Hello everyone! I stayed up pretty late finishing this up for you all. And I almost made this two chapters, but I decided not to cut you off on a cliffhanger.

I'm really happy with how this chapter turned out. I don't know...I just like it.

Enjoy, and Please Review.

Under the cover of the night sky, the four women were able to leave the safe house. As Rachel had suggested, her and Quinn went to her place. Quinn absolutely refused to let Santana guard Rachel. She felt it was her burden alone to make sure Rachel was kept from harm. Santana understood and wasn't offended. She had her own problem with having to make sure Brittany was safe, especially now. The flight to the women's homes was silent, if not a little bit awkward. This time both women were conscious, coherent and fully aware of the danger they were in. Although, most of the fear the women felt was from feeling the wind rustle their clothes and knowing they were hundreds of miles in the air.

Quinn nodded to Santana before tilting her wings and flying in a separate direction. She had agreed to meet her friend in half an hour back at the house. If she wasn't there, then the Latina had orders to come find her.

Rachel lived in a fairly modern apartment complex. The property was arranged around a massive pool in the center, which allowed most residents a pool side view. Luckily, Rachel lived in one of the one bedroom apartments on the top floor of one of the many buildings. This meant that Quinn could drop down on the balcony, in order to avoid being seen, and wait for Rachel to unlock the double doors. However, in order for it to work, Quinn would have to gently drop Rachel down in one of the many corridors leading to her door. Begrudgingly, the warrior let go of Rachel and quickly flew into the air to circle around and land on the girl's balcony.

Rachel took a moment to make herself presentable after being dropped, if not a tad bit rudely. She ran a shaking hand through her hair and shifted her clothes, even though that didn't help the "windblown" effect at all. She fished out her keys from her jeans and efficiently unlocked the door swiftly. Normally, the brunette would have stormed into the darkened apartment and continued on as if nothing were the matter, but after what she had experienced in the park the other night Rachel couldn't help but be frightened at the pitch black darkness filling every crevice of her home. The hallway allowed a tiny stream of light to enter into the apartment, but that didn't give the woman much to go on. The more she stood there staring into the dark, the more she thought she could see things slither within it.

Shake it off Rachel, Quinn's out on the balcony. You're fine. Rachel shook her head and quickly reached for the light switch. She half expected everything to go terribly wrong and the light switch not to work, and then get eaten by whatever the hell a Lurker was. Or maybe her love of horror movies had finally caught up with her. The electricity worked and her apartment was fine, sans "Lurkers".

"I'm going nuts…I just know it…" Rachel mumbled to herself and locked the front door behind her. The atmosphere in the apartment had an air of stillness, as it hadn't been disturbed in weeks. The brunette was just there the day before last. Even though Rachel figured her mind was playing tricks on her, she had the sudden urge to turn on all the lights in her home. She did just that, at least in the living room and kitchen. Brown eyes took in the living room. All her photos, trinkets, and furniture were exactly as she remembered it being.

The brunette walked towards her closet near the front door where she kept her shoes to grab a couple of gym bags and a large duffle. She silently hoped that Quinn would be able to help her with these. Shit, I really should let her in now. But she'll get in my way. She can wait a moment or two. Rachel chuckled deviously to herself and walked towards her bedroom. She nearly jumped out of her skin when loud tapping echoed in the apartment when she passed by the balcony. Rachel clutched her wildly pounding chest and took a quivering breath. It would seem Quinn was getting impatient. Just for that she can wait another couple of minutes, she thought with a huff.

"Rachel, open up. Come on…" Quinn whispered harshly from outside. Infuriating woman!

Rachel smirked and continued on towards her room, but not before shouting over her shoulder to the warrior, "In a moment….or three"

Quinn could practically breathe fire.

Rachel knew she would regret that but she couldn't bring herself to care much. She shouldered one of the gym bags and held the other two. She pushed her hip into her bedroom door and slipped into her cold room. Using her elbow, she was able to flick on the light switch next to the door frame. The scene that met her caused her to drop her bags with a loud thump. Rachel struggled to breathe, her throat clenched before an explosion of sound erupted from her mouth.

Quinn could not believe the nerve of this human. You'd think after 8 centuries of being in existence, an experienced warrior, would have seen this coming. Quinn huffed and actually began tapping her foot. The balcony was not the most comfortable place in the world, especially when she could feel the railing rubbing both sides of her wings. Through the crack in the blinds, she was able to see the brunette ignore her plea and disappear into another hallway. The sight made her anxious and jittery. Her sharp hearing heard the brunette's last words and she just closed her eyes in annoyance.

But then Rachel Berry let out a bone chilling scream.

Quinn's sharp hearing picked this up, and instantly she grabbed the door knob to one of the doors and pulled. She met resistance. Quinn's face scrunched up and used her entire body to pull the door open; it flung open with a loud pop. The door was just bouncing off the metal railing by the time the blonde was by Rachel's side.

She placed a gentle hand on the smaller woman's shoulder and pulled her back behind her, while stepping forward with her sword already in hand. Somehow, in the 2 seconds that it took her to flash to the girl's aid she had pulled out her sword from behind her back and unsheathed it. The glowing sword illuminated Rachel's once immaculate bedroom.

Quinn relaxed slightly when she let down her shields and made sure none of the Void were around. She carefully placed her sword back into its home on her back. Hazel eyes looked behind her and she couldn't help but feel slight pity.

"Are you ok?" Quinn ducked her head so her electric eyes could meet wide chocolate ones. She could see Rachel was on the verge of tears.

Rachel could only nod numbly. She couldn't remove her eyes from the scene. Her room was completely trashed. She could handle her materials being looked through, or her clothes thrown around, but she couldn't handle this. All of her things were broken. No, they were more than broken…they were shredded. What used to be her bed was now a pile of twisted metal and small ripped pieces of material. Her clothes were mostly, if not completely, ruined. The drawers of her dresser were pulled out and wood chips littered the ground. The blinds had been ripped off the window. Her bed sheets layered the ground, corner to corner. The mirror over her dresser had been shattered; leaving sharp pieces all over what remained standing of the wooden structure.

However, what truly horrified Rachel was the stench, and the black substance smeared into many of her belongings. It was even smeared all over the walls. The air was acrid and potent. Rachel had once worked on cadavers in medical school and had been exposed to different types of decomposition but this was a smell that was worse than death. It settled in your bones, like a chilling blanket and infected every pore of your skin.

"What…what is that shit Quinn?" Rachel's wide eyes begged of her protector.

Quinn sneered as she took in the blatant display of disrespect and dominance, "Fucking animals. I really don't think you want to know what that shit is. You might be able to salvage some personal things," Quinn glanced around helplessly, "Just don't touch the black stuff. Do you want me to help you? We have about fifteen minutes left…" she trailed off. What more could she say?

"No, no I can do this alone. I'd prefer it even…but thank you for the offer…" She tried to smile but failed, "I…umm…..could you give me a couple minutes? There's not going to be much I can find…but…"

Quinn nodded, "Yes, I'll just be outside. If you need me just give a yell." Quinn retreated from the room giving the woman time to mourn over her personal belongings.

Rachel sighed heavily. It wasn't even the actual things that hurt the most; it was the memories that were in them. Her fathers helped her furnish her home and even bought her that mattress. She took a hesitant step forward and cringed under the crunch of the broken mirror. Rachel's scattered mind absentmindedly hoped she didn't get seven years of bad luck. Rachel snorted. What a trivial thing to think when at the rate things were going…she may not be around for seven years.

On her fifth step into the bedroom Rachel looked down at her feet and found a photo of her and her fathers. It had been taken while she was in high school…when she didn't have a care in the world. Oh how far she was from that Rachel Berry. Miraculously, the picture had avoided most of the destruction; only a rip at the bottom gave any evidence to what ordeal it had survived. She picked it up and slid it into her back pocket carefully.

In the end, she was able to find 3 pairs of jeans, 4 shorts and about 6 shirts in total in the room. The creatures hadn't thought of breaking into her closet where she stored the clothes that didn't fit in the dresser. With that find, she was able to add 5 more shirts and plenty of bras and panties. Her bounty filled two of her three bags. As an afterthought, she used the last bag to throw in a bunch of medical supplies she had in case of an emergency and all of her toiletries.

When she stepped out into her living room, Quinn quickly took two of her bags.

"Thank you," Rachel said softly, "I was able to find enough things to last me. I just need to do one last thing." She dropped her last bag near the balcony. She spied the broken door but didn't say anything since it really was her fault for not letting Quinn into the apartment when she asked.

Quinn didn't have the heart to say no, "Alright, but five minutes…."

Rachel nodded and disappeared into another room opposite of her bedroom. She released the breath she was holding when she walked in the office and everything was perfectly fine. Quickly, she grabbed a pen, an envelope, a stamp and a blank printer paper.

Exactly 3 minutes later, Rachel returned to the living room clutching a two sealed envelopes. Quinn raised her eyebrow.

Rachel lifted the item, "This is a letter to both of my dad's explaining to them that the stress of work has finally caught with me and I'm taking an extended vacation to Hawaii. They always bugged me about taking some time off." She paused, holding back tears, "This…this other one is my letter of resignation to the hospital. There's a mail box down by the lobby, I can go drop it and you can pick me up."

Quinn opened her mouth the protest. She wasn't about to fall for this again.

Rachel raised her palm, stopping the blonde in her tracks. "Trust me…..I won't be doing anything. Not now…"

Quinn nodded mutely. The poor girl's shoulders were hunched slightly and she was just completely defeated. As much as she felt sorry for the girl, she still had a duty to perform. "Very well, but you have one minute. At the end, I'm grabbing you and we're leaving."

With a soft, "ok", Rachel grabbed her duffle and left her apartment for the last time without a second look.

Quinn looked after the woman and frowned. As much as she wanted to be upset with her for her actions this evening…she couldn't. The remorse she felt was overwhelming, but she refused to analyze it further. She did after all have a duty to carry out. She swiftly grabbed Rachel's remaining belongings and headed out towards the balcony. A picture frame on the girl's entertainment center caught her attention.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rachel pushed her arms through the straps on the duffle bag, allowing her to carry it like a backpack. She looked up and wandered to the side of the building so Quinn could drop down without being seen.

Rachel was reminded of the first time she saw Quinn. The blonde literally falling from the sky to be her savior. A part of her hates Quinn for bringing this to her life, but an even bigger part just wants to thank her for how much she's done and will be doing. However, right now was not the time to reveal that to the warrior. Quinn's feet touched the ground and her wings flapped to keep her balance sending Rachel's hair flying all over the place. The brunette didn't mind anymore.

"Come on, let's head back" Quinn's husky voice vibrated in her ear. Rachel smiled slightly at the site of Quinn carrying her bags.

"Give me those. I can carry them," Rachel stepped into Quinn's personal space and pulled on one of the bags.

"Fine, but I'll carry the other," the voice dared Rachel to argue.

Rachel nodded giving in to the blonde's wishes. She grunted when Quinn moved in a flash and had one arm around her shoulder and the other under her knees lifting her off the ground. The hand behind her shoulder held the final gym bag as it dangled under the suspended brunette. Quinn curved her lips into a slight smile, mentally satisfied at the girl's surprised look. She bent her legs and bolted into the sky back towards the safe house.

Air rushed past Rachel's ears. She tightened her grip on the blonde's neck and pressed her overheated cheek to the warrior's cold breastplate. Instantly, the only thing registering in the brunette's mind was the coolness of Quinn's armor, the warmth from her bare arms and the bliss of soaring high above the clouds.

So, what did you think? REVIEW please!

And I have a question that I need answered. I want to know if you all want a chapter where we see how Santana and Brittany did at her apartment. Do you want this chapter? Yes or no? Leave in a review, thank you :)