so be careful. Put it in the passenger seat.” She left Rachel to it while she loaded a similar bundle into the driver’s seat. “Have you got it?” she yelled.
“Got it,” Rachel grunted, pushing the heavy pile of blankets into place before closing the door. “Now what?”
“This way!” Quinn called, leading her to a dark corner where she knelt down and scrabbled along the cement with her hands. “Come on, come on!” she muttered, finally exclaiming happily as she found what she was searching for. With a sharp tug, she dislodged what Rachel could only describe as a trap door. “Get in,” Quinn urged her, and she dropped into the dark hole. Quinn followed, easing the section of floor back into place above her. “This way,” Quinn led her through the dark. “And keep your voice down, okay?”
They’d gone what felt like several hundred feet in the darkness when Rachel bumped into Quinn, who’d come to a sudden stop. “What-“
“Shh.” Quinn reached out and pulled something off the wall - Rachel couldn’t see what it was, but it had obviously been placed there on purpose. “Down on your knees, okay? And cover your ears.”
“But-“
“Just do it,” Quinn hissed. She waited until Rachel was in position, and then she jabbed her finger at whatever she’d grabbed from the wall - and the world seemed to vanish into an incredible cacophony of noise. Rachel stayed down, hands over her ears, waiting for the tunnel to collapse around them. Amazingly, though, it stayed intact - and then it was suddenly alight as Quinn brandished a zippo lighter. She was dusty and dirty, but her bright smile in the dark was breathtaking.
“What was that?” Rachel whispered, putting her hands back down at her side - at least, she hoped she was whispering. The noise had deafened her a little, and she couldn’t be sure she wasn’t yelling.
“The building coming down.”
“What? My god, Quinn, we may have killed -“
“We didn’t kill anyone, Berry. The cops weren’t going to just barge in without waiting to make sure they had us surrounded - and even then, they’d try to make contact with us before they just charged in. There was no way they could know we didn’t have the place filled with weapons. And there was no one else around. It was an implosion, not an explosion, and the lot that warehouse was on is huge. The debris wouldn’t even have made it to the next building.”
“Did you guys dig this tunnel? This must have been an extraordinary amount of work!”
“Come on,” Quinn helped her to her feet, leading her away. “No, we didn’t. It dates back to prohibition. No one even knew there was a tunnel here until Artie found a map and figured there was an exit in the warehouse. So we bought it, rigged the place with explosives, and waited for a rainy day. And now here we are. The cops are going to find the car, with the two bodies in the front seats-“
“The what?”
Quinn winced. “We didn’t kill them, don’t worry. Anyway, the last thing all those cops saw was us going inside, then the building collapsing. It’ll be days before they get Beth out, and a few more by the time they figure out those bodies aren’t us. And by then, we’ll be out of the country.”
“But how are we going to get across the border? We have no papers.”
“Santana’s got it covered. Did you ever decide on a name?”
“Uh - how about Lea?”
“Lee? Like L-E-E?”
“No, L-E-A.”
“Oh, okay - I like it. I was going to go with Dianna myself.”
“It’s very pretty,” Rachel reached out and pushed a dusty lock of blonde hair behind Quinn’s ear. She leaned closer, hoping for a kiss, but Quinn backed away.
“No time for love, Doctor Jones. We’ve got to keep moving.” She winked and took Rachel’s hand, leading her further into the darkness. “We can’t be sure the tunnel won’t collapse, so we’ve gotta get out as soon as we can.”
“Wait, what?”
“The thing is reinforced with wooden beams, Rach. They’re ninety years old, and it’s humid down here since we’re so close to the water. Throw in a massive implosion at one end,” she shrugged. “Hard to say if it’ll stand up.”
“How far do we have to go?”
“A few miles. The house we’ve been living in sits right on top of the tunnel, and Santana and Britt dug into it to make us an exit.”
They were silent for a few minutes until Rachel spoke up again. “I hope everyone made it out okay,” she said softly. “When I rescued you, I mean. When we were on the phone with Santana that day, there was a lot of gunfire in the background.”
Quinn’s face hardened. “They better have.”
“Quinn, please tell me you’re not planning some sort of elaborate revenge scenario in your head right now. No matter what may have happened after we escaped, the most important thing now is to flee the country before the police find us. My father won’t be able to help us escape if we get caught again.”
“I know,” Quinn sighed. “It’s just - those guys are the closest thing I have to a family, you know? If anything happened to them because they were trying to save me, I-“ she waved her free hand helplessly.
“I’m sure they’re okay,” Rachel assured her. “And there’s no sense worrying - we’ll see them all soon enough.”
“Yeah, true enough.” They walked on in the darkness, Rachel looking nervously over her shoulder every time the wood creaked around them. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“This is the last chance you’re going to get to decide if this is really what you want. If you turned yourself in now, told them you’d been taken in by an evil criminal who made you do everything you’ve done, your dad could probably swing you a sweet plea deal.”
Rachel tugged Quinn’s arm, hard, and pulled her to a stop. “Obviously I haven’t convinced you yet. Quinn, I don’t want to be anywhere but with you, okay? I - you make me feel something that I’ve never felt with anyone else, and I don’t ever want to have to be without that feeling again. And if that doesn’t convince you, maybe this will,” she stepped closer and smashed her lips against Quinn’s in a fierce kiss. Her tongue probed at Quinn’s lips, and they parted to allow her access. Their tongues found each other and duelled for supremacy until they both needed air and broke the embrace with twin gasps.
“Jesus,” Quinn reached up and dabbed at her lip, her finger coming away bloody. Rather than being angry, though, she grinned.
“Got the message?”
“Loud and clear - now let’s pick up the pace before I decide I can’t wait and fuck you on the floor of this tunnel, okay?”
Rachel grinned and they started to run, their hands still linked. Finally, as both of them were nearing the end of their endurance, they saw an old corn broom leaning against the tunnel wall. “There,” Quinn pointed at it. “That’s the exit.” Releasing Rachel’s hand, she grabbed the broom and banged the handle against the top of the tunnel - six times, then a pause, then once, then a pause, and a final nine times. The dim space was filled with light as someone opened a hatch above them and dropped a rope ladder down. “Go ahead,” Quinn gestured. “You first.”
Rachel took a hesitant hold of the swinging ladder, and held tight as it was pulled up through the hatch. As she reached the top, Brittany pulled her aside and Santana dropped the ladder again. “Hi, Rachel!” Brittany greeted her brightly. “You’re all dusty.”
“Yeah,” Rachel confirmed, pulling the blonde girl into a tight hug. “And now you are too. It’s so good to see you! I heard you took out some of those mafia guys - ran them over?”
“That was an accident,” Brittany frowned. “I was trying to find something in the glove box and I accidentally put the car in drive.”
“Uh,” Rachel hesitated, seeing Santana’s warning look over Brittany’s shoulder. “Well, I’m sure they’ll be okay.”
Santana pulled Quinn up and embraced her tightly. “I wasn’t sure we’d ever see you again, Q.”
“Hey, you know me, babe - nine lives. How awesome is Rachel, though?”
Santana whooped excitedly. “She’s amazing, Q - you were totally right about her. You know that stunt you pulled with Jessie put him in the hospital, right? On top of that, they found a whole shitload of unregistered guns in his car, so he’s going away for a long time.” She released Quinn and pulled Rachel into a bone-crushing hug. “You did good,” she murmured. “Thank you for bringing Q back to us.”
“Well, I have to confess to being a bit selfish - I wanted to save her for my sake too.”
Santana chuckled. “I’ll forgive you. Now, let’s get upstairs - everybody’s been waiting on pins and needles for you two to get here.”
“Who’s everybody?” Quinn asked nervously.
“It’s all good, Q - everybody made it. Puck’s a bit banged up - took a bullet through his shin - but other than that we’re all fine. I picked Artie up at the safehouse once the dust settled, and Finn’s too thick-headed to get hurt.” Santana led them up from the basement into the house. “I’ve got everybody’s papers ready except yours and hers. I need pictures and names.”
“Ooh, can I name you?” Brittany clapped. “Quinn, you can be Ducky, and-”
“We’ve got it covered, Britt - thanks, though,” Quinn grinned. There was a brief party as they emerged into the living room, with lots of hugs exchanged and stories told, until Santana loudly cleared her throat. When that failed to elicit a reaction, she screamed instead.
“HEY! Can we save the celebration? I need to finish these papers, so you two go get scrubbed up. The rest of you, double-check everything’s packed,” she smirked. “When we leave for the night, we ain’t coming back.”
“Kesha, babe? Really?”
“Weren’t you supposed to be getting scrubbed up?”
Quinn shot her a one-finger salute, laughing. “Come on, Rach. We’ll find you some clothes. You should maybe think about a haircut, too.”
“Do we have time for that?”
“Well, not a professional one. Just gather it up and cut it short. If they put our faces on the news, we should look at least a little bit different.”
“What about you?”
“Got it covered. Go hop in the shower, I’ll have some clothes waiting for you when you get out.”
“Could I convince you to join me?” Rachel raised an eyebrow, smiling with satisfaction when Quinn shivered a bit.
“We definitely don’t have time for that.”