Well, We're back, Wheelie91 has got another great idea, now its just up to me to not mess it up.
If you read Save The Hero, it's good to 'see' you again, if you haven't read Save The Hero, well welcome, hope you enjoy this one.
Disclaimer: obviously I own nothing
Here we go then...
Posted:29/1/13
Prologue: Part One
_._
\R/
V
"Selena" the figure in the shadows of the back alley whispered "You have her"
Catwoman stepped forward, a new born baby girl cradled in her arms. She held the baby out toward her temporary master making him step forward out of the shadows too.
"How was your visit to Themyscira?" he chuckled sinisterly as he brushed the wrap back to reveal the baby's face. The tiny new born already had little brown hairs sprouting from her head.
Catwoman didn't answer, she was bound by Klarion's spell. The witch boy took the baby from entranced Selena and cradled her gently, as he looked down at her with an evil smirk.
Satisfied with her work he looked back up to his entranced servant "Now you will go home, sleep and when you wake you were never remember what you have done"
With that instruction Catwoman slunk away, up a fire escape and over the rooftops of Gotham City.
Now it was time for the next stage in the witch boys plan, to bind her powers and hide the child away. He'd already found the perfect place, a bust place where she'd easily get lost in a crowd, and where two men would be more than happy to take this baby in and raise her as their own.
...
"Rachel! Olivia is here, you don't want to be late!" the 17 year old brunette heard her dad yell from downstairs. She grabbed her bag and headed downstairs, ready for another day at school.
She was halfway across the living area to the front door when her father stopped her, grabbing her wrist. She did her best not to wince as the beads on the suede strap bracelet dug into the fresh bruising.
"Just one minute" his soft voice contradicted the grip he had on her "I spoke with your father" he didn't let go. Rachel just looked up into his eyes
"Yes daddy" she already knew where this was going
"You got a B in English" Leroy said as he waited for an explanation. Rachel didn't have one.
"Yes daddy" she did her best to not let her voice waver "I'll do better" she told him
"Yes you will" he released his grip "Or no more Glee club" he threatened. It was mild though
"Okay daddy" she learnt not to argue with either of them. They hadn't been like this until recently. Rachel suspected their marriage was falling apart and they blamed her. She blamed herself too.
"You can go now" with his blessing she hurried out the door to catch a ride with her friend who was waiting outside.
"Hey" her best friend greeted with a smile as she opened the car door and climbed in
"Hey" Rachel smiled back, leaving all the trouble of her home life at home. School was her escape, so was Glee club, it meant she could spend more time out of the house.
"You okay?" the red head with the emerald eyes asked.
"Yeah" Rachel snapped her head to her friend "I'm fine" she gulped audibly, afraid Olivia was suspicious. "Are you okay?" she switched subject
"Yeah... just tired" she pulled the car out of the place in front of Rachel's car "Did you do the Spanish homework?"
"Yeah" she picked her bag up out of the foot well, intent on finding the homework in case her friend wanted it "I can lend it to you if y-"
"Okay, I can't take this" Olivia said suddenly, she glanced at her passenger to see the panic was back in Rachel's eyes "Rachel, I saw the bruising" she said bluntly
"I don't know what you're talking about" Rachel sighed dismissively as she shoved the bag back into the foot well.
"I'm not stupid Rach, I saw your arms yesterday, and when I think about it, it makes sense. That's why your dads don't let you out, and why they're so strict-"
"Please Liv, you don't know what you're talking about" she looked out the window as if that would avoid the conversation. Olivia had picked the perfect time though
"But Rach-"
"No!" she snapped "Just drop it!"
Olivia sighed "Rachel, you're my best friend... if you need to talk I'm here" she offered, knowing Rachel wouldn't take her up on it
"Yeah I know" she muttered, disappointed in herself that she wasn't strong enough. She just played with the stone beads on the suede strap bracelet. She'd always had this bracelet with her, for some reason it was always comforting for her.
...
That evening Rachel was staying out of her fathers way by staying in her room. Suddenly she heard the door bell ring. She decided to stay in her room though, it was safer.
She concentrated her ears on any noise from downstairs. She heard raised, yet still muffled, voices then the door close. She went to her window to see who was leaving. She just sighed to herself when she saw Olivia. As if the girl could knew she was being watched, she stopped when she got to the side walk and turned back, looking up at Rachel's window.
The little brunette could see her red head friends face, illuminated by street lights, that's what let her see the girl smiling sadly at her
"What has she done?" Rachel whispered to herself
"Rachel!" she scurried away from the window and obediently downstairs "Yes daddy"
Both fathers were waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs "What lies have you been telling your friend?" Hiram demanded as he towered over her
"Nothing, I didn't tell her anything, I promise" he back handed her across the face "I promise" she whimpered as she held the side of her face. Why did Olivia have to help her? She knew she was just trying to be there for her, but she should have left well enough alone.
Rachel took the beating from both of them, this was nothing new to her. She just took it until they were finished, satisfied she'd suffer enough from the bleeding and bruising.
Her father's just left here there on the floor when they were finished, what had she done to deserve this? To distract herself from the pain she looked to the TV which was still on, it was currently showing a news report. There was some montage of professional and amateur footage of some feat of heroics that had happened earlier in the day somewhere in the country.
Green Lantern was taking down Sportsmaster with reformed villain Tigress and Miss Martian. The news reports babbled on about unimportant points like 'was it true Tigress and Miss Martian were in a relationship' or 'could we really trust Tigress, was she really reformed'.
Rachel wanted to scold them for being so juvenile when there were bigger things going on in the world, like the villain they were taking down right now. In her final seconds before she blacked out she silently wished for a hero of her own to rescue her.
...
The next morning she woke in her bed... they must have moved her. They probably only did it because she was in their way in the front room.
She ached, she always ached as she slowly sat up. She felt light headed too. But she was supposed to ignore it, this was her fault after all.
When she turned back to her room she saw many cardboard boxes, open and pre labelled. Leroy walked in, placing another box at the foot of her bed
"Hey baby girl" she flinched when he spoke. Their dual personalities always had her on edge
"Hey dad, what's going on?" she asked innocently
"Well, your father and I have recently had job offers in Metropolis" he sat down on the lip her bed next to her "so even if we didn't think we'd take them, last night we talked and we think this could be a great new start for the three of us" if only he wasn't lying
"That sounds great" she lied too; well, you always learn from your parents.
"Oh, I'm so glad you agree Rach, it's going to be a great fresh start, just wait and see" he smiled at her and kissed her on the forehead. "Now you get all you things packed, we're leaving the furniture and your daddy is going to stay a few more days and we're going to rent this place with the furniture, so don't worry too much about that" he squeezed her shoulder, making her want to wince, before he left the room
This was a quick move... she wasn't stupid, its because of Olivia confronting them last night... brave stupid Olivia... who she'd never see again.
Rachel started with her usual morning routine, fix what she could from last nights... injuries. Then she could pack.
...
Their new place in Metropolis was far different than the one in Brooklyn. In Brooklyn they had a standard house, here they had a penthouse. The first week there Rachel spent it on their private roof garden, looking over the city and up at the other towering buildings. She was all alone again, at least in Brooklyn she had Olivia and a few others in her Glee club.
Hiram had joined them a week later once paper work was dealt with and their house was ready for a tenant. She wouldn't be starting school for another couple of days and she was already bored out of her mind.
She ventured back downstairs, inside the pent house and found her fathers. The last incident was that one in Brooklyn, but she didn't believe it would be the last time it happened ever
"Dad, Daddy, is it okay if I go out?" she asked cautiously
"Why, where are you going?" Leroy asked lowly, obviously suspicious of her motives
"I was" she had to think quickly "I was going to check my route to my new school, so I know where I'm going. And maybe check out the city library" she just wanted to get out of the building.
The two fathers looked at each other, they had a muttered conversation before looking back to their daughter "Okay" Hiram nodded "Be back by 6" he told her, more like warned her
She nodded eagerly before running off to get her bag and jacked before heading out, to explore.
...
Okay, she messed up, she really messed up. She went to her new school first, it only made sense then she could time her journey between her home and the school, then she had got a city bus to the library, just as she said she would. Rachel couldn't just pretend she had visited these places, she had to go check them out so she could answer the questions her fathers would ask when she got back.
She knew she was running late. She shouldn't have visited more places in the city than the ones she told her father's about, now she'd be home late and they'd know she lied. She decided to find a shortcut so naturally she chose to head down a back alley trying to cut across a block.
She regretted it immediately when she turned the corner halfway down the alley and walked straight into a group of boys. Boys who were a little older and much bigger than her. She tried to back away but they spotted her
"Hey, wha dya think your doin?" he yelled as the gang all turned their attention to her
"Um, I'm sorry" she muttered as she still backed away. she came to a stop when her back hit something solid. She looked over her shoulder to nearly come face to face with a tall muscular boy with tanned skin "I didn't mean to"
"You didn't mean to what?" one of the others laughed "You scared little girl" hell yes she was, one of those boys was playing with a knife and she'd bet a few of them were carrying guns too.
She started backing away again only this time to stop when her back hit a wall. "Please"
"Aww she's gunna cry" the knife wielding one laughed as he pointed the weapon at her. Was this really the end for Rachel Berry?
"Shit" one seethed as they looked to the sky "Guys we gotta go" he yelped as he fled the alley. The other boys looked up and all started to run too as the red and blue suited figure dropped down to the ground. they knew they didn't stand a chance.
Rachel's chest rose and fell rapidly as she tried to control her nervous breathing. She just stared at her saviour, but this wasn't Supergirl, and it obviously wasn't Superman, not with those curves in that top half, long sleeve, navy blue leotard with an S emblem on the chest. And this sure wasn't no Superman, not with those legs, only partially covered with knee high red boots, that had a strap going above the knee, leaving a diamond shaped hole to frame her knee. The last thing Rachel noticed was the blood red cloak with a hood to shadow her saviours face.
The hero just looked around to make sure the boys were gone, if not she had no problem teaching them a lesson. Once the coast was clear she offered her hand to the still frightened girl "You can trust me"
Rachel barely heard her, her heart was still beating loudly in her ears. She took the hero's hand though, something made her just reach out and take it.
As soon as Rachel took her hand the hero pulled her close and swooped her up out of the alley. She flew over the city with this brunette in her arms, flying higher and higher away from all that was bad, below. Rachel had to close her eyes the entire time, afraid to see how high they were above Metropolis.
She took her to the roof top of one of the tallest buildings in the city. Rachel didn't open her eyes until she felt her feet on the ground again.
"Are you okay?" the Hero's voice was rough, possibly deliberately to disguise their real voice.
"Y-yes" Rachel stuttered as she nodded "Thank you" thank you wasn't really enough though. She tried to meet the eyes of her hero but they were shadowed with most of her face by the blood red hood of her hooded cloak. "I really don't know how to thank you more"
"Just don't go wandering down any more back alleys" Rachel just smiled, knowing the hero was smiling too, she could hear it in her voice "Where can a take you?"
"Um" Rachel looked around them, she hadn't realised how high they were on the roof of this building. She looked at the other building below and around them "Well... I live there" she pointed at a shorter building not too far away
"Then let me take you" she stepped closer to Rachel, ready to pick her up again
"You can just leave me on the ground" Rachel suggested not wanting to be an inconvenience the hero
"No, it's no trouble" she scooped Rachel up again, bridal style, and flew her to the pent house roof garden she'd pointed at "There you go" she said once Rachel's feet were safely back on the ground. she stepped away ready to take off again when she was stopped
"Wait" Rachel softly grasped the levitating hero's hand before they could get away "what's your name?"
The hero's shadowed face turned down to look at her "You can call me BloodStar" and with that she flew away, free of Rachel's grip, into the fading sky
On a rooftop nearby another figure in blue and red had witnessed the entire thing. She smiled to herself in approval.
_._
\Q/
V
"That dork is staring at you again"
"What dork?" The head cheerleader asked her fellow cheerleader who sat opposite. This group always had their same table in the outside eating area, and the watching blonde always had hers... alone.
"That girl, Quinn something" the same cheerleader told her "She's watching you, it's creepy" the girl said as she continued to look obviously in said dorks direction
Stacey looked back over her shoulder. She thought she saw Quinn blush as she not so discretely ducked her head. The head cheerleader just smiled to herself, shyly as she turned back round to her group in the blue and white uniforms.
"She's such a freak" one of her other minions said, then laughed along with all the others. Stacey just kept her head down as she smiled
"She hasn't got any friends, look at her sitting there by herself" another girl wanted to join in on the bitching match
"It's so sad that she's jealous of you" a newer cheerleader added, hoping the slight compliment might help her out in future round her leader.
A red head cheerleader who was sat next to Stacey looked back too, to catch Quinn watching again, this bitch smirked to herself before interrupting the conversation, and taking it down a different route "I don't think she's jealous of you, Stace. I think she has a little crush on you"
"Eww no way" a few of them gasped at the same time as they checked on the blonde "The loser is a... a lesbian" it was almost too painful to say for one of them
As they kept discussing back and forth the head cheerleader looked over her shoulder one again, she looked at the quiet girl with the short blonde hair and the dark framed glasses. Behind them was a beautiful face, if people weren't shallow they'd see it too.
At her own table, across the courtyard, Quinn could hear every word they said. She was almost amused, they'd finally figured out she wasn't jealous then.
She finished her lunch so she packed away her reading book, that she hadn't got round to reading, shouldered her bag and took her tray back to the disposal station. She then headed across the school to the boarding halls and to her dorm room.
Once she was safe inside she took off the glasses and placed them on her dresser. Now she could just relax and be herself for a few minutes before lunch finished and she'd have to go to lessons.
Quinn sat on the edge of her bed in her single occupant dorm room. She thought back to what those air head cheerleaders said earlier... not Stacey, she never said anything, and she wasn't an air head... she was nice when she wanted to be, she actually spoke to Quinn.
Quinn couldn't help but smile to herself as she remembered the other night in the library. Stacey had just walked up to the table she was sat up and taken the seat next to her before asking so sweetly for help with the math home work.
Quinn wasn't stupid, Stacey had probably just been nice to her because she wanted help. But that didn't stop Quinn liking her... really liking her.
On the other hand the teasing and bitching from the other cheerleaders was a good sign. They recognised her as a dork, meaning her attempt to blend in with the regular people was still working.
She walked over to her closet and opened it. She moved the clothes that hang on the rack along until she found the black suit bag. She pulled it out and hung it on the top lip of the open closet door. She then unzipped the bag and checked on the red and blue suit inside. Soon, she thought to herself, soon a time would come, when she'd be ready, then she could use it.
...
5 years old, that was the age she was when she crash landed to earth. She had no memory from before then, she was hardly aware of what had really happened on the arrival either. Apparently she crashed to earth in some kind of pod. And her name was Quinn... she knew that part for sure.
When she arrived on Earth she was found by a woman with blonde hair. Her name was Judy. The kind woman took her in, adopted her, and raised her by herself. Life was good with Judy Fabray, they became like true family and Quinn felt like she belonged, she became Judy's daughter.
Everything was fine until shortly after her 12th birthday. Quinn had a little accident, involving what could only be called; Heat vision. It frightened Judy just as much as it had Quinn. That was also the day s got some of her memory back. Memories from before. She knew she had a mom and a dad but she didn't know why she was here. Why wasn't she on her home planet anymore? Where was her family? But there were still many gaps in her memory from before then.
Not long after that and Judy sent Quinn to boarding school, things just weren't the same between them. Judy couldn't look at her the same, she didn't hate what Quinn was, just feared it.
The 12 year old Blonde just felt abandoned and alone after that. She didn't know who she was and the only support she had had sent her away. She remembered she started hearing more and more about heroes across the States.
One in particular caught her eye. Superman, she remembered seeing a blurry clip of him using heat vision just like she had. She learnt to control her power, then curiosity got to her, she started to test herself, see if she had other powers like him. She discovered her super strength ability accidentally one day, when she ripped the hinges off the closet door in her room one day. Judy paid for the repairs but never spoke to Quinn about it.
She also noticed she healed quickly, then after some time, around 3 years after the heat vision accident that damaged her bed room at home, she found she barely got injured. She at least knew she was impervious to paper cuts as books had become her friends. She also never got sick. Superhuman speed and hearing as well as her eidetic memory had all come in useful too.
When she came to this boarding school, for her high school years she adopted her geeky persona. That's also around the same time another hero appeared in a City called Metropolis, Supergirl. She had the same powers as the other red and blue wearing hero.
That's when Quinn also started making her own suit and got dreams of being a hero too.
And now at 16, well 16 as far as she could guess, she remained at this boarding school in Ohio, playing a part in the human race, becoming an image of them that would allow her to be overlooked and ignored by many...
Quinn was woken from her dreams when there she heard knocking on her dorm room door. Her dreams had been nothing more than memories of her past. When she heard more light taps on her door she knew it wasn't in her imagination. She looked at the digital clock and the fluorescent green numbers let her know it was just after 2 in the morning. She furrowed her brow until she heard the tapping again. She got out of bed and went to the door, opening it slowly.
"Stacey?" it had been a few weeks since that first meeting in the library. Since then Stacey had stopped by twice a week, asking for help with some sort of homework task. Sometimes Quinn would wonder if Stacey even needed the help, she seemed perfectly capable with some of it.
"Come out with me?" the brunette cheerleader asked
"Wha-, why?" she rubbed at her eyes trying to wake herself better. Was this really happening?
"Come on, please" Well the cute brunette did ask nicely "You might wanna get changed though" she giggled when Quinn looked like she was just about to leave her door, still in her shorts and vest top.
"Oh right" she played bashful and quickly disappeared back inside. She used some of her superhuman speed to help quickly slip jeans over the shorts and a hooded sweatshirt on over the vest shirt. She slipped her sneakers on then started for the door again. She froze when she remembered she wasn't wearing her glasses, so she grabbed them off her dresser and put them on.
Finally she slipped out of her dorm room and locked it, slipping the key into her jean pocket "Where are we going?" she whispered to Stacey who still waited just outside.
"You'll see" the head cheerleader offered her hand to Quinn, who paused, just starting at it for a moment. She decided to go against her better judgement and go with what she really wanted to do. She put her hand in Stacey's only for the girl to wrap hers round and whisk Quinn away, down the corridor.
She headed to a window by the fire exit. She pulled the latch unlocking it and slid the window up before climbing out onto the fire escape
"Stacey" Quinn hissed "What are you doing?"
"Come one Quinn, live a little" she smirked "We're just sneaking out, for a little bit" it was no big deal right? Again Quinn gave in and followed the girl she had been crushing on. Quinn made sure the window was slid back down, leaving it open just a small gap so they could still pry it open when they got back.
They kept as quiet as they possibly could as they climbed down the fire escape. When they reached the bottom Stacey took her hand again and let her away from the building and out to the football field. Stacey then lead Quinn up the bleachers, about half way up "There" the brunette breathed in the cold night air
"What?" Quinn asked, confused.
Stacey stepped over to one of the benches and pointed "Right here" when Quinn still looked blank Stacey explained "It's where you sit when you sometimes come and watch our practices"
Quinn ducked her head, embarrassed "You make me sound like a creep" she nudged her glasses up her nose
"It was kinda creepy at first" Stacey admitted "But then I heard you've got a little crush on me" that was presumptuous, Quinn thought, true but presumptuous. "Is it true?"
Quinn just shyly shrugged. She felt a finger hook under her chin and raise her head. Then Stacey's other hand came up and the finger on her chin released so Stacey could remove Quinn's glasses. She gently slid them off her face and folded them, she then slipped the glasses into Quinn's sweatshirt pocket.
"You're really pretty Quinn" she whispered as she got lost in those hazel eyes "And you're really nice and... sweet to me... why?"
"Because I like you" Quinn finally admitted out loud. She saw Stacey's expression brighten in the moonlight. "What? Why are you grinning like that?" the blonde asked worried. Was this all a prank, were all the cheerleaders about to attack her or something... not that she couldn't take them.
The brunette pinched her bottom lip between her teeth "Cause I like you too" she muttered shyly.
Before Quinn could really comprehend what she said Stacey leant forward and pressed her lips against Quinn's. It completely caught her off guard she never thought she'd be kissing the head cheerleader, and even in her dreams that had never happened on the bleachers at gone 2 in the morning on a winter's night.
It really was nothing but the pressing of lips against lips but it was enough to make her eyes drift shut and savour the moment which seemed to be lasting forever. It made Quinn feel so light, she felt Stacey pull away so she peeled her eyes open... only it wasn't Stacey who pulled away it was technically Quinn. Because her feet were no longer on the ground... and Stacey was staring up at her, terrified.
"I gotta go" Stacey rushed out before running, striding down the bleachers as if she had no fear of falling, she just had to get away from Quinn.
Quinn deflated as she watched the head cheerleader run across the field. As she sighed she found her feet touching the ground again. She gave Stacey at head start before she walked back to the dorms alone, all the while hoping Stacey hadn't locked that window when she climbed back in, locking Quinn out.
Well... at least Quinn could add another one to the list; she could fly.
...
Quinn couldn't find Stacey the next day, not that he was looking for her. When she sat at her usual table at lunch she looked across the courtyard to the table surrounded in blue and white clad girls, she couldn't see Stacey their either. She tuned in her superhuman hearing to listen in.
"Where's Stacey?" the last cheerleader to join the group asked "I haven't seen her all day"
"Didn't you hear?" another asked, keeping their voice low as they leant into the table "Her dad picked her up this morning
The one who'd started the conversation asked "Why?"
"I don't know, I text her and she hasn't text me back"
"I saw her leave" another volunteered that information "She looked upset"
"Oh my god" one of the blonde one gasps "What if she got pregnant, and had to leave?" she suggested before laughing, some of the others laughed too
"Oh yeah, who's the baby daddy then?" another asked, still finding the idea funny "She doesn't talk about any of the boys"
"What if its one of the teachers?" another grimaced "it could have been Mr Johnson-"
"Eww" another cut that comment off "He's like nearly 40"
"Yeah but she's been getting really good grades in math lately" they all let out a girlish noise of disgust before laughing again as they imagined their leaders misfortune.
The bitches, Quinn thought to herself, that's why she 'dorked' up all the time, she didn't want those artificial friendships where they stab you in the back any opportunity they got. Stacey's grades in math had improved because Quinn helped her with the homework.
Quinn wasn't hungry anymore. She got up, disposed of her tray and went back to her room. She was so sick of this place, she just felt alone when she was here and now she'd scared Stacey off there was nothing to look forward to. That's when she decided to pack up her bags and slip out of the school when everyone was in after noon lessons
...
When she got home Judy wasn't there. Judy was never there when she went home, she didn't even know Quinn was coming home so she must have avoided the house often in case Quinn showed up.
She went up to her room, everything was as she left it, even the two thin lines in the wall where she'd had that accident with the heat vision. She looked across the dresser, there were a few photos of her with Judy, fun times, happy times, before the fear set in. She smiled before she felt bitter again.
She was alone. Judy didn't accept her for who she truly was, neither did Stacey. She opened up her old closet and the inside of the door was covering in old newspaper clipping and her old childish drawings alongside the slightly more mature sketches she'd added when she'd visited home for the holidays. All the red and blue images, the two heroes in Metropolis made Quinn think... they were just like her. Surely they could accept her for who she was.
That's when she made another drastic decision. With her bags already packed and her suit at her side she rushed round the house finding all the loose money she could. She promised herself she'd repay Judy for everything one day but right now she needed it. Quinn then left the place she once called home and caught the first bus out of there, starting her journey to the city of Metropolis.
...
2 months after arriving in Metropolis and she already had obtained her own worn down apartment and got a tiresome weekend job that just about covered her rent and food and cooperated with her high school hours... of course she had to lie about her age a couple of times. She was cleaning the apartment when she heard something, something not too far away but beyond human hearing was happening.
It sounded like a girl, a young girl who'd walked into gang territory unknowingly
With superhuman speed she changed into her homemade outfit, inspired by her favourite heroes, then out of her window and into the sky, heading to her first ever act of heroism. It was time for Bloodstar to shine.
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