Authors note on the end.

Age 14

R and B stood side by side, dressed in nearly identical leather uniforms, with nearly identical weapon load outs, and remarkably similar neutral expressions on their faces. Leroy was giving them one last look over as he went through the mission parameters one last time before they would be loaded up and shipped out to the mission location. It wasn't every mission that required the both of them anymore; one of them was usually more than good enough for the mission to pull through, sending both of them could only mean one of two things to R, neither of them good. Leroy called for time check and R and B looked down at their watches at the same time, calling out what they had and adjusting it to match before Leroy nodded and stepped out from in front of the large crate that would serve as their transport for this mission.

R stepped in first, having to bend at the waist to fit, once she was seat, with her legs out in front of her, B crouched to step in with her, turning his body so that they would be facing each other. A work man then appeared with the last side of the crate and proceeded to screw it in place, leaving only a few randomly drilled air holes as sources of light for the two to see by. R was seated so that all she had to do was turn her head and she could see out one of the holes, and when she did, she saw a black coat walking up to Leroy.

"You understand what this is for don't you?" The Black coats voice was soft, but held and edge that R knew all the Black coats held, as if their job was the stressful one.

"I do sir, I don't think its necessary, we know what they are capable of, there really isn't a need for this." Leroy had turned and was blocking the black coat from R's view, all she could see was blonde hair sticking up over Leroy's shoulder and a fancy suit.

"And that's why you don't make the calls. We need to know which of them is better, yes the girl has a year on him, but surely the boy, who is closer genetically to the original, can make up for that it given the chance. That distinction could mean higher prices." The black coat was moving away then, his voice getting smaller. "You just do your job and let me do mine." Leroy made a rude gesture then and signaled for the fork lift that had been standing by to lift the crate into the back of a large semi truck, where it, along with some legitimate crates, would then be taken to the train station, and loaded onto the train.

The inside of the crate was pitch black as soon as the door to the back of the truck was closed, and it took some time for R's eyes to adjust to it. She just leaned her head against the wood wall behind her and took a deep breath; the transport time on this mission was a long one. The trip there would be an hour truck ride to the train station, then they had to be loaded onto the train, being as silent as possible, until night fell and they could board the passage cars and find their targets. They were then to execute them simultaneously and load themselves back into their crate to be unloaded at the stop the next morning and brought back to base.

"R" B's voice was a whisper in the dark, even though they had no need t be quiet. R looked over to the boy, she could barely make out his shape in the black, but she tried to meet his eyes all the same. "You just got back from your last mission, didn't you?"

"This morning." She had just gotten back from a five day long trip to kill a foreign politician that had made it hard for another foreign politician to launder money and move slaves, so they had him killed. R had only just been debriefed and cleaned up before she was given her new mission packet; usually there was at least a day's break between mission, but not this time.

"How did it go?" She could hear it in his voice that he wasn't just asking about this mission.

"The mission was successful." R paused then, letting her eyes roam around the crate, knowing there were no cameras or listening devises but feeling the need the check again anyway. "There was a small boy, the man's son, he was with him when he wasn't supposed to be." B didn't say anything, there was nothing that could be said, it had happened before to him as well, and it was sure to happen again, that didn't make looking down at those big horrified innocent eyes any easier, didn't make snuffing them out any better.

"Do you think that once we get older it will be better?" R had thought that more than once, once they got old enough they could test for Weapon's status, and once Weapons' status was achieved a whole new world opened up. A chance to live off base, to get out and meet people, to do something other than stair at the same white walls day after day were all possible with Weapon's status, it sounded wonderful; but R had to be realistic.

"I think that I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I ever got Weapon's status." R closed her eyes and leaded her head back against the wall again. "And even if I did, I would want you to come with me. I couldn't leave you alone."

R reached out her hand into the dark, letting it fall palm up in between them, a second later B's hand was in hers clutching it.

"I couldn't leave you either." The rest of the ride to the train station was a silent one, the two children sitting in the dark holding hands and hoping that one day things would be better, but not for themselves, for each other.

Present Age 17

Rachel had decided to wear her new black skirt to school, she liked the way to flared out around her when she spun, paired with a dark grey tank top and her leather jacket, but when Rachel had started lacing up her combat boots she stopped, and remembered what Santana had said the day before about variety, and instead put on a pair of black tennis shoes, her mother had called them Chuck Taylors, but surely that was the brand and not the name of the actually shoes on her feet.

The night before had been somewhat stress full, Noah and Santana had come rushing over when Rachel had called them, both curious to know more about the mutant that had eluded them. When they saw that it was Dave Karofsky, both of them had adopted very stern looks. Dave had been apologetic the entire time, not protecting himself when either Noah or Santana attacked him with some story of something he had done in the past. But he also stayed strong that he wanted to be a part of a larger group, to not be alone anymore.

And it had been Rachel who had ultimately been the voice of reason in the discussion. All Santana was seeing was someone who had the power to hurt them, and all Noah saw was the past that the boy had, but Rachel had explained that she was the same as him. She posed a real threat like he did, she had a terrible past, but they had still welcomed her with open arms. And after that the pair changed their tune, they knew Rachel was right, and they couldn't be hypocritical just because of a little bad blood.

As Rachel walked to school and munched on her morning apple she couldn't get the way Quinn had looked at her the night before out of her mind. Quinn had been in the room the whole time Noah and Santana raged at Dave, but not said a thing, later saying that she didn't think it was her place, but when Rachel had stood up for the large boy Quinn's eyes had been wide and Rachel could tell that the blonde was trying to keep the proud smile off her face. But what had Quinn been proud of? Surly not of her. Rachel had only told them the truth, that they were being idiots. But as Rachel tossed her apple core into the campus trash can before heading into school, she decided that that had to be the reason, even if it didn't make sense.

Rachel headed towards her locker first, putting a few book and her lunch away for safe keeping before turning and making her way towards the auditorium. The halls where empty but once at the door Rachel hesitated, listening intently for any sign of the others that might be on the other side. When Rachel heard nothing she opened the door and made her way to the stage, stopping only to turn some lights on before climbing up to the cat walk and sitting down with her feet dangling off the edge. Rachel enjoyed the silence for a long moment, letting her head rest against the railing in front of her letting her eyes fall closed. A few minutes passed that way before the door opened again and Rachel heard a pair of feet making their way towards the stage.

The footsteps where light and the person's shoes didn't scuff the floor as they walked, Rachel licked her lips as she heard the person stop and drop the bag somewhere below her, but the small intake of breath gave them away as they looked up and saw her. It also told Rachel that it was Quinn. Quinn then moved again, towards the ladder and started making her way up. A few minutes later Quinn was seating herself down next to the smaller girl, smiling at the way her head was pressed against the railing, a look of serenity so rarely seen on her face.

"I'm proud of you for the way you handed the situation with Karofsky yesterday." Rachel was silent; she had already come to the conclusion that Quinn was proud of her. She didn't get it but she understood, she was quiet though because her mouth was so dry and she had no idea what to say. So she said nothing. "We are up really high." Rachel smiled slightly opening her eyes to see Quinn clutching the railing in front of her, looking straight ahead instead of down onto the stage.

"You're a cheerleader, how are you afraid of heights?" Rachel turned her head, still letting the side of her head lean on the railing, liking how cold it felt. But when Quinn looked at her she had her eyes brows furrowed slightly and one side of her mouth was pulled up, she looked adorably confused.

"Kurt told me that on your first day he had to explain to you what cheerleaders are."

"He did." Rachel was a little shocked that she had just thought of Quinn as adorable, she didn't ever remember thinking anything was adorable, in fact she didn't think she had ever even used the word before. But she needed to focus, not think about how Quinn's eyes were more golden than they had been the day before. "I may have done a little research, you cheerios are quite popular on YouTube actually."

"You saw that?" A slight blush appeared on Quinn's face, coloring just the bridge of the girl's nose and the tips of her ears, Rachel just took a deep breath and slight flutter in her chest, hoping to push the feeling away. Rachel nodded, letting one corner of her mouth lift into a small half smile as she looked back down at the stage below them. "Well in Cheerleading you always have someone there making sure you won't fall."

"I wouldn't let you fall." Rachel still wasn't looking at her, and her voice had come out smaller than she had meant it to, she didn't like that she sounded so vulnerable. She felt Quinn's eyes on her, boring into the side of her head, begging her to look, to meet her gaze, so she did. Rachel clenched her jaw at the emotion she saw in the other girls eyes, she couldn't name it, couldn't even described how it made her feel to see it, but she did know it made her face feel warm and her stomach flutter. Then the moment was broken by the auditorium door being thrown open.

"Q, you here?" Santana's voice sounded through the large mostly empty room, and for a long second Quinn didn't respond, just looked at Rachel, then the blonde took a breath and the emotion on her face was gone. Rachel missed it immediately.

"We're up here." Quinn chanced a look down then and saw Santana and Brittany looking around for her, having seen her car in the parking lot, then looking up towards the Cat walk with wide eyes.

"We who?"

"Rachel's up here too." Rachel stood then, offering the blonde her hand to help her up before grabbing her bag and heading towards the ladder and starting down. Once on the stage again, Rachel looked up to check if Quinn was having any problems, only to see pale strong looking legs and red spanks. When Rachel looked away again, her face was bright red and she immediately met Santana's smirking face.

"Get a good look there Berry?" Brittany was smiling at her from Santana's side, both in uniforms identical to the one Quinn was wearing.

"I-I was just making sure she wasn't having any trouble getting back down." Rachel frowned at the stutter and at how Santana was laughing at her, but Brittany moved next to her and grabbed onto her arm, hugging it close.

"It's ok Rachie, Quinn's ass is the best in the world, I don't blame you for looking." Quinn chose that moment to finally finish climbing down the ladder, her face bright red, having clearly heard everything said, Rachel met her glance with wide eyes.

"I-I wasn't, I mean, I just wanted to make sure you didn't fall." Rachel huffed not understanding why she was feeling so flustered and confused at the stutter, she had never stuttered in her life, and now she had twice; these girls where going to drive her crazy. But then Quinn just smacked Santana on the arm put her hands on her hips, looking meaningfully at Brittany before looking at Rachel again.

"I know Rachel; they're just messing with you." Quinn smacked Santana again as the girl started to say, 'sure sure' then started shaking her head as Brittany started petting Rachel's hair.

"Good morning ladies." Kurt sing-songed as he entered the room, making his way to the stage where the girls were; halfway up the steps he stopped and furrowed his brow before looking up at the four of them. Kurt's eyes narrowed as he eyed each of them, before landing on Rachel. "Did you teach them how to block me out?"

"Yep, on Friday." Rachel nodded as Kurt finished climbing the steps and walked over to them, she looked at each girl then, each was clearly focusing hard, and Brittany was even bouncing on her feet. "How are they doing?"

"I can't hear Britt and all, I'm getting bitts from Quinn and Santana but I hear from her is in Spanish."

"Woo!" Brittany jumped up and pumped her arms into the air, making Santana smile and Quinn laugh.

"Now I can hear all of you just fine." Kurt looked a little smug as Brittany's face fell and both Quinn and Santana look irritated for having been distracted. "You did very well though, kudos to Professor Rachel. I also hear that someone has been left out of our little group."

"Dave Karofsky." Santana had pulled Brittany off Rachel and had was looking down at their linked hands as she said it, before looking to Rachel. "The Professor over there found him and convinced me and Puck that we ought to give him a chance, and if anything should happen than at least we know he would never tell anyone our secret, cause it's his secret too." Kurt had looked shocked at first, but then had nodded his head.

"I knew there was something off about him; I just thought he was gay." Santana laughed at that.

"Well that still might be true, I'm not convinced either way." Mike, Sam, Dave and Puck walked into the auditorium then, all smiling and looking completely at ease with each other.

"Morning ladies." Puck greeted with a smile at the slight huff Kurt gave. Rachel met Dave's eyes as the large boy looked down at her; the smile on his face told Rachel everything she needed to know. All Dave had wanted was a place where he could be himself, where he knew he fit in, and when Rachel held out her hand Dave didn't hesitate to reach out and shake it. In a way they had helped each other, Rachel with helping Dave find people, and Dave for helping Rachel to see that she could do something good, that she wasn't all bad.

"All right all right we get it, welcome to mutant club." Santana was still a little weary of the large boy who she now knew could break her back just by flicking it, but she was also still weary of Rachel and they were kind of friends now so it hardly mattered.

"I thought Quinn wasn't a mutant." Dave looked happy, if slightly confused at what the girl was doing there. But everyone just smiled, including Quinn.

"She's an honorary mutant." Santana said laughing slightly as she clapped her free hand down on the girl's shoulder. "Either that or she's our mascot."

"Shut up Santana." Quinn shoved the other girl away before moving so Rachel was standing between them and stuck her tongue out at the darker girl.

"So what do you do in mutant club?" Dave was laughing lightly at the girls antics, but he was curious.

"Nothing really." Puck shrugged his shoulders; thinking hard, before looking to Mike and Sam who both looked as lost as he did.

"Be there for each other." Brittany said, holding onto Santana's hand while resting her head on her shoulder and smiling at Quinn.

"Mostly crack jokes about the humans." Quinn reached around Rachel and smacked Santana again but leaving her arm over the shorter girls shoulders afterward.

"Shut up Santana!"

Half way through the school day and no one had even gotten within arm's reach of Rachel, the fight from Friday still fresh in everyone's minds, though there were the odd looks and hushed whispers that the girl dutifully ignored. But come lunch time Rachel found herself back in the auditorium, this time sitting center stage as she ate her lunch. When the door opened and Rachel looked up, she wasn't upset with herself for hoping it was Quinn, but she was upset that it wasn't.

Kurt had a lunch tray in his hand as he walked down the aisle and up the steps to the stage before sitting down across from her. Rachel sipped on her grape flavored juice box as she watched the boy prod at his salad, not making a sound. Rachel accepted his presence and pulled out her sandwich, eying the white substance that rested between her bread and the peanut butter that she recognized.

"What's the white stuff?" Rachel asked as if they had been talking the entire time he had been sitting with her, holding the sandwich out for him to inspect. Kurt looked startled for a second, before glancing down at her sandwich with a frown.

"Fluff." Kurt said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, but when Rachel looked back down at her sandwich again, wondering why her mom was trying to feed her cotton, the boy was talking again. "It's marshmallow." Rachel nodded then and took a bite, her eyes widening.

"That's really good." Rachel smiled to herself as she took another bite, choosing to not acknowledge the boy across from her who was now staring.

"You aren't curious as to why I'm here and not in the lunch room?" Rachel had just taken another bite of her sandwich, so she just shrugged, trying to convey that it didn't much matter to her, he was being quiet, and after the noise of the Monday morning school bustle, any quiet was good even if it was shared. But Kurt looked like he had something to say, so she continued looking at him, expectantly. "I can't hear what you're thinking."

"You like the silence." Rachel nodded again, taking another sip of her juice box, but Kurt shook his head.

"Don't get me wrong, I like the quiet as much as the next guy, but I like being around people to, and with you I don't have to hear every little dirty secret you have without you telling me, and I don't have to listen to your inner monologue. It's all very demanding." Rachel took a small bite of her, now almost finished, sandwich and tried to think about what life must be like for a telepath who didn't know how to tune people out.

"It must be very tiring." Rachel pulled her cookie out of her brown paper bag then, splitting it in half and offering the boy the bigger piece. "I'm sorry, but I don't know any theory behind how telepaths block out other people." Kurt accepted the cookie and took a small bite as he looked at her.

"It's ok, it probably just going to take time." The two sat in quiet again for a few minutes, finishing their lunches and enjoying the silence. "So, can I ask you something?"

"I may not answer." That was how Rachel answered that question every time, she wanted to be honest, she wanted to be friends with these people, but there were something's that she just couldn't talk about, not to anyone. Kurt nodded and licked his lips, looking like he was thinking hard.

"The place that you were, where they had you." Rachel had been sitting with her legs spread out in front of her, but at the topic she pulled her legs put and wrapped her arms around them, letting her chin rest on her knees. "They taught you how to block telepathy." Rachel just nodded, that hadn't been a question, but she understood that she was still expected to answer. "How?"

Rachel was silent then, thinking of how honest she wanted to be, but when she looked at the boy across from her, she saw someone who wanted to know her, so she decided to just go for it.

"They hired a telepath, a mercenary who didn't care about anything but her next paycheck and locked me in a room with her, and didn't let me out until she couldn't get into my head anymore." Rachel looked out into the audience, looking over the rows of empty seat. "They told her to be as hard as she needed to be, to drill into my mind and not stop, eventually she couldn't anymore." Rachel didn't look back at Kurt, keeping her eyes focused on a seat in the back row, but then Kurt reached out and touched her hand.

"You think that they'll try to take you again." It wasn't a question, but when Rachel did finally look back at the boy, with his wet eyes, she just nodded again. "We won't let them."

It was the end of the day, and Rachel was walking, her arm looped though one of Kurt's and one of Brittany's slung over her shoulders, Quinn was walking behind her with Santana, grinning at her bewildered expression. Quinn had offered to give her a ride home again; but Rachel had already agreed to let Kurt drive her home, he was going to help her understand the book they were reading in English. But when the group made it to the parking lot Rachel tensed. There where students milling about, and others getting into their cars and driving off, but Rachel felt eyes on her. Rachel let her eyes dart around the lot, taking in her fellow students and teachers, but no one was paying attention to her. Kurt and Brittany had both felt the girl tense and had stopped walking, causing Quinn and Santana to stop too.

"Kurt I need you to do something for me." Rachel didn't look at the boy, but kept looking around, the gaze felt familiar, and Rachel was tired of never finding the source; this time she had a telepath on her side.

"What is it Rachel?"

"There's someone looking at me right now but I can't see them, I need you to stretch your mind out, find them." Rachel looked at him then, brows furrowed and lips pursed, serious.

"Rachel there are a hundred people around us right now, how can you know none of them are looking at you." Quinn was in front of her, ducking down slightly to look the shorter girl in the eye, but Rachel just shook her head.

"I just know, and someone's been watching me for a while, I need to know if this is something I need to worry about." Rachel looked Kurt hard in the eye, thinking of all the times in the last few days when she had known someone was watching her, but not being able to really do anything about it, and now she could. "Kurt, please."

"Ok, just give me a second." Kurt looked flustered, letting his eyes flit around to see if anyone was watching before closing his eyes and concentrating hard. Rachel had been right; there wasn't anyone in the rapidly emptying parking lot that was paying attention to them, so Kurt expanded his reach, searching for the source of Rachel's worry. Then he found a person whose mind he couldn't read. He could sense the person's presence, but nothing else; somehow he knew this was the person that Rachel was after. "There's a person in the park whose mind I can't read." Rachel's eyes immediately went the side gates and to the trees of the park, combing over the bushes and tree limbs.

"How far?" Rachel was already taking her bag from her shoulders and zipping up her jacket.

"About a hundred yards." Then Rachel dropped her bag and took off running.

"Rachel!" Rachel heard Quinn yell her name, but she was already leaping over the small fence the blocked the road from the park, rushing through the underbrush.

Rachel ran as fast and as hard as she could for exactly a hundred yards before she had to slow down and look for any sigh that a person would have left behind. Yet there was nothing. No snapped twigs no foot prints, just nothing. Rachel slowed down to a stop, crouching down to get a better view, then looking up. She knew they had been there, that they had been watching her, but now they were gone. This wasn't the facility, they would have shown their hand before now, would have sprung a trap or sent in the troops, this person was alone, and was content to watch her.

"Rachel!" Quinn voice burst through the brush before the girl did, but when the girl tried to skid to a stop she nearly lost her balance, Rachel reached out instinctually to catch her, and ended up on with Quinn flush against her panting for breath.

"You ok?" Quinn was holding Rachel's shoulders breathing heavy, some of her hair had fallen out of her pony tail, and there was a twig in her hair, but Rachel's breath was taken away. Quinn was so close, looking down at her as she held the taller blonde close, steadying her before taking a deep breath and taking a step back. Then Quinn seemed to remember herself, and smacking her hard on the shoulder.

"What were you thinking running off like that?!" Quinn looked very upset, she looked like she was debating hitter her again so Rachel took another step back, out of arms reach.

"Someone has been watching me, I had to see who." Rachel was looking around again, for anything that she could have missed, taking a few steps before crouching and looking closer at the undisturbed dirt and grass where they must have stood. Rachel heard Quinn huff behind her before Rachel stood again and looked at her.

"Well did you find anything?" Quinn was looking around now, though Rachel wasn't sure if the girl would now what she was looking for even if she was looking right at it.

"Nothing." Rachel heard the rain start to fall though the leaves before it reached them, so she had to unzip her jacket and shrug it off, putting it around Quinn's shoulders before the rain got to them. "And now everything will be washed away."

"How were they able to not leave a trace?" Quinn zipped the leather jacket up and inhaled deeply, letting Rachel surround her again. The leather was surprisingly soft and Quinn didn't feel a lump under her arm like Santana had told her she had when Rachel had let the other girl where her jacket. Quinn wondered if Rachel had talked herself into not bringing weapons to school with her today, of if they were just somewhere else.

"They're good." Rachel had her hands on her hips as she looked around again, Quinn watched as water ran down the girls face and wet her hair, how she seemed completely unbothered by it. "As good as me." The admission put a frown on the small girls face, and Quinn wanted to find a way to sooth her worry.

"If it were you, how would you have gotten away?" Rachel looked up then, towards the large limbs of the trees surrounding them.

"Stay here for a second." Rachel held up a finger to the blonde in front of her before going to the widest tree in the area and popping the claws in her feet, the loud 'Snickt' causing Quinn to flinch, but then Rachel started scaling the tree, digging her claws into the tree trunk and just balancing her weight as she climbed. Rachel took a few minutes to look around, but the rain was coming down harder, and Rachel was less and less likely to find anything the longer the rain came down. When she jumped back down, Quinn was still there, standing in the rain, shivering; Rachel suddenly felt guilty. "I am so sorry, let's get out of this rain." Rachel took Quinn's hand then and led her towards where she knew the school was.

"D-did you find a-anything?" Rachel shook her head, ignoring the softness of the girl's hand. Rachel lead Quinn in silence then, the pair reached the parking lot with no problems, and Rachel led the soaked girl to her car.

"I guess the others left." Rachel looked around for her bag, but couldn't see it though with all the rain, everything in it was probably soaked through.

"I texted San while you were in the tree, she's pissed at you by the way." Quinn didn't say that Santana had wanted to rush after Rachel too, but Quinn had told her to stay with Britt and Kurt, just in case. But now the Latina was just angry and she was sure that Rachel was going to get an earful the next time she saw her. Quinn lead her over to her red bug, her hands shaking as she opened the driver's side and unlocked the other, her keys in the ignition and her bag, and Rachel's, in the back seat.

"Let me drive you home." Rachel was beside her then, leading Quinn around to the passenger side; wanting to argue, but not being able to get the words out.

"Rachel you don't even know where I live." Quinn huffed out as Rachel opened the door and stared at her until she conceded. The small girl walked around to the driver's side then and buckled her seat belt before adjusting the mirrors. "Do you even know how to drive?"

"Of course I can drive, I can drive anything." Rachel looked slightly proud as she turned the engine over, taking a second to turn the heater on before putting the car in reverse and backing out of the space. Rachel had been stopped at the stop sign at the entrance to the parking lot for a full minute before she spoke again. "Are you going to tell me where you live or are we going to sit here forever?" Quinn looked over at Rachel's completely serious face and smiled wide, hugging the girls leather jacket close to her body.

"I live over at the end of peach, the biggest house, you can't miss it." Rachel nodded, knowing the road that was only four blocks from her own, that would making walking home easier, she still had to talk with her mom about this person watching her.

"So you can drive anything?" Quinn sounded skeptical, raising an eyebrow when Rachel looked over at her.

"Anything; planes, motorcycles, boats, I drove a tank once." Rachel kept her eyes on the road, the blondes arched eyebrow making her shiver in a very pleasant way.

"You on a motorcycle is something I would love to see." Quinn laughed lightly, Rachel was so short and small, and all Quinn could see was a child on a bike with their feet not able to reach the pedals. Then Quinn looked at the brunette again, she stopped laughing when she pictured Rachel with her hair blowing in the wind, clad in leather with a Harley between her legs.

"My mom said I have to wait till I'm eighteen before I can get one, but I plan too." Rachel smiled slightly, motorcycles were her favorite, the freedom of it was amazing, just you and the road, the wind in your face and your problems at your back. Rachel tuned onto peach and immediately saw the house on the end, the biggest on the street, she really couldn't miss it. It was three stories, light blue, with an actual white picket fence in the front yard; it looked like a fairy tale. Rachel pulled the bug into the drive way and let the engine fall silent, not knowing what to do know that she had gotten the blonde home. She supposed she would just leave, but then Quinn touched her arm and she looked at her.

"Come inside?" Rachel nodded before turning and grabbing both her own and Quinn's bags from the back seat, then letting the blonde lead her inside.

The inside of Quinn's house was just as big on the inside as it looked on the outside, but it felt different than her own house did. Rachel didn't know what it was, but the inside of Quinn's house felt cold, almost uninviting. When Rachel looked over at Quinn to say she was just going to head home, she felt the warmth again, it didn't matter that Quinn's house wasn't the warmest; Quinn was warm enough, so she decided to stay. There were sounds coming from deeper inside, pots clanging, and running water, and Quinn smiled so Rachel didn't worry.

"Quinnie, is that you?" An older woman's voice sounded through the house, but then Quinn was pulling her towards the stairs.

"Yeah mom, and a friend, we're going up to my room."

"Ok sweetie, I'll bring you some snacks." Rachel saw Quinn roll her eyes as she pulled Rachel past a number of doors on the second level, Rachel eyeing each, counting them and making sure she remembered the way to the exit. Then Quinn was pulling open a door and leading her inside, Rachel knew it was Quinn's room immediately.

"Let me get you a towel." Quinn let go of Rachel's arm and disappeared behind another door that had been in the room, most likely a privet bathroom, while Rachel took a chance to look around. Quinn's room had two large windows, the drapes where closed, but Rachel could only think of men coming in the night, opening the widows without a sound and taking Quinn from her forever. There was also another door beside the one Quinn had disappeared behind, likely a closet, or second door into the hall, but Rachel noted no dressers, so she went with closet, but how many clothes did a person need to fill more than a dresser. Rachel's dresser wasn't even full. Then Rachel saw the book shelves, there were three large book shelves along the wall to her right, with the bathroom and closet doors and her left. There were more books then she had ever seen outside of a library, and Rachel could only stare at them.

"Yeah, I like to read." Quinn was next to her then, handing her a towel, while holding her own against her now down wet hair; Rachel resisted the urge to reach out and touch it. "Do you read much?"

"Sometimes." Was Rachel's simple answer, but when Quinn looked at her with that eyebrow raised, Rachel continued. "I have a hard time understanding the characters motivations most of the time." Rachel paused then licking her lips and looking closer at the books in front of her, wondering if she should say more, she took a deep breath and tried. "When I was younger my mom would read me Pinocchio."

"That's sweet." Quinn watched as Rachel toweled her arms for a moment, wondering. "Why Pinocchio?" Rachel tensed then, Quinn saw the girl's hands tense around the towel and she wondered what was going through her mind.

"I guess she thought it would speak to me." Rachel moved away from the book shelf then, spotting something else. Quinn watched as she looked down at a picture of her and Franny at a baseball game, which had been two years ago, just before she had gone off to college; and likely before Rachel had escaped from where she was being held. "You have a sister."

"Yeah, Franny, she's at collage now. Do you have any sibling?" Rachel tensed again, and Quinn wondered if there was anything in this girl's life that didn't make her feel lost or bad.

"It's complicated." Rachel looked away from the photo and towards the closed windows, wishing they were open so she could see the sky, so she could stop seeing the little boy in her mind.

"What about you isn't complicated?" Quinn laughed lightly, meaning it as a joke to break the tension she knew Rachel was feeling, but Rachel just clenched her jaw, and Quinn immediately felt bad for trying to make light of whatever it was that was plaguing the girl in front of her. Quinn moved forward then, reaching out and grabbing hold of Rachel's fingers, she held them lightly, just letting the girl know she was there. "I'm sorry."

"No, you're right." Rachel paused then, Quinn felt a slight pressure on her own fingers and realized that Rachel was holding her fingers too. "I guess you could say I have a brother, younger." Quinn smiled, that hadn't been so hard.

"What's he like?" Rachel got this look on her face as she continued to look out the closed window, like she was someplace very far away.

"He's kind, and he smiled even when things were bad. He's caring, even when he shouldn't be. We looked out for each other." Quinn frowned at the rough sound to Rachel's voice, then she looked straight into the girls eyes and realized that she was holding back tears.

"Hey, what is it?" Quinn moved closer, holding Rachel hand fully now, and putting her other hand on Rachel cheek, watching as a tear slide down the girls face. Rachel shook her head then, looking at her feet, but Quinn didn't let her go. When Rachel looked up at her again, Quinn understood. "He's there." Rachel nodded then as another tear rolled down her face, and Quinn pulled to girl into a tight hug, holding her close as she tried not to cry.

"I wish it had been him." Rachel voice was quiet as she spoke into Quinn's shoulders, her face full of wet blonde hair. "I wish he had gotten out instead of me."

"Oh Rachel." Quinn let her own tears flow freely down her face as she rubbed the girls back and held her close. Rachel didn't sob, didn't let anymore tears fall, but Quinn made shushing noises as if she were anyway.

Not ten minutes later, after Rachel had pulled herself together again, Rachel had decided she had to get home. So she thanked Quinn for having her and Mrs. Fabray for the cookies and started her walk home just as the rain stopped. She was just walking up her drive way when she realized that Quinn still had her leather jacket.

When Rachel walked inside, her Mom was in the kitchen, putting dinner together, she didn't have to go into the hospital tonight and Rachel knew her mother was looking forward to getting to spend some more time with her. Rachel went up to her room and put her bag away and changed out of her wet clothes before going back down stairs to face her mother. Rachel listened to her mother's humming from just outside the kitchen doorway for a few minutes before going inside, Shelby smiled at her brightly.

"Hey sweetie, how was your day?" For the first time in her life, Rachel didn't want to tell her mother everything, she didn't want to tell her about her conversation with Kurt and how they might be friends know, or how Quinn was proud of her, or how she had cried about B. So instead she decided to tell her about the person who had been watching her, and how they disappeared in the park. Shelby was quiet as she listened, her daughter hadn't thought to tell her that someone was watching her; sure it was paranoid of her to think it was all the same person, but Shelby knew better. "Why didn't you tell me about this before?" Rachel just shrugged and Shelby fought to keep her frustration at bay. "Sweetie, this is something you tell me. How many times have you thought someone was watching you?"

"More than five times over the last few days." Shelby was starting to get angry, and Rachel was confused, it had seemed like nothing, it wasn't the facility, that she was sure of, and they had always gone away, so why was her mother so angry?

"I need to go make a phone call."

Rachel frowned as her mother walked out of the kitchen and towards the basement pulling her cell phone out and muttering quietly to herself. Rachel sat stunned, not sure what to do with herself, then she decided that this was a call that she needed to hear. Rachel got up and walked silently through the house and punched her code into the pad on the basement door, opening it silently and sitting on the top step.

"I told you to leave us alone." Shelby sounded angry, but a calm, collected, angry as opposed to a righteous fury. "NO! I told you to leave us alone. You have been watching her. How could you not think I wouldn't find out about it?" Rachel suddenly remembered coming home to her mom yelling at someone on the phone, telling her not to worry. Was the same person watching her? "NO! You don't get to decide anything for her! You don't know anything about her… don't you say that to me! I am her mother!" Shelby was yelling now, and Rachel fought to not flinch as her mother's words kept getting louder. "YOU ARE NOT! And you don't get to meet her until you prove to me that you're a different person! ... I don't have to prove anything to you! ... Don't you threaten me Hiram!"

There was more, more yelling and more that Rachel should have probably heard, but Rachel didn't hear any of it. Hiram was alive. Hiram was alive and Shelby knew. Hiram was alive and he knew about her. Hiram was alive, and he wanted to meet her. Rachel stood up and walked away from the basement, not caring how loudly the door closed, and walked to the front door, then out of the house. Rachel sat on the steps of the front porch looking up at the grey sky and wondering if he was watching her right now. Wondering how close he was. Wondering if he knew about her the whole time and didn't care.

"Hey." Puck was coming across the street with his hands in his pockets, looking down at her with a frown. "What are you doing out here?"

"I just found out my Father is alive." The words just poured out of Rachel's mouth, she couldn't stop them, couldn't make sense of them, but they stopped Puck cold in his tracks. "My Mom knew, and didn't tell me; doesn't know I was listening as she yelled at him over the phone."

"Wow, that's rough." Puck sat down next to her as he ran a hand through his Mohawk. "I don't suppose I could even get you drunk, healing factor and all."

"It would take more alcohol than you have to even get me buzzed." Puck looked at her and Rachel knew he wanted to ask how she knew how much booze he had, but he didn't, the boy could tell just by looking in her eyes that it had been a tough day.

"Do you want to come over anyway and try? Get away from your mom?" Rachel thought for a second before standing and nodding. Shelby had lied to her; she needed to be away for a while. Puck led her across the street and through the side gate to his back yard. Rachel didn't wonder why, just followed where he lead her, then Puck lead her to a large shed and pulled out his key's selecting a small gold one before putting it in the lock and opening the door. Inside was a couch, a pair of bean bag chairs, a fridge, and a TV with a game system hooked up, Rachel recognized it as to system she had played Call of Duty on and not the one she had played Mario on, but didn't make a sound as Puck pushed her down onto the couch before moving over to a small cabinet and pulled out a fifth of scotch, then went to the fridge and pulled out a beer. He handed Rachel the scotch before cracking open his beer, and just smiled. "I have more alcohol than you think, drink up."

Rachel got up later than usual the next day, and was able to ignore her mother under the guise have having to go about her morning routine faster than normal. Shelby had been pleased that Rachel had spent time with Noah the night before, not knowing that she had listened in on her phone conversation. The rain was starting to come down just as Rachel left the house, but she didn't have her jacket, so Rachel just walked to school in her now wet long sleeve grey shirt and jeans, not avoiding the puddles with her worn combat boots. When Rachel got to school there was only enough time for Rachel to find her seat before the bell rang.

"You're all wet." Quinn had made eye contact with her the second she had walked through the door, her eyes widening at the girls drenched state.

"It's raining." Rachel just shrugged and pulled her note book out of her bag, starting to take notes, not caring that the edges were a little wet or that her clothes were uncomfortable. Quinn nodded before pulling the girls jacket out of her bag, Quinn had washed it the night before and had even worn it to school over her uniform but had taken it off just before going to look for Rachel, not wanting to be caught wearing it. But now Rachel was in front of her, sopping wet and likely cold even though she wasn't showing it, so she draped the jacket over the girls shoulders and just smiled as Rachel pulled it on, offering Quinn a small smile.

"Do you have a change of clothes?" Rachel's grey shirt was soaked through, clinging to her, and her jeans didn't look much better.

"I'll change after class." Rachel nodded as she continued to focused on the class going on around her.

The pair didn't talk again all through the class, and when the bell rang Rachel walked to the bathroom, Quinn trailing after her. Rachel didn't even move into a stall before she pulled off her shirt. Quinn blushed furiously as she eyed the girls sculpted back, then her eyes went into the mirror and she saw Rachel's abs and had to turn away. Rachel dug around in her bag for a second, pulling out her spare t shirt and a granola bar, then pulled the dark green tee over her head before shoving her wet shirt to the bottom of her bag and shrugging her leather jacket back on. Rachel silently offered Quinn a bite of her granola bar before the pair walked back out into the hall again; Rachel didn't comment on how Quinn had looked at her. Not knowing why the blonde had done it, or why it made her feel so happy.

"Morning champ." Noah appeared from behind them, slinging an arm over Rachel's shoulders, Santana was grinning beside him, obviously very happy about something and no longer angry at the girl for how she had acted the day before.

"Noah." Noah just grinned down at her for a second before turning to Quinn and pulling out his phone.

"So Rach and me hung out last night, got a little drunk, and I have pictures." Rachel frowned as she eyes to camera phone, she had only been a little buzzed, and all they had done was watch a movie, why were there pictures.

"Why did you get you get drunk with Puck last night? You were ok when you left my house." Rachel looked at the floor and frowned, she hadn't had a chance to talk to Quinn today, not really, and she hadn't even thought of calling the girl the night before, but the drinking had seemed like a fine idea at the time.

"Rachel got a bite of news yesterday, and it was in order, don't worry Q, I took good care of our girl." Noah's arm tightened on her shoulders and Rachel just frowned up at him, irritated. "Anyway, you wouldn't believe how huggy she got the more she had to drink, she was even more talkative." Brittany had come up to Santana's side now, smiling up at Puck while Rachel and Quinn continued to frown.

"I was barely even drunk." Rachel crossed her arms and tried to shrug Noah off, but the boy just grinned wider and held on.

"Dude, you drank three fifths of scotch and washed it down with another two fifths of whiskey, you're awesome." Quinn's eyes were wide then, but Puck just looked more than a little proud.

"Healing thing makes it hard to get drunk, takes more than that to slow me down." Rachel was looking at Quinn, not knowing why she was feeling ashamed of herself, Noah had offered and he was her friend, friends did things like drink together, Rachel was sure of it.

"Oh god it was awesome, we watched Transformers cause Rach had never seen it before, and when she wasn't talking about how unreal the robots were she was talking about how hot Megan Fox was, it was hilarious." Noah stood up straighter then widening her eyes, trying to do an impersonation of her. "Megan Fox has excellent musculature, Megan Fox seems quiet knowledgeable about vehicles, Megan Fox has wonderful bone structure." Santana was laughing so hard she was holding her side, and Brittany was smiling wide. But Quinn was frowning, the tips of her ears bright red and her lips pressed into a hard line.

"That is an exaggeration." Rachel huffed again and shoved her hands deep into her pockets, but then Brittany was hugging one of her arms, looking down at her with a wide smile.

"It's ok Rach, I think Megan Fox is hot too." Rachel blushed deeply as she stared at her feet, wishing the floor would open up and swallow her. "You know who else it hot? San. San is way hotter than Megan Fox. Oh, and Quinn, Quinn's way hot too." Rachel didn't know it was possible for her face to feel as warm as it did, she thought maybe it was about to explode, but she just kept looking at the floor, hoping that this conversation was almost over. The bell rang then and Rachel all but ran away from the group towards her next class, breathing heavily but not from exertion.

Rachel's morning classes passed quickly and soon enough it was lunch time and she found herself in the auditorium, sitting up on the cat walk, trying not to think and just enjoy the quiet. Then Quinn was next to her, Rachel hadn't even heard the girl open the door, let alone climb the ladder up to her.

"So, you wanna tell me why you got drunk with Puckerman last night?" Quinn wasn't ashamed to admit that she was a little hurt that Rachel hadn't called her instead, but she supposed that Rachel opening up to anyone was better than Rachel staying so closed, not that Rachel wasn't starting to open up to her, but she had thought she had been the only one, that she was special to the girl. Rachel didn't say anything for a minute, but Quinn wasn't deterred, she got that sometimes you needed to collect your thoughts.

"I, I um, I told my mom about the person yesterday in the park, about all the times I thought someone was watching me over the last couple days. She got really angry." Rachel shook her head before leaning back and laying down on the walk way, with her legs dangling over the edge, looking up at the ceiling. "She said she had to go and make a phone call. I didn't understand why she was so angry, so I followed her. She didn't know I was listening." Quinn reached for Rachel's hand, letting their fingers intertwine, knowing that something was coming up that Rachel wasn't sure about, that she was upset about but didn't know how to express. "She was yelling at someone, and at first I didn't understand, she knew the person watching me, I had caught her yelling at someone over the phone before and she told me not to worry about it. Then she said his name." Rachel stopped again, clutching Quinn's hand as she looked up into her hazel eyes, her mouth dry. "My father is alive."

Quinn was silent, not knowing what to say or what she should do. There wasn't anything she could do. All Rachel had ever said about her dad before was that she didn't have one. Quinn had assumed that the man had just left Shelby before she was born, or left when she was young, not that he was dead; like Rachel had seemed to believe.

"And my mom knew." Rachel looked back to the ceiling, her face screwed up into a frown. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Did you talk to her?" Quinn's voice was quiet, soft, comforting, her thumb stroking the girls knuckles as she held her hand.

"I walked out and sat on the porch. Then Noah found me." Quinn nodded, seeing it play out in her mind, Rachel stoic but obviously upset and Noah going to see if he could help. For all the boy's hardness, he was really a sweet guy, and he had helped Rachel take her mind off it, if only for a little while.

"You have to talk to your mom Rachel. See how much she really knows before you jump to conclusions." Rachel still didn't look at her, the girl looked took a deep breath before clearing her throat.

"What if he…" But Rachel didn't continue, and the girls sat for a another few minutes of silence.

"Are you scared he won't love you?" Rachel's eyes widened then, as if that hadn't even crossed her mind and Quinn was sorry for having said anything. But she was over her head in this, not that she was treading water in anything else that Rachel had ever told her.

"What if he knew about it all along, and didn't care?" Quinn didn't understand.

"Know about what?" Rachel huffed loudly and sat up, pulling her hand out of Quinn as she stood up, walking a few paces away, running a hand through her hair and closing her eyes.

"Everything is so complicated, things aren't supposed to be this complicated." Rachel sounded pained, and Quinn stood then too, ignoring the way her water bottle fell from the cat walk and bounced off the stage.

"Rachel. Talk to me."

"Not this, you can't know this, I couldn't bare it when you looked at me differently." Rachel sounded like she wasn't even aware she was talking out loud, but that was good, Quinn couldn't answer her thought.

"Think of all the things I already know, I still see you the same way I did when I first met you, even with all I know now. If anything, I think you are stronger and braver know that I know you better." Quinn debated getting closer to the small girl, but Rachel was gripping her hair hard, her fist white as she pulled, the other gripping her hip, and as much as Quinn wanted to comfort her, these where clear signs that Rachel was struggling with herself, that she was fragile, and Quinn didn't want to push her over the edge. "Please trust me Rachel. Trust me like I trust you."

Rachel stopped, her hands falling to her sides, thinking about all Quinn knew. Quinn knew she was a killer; that she could hurt her, kill her, easily, yet she stuck around. Beyond all reasons that Rachel could argue, Quinn was still by her side. Helping her, begging her to let her help. Rachel ducked her head then, resigned.

"Quinn, I lied to you." Quinn's eyes widened her heart racing in her chest. "When you assumed I had been taken, by the people who had me; I let you assume they took me, I just didn't correct you." Rachel ran her hand through her hair again, not turning around to look at the girls face, not knowing what to expect if she did. "It's complicated that my Brother is not really my brother, and that my father isn't my father, my mother isn't really even my mother." Quinn did move forward then, gripping Rachel's hand, not understanding, not knowing what to expect.

"What do you mean Rachel?" Rachel did turn then, her eyes wide and red, her breath shaky and her grip strong on Quinn's hand.

"You see, my father, he, uh, he worked for them, but then, when he decided he didn't want to anymore. They killed him." Quinn frowned hard, how anyone could willingly work for people who had done the things that they had done to Rachel. "Then, they hired scientist, geneticists, to try and recreate this perfect killer that had gone rouge." Rachel looked away from Quinn's eyes then, looking down into the audience, wishing she was on the roof so she could see the sky and feel the wind and rain on her face. "It took years, but they eventually, successfully, cloned him." Quinn gasped, just the slightest intake of breath, and Rachel dropped her hand, taking a few steps away from her, not facing her and shoving her hands deep into her pockets.

"What are you saying, exactly?" Quinn needed to hear her say it, didn't want to let her imagination run away with her if it wasn't true. But Rachel just sighed, her shoulders dropping.

"My father isn't really my Father, and my Mother isn't really my mother because I'm not really a person. I'm a clone, created in a lab to be the perfect weapon." Rachel turned then, tears falling down her face. "And if he knew, if he knew about me and didn't care then I don't want anything to do with him. If he knew and didn't do anything, I'll kill him."

AN: Hey guys, so I'm putting this here because I'm going to answer a few questions and I didn't want to spoil anything in the chapter. Okay, so I've gotten this Question a few times, and I couldn't answer it because it would have really spoiled things, but know that everybody knows Hiram is alive, it's okay. So, 'Are other X-men going to show up?' So it's important that everybody get that Hiram is my Wolverine. Got that? Hiram=Wolverine So the answer is yes, other X-men will show up, eventually, but only X-men who are close with Wolvie and not with anything but a small cameo until the sequel which I have decided needs to happen. Another thing, I've gotten some comments in review saying that they want Rachel and Quinn to kiss already. And while I want that too, it's going to take a while. Like, a long maybe not till the end of this story while. This is not a love story guys, I have many thoughts on all the whys that Quinn and Rachel just can't get together yet, and most of them boil down to Rachel not being ready. Rachel needs to find herself before she can be with someone like I want her to be with Quinn, and we just aren't there. So patients, cause when we get there, you'll know it. Anyway, this chapter was longer than normal, and I did not do that on purpose. Let me know what you think, cause even if you hate everything that went down I want to hear it. Have a good one guys. Ninja out.