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Posted: 2/12/12

Rootless

"Fairchild, notify me of the time please" Rachel asked, trying to hold back the desperation she was feeling form showing in her voice. She may have been travelling at 300mph meaning she'd be at Quinn's in minutes but it wasn't fast enough.

"Eleven forty seven post meridiem, Miss"

"Quinn will already be asleep" Rachel noted, already knowing Quinn's school night routine which was necessary with Beth.

She wanted to push the suit, she was sure she could reach supersonic speeds but she didn't want to drain the power, she had used a lot in the previous fight at the purifiers safe house, and she didn't know what was ahead of her

She knew she should have done more testing but she'd been distracted lately.

"Fairchild, lets push the speed to 350" Rachel commanded anxiously

"Yes Miss"

...

Quinn had been asleep when they arrived. She didn't hear Russell and Judy unlock the door, she didn't hear them come in and she didn't hear Russell leave with Beth so Judy could complete her assignment.

Judy was very experienced, one of the most experienced in her sector. When the name had come up and the information presented for #004392LiOh she had waited patiently for one of them to be chosen to silently finish them.

She felt nothing for the girl, nothing anymore. So it had been no problem when her name came up as the assigned purifier, she may have even felt some excitement.

She slipped into Quinn's room, and silently made her way across the floor to the bed where Quinn was sleeping. She meticulously removed her black gloves, tugging at each finger one after the other to remove the glove as she watched over her sleeping daugh-target. She wanted to feel this with her bare hands.

She let her hands hover over Quinn before she struck, straight for the neck. She wrapped her hands round tightly, the initial contact made Quinn wake, wide eyed and that shocked and confused panicked look she got just spurred her on. She push her thumbs hard against Quinn's wind pipe as Quinn struggled and tried to release Judy's hold, that again only encouraged her. The older woman climbed onto the bed, to sit over Quinn, straddle her, so she could keep that firm grip on her.

Quinn's struggle to release the hold only fuelled Judy. The purifier grinned down at Quinn from inside her dark hood. Quinn's face was strained as it gained colour and a vein on the side of her head bulged like her eyes, she couldn't get any air Judy had closed her wind pipe off so tightly she had no chance of even getting the tiniest amount of air. She couldn't even make a noise; she had little struggle left in her.

It was over too quickly for Judy as she saw the life fade from Quinn's eyes and felt her go limp beneath her. With a short sigh she released her hands and climbed off the body. She wandered out of the bedroom door as she found her gloves again

"You're too late" she told the guest that she could see out of the corner of her eye, just standing a few feet away from her and Quinn's bedroom door. The purifiers had been monitoring Quinn since the storm Saturday and had made quick progress. Russell and Judy had also kept tabs on the girl, originally out of protection over her as their daughter. But that had been gone, as quickly as a candle being extinguished, when they discovered she was more. She slowly looked up to Iron Girl and with no emotion told her "She's dead"

"You bitch!" Rachel raised her hands to use her palm repulsors to destroy Judy but the purifier was faster. She threw something, a small circular disk at Rachel.

The disk magnetically stuck to her steel armour, and almost immediately sent an electromagnetic pulse through the suit interfering with the computer. Rachel was now rooted to the spot unable to move the suit

"Now, now" Judy chastised "I don't like hearing that bad language. I recommend you don't use any more like that" she waved something in her hand. Rachel had to strain to see as the holographic computer screen inside the helmet was flickering, she finally realised Judy held a remote control and Rachel wasn't sure she wanted to find out what it was for.

"Let's have a little chat first" Judy started again as she walked round the sofa and took a seat "You don't mind standing do you?" she chuckled sinisterly "Good" she answered when she didn't get an answer "So... Rachel Berry?"

"You figured me out" she noted, her voice was strained though

"We believed intelligence to build those suits was unmatched, but" she looked the suit up and down pointedly "Here we are" she placed the remote on her knee and returned her attention to the gloves in her other hand. She smoothed the gloves out in front of her, over her leg next to the remote she looked up to the silent girl in the suit and pulled her hood down "I want to see your face while we talk" Rachel was amazed when she saw Judy hit a button on the little circular remote and the face shield raised "There, that's better" she smiled at Rachel, who just felt sick

The brunette tried to keep her jaw set firmly to stop it trembling and her breaking down into tears. She refused to give Judy that satisfaction. Quinn couldn't be dead, and Judy couldn't have killed her, it was wrong Judy was her mother, adopted or not.

But the way Judy just sat there in front of her right now, with a smile tugging at her lips was sickening. Rachel shouldn't have been surprised, Judy was a purifier like her husband, they were people willing to kill a baby for no other reason than something abnormal (and in Rachel's opinion strangely wonderful) with their parents. They were also people willing to once, or twice, kill her for the same reason... only Rachel couldn't be sure of who her parents were.

"I killed her, you know?" Judy said casually as she pulled one glove back onto her hand. Rachel just bit her lip as it started trembling. She hadn't even got to tell her... anything. "I got that pleasure"

"You bitch, you're own daughter" Rachel snapped roughly

"I didn't mean her" Judy said strongly "She meant nothing anyway, she was our cover, a back alley adoption. Maybe in time, but then she had to go get herself knocked up" she waved the gloved hand dismissively

"Where's Beth?" Rachel asked, hoping she was still alive

"Don't worry, she'll be taken care of soon" Judy assured Rachel "Now as I was saying, Quinn was nothing, oh she tried so hard to make us proud" she chuckled as if she were a normal person revisiting a fond memory, not someone mocking the daughter they just killed "Our daughter, our real daughter is our pride and joy, luckily she stays with us, her husband and her like us"

"Then I will destroy them too" Rachel ground out determined, she had to put up all the fight she had left for Beth, for Quinn's sake.

"Hah, how will you destroy us, you're just a girl in a tin suit" she hit another button on her little remote and Rachel felt a sharp stinging, burning sensation as her own suit electrocuted her. She was so stunned as all her muscles flinched and tensed she couldn't even force out a cry in pain "Finally killing you will be one of my finest accomplishments, just like when I killed your mother" the purifier sneered

Rachel, still frozen in place and battling tears stuttered "W-What?"

"Damn vile creature she was" Judy spat, ignoring the question "and we suspected you were the same. When we attacked you and your mother all those years ago Leroy stopped us, he always was weak, he said he couldn't let us kill the child, that's you, until we were sure you were like your foul mother" she rambled angrily, as if the fact she hadn't got to finish a job angered her "He always insisted you weren't like her but we can't be sure"

"I don't understand" Rachel whimpered

"She survived the first attack somehow, we couldn't let that happen" Judy continued angrily. Then Rachel saw from the side of the woman as her eyes lit up. She slowly turned to look at Rachel as she slowly said ne next part "After we took you away she recovered, and I was elected to finish the job. I went to the mansion in New York; your father had built it as a home for the three of you. I broke in, through so many security barriers" she added proudly "He wasn't there, but she was, sleeping. I finished her with my bare hands, I got the privilege of strangling her just like I did to precious Quinnie" she said her adopted daughters name with spite, hate and mockery. Rachel was actually crying now, silently for a woman she didn't know, who was her own mother and for the girl that lay dead through the door within arm's reach of her, who she'd never have like she wanted.

"Funny" Judy continued; a sense of wonder in her voice as she slipped on the second black glove "how it was a strangling that killed that creature you would have called 'mommy', but it was reported she died of a broken heart. Pathetic." She spat again "and then your true father almost destroyed himself too, that would have been the cherry on the top. But we had no authority there" she added dismissively

Rachel reigned in her emotion to grind out a few words lowly "You had no authority at all, you-"

"Save it dear, your words are wasted" she pulled her hood back over her head, picked up the little remote and stood up to face Rachel "I'm going to enjoy this" she hit a button, electrocuting Rachel again, she couldn't even curl up in response to the pain, she was stuck, standing up as the electricity flowed through her body. She let out a strained cry in pain and clenched her eyes shut. She missed the way Judy's eyes lit up. Rachel finally felt a relief as the purifier released the button and said "though it's not as satisfying as strangling you, like your mother" Judy spitefully hit the remote again making Rachel jitter as much as she could inside her prison "Damn Leroy protecting you all these years when we could have finished you before you started this mess" when she let go this time Rachel let out a scream, a strained rough scream but still loud enough to make Judy know just how good of a job she was doing.

Judy's thumb traced the button ready to deliver another jolt of electricity from Rachel's suit to the girl inside when she felt a sudden wave come over her. A bolt of lightning shot from the open bedroom door the purifier stood in view of, and sent Judy across the room into the wall opposite the sofa.

The holographic screen in the helmet became clear again, and the face shield automatically closed. Before Rachel could even test her movement an angry blonde stormed out of the door, not even seeing her and marched straight over to purifier weakly propped up against the wall

"You're dead" Judy coughed, spitting up blood as she looked up at the angry young blonde confused

"Where's my daughter?" Quinn demanded as she pulled Judy to sit up properly by the robes "Where is she?" she gritted her teeth in anger as she looked down into the unapologetic eyes of the dying purifier

"You're too late" the purifier smirked, triumphantly as blood dribbled from her chin "he would have killed her by now" she chuckled sinisterly

Anger just rose further, boiling in Quinn's static blood. She pinned Judy against the wall "Tell me..." she trailed off as she saw the life fade from Judy's eyes. Quinn threw the body away from her in disgust, letting the purifier lay on the floor.

She'd been so distracted and so overwhelmed with her power she didn't hear Rachel tentatively approach until she put a metal clad hand on her shoulder and said a soft yet metallic "Quinn?"

Quinn felt another rush similar to adrenaline again, and it was natural instinct when she flinched and swatted Rachel away with the back of her hand. Rachel was just as surprised when she felt herself flying back, through the wall into Quinn's bedroom and then through the next wall to the outside.

She didn't have time to activate the thrusters, instead she found herself crashing into the road by Quinn's apartment block, tearing up tarmac as she bounced and flipped along the ground, almost like a flat stone skipping along the water's surface.

Once she'd finally stopped she lay on her back as she stared up at the sky "Ow" she winced. She then sat up slowly in the middle of the quiet road and looked back to Quinn's apartment building and the Iron Girl sized hole in the wall "Okay Rachel, nice and slow, I don't particularly want to do that again" she sarcastically muttered and groaned as she stood up. She felt weak but determined, and the suit could support her just like it protected her.

She flew into the opening she'd already made in the wall and landed just inside, in Quinn's room. She chose to reveal herself this time, and raised the face shield yet again "Quinn" she called out. She took slow cautious steps towards the doorway with the hole in the wall next to it

"Iron Girl?" Quinn appeared in the view of the hole "I'm sorry I don't know- Rachel?" the blonde immediately changed her tone "Your iron Girl"

"Yeah" she bit her lip with worry

Quinn seemed to search her mind "I should have known... It makes sense with that thing in your chest" she then shot her gaze to Rachel who'd just stepped back into the living area next to "What's happening to me?"

"I don't know... I think you have a mutation"

"A mutation?"

"You can manipulate lightning and are really strong" Rachel tried to explain to the shaky girl "They seem to be your abilities"

"I'm not strong" she muttered weakly

"You've always been strong though Quinn, especially emotionally" Rachel told her softly

"I-I..." she looked straight into Rachel's eyes as her own hazel ones widened "I killed my mother" she turned another shade of pale "Oh god, I killed my mom" it was as if the reality had only just hit her, as if she'd been in another frame of mind before, protective mother mode for Beth perhaps. She started trembling so Rachel held out her arms for Quinn "I killed her"

"She wasn't your mother Quinn, not really. And she tried to kill you first and me. I promise I'll explain later but first we need to find Beth" There was so much to say, so much to explain but no time, not right now.

"Beth" Quinn gasped, how had her baby girl slipped her mind for a few seconds "I don't know Rachel, I-I'm so confused right now, with Saturday and-and the hammer and then today, I hurt you and you're here" she held onto Rachel's cold metal forearms for balance "And Beth Sh-she's gone"

"It's okay" Rachel said in a hushed tone

"How can you say that?" she asked with watery eyes "they've taken her, they'll kill her"

"No they won't" Rachel said firmly "I'm going to get her back"

"How, you don't know where she is?"

"I'll find her" Rachel assured her, she led the shaky blonde back into her newly vented bedroom and told her "I need you to pack your things, I'm going to give you an address, and I want you to drive there, I'll meet you there with Beth" she assured her as she let go of Quinn and directed her to her wardrobe to encourage her to gather her things "Fairchild, start scanning traffic cameras for Russell Fabrays car, or suspicious cars. Also scan cell phone connections for suspicious activity, we're looking for Beth Fabray" She said aloud just making Quinn furrow her brow

"Who's Fairchild?" she asked, still not packing

"Don't worry, you can trust her she's working for me. We will get Beth" she said firmly "Now please pack" she found a piece of note paper on Quinn's dresser and a pen and noted down some brief directions and an address for Quinn to get to the warehouse "are you okay to drive?" she turned back to find Quinn just staring at her "what?"

"You're Iron Girl" she'd already said the obvious moments ago but it seemed to have finally settled in. Rachel just nodded. "I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to..." she trailed off as her own hand ran over her own neck where Judy had had her own vice grip minutes ago.

"Don't worry about it, just pack your and Beth's things and go here. It's my base, it's a safe place" she handed her the piece of paper "Santana and Brittany will be waiting for you there" in the darkly lit room she missed Quinn's disappointment that her two old friends were already involved in this side of Rachel's life "If you get lost phone Santana's cell, or the number I've written down on the paper, that will connect you to Fairchild and she'll put you through to Santana. She can direct you"

Quinn just nodded slowly

"Please hurry, Santana and I have upset the people who've done this, they might send more this way and I can't- I don't want you to get hurt" she had to steady her voice as her mind let her revisit her feelings from a few minutes ago, when she thought she'd lost Quinn permanently "I don't know what I'd do" she saw Quinn about to say something but she didn't want to hear the rejection so she beat her to it "It's okay, I really am sorry about what I did Saturday. But that's not important right now, I'm going to get Beth back, I'll meet you at my base" she stepped to the hole in the outer wall and took off into the sky effortlessly, leaving Quinn in awe and with heavy panic.

She watched until Rachel was out of sight before she snapped into action. She pulled an old duffle bag out from under her bed and opened up the closet and the draws on her dresser. She quickly took out most of her clothing and shoved the pieced into her bag. She took out another bag, a small backpack, and quickly went to Beth's room to do the same thing.

With the holes in the walls and the dead body in the living room that she refused to look at, Quinn imagined she wouldn't be coming back here anytime soon and Beth would need her favourite things.

Nothing made sense to Quinn right now so she had to believe in Rachel. Rachel already had some idea about what was going on, so she had to think positive, otherwise she had to hang onto. So she would trust Rachel, she'd get Beth back, because she said she would.

She grabbed the soft plastic keys Rachel had got Beth for Christmas and the bear Rachel had named Mr Huggles. She smiled fondly at that memory, and others, like watching Beth sleep, cuddled up to the bear twice her size. She put the teething toy in the bag but had to carry the bear back to her own room and the other bag. She stuffed Beth's bear in with the rest of her own clothes in the duffle bag.

She suddenly paused and slowly turned to look next to her stand alone closet, to the gap between it and the wall where the hammer stood, partially hidden. She was so easily drawn to it, like she was drawn to Rachel. It was something she couldn't explain. Quinn opened the closet again and looked for that strange armour she had woken in only a couple of days before. She was sure she'd left it at the bottom of the closet, folded away... but it wasn't there.

The sound of sirens through the hole on Quinn's left bought her back to the reality of the situation. She went back to the bag and zipped the bags up, she threw the back pack onto her back and picked up the duffle bag.

The Hammer that called to her, she picked that up next and started her quick exit. She took one last look round the apartment as she stood in her bedroom doorway. She even looked a Judy's corpse. She didn't understand what she'd done for the woman who she still saw as a mother, despite being disowned, to try and kill her. Rachel had said about Purifiers and mutation, but those were just words.

She tore her eyes away finally, looking anywhere but the body. Her eyes landed on the window sill and that's when Quinn remembered the house plant that Rachel had got her, the house warming gift, that's she'd miraculously managed to keep alive. She quickly grabbed it and her car keys before finally leaving. She rushed down the stairs and out of the main door.

The street outside was uncomfortably silent considering it was only nearly half past midnight. She hurried across the silent road to her red car opposite. She opened the driver's side door and threw her bags behind her seat before she got in. The hammer took its place in the front passenger seat. And the house plant got to sit in the front seat.

She took one last brief look up to her destroyed apartment and shivered as she felt like she was being watched so she away checking the mirrors and was relieved when she saw no one around her. Quinn dug the address Rachel had given her out of her pocket and put it on the dashboard before she started the car and pulled away.

She didn't see the black SUV up the road, why would she, to her it looked like a seemingly normal parked car. What Quinn didn't know was that there were two people inside watching her. A man wearing black, with an eye patch and a brunette woman in a blue uniform...

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