Chapter 16

A story about genetically programmed soulmates. (This chapter may contain triggers-domestic abuse, abuse, extreme violence.)

Quinn lay on the floor for a long time before she decided to get up. She knew she looked as bad as she felt, but there was no time to focus on her injuries. She needed to make sure she packed enough in an hour to survive wherever she was going. 

England, she was going to England. So far from Lima, from Rachel. 

The blonde sighed before slowly pushing herself up from the floor and standing on her wobbly legs. She held onto the bedside table for balance and gently leaned into the wall as she shuffled back to her room. 

She pulled out a Cheerio’s duffle bag and placed it on her bed shoving as many clothes in the bag as possible. She went into her closet and grabbed a backpack stuffing it with toiletries, and adding a toothbrush before walking back into her room grabbing her favorite book and a picture of Rachel. Then she collapsed on the bed letting her broken body rest. 

Quinn closed her eyes taking a deep breath, she thought about Rachel, about her kind brown eyes and her loving embrace. She thought about her voice and what she might say right now if she were here. She’d try to make Quinn run away with her, she’d try to protect her. 

Quinn imagined Rachel’s arms wrapped around her, protecting her from her reality. She could almost feel the warmth of the girl’s body behind her as she drifted off into a light sleep and for just a moment, everything was okay.

...

Quinn was awoken by Russell yelling in her face about how she was an ungrateful little b***h and how dare she fall asleep when he asked her to do something. She tried not to roll her eyes at the man. She slowly sat up from her bed and grabbed her bags as he continued to yell down the stairs and out to the car. 

He continued to yell for about five minutes and when he ran out of things to yell about he just gripped the wheel until his knuckles were white and stared angrily at the road. 

Quinn sat in the back seat staring out the window, she wanted to know where they were going, if it weren’t for Rachel she might actually be excited to leave. She could start a new life, a better life with people who loved and accepted her instead of beating her for something that wasn’t even her fault. 

She thought about Rachel again as they passed the ‘Now Leaving Lima,’ sign. Would she be okay, she hoped so. Her fathers were both doctors and would be able to take care of her when things started to go wrong. She was going to miss Rachel so much, her mate had brought her so much joy in the past couple of months. She never thought one person could change your life so much. 

The car stopped in front of the airport and Russell didn’t bother helping Quinn get out her bags. She simply threw her two bags onto the sidewalk and stepped out. Russell started driving away before the door had even closed and she sighed as her old life drove away. 

This was it, she was alone. She was in pain, heartbroken and alone. Until a voice made her snap around, it was a man with dark brown hair and brown eyes. He was a little taller than Quinn and wore a black suit with a red tie. “Hello, Miss Fabray, my name is Charlie and I will be your counselor. If I may, I’ll take your bags and we can - oh my word! Miss, what happened to you?” 

“I-well...I just...it was an accident?” Quinn tried to offer. 

“Right. Well, we had a flight at four-thirty, but I think we may have to reschedule. I’ll just make a few calls and then we can go to the emergency.” 

Charlie pulled his phone out of his pants pocket and dialed a few numbers, he hung up the phone before walked back into the airport. “Stay here, I just need to get a rental car and we can go.” 

Charlie walked back into the airport and ten minutes later came back out with a set of keys. “I don’t want you to hurt yourself any further, so I’ll just pull the car around.” 

Quinn stayed where she was and before long there was a silver chevy pulling up to the curb. Quinn moved to grab her bags when Charlie quickly took them for her. “As I said, I don’t want you to hurt yourself any further.” He took the bags and put them in the trunk before walking back to the passenger side and opening the door for Quinn. She nodded gratefully and sat in the seat. 

They drove in silence until Charlie spoke again, “Can you tell me where the closest hospital is, Miss? I’m not sure if I can find it on my own.” 

“It’s just off of Badburry Street. The intersection Fanklin Avenue. As long as you stay on this road you’ll find it.” Quinn said. 

Charlie nodded and simply kept his eyes on the road and Quinn told him where to turn until they pulled into the hospital and walked into the emergency room. Charlie walked up to the front desk and spoke to the nurse, she wrote down a few things and smiled telling him that it would be a few minutes so they would have to wait in the waiting room for a while and he smiled and thanked her, leading Quinn to a few chairs in the corner of the room. 

The two sat in silence for a while before Charlie spoke again. “Does it hurt?” he asked, “I know it’s a dumb question, but you’re not the first girl I’ve picked up looking like this. Some of them just..stop feeling it.” 

Quinn didn’t know what that meant but she answered anyway, “Yeah, it hurts, but I’m used to the pain. I’m guessing another broken nose and a few broken ribs.” 

“Okay, I saw in your file that you had some work done, on your nose? We can fix that back at the facility so don’t worry about that. I just want to make sure your injuries are tended to before we leave. I don’t want you on a plane if the doctor advises against it.” Charlie explained. 

“Where are we going?” Quinn asked, “Russell wouldn’t tell me anything other than that it was in England.” 

“That silly man...we aren’t going to England...I mean we are going out of the country, but we just say it’s in England because we need to put down a location for advertisement purposes. Our facilities are on uncharted territory, that’s half of the appeal to our services.” Charlie said. 

“Services?” 

“Yes, we rehabilitate individuals who don’t have a mate, who’s mate has died, or young people whose parents demand that their children have a mate change. Our location is completely confidential. If you are close to your friends and family it is much harder to change your sign. Not because of the chemicals, but because many people get cold feet.” Charlie explained. 

“Well what if I don’t want to change my mate, what I want to keep her.” Quinn asked. 

Charlie sighed and looked at the ground. “Miss Fabray, in your case...we can’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do, you have been disowned by your father and therefore you have the right to do whatever you feel is best for you. We can’t let you leave, but we can let you make your own choices. If you simply want to stabilize yourself, that is your choice, but you must know, your mate might not be there when you get out. She might choose to get the treatment herself. We strongly encourage that you go along with the process. It is much healthier and most often has a much better end result for our patients. You might change your mind once you see all of the benefits of our practices.” 

Quinn had never thought of that. That Rachel might choose someone else while she was gone. Quinn didn’t know how long she would be away, or if she would ever be allowed to come back. Rachel still had Finn. They were still together. She could easily have her dads change her chemicals to be with him. It had never crossed Quinn’s mind before. She had thought that Rachel wanted to be with her.

But thinking back to the phone call, Quinn didn’t even give Rachel a chance to speak, she just hung up. She didn’t know what Rachel was going to say. Was she going to be with Finn. Was she going to say she still wanted to be with Quinn? Was is worth the chance of keeping Rachel as her mate? She wasn’t sure.

Maybe this was the best choice. Maybe..Rachel was just a phase. Maybe her entire life had been one giant mistake.

“I don’t know, Charlie. I guess...I’ll have to decide for myself.”

Charlie smiled, satisfied at the progress his knew client was already making. 

XXXX

It only took about two and a half hours to see the doctor and get the okay to get on a plane that day. Quinn was right, she had three broken ribs a broken nose, and a deviated septum but there was no internal bleeding or serious damage. 

“Alright, is there anything you would like to do before we go back to the airport. Favorite restaurant you like to enjoy one last time?” Charlie asked. 

“No, I don’t think so.” Quinn knew there was no way she would be able to see Rachel. She wasn’t sure she really wanted to at this point. It would be too painful. She might already be with Finn. Or maybe she was looking for her. She couldn’t be sure and she didn’t want to know. “I’m ready to go.” 

“Excellent.” Charlie said taking them back to the airport.

XXXX

Rachel had left the Fabray’s house a few minutes after she discovered Quinn really was gone. 

She drove home, much slower this time, she didn’t want to go home but really where else could she go...she had to go home there was no one else to - Santana and Brittany. Santana and Brittany might know something! 

Rachel quickly turned around and drove past Quinn’s house to the other side of Lima. Lima Heights Adjacent. 

Santana bragged about living there all the time even though her father was a doctor, which always confused Rachel. Why live on the bad side of town when you don’t have to?

She drove down street after street looking for the Latina’s car. Unfortunately Rachel had never been formally introduced to the Cheerio’s. She knew about them, she saw them every day, but she never spoke to them. And she was regretting that now. She didn’t know where Santana lived she only knew what her car looked like, but who’s to say how many people had that same exact car with that same exact bumper sticker that read ‘Cheerio’s national champs’. Okay no one probably had it, but as Rachel drove down six streets she was thinking about just giving up. 

Rachel parked her car on the side of the street and wracked her brain trying to think of something Quinn might have said to help her find Santana. 

Rachel remembered a conversation about the girl. Rachel had asked Quinn why she wouldn’t let her meet her friends outside of school and Quinn had answered with, ‘It’s not you Rachel, it’s them. Havn’t I told you enough stories? They think you’re hot therefore, no.” 

Rachel chuckled at the memory, but it wasn’t helping her problem at the moment. ‘Think, Rachel, think.’ The brunette closed her eyes trying to concentrate on something Quinn might have said. And then it came to her, Quinn said something about Santana’s house once. She had said, ‘if you ever need to find me when there’s trouble at home, go to Santana’s house, it’s the light blue house with the red mailbox. I don’t know why they painted it that way, but it stands out like a sore thumb.” 

The brunette drove her car down a few more streets looking for the blue paint and the red mailbox and finally she found it. It did stick out like a sore thumb in Lima Heights. All of the other houses looked so run down, but Santana’s house looked pristine. 

Rachel took a deep breath, she needed to talk to Santana, even if the girl didn’t know anything, she had to try. Russell would never tell Rachel where he had sent her, her fathers were being no help, her fathers were apparently the biggest a******s she had ever met and Rachel didn’t know where to start herself. So Quinn’s best friend was her best bet. 

Rachel stepped out of the car and walked to the front door ringing the doorbell and stepping back to wait for someone to answer. A few seconds later a small Latina woman came to the door with a bright smile. “Hello! Are you one of Santana’s friends?” 

“I-uh-yes.” Rachel stuttered. 

“Come in, come in. You can go up to her room, she’s up there with Brittany right now, so you might want to knock first.” The woman said with a wink. 

Rachel nodded with a weak smile. This might have been a mistake, a huge mistake. She wa so uncomfortable in the house and she had only been there for a few minutes. But she needed to this for Quinn so she continued up the stairs to the room with the red and white Cheerio’s banner. She knocked on the door and waited for a response. But it never came so she knocked again. “Q! Just opened the door we aren’t doing anything!” Santana yelled on the other side.

Rachel bit her lip trying to contain the tears from hearing Quinn’s nickname, she almost couldn’t do it. She almost turned around and left to go sit in her car and cry. But she didn’t she sobered up, turned the knob and stepped inside. Santana and Brittany were lying on the bed doing homework and Rachel cleared her throat. “Hello, Santana, Brittany.” 

The two girl’s heads snapped up in surprised, that was the last voice they were expecting to hear. “Rachel? Are you okay?” Santana asked rising from the bed. She didn’t want to get to close. Rachel looked like she might break if she touched her. Her eyes were watery and her jaw was clenched as if she were willing herself not to let the tears fall. 

“No,” Rachel said, “I need your help. Quinn-she’s gone.” 

 

XXXX

Quinn sat next to Charlie waiting for their new bordering time to arrive. Since they were flying to uncharted territory they would have to wait for a private jet. The one previously reserved had taken off already, so it was just a waiting game until another one returned. 

Charlie was a nice guy. He had answered all of Quinn’s questions the best she could. When he notice Quinn trying to keep her hair in her face to hide her injuries, he bought her a pair of sunglasses and a hoodie to hide behind. 

They ate at a restaurant in the airport and got to know each other. Charlie told Quinn about the girl’s he had been assigned before her, how successful their transitions had been and how much happier they were afterwards. He told her about how he got into his work and why he had chosen it. 

Charlie had been an orphan, he had a cliche beginning, his mother had left him there after he was born because she was too young to care for him. Every year a man and a woman in black suits would come and take three children with them. They would look at their wrists to see if they had signs, if they didn’t they would take them, if they did, they couldn’t. Charlie never got his sign and one year the men and women came and chose him. They took him and two other children to the facility, which Quinn now knew was called “...”, and they told him they would train him to be an agent. From there they got to choose what they wanted to do, they could do therapy, counseling, psychotherapy, research, teach, nutrition, etc. Charlie had obviously chosen counseling. 

Charlie seemed to love his job. He loved helping people improve their lives. Most of his clients were from abusive families and either never had a mate or had imprinted on a same sex mate. Many of his clients had chosen to change, knowing that having a same sex mate might set them back in life or shame their family they wanted to change. Only a few chose to stay the same after being sent away. 

“How many?” Quinn asked.

“How many what?” Charlie asked, confused. 

“How many clients didn’t change their mate?” Quinn asked. 

“There were two. One of them was a girl. She was a bad kid, always getting into trouble. She had a temper and was the most stubborn girl I had ever met. No one could convince her to change her mind and she didn’t want treatment either. So unfortunately both she and her mate, she died.” Charlie looked down at his hands, worrying them in his lap. “She was a rare and unfortunate case. But there were two boys, one of them was sent to us and he wanted to find his mate again, so we helped him stabilize himself, get a career and he found his mate. They are still together. Such a sweet couple.” Charlie smiled gently. 

“Do you think I could ever find my mate?” Quinn asked, hopeful.

“I don’t know, Miss Fabray, I’ve never dealt with a case as serious as yours before. You are the Quinn Fabray. You started this entire organization. All of them. Every rehabilitation is possible because of the Berry foundation, you and, Miss Berry. But aside from that, your fath-Russell. He went through great lengths to make sure you and Miss Berry never saw each other again. You will never be able to come back here. At least for now. We are going to work hard to undo everything your father did, but as of now, you are not allowed to have any contact with anyone on the outside.”

“Why?” Quinn asked. 

“It’s protocol. We have to isolate you, if you want the treatment we can’t take any chances. Once we get there it will all make sense and who knows, you might change your mind.”

“Oh” Quinn said quietly. “Does it help?” 

“Usually. It helps our patients make an unbiased decision. It’s easier to start a new life when people form your old life aren’t holding you back.” Charlie said.

Quinn didn’t think Rachel was holding her back, but maybe she was. Maybe this was her chance to start a new future without abuse, and disappointment and fear. Maybe she could be who she wanted to be this time. “I’m not sure what I want right now.” Quinn admitted. “I want to be with Rachel, but is that what I want or is the chemicals that were forced into me?” 

Charlie nodded in understanding. “I don’t know, Miss Fabray. I guess we’ll find out.” They sat in the terminal until the plane finally came. “Are you ready?” Charlie asked. 

“Does it matter?” Quinn asked. 

“I suppose not, let’s go. I’ll get your things.” Charlie said getting Quinn’s bags.

XXXX

“What do you mean, Quinn’s gone? What happened?” Santana took a step closer to Rachel, still hesitant to touch the girl. Rachel wasn’t responding, her eyes were blank and her skin went pale. She was clearly in shock. 

“Brittany, can you get me a glass of water?” Santana asked as she walked Rachel towards the bed. “It’s going to be okay, Rachel. We’ll figure it out, we always do.” Santana said. 

Rachel sat on the bed and tried to find words, but not that she was here, she couldn’t. She couldn’t form thoughts or anything except for the big hole in her chest where Quinn used to be. Where her mate’s warmth used to sit. “She’s gone.” Rachel whispered again. “She’s gone, Russell..he..it’s all my fault. I’m so sorry. I’m so so sorry.” And Rachel broke again, the sobs wracked through her body and she cried harder than she had in her entire life. 

….

Santana held Rachel until she stopped crying and even then she was afraid to let go of the girl. Rachel was a mess. She was so broken and lost that Santana wasn’t sure where to even begin. She looked to Brittany for help but the girl simply shrugged her shoulders. “Rachel, I’m sorry, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what you want?” 

“I want Quinn back.” Rachel said quietly, “That’s all I want.” 

Santana clenched her jaw and nodded, “I know. We’ll try to help, but I’m not sure if there’s anything we can do.” 

“There has to be something, anything. Someone has to know where she went or how to find her or...just something! Anything!” Rachel stood from the comfort or Santana’s arms and began pacing the floor. “I will find Quinn if it’s the last thing I do. I will die trying to find her.” Rachel said. 

Santana looked at Brittany worried as to what Rachel meant by that statement. “Rachel, what do you mean?” Brittany asked, “You can’t risk your life for her. I know you love her, but there are other ways.” 

“No, there aren’t. I will find her. I won’t stop looking until I do. I know what I have to do.” Rachel said running out the door and back to her car. 

……..
Rachel couldn’t go home, she was far too angry with her father’s to speak with them. There was only one person she knew that had more drive and more passion than she did. That was the only person who could help her now. 

Rachel drove up the long driveway and rang the doorbell waiting for someone to answer. 

A short Mexican in a maid’s uniform answered the door and asked if she had an appoint. Rachel said no, but the woman let her in anyway when Rachel said it was urgent. The woman walked to an office and told her that she could go in. Rachel nodded and walked into the office. 

“Rachel Berry. What could be so urgent that you needed to pay me a visit at home?” Sue asked turning around in her chair. 

“Sue, Quinn’s gone. Her father sent her away and I need your help to find her.” Rachel said. 

Sue froze in her seat, staring Rachel down. “Are you making this up as a ploy to get something from me? Don’t joke about Quinn Fabray. She is my star, she reminds me of a young Sue Sylvester. If this is some sick joke, I will destroy everything you love.” Sue said gripping the arms of her chair. 

“It’s not. I’ll explain everything. I just...I need your help.” Rachel said, “Please.” 

Sue eyed the brunette for a moment longer before she spoke again, “Sit, tell me your story. i’ll do whatever I can for Quinn. You have my word.”