Thanks for the reviews: ToastedMarshmellow08 (I know what you said but I'm kinda OCD about these things, sorry lol), wkgreen, Dsercas4, Nat, Omni-Obiter, NZgleek01, General Mac, LoveSKINS94, ShadowCub (x2), Monichanz, Ilianalovee, VickiiMadd, Gleelover47, WhatHurstMeMost, PraiseFortheFallen, Gardenia2, mythic-lionheart, thetamarine, faberryloving and coventgirlvampire

Posted: 5/11/12 (Happy 5th of November everyone)

Fixing

"Rachel!" The fizzy voice being yelled over the intercom startled Rachel awake. Something wasn't right though. As she raised her head and rubbed the sleep from her eyes she realised she'd fallen asleep at her work bench... again

"Rachel, get up here right now!" Her father, Leroy, yelled over the intercom again. She then heard harsh knocking on the basement door at the top of the stairs behind her.

Rachel groaned as she stretched; she fell asleep working again. At least she hadn't been using the soldering iron again, that was a close call with some nasty burns or setting the basement on fire... again. This time she'd just been un-assembling a prototype glove, she'd calculated that boosters in the boots wouldn't be enough to keep it balanced, and then she'd realised that boosters in the arms could become boosters in the hands... and more

She didn't know how she'd over looked it; probably because she was focusing so hard on getting it to walk, flying had been a later idea.

"Rachel, could you please join your father and me, upstairs. We need to talk with you" Hiram's voice carried across the room in a gentler tone than the one her other father had used

She stood up and stretched as she mentally prepared herself for whatever could be waiting for her upstairs. She looked round her room to check things were still where she left them. This 'NF' person who left that card had her slightly paranoid.

She'd barely got out of the basement when Leroy started

"Why has $2000 gone missing from your account?" he had a piece of paper scrunched up in his hand as he asked animatedly

"Excuse me?" she raised an eyebrow, how did he know about the 'removed' money

"Its right here" he slammed the piece of paper he'd been clutching in his hand, oh that's how he knew "You took $2000 from your account"

"You opened my mail?" she bit back with an accusing tone

Leroy just snapped back "Why did you take the money?"

"Are you in trouble, we can help you Rachel" Hiram assured her; he did look really worried, so did Leroy but he was using anger to force her to answer. Had he forgotten how stubborn his little girl was.

"I'm not in trouble, dad" she tried to reassure her taller father before turning to the shorter one "I can't believe you opened my mail and it's my account I can do what I want with the money"

"That money is for college, and you're not 18 yet"

"You never put that restriction on the account I can take what I want" she folded her arms and shifter her weight onto one leg, as if to show her defiant attitude

"Why do you need $2000?" Hiram asked much calmer that his husband "What are you doing? Why do you need that sort of money?"

"It's none of your business" she was sorry to snap at the parent she preferred right now but she couldn't have them know; they'd know it could only bring bad and they'd have it taken away from her.

"We're your parents and you're under 16, we have a right to know" Leroy finally adopted his husbands method "we just want to protect you"

"I am 16" she sighed, trust them to forget "And you didn't care about me for all those years before, why now?"

"We have always cared for you"

She shook her head, what was the point, what could she say? Any remark, any point she'd want to make would just start a whole new argument. She could understand that they were worried, but they wouldn't understand, no one would. Leroy was different lately, almost paranoid, and Hiram was trying to keep the house calm. Had she changed so much that it had changed them or at least one of them completely. Obviously she had.

"I'm going to school" she said dryly before storming back to her basement and slamming the door behind her. She heard both her father's talking after her but she ignored them. She slid the bolts in place and went down the stairs. She disconnected the intercom; glad she'd installed that disconnecting feature.

Rachel then walked over to it, her creation and stared at it with fascination. She was still amazed that she had made this. When she awoke with that new motivation she felt compelled to give in to her... for lack of better term: nerd side. She was a science geek, she always had been but she'd hidden it for years for the sake of more bullying and to go for her Broadway dream instead.

$2000, or just a bit less than that, was a bargain for what stood in front of her. She'd used the money to pay for the supposed scrap she'd found at the metal scrap yard. She'd had to pay for some of it, the more expensive materials, like the aluminium she'd needed for a few pieces.

She'd spent the rest paying for herself to use the equipment near the scrap yard. They had a crucible, not a big one, just the right size for her. She was able to use it, it wasn't hard after she'd done a little research. She purified the metals and was able to use the molten material straight away as she'd spent weeks before making the die casts.

Every piece of the suit was made with meticulous care, each die cast mould piece made accurate to the mm. She couldn't have a single imperfection in it or it wouldn't work. This wasn't some medieval suit of armour; it was a super computer robot, with room for a pilot. It was her masterpiece and her baby, and right now it was her everything.

...

As Rachel took a seat in her Spanish class she couldn't help but let out a sigh. It was her third lesson of the day and she hadn't seen Quinn anywhere... well she had seen her in 1st period but the blonde had completely avoided her.

At that moment the blonde on her mind walked into the class room. Rachel sat up straighter as if trying to get her attention. She saw Quinn pause in her step, she looked straight at Rachel before she looked at her feet again before dropping into an empty seat near the door.

It was just one stupid comment, couldn't Quinn forget it. They were friends, Rachel thought, pretty good friends considering it had only been a couple of weeks. But no, she wasn't worth Quinn's time or attention yet again.

Mr Schue was yet to show up and Rachel realised she didn't even need to be here. She could speak Spanish already; it was pretty easy for her to pick up. Besides Mr Schue was a crap teacher.

She grabbed her bag off the floor to pack her note book away when she saw the card, the card she'd found left attached to her suit. It was tucked in the top of another book in her bag.

She'd already planned on leaving; now she knew where to go on her afternoon off. She stuffed her book and pens back in her bag and pushed her chair back, making the feet grind across the floor loudly. She shouldered her bag and picked up her jacket before heading straight to the door.

She made sure to walk straight past Quinn on her way, not caring whether the blonde noticed her or not... okay that was definitely a lie, she wanted Quinn to know how annoyed she was with her, but not to the point where she'd confront her right now and make a scene... someone might just call it a lovers spat and they'd be in a worse place than they were now.

...

Rachel had to double check the address on the card as she looked up at the huge warehouse.

It was perfect, from what she could see on the outside so far. It was just a big run down looking building, she hoped it was hollow inside, then it really was perfect.

She could test out the flying mechanism when it was ready and still be hidden from prying eyes until she worked out the kinks and also grew comfortable with the controls before she was finally ready.

Not wanting to delay another minute she went over to the only door she could see at the moment, a small person sized door in the front corner. There was a set of keys sticking out of the key hole already, a card tag hung on the metal loop attached to the key.

She recognised the handwriting from before but the note was longer than the last one:

It's all set up Miss Berry

NF

What did that mean? She thought to herself. She'd find out soon enough.

Rachel unlocked the door, she tried to find a light switch but there didn't seem to be one within reach of the door way. It didn't matter anyway. As soon as she shut the steel door behind her the lights automatically came on.

Immediately she was stunned by what she was seeing in front of her. The walls inside weren't the same as they had been outside. They were white and smooth not that corrugated steel. And there sat in the middle of the room was her suit, it had to be hers, she ran over to it and yes she could see every little scratch and mark on it, it was hers.

For a moment she was worried someone had made a copy... then another bad idea hit her. How the hell did they get her suit? And her computers? She hadn't even noticed them at first. Her computers as well as some other tech she didn't recognise sat on various desks along one wall. She saw some were work benches on wheels so she could move them.

On the far wall were windows looking in. It looked like a house built within the warehouse looking over the rest of the room

It was both impressive and worrying. Why had she been given this? And why had they moved it from her basement... she wasn't sure if she like the openness of the warehouse opposed to her secluded dark basement. 'It's not the same', she thought sadly, while at the time she was thinking 'it's not the same!' because it was progress

"Good afternoon Rachel"

"Whoa" she whispered as she looked up as if she'd see the voice. She did see the speakers round the top of the room

"This system is ready for you to use, security can be upgraded as soon as you access your computers and the door security can be improved from their too with a finger print scanner. This system is also almost sound proof and fully equipped for standard living. Welcome to our new home"

"Um, thanks" she knew the voice, it was the one she'd programmed for her suit, just a simple metallic voice. She still wasn't sure though. Home was with her fathers. Maybe it would grow on her. For now she'd just spend the evening working on her suit and try and get used to her new environment.

She went home to her father's home that evening and went to the basement. It was eerily empty, just her cot bed in the corner and desks and workbenches absent of computers and tools and her suit gone. At least she'd gone to the warehouse first or this would have been a nasty surprise.

...

Saturday

Why did it matter? Why did she care?

Because Quinn was all alone, that's why. She had Rachel's friendship whether she wanted it or not. They could get past some idiots and their ideas at school. Maybe because their friendship had formed so quickly and it was a surprise it had attracted attention; but that was all it was, a friendship. And Rachel cared about this one, probably because it was her first real friendship. And it was all she'd been thinking about when working on the suit all night at her new facility

So that's why she found herself driving to Santana Lopez's house. She needed to talk to Quinn but she didn't know where she lived now. She had text the blonde but hadn't got a reply, she'd tried to phone her cell but she hadn't picked up, so Quinn really was avoiding her.

She'd only knew where Santana lived because she'd driven past it enough when there were various high school parties she hadn't been invited too... not that she cared. That and she recognised Santana's car always parked out front. She got the impression Santana's parents weren't around often.

She parked out front and spent a moment soothing her nerves before she got out and walked up the path. As she rang the doorbell she realised she had no back story as to why she was here.

To her relief Santana opened the door, so she'd be avoiding the awkward conversation just to get to the point of talking to this girl.

She didn't fail to notice the joy in the Latina's eyes evaporate as soon as they landed on her. "Berry, what the hell are you doing here?"

"I just came to ask you if you knew Quinn's new address" she asked straight out, its not like Santana would want to prolong this conversation anyway

Santana decided she did want to make this difficult "Trouble in paradise?"

"Shut up Lopez, do you have an address or not?" maybe if she spoke like the Latina she'd get through to her faster.

"Why do you want it so bad? And by the look of you, you really do want it bad" she smirked again

"You think your weak innuendos are going to make me go away?" Rachel sighed "Well they're not. Do you have her address or not, I'd really like to just speak to her"

"She's still not talking to you?"

"No Santana, she doesn't want to talk to me, but damn it she's my friend and I need to try and fix this"

"Seriously Berry, she was a bitch to you for what? 2 years? And you wanna show pity? Please" she scoffed "You just want her around to be your shield and I aint lettin' that happen"

"You care about her?" Rachel raised an eyebrow sceptically "Then why didn't you say something when your Cheerios started making those accusations?" Santana faltered at Rachel's words, she failed to make it discreet when her eyes flickered away from Rachel's and she folded her arms protectively across her chest "That's right, you couldn't. You're the head bitch now and you can't lose that. It's hard enough holding onto the title while you're still in the glee club, you can't protect her too"

"This really isn't about you?" Santana sounded surprised. She thought Rachel just wanted the friendship for selfish reasons, like hiding or Slushy protection... which evidently wasn't working anyway.

"No shit Lopez" for a second it was like they'd reversed roles "I know what it's like to be alone, but not like she has. I just wanted to be there for her and some stupid remark about us being girlfriends has her ignoring me again" she said with frustration "And I know it got to you too" she hushed her voice so no one would hear "Because you're scared of the same fall off the popular pyramid... because those words that were said about me and Quinn are true for some"

Despite the quietness of her voice Santana still checked over her shoulder before she snapped at the short brunette "Listen here Berry, I don't know what the hell you think you know but-"

"Oh please. I saw the way your face dropped when you saw me. Are you expecting a certain Blue eyed blonde any minute?"

"That's none of your business so keep your gigantic schnoz out of it"

"Oh another nose joke, how original" she muttered dryly "Do you have Quinn's address or not, you hand it over and I'm gone"

"Fine" she snapped. She disappeared back into the house for a second leaving Rachel on the door step. A few seconds later she was back with a slip of paper "Don't hurt her" she passed it over roughly.

As Rachel took the paper her hand brushed the Latina's. Something wasn't right; her skin was warm, really warm "Santana are you okay?" she only asked her question once the paper was safely in her hand

"What are you talking about?" she sneered

"Your skins really hot, you might have a fever or something?" Rachel asked with genuine worry

"I'm fine" she really did feel fine too "You got what you wanted, now go"

"Whatever" Rachel murmured, as she made a quick exit for her car. Santana definitely had a couple of personalities switched on today, she couldn't be bothered to care if Santana was sick or something right now.

Next stop Quinn's

...

Rachel couldn't believe her luck as she found Quinn's apartment block. She'd seen the clouds a mile off, the way it accumulated over Quinn's block didn't help give it a good first impression. It seemed okay though, it wasn't in the worst area and it looked secure... also it looked like it was almost new, so that was another for the pro list.

She found a place to park her car on a side road near the apartments. She checked the piece of paper Santana had written the address on again to check which number Quinn lived at: 4B.

As soon as she got out of her Lexus she felt the soft patter of rain drops land on her head. "Oh great" She hadn't even got her car door shut when it started falling faster and heavier "Just what I need" she decided to run for it, like a lunatic afraid of water, all because she hadn't bought a coat or umbrella.

A woman with a dog was leaving when she got to the door, she stopped to hold it open to Rachel who thanked her as she slipped inside. She wasn't sure what was crazier; that woman was taking her dog for a walk in the rain or the fact she let some stranger into the building.

It didn't really matter, she'd made it after one stupidly complicated journey, well it was complicated considering all she wanted to do was speak to a friend. She found out the 4 in the '4B' indicated the floor. Rachel realised there was no elevator in the building, so that was one for the con column in the pro-con list. It must have been an inconvenience for Quinn especially with Beth.

When she stood outside Quinn's supposed apartment she was suddenly nervous, she wasn't sure why, but it wasn't just because she realised Santana could have made this up.

She'd got this far, she might as well just knock on the door. She held her breath as she waited. She heard movement on the other side of the door then a pause before what sounded like a chain being unhooked. Then the click of the lock being un done and the door was finally opened.

"Rachel what are you doing here?" Quinn's voice was groggy as she peaked out of the door, only opening it half way

Rachel had a speech prepared but as soon as she saw Quinn's eyes a question slipped from her mouth instead "Have you been crying?"

At the same time Quinn just asked "Is it raining?"

"What?"

"You're soaked" Quinn said, vaguely looking Rachel up and down at her soaked jeans and sweater.

"Oh, yeah it started raining really heavily" she said dismissively "Have you been crying?" she asked again wanting an answer

"No" Quinn muttered as she looked at her feet

"Don't lie to me Quinn, your eyes are red. Why were you crying?" she asked a little more forcefully

"It's nothing" she tried to wave off, she opened the door wider and gestured for the brunette to come in, she didn't want to have any conversation ing the hallway so her neighbours could over hear "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you" she said calmly "You avoided me yesterday" Quinn went to say something but Rachel cut her off "I get it, okay. What they said wasn't very nice... I know it was humiliating but it was just words" she tried to point out as she followed Quinn deeper into the apartment.

It didn't look too bad inside either, it was just a room with a kitchenette, in the opposite corner to the front door, and three doors along one wall leading to other rooms, supposedly a bathroom and 2 bedrooms.

Quinn just scoffed as she moved further away from Rachel, leaving the girl stood in the middle of the room as she went to the kitchen area "You think I was avoiding you because of that? Because of some stupid comment" she looked back Rachel as she waited for her answer

"Well yeah, what else would it be?" she shrugged

"Rachel, it's not that" she said surprisingly softly "Maybe we should sit" she gestured to the sofa in front of Rachel. The brunette quickly took a seat as Quinn sat in the arm chair opposite "Look" Quinn started "I don't care what they call me anymore, I really don't. But I do feel bad when you're getting hurt because you were being my friend"

"I don't understand" Rachel shook her head to match her words

"Look, I'm now where you were last year, because I chose to keep Beth" she explained as she tried to not be afraid and break eye contact with Rachel "And I will never regret keeping her but I will regret letting you get hurt when you were just being nice to me. You were brave for lashing out at them but then Karofsky he – he just punched you" she finished so weakly

"The punch was just a retaliation and they slushied me the minute I stepped back through those school doors. We hadn't even spoken yet-"

"They don't slushy the glee club, even Kurt isn't getting any abuse from them, but I am. Because I had everything, everything I thought I could want and now I don't, and they're getting back at me for everything last year. If you stayed with the glee club they might leave you alone"

"But I don't want to hang around with them. Finn is creeping me out and the rest of them didn't even try and talk to me when I got back. Kurt and Mercedes looked like they were more worried that I was back so I was going to take the spot light and the others didn't seem bothered at all" she halted her ramble "My point is, I like being your friend"

"I like being your friend too" Quinn admitted with ease "But I don't like seeing you get hurt because we're friends"

"They'd hurt me even if we weren't friends Quinn. And I don't want them hurting you though either, so I'm going to stick around, to protect you" she winked and regretted it immediately

"Did you just wink?" Quinn giggled

"Yeah" Rachel cringed "Sorry about that" then something occurred to the brunette "Where's Beth?"

"Puck has her, he takes her every Saturday afternoon and brings her back Sunday morning" she explained simply "And I normally work my second job today... but I kinda got fired"

"What why?" Rachel asked with worry which was hiding the fact she was actually relieved. She didn't like Quinn taking on so much so finding out she only had one job now was a relief.

"I was late 3 Saturdays in a row, because Puck got here to pick up Beth later than planned"

"That's not fair" she remarked before changing her tune to her true feelings "But maybe it was for the best"

"Really?" Quinn scoffed "I needed the money"

"I can help" the brunette said eagerly

"That's sweet" Quinn smiled shyly "But I'm not your responsibility... I'll find a way to make it work" she assured her. Before Rachel could retort in any way Quinn offered her a cup of coffee, which she accepted.

"Do you miss her?" the brunette asked as Quinn stood in the kitchenette making their coffee "Earlier when you mentioned that puck had Beth... you looked a bit jealous"

"I'm jealous with anyone who spends time with her without me" Quinn huffed a humourless laugh "She's just..." she trailed off as she tried to think of what to say. She turned to look back at Rachel "She's like my light, my cute little light"

"With you and Puck as Parents I imagine she's beautiful" Rachel said just to compliment

"I forgot" Quinn hadn't noticed before that Rachel was the only one not at the birth "You've never met her before"

"No" Rachel answered simply "But if we're going to be friend's maybe I could get to meet this cute little light of your life"

"Maybe we could hang out after school sometime"

"I'd like that"

I'm not even sure what I think of this right now. But don't lose hope, I've got some bigger progress planned for the next chapter... I hope

Anyway, let me know what you think...