They stare at one another, enveloped in the silence of the room. Two choices that could either destroy her or realize her will. In retrospect, it's a hard decision, because honestly, who would want to die at seventeen? But she's lived a thousand lives since the whole ordeal began, so she had no issue with just saying;

"I'm going to find Rachel, and I'm going to save her." She says it with such determination that even Homunculus smiles, his red eyes twinkling in the morning sun. "Tell me where she is. Take me to her."

He sits down beside her, "Are you sure?" He asks, because it's a life determining choice, and any person with a soul would ask.

"Yes. Now tell me where she is."

She gets dressed, and he watches, which isn't as odd as she thought it would be. He's quiet while she raids Rachel's drawers, and luckily, she comes across a casual looking sweater (sans the argyle creature on the front) and funnily enough, some rather stylish jeans.

"She's in 1556. She's being held in the Alchemist's house."

Quinn frowns before pulling on the sweater, fluffing out her hair as she turns around to face the pale being sat on the bed she and Rachel had made love in only hours before, "Why there? What's the significance?"

Homunculus chuckles, "Your killer finds it oddly symbolic. A house that creates life, and also death."

A shudder rips through Quinn's body before she can even stop it. What does he even mean? Create life? Like the day that Mary was finally born into the world, along with Samuel years before? And the death...? When Cecil and Elizabeth just disappeared off the map without another glance?

"Take me there."

He smiles, "Take yourself. You have the powers after all."

But she's terrified, because she knows that when she goes back in time, she won't be coming back. If she's lucky enough to save Rachel's life, the brunette that she adores and loves will come back, but she won't. She'll just die; no other chances, no other opportunities. It's just game over, end of story.

"Come with me...?" She asks in a meek voice. Homunculus sighs gently at her, so she just frowns, "You're an asshole, almost letting me die that time when I had a panic attack but...it'll be nice to just have someone there who...kind of cares."

"Hm." He stands and pats his hands gently down on her shoulders, "Let's go then, shall we?" Before she even has the chance to answer, she feels that familiar feeling rip through her; electricity makes the hairs on her arms stand up on end, her body pumps up with much needed adrenaline, and she feels light headed...because she knows this is the last time she'll ever see Rachel's room again.

–

They're in a small alleyway, just one street away from the Alchemist's house. "Your lover is in the house right now, along with your killer." He pauses, and Quinn swears it's for dramatic fucking effect, "Are you sure you wish to proceed...?"

Well no, she's not sure, because she doesn't want to die. But she just sucks in a lungful of air, stares him right in the eye and nods, because if she opens her mouth, she swears she'll cry.

"You truly are a wonder, Quinn Fabray." And he hugs her, "Good luck."

She swallows against his chest, because even though it's meant to be calming, and supportive, she just feels sick and violated. "Thanks." She takes one last look at him; those red eyes that shone brightly, those dark hideous pants and long sleeved top, and those almost military standard boots before backing up and walking away.

Homunculus watches her with narrowed eyes as she turns the corner for the house that her fate resides in, and with a gentle chuckle, he shakes his head, "Stupid girl."

–

The house is in ruin when she arrives. Parts of it are still stood, which is miraculous, but there's still what looks like smoke or steam bellowing out from the stop. The door is unhinged, and half swinging in the wind, windows are shattered and cover the floor in almost a mosaic pattern. It's oddly artistic, but the building before her is the stark opposite.

"Fuck." She whispers, almost to herself, before pushing open the door slightly, "Elizabeth?" She careful steps over some rubble, but trips anyway when she finally gets inside, "Dr. Russell?" She coughs at the smoke; it's acrid and it makes her lungs seize up. She feels like she can't breath, so she puts her forearm to her mouth, trying to at least filter out the dirt and soot, "Samuel?" She heaves out, trying to manoeuvre.

There's no stairs anymore. And as she looks up, it looks like the top level of the house is completely obliterated. "Oh my god..." She feels like she wants to be sick, because she knows that no one can survive that sort of blast. But then she remembers, Samuel was around until he was eleven, and Mary was still alive and kicking at the young age of twenty-four. The kids are alive; at least it's good news in some retrospect.

The living room is trashed; furnishings are tossed over as if they were litter, and small trinkets that once belonged to the family as air looms were either smashed or completely shattered. It's a terrible sight to behold, and she's about to turn when something catches her in the corner of her eye.

Slowly, almost as if she walked any faster the house would crumble around her, she walks toward to object, crouches down and picks it up between her thumb and index finger. It's a shoe, and Quinn knows it well; one of Elizabeth's shoes.

"Fuck..." She drops it and kicks herself back against the floorboards, desperately trying to get away from an inanimate object that just reeks of death, "Oh God, Elizabeth..." Quinn manages to stagger to her feet, and only after catching herself on a crumbling door frame, does she make it out into the main hall.

The smoke is getting thicker, and the urge to just leave and take a lungful of fresh air is so overwhelming that she almost does it. But she knows that Rachel is in here, somewhere, just waiting to be found. So she goes into the one place left; the one place where the explosion probably originated from.

It's awkward, because even though most of the house is in chaotic ruin, the basement is oddly intact. Of course, the brickwork of the walls is crumbling and falling apart, and maybe the concrete floor is cut clean in half, jagged and unsafe, but it's oddly...together. It's eerie, and as she descends the crumbling stone steps, she feels an impending sense of doom just resonate through her stomach.

She wants to leave. She wants to throw up. Fuck, she just wants to get Rachel and get the hell away, back to 2011, back to her old life, with that singing star that is Rachel Berry. But she keeps descending, each footstep feeling like a lead weight, locking her into a fate that she wishes she didn't have.

"Rach...?" She asks, when she finally hits the bottom step. She hears nothing, just the crumbling of stones and the wind sounding oddly hallow against the structure. It sets her teeth on edge, and she swears she's grinding them as she walks further into the basement.

She's about to call out again, her mouth has just opened, mouth ready to let out a large shout when she hears it. It's faint, so faint in fact that she could of imagined it. But it's there. It's a shuffling, it sounds like feet, almost like they're sliding against the concrete floor.

It's so unnerving in fact that she turns and jumps back, because she feels as if her killer is going to suddenly come out from the walls and stick an axe in her head or something to that degree. But there's no one there, not even through the thick smoke, there's no one there.

"I'm going crazy," She whispers, and then coughs, the smoke finding it's way deep into her lungs, "Rachel!"

Then she hears it. It's different this time, although the sound of sliding feet against concrete, there's also a muffle. A tiny little voice that can only just be heard. She moves toward it, wafting the smoke away from her face, hoping in some way that it would help her locate the source.

She almost face plants the floor when her knees impact the metal cauldron that Dr. Russell spent all his time around, but she manages to hold herself up, barely. Her fingers touch a sticky like substance within it, stuck to the sides of the large basin. It's unlike anything she's felt before, it's almost like super glue, but it's easy to manipulate between her fingers. She just wipes it off on her jeans, feeling as if the slime is somehow going to crawl up her arm.

Quinn's lost the sound. She can't hear it anymore, no matter how she tries. It feels as if her mind is pulling tricks on her; making her believe something is there when it's really not. She grinds her teeth again, feeling her whole body shake when she finally hears that sound again. Sliding, muffles, then a muffled scream. A scream she knows.

"Rachel?" She bolts across the room, desperately trying to find the source of the sound, when eventually, she gets there. Right in the corner of the room, surrounded by rubble, covered in a thick layer of dust, is a bound and gagged Rachel Berry, looking up at her through squinted eyes through the smoke. "Holy crap!"

But as she moves forward to unite her girlfriend, Rachel is trying to shuffle away, shaking her head from side to side, eyes now open wide as she stares at Quinn. She's terrified.

"Baby, it's okay. I'm here." She wraps her arms around Rachel's body and fiddles around with the thick rope, "It's gonna be okay, I'm here now." Her teeth grit harshly together as she tugs at a tight knot, then all but rips it apart to pull her girlfriend free.

Rachel's arms are free, and all of a sudden, they're rushing up to her mouth and pulling the gag free, "It's a trap!"

"Wha-," She doesn't feel the knock to her head, exactly, but she registers it. And as she slumps to the floor, all she hears is Rachel screaming her name, and a dark shadow hanging over her, before finally everything goes back.

–

It's warm, and there's a slight breeze that brushes past her body when she eventually wakes up. Her whole body aches, and her head feels as if it's on fire; it's uncomfortable, and agonizing as she finally sits up. She can't see straight, and only when she blinks hard a few times does her vision finally go back to normal, barely.

But it's night time, and it's obvious she's lost a day, but almost like she's lost a few years too. She's in the town square, but not the time square from 1556. As she glances around, holding back of her head for support, she finally comes to the conclusion that she's back in 2011.

The clock tower shines brightly in the dark light, and shows the time 12:20am. She's lost a day.

It should be a jubilant feeling; she's back in time that she belongs in, But there's nothing but dread that settles through her. Something is wrong, something is so fucking wrong that she wants to run. She wants to run and never turn back.

"Awake, I see." Her hand slowly drops from her head, and she feels so fucking devastated. How had she never seen the signs? How had she never even noticed? She staggers to her feet, clawing at the floor for balance as he legs wobble from her weight.

And only when she stand up straight, body struggling to keep itself upright, she finally clocks eyes with her killer.

"Oh my God..." Rachel is sat beside him, barely holding herself back from crying because he's got a knife to her throat. Her neck is already red and achingly sore almost as if she's already teased the blade across her tan skin, "You."

He smirks from where he sits beside Rachel on a nearby bench, "Yup, me."

A boy she once saw as a friend.

"I can tell by the look in your eyes you're confused."

A boy she once cared for.

"I would be too..."

A boy she once loved.

"But I told you once before, I might be pretty but I ain't dumb."

Sam Evans.

His eyes are gleaming as he watches her try to process it all, and honestly, it's just so fucking thrilling to see her mouth gape open and then shut again when she can't even get the words out. He'd been waiting for this day, months, almost a year and a half of planning had finally come to fruition. It was happening right in front of him, and it was glorious.

"How..." She clears her throat, eyes gleaming with unshed tears, "How can..."

"How can I be your killer?" He asks, glancing across the knife in his hand, still held against Rachel's throat, "Honestly?" When he looks back, she sees her nod her head hesitantly. "You deserve it, Quinn."

"I..."

"I'll admit, for a little bit, I kind of did fall for you. I mean, when you sang Lucky with me? Helping me to play the guitar? I felt something...but it just de-railed me from what I was really there for."

"Sam..."

"Who wouldn't fall for Quinn Fabray? I mean, look at you. Even as a little boy I had a sweet spot for you."

"I never..." She bites down on her bottom lip, because it all makes sense. All those times when he stood right before her, clear as day as she desperately tried to find her killer just made sense, "Samuel."

"You always were smart, Quinn." He smiles, almost looking like he's about to cry, "I'm just that little boy from 1556."

"I don't understand." She whispers, "Why..." She steps forward, and she makes it a few steps closer, but only when Sam presses the blade closer to Rachel's neck, and hears her squeal in pain, does she stop, "Please. Don't hurt her. She's done nothing to you."

"I know she hasn't." He looks to Rachel, "And I've already apologized, right?" It doesn't look like Rachel is going to do anything, but when he leans forward closer toward her, she cringes, squeezes her eyes shut and nods like her life depends on it.

"Then please, just let her go."

"Oh no." Sam shakes his head, slowly turning his attention back to the blonde before him, "You deserve this, Quinn. You deserve to feel that pain of losing someone."

"What?" She clenches her jaw, infuriated because she doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about, "What are you talking about?"

He frowns and rips himself free from the bench, tugging Rachel violently along with him. He stands behind her, hands clasped to her hips to keep her from escaping, blade tipping dangerously close to her stomach.

"My mother. My father." He says simply, eyes enraged, "You killed them, Quinn!"

No. They were alive the last time she saw them. Elizabeth was filled with such joy, holding Mary in a bundle in her arms, bouncing and singing playfully to the little girl. She seemed to full of life. And Cecil, finally beaming for the first time in what felt like forever, finally felt as if his work was coming to fruition, and he could finally spend time with his family, where he should be.

"Thanks to you, my mother and father died. All thanks to you and that stupid red stone!"

Red stone?

"The Philosopher's stone? I don't...I don't understand how it killed your parents." She feels completely out of her depth. She has no idea what's going on, she doesn't have an escape plan, Rachel is held completely at his mercy. She feels herself falling apart from the inside, along with her thumping heart.

"When you gave it to my dad he used it for the experiment he'd been working on. Everything was fine until you came along, but then you had to swan into our lives and give him that damn stone that killed him and my mom!"

"The explosion..."

"I came home from the market...I'd gone with my sister. My mom wanted us to bond a little more; felt as if there was a gap between the two of us. So I went, and when I came back..." His body shudders, and that knife just gets so much closer to Rachel's stomach when he adjusts his grip, "The house...it was on fire and...there was smoke everywhere..."

"Sam..." She tries to move forward, really she does, but he just holds out the knife and points it right at her.

"Thanks to you and that stupid fucking experiment my parents are gone!"

"Calm down..." She whispers, watching closely as that knife slowly descends again, "How did you get here?"

"You mean how can I travel?" He shrugs, "Easy. I have a PAD."

Her face drops, and it all becomes clear, "Who gave you the PAD?"

"You're asking too many questions!" He screams, "Shut up! You don't have the power here!"

"Okay...okay..." She steps back, eyes flicking to Rachel, who's sobbing heavily in Sam's arms, barely holding herself up as the knife digs into her stomach, "Look, just let Rachel go and we can sort this out, just between the two of us."

He sobers, so quickly it's terrifying, "Oh no, Quinn. It doesn't work like that here." She swallows down the bile that suddenly wants to flood her throat, "I've tried to kill you so many times. I didn't pick you up that day it all began, I didn't run straight into the gymnasium because I knew you'd be stupid enough to get yourself killed by the fire, I even took a damn part time job at Breadstix to poison your food!"

"It was all you."

"Of course it was. But it seems I couldn't kill you, no matter how hard I tried. All I wanted was revenge for what you did, but I couldn't get it! You killed my parents. You ruined the one good thing in my life. So if I can't kill you, I'll destroy you."

"What do you-,"

The knife whips up to Rachel's throat, and the tip of the blade is almost piercing the side of Rachel's neck, "NO!"

Sam's eyes snap from Rachel to Quinn, who watches the two with wide tearful eyes, "If I die..." She swallows heavily, and he narrows his eyes as he regards her. "If I die as recompense for the death of your parents; will you let her go?"

"Quinn no, please!" Rachel begs, trying to shrug out of Sam's hold. She almost does, but his grip remains as strong, but he struggles to keep a hold of her, so as she opens her mouth to scream again, he knocks her square on the head with the butt of his knife.

"Rachel!" Quinn watches as the brunette slumps helplessly to the floor, collapsing into herself. She waits for some sort of movement, but Rachel doesn't move, "You son of a bitch." She says hotly as her eyes land onto Sam's.

"You gave me an offer I can't refuse, Quinn." He steps over Rachel's body, "I wish it hadn't come down to this. Why couldn't you have just stayed away and left my family alone?"

"I didn't know, Sam...Please." She begs, "Just let me and Rachel go home. Go back to your own time...we'll...we'll sort this out somehow."

"My parents will never come back no matter how hard I try, Quinn. All your actions solidified what would happen."

"Why kill me then? Knowing that your parents will still be dead?" She backs away as he comes closer, and honestly, she wished she could just pull a baseball bat out of anywhere and knock it clean across his head, but she's terrified, and she loses her footing as she collapses back onto the floor.

"Comfort." He stops at her feet, looking down at her, "Do you know what it feels like to bring up a baby, even when you're still a child yourself? Of course you don't. You had the luxury of giving yours up," He sneers, "I didn't. I had to deal with it. I had to care for Mary, I had to feed her, dress her, work for money just to keep her warm. I was only a kid, Quinn; I was still growing up. You ripped my childhood away from me, you killed my parents, you drove me crazy. All I could think about was you and your smarmy little smile because you thought everything was great before you ended it all. I needed comfort, I needed to know that you weren't smiling again. I needed to know that things were going to be okay again once you were gone."

She swallows through her tears, "And when I'm gone...you'll be happy again?"

He shakes his head, "No..." He moves around her, lowers himself to his knees and grabs her neck, "But it'll be a start."

She feels the blade, sharp and painful against her neck, and she feels the first slice into her skin. And she screams out, but then it's gone; the pain, the sharp digging into her neck. She's engulfed in electric blue light, body tense, eyes wide as she feels herself transported back in time.

She hears Sam howl as she's sucked into the time tunnel.

–

In a void of swirling lights, shooting back and forth against a black backdrop, she doesn't know where to go. She's been here so many times, just sat here, wondering where to go. But now she doesn't. Why did her body force itself to transport? Was it because her life was in danger?

It finally hits her, that a boy she once loved is her killer. A boy that she met, who looked so young and helpless, could turn out to be a killer. She would have thought of it sooner, if it wasn't so abnormal. She lived such a normal life up until this all began. But now, as she thinks back, it was all so obvious.

Sam moving randomly from somewhere across the country. Befriending her almost immediately, making sure he became her boyfriend, giving her a damn promise ring to keep her nearby. What teenage boy in his right mind does that anyway? It's was all so fucking obvious!

She looks around, helplessly, because once again, she's stuck; she doesn't know where to go. So she lets out a scream, a long and hard scream that makes her throat ache, and the blood at her neck just seeps out that much faster. It's a delicious ache that she revels in. It means she's alive.

She's alive.

"I can save myself." She heaves in a breath, "I can save Rachel."

So she thinks of a plan that she hopes to fuck is full proof in the safety of a void time tunnel.

–

Lunchtime at McKinley High is always a massive affair; every student rushes as fast as they can to the cafeteria to get a hold of the best food, because everyone has become acquainted at one time or another with the slop that Principal Figgins makes the cooks make. So the hallways are all but bare as she walks through them; thankfully.

She can hear the roar of the students from behind the cafeteria doors as she walks up to them, and when she peers through the tiny glass window, she scans the crowds, looking for her target.

There, sat beside Brittany, is Santana, kissing her girlfriend for all she's worth. It makes her melt inside, because even after everything she's been through, she was able to stop and make sure that her best friend told Brittany how she felt. It just makes her heart leap when she sees Brittany mouth to her, 'I love you' and Santana doesn't even hesitate to say it back.

She rips out the phone from her jeans pocket, and her fingers, shaky from the loss of blood at her neck, manage to tap out a quick and to the point message. Even though the slice to her neck is small, she's still losing blood.

S, go to Lima Town Square at exactly 12am. Stall him. Don't anger him. Please don't ask questions.

She hears the sound of footsteps behind her, and she panics, because she knows that she's about to bump into herself. So she dives into a janitor's closet and closes to the door slightly, allowing her to see through a tiny gap.

Her past self passes with self-confidence, something she wishes she still had.

Only when her past self disappears into the zoo like cafeteria does she leave the safety of the janitor's closet to peer back through the window. Santana is looking down at her phone, looking confused, but only when her past self sits with her friends, does Santana finally text back.

Her phone vibrates in her pocket. She pulls it out and quickly glances at the screen.

Okay.

She breaths in a sigh of relief and shuts her eyes.

–

It all makes sense, why she came here, to this time. Rachel is stood at the piano, just about to move toward it, her past self is looking to the floor, eyes squeezed shut almost as if she's trying to forget something painful when she finally appears.

And with tired arms, she wraps them around Rachel's waist, pulls her close and puts her mouth to her ear.

"Q-Quinn…?"

Quinn chuckles gently and presses one of the softest kisses she's ever given to Rachel's neck, "I'll always love you, Rach."

And she leaves before the tears fall down her cheeks because in a way it feels like a goodbye.

–

She hugs Elizabeth as soon as she opens the door to her home, and it's so unbelievably amazing that she bursts into tears as soon as she's in those arms. "Quinn, what's wrong, dear?"

The older woman pulls back with wide fearful eyes, "Are you alright?"

Quinn smiles through her tears and nods, "I'm sorry. I just...It's good to see you."

Elizabeth smiles and brushes Quinn's hair back from her eyes, "It's good to see you too, Quinn." She pulls the blonde in and shuts the door firmly behind her, "Why are you hear in a fit of tears?"

"I uhm..." She wipes her tears away with the sleeve of Rachel's sweater, "I need you to do me a favour, okay?"

The older woman hesitates slightly before she nods, "Okay."

"Would you be able to leave the house? Take Sam and Mary with you too?"

"They were just about to go to market." She glances up the stairs, "I was going to stay home and cook dinner for my husband."

"Please." She begs, voice almost a whisper, "I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."

With a sigh, Elizabeth's eyes move up and down Quinn's body, before landing on hazel eyes and holding them. They're full of determination, and a hidden need. "I will go."

With a heavy sigh of relief, Quinn smiles, "Thank you."

When Samuel comes bounding down the stairs with Mary in his arms, she can't help but look away. The memories of a boy she destroyed from the inside out just mocks her, and even when he talks to her, just a simple hello, her eyes remain trained to wall.

Samuel huffs and glances up at his mother, "I'm going to the market, mother."

"I'm joining you, Samuel." He looks shocked, but not adverse to the idea, so he smiles and heads to the door, his mother looking back over her shoulder before leaving.

"It ends." Quinn says when the door slides shut. "It ends now."

She opens the basement door and slams it clean shut behind her.

–

The heat in the basement is obnoxiously hot. It's hard to breath as even glances down the stone steps and into the main work area. Dr. Russell is almost hunched over the cauldron, stirring away, hair wet and pushed back as he works.

But then he pulls back and wipes his hands off on his shirt, then moves over to a red stone that sits gleaming on one of his many desks. Quinn leans forward from her spot instinctively, because the urge to just grab it is that overwhelming.

He shuffles back toward the cauldron, and with a deep, heavy breath, he drops the whole thing in.

Nothing happens. But he looks content. He stirs once more, and after only minutes, the whole concoction is bubbling, almost violently against it's metal confines. But he's calm as can be, all he does is step back, rub his hands together and wait.

He waits so patiently as the liquid continues to bubble, until finally, it spurts up into the air in a violent shot. It holds itself in the air for only seconds before dropping back down into the cauldron. And no only smoke bellows from it; different smoke from when the house was collapsed. It looks like steam, almost.

"Finally." She hears him whisper to himself. He tilts the cauldron slightly, using all his weight to push the liquid out. It sloshes over the side and lands to the floor, running into a nearby drain at his feet. It takes a while, but only seconds from Quinn's standpoint as she stays hidden in the shadows of the upper stairs.

"What's happening...?" She asks herself, narrowing her eyes to try and get a better look through the steam. And then it's there, faint, but then growing stronger as it peers up through the pot.

The steam disperses, melting into the air around them, and she can see it. Him.

"You are my creator...?"

Homunculus.

"Yes. Yes I am." Cecil replies strongly.

"And what am I?"

"You are an Homunculus. A living being that has been made through the help of a Philosopher's stone."

"I am human?" Homunculus asks simply, glancing down at his nude body. It doesn't look like any sort of human body. There's no defining features to show gender, or hair. His skin is chalky white; it almost makes him look sick.

"Well...no. You're a scientific creation. The blood that courses through your veins can cure life threatening diseases!" He sounds so elated, but when Quinn sees the look on Homunculus' face, she knows that the being is anything but elated.

"I am a creation." Homunculus pauses and glances away from his own body to pin blood red eyes on his creator, "You will use me for my blood."

"Well..." Cecil clears his throat nervously, "You and many others. This is a breakthrough in modern medicine!"

"I am to be used and thrown away."

"I..."

"I am a puppet?" His voice is so disjointed and cold as he asks the rhetorical question, but then he laughs, and it sends a heavy shiver down Quinn's spine, "You are the puppet, here."

The ground begins to shake at her feet, and she grasps at the brickwork for support. Cecil is screaming at Homunculus to stop what he's doing, to stop using a power that hasn't even been tested yet. But the pale being just continues to laugh, eyes still locked on his maker as the house begins to shake violently.

Brickwork falls from the walls, and Quinn barely misses one brick slamming down on her head as she watches the scene below. She has to go. She'll die if she stays here.

She opens her mouth to call out to Cecil, but before she can even call out his name, the Alchemist is rushing forward, slamming his full body weight against the cauldron to try and knock his creation off balance.

But if anything, it enrages Homunculus even more. So with a loud howl, he uses the rest his available energy, knowing it will keep on the line between life and death, and uses it to rip the house apart.

Quinn rips open the basement door and runs as fast as she can toward the front door, she's only just got the door open when the staircase behind her collapses, and with it, the roof, but she's out the door before it manages to fall on top of her.

She gasps for breath, cheek resting on the cobbled floor, eyes shut as she tries to control the heavy beating of her heart. She feels as if she's going to die, and her body feels iso/i weak that she feels as if she just might.

The blood loss is slowing, mercifully, but her whole body shakes, and she feels sick from the blood she's already lost. So when she finally manages to make herself sit up, she stares at the house before her, and sends out a silent prayer to Cecil Russell.

–

She's too much of a coward to watch as Elizabeth returns with her son and daughter in tow. She just hides in the shadows of an alleyway, shutting her eyes tight and trying to block out the ear piercing howling of a wife that had just lost her husband and her home.

Mary shrieks, Samuel cries, and Quinn cries along with them, because she feels just as bad. She could have helped, but she just stayed there, at the top of those fucking steps and let a man die that just wanted to help his community.

She grits her teeth and calms herself, and only when she hears the sound of a nearby police official, does she allow herself to be engulfed in the electric blue light once more.

She will fix this.

–

It's three days earlier. She gets there twenty minutes before her past self does. She's at the bank, the same bank that holds the Philosopher's stone. She has a plan in mind, a plan that she hopes to God will work because she can't think of anything else to do. She just wants to go home, collapse onto her bed with Rachel by her side and sleep.

Rachel.

She's still in 2011, still unconscious, with a raving Sam Evans by her side. She feels horrible for leaving her girlfriend there, but her body had taken control of itself, and if, just for one moment she could have controlled it, she would have dived for Rachel if she could have.

Instead, she settles herself down into her plan. If everything goes the way she's planned, she'll save Cecil and Elizabeth's life. Sam will go back into the time he belongs in and she and Rachel will be safe.

Here's hoping.

The clerk watches her as she walks in, and when she took the time to observe the man when she came here the first time, she just recites the number of the box the stone belongs in and asks if he can retrieve it for Dr. Cecil Russell.

He obliges, almost instantly, because he looks bored rigid.

She only waits a few minutes before he's popping back up from his hatch, paper package under his arm. He opens it for her, and when she grabs the item before he can even see what it is, she offer her thanks and rushes out.

There's no time for manners.

She re-traces her steps the best she can remember them. And when she gets to that familiar plot of land where she had almost died from her panic attack, Homunculus is there, eyes narrowed as she approaches, and at first, she wonders if he knows what is going on, but when he says, b"I take it you found the stone...?"/b

It's digging into her thigh from inside her jeans pocket, and there's no point lying, because it's obvious she has it. She just nods.

"And now you give it to Dr. Russell, I presume...?"

His eyes have that silent menace hidden deep inside them, and she mentally kicks herself for not seeing it earlier. He was just using her as a damn puppet in a scheme to be created, to be strong.

"No. I'm going to destroy it." His face drops, "There's no point having a stone in this world that will get people killed."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"You know what I mean."

And then he really takes a look at her, eyes wandering up and down her body, "You're not Quinn from this time, are you?"

"No." She smirks, "I'm not."

"Give me the stone, Quinn. No one needs to be hurt because of this."

"Except Dr. Russell and his wife? And Sam? And Mary?"

"You know your killer."

"Damn right I do." She almost growls, "You're not getting this stone, Homunculus. I'm going to make sure that you were never created, that you never destroyed that family, that Sam never had to come after me to get some sort of peace over the loss of his parents."

"Give me the stone, Quinn!"

He lunges at her, but he's still weak, and she manages to dodge him quickly, "Go burn in hell."

And she runs. She runs like her life depends on it, and she hears him scream her name behind her, but she just keeps going, running, feet pounding against the cobbled floor as she makes a beeline for the Russell household.

He's still following. She can feel him, he's almost like a bad smell, but she's paranoid, she feels as if he's right behind her, the hair on the back of her neck stands on end, and it almost feels as if he's breathing down her neck.

But he isn't. He isn't there.

But her body feels so sluggish, and all she wants to do is sleep. But she just pictures Rachel being safe, being happy and smiling and kissing her because they're both finally safe. And she finds that power to keep going.

So she runs straight toward Cecil's home, bounds through the door, narrowly avoiding Samuel who is walking from the living room. She barely hears him call out her name, but she offers no reply, because she's already halfway down the basement steps.

Cecil stares at her with wide eyes, "What the hell are you doing?" Because he sees her pull the Philosopher's stone out of her pocket, and for a second he's elated, but then she pulling her arm back and with a well directed throw, throwing it straight into the melting heat of his hearth.

"No! Are you out of your mind?" He screams, all but shoving her out of the way, watching helplessly as the red stone slowly melts into nothingness around the roaring flames. "Do you realize what you just did?" He turns on her, eyes ablaze with fury.

But she just smiles, and lays her head back against the stone bricked wall, "I just saved your life."

–

Cecil sits with his wife in their living room, a pale blonde girl standing before them, almost looking as if she's going to drop.

"Why did you do this?" Cecil asks, holding his wife's hand to stop him from getting up and just shaking the girl into submission. "Tell me."

Elizabeth just shushes him, trying to gently calm him down as her thumb brushes over his calloused knuckles.

"The Homunculus you were going to create would have destroyed your home and killed both your wife and yourself." No point fucking sugar coating it, "He would have become enraged at the fact you only wanted to use him for his blood, and destroyed the house, along with you and your wife in it. Luckily enough, both of your children weren't in."

Elizabeth just stares, "How..." Then she glances at her husband, "Is that true...? Were you going to create a human being?"

But ignores her and simply asks, "How do you know about that?"

"You're going to think I'm crazy if I tell you how I know."

"Believe me, I think you're crazy already," He retorts sarcastically, "Go on."

"I'm from the future." Elizabeth just stares, mouth agape, but Cecil seems oddly calm, "And you know because you've seen it happen...?"

She nods, "Yes, I have."

"I always thought you were different..." Elizabeth whispers, "But...that sort of sorcery could never happen."

"Believe me, I didn't think it could either. Homunculus was the one that gave me a device to travel through time, and after that, he gave me some sort of power to do it without the device."

Cecil sighs, "So he was created." Quinn can't believe what she's hearing; he sounds fucking devastated that his creation can never be made!

"Are you fucking serious right now?" Elizabeth gapes at her, "The being that you created was pure evil and he didn't even think twice about killing you or your wife! He made your children orphans! And you're acting like your fucking devastated that he'll never be made again?"

Cecil shakes his head, "My children were orphans...?"

"Yes, much like now because you're stuck in your basement all the time." Elizabeth just shakes her head slowly, almost silently beginning for Quinn to be quiet, "Do you know how much of your daughter's life you've missed already because you've been stuck down there? You've missed Samuel growing up, missed your wife tending to your children. Are you happy with yourself?"

"I..."

"Are you happy, Elizabeth?"

The older woman stutters, looking between both her husband, and the red in the face girl before her before sighing, "Cecil...I miss you. We're in the same house, but it is as if you're never here."

"Elizabeth..."

"I just want you to spend more time with the children, just for their sake. They need their father."

"I'll try..." He leans in and kisses his wife gently on the forehead, "I really will."

And Quinn smiles, because everything feels alright again, but she's woozy, and she takes deep breaths as she feels her body begin to collapse beneath her. Elizabeth and Cecil are at her side in second, and she barely hears Cecil say, "I'll clean and dress her wound."

–

She wakes up in Cecil's basement. The fire in the hearth is all but embers now, and only the gentle melodic crackling of the wood fills the room. Cecil is sat beside her, placing his work in a makeshift folder. He's packing it all away.

"Are you okay?" He asks, when he finally sees her eyes open.

"Better..." She mumbles groggily. She brings her hand up to her neck and winces.

"It wasn't a deep cut, but you had lost quite a lot of blood. I would take it easy for the next few days or so. Drink plenty of fluids and get plenty of rest."

"Thanks..." She whispers, taking the hand that he offers her as she staggers to her feet. "It's for the best you know," When she notices the crestfallen look on his face, "Homunculus really was evil. He used me to further his own life, and he never even hesitated to end yours."

"I understand, but...all my work." He gestures to the desks that still remained littered with countless pieces of paper, filled with intricate drawings and scribbled writings, "It feels as if it was for nothing."

"Know that in the end, you did create something that you always wanted to. But then again, you've gained your family. You have a baby daughter upstairs, a son that adores you and a wife that loves you. Isn't that all that a man needs...?"

His eyes finally tear away from his work, and he just smiles at her.

–

Elizabeth cries when she leaves, because she knows that Quinn isn't coming back. The blonde haired girl that had been so full of life, would now be disappearing forever. Cecil stands by his blubbering wife as she holds Quinn, just thanking her silently through her tears, and Quinn smiles through it all.

Cecil says goodbye, and shakes her hand, which she takes eagerly, and shakes with a confidence she never thought she had.

And when she's turns to leave, she catches sight of Samuel stood on the top step, holding his baby sister in his arms. She stares at him, because in a way, this is her way of saying goodbye to Sam Evans, the boy she once loved, her best friend, her confidant.

"Goodbye Sam. Take care of yourself."

He smiles lightly and waves, before grabbing his sister's tiny hand, and waving that too.

She can't help but shed a tear when she finally shuts the door behind her.

–

"You've ruined everything." She hears, barely, as she passes into an abandoned alleyway to travel back to 2011. There, sat against the wall, is a slumping Homunculus, who looks as if he's barely holding onto life by his fingertips.

"You ruined everything. I wasn't going to have the life of two people on my conscience just so you could live."

He chuckles, lightly, so quietly, "I guess I underestimated you, Quinn Fabray."

"Yeah. You really did." She settles down to her knees in front of him, thinking that her eyes are playing tricks on her when a red mist settles around his body. But it's not, it's there, and his skin begins to almost bubble, "I hope you burn in hell, Homunculus."

And he looks up at her, skin drawn, eyes bleary eyed, "I'll see you there, Quinn Fabray."

She watches him melt into nothingness with glee.

And just when he's disappeared, she feels her body become engulfed in the same electric blue light that had saved her life more times than she'd like to remember. But this time, it crackles furiously, and she can't help but think that this is the last time this is ever going to happen.

–

2011. Two minutes after midnight. Lima Town Square. The clock tower still shines in the dark night, and she follows it like a beacon of hope toward the square. In the time it takes her to walk, she reflects.

Homunculus is gone. Cecil and Elizabeth Russell are still alive. Sam is back in the time that he belongs in, and Mary is no longer an orphan. It's a glorious feeling, to know that in a journey that she took to save her own life, she saved another four. Cecil and Elizabeth would be able to watch their children grow, and Sam would live his life the way it was intended to be, and Mary would finally know what it was like to finally have parents.

Out of it all, she gained Santana's friendship for life, and in turn, a fantastic relationship between her two best friends that were truly meant to be. She knew that both Brittany and Santana had probably loved each other since Kindergarten, and just seeing them together now, happy, full of joy, and looking forward to the future, made it all worth while.

Her mother loved ever, even though she was as gay as a pair of rainbows, and her sister would be becoming a more permanent fixture in her life for the years to come.

But most of all, she had the love of a girl that would gladly die for her, would gladly sacrifice herself, just so she could take another breath.

And as she round the corner onto the Town Square, and she catches sight of Santana with her arm wrapped around Rachel's shoulder, comforting the girl, she smiles. Because even though Santana likes to think she's big and tough, she's just a softy at heart.

Santana sees her first, and she quickly rips her arm away, before nudging Rachel in the ribs with her elbow.

Rachel looks up, and those shining brown eyes that make her just want to die and live all over again lock on hers. With a beaming smile, Rachel dashes across to Quinn and dives into her open arms, crying softly into her neck, holding her close.

Quinn just kisses the top of her head gently, glancing at Santana who is just smiling so contently, before pulling back and smiling at her girlfriend.

"Did you miss me?"

But Rachel just sobs with relief and collapses back into Quinn's chest, and she just holds her, contently, allowing Rachel to just feel something good for a little while.

But when she hears, "Is it over...?" Quinn just smiles, pulls back, presses a gentle kiss to her girlfriend's lips and says.

"It's over."