Thanks for reviewing since the previous chapter: bigbangfan91, YourInnate, ShadowCub, The Reviewer, Mamastei, Monichanz, Ilianalovee, Iza.G, General Mac, boston blue, Angel Scones, maki-faberryluver4395, agirl002, gypsysoul05, Nightlancer600, lyssaspeakgood, RVNola546, Karlymorrig, sdiaz, djsmith10186, supernena25, tredici07, NZglee91, PraiseFortheFallen, cressey, LoveSKINS94, chev17j, MelovePezberry (for ch1 & 2), piecesofyourheart, kutee (for ch 4, 5,6, 7 & 8), D and gleek30
Posted: 6/12/12
Simplify
The three girls waited eagerly for Rachel and Beth's arrival, Quinn more eager than the other two. Their ears suddenly picked up on the sigh of the thrusters of Rachel's suit and then the dense thump as she landed just outside.
Fairchild opened the garage door letting Iron Girl and the baby she was cradling in. Quinn froze when the steel clad girl walked into the warehouse and across the space towards them. The fact that she couldn't hear Beth crying worried her, otherwise she would have been running right now to claim Beth back. Santana and Brittany just watched, looking between the blonde and the silver girl.
Rachel raised the face shield, she looked down at the covered bundle in her arms and with the least supportive hand pulled back the thin layer that had been over Beth's face. She smiled when she saw Beth's big eyes staring back at her
"Here" she offered her to Quinn "Safe and sound just like I promised"
Quinn tentatively took the last step between them and looked down at her baby girl, she let out a heavy sigh of relief when Beth smiled at her before cautiously taking her from the armoured girls arms "Thank you Rachel" she had tears of joy and relief in her eyes "Thank you so much"
Rachel didn't say anything she just smiled as she watched Quinn hold Beth like she'd never let go again. She silently excused herself to get out of the suit, stepping round the happy union and to the small platform where the armour could be removed.
Quinn carefully un-wrapped her little girl out of the robe and let it drop to the floor
"I'm sorry I had no other way to get her back as quickly" Rachel told her "But I was extremely cautious, I didn't fly too high or fast" she explained as she stepped onto the plat form
"You got her back, and she's fine" Quinn said only glancing at Rachel before returning her attention to her daughter
"Fairchild little help" Rachel called out
"Of course Miss, keep still" she told Rachel like she hadn't already many time before.
Quinn was actually distracted for more than a second when the arms came out of the floor to remove the metal skin from Rachel, well it wasn't exactly something you saw every day.
"I'm going to clean up" Rachel told the three girls who stood round her, one blonde still had wide eyes at what she'd just seen. Rachel walked away casually "We should try and get some sleep. We'll talk in the morning" she called back to them as she disappeared out of ear shot
"See something you like Q" Santana teased seeing the expression still on Quinn's face
"What?" she shot her gaze to the fiery girl "N-no, just... the robots and the suit and... yeah" she gulped audibly
"Sure thing, let's take your things to your room" Santana grabbed the duffle bag and the back pack "You can get the hammer" she told her before stating towards the living quarters.
...
Rachel was cleaning herself off with a damp cloth in the 2nd floor bathroom. She thought a shower would be painful considering all the new bruises, the few cuts and the burn's to her skin from where she'd been electrocuted by the suit. She'd taken the thin vest shirt off that she'd worn under the suit so she could inspect the 'damage'. She could also check on her arc reactor. She looked at it in the bathroom mirror with pride. It was still working, it was still producing enough energy regularly to sustain her heart and the armour, even after the rough night she'd had.
It didn't get much better when Santana barged in "Oh shit" she started to quickly back out, pulling the door with her when she stopped "Oh shit" she said again but slower "Who beat you up?"
Rachel just stared at her through the mirror in disbelief as she shut the door again but stayed in the room "I should but a lock on that door" she muttered to herself
"Did they do this to you at school?"
"No Sant-"
"Holy shit, these are electrical burns" she started circling round Rachel's back as she inspected the marks
"Yes" Rachel breathed "Can I help you?" she asked sarcastically
"How the hell did this happen?" she kept her voice down
Rachel met Santana's expecting glare through the mirror "My suit, it was my suit" she muttered lowly
"The shit malfunction or summin'?" there was almost panic in her tone, but the Latina tried to keep it cool
"No, no it wasn't that" she bowed her head and shut her eyes tightly as all the things that had happened over the last few hours flashed in her mind.
"Seriously Rach" the calming voice and the hand gently on her shoulder bought her back to the room "what happened tonight? I don't think I can sleep until I know"
Rachel let out a heavy sigh, she grabbed the wet cloth and started dabbing it to her wounds again "When I went to Quinn's, her mother was there. She killed Quinn?"
"What? That doesn't even make sense"
"She strangled her until she passed out or something, I don't know, but Judy thought she was dead. Judy then stuck some electro magnet to me, it froze my suit and she was able to electrocute me" she dropped the cloth back into the sink full of warm water and gripped the edges of the sink tightly "As she told me how she killed my mother and took me from my father"
She looked up at Santana through the mirror and saw she wasn't even blinking, she had to turn and look at Santana for real "Santana?" she nudged her, waking the girl from her temporary shock coma
"Holy shit. Why did she kill your mom?"
"The same reason they wanted to kill you and Britt I imagine. She was a mutant"
"And your dad?" Santana pushed
"Judy said they had no authority to kill him... he must be human" Rachel muttered with a shrug before picking the cloth up out of the sink
"You don't know who he is then?"
"No..." she paused wringing the cloth out "I might have an idea but... I don't want to say until I know the truth"
Santana just nodded "So what happened after Quinn killed her mom?"
"I'm guessing the electromagnet shorted out because of the electricity Quinn struck her with. But after that I told Quinn to pack and went after Beth..." she peeped up to gauge Santana's reaction "I killed Russell" she actually looked surprised "After what he and his wife had done, and the way he hid behind Beth I couldn't take it" she ground out lowly. Rachel then turned directly to Santana "Do you remember when I blasted those cars with my palm repulsors"
"Yeah" Santana sounded like she needed to add 'duh' to the end of that
"I used them on Russell, I obliterated his hand when he tried to stick another bug on me, then into his head"
Santana's eyes widened, those repulsors had melted metal, blown up 2 tonne cars. She looked down at her hands then grimaced as her mind let her know what it might have looked like "remind me not to cross you"
Rachel just nodded "That was all really"
Santana scoffed "Yeah, I one night you learnt that Quinn's parents weren't her real parents, and were purifiers, just like the guy you called daddy all your life. And not only were they all purifiers they were all involved in a plot that destroyed your true family" she shook her head with sympathy "Not a good night for you was it Berry?"
"What about you? You never got to take Brittany on a Breadsticks date then ask her to be your girlfriend after"
"H-" the word and surprise caught in her throat. She then narrowed her eyes at the shorter girl "How did you know I was going to ask her that?"
"I don't need to be Empathic to know. When you talked to her on the phone you told her you wanted to ask her a question, what else would it have been?" she shrugged
"You're freaky Berry, and dangerous... and you are going to be sore in the morning... and not for a good reason" she smirked
"Eww get out" she shoved Santana towards the door
"Okay, I'm going, I'm going" she held up her hands in mock surrender as she backed towards the door, she reached behind her and found the door handle pulling it open just enough to slip out. With just her head still poking through the door she said "If I'd been Quinn that night she accidentally walked in on you like that, I would have jumped you"
Before Rachel could scold her the door was closed and Rachel was alone again. She just sighed as she returned her attention back to herself in the mirror.
Rachel was just surprised that anyone could look at her and see passed the ugly marks on her skin, and she didn't just mean the ones she'd earned that night. She was, however, used to Santana and her games by now.
...
"San, I know you're still thinking about how those guys died last night" Brittany murmured as she heard Santana come back into the room
"How did-" she cut herself off realising that was a stupid question "Oh right, the Empath thing" she muttered
Brittany just nodded in agreement "I killed them" she turned over in the bed to look at the other girl who was now sitting on the opposite edge.
"Britt" Santana chuckled humourlessly "You couldn't have, they were like twice your size"
Brittany sat up and reached out to Santana "No they weren't and I did kill them" the seriousness in those blue eyes caught Santana, it was either that or the fact she was now holding Santana's wrist "I broke their necks"
"What, how?" Santana furrowed her brow as she released her wrist from Brittany's grip and backed away, shuffling further down the bed
"Don't be scared" Brittany reached out to her
"I'm not" Santana rushed to reassure the other girl "I just need to think and feel for myself... without you touching me" she tried to explain softly but Brittany still looked hurt "How did you do it?"
"You wanna know?" Brittany sounded pleased, happy that Santana wasn't just running away but wanted to know more.
"I-I- yeah I want to know" she managed after some nervous faltering
"It was easy, I just copied the moves like out of a movie, you know when they snap the neck efficiently" that wasn't normal, Brittany couldn't have copied precise actions just through watching TV "It was like I could copy them, imi-imitate" Santana nodded letting her know she'd used the right word "I think it's my powers"
Now there was an idea.
...
When Rachel finally left the bathroom she crept along the hallway to her bedroom. She noticed one of the doors was slightly open and it had to be the room Quinn had been given because she knew Santana and Brittany had chosen the one farthest from her own... and she could give you three guesses why.
She couldn't help herself as she peeked through the opening in the door. In the shadow of the darkness she could just make out Quinn curled up in the middle of the bed, protectively holding onto Beth. Rachel smiled to herself before making sure to silently make her leave.
...
After feeding Beth in the kitchen Quinn met Brittany and Santana out on the warehouse floor "Why is there a sofa out here?" she asked
It was one of the sofas from the living quarters, and it was now by Rachel's desk. Brittany was currently relaxed, stretched out across it while Santana paced in front of it
"I'm sure this wasn't here last night"
"Yeah well those stools are damn uncomfortable, if we're going to be sitting out here all the time it might as well be in comfort" Santana managed to be snappy throughout her entire miniature ramble
"Britt, what's wrong with her?" Brittany always knew Santana better than herself anyway, but add the fact she was an Empath, that just helped.
"Rachel's not here" Brittany said as she yawned loudly.
That's when Quinn felt her heart drop "What do you mean she's not here?"
It wasn't even 11 in the morning, they had probably only had 6 or 7 hours sleep. But when Beth wanted to get up it was time for Quinn to start her day. And what Brittany had just said might explain why the two girls were already up.
"Exactly that Q, she's not here, I checked her room then I asked Fairchild, she's not here" an agitated Santana told her. They had finally got the 5 of them under one roof and now one of them was missing again
"She told me to let you know she was running an errand"
"See San, Rachel left us a message" Brittany told her
"In my books that means 'I'm off to do crazy shit, don't tell anyone'"
The garage door opened getting everyone's attention, and luckily for Quinn and Santana it calmed the Pyrokinetic.
Rachel had barely opened her car door when Santana was yelling and Quinn was shielding Beth's ears in case explicit language spilt from the girls lips.
"Where the hell have you been?"
Rachel didn't answer she just rolled her eyes and walked round to the back of her car. She opened the trunk and pulled out a flat packed box
"What have you got?"
She still didn't answer, it didn't matter anyway, as she propped the box that came up higher than her waist, against her side so she could shut the trunk, a picture was revealed to Santana that told her what was inside
"You ditched us without a word for a crib!" she yelled, getting Quinn's direct attention across the floor
"Yeah, Beth needs somewhere to sleep while she and Quinn stay here, I was just been practical" she picked the boy up, holding it against her front as she hurried towards the living quarters "There's a high chair still in the car, I'll get it after" she called out
The Latina smirked to herself as she strolled back to the two blondes who were watching Rachel easily carry a box nearly as big as her
"Have you and Berry even talked yet...?" Santana asked with a glint of something mischievous in her eye. Quinn just looked back at her with a lost expression in her own "You did attack her at school Q... cos she likes you"
"I'll hold Beth" Brittany chimed as she reached out to take her "I'll take great care of her, don't worry" she said with a pout. It took Quinn a second to realise why Brittany knew what she was thinking. She'd get used to that soon... she hoped.
"Now would be a good time to talk"
"Why now?" she bit her lip
"Because no one's trying to kill us right now" Santana dead panned
"Fine" she passed Beth to Brittany and started back to the living quarters.
.
Quinn slowly pushed her new bedroom door open to find Rachel sitting on the floor with a pile of different sized pieces of wood and an unfolded instruction booklet. Her brow was furrowed in that cute way as her eyes flicked over the words
She took a quiet breath, what was she supposed to say exactly 'sorry for strangling you' yeah that would be a good start
"Hey" so would that
"Hey" Quinn said back, Rachel had noticed her standing in the door way and been the first to speak "Would you like some help?"
"Um" Rachel looked round at her surrounding project "No, I think I'm okay, I get kina OCD about these things so I'm better doing it alone" she added lightly "Can I help you?"
"Um well" Quinn ventured deeper into the room and sat on the lip of her bed "I need to apologise, I really am sorry for hurting you at school yesterday, I don't know what came over me"
"It's okay" Rachel said lightly as she smiled up at Quinn from her place on the floor. The bruising round her neck told Quinn that it wasn't okay
"No it's not, Rachel, we're friends, and it was just... one little thing happened and I shouldn't-"
"We kissed" Rachel said bluntly "You can avoid it all you want but it happened" Rachel wanted to talk about it and now she had Quinn cornered "you can pass it off as experimentation or me forcing myself on you but you can't ignore that it happened"
"Rachel please-"
"No Quinn, I'm sorry okay. I know you regret it. And I do too... a little bit, but only because of what happened after, with this distance between us" she stood up to move closer to Quinn, she sat sideways on the edge of the bed next to Quinn "At the same time I don't regret it, I wanted to kiss you, and I'm happy that I pushed past the fear of losing you to kiss you and try to tell you how I feel. Yeah it back fired and I really wish it hadn't: but I wanted you to know" Quinn still wouldn't meet her gaze so Rachel was just staring at the side of her head "I wasn't avoiding you, I was giving you space after I messed up at Christmas. I care about you and I know I was too forward with what I did that day. And then the whole thing with San and Britt, I was helping them with this... stuff. But-"
"Rach-"
"No, look I'm just sorry, okay? I guess it was futile to try. But know I didn't do it for the sake of doing it, and I still really like you"
Rachel just stared at the side of Quinn's head hoping she'd say something "...Rachel... I-I like you too" she turned in her seat to face Rachel too "But I-I can't" her eyes started to well up
Rachel just hushed her "It's okay, you don't want- you don't feel-" she had to choke back her own emotions "We'll just forget it"
"I need time" Quinn told her "I need to sort out whatever the hell is going on with me and that hammer and Beth and with these guys trying to kill us and the people I thought were my parents" she rambled
"It's okay, it's okay" Rachel hushed again, trying to hide her joy that she'd technically maybe got a maybe from Quinn. "You go, go back to Beth before Brittany starts reading her mind and talking like her or something" Rachel had to distance herself before she did something stupid, she got up and grabbed the instructions again "I'll put the crib together and join you all after.
She heard Quinn get up and close in close behind her "I really can't thank you enough, for everything, and mostly saving Beth" she said softly before pressing her lips to Rachel's cheek "Thank you" she whispered by her ear before leaving the room
.
Beth spotted her before Brittany and Santana, as the older girls weren't looking directly in her direction. Beth was smiling; she'd been smiling before she saw Quinn, which comforted the mother. She knew she'd left Beth in good hands... Beth was oddly trustworthy for a 7 month old thought.
Brittany sat in the desk chair holding the little girl and Santana on the end of the sofa. They were both showing Beth with attention; Quinn almost chuckled out loud at Santana being so soft with Beth... after all the things she'd said. She decided to let it slide for now.
She casually rejoined the two teens, taking a seat on the sofa next to Santana. It was as if Quinn could feel the smirk grow on the Latina's lips. As if on cue she opened her mouth to make her comment
"So... you and Berry getting it on now or what?" she smirked "Ow!" the punch to her arm was answer enough for Santana "You gotta learn your own strength Q" she mumbled as she pouted sourly and rubbed her arm as if that would free it of the pain
"That wasn't even a real punch" she heard Quinn mumble back
...
"No seriously, I want a super hero name" Quinn heard Santana say a she rejoined the group. She'd put Beth in the crib Rachel had got her for the night.
"What are you, 5?" Quinn chuckled. She placed the baby monitor on Rachel's desk so she could hear if Beth needed her and sat in the spare arm chair that had also been moved from the living quarters
"Rachel gets one, I want one too"
"I was given mine, and Iron Girl?" Rachel scoffed "It's not very inventive"
"What would you have preferred to be called?" Quinn asked curiously
"Well-" Rachel was stumped "I guess I never really thought about it before" The three girls around her just laughed lightly "What about you then Santana, what's your idea?" Rachel asked
"I had some ideas but they're not great, I haven't found the perfect one" She shrugged "Why, you got any ideas?"
"Um, how about... Phoenix?" the shorter brunette suggested "as you've changed"
"I haven't changed"
"Well you may still be a bitch but you've changed. For instance you hold hands with Brittany in public now and you're not a cheerio and you're my friend-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, when did I say we were friends Berry?" Santana arched an eye brow at the shorter girl who found herself trying and failing to form words
"San" Brittany whined and elbowed the Latina sitting next to her "Be nice to Rachel, she saved our lives... more than once"
"I know" Santana rubbed her side where Brittany had elbowed her ribs "It was a joke, you know that right Rachel?"
The look on her face said she didn't "Of course Santana" She said dismissively "... As for you being 're born' like a phoenix, you also seem to have a sense of humour now and let's not forget about the fact you can now create and control fire"
"It was a joke" she tried more convincingly, not liking the way she'd been dismissed "Rachel we're friends right?"
Quinn spoke next, again dismissing Santana "How about Satan and Angel for you and Britt" she suggested
"Those are good" she smiled, before it faltered "But, I bet Angel has been used before, besides Brittany's no angel" Rachel pointed out
"I did kill those guys" Brittany nodded with the innocence of a puppy
"They didn't see it coming though" Rachel added "You're like an angel anyway, when people first meet you; you seem sweet and innocent but you're far from it" she smirked
Grinding from the garage door opening broke up their little party
"You expecting guests?" Santana asked as a black SUV with blacked out windows drove in, it swung round blinding them with the headlights. The car then stopped, and the ignition cut, cutting the headlights too.
A man in black with an eye patch stepped out on one side, a brunette woman in a blue uniform and a pistol obvious on her hip stepped out on the other side. The pair started a confident march towards the group of girls when Fairchild greeted the unexpected guests "Good evening Director Fury and Agent Hill"
...
Alone and broken Leroy went to the only place he had left. Packed case in hand he knocked on the door of the house and waited for someone to open it.
"Brother Leroy, good to see you again" the purifier who opened the door greeted him
"Yes, I wish to return... full time" he hid his heavy reluctance
"Of course brother" the boy with the curly hair stepped to the side and let the older man in "Come in"
The short man bowed his head as he entered through the door. The young purifier closed the door behind him
"I'll show you to your room" Leroy just nodded and followed him up the stairs to his new home
"Where's Reverend Russell?" Leroy asked curiously. He had expected the blonde man to greet him at the door
"Didn't you hear? Russell was murdered... by your daughter"
"She's not my daughter anymore" he muttered. He was protecting himself, he couldn't keep his attachment to her it would just cause more trouble for them.
"I was named successor of this brunch earlier today" the young purifier told him. they arrived at a seemingly normal wooden door, he opened it to reveal the very basic room "Here we are"
"So it's reverend St James now?" Leroy asked as they stood in the doorway
"Yes brother" he smirked, knowing it would irritate the older purifiers "We'll talk more after you've settled" with that the boy made his leave. Leroy stepped into his new room, closing the door so he could shut the world he'd returned to temporarily.
He looked around the basic room, a bed on one side with a bedside cabinet next to it. There was also a standalone closet in the corner and a full length mirror. He sighed to himself and dropped his bag at the foot of the bed. She then looked at himself in the full length mirror.
He inspected himself through tired eyes. He'd been much younger the last time he'd arrived at one of these bases.
What he couldn't see was another being looking back at him, standing as if in the mirrored world. The man wore a devious smirk as he watched Leroy. He reached out with a sceptre, still invisible to the purifier; he touched the tip to Leroy's heart.
Leroy gasped as a weird sensation flooded through him, then he blacked out...
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