Author's Notes: This chapter is a little shortere than the others. It's going slow and my writers block is starting to hit me already. Thankfully I have a friend who helps me with that. :) Enjoy the chapter.

Protect and Serve
Chapter Three

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"Ain't nothin' gonna break my stride. No body's gonna slow me down, oh-no! I got to keep on movin'! Ain't nothin' gonna break my stride. I'm running and I won't touch ground! Oh-no, I got to keep on moving!"

Quinn shot up from her spot in the couch as the music blared. 'Jesus Christ… What time is it…?' She grabbed her Android and groaned when the screen lit up. Six o'clock in the morning. She flung her blankets off of her and looked at Rachel who was using the elliptical on the other side of the room. "What the hell?" She yelled, looking for the stereo.

Rachel looked at her before she grabbed the remote, turning the volume down. "This is my morning routine, Quinn. It's vital to my performance to-"

"I… don't care… about your damn performance. I care about sleeping. That damn couch is so uncomfortable! I didn't fall asleep till midnight!" Quinn argued. Rachel just shrugged. "Fine… Whatever. I need some fucking coffee…"

"No cursing in my home, Quinn!" Rachel yelled as Quinn walked into the kitchen.

She leaned against the counter after she started the coffee pot and tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes. 'Why did I want to do this again? She's trying to kill me.' She reached for her phone to type Santana a message, if she was forced to be awake, then so was her partner. Barely ten minutes after she sent the text message her phone rang. "Great to be up before the sun isn't it?" She answered without even looking at the screen.

"The fuck is your problem Quinn? You seriously pulled me away from dreamy sexytimes with Britt."

Quinn found a coffee mug after opening then closing three different cabinets. "You see San… this is our case. So if our case thinks I need to be awake at six in the morning, you're going to be awake with me." She filled the coffee cup to the brim. Black coffee would give her the kick she needed to fully wake up.

"You do know the minute you hang up, my happy little ass is going right back to sleep. Right?"

"I'll just keep texting you to make you so miserable you have to get up."

There was a long pause before Santana spoke again. "You know I hate you, right?"

"Sure do, now get up."

Santana let out a string of curses before climbing out of her nice warm bed. "Fine, I'm up. Call me when you're on your way to the show later."

"Will do." They both hung up their phones at the same time. Quinn shoved hers into the pocket of her pajama pants before going back out to the living room. The music was still playing, but at least it wasn't ear splittingly loud like the first time.

She looked over and saw that Rachel had continued to be on her elliptical. She decided that the best thing to do was to turn back into the kitchen and ignore the Broadway star. She looked at the coffee that had just finished brewing. 'Thank god…' She yawned as she raided the refrigerator for milk or creamer.

Nothing.

Nothing but soy milk.

"…" She cleared her throat before yelling. "Berry! Where the hell is your milk? I can't drink this soy shit!"

"I'm standing right next to you Quinn. And I'm vegan." Quinn jumped as Rachel suddenly appeared in the corner of her eye.

"… You're…. vegan…"

She really should have asked more questions. She really needed some damn bacon.

"Yes, didn't I tell you? Eating meat from an actual animal is horrible. I'm a huge supporter for Animal Rights and I believe it's wrong to eat meat. Unless it's fake, of course. However, I do not condemn those to who eat it. To each his, or in this case her, own."

'How… can she be so calm? Bacon is a gift from God Himself. He created Bacon to make me happy.' Quinn sat at the dining room table. "Fake meat… is just unethical."

"As is the senseless slaughter of animals. The human body is better built to handle only fruits and vegetables. We don't have the digestion system capable of completely processing meat."

"… You're going to ruin meat for me." Rachel just continued to smile as she took a seat next to Quinn, orange juice in hand. "Are you always in such a good mood?"

Rachel nodded, "are you always this grumpy?"

"Not normally. Just don't like to be scared out of my mind first thing in the morning," Quinn grumbled as she got up with her coffee and started off towards the shower. She reached down and grabbed her bag on the way. "I'm taking a shower. Please don't leave the apartment and stay away from the windows… just listen to your crappy 80's music and work out on your… thing. I'll see you in thirty."

XXXXXXX

"Alright, so here's what's going to go down," Quinn started, walking out of the bathroom with a bounce to her step. A shower really did her good in the morning. "When we get to the theater, you're going to hang out with Santana in your dressing room. She's probably already at the theater learning the lines. She'd probably be better off just swaying in the background. People might leave…" She headed towards the kitchen and poured herself another cup of coffee. "But anyway, I'm going to survey the theater and make sure there's a guard at every nook and cranny there is. Security is going to be tighter and I just got off the phone with Chief Jacobs. He's sending an undercover unit to stay outside."

Rachel nodded. "Where will you be?"

"Around. Don't worry. I'll be listening. I'm going to hook you up with a hidden microphone that links directly to my earpiece. You are to not take it off under any circumstances."

"What if I'm peeing?"

"Not taking it off."

"That's preposterous! That's a clear invasion of my privacy, Detective!"

"It's also an order. You're going to listen to me and not make this harder than it already is," She took a sip of her coffee. "Now, go take a shower and get ready to go. It's almost seven thirty in the morning and you have to be there by ten."

Rachel stormed off into her bedroom and slammed the door.

Quinn laid back in the couch and leaned her head back, resting it on the back of the couch. "Peace… at last…"

"Hey, you're a crazy bitch and you fuck so good I'm on top of it-"

Quinn leaned forward and grabbed her phone. "Hey, S."

"Q. I'm at the theater. I'm checking over everything. I got a call from Jacobs. He wants to send a few undercover's to make sure things are safe. William Schuester told me he tightened security the last few weeks and a few new guys are starting today. So we won't even know who the undercover's are. They'll probably get in our way so that's why I'm here early. I don't want them screwing up what we're doing. There's a chance it could make things worse."

Quinn rubbed her temples. "I swear Jacobs doesn't like me."

"Sweetie, you and I are in this together. If he hates you, he hates me too." Santana sighed. "There's going to be too many people here in less than three hours, Q. One of them is going to blow our cover."

"They're going to ask too many questions, especially when we have to get close to Rachel. I'm her 'personal bodyguard' but still. They're going to be wary around me. Especially the people who have been there for a while."

"Jacobs said he took care of that. But… you know as well as I do how stupid new people can be," Santana answered, hoping to calm her partner down. "Hey, Q? Do you remember when we had that drug bust back a few years ago on our first case? Do you remember how happy we were and what we did to celebrate?"

" What does this have to do with anything…?" Quinn asked sadly.

"When this case is over… we'll do the exact same thing. We'll go out and get piss ass drunk and take a vacation. Without the sex of course. We can even bring the midget and my girl."

"… How many cups of coffee have you had this morning? You're unusually… giddy."

"I'm spending time with, Brit-Brit. Sue me. See ya soon, Quinnie!"

"Quinn! Can you get me a towel from the closet nearest the bathroom door! I forgot to grab one on my way in!"

Quinn stood up and set her phone down on the coffee table before heading into the bedroom. She spotted the closet and opened it, grabbing a pink towel. "Here you… go-oo…" Quinn caught a glimpse of Rachel's body through the steamed mirror. Rachel thanked her and closed the door. She might have been hiding behind the door, but the mirror was in the perfect position and…

"No, no, no, no!" Quinn quickly walked out of the bedroom and hurried to the table, grabbed her cup, and went into the kitchen.

Rachel's legs.

"No."

Rachel's stomach.

"No…"

Rachel's pu-

"No!"

"Quinn! Why are you yelling? Is everything okay?"

"Yes! Everything's fine!"

Quinn rubbed her temples and tried to shake the thoughts of Rachel from her head. Two years was way too long.

XXXXXXXX

"I already feel like I've lost every ounce of privacy I had," Rachel ranted as she finished unbuttoning her shirt and turning back to look at Quinn, who nearly dropped the microphone at the sight, "why not just seal the deal, huh?"

Quinn took a few deep breaths, mostly to fight off the building arousal between her legs at the sight of Rachel "Superstar" Berry, standing in front of her, with her shirt unbuttoned…. And a vast amount of tanned, perfect skin… She cleared her throat. "If anything, it should make you feel safer."

"Raymond's already chipped away at my privacy barrier, and then you come along and just rip the rest of it to shreds. I'm scared enough Quinn. I really don't want you listening in on everything I say."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Rachel. But it's for your own safety… and it's only temporary. I want to make sure you're safe…"

"Safe? How can I feel safe when I'm scared out of my mind every day of my life…"

Quinn sighed. She looked up from hooking up the microphone to Rachel and saw the look on her face – fear etched into her face like stone. She was staring down at the red carpet floor with teary eyes. She reached over and placed a gentle, comforting hand on Rachel's shoulder to comfort her some. "You're going to be alright. I promise." Rachel nodded even though she didn't feel any safer.

"I hope so… I don't know how much longer I can deal with this… I'm scared all the time. I don't sleep very well. It's affecting my performances and William knows it."

"Look, he'd never be stupid enough to act while you're performing. Try to use that as your step out of reality for the, what? Three hours that you're on stage?"

"I've tried that, but my mind always goes back to him…"

"When you're on stage tonight, just look for me or Santana. Use us as your reminders that you're safe. I'm going to be right in the front row and nothing's going to happen." She had a soft spot for the Broadway star. After seeing her break down like she did, it completely tore her apart. "It's going to be okay." She smiled. "And we're done. You can… button your shirt back up." Quinn turned around and headed towards the door as she put in her ear piece. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yes… wait." Rachel stood and moved closer to Quinn. "Where are you going?"

"I need to make one more check of the parameter. But don't worry," she pointed to her earpiece, "I can hear you, remember."

Rachel nodded. She wasn't comfortable with being left alone. "Can you… have Brittany or Ms. Lopez come by? I don't want to be alone." She wrapped her arms around herself in a protective manner.

Quinn nodded. "Yeah... I can do that." Rachel smiled and thanked her. She smiled back. "Just remember, I can hear you." She paused at the door. "Rachel, do not take that thing off, no matter what the reason." And with that, she was gone to make her final rounds.