Okay, so I'm doing something crazy and updating again already. But its only a short one... so that's probably why...
Thanks for reviewing the previous chapter: VickiMadd, ToastedMarshmellow08, wkgreen, boston blue, Ilianalovess, thetamarine, Monichanz, djsmith10186, CallSign-EverGreen, NZgleek91, faberryloving, lemon-rind, fussyviolet, You-Know-Who-I-Is, Pitu fita, cressey, gleek30, agirl002 (for chap 9 & 10), Volerian, General Mac and Devin Jaste.
Posted: 29/11/12
Profiling
For 17 years of her life, or so she believed, Rachel had walked or been walked up and down the path through the front yard. It was a seemingly normal thing to do, it was just the walk she'd take to get from the street to the front door and back, nothing irregular about that.
But as she walked up it right now, in the Iron Girl suit, everything had changed as she walked to the Berry's front door, and it wasn't just her attire.
As she neared the entrance she noticed the door wasn't shut properly, so she nudged it open further without hesitation
"...What do you mean, we have to leave? Where's Rachel"
"No, w-we can't take her, we just have to go"
"We're not leaving"
"She's why we're leaving"
She could hear the animated discussion going on further inside, so she tried to keep quiet, but that was hard when you were wearing what felt like a tonne of steel.
"What do you mean?"
"Rachel is why we have to leave, things have messed up" Leroy sounded desperate... unsurprisingly
"You're not making any sense" Hiram sounded shaky and unsure... again, unsurprisingly "please tell me what's going on"
"I-I can't you just have to trust me"
"I'm scared" she heard Hiram admit "You have to tell me what's going on"
Rachel crept closer and closer to the study door where the commotion was coming from
"I can't, lets just pack our things and go"
"How can you expect me to just leave without an explanation?"
"I just-" he stopped, frozen as he saw her standing in the door way in her shiny silver suit. His husband who'd had his back to the door looked to Leroy worried before slowly turning around. He gasped and stumbled back when he saw the outline of the metal soldier watching them; her eyes were lit up bright blue, like the reactor in her chest, making her disguised stare more intense and unnerving
She looked at the shorter man cowering in the corner "I thought I told you to leave Lima" her metallically altered voice rang out from the suit. She knew Leroy wouldn't leave anyway. His feelings for Hiram were real; she knew they had to be after they'd spent so many years together.
"I couldn't just go" at Leroy's words Hiram snapped his head toward his husband "I can't just-" Rachel held out a hand to stop him speaking before he started crying, she didn't want to soften, she had to remember she didn't trust him. "Rachel" he tried again
"Rachel!" Hiram's head snapped back again. She raised the face shield to reveal her true identity
"Hi dad" she smiled sadly
"What the hell is going on here?" Hiram demanded as he backed up and looked between his husband and daughter
"I'll give you a few minutes" Rachel backed away, thinking it was time Leroy did something right. She shut the door behind her and waited just outside the door
.
It could have been 5 minutes it could have been 20, Rachel hadn't been keeping track, she'd been too busy straining her ears to hear what was going on inside. It had started with muffled voices then escalated to incoherent yelling and ended with Hiram storming out of the room and rushing upstairs leaving Rachel torn.
She'd come here to talk to Leroy, to try and get answers but she couldn't let Hiram just run and hide. From what she'd seen so far, there was no way he'd been involved in whatever was going on.
She looked into the study and pointed accusingly at her- Leroy "stay here, I want to talk to you" she then headed upstairs, with heavy footsteps making the stairs creak. She found Hiram sat on the edge of his and Leroy's bed.
She wasn't sure what to say as she watched the vulnerable man from the doorway. Luckily she didn't have to
"I met him when you were about 10 months old" Hiram started softly. It was then that she saw he was cradling a photo frame in his hands "... At the time I knew I wasn't ready to have kids" Rachel edged in slowly and noticed exactly what picture he was staring at, it was a simple one of the three of them when she was about 6 or 7 at the park "... but there was something about him, and you" he finally looked up to his metal clad daughter "I fell in love with him, and you Rach" he smiled at her fondly, though he was probably breaking inside, everything he'd had in his life for the past 16 years had been a lie "I loved, no I love you like my own flesh and blood, you're my daughter"
"I love you too dad" she said softly. At the end of the day he'd been one of two people to raise her
"I know he says he was protecting me, by not telling me" he sniffed as he looked back at the picture "But... I just don't know what to do anymore" his thumb stroked over the picture frame, tracing his family "Can I trust him?" Rachel wasn't sure if that question was rhetorical
"I don't know" she muttered "I think things are going to get worse round here" she knew after Santana had pissed off the purifiers and two fathers of boys they knew were dead, that they'd be after them again.
"You think I should leave?"
"I don't know, maybe"
"I think it would be best if we did" he muttered "After what he's done"
Rachel huffed a humourless laugh "I can't go, I have business to finish here"
He almost looked surprised as he turned back to her but that was before he took in the suit she was wearing again "Oh right... you will be careful won't you"
"Of course I will"
"You're still my daughter I don't want you getting hurt" he stood up, leaving the photo frame on the bed "We can stay in contact"
"Sure" she agreed but she didn't know how things would turn out so she left it at that "Be careful" she told him "I'd hug you but I might squish you" she said lightly but nothing could soften this moment or make it smoother. It was just so unsuspected and awkward, neither knew how to react or what to really say
"I'm going to pack some things, then I'll go"
"Do you want some help?" she offered
"No... no" he said slowly. He hesitated before giving in, and hugging her cautiously. He chuckled slightly and she was sure it was because he'd realised that even in the suit she was shorter than him "I love you my little star" he sighed
"I love you too dad" she whispered back.
.
With one father left upstairs to pack and leave alone it was time to face the other one, the one who she hoped had the answers. She was almost surprised when she saw he was still there sitting at his desk in the dark. The glow of the computer screen illuminated his face, she saw the distant look in his eyes meaning he wasn't paying much attention to what was on the screen
"So" she said as she walked into the room and shut the door behind her "You're a purifier"
"I was" he said, his tone as blank as his expression "But they got in contact... and reminded me you can't leave"
She nodded as she took in what he said "What are we?" she asked suddenly "Something tells me we're not related... dad- Hiram, he... I didn't know you met him when we- I was 10 months"
"Yeah... I took you in when you were very tiny... the alternative was unthinkable, I couldn't let that happen to a baby" he sighed, he'd let the stress drain away from the hours before, the game was over he'd lost Hiram, he'd lost Rachel, nothing else mattered. "It doesn't stop them though"
"So where am I from?"
He just shook his head
"Who am I?" she demanded more strongly "Why did the purifiers try to kill me?" she stepped closer "Were you in on that attack?"
"What, no!" Finally some emotion from him "No, I tried so hard to stop them"
Rachel scoffed "You tried?" she asked mockingly "You knew it was going to happen, you didn't try to warn me, forbid me from going out, do something, but no. The only thing that saved me was that car, the one Dad picked for me" That metal structure that had wrapped round her shielding her from death had been her inspiration for building the iron Girl suit to protect her in the same way, only better
"Don't Rachel, you have no idea what they're like" he snapped, standing up defiantly from his desk chair. He'd seen a lot in his life, her suit didn't scare him
She snapped back "Well obviously you do"
"Just- I" after struggling for words he gave up and pointed to the computer "I have to go" he started towards the door
"Wait!" Rachel snapped angrily "I have questions"
He looked back at her over his shoulder "And I value my life too much" he said before disappearing through the door.
Would going after him help, or just get one of them killed... or worse hurt...
She chose to go to the computer instead. She sat in the desk chair; her breath was taken from her as it snapped beneath her wait "Shit" she then groaned as she stood up. She'd sat in that chair a few times before, she hadn't really thought about it right now. She guessed it was kind of funny, having the chair break under her weight.
Finally she stood in front of the screen, positioning it at a better angle for her so she could read what Leroy had left there for her. It was a seemingly normal web page, but the logo in the corner told her it was a page belonging to the purifiers. In front of her was a list of links. She read through them carefully each was self explanatory, and each had a little number next to it. Rachel could only assume that related to the date inside, perhaps the number of files.
She bought her face shield down so she could speak to her companion properly "Fairchild, can you remotely access this computer from the base and download all this information" Sometimes she forgot that the actual computer, she'd named Fairchild, wasn't actually in her suit but at the base, it was just a remote connection in her head. So realistically she could access any computer without hitting a button.
Who ever had created the foundations of Fairchild was a genius; Rachel even dared say they were smarter than her with this area of technology.
"Of course Miss, download had begun" Fairchild informed her
While Rachel waited she went through the files. At the top of the page was the first link:
[To Be Watched] (1)
She clicked on the link quickly and was only partially shaken at what she found. Rachel knew she should have been more prepared as she went through these purifier files.
Leroy said he valued his life, but he'd left his files laying around. So he cared...
She continued to read through the single short profile she'd found through choosing the [To Be Watched] link
#003947LiOh
Name: Berry, Rachel
Parents: Information classified
Threat Level: Unknown
General Information: Her carer, Leroy Berry, insists she is of no threat. We will continue to watch her for suspicious activity. If she does have a mutation she is to be eliminated immediately
Assigned Purifier(s): None assigned
So that was her then, information classified on her parents, no threat level, and no assigned purifier. She didn't like the sound of the last part, really she didn't like the sound of any of it, they hunted mutants didn't they, so why was she on their profiles.
"All this time I hoped you wouldn't be like her... and you're like him" those words from earlier sprung to mind, who was she like... she was like that stark guy. The thing in her chest, the metal suit. That couldn't mean...
"Download complete Miss" Fairchild announced bringing Rachel back to the present reality
"Thank you Fairchild"
"I recommend you look at the link labelled 'Current Targets'. I have noticed information concerning our friends" Her companion continued
"Thank you Fairchild" she said as she skipped back and then clicked on the link
[Current Targets] (4)
4 photo-less profiles came up on screen, just as the number by the link had indicated. Rachel automatically started reading through them.
#004376LiOh
Name: Pierce, Brittany
Parents: Information not available
Threat Level: Medium
General Information: Her mutation was first thought to be mind control and reading, it now appears she is Empathic. The limits of her mutation are not yet know. Also be cautious of her Pyrokinetic friend #004379LiOh
Assigned Purifier(s): Leroy Berry (elected assistants: Karofsky Sr and Azimio Sr)
Rachel almost chuckled, Brittany was dangerous because of Santana, or at least that's what Rachel believed for now. She also almost chuckled at the fact the purifiers, the so called experts of mutations had been unsure of what to classify Brittany's abilities as, where as Fairchild had had it down in minutes. The next profile she read was no surprise; she'd already figured who #004379LiOh was from the profile above.
#004379LiOh
Name: Lopez, Santana
Parents: Information not available
Threat Level: High
General Information: Pyrokinetic, do not underestimate her. Although she is new to her mutation she is already very experienced. She is also attached to subject #004376, use this information as you will. To be eliminated with supreme precaution and its recommended with the assistance of weapon WP207.
Assigned Purifier(s): Leroy Berry (elected assistants: Karofsky Sr and Azimio Sr)
The fact that a lot of parent information was missing was both worrying and relieving. Maybe these 'targets' parents were just unimportant, or in Santana's case so absent they weren't on purifiers in the area's radar.
It was also now clear to her what assigned purifier meant, that was the person assigned to take them out, it had to be. Karofsky Sr and Azimio Sr were involved in Brittany's kidnapping to lure Santana away. And Leroy had been the one ready to take the shot when the fiery Latina was distracted.
The next profile did surprise her.
#004392LiOh
Name: Fabray, Quinn
Parents: Russell and Judy Fabray (adopted)
Threat Level: High
General Information: Little is known about her mutation so far, but the threat level is high. Her mutation allows her to manipulate weather and gives her super strength. She is new to her mutation and must be approached with caution for her to be cleanly eliminated
Assigned Purifier(s): Judy Fabray
And the assigned purifier shocked her too. Judy Fabray had been assigned to kill her own daughter, wait! Her adopted daughter. Those few lines of information had introduced her to a side of Quinn the blonde herself probably wasn't aware of. Judy was a purifier? Quinn was a mutant?
#004715LiOh
Name: Fabray, Beth
Parents: Quinn Fabray and Noah Puckerman
Threat Level: Low
General Information: No known mutation as such, but considering her parents it would be best to eliminated the child before she becomes a threat.
Assigned Purifier(s): Russell Fabray
And now Beth! and Russell? Somehow that one didn't surprise her as much. But Beth, she was just a baby. These purifiers were sick... then she remembered what Leroy had said just before he left: "I couldn't let that happen to a baby... It doesn't stop them though" he had saved her once then, form the purifiers, but who else had he 'saved' her from?
"Wait if they're current targets... shit" Rachel gasped "Fairchild, connect me with Santana and Brittany" she was already halfway out the house before she could hear the cell phone ring tone inside her helmet
"Rach? what's up?" she heard Santana ask concerned from the other end of the line "Are you okay? Where are you?"
"I went home" she quickly explained "I tried to get some answers and I got some, look on the computer, Fairchild will let you in. I have to get to Quinn, something bad is going to happen I just know it"
"I'll suit up"
"No I need you to stay with Brittany, I just wanted to let you know and to check the files, see if there's any other details, something I've missed, something we can use. But stay there" she ended the call firmly as she walked out the front door. She was on her tip toes about to activate thrusters when she realised someone was standing in the front yard right in front of her, staring at her.
Finn held a droopy single flower pathetically sweet in his hand "Iron Girl?" he asked questioningly
She didn't say a word she just stepped round him and activated the thrusters, propelling herself into the cloudless night sky
...
"San where are you going?" Brittany asked as she raced after the other girl, out of the living quarters and across the warehouse floor to Rachel's desk
"she wants us to check something on her computer" Santana quickly explained "Fairchild, help us out"
"The information is already on screen, Super Bitch Santana"
The Latina wondered if she'd ever get bored of hearing that, she smirked to herself, probably not.
As the two teenage girls got to the computer it was already on, a programme was already open displaying some profiles on screen waiting for them to check out.
Brittany realised the most important thing only a millisecond before Santana. She bought her hand up over her moth as she gasped
"What?" Santana asked with a furrowed brow as she scanned over the page, trying to see what would make Brittany gasp "Fuck" she breathed "They're going after Q and baby"
So yeah, just a short one, some info progress, as we prepare for the next few chapters
Let us know what you think...