AN: Wow... two years... Just wow, so sorry to those of you who are still there. Any who, this chapter continues straight from the last one... not that anyone remembers what happened last time...

Posted: 1st November 2015

Reputation

"Um, do you think we could go for a drink or something tonight?" Rachel muttered as she stood nearly toe to toe close with Quinn. Her arms were folded protectively across her chest but she still wanted to be close to the other woman, as long as she was in control.

Quinn let out a long regretful sigh. "I'd really love to but I can't. I'm flying to Lima tonight, for the holidays. I won't be back until the 1st-"

"What?" Rachel blinked up at her. She had a progress plan in her head and Quinn wouldn't be there for the clichés she had planned... Rachel really hoped she wasn't trying too hard to make herself 'normal' in the relationship department.

"Alex thinks it's a good time for me to go home and visit my mother." Quinn mumbled under her breath. She hadn't been home in a long time, so Alex decided it was time for her to return and be stuck in a house with her mother for a solid week.

"I see... but a whole week away?" She asked meekly. Quinn smiled, hiding her pure surprise that Rachel might miss her.

"The trial doesn't start until the 3rd, I can do my last minute prep and keep up to date with Novak while I'm there." She rambled and reeled off her chores to keep herself on the job task of this case.

"Why don't you just come back?" Rachel asked shyly.

She wished she could just come back. "I haven't seen my mother since I graduated Yale Law. Alex really thinks I need to bond; my career... and anything else I have here be damned." She sighed tiredly, tired of all the discussions she'd had with Alex and tired with the idea.

"What else you have here?" she questioned with a slight quote. Was she part of what Quinn hoped to be coming back to. She felt secure with Quinn, she was blind to her own vulnerability and actions when Quinn was near, everything just felt fine to her. She didn't notice the tensing up, the way she stopped breathing, how stiff her body went in Quinn's arms... Quinn did.

"Well I know we haven't talked... even though it's only been a couple of dates, but... we are exclusive, right?" Quinn asked. She wanted this too much, so she could pretend to not notice those things about Rachel, or she could brush them off as early nerves, as Rachel had told her she had never had a relationship with another woman before.

"I'm not seeing, or thinking of seeing anyone else, if that's what you're asking," Rachel nodded meekly as she nervously shifted her weight from foot to foot.

"Yes... good, me neither." Quinn agreed lightly.

"I really wanted to invite you round for Christmas, I was going to say bring Alex along, of course. I'm asking Olivia if she's not busy too-" she cut herself off, realising she was saying more than necessary. She didn't want to be that person she was in high school, the one who over explained things, "But what I mean is, even if it's only been 2 dates, we've known each other longer, I don't think it would have been weird to ask... do you?"

"No." Quinn agreed, smiling down at the other woman, smiling that she'd just caught a glimpse of the old Rachel, if just for a moment. "I wish I could have said yes..." When Quinn saw Rachel lean her way she moved slowly to meet her, she bowed and tilted her head, wanting, craving the touch of Rachel's lips on hers-

The door to their side was opened abruptly, shocking them into looking straight at the intruder. Olivia looked back, shocked, frozen in place for a moment, at the women framed in the doorway. She finally blinked herself awake, "Oh... sorry," and with that the senior detective blankly backed away, closing the door too.

After a beat Quinn looked back at Rachel, concerned. "I'm sorry, I hope I haven't caused trouble."

Rachel furrowed her brow up at the slightly taller lawyer. "Why would you have caused trouble?"

"Liv's a really understanding woman, but I don't know how this will look to her..." she didn't even know if Rachel had put a label on herself... she wasn't sure Rachel was a person who liked labels anyway. "Would you even call yourself... um. I mean she's been okay with knowing I'm... gay, but-"

With every fumbled word from Quinn's mouth Rachel just felt herself smiling a little stronger. She took Quinn's hand to still her mind for a moment. "I'm sure she'll be fine with the fact I'm in a relationship with a woman," she confirmed, her voice confident, her insides quivering like jelly.

"Relationship." Quinn clung to that one word.

"That is what this is, right? Rachel suddenly felt unsure.

"Yeah, just sounded really nice to hear." She tried not to grin too hard. "Are you sure Olivia will be fine?" she asked again, just checking.

"Well considering she told me she might have feelings for a woman, yeah I'm sure she'll be fine." Rachel muttered dismissively.

Quinn furrowed her brow. "What?"

Rachel then cringed, she truly felt bad, it was not like her to divulge a secret told to her in confidence, "I probably shouldn't have told you that." She said apologetically for the woman not there.

"I won't tell anyone." Quinn reassured her, knowing she wouldn't have liked it if her sexuality had been passed around the building. She wouldn't do that to another person.

"Good." Rachel breathed with relief.

Quinn then let out a long sigh of her own, "I should be heading back to the DA's office"

"Your office." Rachel corrected lightly, with a smile. It was still sometimes had to believe their paths had crossed again, here of all places.

"Yeah..." Quinn smiled back, so happy that their paths had crossed too... though she still wondered why Rachel gave up on her dreams. "If I don't see you later, well just- happy holidays and I'll see you when I get back." She added sadly when she realised they might not see each other for over a week

"Yes, take care Quinn." Rachel nodded sadly too, before starting towards the door, "Wait," she muttered, almost to herself as she turned on her heel and mustered all the confidence she needed to pull Quinn to her. "One for the road." She murmured before capturing Quinn's lips, almost surprising Quinn and definitely surprising herself with how much she was putting into this.

When Rachel did pull away Quinn may have been a little dazed after being caught off guard. She cleared her throat and tames her hair before smiling at Rachel again, this time a smile that reached her eyes. "Okay then, I'll, uh, I'll see you later," She stumbled with her words as she grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder, and then gathered her case files from the table too.

"Yeah, uh, take care on your journey." Rachel told her, almost requested of her.

"I will," she dove in for another quick kiss with Rachel one last time before finally leaving. She still had some work to do before she left tonight. She opened the door, adopted her professional expression again and exited, as if nothing but business had been exchanged in that room.

As Rachel watched Quinn leave, heading towards the elevator, she noticed Olivia receiving files from one of the other cops in the same hallway. She pounced at the opportunity to straighten things out that very moment.

The younger detective hurried over to her partner before she returned to the prying eyes and ears of the bull pen. "Olivia, can we talk?" she called out before Olivia could get away.

"Um, yes Rachel," she said as she tucked the papers back in their binding to give Rachel more attention, "What's wrong?" she almost sounded dismissive, as if she was going to forget what she almost saw, but Rachel didn't want that. This kind of Partnership was about trust, so she had to be open about some things.

"It's about what you saw." Rachel started, keeping her voice low, so no one easily over heard, "I apologise if you feel I went behind your back by not informing you that myself and ADA Fabray have become closer recently, but I assure you we are being strictly professional whilst at work, and our premature relationship has not and will not distract from my job and my capabilities-"

"Rachel, it's okay." Olivia smiled, convincingly, "Your private life is your private life, and you didn't need to tell me." She assured the Junior Detective.

Rachel nodded in understanding but it didn't make her feel any better, not after how open Olivia had been with her lately. "We've only been on 2 dates it hasn't even been a week since our first yet, so there wasn't much to tell anyway-"

"You don't need to explain," Benson tried to calm her, trying not to laugh a little at how Rachel seemed more on edge than she did and she was the one who'd just got the surprise, "I don't feel let down or like I can't trust you, so please don't worry."

"O-okay." Rachel nodded, not really sure what else to say... or if she should even speak, what if she had made things more awkward by talking about it-

"I've already told you working this job and dating is hard, at least someone like Quinn can understand a little better than an outsider." Olivia reassured her younger partner when she saw that doubt and further worry on Rachel's face, "I kept a 3 month relationship from my partner once, just because of some conflict with our jobs." She added that so Rachel knew she hadn't been out of place. She was definitely eager to please.

"Oh... are you dating currently?" Rachel asked cautiously, wondering if there had been a reason she'd said what she had said.

"I already told you I wasn't..." she chuckled, then creased her brow "I am surprised though, not so much at Quinn, I already knew she preferred to date women but you..."

Rachel just quirked a mischievous eyebrow, "Well, like yourself, I didn't know either."

Olivia nodded in both understanding and approval at the choice of words. With one dilemma settled they headed back to their desks in the bull pen, to get back to work.

They barely sat down when Rachel was talking casually again. "Olivia?"

"Yes." She said almost absent minded as her attention had already returned to the paper work.

"What are you doing for Christmas?" It was only 2 days away and she and Santana hadn't done much in the way of planning, Brittany had done next to all of it, but it felt like a good, un-distracted moment to ask.

The question itself had her looking up again, she had one family member, one distant family member, a half brother who had come to light only a few years ago. So... what did she do for the holidays? "Oh uh, well nothing I guess..." she shrugged it off,

"Then you are more than welcome to join Santana and I, and our families, for the day." Rachel told her happily. Her roommate was at her desk diagonally opposite too, working with her own Partner on their current case. Rachel had already discussed inviting their colleagues with Santana so it was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Really?" The senior detective sounded surprised. Though considering how friendly Rachel could be once she was comfortable enough to open up, it shouldn't have been that surprising.

"Yeah, my dads, Santana's parents and Brittany's parents are flying down, and my dads would really like to meet you. I warn you they can sometimes be a bit..." the junior detective tried to search for the right word.

"Weird." Santana supplied from her own desk.

"Thank you Santana," Rachel mumbled dryly and narrowed her eyes at her friend, before correcting her, "more like a little forward, but so welcoming."

"Are you sure I wouldn't be imposing?" She didn't want the invitation to be something Rachel felt she had to do. "It sounds like a family affair."

"Oh please, you're my partner, you're basically family anyway." Rachel assured her, there was definitely more room in their strange family.

"And if you don't feel like it yet the Berry men will make sure you do before you leave." Santana supplied before doubt could be felt from Rachel's statement. "Though really Liv, I'd run while you still can." She whispered her warning harshly, directly towards Benson, but with obvious humour.

"What do you mean by that?" Rachel yelped defensively. They definitely were some kind of double act.

"Just warning her that the whole day becomes bit of a drunken party, with arguments over the karaoke machine at the end." Santana told her like it was obvious. Of course, she forgot to mention her participation in those arguments.

Rachel shook her head furiously in complete disagreement, she didn't want to put Olivia off, she wanted them to be friends. "Don't listen to her, it really doesn't."

Despite all the banter Olivia wasn't deterred. "I'd love to join you." She admitted with ease. Rachel just smiled and nodded, happy Benson hadn't been scared of. The evil they faced daily didn't scare Olivia enough to make her run away but Rachel worried her uneven family could always accomplish that... thanks to Santana.

"What about you, Tutuola? What you got planned?" Santana asked her partner casually.

"I'm actually seeing my boy that day, he said he don't mind spending a few hours with me, should be interesting." He muttered like it was no big deal, when it was a huge deal.

"Well if it gets cut short you're welcome to drop by." Santana offered, making the offer itself seem so much simpler than Rachel had managed to do.

"Thanks Lopez, I'll keep that in mind."

C\_/
The Fabray Residence
Lima, Ohio
Friday, December 27

"Hey, you're still up?" Quinn wasn't really surprised when she found her Aunt still awake, sitting in the living room at this time in the evening. She herself was just 'sneaking' in after having gone for drinks with a couple of old acquaintances. Despite the fact she had 'romantically' interacted with the pair in the past, it hadn't been as awkward as she thought it would.

The older lawyer looked up from the book she was reading, "Yeah, Judy's asleep."

"She okay?" Quinn asked lightly as she dropped into an arm chair opposite to the sofa her aunt was sat on.

"I think so," she nodded, things had been going quite smoothly. "Being here hasn't been so terrible has it?" She asked almost jokingly, as if to pick at Quinn's dramatics from when Alex had suggested they crash here for Christmas.

"No." Quinn agreed quietly. "Sober Judy is tolerable... nice even." It had definitely been better than the days, weeks, month, before she'd left for college.

"She's had a tough time, Quinn." Alex told her with sympathy.

Quinn just raised an eyebrow at Alex's tone, "We all have in our own ways... you gave up the most." She unnecessarily reminded.

"I missed the most." Alex corrected. She had missed her own mother's funeral because she'd been in witness protection, and she felt like she had lost many friendships, and other opportunities for the same reason. Things were working out for Quinn though, she may have had a tough time in High school with her parents, the teen pregnancy, and her own conflicted feelings but things were definitely looking up. "What's it like being young and in love?" She teased.

"I'm not in love." Quinn tired to say strongly but her lips betrayed her.

"Don't deny it." The older woman smirked.

"Fine... its nice," she couldn't help but give in, "even though I'm not sure Rachel's completely comfortable yet." She added, almost regretfully. She just had to remind herself it was still early days. "I just hope she's not trying to push something that's not going to work."

"At least you'll know." That was all Alex could say. She didn't know Detective Berry too well, although if things did work out between her niece and the Junior detective she supposed she would get to know her better.

"Yeah... might kill me though." The younger woman half joked. She knew she wanted this too much, it was Rachel who used to want things too much. But the only thing Quinn had truly wanted too much was Rachel.

"You really like her that much?" Alex was surprised, Quinn was often so reserved, she had a great poker face, she was good at hiding her emotions which made her a great lawyer.

"Yeah... I wish it had just been a school crush, and I almost believed it was, but then Detective Berry showed up, and all the feelings were back." She sighed. She really had wished it had been a school girl crush, at least then maybe she would have been able to stop thinking about Rachel for one day of her life. "Was there never anyone... didn't you have a guy when you were in witness protection?"

"Yes... yes I did, and he was a great guy. But it never got to feel real. When we were together he'd whisper my name... Emily." She finished sadly. It could have been a good relationship, if it had been real.

"Oh." Quinn muttered, feeling sympathy immediately for her aunt.

"As much as I wanted it to work, as much as I wanted to move on and start a different life, it just wasn't going to work." Alex reassured her niece, though she was reassuring herself somewhat too.

"Maybe it could now." Quinn suggested, meaning an expansion on her real life, not going back to the fake one.

Alex just shook her head, "I'm too buried in my work," the files she often took home were evidence of that.

Quinn scoffed, making her aunt raise a curious eyebrow, "You have two direct colleagues now, you don't have the weight of all the SVU team's cases on your shoulders. And you know you're not alone." She told the older lawyer before she could milk the excuses of being over loaded with work. "When was the last time you even went on a date?"

Alex just let out a long reluctant sigh. "Too long ago for me to count the months."

"Would you want to start dating again?" Quinn pushed a little. She wasn't often intrusive into someone's personal life outside work but this was her Aunt and they often found themselves opening up to one another.

"I..." she stopped herself before she said anything regretful, "honestly, yes I would but... work, this job..."

"Don't just make excuses for yourself." It wasn't fun being the only one happy, even if she had underline worry about her relationship.

Her happiness and more hadn't gone unnoticed by the older Lawyer. She just smirked at her niece. "You're so... different, lately."

Quinn just quirked an eyebrow, whilst hiding worry that she was that obvious with her feelings. "How so?"

Alex had that smirk lacing her lips yet again. "You're bright eyed, overly happy-"

Quinn blushed, though she tried her best to control it. "Am I that bad?" She muttered her question, afraid of the answer.

"Only when we're not at work, don't worry." Alex stopped the teasing and reassured Quinn before turning her attention back to her book.

"Good," Quinn's shoulders immediately relaxed, she didn't want to ever look unprofessional, and was glad her aunt didn't think she did. "So you, dating?" The younger lawyer tried to get back to their original point.

Her eyes were up and away from the pages of her book again, "Please can we drop this?"

"You got your eye on anyone? Maybe I can help you out" Quinn said jokingly, even winking for good amusement measure. She knew she was no expert just because she did have a woman in her life, one who had told her she was exclusive to only her.

"Oh, because you're such an expert." Alex scoffed, becoming a little defensive. "You finally told a woman how you felt after how many years?"

Quinn backed down, it was a little harsher when it was put in perspective like that, "7, but at least I finally just said it," she shrugged but avoided eye contact with Alex, "I knew her for about 14 years, and... I even think those feelings were there longer, in high school maybe." She pondered, mostly processing her own wonderment but she still said it allowed.

Alex swallowed thickly, she could sympathise there "... I've known this person for 11, even though there was a gap in the middle"

Quinn's eyes shot back to Alex again, she had only been teasing at first, "There is a someone then?"

"Maybe," Alex almost shrugged, which wasn't a very Alex thing to do, "Maybe not," she added dismissively.

"You don't have to be so harsh all the time, you can turn the lawyer mode off, you know?" Quinn seemed to lean in, and quieten her voice, not that there was anyone going to overhear them, but somehow it felt more secure speaking in hushed tones. "We can talk, right? I told you about Rachel"

"Don't use that against me," The older lawyer laughed a little.

"Do I know them?" Quinn asked and Alex betrayed herself by looking back at Quinn too quickly, it was very telling for the younger blonde. She smiled in victory and seemed to lean forward in her seat more. "Give me a clue?"

Alex thought on it, she removed her glasses and settled them on her lap before she said the only thing she could think of that wasn't too obvious. With a sigh she uttered, "Like Aunt like Niece."

"Huh... oh... oh" Her eyes widened, Alex was into a woman? "Novak?" She spoke first before she'd really thought about it, and again Alex's eyes told her she was wrong, "No wait, you haven't known her that long," Quinn thought aloud, "... Benson?" Alex was silent and unmoving, Quinn knew she'd hit the nail on the head. She settled back in her seat with silence, no question, no judgement of course, a little curiosity and wonder at how she and her Aunt seemed to be so alike but... nothing. She saw the doubt on Alex's face, even some shame and maybe a hint of embarrassment. "Go for it"

Alex laughed at Quinn's final encouraging words "Yes, I'm sure that will work out very well." And with that she felt it was time to retire for the evening. She stood up and wandered to the kitchen.

Her niece was on her heels though, "Seriously, you never know," Quinn did know though, not that she'd say anything, she promised Rachel, and she knew what it was like being talked about behind your back, she wouldn't cause anything like that on someone else... also it would be so unprofessional when they all worked so closely together. "Just try."

She stopped and turned to confront the younger woman, "Quinn-" Alex tried but was cut off.

"After the case," Quinn tired "How about I make a deal with you, I nail that Sweeney boy, because I will, he's a smug little prick," she had to stop and calm herself before she got side tracked, she was trying to make a deal, "And you talk to Olivia, nothing difficult, nothing big, just a few words, see where it goes." She suggested.

"I'm not making that deal with you," Alex shook her head with an amused smile before walking away. She never knew trying to get a glass of water before going to bed could be such a trying task.

"Why not?" Quinn simply asked as she followed, though honestly she wouldn't have been able to just tell Rachel at someone else's request.

She sighed and faced Quinn again to say with sincerity, "Because I have faith that you will have Sweeney locked up before we know it."

"You believe in me?" It hurt Alex a little that Quinn sounded so surprised. If she didn't believe in Quinn she wouldn't have put her forward as a candidate for the third ADA to the SVU team.

"Of course I do, your name might be Fabray but you've got Cabot blood in you." She laughed lightly "And I met Novak when she was still pretty new, and holding down the SVU case fort on her own, and she had a great passion and great tactics. She showed no fear either, I see all that in you too."

"Thank you Alex, that means a lot to me," Quinn said, a little overwhelmed to hear such encouraging things, her demean then dropped, "Though getting Sweeney to go down is one thing, I have to make sure Rachel doesn't get blamed for what Alicia is being held responsible for,"

"I'm confident you'll find a way"

"I sure hope so," Quinn would think of everything and anything before she let Rachel's rep get damaged, she knew her girlfriend... kinda, had spent years getting to where she was now, it wasn't going to go down the pan now, not on Quinn's watch. "Now about Benson." She said again when she noted that they'd side tracked, again.

"Leave it alone Quinn." Alex walked away, taking a glass out of the cupboard and then going to the sink.

"But-" Quinn tired but Alex turned and gave her a stern look, one Quinn was akin to.

"I know you mean well, but I'm not ready and even if I was it's not a good idea, so just drop it." She requested with such finality in her words.

Not ready? Quinn could understand that completely, "Okay... dropped."

...

Q~Q
16th Precinct
Thursday, January 2

Rachel stepped out of the bull pen and through a doorway, into a mostly empty corridor, when she was grabbed and pulled to the side, to a crevice in the long walkway. Before she could register what was happening, arms were slipping round her middle and lips were planting themselves against hers.

She roughly shoved the body away, hearing a dull thud as they collided with the wall behind them. "Ouch." She heard the person say, and suddenly she wasn't blind to who was around her, she opened her eyes and saw clearly a slightly disappointed Quinn rubbing the back of her head which had collided with the wall.

"Oh God, Quinn, I'm so sorry," she gasped as her hand found itself pulling Quinn a little closer again, "I didn't realise it was you."

"People just like to drag you away and kiss you often?" She chuckled as she dropped her hand from soothing her bumped head, "Not that I blame them," she added mischievously, but her smirk disappeared when she saw Rachel wasn't smiling, in fact she looked distant, "Sorry, did I say something wrong?"

Rachel finally made eye contact with Quinn again, her mind had been racing with... well the distorted images from her past. "No, no its fine, just surprised me," she forced her best fake smile.

And it worked, "I'm sorry, I just missed you," Quinn bit her lip to stop her shy smile, she then calmed herself, and tried to see Rachel's side... though she didn't know Rachel's side of things, "it was inappropriate."

"No, it wasn't I was- I just wasn't expecting it." Rachel forced a chuckle, trying to hide her tremble. She had spent so long believing she was free of her past, she had no clue it still effected her so deeply. Santana still saw it, Rachel was in denial. And the sad truth is, she would probably never truly be 'Over it'.

"Well, I'm still sorry." Quinn said again, just feeling disappointed that their little kiss had ended so quickly.

"It's fine," Rachel waved it off, while knowing the whole was actually far from fine.

"I promise I won't try anything like that again" She added another light laugh, hoping to ease the sudden awkward tension around them.

"It's okay," she said again, but now it sounded like Quinn did have reason to be sorry, and Quinn didn't really get why, "I'm really sorry too, is your head okay?" Rachel smiled sadly with guilt, she didn't know she could snap like that, but she was in control one moment and the next she was being held, she was restricted, she was suffocated. "How was your Christmas?" She forced a question from her lips while her mind still wandered and provoked more questions for herself to answer.

"It was okay, rekindled with my mom a little. Met up with Puck and Finn." She shrugged, it hadn't been the worst time she'd had in Lima.

Rachel nodded, she hadn't heard from anyone she went to high school with in years, other than Brittany, Santana and Quinn of course, "How are they?"

"They're both good, we just went for drinks had a catch up," Again, she shrugged... she thought she would have had a better time had she stayed.

"Good." Rachel muttered, her mind was still elsewhere, Quinn could see that, it must have been the case they were working on, with the next part of the trial hanging over them.

"How was your Christmas?" The lawyer asked another question, trying to remove the awkward silence between them.

"Well Olivia joined us and it couldn't have gone that badly because she hasn't requested a new partner. My dads were a little over enthusiastic on welcoming her." She laughed, and Quinn could only imagine... she wondered if the Berry men would ever be so welcoming to her... as Rachel's other half... especially with all that happened in high school.

"Sounds like a good day though." Quinn suggested, it could have been as awkward and silent and as alcohol free as hers... not that she needed it.

"It was, I wish you could have been there too." Rachel didn't falter, she really meant it, she wanted Quinn to be there, she wanted to make Quinn family in a sense already, then she'd feel more secure... she hoped.

Quinn hid her surprise at Rachel's words, but that was just the rejection at being shoved away. she just reminded herself it was still early days, they'd only been on 2 dates, and kissed a handful of times. "Me too." She smiled warmly.

"Will you two quit making out and join us in here, we needs to get all the details down for the Carey case tomorrow." Santana's voice filling the hallway put both of them on edge, people would have heard that... would they have taken her seriously... knowing the types of things the other officers and detectives heard Detective Lopez say they knew not to worry too much.

Rachel looked back over her shoulder and glared at her ex-partner, "Just a second!" Santana huffed before going back to the bull pen. Rachel then looked back at Quinn and meekly made a suggestion. "Could we- I mean would you like to go to dinner, maybe tomorrow night, after court?"

"Yeah, yes, I'd really like that." And the lawyer did really like the sound of that, and unlike her disappointment from a moment ago, she couldn't hid her happiness this time.

"Okay then, I'll make a casual reservation, that way we can go straight from work or the courthouse if its late, or if we miss it it doesn't matter, I'm just thinking, I'll be at the courthouse tomorrow anyway so-"

It was refreshing to hear a stream of unsure words come from the young detective, Quinn just smiled warmly as she gently cut Rachel off, "It all sounds great, we can talk details right nearer the time," there was no point planning when it would probably all just get messed up.

"Okay then," they were all smiles, but Quinn couldn't help but still be a little curious as to why Rachel reacted as she did, "We better get back before Santana has a tantrum."

...

{}=-=
Trial Part 22
Friday, January 3

"Rob would make us stand naked in the snow, he'd hit us with hockey sticks, kick us sometimes. A couple of guys wound up in the ER." Will Carey, the murderer, and yet victim of rape, sat bruised and battered neck brace and all in the stands as the father of the boy found dead sat and watched.

"How was Tyler Henry involved?" Quinn asked as she wandered back and forth, making sure to look to the Jury, her audience and to the boy she saw as victim in the stands.

"Tyler was pledge master, he made sure we did everything Rob told us to do." Tyler, the boy who lay dead and Rob Sweeney the boy who was responsible for all. But proving it would be difficult. They had a ledger, a book with Rob Sweeney's writings in it, and all the pledge masters before him, and what they did to their "fraternity applicants"... but it was gained improperly, taken by another victim and handed to the police... it was deemed as theft and the evidence inadmissible.

"Tell the Jury what happened on the night December 5th?" ADA Fabray asked, The ledger mentioned what happened that night, but the only version the Jury would hear was the version from Carey's mouth.

"Rob and Tyler took me to the basement , Rob said they wanted to see if I was man enough to take a good paddling. So I took my pants down and Ty paddled me." The curly haired broken boy who had tried committing suicide by crashing his car, spoke with anger but with tears streaming down his face too.

"What did the defendant do?" Quinn felt cruel... when she was in high school she would make kids squirm, almost for her pleasure to feel more powerful. But here she was, even though it was rehearsed with Carey, she was making him relive a traumatic event, so they could try to achieve justice.

"He kicked me, he flicked lit cigarettes at me, said 'hit him harder, hit him harder'" his face was so read with tears and bruising from his... accident, "and when Tyler wouldn't he grabbed the paddle, he called me a queer."

"What did he do then?" He could only answer Quinn's questions, he couldn't just tell the whole story it could only be an answer to a question, and it felt horrible, but it had to be done.

"He grabbed the paddle, and he turned it around and he stuck the handle in me." True shame was felt by the boy. Sweeney just sat there, un phased by the whole thing... Rachel could see that from her seat, even at the back of the room. It just made her feel angry. "He was like 'are you gonna quit now, fag? Are you gonna quit now?' When he was finished I heard Ty tell him that I was bleeding."

"What did Mr Sweeney have to say about that?" Quinn already knew, it angered her too, but she would keep a straight face, she would put no opinion into a question before the answer had already been heard, she'd let the Jury hear it raw from Carey's mouth.

"He said 'What do you expect from a woman?'" Carey, brave as he could be even looked at Sweeney when he uttered those final words.

"Thank you." Quinn looked to the Jury, the judge and then Mr Carey, "Nothing further." The easy art for Carey was over now... now he would face the other Lawyer, the father of the murder victim in this fraternity mess, Xander Henry, alumni of the same fraternity too.

"Why did you kill Tyler? He was blunt, even when talking about the death of his own son, he like Quinn couldn't let emotion betray him.

"I was afraid he was gonna rape me again." Will snivelled.

"But you just said it was Rob who raped you. Why would you be afraid of Tyler?" Xander was reasonably calm, but Quinn had seen that calm before, in her father before something went wrong... like a teen pregnancy.

"Because he was a part of it. He did whatever Rob told him to." Except he hadn't, he'd stopped when it went too far.

"If Tyler didn't rape you why did you tell your Lawyer that he did?" The calmness was still there but Quinn didn't like it, she was helpless, all she could do was listen to his words.

"Because I didn't want to get Rob in trouble," Rob could still hurt him, Rob had money, even power... he was still alive.

"So you lied?" It was more implied than a question really.

"Yes." He admitted sadly

"And you told the same lie to the police psychiatrist Dr Huang?" The tension was building in the fathers voice. Sweeny remained as smug as ever.

"Yes" He raised his voice that time, angry with himself and knowing he couldn't lie now.

"And now you're lying to the Jury." Xander addressed the group with a hint of sympathy as if he felt sorry for all the 'Lies' they'd been told.

"No, I'm telling the truth." He shouted that time, he couldn't and wouldn't be manipulated anymore... but it was too late.

"The truth is you cut a deal with the police and you will tell any lie, blame anyone, just to save your own skin" The lawyer was angry, who wouldn't be at the boy that had killed their son.

Quinn stood and her voice filled the court room. "Objection!"

"Withdrawn," Xander Henry said before the Judge could overrule him... it was too late though, the Jury heard all they needed too, that couldn't be undone. "Nothing further." He sat down again, no emotion on his face to tell any what he was really feeling.

...

"While you were pledging Tau Omega, please describe what the defendant would make you do." The next boy on the stand was Will Carey's roommate Nathan Angeli, he had also been a pledge, and a victim. Quinn again was doing the questioning.

"Push ups, jumping jacks, stuff like that." He shrugged, a keen smile on his face... ADA Fabray faltered... this wasn't right.

She narrowed her eyes at him, "Push ups, jumping jacks, what else?" her voice was loud, even intimidating to most, if Detective Berry hadn't been so preoccupied by the case itself she would have noted how at home Quinn looked and sounded.

"That's was basically it." He shrugged again, something had changed, and Quinn had to figure a way out of this situation fast. it was going to damage Carey's testament.

"You were never paddled, or forced to stand in the snow, or made to drink until you threw up?" She knew Xander could call an objection to her words, but she was quoting something that was evidence... or had been.

"I wasn't forced," he chuckled it off "I did it because I wanted to."

She marched back to her desk and picked up a file, she pulled out the most important piece of paper in the world in that moment. She held it up as she put her glasses on and read "Your grand Jury testimony: 'We had to stand in the snow so long I thought I'd freeze to death', 'Rob made us drink so much I puked for three days'. You were forced to do these things, or are you changing your testimony?"

"No, we had to but, it was- it was fun," he smiled again... like a clown making a mockery of everyone in the room, ADA Fabray approached him almost threateningly, "Rob didn't make us do anything we weren't okay with." She saw it, she just noticed it, and every time he said something he'd glance at Rob... what was he looking for approval to go with... that thing on his jacket.

"What's that on your jacket Nathan?" She said almost sourly, she kept mostly in check though.

"It's my pledge pin," he didn't mutter, knowing he'd only have to repeat himself if he did.

"You were invited back to Tau Omega." It was an assumption, not a question from the lawyer.

But he answered anyway, "Yes."

"As long as you didn't testify against Rob Sweeney." She muttered as she wandered back to her desk.

"Objection," Xander called out just as Quinn knew he would. Her anger had got the better of her. And he'd played dirty that morning with Carey, a true victim, by putting erasable suggestions in the Juror's heads, she would put a hint in herself... not that it would matter.

"Sustained." The judge agreed with Xander of course.

Quinn just sat back down, this witness was now useless. His girlfriend had stolen the ledger, been a victim of a sex tape scandal, and his friend and roommate had been a victim of Sweeney's too... and yet he was willing to turn his back on all of them. "Nothing further"

Q~Q

"So Nathan changes his story and you're gonna let him walk?" Fin was as pissed as the rest of them. Detective Berry had filled them all in when she and Quinn had got back to the precinct. "He violated the terms of the deal." Quinn had been too tired and stressed to regale the story herself, Rachel had just given her her desk seat and the blonde had sat there with her head in her hands.

The lawyer sighed as she came out of hiding, "No, he didn't lie, he just gave a different interpretation of events. We can't arrest him."

"So we still got the weekend, what can we do?" Santana suggested. It wasn't over yet, they had two days to get new evidence, to make a new case.

"I have to convince the Jury that Will Caray was raped and that Rob Sweeney did it," it was as simple as that... "but without another witness or some physical evidence, I'm sunk." Quinn felt a hand on her shoulder squeeze gently, she looked back to see Rachel sympathising for her... both their reputations were on the line. If Sweeney walked, she could be blamed for gaining inadmissible evidence.

"I called every single member of that pledge class, nobody would talk." Benson said reluctantly

"Checked out the lutz, Tau Omega, Tyler's home..." Lopex said on behalf of her and her partner before she pulled out a pice of paper, "The only thing that doesn't add up is bunch of calls from the mortuary to Xander Henry's home; 6 of them in the last 48 hours."

"3 weeks after the funeral?" The captain voiced what they were all thinking as he took the data off the junior detective. He handed it to Benson, seeing as Fin and Santana had done the leg work, Benson and Berry could take it from there. "Check it out first thing in the morning"

"Will do." The senior detective nodded. It wasn't over yet.

"Okay, that's all tonight, try and get home all of you. Looks like we'll be working the weekend." Captain Cragen ordered as he too headed back to his segregated office to get his coat and make his escape. They'd all be back in the next morning, even Quinn to keep on top of the whole case.

"Berry, I'll pick you up at 7.00 tomorrow so we can get down to the crematorium when it opens." Olivia said a she grabbed her own coat.

"Okay." She nodded, as the others started to move too. Santana waved goodbye half heartedly as she and Fin started towards the elevator.

"Don't stay out too late," Olivia muttered with slight teasing as she walked past her partner and made her own escape, trying to catch the elevator when it arrive for her colleagues

Rachel just ducked her head and waited for them to be truly gone before turning her attention back to Quinn... she was still submerged in some part of the case file though.

"You good to go?" the detective asked tentatively.

"Um, yeah, there's nothing more to do until the morning." She closed the file and turned back to Rachel "Lets get out of here".

...
C\_/

"So did you have a good vacation?" Rachel asked once they were settled at real restaurant this time, being fortunate enough to have grabbed a late reservation. Yes they'd exchanged pleasantries on the matter already but it didn't hurt to revisit the mild subject.

"It wasn't bad, it could have been better" Quinn muttered as she sipped a glass of white wine... again, not entirely sure which type of wine it was but white.

"You mentioned seeing Noah and Finn," Rachel reminded.

"Yeah I bumped into Puck when I was last minute grocery shopping with my mom, we decided to meet up, he bought Finn along." She shrugged. They'd gone drinking one night, catching up on old time. She hadn't mentioned Rachel or Santana... thinking both would be sore reminders for Puck and Finn in some sense... maybe not so much Puck with Santana, but she never could tell with him. She's mostly talked about Beth with him, and grown furtherly jealous how he has a lot more contact with her. It helped that Shelby and Beth lived in Lima... she guessed.

"And how are they?" Rachel asked mildly. Both of them had such history with those boys that it couldn't have been easy to just say 'hey'.

"They're both good, Finn's still working with Burt, but it's going well." She nodded, happy that he had something to do, something useful that gave his life meaning.

"Good," Rachel again nodded... but she wanted to skip subject, "look, I'm really sorry I freaked out on you yesterday." She had thought about how it must have looked to Quinn, she really did owe her some kind of explanation... but she didn't have one she was ready to give.

"It's fine, you were at work, high tensions, nasty crimes everywhere, you weren't expecting me, and I was pretty forward, this is our third date." Quinn brushed it off but her words were evident that she'd been thinking on it too, processing why Rachel was so harsh, why she was so blind in a split second, it came to poor actions on Quinn's behalf... she thought.

"Yeah, still I'm sorry." The detective muttered guiltily.

Quinn swallowed thickly, she had come up with more than one conclusion as to why Rachel reacted the way she did, "... Rach, if this isn't working for you, I'll understand," well, she'd try to understand "if you don't want this, me-"

Rachel's eyes widened and she realised in that moment how fond she was of Quinn being in her life already, "No, I do, I really do," and she really did, but with slow progress, "I do, I just-" she tried, she thought she could but those words weren't coming out, not here in public, not at the precinct, and not inside her own home, "I was just caught off guard." It was too early to let Quinn in... she'd already concluded that to have a full relationship she'd have to open up to her one day but it was too early, far too early.

"Okay." Quinn said simply, taking a bigger sip from her wine glass. She was relieved, not that she was confident to say that out loud, she didn't want to scare Rachel off.

"I do want this Quinn." She said again when Quinn was too quiet.

"Okay then... just don't feel, like, pressured," she muttered awkwardly. She knew she wanted this more than Rachel in the beginning, she also know not to get her hopes up.

"I don't," only she did, but because of herself not because of Quinn. It could have been so much easier to be truthful, but at the same time, what if Quinn couldn't bear to look at her? What would she think for Rachel letting this happen when that very night she had asked her to take a cab. That night, at least the moments surrounding the actual rape were so vivid still to Rachel, she remembered Quinn's request and she remembered brushing it off once the blonde was gone. And then... then she'd needed Santana of all people to help her put her life back together, even if it felt like it was held together with Cello tape... Cello tape that would dry out and drop off. "I like you Quinn... I mean I like you as a friend anyway but, I like you like that too."

Quinn's breath caught in her throat and she found herself smiling like a fool, "I like you too Detective Berry, very much."

...

Q~Q

Tri- State Crematorium
Queens, New York
Saturday, January 4

As promised, Olivia picked Rachel up in a squad sedan the next morning, and drove them to the crematorium. It didn't take long to find the member of staff who had been calling the Henry residence, for a reason still not known to the Detectives. "I kept calling and calling, that jerk, Henry wouldn't return my messages." They followed the man in glasses with the short hair across the yard behind the crematorium.

"What was so important?" Benson got straight to the point as the man scurried about his work, carrying one box from one place to another.

He stopped and gestured to the shelf full of white boxes that were lined up for incineration, "We always double check with the family before incinerating any personals."

"Personals?" Rachel prompted. She really disliked how so many people could have their own lingo, it just made these processes longer.

"Mementos people put in the coffin; photo's, letters, that kind of thing," the worker shrugged, "Guy finally calls back yesterday, says he doesn't have time to come down, just burn everything."

"Have you done that yet?" Rachel asked anxiously, hoping they weren't too late. They really needed a little luck on this case since their key witness had just adapted his story.

"It's waiting in line." The worker approached the shelf of waiting boxes and scanned the labels with his eyes until he found the right one, when he found it he pulled it off the shelf and dropped it in front of the detectives feet, "Be my guest," he gestured before walking away to continue with the tasks. He wondered how he'd ended up working the weekend shift too.

The pair of detectives crouched down to the box, Olivia flipped the white card board lid off the top and peered inside. Rachel cautiously reached out, not wanting to delve in case they were lucky and found some evidence, she didn't want to contaminate anything. "Year book," she said unsurprisingly as she removed the harmless item "magazines," she noted as she found them hiding behind the year book, and not your casual reading kind. "Condoms?" She furrowed her brow, these frat boys were beyond her. She'd had years as a cop dealing with the scum of Manhattan island, and though some frats might have delved in drug dealing, that hadn't been her and Detective Lopez' direct jurisdiction.

"For the after party," Olivia commented, not as surprised at the gesture from Tyler's class mates. The Senior detective then reached in to pull out Tyler's frat jacket... only the material didn't bend, something was inside supporting it.

She unravelled it carefully, Rachel watching, just as curious. And then there it was, something that could be so very key to this whole incident. A fraternity paddle.

...

The immediately took the evidence to the CSU Captain, Judith Siper, who had been called in to work over the Saturday too. The case was in the middle of its trial so they had to call people in to work this weekend and hope to make some progress on the case.

It wasn't until the afternoon that Siper had some answers for them. And they were the words they wanted to hear, "Someone tried to bleach it clean but it's your paddle all right. I found traced of blood and faecal matter deep in the grain of the wood."

"Does it match Will Caray?" Detective Berry asked before the CSU Captain could inform them on that fact too.

"It's definitely his DNA." She confirmed. Before any more could be said Xander Henry, the father of the murdered and the Lawyer of Rob Sweeney the newly accused, stormed into the CSU lab. Siper was quick to pull the paddle in the plastic evidence bag away from his reach in the event he might try to take it.

"That's my property you had no right to seize it," he directly accused the Detectives who stood between him and the CSU Captain with the evidence.

"You told the funeral home to burn it, makes it discarded property and we can do whatever we want with that." Benson stated knowing very well that they hadn't been in the wrong to take that box and all its contents.

By the look on his face Xander Henry knew that too, he looked between the Detectives and to the CSU Captain, "Have those lab results faxed over to my office?" She requested sharply, Siper just nodded, she'd get one of her lackeys to do that. "Thanks" He said, with as much gratitude as he could muster, before he left as quickly as he arrived. It wasn't so much the fact that they had found damaging evidence to his client, but he felt they'd also disturbed his sons passing.

The Detectives and CSU team watched him leave, relieved that had gone smoother than they thought and they'd he'd left so swiftly before things were made difficult.

Rachel had been thinking though, thinking of the case. They might have had the paddle but this case couldn't end with just that, it merely confirmed part of Carey's story. "I'll be right back," the Junior detective said to her partner as she excused herself.

.

She didn't have to jog far to catch up with Mr Henry. She knew this case had gone deep, she was in trouble too seeing as they were going to blame the theft of the Frat's ledger on her, and then Quinn's first chance to shine in her newest job would be doomed as well. She wasn't going to be cautious on this one. "Spin it anyway you want councillor, you know Rob Sweeney's guilty." She called after the much older and experienced man.

They grey haired man slowed to a stop in the corridor and turned to face the still approaching young detective. "I've known Rob since he was a freshman, he's a good kid." He couldn't imagine this boy, who was now a young man could have become something so...

"He's a rapist." Rachel told him bluntly.

The lawyer sighed and sized up the miniature detective. Of course he wasn't a fool, she hadn't earned that detective shield differently to any other detective. But she was still a woman, and he knew the world of work was still unfair in some professions, "Look, I see you might be out to prove something to other people, you're young, but I'm sure you're experienced, maybe some people still underestimate you Detective Berry. You've worked your way up, and people see that by that Detective shield." He wasn't being unfair, just making his point, "How many cops do you know who'd put blood, sweat and tears into their jobs to try and earn the same thing. And along the way to you and your colleagues doing that, you started to bond as a unit and work together. That's what a fraternity is all about."

She could respect that, that that's probably what a Fraternity was in his eyes, it was a Brotherhood, it was its own community, it meant something to some people, but not all of them. "Rob Sweeney doesn't give a damn about a bond, and you've read the ledger." She pointed out, not afraid to tell him exactly what she thought, even with him towering above her. There was a time in her life she had been scared of so much, but much of that had passed.

"It's just talk," he tried to dismiss, he kept his jaw strong too.

"He wrote down exactly what he did and that paddle proves that he raped Will Caray and sent your son over to his apartment to beat him up some more," she calculated and accused based on what she already new. But then she saw something, something on the lawyers face, a twitch of... guilt and she reached a new calculated guess based on some other minor evidence they had on phone records, "Or was it you who told Tyler to go over there?"

"Why would I do that?" Xander answered too quickly for Detective Berry's liking.

"You tell me, it's your phone records that show you spoke to your son twice on the day he was murdered." She unveiled more on what they knew hoping so spark something from him, or to make him see the light, "Did you call to give him a little pep talk on bonding?"

"What we talked about is none of your business." He said low and rough, but it didn't deter Rachel one bit. Despite her past this was not something that scared her.

"Pledge master who's pledge quits on him, that's got to be the ultimate failure," she walked closer, knowing once she reached him he would tower over her, but she'd still be able to intimidate him... she'd had Santana as a teacher on that subject, "Huh, so you tell Tyler to bring Will Caray back into the fold any way he has to but he didn't want to did he? He knew Sweeney had gone too far"

His bottom lip quivered, if just the tiniest amount, but Rachel still saw it and it made her brow furrow "... I didn't believe what Ty was telling me." He breathed regretfully.

"Because you didn't know what Sweeney was doing." She almost sounded sympathetic, "Now you do. Sweeney caused all of this, your son's death..." she shouldn't have had to paint him a picture, "How can you defend him?" Rachel was partially doing this for Quinn, so she could progress in the trial, but she was also doing it to avoid trouble with what she was being accused of. She didn't like them thinking she had told Alyssa to steal from the frat.

But also, on top of all of that, she tried to put herself in this mans position, if she ever had a son, she'd want him safe and protected and away from the nasty boys like Rob Sweeney in this world.

That thought was laughable on some level though, kissing another woman made her nervous, she didn't think children, artificial insemination or natural, would ever be in her future, with or without Quinn.

While her thoughts rattled round in her head Xander finally spoke, sounding utterly deflated.

"It's my job."

...
{}=-=

Trial Part 22
Monday, January 6

"Mr Sweeney, do you recognise this?" Quinn held up the new evidence in the plastic evidence bag.

"That's Tyler Henry's fraternity paddle." The Pledge master said with ease and confidence, it was probably he easiest question he'd get from the ADA that day.

"Why was Will Caray's blood found on the handle?" she asked directly, again being sure to make eye contact with the Juror's, it was important to make them feel as involved as they already were.

"Ty shoved the paddle into Will," again he replied with ease.

Quinn pulled a face of faux confusion, "Caray says you sodomised him with the paddle."

"No I tried to stop Ty. Will was drunk, we was confused." He couldn't have been lying could he? I mean why would you lie about your dead best friend and the son of your lawyer, you wouldn't make up something so horrible about them would you?

"Why did you put the paddle in Tyler Henry's casket?" Other than for the obvious reason that it was evidence and it was supposedly a good place to dispose of it.

"Ty loved his fraternity, he would have wanted to be buried with his paddle." He couldn't have known his friend that well then, his friend was cremated... not buried.

"The police searched Tau Omega for the paddle, why didn't you tell them where it was?" Obstruction, could she get him for that if nothing else? No, she couldn't let herself think so small

"I didn't want them calling Ty a rapist on top of everything else." He wasn't the best actor but he seemed pretty convincing that he didn't want his fraternity brother in bad light after his death.

"So you put the paddle in his casket to keep the police from finding it?" She asked.

"Yes." At least he agreed on something.

"Because you knew it implicated you in the rape of Will Caray." She said what she knew but couldn't prove thanks to the inadmissible evidence.

"No" he was too smug, and it made Quinn want to smack him round the back if the head with the paddle in the evidence bag. But she wasn't stupid. "I was trying to protect Ty."

"Of course you were. Nothing further." if the case wasn't so nasty Rachel would have been purely focused on no longer how Quinn looked at home where she stood, but how hot Quinn was as she strutted back and forth... or more like 'how pleasing to the eye Quinn was'. Rachel wasn't ready for the basic words for lust... she wasn't ready for lust at all.

"Did Tyler Henry rape Will Caray?" Xander Henry asked without making eye contact at his defendant. Quinn was familiar with reading body language but all she could tell was that something wasn't right.

"Yes." Sweeney nodded

"As president of the fraternity have you ever intentionally hurt one of your pledges. You've never made a pledge stand for hours in the snow, or hit them with a hockey stick?" That question sounded too suggestive to Quinn, to biased almost... but also as if it could work in her favour, she didn't object, she just waited.

"No never." Again, a straight forward, regimental, all smiles answer.

"And you never instructed one of the other brothers to hurt a pledge." Again the lawyer didn't even look at Sweeny and Sweeney didn't bat an eyelid to any question

Quinn suddenly found herself confused... and maybe a little hopeful. "Side bar your honour," she requested, and the judge nodded and gestured for both lawyers to approach. Quinn grabbed a peice of paper, one that had a scan from a page from the ledger on it. "The witness just denied beating a pledge with a hockey stick but in the Tau Omega ledger he said, and I quote 'pledge Nancy dropped his legs twice so I had to take a hockey stick to his knuckles'. The people move to readmit the ledger and rebuttal."

Mr Henry rolled his eyes, "The ledger was illegally seized, it's inadmissible."

The judge raised an eyebrow at him, "It was until you opened the door."

"I now withdraw the question, strike the witness' response." He tried to back track.

"You can't un-ring the bell Mr Henry. The ledgers back in." Quinn had all she needed now... but Xander didn't look too bothered.

.

When Xander Henry was done questioning his defendant they took a small recess, in that time Rachel called the precinct and it was Lopez who answered and rushed down to the Court house with the evidence they needed present... the Tau Omega Ledger. Lopez and Berry stayed to watch Sweeney unfold. "Mr Sweeney. You stated under oath that it was Tyler Henry who raped Will Caray, is that right?"

"Yes." He didn't look so smug now, not with what she was holding open in front of him.

"Please read the highlighted passage." She passed the book over to him, letting him read over it first

He looked extremely hesitant, his eyes shot to Mr Henry for help but he wasn't even looking back, he remained silent. The boy didn't speak, he looked over the passage, then to his lawyer, still nothing. He then looked to the judge.

"Go ahead." The Judge nodded.

"Pledge Cathy was being a weenie-"

"Louder, please, so the Jury can hear you," Quinn's volume of voice startled him.

"Pledge Cathy was being a weenie tonight, so we showed him what we do to weenies." He seemed to shrink in his seat, he squired, he wanted to hide, "He'll crap blood tomorrow but we'll make a man out of him yet"

"Who was pledge Cathy?" Quinn requested, her voice strong and powerful once more with confidence.

"... Will Caray." There was no smile, no smugness, only reluctance to answer as he dug himself deeper and deeper.

"Please, continue." She toyed with him, she wore his smug smile that time.

"Pledge Master Dahmer paddled pledge Cathy for about 20 minutes-"

"Pledge Master Dahmer being Tyler Henry?" ADA Fabray interrupted to ensure the facts were kept in.

"Yes," he ground out through gritted teeth, "I kicked the pledge... and I burnt him with my smoke but he still wouldn't break. So I took the paddle... and I jammed it into him. Dahmer said to stop but I kept going until pledge Cathy cried like a girl." The way he read those words was as if he finally realised the wrong he'd done... but whether that wrong in his mind was the actions he did, or just being stupid enough to write them down was something the on lookers would never know, "Dahmer saw the kid was bleeding and he stopped me. Just like a bitch to be on the rag during initiation."

"You wrote that entry didn't you," he didn't answer, he just stared at the writing, wishing he could hid behind the book forever, "Mr Sweeney?" Quinn prompted again "You raped Will Caray, didn't you?"

He was silent... it was all over, "...Yes."

...

"You did it on purpose." Detective Berry caught up with Xander Henry outside the court room after Rob Sweeney was taken into custody, he'd been quick to leave.

He stopped and looked back, "Did what?" He shrugged, pretending to be unknowing.

"Put the ledger back in." she didn't smile, even though she felt her victory and relief that her rep was no longer on the line. There was nothing really to smile about; innocent lives had been turned upside down, even taken, all because of some games.

"That would be a breach of ethics." He tried to stay composed and deny the truth.

"Because he called your son a rapist or because he caused his death?" She may have asked a question but truly she was showing her understanding, she knew why he'd done what he did.

"I defended my client to the best of my abilities." Again, he denied nothing, but agreed neither.

"For what it's worth, you did the right thing." Detective Berry knew nothing she could say would ever make any of this better but he should know he wasn't in the wrong.

"He sat there saying those things, with that smug little grin," the grown man held back tears, he would cry for the loss of his son once he was home and behind closed doors. "It really used to be about the Brotherhood." He sighed before walking away, to be alone once more.

"You talked to him?" Rachel heard behind her to see Quinn approaching, looking more relaxed than she had in some weeks.

"He looked like he was feeling bad I was just reassuring him he did the right thing." She shrugged.

"No, before today, you talked some sense into him." She smiled knowingly, Rachel still had a way of getting to people just by talking to them.

"Yeah, but I had to, we had to get this guy and my throat was on the line, and so was your rep. I know you had Novak and Cabot breathing down your neck with this case. That doesn't mean I did it for either of us, it was just the right thing to do."

"I know," She knew it was a small victory for her, a bigger one for Rachel really but it was a victory nonetheless, and it was the starting boost she needed in her newest job. "Still... thanks," Quinn couldn't help it, but with Rachel just standing there, Rachel her hero, she found herself closing in. Rachel felt herself moving forward too.

They didn't hear their colleague approach from behind Quinn, "Come on you two, I'll drive you back to the Precinct and we can tell the others the good news. I know Cabot and Novak were already there working on some other cases," Santana had great timing as usual, "I'll even let you make out in the car if you like." She muttered as she walked past the pair.

"Santana!" Rachel yelped at such an idea before hurrying after her ex-partner.

Quinn just shook her head to herself as she followed after the two junior detectives.

AN: Right, now that this case is done with I will be focusing less on actual cases, I feel I've made the point that they're all capable of doing their jobs even when they face dilemmas etc, now back to the real story, Rachel and her relationship with Quinn in this strange fan fic world.

I know it's been two years so I don't want any of you to get your hopes up but maybe I'll get round to finishing some of these someday.

... Just an odd thing on the side... any of you play Destiny? On PS4? Need a Level 40 Hunter with Light level 295? Maybe for Kings Fall raid (I've done as far as War Priest) or just general missions and socialising? My PSN is Maddie92, friend request me if you feel like it...

Anyway, thanks for reading.