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Madness burned brightly in her eyes as a twisted smile curved her lips. She held Gabriel's stare for a moment before she dropped the knife, lifted her hands in the air and surrendered. Quinn felt relief, absolutely, but something wasn't right. Why would Katherine come here just to give up so easily? It bothered her and, she knew from the look on Gabriel's face, that it bothered him too. Then Katherine was being taken away and the idea that it was over, that she was going to be put behind bars where she belonged, had Quinn forgetting her apprehension and she ran to Gabriel. He held his arms opened wide for her and pulled her close.
"It's over now," he whispered and though she heard a bit of doubt in his voice, she settled more closely against him.
The fair continued on and, once Katherine was escorted away, everyone got into the spirit of the day: enjoying the activities, the food, and, yes, Quinn went for a swim at the hand of the man she loved. She looked like a drowned rat but she couldn't have been happier.
Later, everyone retired to the great hall for drinks. The discussion centered around Katherine and they were all proud of themselves for the ease in which they had captured her. She was going away and would no longer be able to hurt anyone again.
The Scarcliff treasure was still in its box since it hadn't been revealed to the townspeople, not after the drama of the arrest. Quinn was happy about that because the treasure was her private link to Archer and, she couldn't deny, she liked keeping that link private.
It needed to be locked up, safe and sound in the vault though, and she asked Nick to take care of it.
Quinn leaned over to press her lips to Gabriel's. His hand snaked out to wrap around the back of her neck as he pulled her to him. When he finally released her, he did so rather reluctantly.
"I'll be right back," Quinn whispered.
"I'll be waiting."
Quinn headed to Nick's solar where he was standing near the vault. "It's unlocked so when you're done just push the door closed."
Without another word he left, pulling the door closed softly behind him. Quinn opened the box and looked once again at the treasures.
"It's over, Archer," she cried. Tears filled her eyes as she thought about Archer and the life he was forced to live because of someone manipulating history, someone who was born almost three hundred years after he was. It wasn't fair that his life was so altered because of Katherine.
Quinn thought she was just imagining it when she felt the air chill around her, thought she was daydreaming when she looked up to see the familiar figure standing near the fireplace, but when he took a step closer and she saw his beloved face, her heart leapt.
"Archer?"
His words sent a chill of fear through her. "Quinn, my love, be careful, she's here."
The words were like déjà vu and then she remembered the note she had found, the one that was tucked with the wooden horse, the one that was smudged. He hadn't been warning her of ahebut ashe.
"Archer!"
"It isn't over," he whispered but before she could ask what wasn't over the door to the solar opened and in walked Mrs. Payne and she was carrying a gun.
It was complete confusion that Quinn felt at first. What was Mrs. Payne doing here and why the hell did she have a gun? But as soon as she came a bit closer and Quinn saw the pale eyes, she felt her heart constrict in her chest and understanding settled over her like a lead blanket. Mrs. Payne was morphing into Katherine right before her eyes!
"So, I finally get you alone," she practically cackled.
Quinn turned back to Archer whose was looking at Katherine and the expression on his face sent a shiver through her. When he turned back to her, she saw love and a steely determination.
"I won't lose you again," he whispered before he faded before her eyes. She acutely felt the lost of him but then Katherine started toward her forcing Quinn to focus on the mad woman holding a gun.
"I am so going to enjoy killing you," she exclaimed.
Looking at Katherine, realization dawned and she wanted to kick herself. She hadn't even thought about aging but, of course, the Katherine who had killed her in the future would have aged from her traveling through time. But then who was the woman at the fair?
"Confused I see. It was me at the fair, too, my younger me." When Katherine's comment was met with confusion she continued, "I just needed to instruct my younger self of what to do. Little notes in places I was sure to find and my younger me knew to come to your fair and allow you to believe it was done, over. It was a leap of faith that you would all be looking for a young Katherine, leaving Mrs. Payne in the background and completely unnoticed. And now I have you to myself and can finally finish what I started."
Quinn's heart broke thinking of Gabriel learning of the deception by someone he cared about. They had been in Katherine's presence every time they were in his home and had never known.
"You showed up on Gabriel's door step to keep an eye on him," Quinn accused.
"Of course. I wasn't done with him, yet, not when he still had you," Katherine purred.
"And you were my boss, before I went back, you were the silent boss that I wasn't allowed to meet." The pieces began falling into place for Quinn.
"You are smart, I'll give you that. Yes, how else was I going to get close to you and Derek, make sure you were following the path I had set for you? Besides being the voice over the box, like Charlie's Angels, was just too much fun. Not even Cole knew my true identity."
