Hey guys. Here's the latest update. Thanks again for all the reviews and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

She couldn't ignore it even if she wanted to, the curious gazes of her employees around the offices, some judging her others supporting her. It was the same out on the streets from the random strangers who passed her by. But she wasn't surprised, no far from it. She had expected this type of reaction right from the beginning so she wasn't too fazed. It just meant that for the time being, people were my inclined to stare than they had been before.

While there had been many who were unhappy with what they deemed as an act of deceit, a major overreaction if ever there was one, the outflowing of support for Quinn and her family and their right to privacy had been overwhelming, The majority, while not completely happy or sure why she kept it hidden for so long, understood that she was just a women trying to protect her family and their private lives. After all, it wasn't like she had been outed for something illegal or controversial like embezzlement or political corruption, so they found they could easily forgive or overlook her action.

What were particularly heart-warming to both Quinn and Rachel were the messages of comfort and support from the troops and their families. Many could identify with Rachel's plight and Quinn's desire to keep her out of the spotlight so she could heal, it was only natural. With how much work Quinn had put in to helping returning troops and making rehabilitation for them such a major issue that needed addressing, they couldn't be anything but supportive. Rachel was one of their own, and by extension, that family included Quinn.

The level of support far outweighed the negativity, but they knew they would never be able to please everyone and they were both fine with that. They just hoped that now that everything was out in the open that they would be able to live a bit more freely and that the threats against them would come to a halt. There hadn't been any mumblings in a few days, but that didn't mean that the threat of danger was gone. They could just be biding their time until the heat died down.

Diane's report had been everything they could've hoped for. She was fair in her assessment of the couple and even brought to light the some of the dangerous attempts that had been made against the lives of both women, including the fire at the restaurant, in order to elaborate on why the couple were so conscious about protecting themselves. That tid-bit of information had been enough to horrify many people.

Overall, the interview had been a positive move for them, though people were still eager to meet Peyton. Offers had flooded in from various big name publications to do a cover shoot with the whole family and the baby that had been dubbed 'America's Equivalent to a Royal Princess". This had been a no fly zone for both parents, Peyton's image was not for sale.

They knew they wouldn't be able to stop paparazzi from trying to get a look at her, and eventually they wouldn't be able to shield her, especially as she got older and more adventurous. But for the time being, the three month old was still too young to be subjected to that kind of attention. As it stood, they had to keep Peyton confined to an enclosed stroller when out on the streets and private areas in public places.

For now that was how she would remain, until Cassie managed to pass through a legal arrangement with the courts that prohibited her image from being used or published online or in the media. It was excessive and many thought a little overboard, but as Quinn pointed out, Peyton wasn't a public figure in the same terms as the royal family or the children of the President.

People weren't entitled to know her, she had nothing to do with what Quinn, or Rachel, did. She was just a normal little girl born into extraordinary circumstances. Even though they knew Peyton would never be able to have a completely normal childhood, due to her name and the exposure of her parents, they were determined to have her as unaffected as possible.

Stepping out of the elevator, Quinn kept her head down behind her sunglasses as she kept her attention on checking the emails on her phone. She knew people were watching her, still curious from the interview days before, but that didn't mean it didn't annoy her to an extent. Whatever about staring at her on the street, but when they were on the clock, and on her payroll, she expected them to show a certain level of professionalism.

Kathy saw her boss approaching and instantly gathered the messages that had accumulated and arranged them in order of importance on the iPad before standing up and making her way around the desk towards Quinn, falling into step beside the blonde as they closed in on the large wooden doors of her office. She could tell that her boss was in a slightly testy mood, probably due to the larger than normal interest in her life, so she knew to just carry on as normal.

"Your messages. I've already deleted all the ones looking for cover shoots and follow up interviews. Everything else has been separated into work related and charity related. Oh also, the veterans organisation are holding a benefit ball next week, they've extended an invitation to you and Mrs. Fabray," Quinn grabbed a hold of the iPad and flicked through all the messages.

"Thank you Kathy. I really appreciate it. And please, take the rest of the day off, you deserve it after this week," Quinn said and her secretary gratefully nodded her head as she watched her boss continue on into her office and shut the door behind her, closing herself off from the stares and whispers outside, With a sympathetic sigh, Kathy walked over to her desk, shut off her computer, picked up her purse and made her way to the elevator.

Inside the pristine office space, Quinn made her way over to her desk and put down the iPad and her brown leather messenger bag. Taking a seat on her chair she leaned back and heaved out a deep sigh. She really hoped the interest in her personal life with die down soon. When she was a womaniser people around the office didn't seem to care that much. Mostly because they believed Quinn was a hard edged, cool sort of character who would cut their career options in two if she felt threatened.

But the interview had shown a much softer side to Quinn that her employees weren't too familiar with before and people didn't seem as threatened by her. That wasn't to say that Quinn was a bitch to her staff, she just kept herself at a personal and emotional distance, never really engaging with them in any capacity but a professional one.

It was a tactful decision on Quinn's part though as she found her staff worked harder and more efficiently under a boss who exuded power rather than personal warmth. It also meant Quinn didn't have to engage in idle chit chat about her personal life that would lead to her feeding people bullshit stories in order to live up to her "reputation". If she didn't engage with them on a personal level, she didn't have to communicate with them, if she didn't have to communicate with them she didn't have to lie to them.

She could live with the idea of people coming to their own conclusions about her life, she couldn't deal with people questioning her integrity over lies she helped to spread. While Quinn played up to her reputation, she never actually outright lied. She never admitted to dating any of the women she appeared with at any corporate balls or functions, they were only ever acquaintances. Celebrities did it all the time, so she figured why couldn't she? She also never confirmed or denied whether or not she was single, she allowed the public to come to the conclusion that she was by themselves.

Yes what she did may have been misleading, but in the grand scheme of things it wasn't some massive lie born out of manipulation to intentionally hurt people. It was a defence mechanism born out of a need to protect. At one point Quinn had been a womaniser and in her early 20's, she did sort of live up to the rich, bachelorette lifestyle.

But at the time she was a college student, still struggling with her identity, the passing of her grandmother and the responsibility of carrying the Fabray name. So she blew off steam every now and again by throwing some parties and spending some money. But she never allowed her lifestyle to consume her, and when Rachel arrived on the scene, she became more grounded than she had ever been.

She knew however, that the people who didn't agree or understand her decision to keep her family a secret would question that. But Quinn wouldn't regret choosing to keep her family safe over saving people's perceptions of her personal integrity, because as far as she was concerned, the people who mattered the most knew how trustworthy and honest she was and that was all that mattered.

The only thing that killed her about the entire reveal was that Rachel found it difficult to deal with the attention. She wasn't used to it and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't prepare herself for it, she constantly second guessed peoples intentions when they approached her or stared at her. She always felt like she was on high alert because she didn't want to end up in a situation again like the explosion at the restaurant or the gun fire on the street.

It was exhausting, it was almost like she was back in the army. The only difference was, she knew the intentions of the people across enemy lines, she didn't know the intentions of the people who were supposed to be on her side, people she had fought for, and that scared her. More than she was probably willing to admit to Quinn.

But Quinn didn't understand the full extent of Rachel's worries or anxieties, as the brunette refused to let it be known. She refused to add one more worry to her wife's already full plate. So Quinn remained clueless as she sat in her office contemplating the situation around her and how her life had changed in the last several days.

Quinn rarely felt stressed, she just wasn't the type to let unimportant thing affect her. In fact the last time she could recall ever feeling this stressed and uncertain about her future, the year before Peyton had been born. It had been a difficult time for the couple, having been through a tough regiment of IVF and various other treatments to fall pregnant in the first place. They had tried for a long time before resorting to medical intervention. They had almost given up when various rounds of the treatments had failed.

But then Peyton happened, and it was like that gaping wound had been healed. They now had this beautiful little girl who never failed to put a smile on their faces and, their greatest achievement. That wasn't to say the couple hadn't considered adoption or various other treatments, but Quinn knew in heart that had IVF not worked out, it would've destroyed Rachel. The woman had already felt like a failure in so many other aspects of her life, especially her duty as a soldier to serve and protect. Had she not been able to provide herself and Quinn with a child the natural way, it would've been something else that weighed on her mind.

For that, Quinn was forever grateful that they had been granted this blessing, and she sincerely hoped, when all this had died down and the threat of danger had been eliminated, that they could discuss expanding their family further. Bringing new life into the world with Rachel, it was a feeling and an experience that was indescribable to Quinn.

Just when she thought she couldn't love her wife anymore, all of a sudden, she found this new level, this new depth that she didn't know existed before. Seeing the woman she loved, lying on that bed, holding the most precious thing Quinn had ever laid eyes on, it was like she'd unlocked a new chamber in her heart that just poured out love. It was something she wanted to experience again. Seeing her wife being a mother to their child was the most beautiful sight in the world.

She would be lying to herself if she said she didn't want to try again, when you could make something so beautiful and so perfect with your wife, why wouldn't you want to do it again? But she wasn't 100% sure where Rachel's head was on the topic. She knew her wife would love to have another child and would love to be able to give that to her family. But Quinn also knew that the difficulties they had faced in getting pregnant, and the failures that kept knocking them back, had somewhat tainted Rachel's mind. She was scared of failing again and Quinn could understand that completely.

But that didn't mean they shouldn't try again, at least when the time was right and they were no longer under threat from someone who apparently was closer to them than they thought. Quinn hoped more than anything that one day in the future they could expand their family unit. She had so much love in her heart to share, even if they adopted, Quinn would be happy. It was something she would have to discuss with her wife at a later date. For the time being, she knew her wife was open to the idea of expanding and adoption, Quinn just prayed that Rachel didn't change her mind when the time came for that particular discussion.

She could already picture it in her head, leaving New York behind and settling down somewhere quieter, somewhere lee affected by her status and wealth. Rachel always loved the peace and tranquillity of their Hawaiian estate, maybe they could set up base there. But for the time being she had issues in her present day life that needed addressing and Quinn was more than eager to put many of them to bed. Before she could fall any further into her musings, a knock at the door caught her attention.

"Come in," she called out, the lack of enthusiasm in her voice very much present. As the sound of the handle pressing down caught her ear, she turned her chair to face whoever wanted her attention and when her eyes landed upon her guest, she smiled. "Hey baby," she said as she stood from her chair and moved across the office to greet her wife. Rachel smiled back as she closed the door before crossing the distance to meet her in the middle.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," she said, and Quinn shook her head as she took her wife into her arms and kissed her on the lips. "For you, never," she beamed as she finally noticed that nobody with a stroller was following behind. "Where's Peyton?" she asked as she guided them over to the leather couch and sat down next to the arm of it, pulling her wife down to nestle into her side.

"She's back at the penthouse with Santana. I don't think she's too happy about it. Santana's never changed a diaper in her life," Rachel chuckled as she settled down. Quinn huffed out a laugh, she could picture Santana now and the image made her want to run home so she could take a video on her phone. Wrapping her arm around her wife she hugged her close and pressed a kiss to her temple.

"Did you get in okay, were there any paps?" she asked. Rachel's anonymity had been impacted in a major way since the interview and Quinn knew it left her wife unsettled. The brunette wasn't used to the attention and she certainly didn't like it. Both women were eager for the day the attention wasn't so intense. Rachel sighed as she grazed her fingers up and down Quinn's arm that was wrapped across her midsection.

"Yeah it was fine. I was able to sneak in pretty much unnoticed," she replied as Quinn nodded her head and pressed her nose to dark hair and leaned back a little further in the couch so they were practically laying back. "That's good," Quinn said, basking in the feeling of her wife twisting sideways so she could wrap her arms tighter around her.

"This is nice. I feel like we haven't been able to relax like this in so long," Quinn sighed, eyes drifting closed as she got more comfortable. Rachel nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry. It's just been really chaotic lately with everyone wanting a piece of our family for one reason or another. I guess I have been as present as I should be lately," Rachel said, as she rested one of her hands on her wife's chest so she could feel the gentle thump of a heartbeat. Quinn frowned and shook her head.

"Hey, I wasn't looking for someone to take the blame Rach. We've both been dealing with a lot lately and that's meant some other things have taken a back seat. I guess we're both just so used to having this to ourselves," Quinn said as she rested her hand over the one on her chest, "that it's sort of taken us by surprise and side tracked us. But, at least we're recognising the situation. We've just gotta stop letting everyone and everything get in the way of us. This is more important than anything else going on out there."

Rachel agreed wholeheartedly, but she couldn't help feeling overwhelmed. The attention was new to Rachel. She had never experienced anything like what she was going through now. She was always under the radar, even when she was in the army, it was one of the reasons she was so good. But this was different. Quinn was used to dealing with the media, she'd been juggling them for years, but now she was a part of it too and she wondered if she would ever be able to get used to it.

As they sat in their little bubble they both revelled in the feeling of being together and just enjoying the moment, something they hadn't been able to do for a while, what with raising their infant daughter, dealing with the press, handling work affairs and trying to stay low key. It was a difficult juggling act, but they refused to allow it to take a hold of their family or be swept away in the craziness. Having noticed the time Rachel sat up.

"I should get going. Santana has a shift at the hospital later I should get back and take Peyton off her hands," she said. Quinn whined at the loss of contact but nodded her head in understanding. Their daughter came first so for that reason she couldn't be selfish and keep Rachel with her, so she stood up and walked with her wife to the door of the office. "Okay, call me when you get back to the penthouse and give Peyton a kiss from me," Quinn replied as she leaned down and pressed her lips to her wife's.

"I'll see you at home," Rachel whispered as she opened the door and left, Quinn closing it behind her after watching her climb into the waiting elevator. As Rachel stood in the metal contraception, waiting to hit ground floor, she relished in the warm feeling that had settled in her after lying in her wife's arms. It always soothed her whenever she was feeling stressed and this time was no different. She felt better, lighter even.

As the elevator hit the ground floor, the doors opened and she stepped out in the huge reception area of Fabray Enterprises, and made her way towards the revolving door, her head down as she walked out as to avoid eye contact with nosey employees. This would prove to be a mistake as she came through the other side of the doors to a blinding flash of light that caught her completely off guard. And then another, and another until there was nothing but a blinding succession of lights flashing every half a second between the shouts of her name.

"RACHEL, LOOK THIS WAY," came one voice, "RACHEL IS QUINN COMING OUT TOO?" came another, "WHEN ARE WE GONNA MEET PEYTON." Voice after voice, question after question. Rachel tried to shield her eyes from the flashes, tried to back away from the noise, but she felt like she was surrounded. She could feel herself being pulled back in time, her chest heaving and a pressure building that was almost suffocating. Rachel, Rachel, Rachel...

"RACHEL," Peyton shouted over the noise of more land-mines exploding. They were stuck, caught in no man's land, too far away from their own bunkers and facing directly into the open mouth of their enemies. Everything was loud and Rachel winced every time another land mine or missile went off, practically blinded from the sand and the glow of the burning fire around them.

"WHAT," she called out as she ducked down behind the sand bunker they'd managed to make it too. It wasn't the safest place to be in by any means, but in the situation they were in, it was as safe as they were going to get. Peyton rolled over so that his back was pressed against the side of the bunker, his head twisted towards the brunette and his rifle resting snug in his arms as he reloaded.

"TANKS AND REINFORCEMENTS ARE TAILING BEHIND US. TILL THEY GET HERE WE'RE ON OUR OWN," he said as he released the old clip and loaded up a new one, "YOU THINK YOU'VE GOT ENOUGH AMMO TO HOLD OUT TILL THEY ARRIVE," he shouted and Rachel glanced down at her own rifle, then at her utility belt and then did a mental inventory of what was in her backpack.

"I THINK I'M GOOD, YOU?" she shouted back as she regarded the man she thought of as a surrogate older brother. Peyton gave her a lopsided grin as he the click of the clip falling into place sounded out. "LOCKED AND LOADED," he replied before turning to the other members of their squadron who were with them and made sure they were prepared.

"OKAY, ON MY COUNT, 1,2,3!" Once they heard 3 the reigned down shots on their enemies, trying desperately to keep them at bay until help arrived. They were cornered and they knew it, but by this point in the war, it was a situation they were familiar with. They were often on the front lines, they were used to being in this position, but that didn't make it any less difficult.

"Oh shit," Peyton mumbled, his eyes wide as he looked franticly around at his squad mates, "EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" Before they knew what was happening a grenade was sent hurtling overhead landing just the opposite side of the bunker. With nowhere else to go, the soldiers got as low as they could and kept their heads down just as an explosion blew a sandstorm overhead, turning the bunker into a makeshift grave. Rachel could do nothing but try and catch her breath as sand rained down around her, covering her, trying to suffocate her. She wondered if that was the end...

'RACHEL, RACHEL...' Sound seemed to become fuzzy, her hands shook as they raised up to cover her ears and the tears just seemed to fall harder and harder as the camera flashes continued to go off. Self-suffocation was beginning to make its presence known as felt the pressure in her chest get heavier and heavier, like the weight of the sands of Afghanistan pressing down her again. Rachel took a stumbled step back to try and escape the frenzy but she felt trapped she couldn't move.

Several stories up, Quinn placed down the iPad she had been scrolling through and stood up from her couch, stretching her tense muscles as she shrugged off her suit jacket and rolled up the sleeves of her blouse half way up her forearms. Cracking her neck, she moved over to the large office windows and pressed her arm up against it as she gazed out at the view, she loved that view. But when she looked down her heart dropped as she spotted a media circus downstairs and instantly, she knew why.

Dashing out of her office, Quinn bolted for the elevator and burst inside, hitting the button for the ground floor. Once the doors closed she smacked her hands against the metal and cursed herself for not taking extra precautions with Rachel. She should've known better. The second the doors slid open, Quinn was out of it like a bullet and sprinting across the reception area towards the revolving doors but she couldn't get through, her wife was stood paralysed on the opposite side, preventing the doors from turning. Without a second thought she turned for the emergency side door and pushed it open, hurtling out into the street.

"QUINN...QUINN OVER HERE," came the shouts the second the paparazzi caught sight of her, but Quinn wasn't focused on them, her attention was solely on her wife as she dashed into the space Rachel was standing in and pulled her into her arms, her back to the paps, shielding her wife from their curious and gazes. Tightening her grip on the brunette, she moved the both of them back further into the revolving doors and began moving them around back inside the building off the street.

Fabray Enterprises was a private corporation so she knew the paps couldn't step foot in the building without permission or consent. Once the door had spun back to the reception area Quinn practically carried her wife across to the closed off security offices, stepping inside out of the view of the windows that gave the paps the perfect view from outside.

"Rachel, Rach, baby, look at me," she tried to soothe as she reached up to take her wife's hands away from her ears but Rachel wouldn't budge. It was like she was trapped inside her own head in the never ending nightmare that plagued her dreams. Her heaving chest was making it more and more difficult to breathe and was beginning to panic Quinn. She'd never seen her wife this bad in years. Rachel backed herself into a wall and slid down a long it, one hand coming down to rest over her chest.

"Ms. Fabray, we've called the paramedics," the head of security said as he approached her. Quinn gave a resigned nod of her head, she didn't want it to get this far, she didn't want to have to watch her wife be sedated, but she was scared of what would happen if Rachel remained this way. Moving towards her wife, Quinn crouched down and pulled her into her arms, whispering reassuring words, trying to pull her back, until finally the medics arrived.

The blonde watched on as they secured a breathing mask over Rachel's mouth, talking calmly to her the entire time before one of the medics was forced to sedate her when her heart rate showed no signs of slowing down. Quinn flinched when she saw the needle being stuck in her wife's arm, and her grip on Rachel's hand tightened at the same time.

Before she knew it, they were loading her onto a trolley and guiding her out of the security offices and out onto the street, bypassing the paps who tried to take their pics and then loaded her into the ambulance. Quinn followed their path, exiting the building and when she caught one pap trying to take pictures of Rachel from a position too close for comfort, she snapped and all hell broke loose.

"You motherfucker," Quinn snarled as she yanked his camera from around his neck and sent it crashing to the ground, kicking and stomping on it for good measure to ensure of its demise. Before she could launch herself on anyone else, one of her security guards gripped her around the waist and guided her towards the ambulance, guiding her inside before closing the door.

Once she was closed off from the public, Quinn took a seat on the bench and leaned close to the bed, taking her wife's hand in her own and holding it close, pressing gentle kisses to it. The paramedic next to her smiled in sympathy as he checked over the monitors. He had seen PTSD flare up like this before, he knew how bad it could get, and worse, he had seen what could happen when someone just snapped and passed the point of no return. It was frightening and for that reason, he himself felt a surge of anger towards the paparazzi.

Later, after Rachel had finally been settled in a room, Santana came bursting down the corridor of the hospital, a baby stroller in front of her as she zeroed in on Rachel's room. Quinn was sat outside waiting for the doctor to finish assessing her wife and immediately noticed the Latina approaching her, so she stood from her chair and met her halfway.

"What the hell happened?" she asked, sounding pissed, though not at Quinn. The blonde almost growled as she recalled the exact reason why they were there. "The paparazzi happened, that's what," she spit before gazing into the stroller at her dozing infant child, gently placing the pacifier back in her mouth. Santana spouted off a list of swear words in Spanish, her hands swinging wildly in the area. Quinn had a good comprehension of the language and could hold a conversation so she was able to get the general gist of what was being said, and it perfectly summed up her emotions.

"So what's the plan?" Santana finally asked when she had calmed down. Quinn glanced up at her and swallowed having already taken care of it. "Cassie's pushing through a request for an injunction or restraining order against the media and the paparazzi. She thinks that, with Rachel's PTSD and the medical report from today that due to stress caused and is likely to be caused by further intrusion that we have a good chance of seeing it handed it down," she explained.

"How bad was it?" Santana asked, and when she saw Quinn grimace, she had her answer. "Bad. The worst I've seen in a long, long time," was all Quinn said, but it was enough. It had been an emotional day, she didn't want to push Quinn when she could see how on edge the blonde was over the entire situation. Instead they both took a seat and watched over Peyton as they waited for the doctor to finish so they could return to Rachel's side.

Across town in a small New York apartment, the atmosphere was much lighter, as years of planning finally began to come to fruition. Bitterness was one of life's greatest motivators and in this case, it was the root cause of the years spent waiting for this moment. Quinn Fabray would crash and burn, her empire would be theirs and nothing and no one was going to stop them.

"Great work today Dave, your loyalty will be rewarded in due course, trust me," they said as they sat across from the man who had spent the best part of several years playing the mole, the link that kept Quinn firmly tied to the one person who wanted to take her down. Who wanted to take from her what they believed was theirs and would stop at nothing to get it. They smiled over the rim of their whiskey glass as the feeling of satisfaction began to sink in.

"I hope you're ready Quinnie. I'm about to crush you and everything you love."