Buckle up kiddies, angst and possible trigger subjects in this chapter! This chapter contains the same sort of abuse as the one regarding Quinn's past with Laura, please don't read it if it will upset you.

Willing the trembling she could feel in her arms not to make its way to her all too visible hands, Quinn squeezed the ceramic edge of the sink for all she was worth. Taking a deep breath, she used every ounce of willpower she could muster to keep her voice even as she spoke.

"Why are you here Laura, how did you even get in, this is an invite only event!"

Taking a momentary mental pause to congratulate herself on the even cadence of her words, Quinn made an effort to breathe evenly. She would be damned if she'd let Laura know how much this was upsetting her. Maintaining her gaze on the cruelly beautiful woman in the mirror behind her, the hockey player was disgusted but not surprised to realise that she had only grown more attractive as the years passed. Seeming to know exactly what Quinn's thoughts were, Laura gave her a smug grin and making sure to maintain eye contact the whole time, leant forward letting her lips brush against the shell of the blonde's ear before she whispered.

"I know."

The two word statement took a several seconds to register with Quinn as she was currently fighting the urge to throw up after Laura's lips touched her, if only for a brief second. Eventually however they did register and cold dread flooded through her at the implication they represented.

"Wait…what, what do you mean you know? How did you get invited?"

Confident and cruel smile widening at the obvious distress in the hockey player's words, Laura raised an elegantly shaped eyebrow before rolling her eyes.

"How do you think Quinnie dear? If this is a ball for skaters and their sponsors then how do you think I got an invite…though I have to confess, my new enterprise is a bit of an uncouth moron."

Swallowing the rapidly rising bile back down, Quinn felt dizzy as the news fully hit her and she looked down at the clean white sink, hoping it might help her find her metaphorical feet again…it didn't.

"You're a…sponsor, who?"

Although, even as she asked she had a horrible, sneaking suspicion that she knew what the answer would be, a suspicion confirmed when she looked back up into the gleaming eyes of her abuser.

"Jesse St James of course, he's the rising star in this field after all. It was such a happy coincidence as I'd just seen that interview you did when daddy asked me to find ways to legitimise the business, and what's more legitimate than the world of sport?"

This time there was no stopping the bile, and Quinn found herself throwing up violently in the sink, Laura's amused laughter providing a fitting background noise. Taking advantage of the fact the blonde was bent over the sink throwing up; Laura ran her hand possessively across Quinn's hip. This unwanted action caused the hockey player to throw up again, even as one hand shot off of the sink and backwards to push Laura away. The taller woman only laughed before putting both hands back on Quinn's hips, then sliding one up to tangle in the locks of loose blonde hair, tightening cruelly.

"Now that's no way to react to the appearance of an old friend is it? And here I thought we could...relive, some of the good times."

Scowling heavily, Quinn attempted to shake Laura loose, only for the older woman to use the hand in her hair to pull her upright, locking gazes with her in the mirror again. Her eyes flashed coldly and the lazy grin turned itself into a thin hard line that the hockey player was all too familiar with.

"DON'T do that again, I didn't spend years tracking you down to have you forget your place!"

Quinn's body automatically dropped into a more submissive position, all the while her mind was screaming, throwing itself against the bars of control that had fallen down again after so many years. This wasn't right, she wasn't anyone property, she had family now, friends…she had Rachel, she wasn't…this anymore! Sadly her body wasn't agreeing with her, too busy remembering the pain, the agony that this woman was capable of if she even thought about disobeying. But she was Quinn goddamn Fabray and she knew, with every part of her, knew that this was wrong, that she didn't have to put up with this, not anymore, not ever again! Forcing herself to feign compliance for a moment more, she waited until Laura relaxed her grip then pulled herself loose. Turning in the older woman's grip, she faced her for the first time since this encounter had started and firmly pushed her away. If the situation hadn't been so grave she would have almost laughed at the look of sheer surprise on Laura's face. Instead she took a deep breath and spoke clearly, admittedly she was shaking like a leaf…but her words weren't.

"I don't know what game you're playing now, or what you think is going to happen but it's not! I'm not a kid anymore Laura and whatever power you had over me is gone, I have plenty of people now who care about me, they know what you did and they will stand by me!"

For a moment the older woman looked…puzzled, then shocked, followed by the, oh so familiar flash of white rage, all of which were superseded by a worrying look of…delight? If that hadn't been enough of a reason to worry then the tinkling laughter that followed definitely was and the solid ground Quinn thought she had under her feet began to wobble.

"Oh Quinnie…did you really think I'd walk back into your life without a plan? How silly of you, I thought you knew better than that, I definitely thought you knew me better than that! I am, however, delighted to realise the opposite is true, it means re-training you will be all the sweeter!"

Leaning back against the sink behind her for support, Quinn closed her eyes momentarily, tried to tell herself that this wasn't happening, couldn't be happening. But when she opened her eyes and saw the tall black haired woman in front of her smiling joyously she knew without a doubt…it was. Feeling as if her whole world was crashing down on her, Quinn ran both hands through her hair shakily, wanting to ask, to scream, why this was happening, what made Laura think she would comply, but all that came out was a weak and desperate sounding…

"No…"

Walking forward confidently, the Grecian beauty took firm hold of the hockey player's chin and forced her gaze back upwards, the cruel light to her eyes now blazing brightly.

"Yes, Quinnie…yes!"

There was such determination in Laura's gaze, in her posture and her words that Quinn just slumped in her grip, lowering her eyes submissively before managing to mutter hoarsely.

"What do you want?"

It was just four words, but with those four words she surrendered, she was stupid to think she could ever truly escape this woman, ever truly escape who she really was. And who she really was, was the unwanted kid of a low life criminal who was good for nothing more than servicing others.

Laura saw this all in her eyes and smiled internally, externally she moved her hand to gently caress Quinn's face for a second…before pulling it sharply away and delivering a slap that split the blonde's lip.

"That's better…it's good to see you're training hasn't been totally ruined! Now, as for what I want, there are a few things, and while this sudden act of subservience from you is believable…let me just show you a little something I put together in case you get any stupid ideas, like telling someone about me."

Swallowing hard, Quinn resisted the urge to reach up and wipe the dribble of blood from her chin, knowing that wasn't allowed. Instead she fought the instinct to defy this woman and waited, whatever Laura was going to show her she knew she wasn't going to like. Rummaging in the clutch bag , Laura had let rest on the sink's edge, she pulled out a smart phone and pressed a few keys before handing it out to Quinn with a grin, a video preloaded and ready to play.

"Go ahead, hit play…I think you'll find it entertaining."

Taking the phone, the hockey player used a trembling thumb to press the play icon. At first she was unsure what she was seeing, then it hit her with the force of a Mack truck, it was Laura's bedroom, and the woman herself was lying on the bed, Quinn had a sick feeling she knew what she was going to see next. Sure enough her younger self walked into view, seemingly eagerly, and started to 'service' Laura. From an outside perspective it all looked very consensual, it looked like she was enjoying herself, with sudden dread she realised what this was, and as she watched Laura hand over a wad of money to her onscreen self she felt the phone fall from her nerveless fingers. She'd wondered at the time why Laura had wanted her little 'role play' afternoon to feature Quinn being the one in charge for once, now it all made sense…even back then the bitch was putting things into place in case she ever needed them. She was shaken out of her stunned stupor when Laura leant forward and bit the lobe of her ear so hard she felt more blood, dribbling down her neck this time.

"I don't like it when you don't answer me Quinnie!"

Trying her best to clear her muddled thoughts enough to focus on what Laura was saying, Quinn forced herself to speak the words she knew her tormentor wanted to hear.

"I'm…sorry, I was…it doesn't matter. I'm sorry."

Smiling masterfully, Laura pulled on the abused earlobe once more to get her point across, then wiped her bloody fingers on Quinn's shoulder.

"Good, now that little video has been very carefully edited as I'm sure you can see, you say that your friends and family will stand by you if they knew about me…and maybe they would, even if this video were to somehow fall into the hands of the press and become public property."

Quinn looked at her in surprise, sickened anew as Laura laughed happily.

"Oh please, I know how that 'love' thing works, and yes they may well stand by you, but think about how much it would cost them?"

At the hockey player's frown of confusion, Laura smiled thinly and rolled her eyes.

"Your mothers are officers of the law, sworn to uphold it, but what might they do if they thought someone was getting away with something and the law couldn't touch them? Maybe they wouldn't do anything to risk their careers but in my experience love makes people do stupid things."

Opening her mouth to protest, Quinn was cut off as Laura continued to pose hypotheticals that weren't perhaps as hypothetical as Quinn would like.

"And even if they didn't, it's sure to impact their careers, Lily at least, I mean who would trust a detective with a whore for a daughter that she can't even protect?"

Quinn's head felt all wrong, like shed drank a bottle of bourbon with a keg of beer as a chaser, she knew her mom and her ma wouldn't think like that…but would others?

Internal smile growing, Laura could see the confusion and pain on Quinn's features and carried on almost gleefully.

"And as for your foster siblings…Santana and David isn't it? I don't know what their backgrounds are but a video like that would probably stir up some very horrible memories for them, not to mention how it could affect their behaviour. From what I hear, this Santana already has quite a temper, I suspect it wouldn't take much for someone to provoke her into making a violent mistake that might land her in jail?"

Laura paused for a minute letting the truth of that statement sink in, they both knew that if someone didn't antagonise Santana thenm Laura herself would engineer a situation.

Swallowing hard, Quinn tried to think of arguments, anything to negate what Laura was saying.

Unconcerned with the internal battle she knew was being waged in Quinn's mind and heart, Laura continued to pile on the pressure.

"As for that 'girlfriend' of yours, poor Rachel Berry, such a promising skater but with a career that's already been beset with scandal, I wonder if such a battered career could take another hit."

At that, Quinn felt another flash of defiance, she knew Rachel, knew the girl wouldn't care about that when compared to Quinn herself…but Laura's next words made that comforting knowledge anything but.

"Of course I'm sure she wouldn't mind losing her career before it started, she would likely stay with you and go into her father's' business. But it wouldn't be her dream; it wouldn't be what she really wanted, not deep down. And that's only if the business itself survived a blow like that! I mean I know it prides itself on its open family values, having a daughter-in-law that used to sell herself for money though…that's bound to turn a few people away, shut down several lucrative deals before they even start."

Quinn felt faint, the poor Berry men, they had been nothing but supportive of her, even when she and Rachel were at each other's throats, something like this could ruin them.

"So, like I said…love will do funny things to people, and I'm sure they would all stick by you, at first at least. But the cost to them could be immeasurable, and I don't know about you but if I loved someone I'm not sure I could ask them to pay a cost like that…"

Trailing off questioningly, Laura watched the last of the defiance, the anger and doubt leach out of Quinn, and the internal smile turned into a triumphant grin…she had her! Sometimes people could be so predictable.

Looking down, the hockey player could see the smartphone still playing away to itself and letting out a long shuddering breath, she asked again.

"What do you want…mistress."

Folding her arms coolly, the Grecian woman inspected the broken blonde in front of her and could think of so very many things she wanted from her. However, their time here was short and she forced aside her more carnal urges to set in motion what she had come here to do.

"Firstly pick up the phone, turn off the video as it's distracting me, and put it in your pocket. From now on when I want you that is how I will contact you, understood?"

Nodding obediently, Quinn scooped up the phone and doing as instructed slid it into her back pocket. Smiling to herself at the seamless obedience, Laura took a moment to revel in the almost sexual pleasure of her complete dominance over the stubborn blonde.

"For now, I want you to carry on as you are, go to National's and do your best…but make sure St James also qualifies. Daddy needs an air of legitimacy and if I am the one to ensure it I stand to gain a full half of all his assets, so you will NOT mess this up for me do you hear?"

Again Quinn nodded; the only sign of her inner turmoil was the single tear trickling down her cheek to mix with the blood still on her chin.

"Good, apart from that, you will keep that phone charged and on at all times, and when I ask to see you, you turn up no matter what you have to do! So, are we clear?"

Hoping this was the last of today's 'instructions' Quinn forced herself to answer.

"Yes, I understand."

Taking in the defeated form one last time, Laura checked her watch discreetly. She still had a little time to kill and she did after all have a victory to celebrate.

"Excellent…now take your shirt off."

Hazel eyes flickered to unwaveringly cold ones, and feeling a measure of self-disgust she'd hoped never to experience again, Quinn numbly, and with shaking hands, undid the shirt and let it slide from her shoulders. Laura smiled thinly before moving to within inches of her.

"You've filled out nicely…although some of my marks have faded which is disappointing. Now, I'm going to give you a new one, one you won't forget, one that reminds you of who you are and who you belong to…and you, are going to reassure me you haven't lost all your talents…are we clear."

Filled with a mixture of fear, anger, desperation and self-loathing, Quinn found herself nodding. With a victorious smile, the raven headed woman took one of Quinn's idle hands and placed it under her dress at the hem of her silk underwear; then she bowed her head and sank her teeth into the hockey player's bared collar bone…hard. Although she hadn't been around this woman in nearly a decade, Quinn remembered exactly what to do. Gritting her teeth against both the pain growing in her shoulder and the tears that wanted desperately to fall, Quinn slid into Laura and back into the familiar pattern she knew would get the woman off as fast as possible. Whether it was from the power she felt from her victory, or the fact it had been so long since she'd used her talented play thing, Laura wasn't sure, but within minutes she was convulsing pleasurably and releasing the abused skin from her now bloody teeth. Looking up she saw that the tears had started to fall down Quinn's cheek, the salty liquid mixing with the dried blood on her chin. Unable to help herself, Laura licked the salty bloody trail, closing her eyes happily at the taste, after allowing herself to enjoy the moment, she straightened up and pushed Quinn away from her to admire her handiwork. The bite mark was…impressive, open and raw and deep enough that she saw faint traces of white she hoped was bone through the damaged skin.

"Excellent work, now I'm going to clean up and leave…wait five minutes before you do likewise, and do NOT treat that wound, I want it to scar!"

Nodding numbly, Quinn waited until Laura finished reapplying her makeup, fluffing her hair and washing her hands. With a last wink the Grecian beauty left the bathroom, unable to fight back the nausea any longer Quinn threw up again, violently. How had this happened, this morning she was happy, she was with the best woman in the world and her moms were on the way home. In the space of, she checked her watch, sickened to discover that although it felt like they'd been in the bathroom for hours it had only been just over twenty minutes. In the space of twenty minutes she'd regressed nearly ten years and was nothing but a weak pathetic waste of space. Forcing her tears to stop, the hockey player dutifully washed her hands and then washed the blood off her face and neck before tackling the bite wound. It hurt like holy hell and knowing she couldn't treat it properly she simply wiped it clear of blood and placed a dry washcloth over it before shrugging back into her shirt.

Looking in the mirror, she could almost fool herself into thinking that this was just a really vivid nightmare. Until she caught the haunted defeated look in her eyes and felt the sharp throbbing pain along her collarbone. How the hell was she supposed to carry on pretending everything was okay…when in fact nothing was, and maybe never would be again. Running her hands through her hair she slunk out of the bathroom, relieved when she couldn't see anyone that might ask where she'd been. She was thinking of heading towards the ball room again when she caught Sue Sylvester watching her from across the room. The coach smirked, and raising one eyebrow, tipped her glass towards the hockey player. That was it; Quinn felt the need to run crawling over her skin like ants over a picnic, and grabbing a bottle of something from the nearest tray bolted towards the kitchen and the back door.

Blissfully unaware of any of the incidents that had taken place not more than a couple of rooms from them, Rachel and Santana were arguing over the merits of the Blackhawks versus the Canucks. Santana was busily pointing out that the only reason Rachel favoured the Blackhawks was that Quinn supported them, when an exhausted but happy looking Lily came over with Sophia. The fire officer rolled her eyes at her daughter's teasing of the little diva and she lightly cuffed the Latina's head.

"Hey brat, leave her alone, I think it's sweet that they at least root for the same team, regardless of the reason. God knows our household would be a much more peaceful place if your mom would learn the error of her ways and defect from the Philly's to the 51's"

Snorting disbelievingly, Lily elbowed her grinning wife.

"In your dreams sweetheart; But sporting rivalry aside, I was looking for Quinn, I'm kinda wiped after the long flight and then this, I wanted to say goodnight before we turned in though."

Rachel nodded understandingly, and then frowned slightly as she looked around.

"That's a good point actually, I haven't seen her since she managed to dance my daddy around the dance floor, and she said she was going to cool down and then come find me. I forgot all about it after Santana started trying to convert me to the dark side."

The diva grinned as predictably the Latina scoffed.

"Supporting the Canucks is not akin to joining the dark side short round…but you're right about Q, I haven't seen her either and normally she's so close to you it's kinda stomach churning."

Rolling her eyes, it was Rachel who cuffed the Latina round the head lightly this time, nimbly ducking the return volley. Brittany, who had just shown up, ended the attempt by wrapping her arms around Santana's shoulders and pulling her into a loose embrace.

"Hey Brit, have you seen Quinn recently? Is she with Dave?"

The tall blonde shook her head, frowning slightly as she tried to think where she'd seen the hockey player last.

"No I haven't, I know she's not with Dave cos he's sat with your parents talking about something in the study. She's not with Kurt or Puck because they're playing football on that games machine."

Rachel frowned slightly, she knew they were at home so logically nothing could have happened to Quinn…but she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. Mostly because she remembered the hockey player confiding in her, not long ago, that she thought her mom looked tired and should rest soon. Turning to Santana, she found she didn't need to say anything as the Latina instantly picked up on her unease and nodded understandingly.

"Okay, well why don't you go look for her around this haunted mansion and I'll go check outside, I know she'd want to say goodnight to you mom and I can't be dealing with the sulking that will result if we let you go without her doing so."

Lily knew her kids well enough to know that there was something else going on but she just nodded slowly.

"Okay, well we're going down to the guest chalet Hiram set up for us; tell her to pop by before she goes to bed when you find her…okay?"

Santana nodded reassuringly and watched her mom's head off before turning to her concerned girlfriend.

"Brit honey, can you go interrupt whatever Dave's doing and ask him and the Berry men if they remember seeing her recently, it's probably nothing but Rachel's right…something feels hinky."

Letting out a breath of relief, that as stupid as it might be, Santana had indeed picked up on the same feeling Rachel had. The tiny brunette smiled her thanks and reaching out briefly clasped the Latina's hand.

"Thank you Santana, it's probably nothing in which case Quinn is doing the coffee run in the morning, but just in case…"

Santana ruffled the diva's hair with a small grin.

"No problem short round, after years of living with her my Quinndar is finely tuned."

A dark eyebrow raised upwards in question.

"A Quinndar?"

Grin widening, the Latina nodded before explaining.

"Yeah, it's like gaydar but it works on Quinn and her weird ass moods, it was practically a survival tool in the early days of living with her."

They both shared a laugh before Rachel asked nervously.

"And…what is it telling you at the moment?"

Glancing at her feet for a moment, Santana thought carefully about how to answer, earlier there was no question that Quinn was in a jubilant mood. She was loving her mom's being back and for the first time ever seemed to be enjoying a dance, something the brooding younger Quinn never did. But…now, now she wasn't sure, for Quinn to have disappeared with their mom just back from surgery, well it didn't sit right with her. Sighing heavily, the Latina tucked her hair behind her ear before replying.

"I'll admit…it's pinging, I have no idea why, because to the best of my knowledge after Q put that jerk St James in his place there was nothing else that could upset her."

Rachel nodded in agreement and after a moment's pause pulled the surprised Latina into a hug. There was a moment of stiffness before Santana relaxed and patted her back soothingly.

"S'okay short round, whatever's up we'll sort it…between my years of dealing with Quinn at her worst and you helping her to be her best, we'll have no worries, okay?"

Pulling back and wiping her eyes, the little diva nodded happily, taking a deep breath she pointed behind her.

"Right, I'm going to check upstairs, see if maybe she gave into the temptation of that new games machine and snuck away. Can you check outside, if she's anywhere she'll probably have gone down by the lake…she says it calms her."

She added the last part in an almost whisper, half hoping that Santana didn't find her there for the simple reason it would confirm something bad had happened. Nodding in understanding, the Latina gave her shoulder a last light squeeze before heading outside, Rachel watched her go and hoped for once in her life she was stressing for no reason.

Outside, Quinn had no idea of the concern her abrupt departure had caused, she had no idea of anything really thanks to the bottle of whatever it was that she had picked up. Swigging down another burning mouthful, the hockey player found herself smirking darkly as a drop escaped her lips and stung the fresh cut in her lip. Pain, something she was all too familiar with, something she disturbingly understood more than she wanted to. And, as she was coming to understand, something she would never escape. Laughing bleakly, she reached up with her free hand and squeezed down on the still oozing bite wound on her collar bone. A wound she knew would be there even if she attempted plastic surgery…Laura made sure of that.

The small part of her that had found the courage to run from Laura, the same part of her that had found her family and Rachel, was still railing against what had happened. Still fighting to remind her that she didn't have to do this alone anymore, that not only was she an adult but she had back up. That part, however, was rapidly drowned out by the years of abuse, the years of being told she wasn't worth anything, that she should be thankful someone as beautiful as Laura was willing to give her the time of day. The part that reminded her, her mother was a drunk who abandoned her and her father a lousy crook who sold her to save his own hide. Back and forth her heart and mind were arguing, one telling her one thing only to be drowned out by the other, hoping to silence both of the warring voices in her head, Quinn took another swig only to realise the bottle was empty. Scowling angrily she looked at it in disbelief, swaying unsteadily as her concentration was taken from her feet and walking. With a muffled curse, the hockey player tripped over an exposed tree root sticking out of the mud and went down hard, howling angrily at her own clumsiness, Quinn let go of the empty vessel and tried to brace her fall.

She failed miserably and groaned as a dull pain blossomed in her chest where she landed on the discarded bottle. Rolling onto her back, more pain blossomed from her collar bone and she let out a half laugh, half whimper. She should have known, things don't change, not for long anyway, she was born scum and she'd always be scum, she was stupid to have convinced herself of anything else. And now, now because she'd tried to be something she wasn't, someone she wasn't, she had dragged everyone she cared about down with her. She had no doubt in her mind that if she even thought of defying Laura, the Grecian beauty would make damn sure that everything she had spoken about would happen. She'd ruin the Berry's, land Santana in prison, destroy her mother's' careers…she didn't doubt any of it, she had before and now this was happening, she wouldn't doubt her again.

But…Rachel, she wanted more than anything to talk to Rachel, to curl up in her safe arms and tell her what happened but she couldn't…not after what she'd just done to another woman, and in Rachel's own home, god she hated herself. Suddenly aware of a damp warmth spreading across her body, Quinn looked down to see that several larger shards of the smashed bottle had lodged themselves in her stomach. With an almost morbid fascination she reached down and pulled a shard free, they weren't in deep but there were several. Sitting up, the hockey player took hold of one of the remaining shards and pushed it in a little further rather than taking it out…revelling in the sharp pain. For a long moment she contemplated pushing it in even more, just to reacquaint herself with the pain she had tried to forget. Instead she ripped it out angrily, almost screaming as she flung it far from herself before flopping back down and pressing the heels of her bloody hands to her eyes in a futile attempt to stop the tears.

She was nothing and she had nothing…except Laura, that bitch had made sure that Quinn was ruined for everyone else, just like she had promised she would. What the hell was she thinking when she'd tried to leave her. Even as she was thinking these things, she saw Rachel's beautiful face next to hers on the pillow, her annoying chirpy morning smile in place even as she herself groused about the time and tried to burrow into the mattress. But if she went to Rachel, if she told her what happened, what was going to happen then, she would put her at risk that's what would happen. Putting her career at risk would be bad enough, but exposing her to this type of world, Rachel didn't belong in this world…but it seemed that she did. Swallowing hard and unable to stop the war going on inside her head, Quinn rolled over and managed to get to her hands and knees before slowly standing up…she just wanted it to stop, the noise in her head needed to stop.

Looking around she saw she wasn't far from the lake; the lake was one of the only places she ever seemed to feel calm. There was just something about the stillness of the water in the evening and the break of dawn that stilled the unrest inside her; maybe it could do it again now. Stumbling slightly thanks to the alcohol coursing its way through her system, and in a smaller part the blood loss from the smashed bottle, Quinn headed towards the lake's edge already feeling slightly better. Yes, the lake was definitely calming; letting out a breath she walked a little closer then let out a relieved breath. In all this mess the lake was about the only thing that made sense to her, so she walked further until her feet were submerged, then her calves, then her thighs. Sitting down she let her head sink below the water, slowly she lay back and opened her eyes, and the world was now a silent blur, the moon just barely visible above her. For the first time since she'd run into Laura earlier that evening she felt a certain kind of peace, even as her lungs started to ache from the need for air. She closed her eyes again…she just wanted to enjoy this peace a little longer, this place where nothing could touch her. She was abruptly pulled out of this peace when she felt someone grab her shoulders and pull her up, her body automatically gasping in air gratefully even as she pushed angrily at whomever had disturbed her. It took a few minutes for the water to drain from her ears, and when it did she realised Santana was yelling at her…and she sounded pissed.

"Jesus fucking Christ Quinn, what the fuck do you think you're doing out here? I thought maybe you'd snuck off to play your fucking Xbox not try and drown yourself!?"

Coughing a little, Quinn pulled herself away from her sister's arms and tried not to sob at the cessation of her hard won peace.

"I didn't ask you to come out here…why are you out here anyway, I just…I needed some peace okay, my head wouldn't shut up…just kept arguing and I couldn't…it was too much and the lake's quiet."

Santana was drenched from the waist down and although she was pissed off about that she was more concerned about what was going on with Quinn. In all the years they had known each other she had never seen her like this, she'd seen her as a lecherous drunk, a happy drunk and an angry drunk…but never like this and she was worried. A worry that was only compounded by the clear injuries she could spot all over the hockey player.

"Quinn…seriously, what happened to you? Do I need to kick someone's ass?"

She asked the question with her usual smirk and eyebrow raise, expecting at least a smart assed remark about how it was normally Quinn herself that did the ass kicking. Which is why she was entirely unprepared for the reaction she did get; which was a frantic shaking of Quinn's head, her hazel eyes visibly worried as she grabbed at the Latina's hand.

"No, please don't, you can't fight this…no one can, it's my fault, I should have known she'd come after me. It's my fault for leaving and I'll…I can handle it!"

Santana swallowed hard, a part of her knowing that only one person could do this to Quinn when she'd been doing so well. Fighting down an unpleasant sick feeling at the reply she was going to get, the Latina forced herself to ask.

"Laura found you…didn't she?"

Quinn looked torn, and more than half terrified at the prospect of Santana knowing, no one was supposed to know, they'd all be in danger if they knew! Moaning slightly, the hockey player dropped her head into her hands and started muttering. Whether it was from the drink or the panic she was clearly in, Santana didn't know, but she couldn't understand a word that Quinn was saying. Not that she needed to, the reaction was answer enough and gritting her teeth angrily, the Latina knelt down next to her distraught sister.

"Q bear, listen to me…you don't have to say anything okay but I need to get you out of this lake and inside."

Sighing heavily, Quinn let her hands drop from her face before looking into the worried eyes of her usually abrasive sister. Swallowing, she nodded and allowed Santana to help her up, so long as she didn't have to talk, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

"Okay…fine, but no talking…please?"

Smiling reassuringly at the hockey player, Santana forced herself not to let the anger she was feeling show, as she slung one of Quinn's arms around her shoulder.

"You got it Q bear, no talking, let's just get you dried, changed and patched up okay?"

Taking in the mess that was her shirt and the smashed bottle on the path she'd passed earlier, Santana put two and two together, at least about that injury anyway. She was assuming the split lip and bleeding shoulder were courtesy of Laura, not that Quinn was going to tell her; whatever had happened, the hockey player was obviously terrified. Santana just hoped she could talk to Rachel before the little diva saw her like this. Whatever had happened they had to handle it very delicately. After their talk in the hospital where Quinn had confided to Santana what had happened to her, the Latina had started to do some reading. She was definitely no psychologist but whatever shit they gave each other, Quinn was her sister and she wanted to protect her.

Which is why she had started reading up on the psychology behind abusive relationships, why people couldn't get out of them, and how it affected them when they finally did. In doing so she had started to understand her troubled foster sister a lot more, she would never tell her that because it wasn't how they worked but she wanted to be there for her if Laura ever turned back up, and it looked like she had. How and why was beyond Santana at that moment as she knew there was no way the Berry men would have let that woman into their house knowingly. But somehow she had gotten in, and wormed herself back into Quinn's life with who knew what threats. Whatever they were, the Latina would find them, and destroy them because no one was going to mess with her sister while she was around. She just had to use her brain instead of her fists which was fine with her, luckily most people underestimated her intelligence, and she'd bet Laura was one of them.

Luck was on her side and it was Leroy that met her at the entrance to the house, he opened his mouth to start asking questions but Santana quickly shook her head and mouthed the word later. Leroy frowned worriedly, but nodded an agreement as he watched the Latina help Quinn up the stairs talking overly cheerfully.

"Someone had a little too much scotch by the smell of it, I'll go get her washed up and in bed, can you please get me a first aid kit and leave it in her room?"

Worried at the words he could clearly read between the lines, the Tall man nodded solemnly, forcing a smile for Quinn's drunken gaze.

"No problem San, maybe lay off the booze next time huh slugger?"

Quinn's smile was just as strained, she had no idea of the silent conversation going on between Leroy and Santana. All she knew was that she had to try and maintain as normal an air as possible, so she dashed off a sloppy salute with her free hand then let Santana pull her the rest of the way up the stairs. The next thing she was aware of was her sister setting her on the toilet seat as she ran the shower for a moment.

"Okay Q bear, wash off the lake water and I'll sort you out something to sleep in, after I sort those cuts out."

Nodding blearily, the hockey player tried to focus on her sister's voice, but the full effect of what she now knew was scotch was hitting her hard and all she wanted to do was sleep. The shower woke her up temporarily, as did the stinging pain as the water hit the bite mark and the shallow wounds on her stomach. Staunching the newly flowing blood with handfuls of tissue paper, she slid into her Batman robe and headed into the bedroom where Santana and Rachel seemed to be having a whispered conversation. Noticing her, Santana shot a warning glare towards Rachel that Quinn was thankfully too drunk to notice, and then headed for the bed.

"Okay Q, lay down and I'll take care of those cuts, after that you really need to drink some water before you crash."

Rachel tried not to look as worried as she felt when Quinn simply nodded her acquiescence and lay down on the bed so Santana could get at the stomach injuries, the bite mark she was still hoping to hide. Realising that there was no way Quinn would stay awake long enough to drink the water afterwards, Santana made her drink it first. Sure enough seconds after her head hit the pillow, and despite the injuries stinging as Santana cleaned them, Quinn was out like a light. Once she was sure the hockey player was asleep, Rachel sat down next to Santana so she could help her…and question her.

"What happened Santana? This isn't her! Tthis isn't even the old her…I mean, I know I never met the old her, but from what you said she'd be more likely to try and start a fight while drunk than…do what she did, whatever that is, seeing as you won't tell me."

She added the last part somewhat petulantly and passed the butterfly stitches to Santana who placed them over the three shallow cuts on Quinn's stomach. Sighing, the Latina looked up with a frown of her own and admitted.

"That's because I'm not even sure myself…she said she just needed things to shut up, that her head was making too much noise and the lake was quiet, but…"

She trailed off and shook her head before moving towards the one wound her sister had seemed to be trying to keep from her sight. Rachel's surprisingly strong grip on her shoulder momentarily stopped her.

"But what Santana…tell me."

Seeing the conflict in the Latina's dark eyes, she added softly.

"Please, I want to help her as much as you do."

Looking away for a moment, the little diva was surprised to see tears in Santana's eyes as she turned back to her and admitted hoarsely.

"I'm not sure she would have come up from that lake to take a breath if I hadn't shown up. Whatever happened tonight was bad, maybe not physically but mentally it…it's like it destroyed her."

Unable to look at the devastation in Rachel's eyes as she processed that information, Santana turned back to Quinn and gently moved aside the dressing gown to remove the bloody clump of tissue. What she saw made her actually swear out loud, before she could cover the wound again, Rachel moved forward and let out a horrified gasp.

"Oh my god, who did that to her!"

The volume in Rachel's voice, coupled with the shifting of the tissue that had half dried against the bite mark caused Quinn to whimper in her sleep. Santana quickly put her hand over Rachel's mouth and shushed her; luckily Quinn was so drunk even the pain of the wound being touched didn't wake her. Breathing out a sigh of relief, Santana removed her hand and allowed some of the anger she was feeling to leak into her voice as she spoke.

"Rachel, we both know there's only one person who could make Quinn act like this, who can hurt her like this, and that's Laura."

Rachel looked frustrated and confused at the same time.

"But…we would never have let her in our house; we know what she looks like thanks to that picture in the paper, how could she even get to Quinn, where would she even know where to find her!"

Santana had realised exactly how the bitch would have found out where Quinn lived, but she didn't have the heart to tell Rachel and instead looked away to soak a cotton ball in iodine to clean the bite mark. Sadly, Rachel wasn't stupid either and the answer hit her a second after Santana looked away.

"Oh no, the interview…it was done at our house, the pictures, oh how stupid, I didn't even think!"

Turning back abruptly, the Latina took a firm hold of Rachel's wrist, waiting for the diva's eyes to lock with her own.

"Hey, no…stop that right now, this is not your fault short round, you hear me? Why the hell would you think that you'd have to hide from someone, This bitch is the insane one, she's the one at fault, she's obviously more bat shit than we thought…and she seems to think she owns Quinn."

Wincing, she realised the bite wound really needed stitches to be closed properly, she also knew there was no way Quinn would want that. And to take her without her consent would almost be as abusive an act as the one that caused the wound. Blowing out a breath, she rubbed antibacterial cream around the area and placed a large soft bandage over it gently. When she turned back around it was to see Rachel standing stiffly, shaking with rage as she considered what the Latina had just said.

"She doesn't own Quinn, no one owns Quinn but Quinn herself!"

Holding up her hands placatingly, Santana spoke carefully as she stood up, deciding it might be best to have this conversation downstairs, away from the sleeping Quinn. Gently urging Rachel to follow her, Santana closed the door and started speaking as they made their way back down to the lounge.

"I know that, it isn't me you have to convince of that…I'm afraid it's going to be Quinn."

She sighed sadly and turned to face Rachel once more as they sank into a couple of comfortable chairs. Leroy and Hiram had obviously gone over to the guest house to talk with Lily and Sophia which left them alone for now. After a moment's shared silence, filled with anger and the all too familiar frustration, Rachel spoke.

"What…how do you mean it will be Quinn that needs to be convinced? Surely she knows by now that she's worth so much more than that, that she's not…whatever that fucking woman has told her she is!"

Santana rubbed her hands down her face wondering how best to say what she needed to say, what Rachel would need to hear. It wasn't easy though, to know that no matter how much you loved someone you couldn't save them from themselves. And that Laura had been working on breaking down Quinn's psyche since she met her. Years and years longer than any of them had even known her, that they were the ones that would have to fight for Quinn and not Laura; such was the nature of systematic abuse. Sometimes she wished she wasn't so damn inquisitive and that she hadn't read up on this stuff, but she had and right now she was all there was was to try and explain it to Rachel.

"Did you ever wonder why abused wives or children never just left, or went to the police about what was happening to them?"

Struck dumb for a moment by the seemingly random question, Rachel stuttered before closing her mouth, realising belatedly why Santana was asking the question.

"Of course I have, everyone does, you read stories about how these women have put up with abuse for years before finally snapping, and quite often resorting to violent measures to stop it."

Santana nodded and toyed with the hem of her shirt for a moment before carrying on.

"It's because they physically can't, it's not like abusers are violent from the start, it's all just a part of what they do."

Frowning, the diva opened her mouth to speak, but seemed to think better of it and instead motioned for the Latina to carry on.

"After Quinn told me…what she told me, I did a little reading, a little research into how these things work. Because at the time I just, I didn't get it. The Quinn I knew would never put up with someone doing that shit to her, even as a kid…let alone remain so scared of even the memory of someone that their name reduced her to a shaking mess."

Sighing, she tucked her hair behind her ear nervously and let the other one flutter about animatedly as she talked.

"The whole concept of mental abuse is…it's insidious, it's something that happens over years, not weeks or months. Quinn told me that for years Laura treated her almost like a whipping girl, the reason for that was to break down her confidence, what little her father had left her with that is. She didn't just start abusing her because Quinn would have fought her, this way she broke her down first. Made her think it was what she was there for, that it was all she was worth. God knows her waste of space parents never gave her any reason to think otherwise. Even when she first came to live with us she was wary of gifts or even simple praise, because in the past they were things that had only been used to trick her, to reel her in. I didn't realise it at the time of course, only now do I understand it, hell I even understand myself better."

Pausing for breath, the Latina shook her head slightly; taking advantage of the silence, Rachel finally spoke up.

"But…I mean she isn't like that now, she knows how much we all care for her, how much we love her."

Santana smiled sadly.

"Wrong tense short round, she knew that…now, I'm not so sure. Not because it isn't true, lord knows I love that frustrating blonde, but because I'm not sure that our love can overcome the years of abuse, abuse she thought was in her past but for some reason, somehow is now back."

Rachel frowned and hugged her arms close to herself.

"I…don't know what to do Santana, we need her to tell us what happened so we can help her, are you saying that she won't?"

Leaning forward in her chair, Santana reached out and squeezed both of Rachel's hands gently.

"I'm saying don't be surprised if she doesn't, don't be surprised if she gets angry. I don't know for sure that it's happened, but abusers usually threaten those nearest to the victim, who knows what she said to Quinn. But what we do both know is that Quinn has a history of keeping things to herself, especially the shit she went through, hell it was only meeting you that made her open up at all."

The little diva leant forward eagerly.

"Then maybe I can be the one to get through to her again!"

Santana looked wary as she replied.

"It's possible yes, but it's also possible that you are her biggest Achilles heel in this, Laura will know how much she loves you, you will be how she's getting to her now. She's more likely to push you away, thinking it's for your own good…but again I'm only speculating. Every case of abuse is different but I wanted to make you aware of the possibilities, right now her head is probably a car crash, she's got years of abuse and mental conditioning fighting against what she knows and feels know. It's a battle I wouldn't wish on anyone, and it's one I want to take out of her hands as much as I can."

Rachel drummed her fingers on the arms of her chair, trying to process all this information and still come up with a workable solution.

"Well, cant we do that then, take it out of her hands and just work around her?"

Nodding slowly, Santana quickly forestalled Rachel's triumphant expression with her next words.

"We could do that yes, but there are several risks involved with that approach, firstly we have no idea what actually happened or what was said. Secondly, by taking control of the situation out of her hands, we're taking away the control that she needs to take back. And last but not least, if we do it for her she'll never get to face it down herself, we can help her and God knows we will, but she has to be the one to ask for it, and to put a stop to it. If she isn't part of it then she's just going to feel like a chess piece…argh I'm not explaining this very well."

Growling in frustration at her inability to word properly what she wanted to say, Santana ran her hands through her hair, thinking of yet another way to try when Rachel spoke up.

"I think I understand, it's like…being bullied in the playground I suppose, other people can watch your back but the bully will always think they can get to you, they will always know how to, until you punch them back yourself."

Dropping her hands from her hair with a familiar grin that Rachel only just realised how much she missed, Santana nodded.

"That's…actually pretty accurate short round. God, head related stuff is a freaking nightmare, I prefer problems I can just punch!"

Smiling faintly, Rachel leaned across the gap and shoved playfully at the Latina's shoulder.

"Well as much as I would love for you to lay that bitch out, I don't think you getting arrested would help anything. It would be highly satisfying yes, but then Quinn would be down one ally."

Rolling her eyes, Santana returned the shove.

"Yeah, well, no worries there; Brit was sort of pissed at me after I punched Sylvester so…I promised no more settling disputes with my fists."

Rachel couldn't help the grin that crawled over her face at that news.

"Wow, she totally has you wrapped round her little finger huh? Good to know."

Mock growling at the little diva, Santana muttered.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up short round."

Enjoying the brief moment of levity for what it was, the two brunettes quickly sobered as they remembered the sleeping blonde upstairs. Rachel cleared her throat then held her hand out to Santana, pinkie extended.

"Swear to me we won't give up on her, no matter what she says or does, we get to the facts of what happened and we help her kick that bitch out of her life...for good!"

Smiling softly at the very adult content of the conversation mixed with the childlike gesture, Santana extended her own pinkie and held tightly to the diva's.

"I swear that we will never give up on her, not so long as we both breathe…and I know you're speaking for your family just as I'm speaking for mine."

Leaning forward, Rachel let out a small sob even as her forehead came to rest on Santana's.

"I'm so glad you're here Tana."

Swallowing down the emotion of hearing Rachel unknowingly use a nickname that her little sister used once upon a time ago, Santana pulled the other woman into a hug.

"Yeah, well I'm glad you're here too short round."

They knew it wasn't going to be easy, it was probably going to be as far from easy as they could get in fact, but they weren't going to lose Quinn now, not after all she'd already been through, after all she had gained. With that sentiment burning brightly within them, the two just sat and accepted each-other's support, both trying to prepare themselves for what they would have to tell their families…and the fight ahead of them.

Okay, don't hate me but the whole thing with Laura is a loose end that needs tying up! And for those interested yes I did a lot of research about abusive relationships, years ago in fact and this is sadly how they affect people. Just because the abuse stops does not mean the psychological damage has. I'm hoping to give Quinn the closure that many abuse victims do not get, and have no fear, Laura will only be in one more chapter…and things will not be going the way she wants in it. If any of what I have written has affected you I apologise whole heartedly, hopefully none of you have personal experience of abuse, and if any of you do…you are not alone, it's never too late to ask for help. If you have questions please feel free to PM me, you have my love and cookies as always XXX