Sorry, not something new, just something moved. After deliberating a suggestion from Devin Jaste I have taken the incomplete Epilogue from the fic 'DarkStar' and moved it to make a short sequel, hopefully this way I will actually finish it with short chapters rather than feel pressured to write one long final chapter like I promised.
Also I have re-written DarkStar. Basically I've just edited, spell checked, Americanised and properly proof read it. Also I made a few tiny insignificant changes that won't be that noticeable or affect anything in the rest of the fic, but just in case anyone noticed, I thought I'd confirm that I had.
Posted: (Original:11/2/12) (Repost:23/9/13)
The Trouble with Kids
Nearly 20 years later
Last night / later that day
Location: Unknown / A school in Lima Ohio
A young boy, that looked to be no older than 8 or 9, was called to stand in front of his class. He pushed back his seat, the feet screeching as they scraped across the plastic flooring. He then picked up the piece of paper that had been staring at him for the past 30 minutes while he heard his other class mates talk about the same topic.
He sighed before reciting the printed words of the page in his hands "When people say Family lots of things come to mind, my family is not like anyone else's..."
Four similarly dressed figures of varying height ran across the flat roof tops of the buildings surrounding the docklands. The leader stopped at the edge, she held up a fist signalling for the others to stop. The four crouched down, and peered over the low wall surrounding the edge of the four story building. The leader, the one in orange, removed the tube that was strapped to her back, and with haste pulled out the items inside. She then quickly assembled the pieces, creating a sniper rifle.
"You see, I have two mommies, and they both love me and my big sister very much. They aren't always around for us because they have very boring jobs..."
The y all watched as two cars pulled up, the orange one had the advantage of watching through the scope attached to the rifle. From one car 5 men climbed out each holding different guns. From the other car climbed out two armed men and a more important looking one.
"...In big offices that mean they have to travel all over the country, so we don't always get to see them even though we know they love us... My grandma used to look after me and my sister all the time, but my mommies say that my sister is now old enough to look after us when they're not here. And Grandma now live in Florida, we get to visit when its summer vacation"
"What do you see?" the one in the dark blue asked
The leader in Orange detached the scope from the rifle and passed it along to the one who asked "See for yourself"
"Hmmm... doesn't look too bad" she saw the men open the doors to one of the ship industrial containers
"Remember we need the boss alive for the cops" The one in red instructed "A conviction is better than a death for him. All the cons he'll be locked up with are people who he would have screwed over" the three others all agreed that was better in this situation
"I'll cover you from here" The one in orange assured them all. Orange was the leader after all, they'd make sure their team mates were safe.
"My sister's name is Olivia, and I don't like her, she's bossy and she has a boyfriend called Mateo. He used to be cool before he was her boyfriend. He has a little sister, called Ashleigh, we fight sometimes but we are still best friends" he smiled at one of the blonde girls at the back of the class room "Mateo and Ashleigh are like family to me too. Their mommies are best friends with our mommies, and they all work together"
The figures in Red, Blue and Purple all vanished from the roof, down the closest fire escape. They kept to the shadows as they made their way closer to the criminals and their open container in the sea of other containers.
The orange one, watched through the scope on her sniper rifle, they watched the three others split off into different directions to take different tactical positions.
"I have two granddaddies too, but I hardly get to see them, they also have big, important, jobs and live far away"
She saw the one in red sneak up behind a thug who was on look out further from the rest. She used a wire to garrotte him, and with her efficiency she killed him quickly. That kill had become her signature move over the many years this had been her job.
The men had started unloading something from the container into the trunks of the cars. The boss leant against the bonnet of one of the cars smoking a cigarette.
The orange look out saw the one in Navy blue sneak into the container when their backs were turned, while loading and unloading god knows what illegal items. One of the thugs entered the container and met the nasty surprise of the crime fighter. She must have struck him as it sounded like a body collided with the metal walls of the container which in turn startled the three other men stood by the door.
One more thug ventured in and even at a distance it clearly sounded like he was met with the same fate.
"My mommies grew up and met here in Lima. When they finished school they went to New York and got married. Sometime later they decided they wanted children. My mommy had my big sister and my momma had me. Once I was born they decided to move back to Lima"
The crime fighter in Purple appeared on top of the container, the men below her panicked and raised their guns but she shot both of them with a silenced pistol before they got to squeeze the trigger.
The one in Red ran onto the scene, knifing another thug that was about to raise his gun to the one in Blue as she stepped out of the container. The two were met by the purple one who dropped down from above the opening of the container.
The Purple one had her pistol trained on the boss who'd nearly choked on his cigarette when the three had come out of nowhere. He instantly raised his hands like the coward he was.
The last thug quickly appeared behind the heroes. The one in red heard the shuffle of footsteps, she turned and raised her knife to throw it, but before she could act a shot rang out and his skull shattered in front of them, splattering blood everywhere
The orange sniper was deadly accurate.
The three heroes on the ground tied the crime boss up and left him in one of the trunks of the car, leaving the keys on the front right tire. They then sent an anonymous message to the cops, using a burn phone.
"My family isn't the closest, it's not the most interesting but it's mine and I love being a part of it" he finished by sighing in relief before going back to his seat. He was glad that he'd finished the speech his momma had demanded she at least help him with.
...
The following morning, same day as speech
Location: unknown
"Quinn" Rachel murmured softly into her wife's ear "Quinn we have to get up, we didn't pack and we need to start the drive back"
"Hmmm" she roused from her sleep "what's the time?"
She propped herself up onto her elbow to see the alarm clock the other side of her wife "7.36" she said softly before laying back down and wrapping an arm round the blonde and softly kissed behind her ear.
"I thought you said we need to get up" Quinn yawned.
"We do but it's too nice here" Rachel had quickly conceded, feeling it was much nicer where she already was.
"...No, we should get up" the blonde decided pulling back the sheet, letting the cold in and climbing out of Rachel's arms and the bed "we've been a way for three nights, we need to get home" they'd been living in one of the organisations safe houses, it was a seemingly run down building, and inside weren't much better but they were furnished and equipped to a high quality... just not decorated.
"Oh" Rachel groaned and sat up "although doesn't Luke have to do a presentation this morning. I hope it goes alright"
"He'll be fine" Quinn walked over to the bed where Rachel still sat and kissed her on the top of her head as she reassured her.
"You think so?" she asked meekly
"I know so" The blonde woman, carefully, pulled her wife out of the bed, to her feet. "He's your son after all" she unnecessarily reminded
Rachel scoffed "He's our son" she corrected as she watched Quinn wander to the far side of the room, taking advantage of the sight of the under dressed woman.
"You know what I mean" they started organising clothes to wear for the drive home, they'd been living from their bags and cases since they'd arrived a few nights before "He has moments where he has exactly your personality traits"
"Hmmm" she agreed simply, too sleepy to use too many words "I could say the same about Olivia, she also looks like you"
"With your dark hair" Quinn added.
"It's not as dark as mine" Rachel debated as she mindlessly continued packing.
"Are you two up?" yelling through the door and banging on the surface, broke the pair from their simple chatter about their children.
"We're just getting dressed" Rachel called back "Then we just need to finish packing" she notified the Latina who had been their unwanted and un-needed alarm clock.
"Well hurry up, you were the one who moaned that we're always late" she complained through the door.
"Yeah yeah" The shorter brunette yelled back dismissively.
"How's your leg today?" the blonde decided to ask as Rachel removed her pyjama bottoms revealing the bandage round the leg.
"Doesn't hurt as bad as the time I got shot in the leg when we were in high school" she chuckled but then saw Quinn's concerned expression "I'm sorry I wasn't down there with you three last night" she added guiltily "I just can't move that fast on my feet with this injury"
Now Quinn smiled "At least you're actually compromising this time not the way you did back in high school, running off and nearly getting yourself killed"
"Not again. I'd never do that again" she tried not to limp as she stepped closer to her wife, but she was a bit stiff after the running last night and sleeping in the cold room so it was still a little noticeable. Once she was close enough she wrapped her arms round Quinn's middle and pulled her close "You'd miss me too much" she smirked before leaning forward and softly pressing her lips to Quinn's
"Guy's Sanny's getting impatient" they heard the blonde with long hair whine her warning through the door.
The pair groaned in synchronisation... and not in pleasure "We'll be ready in 10 minutes" Quinn yelled this time.
"We better actually get ready" Rachel removed herself reluctantly from her wife's arms "Otherwise Santana might come in here and shoot me in the other leg" she joked
"I said I was sorry about that!" was yelled through the door "It was dark" the Latina excused herself
"And who the fuck would be wearing bright orange, other than me" she yelled back, a tone of humour in her voice, as she left her wife and continued to change clothes.
"Do you ever think we're getting too old for this?" Quinn sighed as she stuffed her pyjamas into the top of the bag.
The brunette's gaze shot to her wife who wasn't looking back. She waited a second to compose herself before answering, well not really answering, just responding "Why? Do you?"
"It's not that I want to just yet. But I still worry about you" she said timidly "I mean we're nearly 40"
"Hey" Rachel snapped, if a little playfully "Neither of us are 39 yet so don't start skipping years"
"I'm sorry it's just..." she trailed off
"What is it Quinn?"
"I want to have some fun years with you, our relationship has always been based around this. When we took a couple of years off for each pregnancy we had so much fun getting to know everything about each other... and although I love that we share this whole secret world. I'm always scared that we'll run out of time" she finished sadly as she bowed her head. Rachel was right by her side when she heard her wife sniffle.
"Hey" she hooked a finger under the taller woman's chin "I understand okay, I'll try and get in contact with my dad's" she smiled and quickly kissed Quinn
"I'm sorry if I'm being selfish" Quinn just mumbled guiltily
"No, you're not Quinn, you're being sensible, we have kid's... how would it be explained to them if they lost one of us when they have no idea what's going on" and even though they'd come so far that didn't mean they were invincible, Rachel always quietly accepted that the next bullet might have her name on it.
"But won't your dads be disappointed" Quinn checked.
"My father's sit in some hidden, headquarters, that I don't even know the location of, from where they run this entire organisation. They have recruited hundreds like us and now the government is on our side, even if the law enforces don't know this" she pointed out "It's a project that doesn't necessarily need us anymore..."
"Are you sure?" Quinn asked, just checking a little more, she didn't want to punch her wife into anything she didn't want to do.
Rachel closed in again and grasped each of Quinn's hands in her own "I'd rather spend every day with just you, without our alter egos getting in the way"
They kissed again, starting softly, which was their most popular kiss, before it turned more passionate and they got carried away...
...
20 minutes later and they were dressed, all four women in similar, simple, smart, black suits with open neck white shirts, the image of suspicious while trying to look inconspicuous. Another 10 minutes later and the car was packed up with all their Team DarkStar equipment. Santana had grabbed the car keys first meaning she would be driving. 5 minutes after that and they were back on the road, heading home.
"Did Olivia reply to your text last night?" Quinn asked as Rachel started going through her phone
"I got a reply this morning" she sounded a little suspicious "saying she and her brother were fine and she would ensure he got to school on time and that she wouldn't let him get out of his presentation today" She shared her suspicious look with her wife sat next to her in the back of the car
"Britt, San, did you check on your kids last night?" Quinn asked casually.
"I phoned home" Brittany answered "But no one answered, even though I said it was me on the answer phone"
"Santana?" Rachel asked in the same tone she used before, the Latina woman was being suspiciously quiet
She slumped her shoulders "Matt may have informed me that he and Ash were going to stay over yours last night" she said rather quietly
"Santana!" Quinn shrieked
"If your boy gets my daughter pregnant there will be hell to pay" Rachel threatened
"He's a good kid!" Santana stressed as she excused her son, she trusted him better than her teenage self.
"Matty wouldn't be irresponsible" of course it was Brittany who used bigger words when she defended her son
"It's not like your daughters completely trust worthy, he said she invited him over" the Latina mother exclaimed.
"Well, we'll be having words with her" Quinn said sternly
...
Later that same day
Location: McKinley high school, Lima Ohio
"Hey" a girl with light brown hair and fair skin, of age 17, held her books close to her chest as she leant against his locker
"Hey" was replied in a low tone, by the approaching tall boy with tanned skin and dark short hair. He looked about 17 too. He placed a hand on the locker next to her head, as he leant down and kissed her.
"I had a great time last night" she breathed when he pulled away
"Yeah?" he quirked an eyebrow
"Yeah" she nodded before connecting their lips again "Would you like to come over again tonight?"
"Our parents are coming home"
She scoffed and rolled her eyes "Like they ever keep their promises"
"They do try" he defended his parents and hers.
"Such a momma's boy" she laughed mischievously and patted his face with an open palm before pushing him back so she could step out of the way of his locker "So are you coming over or not?"
"Well I did drive us and our little siblings to school this morning, meaning I'm going to have to drive you back" he was just trying her patience "so... I might as well stop by your house" he said nonchalantly
"You don't have to" She said casually as she checked her nails on her left hand, her right arm still cradling some of her books.
He sighed, getting bored of their game faster than she did. "Yes, I'd like to come over" he kissed her quickly on the cheek
"Good" she revelled in another victory. Olivia then caught sight of something... a certain something someone was wearing as they walked down the corridor past her "Ugh, what is with people and this whole super hero obsession" she complained
"I think it's pretty cool" her boyfriend replied, looking round to see a bunch of kids wearing t-shirts with the dark blue star logo on them. "I mean those heroes are cool, they're like the secret police or something"
"It's just weird okay, a bunch of kids obviously watched too many movies and decided to do it themselves. Not to mention how stupid it is going against the law like that" The girl pointed out, it was just crazy that someone would actually go out and do that.
"Yeah but there is that theory that they're working for the government" he whispered as if the secret forces in the country might hear him and jump out of a locker somewhere to cart him away "Also from what I've read it's like a big community honouring the first one who died all those years ago"
"Yeah I get that... maybe" she half agreed "If someone was brave enough to stand up to... whoever and got killed... and then all these 'tribute acts' came along then fine, but there's hundreds out there all in different teams and with different names and it's a bit crazy don't you think?"
"Yeah but kinda cool too" he added
"I just think that the people in charge of the whole organisation should feel a little sick, I mean you see how young some of them are, they're like our age" she looked up at him and he seemed to be day dreaming "Are you even listening?" she slapped his arm with her books
"Ouch!" he rubbed his arm and pouted like a child "yes I was listening, I was just thinking how cool it would be to be one of them"
"Nuh-uh no boyfriend of mine is going to be running around getting himself killed" she smiled and pulled him down for another kiss.
"Damn" he smiled playfully "I just really wanted to meet team DarkStar, I mean they are pretty hot" he muttered turning back to his open locker
"Okay Eww, that's just disgusting" she told her boyfriend "you can hardly see them in the pictures and they've been around for like 20 years, so they're like 50 or something"
"Still I wouldn't mind being rescued by them" he said dreamily, thinking of a bunch of fit women in leather saving him.
Olivia adopted a low tone "Careful, keep saying things like that and you're going to be in enough trouble that you're going to need them to save you" and with that she sauntered off, towards the exit, adding a little more sway to her hips, to get her boyfriends attention, which wasn't hard when she was wearing a cheerio's uniform "Are you coming?" she said over her shoulder, catching his expression of fixed eyes on her back side and jaw slightly open.
"Um... yeah" he said slowly, blinking himself back to full consciousness, grabbed his bag, slammed his locker shut and followed her down the corridor, to the car.
...
Mateo text his parents that he and his sister would be at the Fabray's house, if they got home to find it empty
Later that evening and the two teenagers and their siblings were relaxing in the Fabray house, as promised. The teens were cuddled up on the sofa watching some sort of crap on television, the younger kids upstairs probably arguing, even though they were best friends.
"Sis!" Luke ran down the stairs, Ashleigh close behind him "Olivia!" he yelled
"What do you want?" she was sat on the sofa next to her boyfriend, and they'd barely got anywhere, they'd barely even kissed when the little brat interrupted.
"What's wrong, guys?" her boyfriend asked in a much softer tone.
"There are men walking round the house, lots of them" he said in a panicked tone, he looked like he was about to start shaking too.
"Luke, I'm not playing any of your games" his big sister warned as she got up from her seat on the sofa
He went over to the curtains and peeked between them "No really, look there's cars out there too. Lots of men got out and started walking round the house... they're out there still" he whispered the last part as he backed away from the window, eyes wide. His breathing became more panicked too.
She sighed and wandered towards the window. She was about to pull the curtains open when her cell phone rang. She dug it out her pocket and answered without looking at the name on the screen "Hello?"
"Get away from the window" came a stern voice down the phone
The teenage girl too cautious steps back as she furrowed her brow at the voice "mom?"
"Take your brother, Matt and Ash to the basement quickly" she was told, there was no time to explain, only time to act.
"What's going on?" she demanded to know, this wasn't funny whatever it was.
"We need you to do as I just said now" Rachel's voice was still stern when in reality she was doing her best not to panic "follow my instructions and we'll be able to meet you in a minute, now hurry!"
As she said the final word they heard a window at the back of the house smash. Olivia, still with the phone to her ear grabbed her brother's wrist, coaxing her boyfriend to get his sister and then follow her to the basement with haste.
"Lock the door once you are in the basement" she was instructed.
"Lock the door" she echoed to Mateo behind her. He did as he was told, sliding the three bolts across to secure the door
"Once you get to the bottom of the stairs I need you to slide the light switch panel upwards"
She creased her brow again, only with irritation and panic this time "What?"
"No Questions just do it" Rachel's voice was stressed as she tried to give them the basic yet important instructions.
Olivia looked at the light switch unbelieving that it was more than just that, she shook her head before putting her thumb on the bottom of it and pushing upwards. The four gasped as it moved revealing a clear plastic pad beneath it with red lasers behind.
"You see it?"
"Yeah what is it?" her voice was shaky
"It's a laser print scanner, now I need you to scan your right index finger, it is very important that it is that finger" Rachel told her explicitly.
Olivia hesitated, before saying a quick and nervous "okay" down the phone.
Rachel had built a base in the basement of the house that had been built on top of the old Berry house plot, yes all those years ago, it was Rachel's fathers who'd secretly bought back their old house after their daughter 'died' in a house fire. They had then set it up as a normal house until it was time for some of their recruits to move in. The Fabray's were the second family associated with the organisation to live here and Rachel had improved the base, including adding her children's fingerprints to the system. If they scanned their right thumb, the base would reveal itself, just like it did all those years ago. But if they scanned their right index finger it revealed an escape.
The sound of people above them in the house made Olivia act faster. She pressed her finger to the scanner and to all their surprise one of the wall panels on the far wall opened up
"Okay, now slide the light switch back down and head to the wall that just opened up" came the further instruction down the phone, only this time it was in a different voice.
"Mommy?" the teenage girl asked, not caring how that sounded because she had a mom and a mommy and that's just how they differentiated them. And it was the same for her boyfriend so mockery was never an issue.
"Yes sweetie, everything's okay, just go to the exit quickly" Olivia was startled when she heard what she was sure was gun shots in the back ground "Everything will be fine" she reassured her daughter "But please hurry"
"Okay" she led the other three to the opening in the wall where they immediately felt a breeze coming through "Mommy what is this?" Olivia was looking at a very strange looking vehicle.
"It's an automatic underground car, it runs on a rail, the four of you need to get in and pull the seal down"
"This is of James bond" Matt said, impressed, as he looked at the four seated cart, two seats at the front two at the back.
"That is where Rachel got the idea, when she decided to build it" they heard Quinn say down the phone. The explanation was unnecessary but the words boosted them into action. The pair of teenagers helped their smaller siblings to sit in the two front seats first.
"Matty I'm scared" his little blonde haired sister said shaking as he helped her with her seat harness, he was shaking too but he told himself to breath so he could focus and buckle the harness properly.
"We're all scared" he admitted with an encouraging smile as he managed to clip the harness securely round her. He kissed her head before climbing to his seat behind his sister and next to his girl friend. The seats themselves looked just like basic car seats, with much more complex seatbelt/harnesses, in a shiny rectangular metal base which surrounded it.
"Are you in?"
"Yes" Olivia confirmed once she and Matt were secure "How do you close it?" the teenage girl asked, panicked
"Very simple, at the front hit the big button that says 'close'"
"Can you reach Luke?" She asked her little brother. He easily slapped the Button.
As the metal ceiling and sides came down to encase them the basement door burst open and men in black suits started marching down the stairs. "Now hit the only other button there is, the green one" Quinn instructed, to the children
"Quick Luke" Olivia breathed
"Now buddy" both teenagers tried not to panic him as they saw through one of the small windows, the men approaching. They raised their guns, both teenagers closed their eyes. But before the strange men who wanted to kill them could pull the triggers on their guns the little metal bullet train was on its way. The four unsuspecting kids were shoved back into their seat as the cart propelled forward. It wasn't a long ride, or maybe it was but they were going so fast they couldn't tell. Before they knew it the cart slowed to a stop.
"Olivia, Olivia, are you still there?" the girl undid her harness and grabbed her phone that she'd dropped as soon as the cart had started moving.
"Yeah, we're all here" wherever 'here' was
"Okay, the cart should open up automatically, you just need to walk to the end of the tunnel and up the ladder, we're here"
"Okay" she put the phone down, it didn't even occur to her that she was still able to get a signal even though they were underground. She quickly helped her brother, while Matt helped his sister and they hurried to the end of the badly lit tunnel.
Led by Olivia with Matt at the back they quickly made it to a ladder, with an open hatch above them. Olivia helped her brother up first, a leather glove clad hand helped him from the top, she then helped Ashleigh up "You next" her boyfriend breathed in the cold air, encouraging her to climb
She just nodded and did as instructed. When she reached the top she took the gloved hand without thinking. Before she could do anything else she was enveloped in a tight embrace "Thank god you're alright" she'd recognise her mommy's voice anywhere.
"What's going on?" she asked shakily, clenching her eyes closed and holding onto her parent
She pushed her daughter away to look straight into her eyes "We have to get out of here"
Olivia was surprised , to say the least, to see none other than MoonShadow looking back at her "mommy?" She just nodded, as the girl then looked around her "mom?" she asked the woman standing close holding her little brother, the short woman in orange just nodded. She looked behind her to see her boyfriend and his little sister equally shocked "Aunt San and Britt?" again it was confirmed with silent nods "you're team DarkStar?" The four women replied in unison with a simple 'yes'
Matt, stood behind her, made some odd hiccupping sound getting everyone's attention
"You all right there Matt?" Santana turned to her son
"Yeah fine" his voice was kind of gravelly "just threw up in my mouth a little bit" he finished quietly
"He said team DarkStar was hot" Olivia explained with an eye roll
"Come on we need to move before they find us again" Rachel said, trying not to laugh at the boys reaction
"What's going on?" Olivia demanded this time. There were so many questions, so many answers but no time. Not here.
"We'll explain once we're in the car, now let's move" Santana gave the order getting the other 7 moving to the army type jeep
Let me know what you think...