Thanks for the reviews since the previous chapter: VickiiMadd, ToastedMarshmellow, wkgreen (for Ch 6 & 7), Ilianalovee, Monichanz, agirl002, MysticFalls94, Faberry's-Knight, Pitu fita, CharmURAngel, Novak Fan, tinapwet, djsmith10186, dsercas4, NZgleek91, HiddenBetweenTheLines, ArtemizFallz, kag. san. in. love. 4eva, Gardenia2, RVNola546, MovieNerd, General Mac, iceygaze, Diana, makurutenoh, GypsySoul05, faberryloving, Lorena, juniorpoki, LoveSKINS94, soulfree, boston blue, and Gleelover47
Just a warning, at least two people who reviewed might be a little disappointed with whatever Wheelie91 and I have planned. I'm just saying because from previous fic 'experience' (with DarkStar) people seemed surprised by stuff despite warnings... anyway here's the next chapter
Posted: 19/11/12
Fire and Rain
Rachel got back to the base first. She watched on one of the monitors as a car, with a huge dent in the front pulled up to the gate about half a mile from the actual base. She hit the button to open the gates and watched as the car cautiously crept forward before deciding to pick up speed.
"Fairchild call Brittany's cell please"
"Yes Miss"
She waited and watched over the various security cameras surrounding the area as waited for the phone to be answered. She didn't have time to take the suit off, so she was still making calls from the helmet, only she had the face shield up so she could breathe normally and see without the distractions from within the helmet.
"Hi Rach" she heard Brittany say cheerily
"Berry where the hell are we?" and there was Santana
"I said I'd explain once you get here" she tapped a few keys to change camera views "You'll wanna take a left at the next fork"
"You're watching us?"
"Right now, yes. But I think some others have been watching you too, but I'll tell you more about that-"
"When we get here? We know. What the hell is this place? It looks like a junk yard" well that was a pretty accurate description of what surrounded the warehouse the two teens didn't know they were looking for "Is this a joke Berry, to get back at us?"
"No Santana, I'm not mean like you. But it is, but it's a disguise for where I'm directing you"
"Why are you still being cryptic?"
"Well there's a lot to explain, I'll just wait until you get here" she didn't know how much they'd believe or how much would make sense. Rachel still had no clue why the purifiers would be after them; she could only assume why.
"And you'll tell us the truth about what's going on?" Santana asked
"I think it's best that you know as much as I do" she sighed "Okay, take a right round that junk pile in front of you and you can't miss it"
"Good I don't think I can drive like this much longer" Rachel could still see Santana swerving and struggling to keep control of her car as she steered it round the tight corners and spiralling dirt tracks through the abandoned junk yard "Holy shit Rachel, what is this place?" she heard Santana say while Brittany gasped in the background as the warehouse came into view.
No one would imagine that behind an electric fence within a junk metal yard would be such a big almost derelict looking building. The only thing that gave away that it could be more was the bright light beaming out of the high windows that lined round the top of each side of the structure.
"My home away from home" She taped a few more keys, although it took more effort than normal with her fingers bigger than normal thanks to the suit "I'll open the door, drive inside, I'll be on the other side" she told them before disconnecting the call.
The door slid open smoothly and Rachel heard the grumble of an engine and saw the flash of headlights before Santana managed to pull the car in. As the engine was cut the car seemed to die, the suspension gave out and it sort of sunk onto its own worn tires. Rachel shut the garage door before she started walking toward the car to greet her guests.
"Hi Rach" Brittany greeted like everything around them was normal as she stepped out the car and slammed the door behind her. On the far side of the car Santana was getting out. The dark haired girl just looked around the empty white walled facility.
"Fairchild this is Santana and Brittany, they are guests" she thought she'd clear it with the computer before any alarms were set off
"Yes Miss. Welcome Santana and Brittany" the computer voice echoed round the room
"Holy shit" Santana breathed in awe as she kept looking around the room, as if she was trying to find someone talking into a microphone
"Thanks Fairchild" Was Brittany's surprisingly calm reaction
"Britt, seriously" the Latina took Brittany's hand "you're not freaked out by any of this" she scanned the blue eyes trying to find anything
"Rachel's calm, I trust her. She saved us right?" Brittany shrugged
"She blew up some cars while in a metal suit!"
"She's still standing right here" The girl being talked about interrupted "So..." she bit her lip, waiting for some sort of explosion "What do you think?" she held her arms out gesturing the suite and the clean white room around her
"What the hell are we supposed to think? We haven't got a clue what's going on" Santana yelled
Brittany grabbed at Santana's, pushing her body against the other girls back too "San calm down, Rachel said she'd explain"
"Let me just get out of the suit, then I'll explain everything" she assured them
"Oh great, how longs that going to take" Santana huffed impatiently as they followed Rachel back across the white floor
"Not long" she said as she stepped onto an almost invisible platform "Fairchild, little help" she asked
"Of course Miss, hold still" The platform she stood on raised up as other sections of the floor opened up and robotic arms came out to detach the pieces and take them away under the flooring to securely lock the suit away. The two other girls just watched in amazement
"Fairchild can you recoat it please. The aluminium oxide layer might have got a bit scratched when I was stuck under a car getting dragged down the road" She said as the last arm panel and boot were removed, making sure to give Santana a confident glare while she did
"Yes Miss"
"Thank you Fairchild"
"Oh come on like I knew you were in that suit" the girl objected in defence to Rachel's glaring "I thought it- I don't know what I thought"
Rachel nodded in understanding "Okay, here, both of you sit down" she pulled the wheelie desk chair away from her computer and offered it to Brittany, then walked further along the wall to one of the work benches and pulled out two stools and gave one to Santana. "Right where to start?" Rachel thought out loud as she sat on a stool facing the other two
"How about with you blowing up some cars with lasers from your hands, what was that all about?"
Brittany held onto her hand as they sat side by side "Sanny calm down, you're getting really warm"
"Okay" Rachel took a deep breath "They were going to try and kill you"
"Huh?"
"Yeah, they were going to kill you the way they tried to kill me" she saw Santana try to interject but she held out her hand to stop her "let me just try and tell you what I know and then you can... go crazy. Those people in the cars are part of a group called the purifiers, and they want to wipe out all mutants, now I know that sounds crazy-"
"It wasn't a hoax" Santana said suddenly, then looked to Brittany "that school, do you remember, it was on the news then it wasn't. Everyone said it was a hoax" she looked back to Rachel "Do you remember?"
"No... but I don't watch the news. You believe me?" she asked surprised, she was still struggling to understand it all herself
"Do we have powers San?"
"If the purifiers targeted you then you must do" Rachel told them
"Why did they try to kill you?" Santana asked abruptly
"I don't know... I had Fairchild run a blood test she can't find anything. My smarts, that I used to build the suit, I've always had, and I didn't build the suit until after the attack so I don't know"
"What about us?" Brittany asked
"I don't know yet"
"Miss if I may? I believe they targeted our guests because Miss Santana is a pyrotechnic. And the records aren't as clear Miss Brittany they believe to have mind reading abilities. Although having watched our guest's behaviour since their arrival I believe she shows similar behaviour patterns to an Empath"
"Empath?"
"Pyrotechnic, like fire and stuff" Santana looked enlightened, like that made sense
"Does that make sense to you?" Rachel felt like she was the outsider right now
"I don't know. What's an empath?" the Latina asked
"I'm not sure" she swivelled round on the stall to face her computer "Fairchild can you help us out"
"I already have the information here miss. An Empath, or Empathic, is a mutant capability that means the mutant, in this case Miss Brittany, can feel others emotions. She may not have even realised it before. There are a few variations, I believe in this case out guest has the ability to calm or rile up others merely by touching them" when that was said Santana pulled her hand away, ignoring the look of heart on Brittany's face "I have a file here on a Pyrotechnic, John Allerdyce, who went by the name of Pyro. He is now reported deceased"
"What happened to him? Did the purifiers get him?" Rachel tried to skim read but Fairchild could get her an answer sooner
"He joined the Brotherhood of Mutants for the mutant war, he disappeared after that. I have analysed footage from your school system and it appears Miss Santana can create fire, unlike Pyro, he could only control it, he had flame generating device attached to his wrist and he could manipulate the fire that way"
"Wait, you've been spying on us?" Santana eyes the short brunette suspiciously
"No" Rachel yelped defensively "I had no idea until Fairchild picked up on a suspicious call linked to the purifiers- Wait, Fairchild, what happened at school that let you know she can create fire?"
"After you and Miss Quinn received those ice drinks and Miss Santana defended you, after you left she appeared to create fire for a brief moment" as all this was explained the clip from a school security camera played on the computer monitor in front
"I wasn't sure if that was all in my head" the darker haired girl muttered
"Fairchild, the purifiers must already have this footage but I need you to remove it before it causes more damage" Rachel told her computer companion
"Already deleting the file and keeping a copy for our safe archives" Rachel had put that in so they never truly lost any information that could be useful again "As for evidence of Miss Brittany's powers, they are subtle, I don't think we need to worry too much"
Something occurred to Rachel, amongst all the other crazy thoughts flying through her head right now "So what were you two doing out so late... together?"
"We-"
"Oh, we were on a date" Brittany told the brunette happily "But San wouldn't let us hold hands, not without a napkin"
Santana waved her hand irritably to get the focus off that "That's not important, we need to focus on the fact someone tried to kill us because apparently we have super powers. I created fire from snapping my fingers earlier today, and Brittany seems to be able to control me by touching me, and- and now..." she had to move away, she couldn't sit there and see Brittany out of the corner of her eye pouting at her. She abruptly got up and put distance between her and the other girl
"San I didn't know, honest" the blue eyed girl was up so quickly trying to reach out for Santana, just to hold her but Santana was afraid of her touch, now knowing what she is "I wouldn't do that to you"
"How do I know" she snapped as she swiftly turned round "How do I know what I'm feeling if you can out what you want in my head?"
"What do you feel now?" she whimpered innocently, leaving her hands by her sides so she wasn't touching the Latina
"I don't know, I'm just so confused and scared, I don't know what I'm feeling" she stepped back
Brittany looked like she was about to cry, and the doubt Rachel could see on Santana's suddenly harsh expression had her worried. She never looked at Brittany like that, not when Brittany was this hurt at least.
She had to stop whatever was brewing before it got worse "You two should rest, talk more in the morning" Santana avoided Brittany's gaze again and nodded in agreement to Rachel's suggestion "I'll show you to some rooms, where you can rest" she headed toward the far end of the warehouse with the living quarters with two sad slouching figures following behind her.
The two girls had been on a high at the beginning of their evening and by the end... it really couldn't have ended much worse.
...
Rachel woke at 6.00 am like every other day. As she got up she noticed out of her bedroom window overlooking the warehouse floor, she saw a figure sitting on the floor, by her working area.
She quickly slipped on sweat pants over her pyjama shorts, grabbed a sweater and slipped on some sneakers before heading down to see what was going on
She kept her footwork light as she crept closer to the Latina girl sat cross legged on the cold floor still in pyjama pants and a vest top Rachel had leant her.
She felt a heat coming from Santana before she got too near and that when she saw what was happening in the palm of Santana's hand. Flames were dancing in the centre of her palm, as Rachel got closer she saw it wasn't dancing flames, not exactly, but a little dancer, dancing on her hand, formed from fire that Santana had created and was now controlling.
"That's beautiful" At Rachel's words she closed her hand and the flame was extinguished
"I didn't sleep in the same room as her" she muttered without looking away from her closed palm
What did that mean? "What?"
"I spent a night away from her and I thought about the time we don't spend together... and I still think about her and how I feel. Your computer said she had mind powers when she has skin contact, right?"
"Correct" Fairchild's voice made Santana flinch
"Still not used to that" the raven haired girl muttered, while keeping her head hung low "Brittany wasn't holding me last night, so I got to feel what I really feel"
"You love her?" Rachel asked hopeful. She was surprised when Santana didn't snap at her
"Yeah I do" she opened her palm and the centre ignited again "I've been practicing for the last couple of hours, I couldn't sleep"
"Is it easy to control?" Rachel asked intrigued
"Is your suit easy control?" she answered
"It is for me" She'd designed it of course it was.
"Then the same answer I guess. I don't know really, it's like a part of me. I don't feel the heat or anything... but I feel the power" she slowly stood up still holding the flame, confidently "I think..." she trailed off as she concentrated on the flame in her hand. Her eyes lit up while Rachel flinched as the flame grew in intensity and size, spreading to cover the entire surface of her hand. She then extinguished it again "I think I might be able to throw it too... like that Pyro guy" Rachel looked at her confused "I watched some stuff" she nodded to the computer against the wall
"It's weird right?" Rachel was concerned as the other two girls had absorbed what she'd told them the night before pretty well... well up to a certain point
"Yeah... but it kinda feels right, for me"
"What about Brittany?"
Santana looked over to the living quarters at the end "We'll figure it out"
"You know she'd never hurt you" Brittany couldn't hurt Santana. Some people would believe she couldn't hurt anyone.
"I know" she nodded and folded her arms protectively across her chest "how about the suit, where did you get it?"
"I made it" she said like it was obvious
"Really, did you copy-"
"San" they were interrupted by the other guest at the base
"It's okay Britt" she smiled comfortingly "we'll be okay" she glanced at the clock on the wall "We should get ready for school"
"Is it really a good idea to go out if people tried to kill you?" The brunette asked
"You do it every day Berry" The Latina just shrugged, although she wasn't completely comfortable with letting Brittany leave the security of the base but she didn't want to leave her here and she didn't want to hide.
"Good point" Rachel muttered "If you put back on what you were wearing last night I can drive you by your houses on the way to school. We'll have to leave soon though"
The two girls agreed and headed back to the living area. Rachel noticed Brittany reach for Santana's hand, but the Latina didn't take it immediately, she hesitated before offering her little finger instead. Brittany beamed as she linked her finger with the other girls. Rachel noticed something though, In Brittany's own hesitance: disappointment. It would take them some time yet.
...
Rachel had already stopped by both girls' houses for them to get ready for school.
"This isn't over, by the way Berry" Santana said as she got back to the car where Brittany and Rachel had been waiting for her "You've still got a lot of explaining to do"
"And I'm sure you two could use a safe house from time to time. Also I might need your help fixing your car" Rachel joked as she looked to the girls through the rear view mirror "I mean I may have put a big dent in the front"
"Yeah about that" Santana cringed a little "Thanks for saving us"
"Don't mention it" Rachel waved it off
"Don't worry, I won't" It was like a cue, as soon as they pulled into the school parking lot, regular Santana was back.
"San" Brittany play scolded while Rachel just let her get away with it.
.
Rachel gave them a head start so she wasn't seen with them, she didn't want to bring down their rep. Unfortunately head Bitch Santana agreed; it was one thing to defend Rachel, another to be seen being friendly with her.
As the short brunette walked down the hallway to her locker she heard echoes and whispers of 'Iron Girl' she ducked her head to grin to herself; they'd got it right and they knew she existed. She was snapped from her thoughts when she got to her locker, which was located a few down from Santana's.
"Hey, where were you last night?"
"Oh hi Quinn" That was a good start now an excuse...
"I called" Quinn started "but your cell went straight to voice mail, I might have left a message"
"Yeah" Rachel felt trapped, she hated lying, but she had to obviously "I'm sorry, I just felt really rough last night, like I'd been hit by a car"
A few lockers down, Brittany giggled lightly while Santana rolled her eyes.
"Oh right... it's just I thought you said you'd come round, to hang out and see Beth" she muttered shyly. This time Santana chuckled, one of those evil chuckles at Quinn's behaviour
Rachel eyes widened as her own words from the day before when they were cleaning up slushy in the bathroom, echoed in her ears "I'm so sorry" she gasped "I should have given you a call, can I make it up to you"
"Maybe" Quinn said shyly "You could hang out with us tonight"
"Um" Rachel faltered as she pressed her back against her closed locker. She looked to Santana and Brittany wondering if they'd want to go to the base tonight. Santana scowled and nodded her head encouragingly. Rachel hoped she understood that signal correctly. "Yeah" she snapped her head back to Quinn "Sure, I'll be there tonight"
"Okay, I'll see you later" she'd barely turned round when she received a cup of purple slushy to the face, a second was thrown too, slipping past the blonde and slapping Rachel.
Santana, who had been watching the awkward pair the entire time with Brittany, was just a shocked at the slushy victims were "Hey!" she snapped as she slammed her locker shut
The usual suspects, Azimio and Karofsky with their entourage, stopped to face the head cheerio, they wore smirks as she marched toward them "S'up Lopez?" Karofsky nodded
"I thought I tolds you yesterday, slushy ban on those two" She tried to get all up in their faces
"Yeah you see, heres the thing, you may be the head cheerio but you're not the head bitch anymore"
"What?" She narrowed her eyes in confusion
"I saw you" a nameless cheerio stepped forward "Last night at breadsticks"
"Yeah we all knew about you and pierce and all the stuff you got up to, it was hot, but now you're just a couple of dykes. Bottom of the food chain" Santana actually backed up, only she didn't make it far before her back collided with someone
The words were muttered close to her ear "I got your back Lopez" faithful Puck
"Dude really, you're picking the wrong side, you're gonna lose"
"No dude, you're gonna lose" he stepped round the Latina "You don't stand a chance" he cradled his balled right fist in his other hand. Karofsky and Puck seemed to have a silent conversation as they glared at one another
"Watch your back Lopez" Azimio sneered before he led his 'crew' away.
When they were out of sight Santana curiously turned to the mohawked boy "Puck, what the hell was that all about?"
He only glanced at her briefly before leaving without saying a word. She turned round to check on the true victims, only they were already gone, she looked to Brittany who just shrugged.
...
The rest of the week was like any other for Rachel and Quinn, with the occasional slushy assault, the name calling, and the general insults. But they had a couple more friends sat with them in glee club and in classes and at lunch in the form of Santana and Brittany.
Quinn was curious though, why the two Cheerios were suddenly so friendly with Rachel. Well they weren't in an obvious way but Quinn knew her old friends and they were different particularly round Rachel. Quinn was also curious as to why Rachel was spending less time with her. Had she been too clingy in the hall the other day?
As the blonde sat alone in her apartment at a loss of what to do she looked at her cell phone sat on the coffee in front of her. She picked it up and scrolled through her contact list. She hovered over Rachel's name before sighing and putting the phone down again. She'd already told Rachel she it didn't matter when she didn't see her the Saturday before, her friend probably just got bored with her. It was best to just leave it or Rachel might even avoid her in school.
She tried to look on the bright side... at least she hadn't sold her car, even though she had been debating it the last couple of weeks with money getting tighter. Rachel wasn't around like she said she'd be to help her out.
...
"I think I'm ready to throw fire" Santana said as she held a ball of flame in her hand "look" she got Rachel and Brittany's attention as the fire ball hovered away from the skin of her palm
"Well can you not throw it in here, I don't really want my stuff destroyed" Rachel said uninterested as she turned back to her computer. She'd also been downgraded to one of the stools as Brittany had stolen her computer chair and was sitting in it cross legged as she watched the fiery girl
"I'm not going to destroy anything Berry"
"Well we don't know how in control you are yet. It's not like we can just run some tests, we have to learn your abilities" The short brunette explained while she still scanned over the screens and footage of various things. She was looking at too much in one go. One minute she'd be doing research for Brittany and Santana and the next she'd be trying to delve deeper into what little she could find on the purifiers. At least, thanks to Fairchild, she knew tapping their cell phones was possible, even if they were temporary phones set up for their attacks.
It was when she looked over footage of 'Pyro' when he used his powers, something occurred to her "Santana?"
"Yeah?" the Latina asked, though she sounded distracted. When Rachel looked over she saw Brittany staring in awe as Santana formed different shapes with the fire, nothing too complex, just general 3D shapes
"I'm suiting up, I've got an idea" she hopped down off the stall that was too tall for the computer desk and jogged over to the platform "Fairchild, little help" as she stood centre the floor came to life and the arms reached out with pieces of her suit to quickly dress her.
"What do you want me to do?" the Latina asked as she watched Rachel walk back to a work bench and picked something up then to the middle of the room, a safe distance from Brittany and the equipment
"Stand there" she pointed out to a space 20 ft in front of her. Santana walked out and matched Rachel's stance. She saw Rachel hold up a lighter, and with the face shield still up she explained "I'm going to light this and see if you can manipulate this flame"
"Why do you need the suit then?" Santana quirked an eyebrow
"I'm not sure if I can trust you" she smirked before the face shield dropped down, closing Rachel off completely from the outside world. She flicked the lighter freeing a flame "Now do what you were doing but to this, don't use the fuel from the lighter, cut it off"
"You want me to make another fire ball"
"Yeah, but with this flame" Rachel's voice was still projected from the helmet, it sounded metallic, almost disguised by the suit but it was still recognisable as her.
Santana thought about how she'd done it before. She reached out her arm towards the tiny flickering flame. Nothing happened at first. But they all stared intently between Santana and the lighter in Rachel's hand. As Santana strained her concentration they saw the flame flicker just a little. It couldn't have been cause by anything else, not from Rachel anyway.
"I can't-"
"Just keep trying" Rachel urged on before Santana could give up
As she reached with her mind she could feel the fire, she felt a tingling at her fingertips and as she looked to them she saw little flames flicker to life at each tip. As she pushed herself mentally her entire hand lit up. Brittany and Rachel were so distracted by what was happening to Santana they weren't paying attention to the lighter like the Latina still was.
Without warning it exploded in Rachel's hand making the Iron Girl jump. She stepped away, quickly lowering her lighter-less hand, as the flame was kept mid air. Even Santana looked surprised as it just sat there, supported by nothing, 4 and a half feet in the air.
"Can you make it bigger?" Rachel wanted to know the limits, what was the fuel, other than oxygen in this fire. The fuel from the lighter must have already evaporated
Santana nodded "I'll try"
Brittany leant forward in her seat as she watched in amazement the scene that was unfolding in front of her.
The flame expanded in front of them, growing from the size of a baseball to a soccer ball, and then it just kept growing. Rachel was very protected in her suit but she still backed up, instinctually.
"Okay that's enough Santana" Rachel told her as the ball reached about 5ft in diameter
"No, not yet" she heard the fiery girl call from the other side of the fire ball
"Santana!" Now Rachel really didn't feel safe. "San-" the word died in her throat as the ball collapsed in on itself. When her line of sight was free she could see Santana staring at each of her arms as she held them away from her body.
She looked like she was wearing sleeves made of fire. The flame then died, absorbed into the skin
Rachel raised the face shield "Looks like you're going to need fire proof clothing, Lopez" The fire must have burnt quickly as the fabric sleeves from her sweater were gone, and the edges up by her shoulders left charred.
...
When Quinn stepped into the choir room she didn't like what she saw, why were they doing this to her, first Mike and Tina, then Santana and Brittany and now Mercedes and Kurt. She spotted her usual place next to Rachel was free so picked up her pace to take her seat before one of the teens looming over her could take it
"... So you get we're sorry right, I mean we barely got past sectionals, and we know that's kinda our fault" Mercedes clutched at her bag strap over her shoulder, Quinn noted that that must have been painful for her to say, to apologise to Rachel and take responsibility for the divide in the group
"Guy's don't worry about it" laid back Rachel dismissed "We're friends right?"
"Of course we are and we just need you to know that we're here for you"
"I know that Kurt and I really appreciate it" Rachel told the petite boy
Rachel didn't need their friendship; she had Quinn, and Beth and Puck and the others. Yeah, Quinn knew that emotion, that feeling in her stomach: jealousy. It was the same feeling she got knowing someone else had Beth's attention. The same thing she had felt when Rachel was diverting Finn's attention a year and a half ago. Rachel couldn't be buying this crap, she wouldn't start hanging out with them would she? Just because they said sorry, she said sorry, she was there for Rachel... or was Rachel just there for her and that's why they were friends... would Rachel leave her?
She had to stop those types of thoughts running through her head. She was being ridiculous she sounded like a jealous l-
"Hey Quinn" she heard Rachel say. As the blonde refocused she realised Kurt and Mercedes had gone back to their seats. "How are you? Sorry I didn't get a chance to see you over the weekend" the brunette cringed
"Oh it's okay" lie "I had time to organise some things and think about some things" she shrugged
"I haven't been a great friend lately" she reached out to gently place her hand on Quinn's shoulder supportively "I'm really sorry about th-ouch" they heard a loud snapping noise too as Rachel's hand got close to Quinn's shoulder
Quinn snapped her gaze to "What was that?"
"You gave me an electric shock" she laughed it off, but in truth her hand was a little numb from the shock. "Anyway, what sort of things did you think about, over the weekend?" she subtly rubbed her hand awake in her lap
"Nothing" Quinn shook her head dismissively "It doesn't matter" she didn't want to be any trouble... well she did, she wanted the brunette's attention but at the same time she didn't want to push her away. Why did all this have to get to her, Rachel was just a friend, she'd never cared that much for a friend before.
Rachel was about to protest when their 'teacher' showed up and started the club session.
...
Santana was okay once you got used to her, but Santana with a super power was a nightmare and not in the way you might first imagine.
She was like a kid who wanted all their parents attention... which would make sense as hers were never around. It was okay a first but whenever she was using her powers getting used to controlling the fire. Now she was calling for their attention every few minutes to show them what she could do now. They'd already found out the fire on her skin had no intention of covering any more of her body. The arms were the limit, which made Rachel's task of finding her a flame retardant suit or material to make an outfit, easier; she could just make it sleeveless.
Santana had been such an attention grabber that Rachel had dismissed Brittany, not deliberately, but she was so content watching Santana, she never asked for anything. And her powers, if correct were subtle unless she spoke so she was almost forgotten, until now.
"I'm sorry Brittany, I feel like I've been helping Santana too much and not you. How are you?" She even switched her monitor screen off on her computer to give Brittany her undivided attention.
"I'm fine" she chirped. She'd been stuck in the same position for the past hour, crossed legged on Rachel's swivel chair, with her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands, that she needed to stretch as she 'woke'
"We should look into your power development" Rachel said as she moved her stool closer to the other girl as she continued to watch a determined Santana "We don't even know if you can actually influence people through touch and-" a hand quickly wrapping itself round her wrist
"It's okay Rach; I really like seeing and feeling San so happy. And you don't need to worry so much about me, I'm fine" as Brittany kept a firm grip on her arm she felt the flying emotions, the worry the stress, all dissolve and fade from her body "I don't feel any different; it's just like reading body language only I'm really good at it."
"Well" Rachel pride her wrist away from Brittany's grasp "I think we can established that you can influence emotions through touch" she breathed as she felt everything flood back "Fairchild, um, note that" she rubbed her Brittany free wrist
"I already have Miss" Rachel was sure there was a note of sarcasm in the computers tone but she dismissed it
"Quinn wants to tell you something" Brittany said casually
Rachel furrowed her brow "What do you mean?"
"Q, she wants to ask or tell you something. She's worried though. I don't know why" Brittany recited like it was nothing. But she was opening Rachel up to what she'd been blind too. Trying to balance the two halves of her alter ego was difficult, especially when both half of her had different closest friends.
"Do you know how long she's felt like that?"
Brittany shrugged before saying "Since San and I started hanging out with you"
"3 weeks?" Rachel exclaimed. She sighed and dropped onto the stool behind her
"You need to talk to her, about what's in your head too"
"What's in my head?" she tried to play coy. Which was a stupid idea, she couldn't escape Brittany.
"Don't be silly Rach; you know what's in your head. It's always the same with you" she shrugged.
She'd had a feeling she was avoiding Brittany for a reason. The usually innocent and often considered dim-witted girl was dangerous.
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