A.N.- Alright so I wasn't ready to let go of UFT so quickly cause let's be honest I fell in love with that little universe. So now I'm doing little head cannons for each of the characters, they'll be posted separately but the link will be in the end of UFT so you all can find them.

This was inspired by dgronison and the comment you left on the last chapter so thank you a ton! (I am thinking of a badass Rachel story cause there are so not enough of those!)

This one is Alec, without further ado, enjoy!

The first time the thought came up, Alec was three. He was sitting on the hardwood floor of the living room while Quinn was sprawled out beside him watching. He rolled cars back and forth making motor noises eventually he grew tired of the small yellow school bus and he grabbed the police car instead.

He happily rolled it around in circles.

"That's a police car Alec, can you say police?" Her voice went up at the end as it does when adults talk to small children.

The boy smiled at her and just kept making engine noises.

Rachel walked in with their daughter- Annabelle- who was eight at this point. She had just french braided the girl's hair for her first day of the new school year, "What do you two think?"

"My baby girl is growing up so fast!" The blonde exclaimed, standing up and hugging their daughter before holding her at arms length to examine her closely. She looked so much like Rachel with her dark brown hair and soft smile.

Alec, on the other hand, was a miniature Quinn. He had his mother's stunning blonde hair and hazel eyes- though Rachel had carried both children, the donor they had selected for Alec had Quinn's strong jaw and could very well have been her fraternal twin.

Rachel turned her attention to their boy, "How are you doing this morning, handsome?" She asked sweetly, he was the man of the house and already he was spoiled rotten.

He waved at his Mom, but just kept on motoring away with the police car. Alec had always been a quiet shy kid so his silence was nothing special. Both Quinn and Rachel were convinced he was the brilliant but quiet type (they were right).

"He seems to have found a new favorite." Quinn commented as they watched Alec run the car into the leg of the coffee table repeatedly.

Rachel got a funny expression on her face that the blonde quickly identified as her wife holding out on something. But the look was gone as quickly as it appeared and she was soon smiling again, "Looks like it! Let's get everyone to the car. Don't want Anna to be late on the first day."

Quinn secured her daughter's backpack and placed her son on her hip while Rachel ran about grabbing the lunches and water bottles. It was a well choreographed routine to get everyone to school, daycare, and work in the morning.

Somehow they managed to get everyone into their SUV and strapped into seat belts and car seats. Quinn was about to throw the car in drive and head out of the driveway when Alec yelled from the backseat, "No! Police!"

Immediately both Quinn and Rachel whipped around in their seats, their heads slamming together in between their headrests as they tried to figure out what was wrong. Quinn was the first to come to her senses rubbing her head where it had collided with Rachel's, she asked, "Where Alec? Where's the police?"

"The house." He pointed with one small hand back out the front windshield.

"Police in the house?" Quinn asked with her brows furrowed, Rachel mirrored her expression.

Annabelle, who was somehow always on the same wavelength as her brother, clarified, "He means his police car! He left it inside."

Recognition flashed for both women and Quinn simply hopped out of the car and ran outside to retrieve the toy. Knowing Alec they all had experienced his stubbornness and were fully aware their car ride would be far easier with the police car.

Alec held onto that toy longer than he ever had any other one. He took it with him every where he went for the next year, only abandoning it when he moved onto preschool and began to come out of his shell. Still, he kept the car in his room proudly displayed on a shelf.

The second time it comes up, Alec is in the fourth grade. He came home from elementary school and at dinner he proudly told his family all about his day, including his homework assignment. The moment he explained it, Rachel got that suspicious look that always set Quinn on edge. She didn't have to wait long to figure out what it was about.

Once the kids were in bed and Rachel and Quinn were alone in the living room, the brunette unloaded immediately.

"I knew this would happen."

"Rach-"

"I knew once he was old enough he would want to jet off and play the good guy."

"Rach-"

"I knew that we shouldn't have encouraged it."

"Rachel!" Quinn finally shouted, grabbing the brunette's attention and momentarily pausing her rant, "Would you just relax? The boy is eight years old, everyone that age wants to be a fireman or a police officer. It's not that big of a deal."

Rachel's eyes widened and Quinn knew she hit a nerve, "Not a big deal? Our son is writing a homework assignment about being a police officer just like his mother when he grows up and it's not a big deal? Quinn officers die! We just went to a funeral last week for a street cop!"

The brunette was practically hysterical at this point, and Quinn wasn't doing much to calm her down, "You think I don't know that? I worked with Thomas everyday! I assigned him to that beat, I was responsible for that man and he died. Of course I'm concerned about Alec wanting to be an officer but he's eight, he'll probably change his mind five times by the time he turns nine next month."

Rachel was stricken silent as though Quinn had slapped her. Then in a voice so broken that it nearly crumbled the blonde completely, she said, "I can't be wondering every night if he's going to make it home alive, worrying about you is hard enough."

"You don't have to worry, I promised I would always come home and I don't break promises."

"What if Thomas made that same promise to his wife?"

Quinn didn't reply, instead she just engulfed Rachel in a bone crushing hug. She knew from the look on his widow's face at the funeral that Thomas had indeed made that promise but he wasn't able to keep it.

"Everything is going to be okay. I don't want to think about it and I know neither do you, but things are different now. We aren't twenty, I'm not a street cop, history isn't going to repeat itself Rachel. Everything is different now."

Rachel began crying then, her tears were silent but Quinn felt her shoulders shake nonetheless, "Exactly, everything's different. We have kids Quinn, we can't keep going on like this. I can't be afraid every night if you're going to come home." Rachel drew in a deep breath and tried to slow her crying, "Every time I see Noah walk up to the front door and you're not back yet, I'm afraid he's coming to tell me that you're not going to make it home."

"Do you want me to quit Rachel? Just say the word, you know I'll do it."

It's a conversation they've had too many times to count. Each time Quinn offers to leave the police force, and each time Rachel doesn't think twice before insisting it isn't necessary.

But every time after the tears dry and the conversation ends, when Rachel is wrapped safely in the blonde's arms late at night, she thinks. In the beginning she would seriously think about what their life would be like if Quinn quit. She almost asked her for it a few times, but knowing how much her wife loved her work always gave her pause.

Especially as the years went on and Quinn got promoted, first to detective and then to chief of police, Rachel knew she could never ask for Quinn to resign. No matter how much she wanted it.

"No, this isn't even a discussion! I honestly thought you were joking when you brought this up the first time." Quinn crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes were steely and showed no emotion aside from denial and betrayal.

"But Mom, this is insane! It's completely hypocritical of you!" Alec threw right back. He was eighteen and had been taller than his parents for a few years now, but somehow when the blonde raised one of her perfectly plucked eyebrows he felt like he was ten years old again and had just broken a vase.

"Don't you raise your voice at me young man!"

"I'm an adult now and I can make decisions for myself!"

"You're making the wrong one!"

"According to you!"

"According to common sense! It just isn't practical!"

"You do the same thing every single day!"

Rachel had just been sitting on the couch throughout this whole exchange watching words fly between the two blondes. Now she could see the frustration bubbling beneath the surface and she knew it was time to butt in, "Alec, just try to see it from your mother's perspective. She's concerned about you and so am I."

"All I said is that I wanted to go to the police academy, it's not like I'm joining the Marines!"

"Just reconsider, you're so smart Alec." Quinn tried, "You've been accepted to U-Penn, you can do anything with yourself."

The boy scoffed at his mother's suggestion, "So you think I'm throwing my life away by becoming a police officer instead of going to college?"

"Yes!" The blonde shouted at the same time her wife insisted, "No!"

They shared a meaningful look before Rachel tried to explain, "It's more complicated than that, you know that Alec."

Seeing his mother moved nearly to tears seemed to be the only thing to break through to the boy. He plopped down onto the couch next to her and took one of her hands in his own, the gesture was so like Quinn that it struck both women to the core, "Fine. I'll go to college, but after that it's my life. My decisions. And I'm still going to the academy."

"Thank you." Rachel whispered.

Quinn just walked away before her son could change his mind. She knew how stubborn and headstrong he could be, it was one of the clearest traits he had inherited from Rachel. The answer would suffice for now and she would just have to hope that in the next four years he would change his mind and decide not to join.

That hope was in vain. After graduating as Valedictorian from the University of Pennsylvania, Alec promptly applied to, and was accepted into the police academy of New York.

The night before he left for his first day at the academy, he stayed at his parents house. It was closest to the campus and Rachel insisted he visit before heading out. After a large farewell dinner, the brunette went to bed while Quinn sat up trying desperately to slow her mind. Once she ruled that impossible she brewed herself a mug of tea and settled for sitting on the couch as the time ticked down until Alec would leave.

After a half an hour, Quinn heard footsteps on the stairs and wasn't surprised to see the tall man make his way into the living room and settle onto the couch beside her.

"Can't sleep?" She asked needlessly.

"Not even a bit. You?"

"Nope."

There was a brief silence while Alec tried to get the courage to ask what was really on his mind. He wasn't normally hesitant about talking to his mother, but this was different, "Were you able to? I mean the night before you went to the academy."

Quinn smiled a bit. Out of habit, she rarely talked about her life before Rachel with her kids. Tonight was an exception, "The night before I went to the academy, I was living on the street. I hadn't slept properly in weeks but that night I slept like a rock because I knew I was finally doing something with my worthless existence."

Her monotone voice shocked the boy and he looked at her with concerned eyes. He knew that his mother didn't have the most secure adolescence and he never did find out how she made it from Ohio to New York as a teenager, but this was far beyond what he had ever imagined.

"Mom, I had no idea-"

"Do me a favor Alec." She interrupted. Quinn waited until he nodded to continue, "When you're there, at the academy, go by the last name Berry. Not Fabray."

"Why?"

The blonde sighed and stood from the couch, grabbing her mug in the process and walking to the kitchen to rinse it out. When she returned to the main room to go up the stairs to bed, she paused, "One day you'll understand. Fabray isn't a name you want to be attached to when you're a cop in New York."

Quinn remembered the night, five months later when Alec called home late at night. Rachel was the one who answered and she practically squealed with joy when she heard her son's voice on the other end of the line. He talked animatedly with her about his classes and training and a new girl he was seeing before he asked if Quinn was home. Reluctantly, Rachel gave up her phone to her wife and returned to the cleaning she had been doing.

"Hey Alec, how's everything?"

There was a deep breath on the other end of the line, "If you ask Mom, everything is amazing."

"And if I ask you?"

"I'm in the middle of a liability course."

The blonde smiled to herself, remembering how she had slept through most classroom based classes when she was at the academy. Though she failed to see the connection between a liability course and why her son needed to lie to Rachel, "And?"

Alec paused knowing that the best approach to anything with his mother was straightforward, "We're covering suicide by cop. Case studies."

Everything clicked for the blonde but she waited for the boy to elaborate. Which he did, "Now I know why you wanted me to go by Berry instead of Fabray. But Mom's name is on the case file too."

"It shouldn't be."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Quinn dropped her head into her hand, "You were always too young, or too fragile, or too determined, or too old, or too strong." She heard the accusation in her son's voice and couldn't blame him. She would probably be yelling if she was learning about her family's past from a text book in the middle of a lecture hall, "Your mother and I, we were just trying to protect you and your sister."

"So this is why?"

"Yes. That's why we never wanted you to become a cop. We know first hand the dangers."

There was a long pause as Alec gathered his thoughts, "So that story you always used to tell us, the one about the knight and princess and evil queen. That was true?"

"Yes."

"God, I wish you would have told me. Does Anna know?"

Quinn rubbed a temple and shot a quick look to the kitchen to ensure Rachel was still preoccupied, "Yes. When she was in college she was trying to learn more about my family for her Anthropology 100 class and after some digging she found the old news copies. She called me to ask if it was all true."

"And still you didn't tell me?"

"Alec, how could I? Both you and your sister came to me when you found out because you know what it would do to your mother if she knew that you had learned about the truth. This has been my cross to bear for the past thirty years." Saying out loud made Quinn truly feel her age. She had grown old quite well, never looking over 38 though she was now nearing fifty, Rachel had done the same. But now having to confront her past brought the weight of the years squarely down on her.

"It's not just on you any more Mom. I love you." He said.

"Love you too Alec." She replied before hanging up.

Rachel joined her on the couch shortly after, "Did you already say goodbye? I was hoping to remind him to eat well before hanging up, he is so thin now!"

The blonde laughed, "He's twenty three Rach, I think he can take care of himself now."

"You couldn't take care of yourself at twenty three."

"That was entirely different."

"Oh?"

Quinn kissed her wife playfully on the nose, "When I was twenty three I had you to take care of me."

When he graduated and was commissioned as an officer, Rachel and Quinn sat in the audience with hundreds of other proud parents. Rachel cried and Quinn remained stoic as their son walked across the stage to shake hands with the head of the academy. Annabelle had even flown out from California with her husband for the occasion (she had been happily married for four years and they had a child on the way.)

That was all eight years ago.

Alec had risen quickly through the ranks, but his last name preceded him. After a few years of working the street, he married a woman he had met in college and she was offered a position teaching phiolosophy at Brown University so they moved to Rhode Island.

Here he had a fresh start and was quickly granted the title of Chief of Police before setting his sights higher on Commissioner though he was still working at that one. His wife- Emma- and he had two little boys. They visited Rachel and Quinn in New York as much as possible, after Quinn retired from the police force they moved to a smaller house on the outskirts and she accepted a position teaching a class on criminology at NYU. Rachel occasionally still acted in movies but they were happily enjoying their golden years.

One night Quinn was awoken by her cell phone buzzing loudly on the night stand. Reluctantly, she rolled out of bed and slipped her feet into a pair of comfortable slippers before exiting the bedroom to take the call so she wouldn't wake Rachel. She smiled when she recognized the caller ID.

"Hey Alec."

"Hi Mom."

She waited, knowing that he would get on with whatever he needed when he was ready. It took a couple of moments, but his voice wavered as he whispered his question, "Does it ever stop?"

Quinn's brows knitted together, if she didn't know better she would think her son was crying, "Does what ever stop?"

"The worrying, about your kids."

"What happened?" The blonde's question was concise and dozens of disasters were already running through her head.

"Nothing." Alec assured her quickly, "It's just Brian, he asked me to take him to work today because he wants to be a cop when he grows up."

Understanding clicked immediately for Quinn as she thought about her youngest grandson. He was only five years old, but he had so much energy it was a miracle his parents kept him as controlled as they did. He was constantly questioning things, demanding on figuring the world out. It didn't surprise Quinn for a moment that he wanted to be just like his father already.

"It never stops. You just learn to deal with it." She recalled the first nights Alec was going on his night beats. Both Rachel and she would lie uneasily in bed feigning sleep until he texted them as promised to confirm that he had made it home safely.

"That's what I thought." He sighed shakily and Quinn could practically see him running a hand through his short hair like he always used to when he was younger- a nervous habit he had picked up from her, "Emma, she thinks it's absolutely adorable. Of course she's convinced he'll grow out of it once he figures out how much money cops actually make." He laughed.

"Whatever he chooses, just know that it's his decision to make. No matter how much you want it not to be."

"Thanks."

Quinn smiled in the utter irony of the situation but remained the sage voice of wisdom that she normally was, "Of course."

"And Mom?"

"Yes?"

"I understand now, and I- just thank you. I love you."

Quinn's smile grew, much like herself, Alec had never been the best with expressing himself and the flustered nature that he grappled with the last sentence made his sentiment clear, "I love you too, Alec."

"Tell Mom I said hi."

"Always."

A.N. So what did you think? Next up is The Princess.