Thanks to those of you who reviewed since the previous chapter: LoveSKINS94, mika-faberryluver4395, General Mac, Monichanz, FaberryBRA, ShadowCub, D, agirl002, trecici07, ToastedMarshmellow08, Ilianalovee, FaBAMF, makurutenoh, mamastei, djsmith10186, iceygaze, Gleek1808, RVNola, NZgleek91, cutxpaste, faberryloving, Nightlancer600,supernena25, wkgreen, cressey, bigbangfan91, QD14, kutee, chev17j, boston blue, Guest and Dsercas4
To cressey and anyone else who wants the confirmation: Yes, the plot of Avengers Assemble is supposed to have happened two years before the second season of Glee, in this fic. Sorry it can be a little confusing.
Sorry also it's not a very long chapter :/
Posted: 12/12/12
Next To Me
"Okay, so I've been thinking since you came in here and we need to talk" Quinn said as soon as she walked into Rachel's room and started pacing by her bed
Rachel flinched in an over the top obvious way as she sat herself up in her bed "Holy shit doesn't anyone knock anymore?" she held her hand over her chest as she tried to calm her breathing
"Are you okay" Quinn faltered in her step as she stood by Rachel looking down at her as she sat in the middle of her bed "is your heart okay?"
"Yeah I just don't like loud noises they startle me more than they used to" she nodded as her breathing steadied
"Oh crap I'm sorry" Quinn breathed, her mind was all over the place "I wasn't thinking"
"It doesn't matter" she looked over at the clock "It's four a.m.? you haven't slept?" she'd left Quinn 6 hours ago down in the work area of the warehouse floor
"No I couldn't I've just been thinking... Is that the time?" Quinn's eyes widened "I didn't even realise"
"Is everything okay?" Rachel asked, she leant across the bed, away from Quinn and flipped the light switch on the wall, lighting up the room so she could see the other girl properly. The light only burnt her eyes for a moment
"Yeah... I think"
"What's wrong, what were you thinking about?" Rachel encouraged as she looked up at the other girl curiously.
Quinn nervously fiddled with the corner of her cardigan "The thing is Rachel... I don't deserve you" she murmured just loud enough for Rachel to still hear her
"How can you say that?" Rachel gasped. She'd tried so long to get closer to Quinn she wasn't going to let insufficient excuses pull then apart
"You're too nice to me after all that I did to you, and I don't deserve your friendship let alone anything else"
"I don't care about the past, that's, well the past there's nothing we can do about it we can only move on" Rachel must have completely missed the end of Quinn's previous sentence "You're my friend, and I care about you too much to let stupid juvenile behaviour from out past get in the way" she noticed Quinn's eyes weren't meeting hers
"Did I do that to you?" Quinn suddenly said as her eyes wandered over any visible damaged skin she could get her eyes on. Rachel saw Quinn's eyes flitting over her so she pulled the sheet up to her neck and draped it over her shoulders, round her neck and down her back
"No, you didn't" Rachel mumbled as she bowed her head. Rachel felt the bed dip to her side as Quinn sat on the lip.
Quinn pulled at the sheet so it fell back to Rachel's lap "I did some of them, though, didn't I?"
"It was mostly my suit, when... when you were unconscious and I was being electrocuted" she shivered as Quinn's fingers found its way onto her arm and over one of the light penny sized electrical burns
"Does that hurt?" Quinn asked as she retracted her hand
"I hurt all over" Rachel chuckled but Quinn wasn't laughing "So I guess I can't really feel each one by its self"
"I'm so sorry" she breathed
"Don't be" Rachel tired but Quinn didn't stop
"You wouldn't be hurt if it wasn't for me" Quinn started a tiny tear filled ramble "if you weren't so determined to be nice to me and be my friend-"
Rachel cut her off by gently hooking a finger under her chin and raising Quinn's head to look at her "I would have come to your and Beth's rescue even if we weren't friends and if I only had the clothes on my back to defend myself" she told her with such convincing sincerity that shone through her eyes
When Rachel saw something in Quinn's eyes looking back at her she hesitated and dropped her hand from Quinn's face as well as her head from Quinn's gaze
"I need to tell you something" she almost whispered
"What is it?"
"It's about your-" no that wasn't right "well Russell... he-he made me so angry, I managed to keep calm until I had Beth safe... then I destroyed him" she bit her lip and kept her head down
"He's dead?" Quinn asked, Rachel just nodded her head to confirm not even sure if Quinn was looking at her even more "Is it wrong that I don't feel anything"
"You didn't deserve to have him as a father. Even without the purifier part he was a monster. You always deserved better Quinn"
"No... I got what I deserved"
"No you didn't, don't ever say that" she told the blonde "How are you feeling by the way? With the whole... super powers thing?"
"I guess I'm waiting to feel different. But the changes happened Saturday, and even with that I still feel like me... am I supposed to feel different, you'd think now I can punch people through walls that I would but I don't"
"You're still you Quinn. That part of you was always there, just hidden"
"Until you kissed me" Quinn hoped her blush wasn't obvious when she thought back to that moment
"Yeah" she ducked her head shyly "Until then"
"How do you feel, finding out your dad is Tony stark?"
"I don't really know, I only heard of him the other day, I doubt it will make a difference to my life" then her eyes widened "What about you finding out about your real parents?" she laughed lightly
Quinn chuckled nervously too "I'm not sure how to feel, I'm not even sure If I'll ever get to meet them or... well it doesn't really matter does it?"
"Of course it matters Quinn. Fury said they'd been searching for you and they asked S.H.I.E.L.D. to look for you too" Rachel felt a reassuring ramble coming on so stopped before she was too late
Quinn just smiled at her fondly, the blonde had already made a decision in her head over an hour ago, she'd then stayed curled up in the darkness out in the ware house floor as she let herself relax and adapt and try to learn how she would feel if she could accept ... things
"I'm sorry for hurting you" she started a new conversation "after the kiss" she clarified "And I'm sorry for kicking you out" she added with guilt "and I'm sorry for throwing you through two walls and down a road" Rachel laughed lightly making Quinn's eyes brighten too "I'm just sorry"
"So am I" Rachel said back eager to apologise "I'm sorry for pushing you, wi-with the kiss. I just... I wanted to see and it was selfish"
"I never regretted the kiss... just so you know"
Rachel was obviously surprised after Quinn's reaction a few nights ago "You didn't?"
"No I was just scared of the repercussions if we had let it mean anything"
Rachel's shoulders visibly dropped as she muttered one sound "Oh"
"But" Quinn continued, this time it was the blonde who hooked her finger under the other girls chin to bring her head up again "Maybe it's fast, maybe it's been there all the time... the thing is... I like you"
Rachel's eyes widened in surprise. She'd thought she'd just been hopeful, that the things she'd heard Quinn say yesterday was just words to dismiss her. And if she'd believed Quinn had been telling the truth then she didn't think Quinn would ever actually take another step down that road. The brunette took Quinn's hand off her face and kept it enveloped in her own
"Can you say that again?" Rachel asked to make sure she wasn't hearing things
Quinn chuckled and squeezed Rachel's fingers "I like you... a lot. I think I have for a long time. I know that when I first met you... I don't know, I just wanted to talk to you and every time I tried, something nasty and hurtful just fell from my mouth like vomit like something inside me was trying to get me away from you. When you started trying to get Finn I nearly, nearly went to you to finally confess and- I can't explain it- but I went to Puck instead"
"So what are you saying exactly?" Rachel's eyes grew shiny and hopeful
"That... maybe I'm crazy for listening to some strange guy with an eye patch but... if it's meant to be then it's meant to be... and I want to try"
"Try?" Rachel quirked an eye brow "As in try... us?"
"Yeah" she bit her lip and forced herself not to break eye contact "I'd really like that, if you want to"
Rachel didn't answer she just grinned as she leant forward, rolling onto her knees so she could get closer to the other girl. They smiled softly at one another, guessing and willing this to happen
The first touching of their lips felt like more than a spark between them, a lightning bolt was a more appropriate comparison. And it wasn't fireworks they saw behind their eyelids but more like a mushroom cloud from an atomic bomb. Like they were the two halves of atomic matter that were forced together to create that burst of energy, only the energy was a rush of emotion they felt through themselves, from their lips to their finger tips which were now tangled in each other's hair.
...
The Agent and Director stepped into the mansion only to be met with children of all different teen ages filtering through the halls to their class rooms. The director faltered in his step as two younger boys ran across the hallway in front of them.
Fury and Agent Hill watched the boys as they ran until they reached a wall, they thought they'd seen everything until the boy in the lead disappeared with ease through the wall, causing the one behind to slow to a stop and whine "No fair"
The pair watched the second boy wander off before they continued further into the building. It didn't take long for them to find the Principal's office as it wasn't far from the entrance
The director knocked on the door "Come in" they heard from the other side.
As he opened the door and stepped inside they saw a young brunette man speaking to the exact person they were looking for. "Okay Bobby that's all, you better get to your class, your students will be waiting" the woman with the brilliant white hair excused her younger colleague before turning to her new guests. She waited for the young man, known as Bobby, to close her office door before she said "Can I help you?"
"Storm? Or would you prefer Ororo Munroe?"
"Storm is fine, what can I do for you Mr...?" she looked up at the guests from behind her desk
"Fury, Nick Fury" he reached forward offering his hand for a hand shake, which she took.
"Oh I've heard of you, the director of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division"
"Very good" he nodded, impressed
"Well it pays to know who's out there. And you are?" She asked he Agent
"Agent Maria Hill" the agent said as she shook hands with the Principal
"Won't you both take a seat" the principle gestured to the two chairs on the opposite side of the desk "What can I do for you?" she asked once the unexpected guest took the seats
The director pulled some files out of his long jacket "I have some potential recruits for you, and we're interested in them too, perhaps with your team too" he slid the files across the table
The woman with the platinum hair flipped open the first page of the top file "Santana Lopez, Blaze" she read aloud "She's only 16" she looked up
"Yes" the director just nodded and rose his good eye's eyebrow
"If you're recommending them as students, then myself and another professor can start the proceedings but we don't 'recruit' them at that age"
"I don't think you understand Storm, I'm setting up a team"
"We all saw what the last team you set up did" she cut him off and leant back in her seat, as if to try and prove she wasn't intimidated "The good and the bad" she added to let the director know she understood that the damage to the city and the few lives lost was an unfortunate sacrifice as it could have been worse
"Well S.H.I.E.L.D. is always looking for new recruits and we believe there is potential in those names. They also-"
"Now Mr Fury" she cut him off again "Like I said before if you want to recommend some kids to the school I'll welcome them but I will not encourage the recruitment of these teenagers for your games" she told him defensively
"What about the mutant war, you used your students then" he played that point back
"They were of age and had been trained" she kept her voice clams as she explained "not forgettin' it was dire times"
"These are dire times Storm. We believe a threat similar to the one that happened to Manhattan Island 2 years ago may repeat itself. Although it will be on a smaller town the threat is just as great"
She eyed the pair across from her with curiosity and suspicion "Enlighten me, just between the three of us" she suggested
The director looked to the agent and nodded for her to explain
"We have the daughter of the lightening God, Thor, who is being targeted by essentially her evil uncle" Agent Hill tried to simplify as they didn't really have time for this "we believe there is a potential threat for another alien attack, but we have a problem, we don't know when they might attack or what might trigger it, the attack could already be in process as Thor's daughter has been released from-"
"I believe that's all Storm needs to know for now, thank you agent Hill" The director interrupted
Storm was next to speak "So you want these kids to fight?"
"Thor's daughter herself is the same ages as the mutants in those files" Fury pointed out
"I can't risk my students, and I don't want you risking these young mutants either"
"Their potential-"
"Their potential means nothing without learning how to use their powers correctly, if at all and to respect others, especially humans, while they do so" she didn't mean to get so worked up and raise her voice, but she didn't like the way this man walked in here and spoke about people she saw as her race, especially the young ones.
They were all interrupted when the door to her office opened and the new face in the doorway asked "Everything okay in here Storm?"
"Everything's fine Logan" she assured her friend and colleague "Is there anything else I can do for either of you?" she asked the Director and Agent while Wolverine still stood in the doorway
Fury stood up, unhappy with how this had ended but he couldn't win them all "Keep the profiles, in case you change your mind" he told the mutant before he and Agent Hill made their leave, having to squeeze past the intimidating mutant still standing in the doorway
Once Fury and Hill had left Wolverine asked "What did they want?"
"They were recruiting... recruiting kids" Storm said lowly as she fanned out the five files on her desk and looked the five teens from Lima Ohio who the director believed had potential for the x-men and whatever team he was now setting up
...
Quinn woke with a shiver as she found herself no longer in Rachel's arms. She looked round the dimly lit room, light was just seeping in through the gap in the curtains over the window that over looked the ware house floor. The light from there would have come from the sky flights and high windows in the work space.
She looked around the room still finding no Rachel. She then looked to the dresser by the door and found that baby monitor she'd bought up with her when she barged into Rachel's room only a few hours ago had been turned off. She immediately worried for Beth, she hadn't turned the monitor off, at least she hadn't meant to if she did... she couldn't remember
She sat up and shrugged her cardigan back onto her shoulders; it must have slipped down when they got carried away in their make out session a few hours ago. She ran a hand through her hair, hopelessly trying to straighten it out as she got up and headed for the door. When she yanked the door open she saw a slither of light coming from her own room diagonally opposite.
She nudged the door open silently, so she didn't disturb Beth in case she was still asleep. Her stomach dropped when she looked to the crib Rachel had put in yesterday and saw it was empty. It wasn't until the door had fully swung open that she saw Rachel sitting in the small arm chair in the corner, on the opposite side of the bed from the crib.
Quinn smiled to herself as she saw Beth slumped against Rachel's front, the little blonde's head against Rachel's shoulder as they both slumbered peacefully in the chair.
Rachel must have felt someone looking at them because her eyes sleepily peeled open. The brunette smiled in her mild daze when she saw Quinn
"Hey" Rachel whispered "Sorry, she was stirring and I didn't want to wake you because you said you didn't get any sleep after I left you last night and-"
"It's okay" Quinn whispered back "Is she okay?"
"I think she's still worn out" Rachel carefully wrapped her arms protectively round Beth as she cautiously stood up, ready to hand the little girl back to her mother if she wanted. She didn't though, Beth was peaceful and Rachel was comfortable holding her. Instead she surprised both of them and planted a simple kiss to her lips. She was just feeling brave right now.
With a blush and a twitch of a smile across her surprised lips Rachel ducked her head and walked round to place a quiet Beth back in her crib
"Um Quinn?" Rachel asked shyly with her back to the other girl
"Yeah?"
"I was wondering, I mean if we're going to try this" she mumbled as she watched her feet and wrung her hands as she tried to get out her suggestion, or was it a question, maybe we'd know by the end of this "and with that whole maybe it's meant to be between us, that maybe if it's not too early and if I'm not over stepping by asking, because I don't want to mess this up before we've started anything-"
"Rachel" Quinn murmured making Rachel meet her eyes in the softly lit room
"Huh" Rachel managed, as if she'd run out of words
"What are you trying to say?" she asked through a chuckle she'd forced to keep silent
"Um, I was wondering if you'd like to be my girlfriend?" she bit her lip. She didn't give Quinn a chance to think before she was already fumbling over herself again "I know it was a stupid idea, I haven't even asked you out on a date yet"
"Yes" Quinn grinned at Rachel's bashfulness
"Yes?" Rachel's eye brows almost reached her hairline. In a millisecond she'd already convinced herself that she's made an idiot of herself and here was Quinn contradicting that
"Yes, I'd like to be your girlfriend and yes I'd like to go out in a date with you"
"Oh right... good" she let herself relax "I'll let you know when I hope to take you on that date once I've planned it" Quinn just nodded as Rachel spoke and took both the brunettes hands in her own
"Can we get some more sleep now?"
'But it was way past 6am' for a moment that's what Rachel actually thought to herself. But who in their right mind would turn down a chance to spend time with this beautiful goddess... who was her girlfriend... yeah that made Rachel feel giddy
"Yeah, come on" she encouraged Quinn to the blonde's bed next to Beth in case she woke. They settled down together again, Quinn cuddled into Rachel's side as they tried to get a little more sleep before Beth, or Santana, woke them.
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